Be respectful of your fellow players, both in- and out-of-character.

This is the golden rule, and all of the following rules stem from it.

 

Sim Participation

If you cannot participate during a given week, please let the command staff know in Discord by either public or private message. Please take a few minutes to look through the chat that you have missed prior to jumping back into the game.

Additionally, if your character is in a leadership position, you are expected to participate during most weeks. If you are unable to do so, please contact command staff about potential reassignment of leadership duties.

You’re responsible for finding ways for your character to participate. Even when your character is not key in driving the plot, participation should include actively paying attention, and making an effort to think of things your character could be doing or thinking. This isn’t always feasible, but there should be more to your character than waiting for orders or for another character to otherwise speak to yours.

 

In-Game Character Action & Interaction

Never use someone else’s character without permission. This extends to showing an effect of your action on another player’s character without giving them a chance to respond, such as declaring that you threw a punch that knocked them out. This does not apply to ACTION statements made by command staff.

Do not use ACTION statements unless you have been given prior permission. They are reserved for command staff and their delegates, and intended to convey the most important events of the game that may affect all players.

Avoid taking actions or introducing elements that could affect the plot beyond your own character’s role in it without checking with command staff. While you are responsible for finding ways for your character to participate, please try to do so in ways that make sense within the context of the story. This can sometimes be a delicate balance to strike, but it’s always better to check with your department chief or the command staff if you are not certain about something you want to do.

 

Log Etiquette

Please read the logs that your crewmates write, and reply with meaningful comments. This feedback is key to ensuring that people don’t feel like the effort they spend writing these logs is wasted by no one reading them.

Our games are uncensored, but scenes depicting physical intimacy should be kept somewhat classy. When such a scene leans more towards a description of the mechanics of sex, rather than the emotional attachment and character development inherent in that scene, then it might be a better idea to mask those mechanics with some tasteful writing or simply cut them out all together and fade to black.

When submitting logs, please take a little time to proofread for spelling and grammar. Errors are easy to make, but just as easily spotted by a quick editing pass. It’s not necessary for your log to be perfect, but putting just a few minutes of extra effort into polishing it can really make a big difference in the quality of your final product. If you want or need help with this, ask a fellow crewmember to read it through and offer constructive criticism before you publish.

 

Guidelines For the New Play-When-You-Can Style

Please contribute to the main mission at least once a week, but feel free to do so more often. In an action-packed scene, daily contributions may be more appropriate, but are not required.

A contribution should be a bit more than just a typical line in a live sim. Spend a few minutes on it and flesh it out, adding what you’re trying to do, how you’re trying to do it, and potentially, what you hope to accomplish with it and how your character feels about it. You can also potentially combine what might be several lines in a live sim into one, such as getting into a turbolift and riding to sickbay. Take your time!

Instead of indicating who you are speaking to by their position like we used to (CO, etc), actually tag them in Discord. Please use discretion on how often you tag someone, especially repeatedly, as to not become irritating.

Keep your Discord handle set to the standard abbreviation for your rank, followed by your character name. Since users have department-color roles and we will be tagging instead of using positions to indicate who we’re speaking to, the position prefix is now superfluous.

Since the game now has a much slower pace, feel free to participate in multiple concurrent stories across the various rooms, such as the main mission, Ten-Forward, and the various holodecks!

As always, please write logs and, more than ever, please comment on what others write! Feedback lets authors know that someone actually read what they worked hard to write!

 

Have Fun!

Following these simple rules and treating your fellow players with respect will help to ensure that playing in our games is a fun time for everyone to get creative and exercise their role-playing muscles! If you have any questions or concerns about this Code of Conduct, please contact a member of the command staff.