The USS STARFIGHTER is a play-by e-mail RPG,
or "SIM". It is set aboard the starship, USS Starfighter; a newly comissioned
Nova-class ship (basicly an upgrade of an Intrepid-class).
Now first off ,you may be asking "what is a play-by
e-mail 'SIM'?". Well, a play-by e-mail SIM is an RPG, or "Role Playing
Game", where each player creates a character to play, by writing a BIO
for that character, and submitting it to the Captain; he or she then plays
that character by writing stories involving the character, and other characters
in the game in whatever story-line the SIM is currently involved in. This
primary storyline is usually referred to as the current "mission".
Those of you familiar with table-top Role Playing,
such as "Dungeons and Dragons" are familiar with the concept of the character-sheet.
Well, in a play-by e-mail game, your character-BIO is your character sheet.
The rules, stated below, are easier, and much more flexable than a table-top
game, and there are no necessary points your character must aquire to become
proficient, or more important in his or her chosen profession.
To join the USS Starfighter RPG, first, you should
read the simple "rules" below, to get a good understanding of what to do,
and what will be expected of you as a member of the Starfighter crew.
Then you should go to the "Join" page, and fill
out the character-application form provided there.
Your BIO, once submitted will be reviewed by the
GM (The Captain). Once your character has been aproved, the Captain will
subscribe you to the mailing list, post your BIO on the WebSite, and announce
your character to the rest of the crew via the mailing list.
Your character can be of any species you desire, including, but not restricted
to the Star Trek "canon" races. You may apply for any open position. Your
character does not necessarily have to start at "ensign" rank, or "private"
for the Marine Unit. Your rank will be assigned by The Captain, based on
your character's service record, history, and position applied for.
You can post stories any time you want. There
is no "Round Robin" rotation involved, or turn-taking, when it come to
posting. This is to encourage good, spontaneous creative writing; instead
of a player having to sit and fester a story-idea until it is his or her
"turn".
The posting style we use is the same format used by the authors of novels
and "paper back" books, preferably written in the third person (though
first-person style is also accepted as long as it does not confuse the
other players).
On any other topics, just be sure to follow the
simple guidelines below to ensure that you, and the others involved in
the Starfighter's adventures all have a good time. After all, that's what
play-by e-mail SIMing is all about!
1-:) Feel free to bring over characters from other SIMs,
and play them as members of the Starfighter team. However, please be sure
to follow certain rules of courtesy in doing so:
1a - Do not mention Player Characters from your
other SIMs in any bio to be featured on the Starfighter website without
the permission of each character's player. Do not make references to storylines
posted to other SIMs on any bio to be displayed here without the original
writer's and/or the original GM's permission to do so
1b - Do not mention Player Characters from
your other SIMs in any post to the Starfighter list-server without the
permission of each character's player. Do not make references to storylines
posted to other SIMs on any post to the Starfighter without the original
writer's and/or the original GM's permission to do so
1c - If you wish any artwork displayed on your
character's bio that is featured on another SIM site, please get permission
from the original artist (if possible) and the original SIM's webmaster
or GM. Send the artwork, as an e-mail attachment to The
Captain, along with the artist's name so that they can be properly
credited for their work in an ALT-tag displayed with the picture.
Starfighter players wanting to bring over their
characters will be on a "good faith" policiy here. If you say you have
permission to mention characters, or events from other SIMs, it will be
assumed that you do. If, however, The Captain recieves any complaints it
will be your responsibility to rectify the situation; or you will be removed
from the SIM.
This rule exists to protect original works
by writers, webmasters, and digital artists not affiliated with the USS
Aliance; and it is enforced out of courtesy and respect to those individuals.
No artwork from other SIM-sites will be posted here without proper credit
being able to be given.
2-:) Please be friendly, and congenial out-of-character
(if you find it necessary to communicate this way). Try to make each other
feel welcome. Feel like the Starfighter is a friendly place. Make new players
feel welcome. Make friends. Have a good time. If you have a problem with
another player, please e-Mail The
Captain and let her deal with it. I assure you it wil be handled fairly,
without any hurt to anyone if possible.
Any Starfighter players who are found to have
e-mail flame arguments or ICQ feudes over Starfighter issues will be issued
one warning before being removed from the SIM. Any players who bring persons
who are not members of the USS Starfighter into any e-mail or ICQ argument
over the Starfighter will be dropped from the SIM immediately, without
possibility of reinstatement.
3-:) Do not be critical of others. Whether
over gramatical errors, writing style, contributions to the web page; or
whatever. It's simply not cool. We're all here to have fun after all, and
being critical only serves to create an argumentative atmosphere within
the "out of character" elements of the SIM, and in turn hurts the enjoyment
of the Role Playing experience for everyone involved.
4-:)Try to post at least once a week. The Captain doesn't
like having to drop players for not posting, and there are no organized
"roll call" weeks here on the Starfighter, but if your character falls
off drasticly in participation, it might become neccessary to replace him/her
for the sake of an accurate simulation of a functioning crew. This holds
especially true for a Player Character in a senior-staff position.
5-:) DO NOT practice "exclusivity" !! I think I may have
just made that word up, but what I am referring to is really snobbery,
or just generally unfriendly behavior. I realize that we will all develope
those certain good writing relationships, and, for whatever reasons, there
will always be certain people we will work with more than others. But to
achieve an accurate simulation of an interactive crew, everyone should
be willing and able to work with everyone else. Furtherly, refusing to
write with someone (without good cause), or dropping out of a joint log
and leaving another player hanging (once again, without good cause) can
be very hurtfull, and severly detract from the fun and flow of the SIM,
and this sort of thing is a deffinate no-no.
6 -:)This SIM is rated NC-17. This means that the stories
posted here contain material of a violent nature, and also, often of a
sexually explicit nature. Anyone not comfortable with this should consider
another SIM. For courtesy's sake, any post containing strong language,
graphic violence, or explicit sexuality should be prefaced with a warning
at the begining of the post. This isn't mandatory, but it can help to keep
people from reading something they might not appreciate, or feel is apropriate
for themself to read.
7 -:) Don't worry about Star Trek canon. And do not "quote
it", or try and correct other players on grounds of canon. While Trek does
have a fairly well-established "non-fiction" to back up it's fiction, with
such books as the Star Trek Encyclopedia, and The Star Trek Chronolgy,
which are both good books, and very usefull; Trek is Sci-Fi. Sci-Fi is
fiction, and each individual writer interprets this fiction in their own
way. In your own individual posts, and contributions to the list, feel
free to go along with as little or as much canon as you wish. And, respect
other player's freedom to do so as well.
8 -:) Please feel free to play more than one character.
To play as many characters as you wish as a matter of fact. There are over
1000 people on the Starfighter, so there's really nothing wrong with each
player playing several charatcers. Also, this can make it much easier on
occasion to find something to write or post. If you can't think up a story
for one character, you can always post for another one. And it's no problem
at all to get multiple characters for each player set up on the SIM. Just
send each bio, seperately, to the
Captain and it will be displayed with the rest of the crew. I know
most SIMs don't allow this, but I have been part of a couple of smaller
RPGS, which do allow this, and it seems to work quite well. I think
it can work. And I hope everyone has a good time with it.
I hope these rules are easy to understand, and
not too strict. I have tried to base them on what is pretty standard on
most play-by e-mail SIMs on the web, making several amendations for personal
experience gained in running other SIMs, and dealing with the individual
players. If, after reading these rules, you still want to join the Starfighter,
click on the link below to go to the "Join" page. If you have any further
questions before joining, please feel free to e-mail the me (the
Captain) with your concerns.
