When a player accepts the responsibility of command (any of the top three ship positions:  CO, XO, 2O) the player must accept the fact that they are held to a higher standard than the rest of the crew.  They are expected to be more experienced.  They are expected to lead instead of follow.  And they are expected to show a unified command presence on the ship.  The players should *never* see out-of-character conflict between the CO, XO, and 2O.  All disagreement or discussion should happen in private!  The command crew has the responsibility to put the needs of the ship and crew ahead of their own personal emotions.

If the captain has a problem with his XO or 2O, he should never undermine their authority by reprimanding them in public.  If their error was in public, then the CO should correct them in private and allow them to make their own correction, retraction or apology in public (to the crew).  That supports their authority and proves that they have enough integrity to correct themselves.  It instills player confidence in the command crew, because the players see that the command crew is able to admit their own mistakes and move on.

 

A lower level officer does not have the right to criticize their superior officer(s) to the crew, or to challenge the CO ‘on list.’  In the real world, such insubordination could result in a court martial!

Outbursts of that nature do *not* resolve problems.  They leave the regular players with divided loyalties, and the impression that their ship (and possibly the entire fleet) is unstable.  Attention becomes focused on the power struggle, rather than the real issues.  The players are not able to concentrate on posting because of the conflict, and ultimately they may lose interest or leave the ship. (That is a large part of why this fleet was formed! So much time was spent in our prior fleet just dealing with the conflicts, that there was no time to just simm!)

 

So, instead of voicing complaints in public, the XO or 2O, or both, need to address their concerns with the CO privately and without involving other players.

Now, what if the private efforts to resolve the problems fail to adequately resolve the problems?

 

A good CO will look at the overall affect on the crew and ship.  If the CO is unable to resolve the issues to the satisfaction of those involved, the CO may want to consider offering a transfer to the player(s) involved.  If moving one or two people will correct the conflict, a transfer is no black mark on either the player or the ship.  Sometimes the fit just is not a good one, and everyone will be happier with a change.

 

Sometimes, the problems run deeper than that, though.  Sometimes there are too many players who are affected.  Sometimes there is no easy solution.  And sometimes the emotions are too high for resolution from within the command circle.  At those times, the Conflict Resolution Policy will apply. Since the policy is written for worst-case scenario, it follows what would happen if each progressive step failed to provide solution.  Hopefully, Far Point Fleet will never have need of the full policy!