Command Officer Administrative Duties
What follows are the tidbits of information that Command level officers should know to keep the Fleet functioning in a consistent manner. All of the following points were approved either by vote, or by general acceptance of the ship Commanding Officers.
Fleet Year
Far Point Fleet began in 2381 on March 1, 2004. The fleet year will advance one year each December 31 in real time.
Fleet Membership List and Starbase Mailing Lists
The Starbase 25 mailing list is the official membership list for the fleet. Only Fleet members should be subscribed to that list.
The Starbase 25 discussion list is the general announcement and discussion forum for the entire fleet. Fleet members should also be subscribed to the discussion list.
Each CO and XO will be "Moderators" on that list, as well as the Starbase 25 Discussion list. They should make sure that all their players are subscribed to both lists. It is the responsibility of the CO or XO to change the players' email status upon docking to or deploying from the Starbase.
Due to past problems with computer hackers, the membership list should be checked regularly for errors. Each CO and XO will provide a list of current ship member email addresses to the Fleet Administrators upon request. Any "unclaimed" addresses will be announced to the CO's and subsequently removed from the mailing list if they remain "unclaimed" by any ship / simm.
It is the responsibility of the CO and XO to maintain the integrity of their own ship membership lists in whatever manner best serves the simm.
Crew Manifests
It is very important for each simm to keep their Crew Manifest listing as up to date as possible. When new recruits apply for ship positions, they are referred to the Crew Manifests to see what positions are currently available. If the Crew Manifest is outdated, it could cost the ship new players.
Posting Awards and Fleet Newsletter
It is the responsibility of the CO or XO to submit the following items no later than the 7th of the following month.
That allows roughly a week for winning posts to be determined, and the Fleet Newsletter to be issued by the Editor. Items not received in a timely fashion may not be included in the newsletter.
CO and XO are encouraged to meet the deadlines and to include all applicable news items. When a ship's information is left out of the newsletter, it hurts the morale of the ship and gives the player the impression that their command officers are not really interested in the simm, or in them as players. In a similar fashion, seeing their own news and names appear in the newsletter instills pride and the feeling that their command officers value their contribution as a player.
Posting numbers
Far Point Fleet has always stressed quality of posts over quantity of posts. Short, poorly-written posts in mass quantity does not reflect well on the simm or on the Fleet. For that reason, Far Point Fleet does not encourage competition between the ships for awards based on number of posts. We do not rank ships based on posting totals. Each ship is encouraged to compete against its own best posting months, and each player is encouraged to post at least twice a week. Command officers should be leading posts with two to three posts a week.
We do look at posting totals (by player) as an indicator of whether or not the ship has enough crew, whether or not the simm is maintaining the interest of the players, and ultimately whether or not the simm is stable, growing, or strong. The totals must be viewed as part of the overall picture, not as a stand-alone measure of the success of the simm.
Synopsis of recent missions
Far Point Fleet stresses interaction between ships and encourages a "fleet-based" simm, rather than a collection of ships using the same name. Providing a brief synopsis of missions allows the other ships the opportunity for exchange of information, and opportunity for occasional encounters with the same bad guys, or good guys, in this area of space.
Posting nominations for Fleet Awards
Each ship may create its own "ship awards" and issue its own ship newsletter. Fleet awards fall into specific categories to which each ship is entitled to one and only one nomination each month. For example, a ship may decide to list all of the month's nominations along with the winning nomination. Sometimes that is good for player morale. But the ship may only nominate *one* entry for Fleet awards. Therefore, the other posts must be considered (and specifically designated) "Honorable Mention." If a ship is going to list more than post for each category, the actual nomination must be *clearly* identified.
Fleet Award Categories
Commanding Officers are eligible only for the Genesis award, regardless of the fact that they may have lower ranking characters on a different ship in the Fleet.
There are six categories of awards.
Best Post* is awarded monthly. This category includes all posts that are mission or storyline advancing. Criteria includes creativity, inclusion of multiple characters, advancement of the plotline, using other characters in a manner consistent with their established personality, and attention to details of prior posts. Other criteria may be considered as well. This category may focus on one character, but will generally focus on the actions of more than one.
Nomination for this category should include the post number, player's name, post title if applicable, and a link to the post.
Best Character Developing Post* is awarded monthly. This includes all posts that are primarily character developing in nature. Criteria includes giving insight into the character's background or emotions, providing new information about the character, or depicting life changing events and the character's reaction to them. Other criteria may be considered as well. This category focuses mainly on one character.
Nomination for this category should include the post number, character's name, post title if applicable, and a link to the post.
*Sometimes posts will include both character development and plotline advancement. In that case, they could be considered for either award.
Funniest Post is awarded monthly. This award is fairly self-explanatory. It should have the reader laughing.
Nomination for this category should include the post number, character's name, post title if applicable, and a link to the post.
Most Improved Poster is only awarded when applicable. This award is for special accomplishment by a player displayed by improvement related to posting. Examples include but are not limited to: starting to use other player characters in their posts as compared to posting only about their own character, significantly increasing the number of posts over the prior month(s), writing longer or more detailed posts, paying more attention to the details in other peoples posts, or even improving in grammar and spelling.
Nomination for this category should include the character's name, and an explanation of the improvement noted (write it the way you would want it to read in the newsletter). Links to example posts are also helpful.
Most Valuable Poster is only awarded when applicable. This award is for going the extra mile, performing above and beyond the call of duty, or doing something extraordinary for the simm or the fleet. This award may be related to posting, but could also be related to some other function, such as webpage updates, recruiting, filling in when a command officer was not available to help, helping new players, helping with administrative functions for the ship, or any number of other activities that helped the simm.
Nomination for this category should include the character's name and a description of the activities that prompted the award (write it as you would like it to appear in the newsletter).
Best Genesis Post is the only award that a Commanding Officer may receive. This award is for the best post which launched a new mission. This award may go to any player who writes the mission's initial post.
Nomination should include the post number, character's name, post title if applicable, and a link to the post.