Agents of Yesterday looks like it could provide the perfect opportunity for starting a RP either similar to this one or an entire new concept. Since the expansion relies on making new characters it's the perfect time to start a fresh new RP. Thoughts? ideas?
It would certainly be a good kickstart point for a TOS type RP, if one wants to make a new character based on that new "faction". It would also be a good kickstart for the original idea, if someone wants to buy new slots in the inevitable grindfest that comes with a new faction.
I'm surprised more people aren't interested in this kind of roleplay. We're all here because we love the idea of playing a character in the universe of Star Trek. In fact, a couple of the characters I've played through, including my most recent Fed toon is a Cadet on a cadet training cruise. When I reach level 60, he'll basically graduate from the Academy as an Ensign. So basically all the missions are simulations, except for Sokketh, that was a legit transport that went a little weird. lol So, I'm interested to see this take shape.
I've been RPing in the main forum and not paying much attention to the story of STO. so far, I've made it to Lt Cmdr and gotten my second ship but the story is still lackluster to me. I'd rather RP in both STO and the forum, but it seems there arent many RPers doing either. There are two or three RP threads open in the main Ten Forward section, and I still have no idea how to find an in-game RP group. So if anyone wishes to RP, either method, let me know. Thanks
@the0infamous Forum RP isn't big and I don't think it really has been since I've been here. However, there are many in-game RP groups. If you go to the STO forum homepage and scroll down to Feedback, you're going to see three categories. Federation Discussion, Klingon Discussion, and Romulan Discussion. Select the one that applies and then once in it, look to the top for a subforum that would be labeled as Earth Spacedock, Qo'nos, or New Romulus, respectively. Those subforums are for fleets to advertise. There are several good RP fleets contained within. I can suggest a few, some more active than others, for all factions. I've seen you around the forums before, as I recognize your signature, so I'd say you're looking for a fleet that does good for Fed and Rom/Fed characters, correct?
This is correct, thank you. I've never particularly liked the klingons, even in the show. But that's beside the point. How do factions work here? Is it like in WoW, where none of the factions can interact? Or can a romulan captain talk to a fed captain without going pvp on each other?
This is correct, thank you. I've never particularly liked the klingons, even in the show. But that's beside the point. How do factions work here? Is it like in WoW, where none of the factions can interact? Or can a romulan captain talk to a fed captain without going pvp on each other?
Everyone can talk to everyone on the Zone chat or by PM or by mail. Fleets, that another story. Federation and Klingon fleets/armadas are seperate. Romulan characters, once they've chosen a faction, can join any fleet of their chosen faction. Many fleet nowadays advertise their welcoming of Romulan characters, but the RP fleets tend to be a bit different. It all depends on who you ask, though. Just sit near, say, Risa and hear the chatter. Of course, Feds can't wander into KDF space and vice versa. Roms have the same restrictions, based on their chosen faction.
I might be interested (unless I'm in something else by then and don't feel I have time), if we get enough people for this to happen. Who've we got so far? I think that's at least 4 or 5 possibles that have posted in the last couple of months, counting me and you.
@wombat140 I think (from what I understand) this is largely an in-game RP type with the occasional forum bit. Unless, of course, the OP wants to contradict that.
I say this because I just saw a post from you in the Captain's Table guide thread and I get the feeling you're more for forum RP than game RP. Of course, I could be reading things wrong, as I have a tendency to do.
The first idea was to start with a long forum RP to establish characters and go through the academy while making new charters in the game that at first would exist simply to establish character appearance. Then over time close to academy graduation we would play the first mission only make the prologue tutorial a new version of the Kobayashi Maru test to explain why the same thing is happening to everyone. After which we would each be assigned our first ship and move the RP into the game proper while still posting captains logs on the forums to keep a record of the RP and to help keep players who can't always play at the same time connected.
Due to the lack of enthusiasm for creating new characters the idea began to become much more fluid and the announcement of the new expansion gave the possibility of a few more ideas. This RP can go along the ideas originally posted or we can do a retro RP with the same ideas where we do the academy RP only in a TOS timeline instead of the timeline currently in place for new characters in-game right now. (What would that be called? Post DS9 Timeline?)
Either way nothing has been nailed down as to who wants to be involved and how people want the RP to go. I'm trying to be flexible to get a decent sized cast involved unfortunately trying to be flexible has probably done more to let this idea fall apart than get it going. In the past my experience has been that the ideal RP cast has between 4 and 6 members. 3 is doable with the right mix of IC personalities and allows for filling out the traditional Tank Healer DPS trinity. But 4 to 6 allows for more versatility of character etc. 7 or 8 is doable too but as the cast grows it's harder to keep everyone involved. I find that 4-6 is the perfect starting size for a RP; it leaves room to grow but also won't fall apart if one person has to take a step away from the RP for a week.
Okay it's Saturday right now almost Sunday where I am I think I'm going to see how many people reply to this by next weekend. If I get at least 3 replies I think I'm going to move this idea out of recruiting mode into planning mode. We can figure out how we want the RP to go when we want it to start and what characters we are going to use. After that if we have at least 3 people (including myself) wanting to do the same thing I think we'll give it a shot and see if it works.
That's what I thought - that for the present it'd be a forum RP. By the time it turns into an in-game RP in several months' time, I might well have had enough of this RP and be happy to leave and make way for somebody else, or the group's plans might have changed, or anything might happen, so that suits me fine. I have health issues that make my mood and attention span variable, so my policy is carpe diem, quam minimum credule innards. (Just being upfront with you there.) Thanks both of you.
Speaking for myself, I'm happy with the ideas of Academy based, TOS era and purpose-made new characters, just so you know. On the other hand if other people really don't like one of those I'll consider other things too - those aren't the only terms on which I'd want to play. Will leave further discussion for if we get to that stage.
(Ha ha, I like that idea of the tutorial mission being the same for everyone because it's actually the new Kobayashi Maru simulation! It's extreme enough for it, too!)
I'm very interested, but my schedule may be wierd. I've got three IRC sims going right now that take up my time in the evenings, my GM over there is trying to push me towards some gamerunning there and I accidentally made the mistake of doing tons of our forum logs over there that I've got to work on and then I've got college in the fall, but fortunately for me, I don't have a life!
Before you get into planning, I think sharing timezones would be important for planning. I'll start by saying I'm in CST.
I think knowing time zones will give you some help in knowing when we'll be on. And (last minute idea), have you given any thoughts about turning this into a fleet? I think you'd draw a lot of attention from the in-game folks who are having trouble with their stagnated fleets.
I have considered making a fleet. As the forum RP moves into Game RP I'd like to make a fleet in-game with the original RP cast of 4-6 being the officers as the fleet is opened up to attract members to form a larger RP cast. Hopefully during the forum RP we'd get to know each other as a group well enough to know who is best suited to lead the fleet and what responsibilities officers will have etc. I don't want to assume that just because I started this topic that I'll be in charge of everything, I want this to be a collaborative effort. But like I said how the RP goes in the forums should help show who is good at what.
As for Timezones I'm CST too but currently my schedule is extremely flexible. I am however looking for a new job so that could change at any time. Working freelance is nice but it lacks reliability and benefits and I'm getting more and more willing to give up setting my own hours in order to have more freedom in my budget.
Depending on how we run the RP scheduling might not be an issue at least not until we move into the ingame part of the RP, and the point of keeping captain's logs is to help keep the RP going even if at times schedules conflict.
If you drop a thread in General Discussion or Federation Discussion about this, you might draw more interest? Nobody really wanders by these parts of the forums anymore, it seems.
Or in Ten Forward (main section) itself! That's where all the forum RPers are at the moment.
Ten-Forward ain't got much for RPers. Most of the threads seem stagnant and the new threads created are kinda pointless in my opinion. I haven't seen much good forum RP around here. Okay, I haven't seen much good forum RP at all related to STO lately.
Well, that's where all the currently active forum RP threads are that exist at all, so if there are people on here who are looking for forum RPs that's where they'll look. There are several that seem to get quite a stream of new postings, but they've all been running so long, between the same small group of players, that there seems no hope of a newcomer working out what's going on, let alone finding a way to join in! So maybe anyone who was looking for one will be pleased to see a new one.
I've actually gone ahead and posted there, since the deadline's getting a bit close; I put a link and said to reply to this thread, not that one. Hope that's OK.
Ten-Forward ain't got much for RPers. Most of the threads seem stagnant and the new threads created are kinda pointless in my opinion. I haven't seen much good forum RP around here. Okay, I haven't seen much good forum RP at all related to STO lately.
Okay that's fine. I might wait a bit longer than this weekend to make any decisions about this idea then to give anyone who sees it there a chance to reply. Right now it looks like we have 3 people [including me] which is one short of my minimum goal. But that being said I think I'll go ahead and ask some fairly basic questions. Anyone new to this thread who is interested please answer them as well.
1) New characters Yes/No?
2) TOS or Post TNG/DS9 timeline?
3) Start with 100% forum RP or use a text chat program as well?
4) Voice chat Yes/No? If yes IC voice chat or OOC only? [needs a 100% yes vote to pass]
5) If you join this RP how often to you expect to make posts?
6) How long do you want the forum/chat RP do go before we move RP into game?
7) Once the RP move ingame how often do you want/expect to play the game and for how long each session?
I think those questions will do to start with. I'm not posting my answers yet because I don't want to influence the results.
1.) I've got three slots right now, but I also have a couple toons who could do good as instructors (if this is going to go towards the "starting off as cadets" deal) so I'm open to either.
2.) I prefer post TNG/DS9 because there's so much more to work with there compared to TOS.
3.) Maybe both? We could do set text chat program sessions whenever everyone is open, using some IRC client and then we could set it so that during gaps you get "logs" or forum posts from during the time skips between two sessions that allows for a deeper insight into a character's thoughts and why they did what they did or even an insight into their past.
4.) Despite this new headset I got, I'm on the fence about voice chat, because I can so rarely do it. So, don't count me for that. If everyone else gives a yes vote, I'll put my vote in for OOC only voice chat.
5.) I troll the forums at least a dozen times a day (hint: I have no actual life) so I can make posts anytime. If there's some sort of Round Robin type deal going on, just tag me and it'll have my attention within a couple hours.
6.) This one depends on your plan for timing and all of that.
7.) I do love the game, but my hours are beyond wonky, so it'd generally be nights for me, likely a couple hours at a time or my brain starts to die. I'm okay with going as often as my schedule permits.
I hope I've answered decently enough to convey the points I was trying to make, my brain is a bit dead right now from doing finances and stuff, so these may be a bit rambly and/or vague.
What about sending private messages to the people who've expressed interest in this thread previously (Ninamite, Eposchief, Ussjohnbrown, Damix4, Lovegun154)? Worth a try. They might not have noticed that the idea's been revived.
0) Are we definitely planning to set this at the Academy, then? One of the previous posts seemed to imply that that wasn't set in stone.
I'm in favour of that. It seems to leave more scope; people can be more fun and flaky (in any century, students will be students!) and also have more of a "real life" outside being in Starfleet. (Not that being in the military isn't as much a life as any other, but it's one I have no direct knowledge of so I struggle to think of any ideas about what would happen in it.)
Otherwise, let's see -
1) Open to either new characters or old characters. Although if we're going for Academy setting, new characters will probably be easiest.
2) I'd prefer TOS era because I like it, but I'm not ruling out the other completely. Rllaillieu, why do you think there's "more scope" in the post-DS9 setting compared to TOS? I would say there's MORE scope, in the one way that I've thought of: less advanced technology (i.e. no actual replicator, though some things are close) paradoxically means more things are possible because so many ideas aren't ruled out by "but why would they need to do that?"
3) I'd LIKE to do real-time text chat (IRC? I already have and know how to do that), but as I'm in GMT it's probably not going to happen. Maybe occasionally if we arranged a time in advance, say once a week.
Given this, if we do text chat can we keep it mostly to a certain number of sessions a week? I'm concerned I might get a bit left behind if unlimited chunks of text chat are taking place while I'm not there!
4) Sorry, can't do voice chat.
5) I really don't know how often I expect to make posts. As I've mentioned I've got health problems, so, depending on my mood that day, some days I won't be feeling like posting and others I'll be dropping in several times a day and firing off a bit more. So try to arrange things so that I can always be readily "ghosted" if necessary (i.e. just carry on with the story taking my character as read).
Might it be helpful to have a rule that if someone's not been seen for, say, 24 hours, or 48 hours, the others don't wait for them any longer and are allowed to say what their character does if that's essential to moving on?
6) I may not even be part of the in-game phase (see 3) ), I'm just here in the expectation of a forum RP; so I'd like there to be at least a good month or two of that.
7) See 3) and 5); given the time zones, it could be awkward for me to catch up with you in-game, and I can't always promise that I won't be too tired to be up to standard when the scheduled time comes along. If I did, it would be in GMT evenings i.e. some time between noon and 4pm CST. Not more than an hour or two at a time, maybe a couple of times a week.
Firstly, the post TNG/DS9 era gives us the aftermath of the Dominion War, or the Borg, things that we can work with in game instead of having to create new enemies to face because we're a little short on plausible enemies.
Second, GMT... I'm not familiar with time zones, but I'm going to assume you live in Europe somewhere? I've got a buddy who lives in England. The damned night owl is smoking weed at 3am while IRC simming with us Americans (and the token Canadian), so from your time comparison, that would be my guess. Like I said, I'm unfamiliar with time zones, so I could be very off.
That makes some sense about the Borg and so on. The Tholians, Klingons, Romulans and Orions are the only TOS-era enemies that I can think of in-game. Mind you, wasn't the idea that if we were setting it in the TOS era these new in-game characters would be Agents of Yesterday ones, therefore playing in a TOS-era world themselves, until they time travel to the future (at which point our RP time travels too)?
Another question: If it's going to be Academy-based, then my one concern is, I do want this to be a story involving science-fictiony stuff, rather than it being mainly all about the personal lives and emotional conflicts of people who just happen to be in the Star Trek universe. I understand that some people enjoy that, but I don't. I'm fine with having some of that too, so long as I'm not expected to do much about it myselfand we can have some more practical stuff too. I don't mean the Academy has to be invaded by aliens or anything (though you can if you like :-) ) Just the problems of everyday life on 23rd-century Earth ought to include plenty of weird science. I mean, weird science is part of plenty of people's everyday problems *now* - think of IVF, or anonymous cyber-bullying, or performance-enhancing drugs in athletics.
So looks like right now we have 3 people (including me) and with some comments made it looks more like 2.5 people than 3. I'll still check back here from time to time but it doesn't look like this is happening at least not yet. Going to be busy with watching E3 and doing some other stuff this week but I'll probably check back this weekend before declaring this officially postponed again so if anyone out there is interested in this please post soon.
Took it upon myself to PM those 5 people who were previously interested myself, so don't PM them again! Maybe some of them will join in. If not, well, we had a good try.
How did the usual Ten Forward RP threads get started, does anyone know? Did they start with a couple of people and then more people joined in once they saw it going on? I suppose we could do it on that basis - with the Academy setting there's no problem explaining how any new characters come to be there, not like trying to get a new character into an RP while it's on an uninhabited planet.
I've just been asking on the "Earth Spacedock RP Discussion" thread, it seems that's just what they did do, start it going and see who came along. This is their advice:
Hey wombat. My approach was just to jump in and start it. It was open to anyone who saw it happening. I didn't discuss it at all; just set out a few rules at the beginning and established that people could hop on and off at their leisure. Wasn't the perfect approach, since the first thread went too 10-Forward crazy. But, I think, starting with a simplistic/uncomplicated setting and rules, and letting the group help grow it is a good way to go.
yeah @wombat140 , 3 people are enough ppl for an RP if they're interested enough. Besides that, you can always collaborate with other RPers. For example, I will join pretty much any RP thread, except for one with thousands of pages of one-liners. So count me interested.
Also, I wanted to make a thread in Captain's Table too, but too few people go in there, so perhaps starting a thread in Ten Forward would be a better idea.
Your decision about all of these things, of course, Pocketstory.
And counting The0infamous there are now 4 (or 3.5 ) potential players.
Yes, i'm interested and I apologize for the long post
1) New characters Yes/No? is this a strictly forum RP or is it happening in the STO game? if forum, than i think NO old characters, canon or original, should be allowed, simply because - at least in my 15 years of RP experience - people tend to bring in god-characters and say that since they've had this level 100 super-Q for decades, they should be allowed to dominate the galaxy. I've been guilty of this as well. I think if we all start a forum RP with one COMPLETELY original character with very base abilities, it will allow us to not only grow our characters' talents and powers organically, but also the development of their personality. it would also kinda distinguish the decent writers/actors from those who are simply doing what they want in order to get what they want. i hope this makes sense. Again, i've dealt with this for many years, and i've even done it myself, so it can happen. So I am very PRO-Starfleet Academy, at least starting out. I have an idea for that, if youre interested... In short, new characters YES. lol
2) TOS or Post TNG/DS9 timeline? POST, because I know very little about TOS due to not having seen TOS in many years. Also there is no real continuity with TOS. a lot of the episodes werent even in chronological order. in the pilot episode they went to warp in reverse, but i dont recall that ever happening again. So POST because it makes more sense, but also if we want to have the possibility of time traveling back into TOS era, we could discuss that as well.
3) Start with 100% forum RP or use a text chat program as well? Forum because life. I post more (and in greater length) than anyone else i've RPed with and I'm not bragging. It's a real hindrance sometimes. But you wouldnt want to read my posts in a chat format. HOWEVER, due to the fact that i often like to go back and forth with a couple people if im gonna be online for a longer period of time, i think chat or PM RP should be an option for more personal RPs, such as someone using a mind-meld, or a couple on the holodeck or something. Basically, if you want to keep mystery alive or do something else that's private. BTW, I'm EST, not that that matters.
4) Voice chat Yes/No? If yes IC voice chat or OOC only? [needs a 100% yes vote to pass] I can never do voice chat due to the fact that i dont usually have a private place to do so. I might be able to get on skype once a week or so, but that's the extent of it.
5) If you join this RP how often to you expect to make posts? at least once a day, generally two or three times a day, but I've been known to posts dozens of times a day. lol. It often depends on how interested i am in the RP, as well as what my day is like. I dont usually go more than two days without posting. also i highly highly highly recommend having a Posting Order.
6) How long do you want the forum/chat RP do go before we move RP into game? I dont really play STO that much so it doesnt really pertain to me, sorry. I'm a writer, not a gamer :P
7) Once the RP move ingame how often do you want/expect to play the game and for how long each session? I play the game like once a week, if that, so count me out of that
0) Are we definitely planning to set this at the Academy, then? One of the previous posts seemed to imply that that wasn't set in stone.
I'm in favour of that. It seems to leave more scope; people can be more fun and flaky (in any century, students will be students!) and also have more of a "real life" outside being in Starfleet. (Not that being in the military isn't as much a life as any other, but it's one I have no direct knowledge of so I struggle to think of any ideas about what would happen in it.)
my emotes are being dumb so ignore them as much as you can lol. I'm former military, so I'd like to be able to give advice on that. One of the major problems with RPers RPing Starfleet, military, war, or other types of stories that involve tragedy and death is that they have no concept of how it affects people. If we are all RPing as non-sociopaths, than we should keep in mind that our first, and maybe even second and third, combat experience will have certain amount of mental stresses and emotional changes in our characters. This can often be overlooked on TV, but I think TNG is the show that got it close. People say DS9 got "war" right but they are only right in a limited fashion. Sorry, i'll get off my soapbox now lol
5) I really don't know how often I expect to make posts. As I've mentioned I've got health problems, so, depending on my mood that day, some days I won't be feeling like posting and others I'll be dropping in several times a day and firing off a bit more. So try to arrange things so that I can always be readily "ghosted" if necessary (i.e. just carry on with the story taking my character as read).
Might it be helpful to have a rule that if someone's not been seen for, say, 24 hours, or 48 hours, the others don't wait for them any longer and are allowed to say what their character does if that's essential to moving on?
I'm OK with that rule, but I'd like to do something that I used to do back in the day, which is actually be friends with my fellow Rpers. What I mean is, I dont just want this to be an RP-only group. If you find yourself in one of these moods or you know you're going to have a serious health issue that prevents you from posting (or anything), let someone know. Hell, even if you just feel down and need someone to talk or vent to, I think that should be an option if you so desire. In half my RP's I play a security officer, and in the other half I play a counselor. I have an urge to help and protect people, so whatever I can do to help anyone here, just let me know
That makes some sense about the Borg and so on. The Tholians, Klingons, Romulans and Orions are the only TOS-era enemies that I can think of in-game. Mind you, wasn't the idea that if we were setting it in the TOS era these new in-game characters would be Agents of Yesterday ones, therefore playing in a TOS-era world themselves, until they time travel to the future (at which point our RP time travels too)?
We could do both: have two or three Rpers playing in the TOS world and a few in the STO world and maybe they meet somehow? If there is going to be time travel, it makes sense. Also I havent played any Agents of Yesterday, I'm only a Lt. Cmdr in game. So yall have me at a disadvantage when talking about anything beyond that level.
Another question: If it's going to be Academy-based, then my one concern is, I do want this to be a story involving science-fictiony stuff, rather than it being mainly all about the personal lives and emotional conflicts of people who just happen to be in the Star Trek universe. I understand that some people enjoy that, but I don't. I'm fine with having some of that too, so long as I'm not expected to do much about it myselfand we can have some more practical stuff too. I don't mean the Academy has to be invaded by aliens or anything (though you can if you like :-) ) Just the problems of everyday life on 23rd-century Earth ought to include plenty of weird science. I mean, weird science is part of plenty of people's everyday problems *now* - think of IVF, or anonymous cyber-bullying, or performance-enhancing drugs in athletics.
Again, can't we do both? I'm much better at emotional character development than treknobabble, as anyone who's read ESD can attest to. Since I will most likely be playing a security officer or counselor, you could play a science officer or engineer, thereby putting your character right in the midst of the treknobabble :P
How did the usual Ten Forward RP threads get started, does anyone know? Did they start with a couple of people and then more people joined in once they saw it going on? I suppose we could do it on that basis - with the Academy setting there's no problem explaining how any new characters come to be there, not like trying to get a new character into an RP while it's on an uninhabited planet.
Around the time you came to our OOC thread, we got another Rper. And im trying to get a friend of mine to join too. Occasionally, someone comes in and posts once and then vanishes. Usually it's a super-long post...so I guess they have every intention of Rping with us, but then they get left behind and dont feel like continuing on their own. Plus sometimes they post in another part of the galaxy, where the rest of the Rpers are not located. In order to keep this RP available to new Rpers, perhaps we should have an Rper who has a playable character always at SF Academy, to welcome the new player's character and give them an update on what's going on. The character who stays behind could be a veteran/instructor, or a cadet who just cant graduate, though I recommend the former.
Comments
Everyone can talk to everyone on the Zone chat or by PM or by mail. Fleets, that another story. Federation and Klingon fleets/armadas are seperate. Romulan characters, once they've chosen a faction, can join any fleet of their chosen faction. Many fleet nowadays advertise their welcoming of Romulan characters, but the RP fleets tend to be a bit different. It all depends on who you ask, though. Just sit near, say, Risa and hear the chatter. Of course, Feds can't wander into KDF space and vice versa. Roms have the same restrictions, based on their chosen faction.
I say this because I just saw a post from you in the Captain's Table guide thread and I get the feeling you're more for forum RP than game RP. Of course, I could be reading things wrong, as I have a tendency to do.
Due to the lack of enthusiasm for creating new characters the idea began to become much more fluid and the announcement of the new expansion gave the possibility of a few more ideas. This RP can go along the ideas originally posted or we can do a retro RP with the same ideas where we do the academy RP only in a TOS timeline instead of the timeline currently in place for new characters in-game right now. (What would that be called? Post DS9 Timeline?)
Either way nothing has been nailed down as to who wants to be involved and how people want the RP to go. I'm trying to be flexible to get a decent sized cast involved unfortunately trying to be flexible has probably done more to let this idea fall apart than get it going. In the past my experience has been that the ideal RP cast has between 4 and 6 members. 3 is doable with the right mix of IC personalities and allows for filling out the traditional Tank Healer DPS trinity. But 4 to 6 allows for more versatility of character etc. 7 or 8 is doable too but as the cast grows it's harder to keep everyone involved. I find that 4-6 is the perfect starting size for a RP; it leaves room to grow but also won't fall apart if one person has to take a step away from the RP for a week.
Okay it's Saturday right now almost Sunday where I am I think I'm going to see how many people reply to this by next weekend. If I get at least 3 replies I think I'm going to move this idea out of recruiting mode into planning mode. We can figure out how we want the RP to go when we want it to start and what characters we are going to use. After that if we have at least 3 people (including myself) wanting to do the same thing I think we'll give it a shot and see if it works.
Speaking for myself, I'm happy with the ideas of Academy based, TOS era and purpose-made new characters, just so you know. On the other hand if other people really don't like one of those I'll consider other things too - those aren't the only terms on which I'd want to play. Will leave further discussion for if we get to that stage.
(Ha ha, I like that idea of the tutorial mission being the same for everyone because it's actually the new Kobayashi Maru simulation! It's extreme enough for it, too!)
Before you get into planning, I think sharing timezones would be important for planning. I'll start by saying I'm in CST.
I think knowing time zones will give you some help in knowing when we'll be on. And (last minute idea), have you given any thoughts about turning this into a fleet? I think you'd draw a lot of attention from the in-game folks who are having trouble with their stagnated fleets.
As for Timezones I'm CST too but currently my schedule is extremely flexible. I am however looking for a new job so that could change at any time. Working freelance is nice but it lacks reliability and benefits and I'm getting more and more willing to give up setting my own hours in order to have more freedom in my budget.
Depending on how we run the RP scheduling might not be an issue at least not until we move into the ingame part of the RP, and the point of keeping captain's logs is to help keep the RP going even if at times schedules conflict.
Ten-Forward ain't got much for RPers. Most of the threads seem stagnant and the new threads created are kinda pointless in my opinion. I haven't seen much good forum RP around here. Okay, I haven't seen much good forum RP at all related to STO lately.
I've actually gone ahead and posted there, since the deadline's getting a bit close; I put a link and said to reply to this thread, not that one. Hope that's OK.
awww... *pouts*
lol im kidding :P
1) New characters Yes/No?
2) TOS or Post TNG/DS9 timeline?
3) Start with 100% forum RP or use a text chat program as well?
4) Voice chat Yes/No? If yes IC voice chat or OOC only? [needs a 100% yes vote to pass]
5) If you join this RP how often to you expect to make posts?
6) How long do you want the forum/chat RP do go before we move RP into game?
7) Once the RP move ingame how often do you want/expect to play the game and for how long each session?
I think those questions will do to start with. I'm not posting my answers yet because I don't want to influence the results.
1.) I've got three slots right now, but I also have a couple toons who could do good as instructors (if this is going to go towards the "starting off as cadets" deal) so I'm open to either.
2.) I prefer post TNG/DS9 because there's so much more to work with there compared to TOS.
3.) Maybe both? We could do set text chat program sessions whenever everyone is open, using some IRC client and then we could set it so that during gaps you get "logs" or forum posts from during the time skips between two sessions that allows for a deeper insight into a character's thoughts and why they did what they did or even an insight into their past.
4.) Despite this new headset I got, I'm on the fence about voice chat, because I can so rarely do it. So, don't count me for that. If everyone else gives a yes vote, I'll put my vote in for OOC only voice chat.
5.) I troll the forums at least a dozen times a day (hint: I have no actual life) so I can make posts anytime. If there's some sort of Round Robin type deal going on, just tag me and it'll have my attention within a couple hours.
6.) This one depends on your plan for timing and all of that.
7.) I do love the game, but my hours are beyond wonky, so it'd generally be nights for me, likely a couple hours at a time or my brain starts to die. I'm okay with going as often as my schedule permits.
I hope I've answered decently enough to convey the points I was trying to make, my brain is a bit dead right now from doing finances and stuff, so these may be a bit rambly and/or vague.
0) Are we definitely planning to set this at the Academy, then? One of the previous posts seemed to imply that that wasn't set in stone.
I'm in favour of that. It seems to leave more scope; people can be more fun and flaky (in any century, students will be students!) and also have more of a "real life" outside being in Starfleet. (Not that being in the military isn't as much a life as any other, but it's one I have no direct knowledge of so I struggle to think of any ideas about what would happen in it.)
Otherwise, let's see -
1) Open to either new characters or old characters. Although if we're going for Academy setting, new characters will probably be easiest.
2) I'd prefer TOS era because I like it, but I'm not ruling out the other completely. Rllaillieu, why do you think there's "more scope" in the post-DS9 setting compared to TOS? I would say there's MORE scope, in the one way that I've thought of: less advanced technology (i.e. no actual replicator, though some things are close) paradoxically means more things are possible because so many ideas aren't ruled out by "but why would they need to do that?"
3) I'd LIKE to do real-time text chat (IRC? I already have and know how to do that), but as I'm in GMT it's probably not going to happen. Maybe occasionally if we arranged a time in advance, say once a week.
Given this, if we do text chat can we keep it mostly to a certain number of sessions a week? I'm concerned I might get a bit left behind if unlimited chunks of text chat are taking place while I'm not there!
4) Sorry, can't do voice chat.
5) I really don't know how often I expect to make posts. As I've mentioned I've got health problems, so, depending on my mood that day, some days I won't be feeling like posting and others I'll be dropping in several times a day and firing off a bit more. So try to arrange things so that I can always be readily "ghosted" if necessary (i.e. just carry on with the story taking my character as read).
Might it be helpful to have a rule that if someone's not been seen for, say, 24 hours, or 48 hours, the others don't wait for them any longer and are allowed to say what their character does if that's essential to moving on?
6) I may not even be part of the in-game phase (see 3) ), I'm just here in the expectation of a forum RP; so I'd like there to be at least a good month or two of that.
7) See 3) and 5); given the time zones, it could be awkward for me to catch up with you in-game, and I can't always promise that I won't be too tired to be up to standard when the scheduled time comes along. If I did, it would be in GMT evenings i.e. some time between noon and 4pm CST. Not more than an hour or two at a time, maybe a couple of times a week.
Firstly, the post TNG/DS9 era gives us the aftermath of the Dominion War, or the Borg, things that we can work with in game instead of having to create new enemies to face because we're a little short on plausible enemies.
Second, GMT... I'm not familiar with time zones, but I'm going to assume you live in Europe somewhere? I've got a buddy who lives in England. The damned night owl is smoking weed at 3am while IRC simming with us Americans (and the token Canadian), so from your time comparison, that would be my guess. Like I said, I'm unfamiliar with time zones, so I could be very off.
That makes some sense about the Borg and so on. The Tholians, Klingons, Romulans and Orions are the only TOS-era enemies that I can think of in-game. Mind you, wasn't the idea that if we were setting it in the TOS era these new in-game characters would be Agents of Yesterday ones, therefore playing in a TOS-era world themselves, until they time travel to the future (at which point our RP time travels too)?
Another question: If it's going to be Academy-based, then my one concern is, I do want this to be a story involving science-fictiony stuff, rather than it being mainly all about the personal lives and emotional conflicts of people who just happen to be in the Star Trek universe. I understand that some people enjoy that, but I don't. I'm fine with having some of that too, so long as I'm not expected to do much about it myselfand we can have some more practical stuff too. I don't mean the Academy has to be invaded by aliens or anything (though you can if you like :-) ) Just the problems of everyday life on 23rd-century Earth ought to include plenty of weird science. I mean, weird science is part of plenty of people's everyday problems *now* - think of IVF, or anonymous cyber-bullying, or performance-enhancing drugs in athletics.
How did the usual Ten Forward RP threads get started, does anyone know? Did they start with a couple of people and then more people joined in once they saw it going on? I suppose we could do it on that basis - with the Academy setting there's no problem explaining how any new characters come to be there, not like trying to get a new character into an RP while it's on an uninhabited planet.
Your decision about all of these things, of course, Pocketstory.
And counting The0infamous there are now 4 (or 3.5
my emotes are being dumb so ignore them as much as you can lol. I'm former military, so I'd like to be able to give advice on that. One of the major problems with RPers RPing Starfleet, military, war, or other types of stories that involve tragedy and death is that they have no concept of how it affects people. If we are all RPing as non-sociopaths, than we should keep in mind that our first, and maybe even second and third, combat experience will have certain amount of mental stresses and emotional changes in our characters. This can often be overlooked on TV, but I think TNG is the show that got it close. People say DS9 got "war" right but they are only right in a limited fashion. Sorry, i'll get off my soapbox now lol
I'm OK with that rule, but I'd like to do something that I used to do back in the day, which is actually be friends with my fellow Rpers. What I mean is, I dont just want this to be an RP-only group. If you find yourself in one of these moods or you know you're going to have a serious health issue that prevents you from posting (or anything), let someone know. Hell, even if you just feel down and need someone to talk or vent to, I think that should be an option if you so desire. In half my RP's I play a security officer, and in the other half I play a counselor. I have an urge to help and protect people, so whatever I can do to help anyone here, just let me know
We could do both: have two or three Rpers playing in the TOS world and a few in the STO world and maybe they meet somehow? If there is going to be time travel, it makes sense. Also I havent played any Agents of Yesterday, I'm only a Lt. Cmdr in game. So yall have me at a disadvantage when talking about anything beyond that level.
Again, can't we do both? I'm much better at emotional character development than treknobabble, as anyone who's read ESD can attest to. Since I will most likely be playing a security officer or counselor, you could play a science officer or engineer, thereby putting your character right in the midst of the treknobabble :P
Around the time you came to our OOC thread, we got another Rper. And im trying to get a friend of mine to join too. Occasionally, someone comes in and posts once and then vanishes. Usually it's a super-long post...so I guess they have every intention of Rping with us, but then they get left behind and dont feel like continuing on their own. Plus sometimes they post in another part of the galaxy, where the rest of the Rpers are not located. In order to keep this RP available to new Rpers, perhaps we should have an Rper who has a playable character always at SF Academy, to welcome the new player's character and give them an update on what's going on. The character who stays behind could be a veteran/instructor, or a cadet who just cant graduate, though I recommend the former.