The Griffon SIM is rated 18 by British Ratings Standards, and MA By American Standards.
This rating is self proclaimed by the Griffon Administrator, the sim may contain:
Excessive language, very strong adult themes and graphic violence are not filtered. The rating of MA is not intended to be a license for the constant use of storylines that use vulgar language, sexual explicitness, substance abuse,or violent behavior.
It is intended to portray the fact that the Sims reflect the lives of grown adults. It is in no way a scapegoat from the general rule that one is to treat other players with respect. The captain of each vessel has the right to discipline players (subject to review and appeal) if he/she believes another player has abused the premise of this rating.
(The official rating for the fleet is 12/PG-13, thus, an age of 12/13 respectively is requested, but not required to join.)
The Griffon Maintains the minimum amount of rules needed to keep the sim running, it has been proved, that too many rules can, and will lead to stagnation of the sim.
These rules apply to each and every simmer on the Griffon. Read them. Know them. Do your best to follow them because if you do, you'll have a much better experience in this Fleet and so will everyone else.
1. Your character MUST be original. You cannot be Data after his years on the Enterprise-D nor can you be Miles O'Brien after retiring from Starfleet. Your character must have ORIGINAL characteristics, ORIGINAL background information, ORIGINAL quirks and hobbies (see the pattern here?). Long lost sons or daughters of 'canon' Trek characters are also out. Other character types not accepted are: Soong-type androids (or androids of any kind), Borg, Species 8472, Jem 'Hadar, any species discovered by the starship Voyager while lost in the Delta Quadrant or any other species hostile towards Starfleet or the Federation immediately after the Dominion War.
2. Once you have been assigned to a ship or starbase, you have two weeks to complete your character's bio. This is ample time to figure out where you want your character to have originated from, etc. The bio is the most important part of your character that you can share with us. It lets other players know how your character would most likely act in a social situation, meaning that your character will have a better chance of being used in someone's logs.
3. Posting requirements on the Griffon are simple: Four (4) posts, MINIMUM, every month. That means that one (1) log is required every week. Of course, we would really like to see more than four logs in a month... (hint, hint) If you are going to miss a few logs due to problems beyond your control, contact your Commanding Officer and inform him/her of the situation. The C.O. can excuse your absence if s/he is notified. If you miss more than three weeks worth of logs without contacting your C.O., you can lose your position on the RPG as well as disciplinary action being taken.
4. Each RPG has their own guidelines regarding explicit language. If you're not sure, each site will have a rating on the main page describing what type of rating has been placed on that site in accordance with the rules of our hosts. If your RPG has a rating of PG-13, you will be able to use 'canon' Trek language, i.e. anything that has been seen or heard on any Star Trek television show or movie. However, this RPG group is open to younger players and we would like to keep the explicit language to a minimum, if possible.
5. No one is authorized to start the RPG on a new mission without prior authorization from the Commanding Officer, or in his/her absence, the Executive Officer. If you take the ship on your own adventure, you may confuse the rest of the crew and cause the storyline to be split. This will cause problems down the line and may also land you in hot water with the Fleet's Judge Advocate General leading to possible suspension, demotion in rank or dismissal. Reoccurring side stories are always welcome as long as they don't interfere or contradict the main mission or storyline set forth by the RPG's C.O.
6. Keep in mind that everything that happens in this Fleet has to be able to happen in the Trek movies and televisions series. you cannot be outnumbered, outgunned and outsmarted by Jem'Hadar cruisers and then magically defeat them in your Class V runabout. It wouldn't happen in the shows or movies and it's not going to happen here.
7. "Uber" characters. Do not be one. In these RPG's you will obviously have knowledge of information that your character would not. For example, you've just read a log from the C.O. of a "secret" meeting between the Captain, Executive Officer and Chief of Security and your character is on an extended away mission during their meeting, so your character would not have any knowledge of this meeting. Do your best to keep what you know separated from what your character would know. Additionally, your character could not possibly be an expert in 15 different martial arts forms, fluent in 10 different alien languages and not everyone's character can graduate 1st in their class at the Academy with a major in Command and a double-minor in Security/Tactical and Medical. It cannot happen. This type of outrageous character biography has all of the signs of an Uber Character. The biography will be noticed by your C.O. and you will be directed to change it to something more believable.
8. Ship C.O.'s have disciplinary rights. If they deem it necessary to discipline a member, they may do so. However, if the member feels that their punishment was handed out unjustly, they may file a grievance with the Fleet's Judge Advocate General who will then review the case and issue a response. Members feeling that the Judge Advocate General's response was unsatisfactory may file a grievance with the Command Council. The Command Council will review the case and issue a response which will be the final say in the matter.
10. The Fleet's mailing lists are NOT to be used for personal message, petitions, of anything other messages not related to the RPG. Anyone found using the mailing lists in this manner will receive one warning from the C.O. of the RPG, or a Fleet Flag Officer. If the problem continues, the issue will be sent to the Judge Advocate General or Chief of Staff/Chief of Operations who have the authority to suspend the member's rights to the Fleet, place them on probation or even terminate their membership.
11. DO NOT ASK FOR A PROMOTION. Self explanatory. If you have someone to recommend, or someone recommends you fine, but if it turns out you asked them to recomend you, consequenses may ensue.
12. Once you have been placed on an RPG, go through and read each character's biography. These are the 'people' you will interacting with and it would be good to know how another character would most likely react in a certain situation. If you're unsure about this, but plan on using someone's character in your logs frequently, email the character's 'owner' for pointers and/or tips on how their character would act, or request to do a joint log with the character's 'owner'. If the owner of a character thinks that you used their character in a way contrary to their bio, the log may be deleted and the Commanding Officer will speak to the writer of the offending log. Do not use a character in a way that is contrary to what their biography says without EXPRESS WRITTEN CONSENT from that author.
13. You cannot kill off another member's character without permission from the owner of the character.
14. Direct insubordination to your C.O. or to the Fleet Command Staff in your logs, over IM services, chat, instant messengers, email, in person, via phone, etc. regarding any aspect of Sim/Fleet will not be tolerated and may be cause for immediate suspension or removal from the RPG.
15. Be considerate of other players.
16. The Griffon Command staff reserves the right to amend this document at any time.