Hello friends!

Several months ago I was presented with the opportunity to serve the Viking team by taking over for our former GM, Luke Hung, and continuing the tale that he started for us. While I was unable to capture Luke’s original voice and direction accurately, I did my best to take the bones we were left with and clothe them in the flesh of a compelling narrative that would do it justice. With your support, we have managed to move forward together and are now drawing near to what I hope will be a very satisfactory conclusion to this chapter in the Viking’s history.

At the beginning of my role as interim storyteller, I was not presented with a clear end date and aimed to let the sim develop organically: every character would be presented with a part to play, and the sim would unfold based on their actions. There was no predetermined end condition, and I hoped it would allow our team to build our narrative collectively. Despite a few hiccups here and there—real life issues being chief among them—I feel that we’ve done a fair job meeting that goal, and that our team is a pretty solid group of writers. Some of you have needed a bit of nudging, have struggled with writer’s block or unsure footing, and that’s been something Jen and I have remained open to working with because we were free to take as long as we needed to complete the sim while the GM Department found us a right and proper storyteller.

That prospect is now a very real and viable situation, and while I haven’t been presented with a concrete date by which to finish my time as Imaginary GM I am faced with the fact that there will be a deadline to meet. Having a fully- and properly-trained GM from the department can only benefit our team and our ship, and it’s my intention to fully support our new storyteller to the best of my ability. To this end, I would enjoy your support and effort to help our motley group of writers bring this sim across the finish line to pave the way for even better narratives ahead!

After much thought and discussion, I’ve decided to take a more active role in posting to our ship’s board in order to reach conclusion in the current sim. As a week is the maximum span a writer can go between posts, regardless of rank or role, I will be updating all active sim threads every Sunday rather than bumping them for activity. This means that if there are no replies to a thread in that week, NEs will be used to move the story along. I will also be checking the board nightly and replying to any responses made that day. The goal in this fashion is to prevent stalling due to writer’s block, confusion, or real life issues; this is by no means an admonishment or punishment for any writer, more a means of support for when those moments occur. Writers are still welcome to interject their character’s thoughts and actions into the sim later when they are able to post so long as it continues the narrative; there are plenty of non-player crewmen and women capable of stepping in to push buttons and process information.

In this vein, Jen and I are asking you to be mindful of AWOL limits. We all have demands on our time but we also have made a commitment to fulfill a role on the ship. We do our best to work with those that struggle, but everyone’s involvement is essential; whether Command (3 days), Department Head (5 days), or Junior Officer (7 days), we rely on each other to do our part to keep the ship and story moving. Not only that, it’s a team effort to build a fun roleplay environment. If you need help or no longer feel your position suits you, please be proactive and let us know. Our goal, as ever, is to provide a healthy ship and writing environment for everyone to enjoy.

It is my intent to start this process beginning Sunday, February 13th. If there are any questions or concerns, myself or Jennifer can be reached via Discord or email. If life grabs you by the scruff, reach out! If you’re not sure of what to do next, we’re happy to discuss ideas and give suggestions! If something about the sim is unclear, ask us! We’re here to help. The only one stopping you is you!

Happy Writing!

Jason Wolfe
Executive Officer
USS Viking

[Posted again here, in case I missed anyone via email.]