USS Firehawk-E

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RULES

1. Posting Length
Posts should be a minimum of four paragraphs. In general, you can't really say much in just a couple paragraphs. A lot of times, not much can be said in only four paragraphs.

2. Posting Format
Posts should be written in third-person, past tense.

Example: Captain Terrance Fletcher sat forward in his chair as the Romulan Warbird decloaked on the main viewer. They knew that the Romulans had been patrolling this sector, but they had not expected such an overt display. Something tugged at the back of Terrance's mind as a part of him began to think there was more going on here than it seemed.

The post should be sent to the listserver (ussfirehawk@yahoogroups.com) with the Mission Name and the post's number in the header.

3. Punctuation, Capitalization, and Spelling
Every attempt should be made to use punctuation and capitalization in your posts. In a sim that allows global membership with such widely varying levels of skill with the English language, perfect English won't be required. However, it is much easier to read a post with punctuation and capitalization in the proper places. Also, be certain to spell-check your posts.

4. Member Posting
All members of the sim are expected to submit at least one in-character post every four weeks (a month). If you find you are unable to maintain this posting frequency, you should contact the CO and discuss a means to keep yourself active in the sim.

Any member of the sim who fails to either submit a post to the listserver or notify the CO of an inability to meet the posting requirements for a period of three months will be removed from the sim as inactive.

5. Joint Posts and Character Interaction
Whenever your character interacts with another player's character in the sim, you should contact the other character for a joint post. There are many methods for crafting a joint post. Typically, the post is sent back and forth off-list until it reaches a conclusion, and is then posted to the USS Firehawk listserver.

Any interaction between characters should be contained within a single, completed post (or more if the post is very large), not spread out over a dozen small posts. Do not end your post tagging another to pick up in a conversation.

Your character should never injure or harm another player's character without that player's consent. If your character and another character get into a fight, and neither you nor the other player can decide who wins the fight, the fight should end in a draw.

6. NOTHING THAT IS OFFENSIVE IN ANY MANNER MAY BE POSTED. Penalty is instant removal from the sim.

NEW POINTS BASED PROMOTION SYSTEM

Posting requirement is one post per month. Failure to do so will attract penalties.

From now on, in order to encourage good posting, posting frequency, and active recruiting, the Firehawk will promote players on a joint time served/points system, outlined below.

a) In order to encourage posting of a superior quality rather than just sheer numbers, a post will be awarded points on the number of words it contains. A post will awarded a point for each 100 words it contains. For example a post of 100 words is 1 point, 150 words is 1.5 points, etc.

b) As a sim can only go on with players, existing players are encouraged to recruit. Each new player recruited by an existing player will earn the existing player 10 points. If an existing player is able to recruit five players in a month a bonus 20 points will be awarded.

HOWEVER, there are conditions that must be met before points can be awarded for the recruiting of new players. Each new player must have posted at least once during their first week, for the existing player to be eligible for points.

c) Each month, a “Simmer of the Month Award” and a “Post of the Month” will be voted upon. The winner of a “Simmer of the Month Award” will be awarded 25 points. For the “Post of the Month” each contributing writer will be awarded 10 points.

d) The recipient of other awards, given by the CO for service to the Sim or for exceptional storyline, will also be awarded points of a value to be determined by the CO.

NOTE: Any player who, without the written consent of the CO, fails to post during the posting limit will lose 5 points. If this is ongoing, the player will lose 1 point for every day they fail to post.

At the end of each month, the CO will post to the list the running tally of points, along with any promotions/demotions.

The CO can also promote at his/her discretion regardless of points.

Rank to Point Table:

The above numbers are not set in stone - they are dependent on many factors, which will be detailed below. These criteria will bring promotion more quickly to some, and far slower to others.

1.        Simmers must be consistently active on the sim. For example, if you miss more than two posting cycles (one posting cycle is a month and one post is the minimum) in three months, it is unlikely you will gain a promotion to Lieutenant j.g. As well, if you have been on hiatus for two out of the three months, it is also highly doubtful you will earn a promotion. Those who go beyond normal posting may gain a promotion in a shorter amount of time, with exception, of course.

2.        Sheer volume of posts, as well, does not necessarily lead to immediate promotion. Those posts dealing with characters performing actions related to their actual position aboard the ship are weighed more heavily than those that do not. The same goes for players who contribute more substantially to each mission's plot, and those who are more active in their department (eg. creating a department-related task for yourself and carrying it out with little direction, or involving others in your department or other departments to increase participation).

3.        Creating a character that has been an Ensign for three years does not mean that character will be promoted sooner than, say, one that has been on the sim for three months longer. Character history has little bearing on whether a promotion is earned or not; that character's performance on the ship, as well as the player's performance, will determine if a promotion is merited. So, creating a character that has been an Ensign for three years simply to expedite promotion won't work

4.        A character's actions will affect his/her likelihood for promotion. Insubordinate behaviour, unruliness, breach of conduct, and other unStarfleet-like behaviour, while sometimes contributing to a great storyline, would not realistically lead to a character receiving promotion. If you are writing your character acting in such a fashion, it is safe to assume you are not looking to get him/her promoted, but for those who are not aware of that and begin to wonder why, after five months, your character hasn't been promoted, please note that such things simply wouldn't happen in the Star Trek universe.

Rest assured, however, that characters may redeem themselves, and still maintain some of their edge to perform effectively and eventually receive a promotion. Look at Tom Paris as an example - promoted, demoted, promoted, then demoted again, and once more promoted, and through it all still maintained his rebellious spark. So, this is not a condemnation of those characters that are not model officers - this is simply a clarification of why they might not climb the ranks with ease. Above all else, however, stay true to your intended storyline and to the character you're writing, and if a promotion is what you want, feel free to speak with the CO/XO to express that desire and we can definitely give you tips on how to get your particular character there.

5.        OOC behaviour, such as that on the Firehawk OOC list, may influence your character's likelihood for promotion. Of course the OOC list posts are not IC posts, but disrespectful behaviour on the list will not be encouraged by promoting one's character.

6.        Department heads may recommend promotion for a character in their department. This may be done OOC, IC, or both, such as an OOC discussion with the CO/XO about a player you feel has been writing great stories, which might turn into an IC post where your department head makes the same recommendation to the captain. Then that recommendation can be either approved or rejected by the CO/XO depending on the factors mentioned above.

As well, players may feel free to approach the CO/XO themselves to request a promotion for their character. We may decide against it at that time after reviewing your history on the sim, but if it is clear a promotion is what you're aiming for and something your character is, as well, we will gladly give you advice on what more you need do to receive one. The same will go for commendations, although the qualifications for earning one of these are far more relaxed.

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