Academy Department

We would like to see the academy revamped, and examine the requirements for graduation.  Our current academy ship, the USS Challenger, and her senior staff do an excellent job of preparing new members for the mechanics of the club.  We would like to extend that to include more than mechanics but how to write believable characters as well.  By giving some focus to solid character creation new members are better prepared for their post academy ships.  There are so many members in STF who are old hands at this and it can be daunting to new members to arrive on a ship full of well seasoned and established characters.  Especially if your only experience with your character is your brief time on Challenger.  Helping new players create solid and realized characters will give them confidence and stability as they step out into the wider club.

There has been talk recently about the role of the Academy exams in STF.  This is a discussion that we want to keep going and analyze if the exams are still useful and if they are, in what way.  We see a need to pull in another aspect of the academy and personnel departments and that is Mentorship.  We propose that mentorship is a better way to offer these learning experiences over the academy exams.  There is much to be considered here and how a mentor would know a mentee was ready for a DH or command position, but hands on experience in the writing of such a position will provide more feedback and insight for the mentee than the written exams. We know that the mentorship program exists but at the departmental level but we would propose that it be expanded to the postgraduate level. Active mentorship roles for those seeking DH or command experience would be placed with a rank fitting their role, for example a XO mentee could be on a ship with the rank of “XO in Training” and would be mentored both IC and OOC accordingly. This way we could emulate the in universe ‘command training programs’ that are onboard starships as seen in Next Generation or Discovery.

Gamemaster Department

The GM department has experienced a shortage now for some time.  We believe one reason for the shortage is simply GM burn out.  With so few GMs currently our GMs have taken on more and more ships and when they can’t, ships go without a GM and COs struggle to find someone willing to take up the gauntlet again. To combat GM burnout we are exploring the idea of a format that would include ‘highly encouraged’ between sim R&R period for both the GM and the crew, where side sims would be free to take forefront and not take the focus away from existing missions. A balance between the GM’s vision and the crew needing to unwind..  One option we put forward is that self-simming would be implemented by the CO/XO and crew, while the GM takes a break. This is something that already happens, but the expectation would be for this self-simming period would be more than just a week or two, allowing the GM a much needed break, and also allow for the GM to have a character to simply play rather than orchestrate if he/she wishes.  Here we need to remember that it should not be a matter of giving CO’s permission to self-sim, they know their ships best, but *HOW* do we support them in making the change. The other problem with shortage is something Jennifer has seen over the past several months.  She has been asked repeatedly to proofread GM exams by those applying and has heard over and over again, how the ‘course’ did not prepare them for the exam, or the exam did not prepare them for the reality.  We propose to reverse this process.  That mentorship comes first followed by a revamped GM exam.

We also propose working with the GM department in creating toolkit for CO/XO’s to create those self-sim opportunities within their ships that go beyond the usual ‘party in the lounge’ affair. We have seen in club environments like OED V and the USS Leviathan that have embraced the nature of self-sim and proven that it works well. We support any ship that should wish to make the transition to a self-sim environment and this toolkit will help to ease that transition. This is not about supplanting the need for the GM as we believe that they play a vital role in the club, our  goal is to come along side the GM’s in the club and give them the support they need as well as encourage CO/XO/Crew the freedom to carve their own path from time to time for their own enjoyment and to give the GM’s a much needed break.

Bureaucratic Oversight

STF as a club is healthy and growing, however there are aspects of micromanaging the day to day and play environment of individual ships and fleets/departments that we need to address. Plain and simple it is not the job of the executive team nor the cabinet (this includes FComms/aFComms) to govern the IC operations of a particular ship. COs have been put into their positions because they are excellent writers and role players, but also have shown the responsibility needed to mentor a ship of writers that enjoy their play environment.  We believe that trust should be put into the Captains of the fleet. That instead of making captains jump through hoops in order to try a new idea for a crew they know best, we instead ask *HOW* do we support them, not whether we will allow the attempt or not. It is the role of a Captain to work with their team on a local level, XO, GM, and DH’s to create the rich IC environment and that should be respected within the bounds of existing STF law. Any position higher from the aFComms to the office of the President and every governmental position in between is to serve in a support role OOC.  They were asked to take up these positions given their experience and expertise and we welcome their advice and thoughts in those OOC matters. This isn’t to say that a Captain can shirk the rules and frameworks in place, and it is the responsibility of an aFComm or FComm to ensure that Captain isn’t flagrantly disregarding the rules of their ship or the club, but a CO should feel as though they are free to try ideas with their ships, rather than jump through red tape.