Message posted on Stardate 03032.9 at 2105 hours
Posted by Emma Rouse-Deane.
Edict 26
Here we go folks, the improved version of OGRE that has been rattling around the GMD for the past couple of months..
- Emma
It took a bit longer than planned, but I am very pleased with the results. Revising a system as large as OGRE is no easy task, but I am pleased to say there has been amazingly little fighting or genuine argument in the past three months over it. I would like to express my sincerest thanks to everyone involved for a refreshingly open and polite debate. I also want to stress that this was not the work of one or two people, but the result of a lot of work by a lot of people. In particular, I want to extend my thanks to Deanne Ashton, Amanda Noon, Nate Miller, Ralf Steen, Jason Lee, Alex Verdusco, Matt Evans, Mike Rouse-Deane, Pavel the Tribble, and everyone else who offered their input.
Now, without further ado, the new and minty-fresh OGRE.
–GMDir Larry Garfield
Omnibus GMD Revision Edict (OGRE) v 1.5
- SUPERCEDENCE OF PREVIOUS EDICTS
Edict Robison #23 is hereby rescinded and superceded by this Edict, excepting Sections 1 and 14 of Robison #23.
- ESTABLISHMENT OF THE GAMEMASTER DEPARTMENT
The Gamemaster Department shall serve as a resource to Gamemasters, COs, and the membership on matters relating to GMing and in-character activity through those means deemed most expedient and useful to STF and the membership.
The Gamemaster Department shall maintain standards of GMing by means of the regulations set forth in this Edict and later Edicts. The Gamemaster Department shall maintain a public record of the status of all registered or licensed Gamemasters.
The daily activity of the Gamemaster Department shall be overseen by the Gamemaster Director, who shall be appointed by the President. The Gamemaster Director is a cabinet position, and is equal in power to other departmental directors and Fleet Commanders.
The Assistant Gamemaster Director shall be appointed by the Gamemaster Director. The Assistant Gamemaster Director answers directly to the Gamemaster Director, and is responsible for departmental decisions in the event the Gamemaster Director is not available. Additional responsibilities are at the discretion of the Gamemaster Director.
The Gamemaster Director may delegate any of his duties enumerated in this Edict or any other responsibilities incumbent upon him as a result of another Edict to another named member of the Gamemaster Department, subject to the condition that the individual with final authority on the licensing of Gamemasters must be himself a licensed Full Gamemaster, even if that individual is the Gamemaster Director.
- GAMEMASTER QUALIFICATION
The STF Academy shall maintain a written course and examination pertaining to the subject of GMing. The Gamemaster Department may veto changes to the content of the course or the appointment of a new proctor.
All prospective Gamemasters are required to pass the Gamemaster exam according to the standards set by the Gamemaster Department, and provide to the Gamemaster Department two (2) recommendations from a current CO, XO, DH, or GM with whom the prospective Gamemaster has served within the past three (3) months.
- GAMEMASTER TRAINING
Prospective Gamemasters who have qualified for the GM Training Program are responsible for locating a Ship on which to train according to Section 6 of this Edict and informing the Gamemaster Department of his assignment. The prospective Gamemaster may request the assistance of the Gamemaster Director in this matter. Once placed on a ship the prospective Gamemaster shall be known as a Gamemaster Trainee. The Gamemaster Department shall then assign a Gamemaster Mentor to the ship as per Section 6 of this Edict.
The Gamemaster Trainee shall run his training mission for a period of sixty (60) days, conferring with the Gamemaster Mentor as needed. After 60 days the CO, Gamemaster Mentor, and Gamemaster Director shall confer in a manner deemed most expedient to determine if the Gamemaster Trainee has performed acceptably. At the request of the Gamemaster Mentor and with the permission of the Gamemaster Director, the evaluation period may be extended an additional thirty (30) days after the initial evaluation date. The Gamemaster Director will make the final decision regarding the passage of the Gamemaster Trainee based on the input from the Gamemaster Trainer and CO within one week. Should it be decided that the Gamemaster Trainee has performed acceptably, he shall continue on as Gamemaster and the Gamemaster Mentor shall be removed. Should it be decided that the Gamemaster Trainee has not performed acceptably, the Gamemaster Director shall remove him. He may reapply should he so desire after a four-week interval from the date of the Gamemaster Director’s ruling. The Gamemaster Mentor shall assume the position of acting Gamemaster until a new Gamemaster is placed, for a period of up to two weeks.
Should the Gamemaster Trainee be retained, he shall continue the mission without interruption. Should he be removed according to Section 10 of this Edict before the remainder of the mission is completed he shall revert to Prospective status. The Prospective GM may attempt to pass the GM Training at a later date, but will be required to repeat the full training program. Upon successful completion of the mission, he shall be licensed as a Junior Gamemaster, with the approval of the Gamemaster Director.
- GAMEMASTER CLASSIFICATION
For reference purposes, Gamemasters are classified based on their experience and time served. These classifications denote recognition of service, and are not synonymous with ranks.
After reaching a certain level of accomplishment, a Gamemaster may apply to be recognized as having attained a higher level of classification. The Gamemaster Department may take into account both the number of missions completed and specific commentary about the Gamemaster’s performance when making its decision regarding recognition.
Upon the successful completion of his first training mission, a Gamemaster will be recognized as a Junior Gamemaster.
Upon the successful completion of three (3) missions or eighteen (18) total months as an active Gamemaster, not including the training mission, and positive comments from the relevant COs, a Gamemaster is eligible for Full Gamemaster Status.
Upon the successful completion of ten (10) missions or thirty-six (36) total months as an active Gamemaster, not including the training mission, and positive comments from the relevant COs, a Gamemaster is eligible for Advanced Gamemaster Status.
Upon the successful completion of twenty (20) missions or sixty (60) total months as an active Gamemaster, not including the training mission, and positive comments from the relevant COs, a Gamemaster is eligible for Senior Gamemaster Status.
Partial missions shall be counted if the Gamemaster in question served as Gamemaster for at least thirty (30) days. Missions that span multiple ships shall be counted separately for each involved ship. Missions involving multiple Gamemasters working simultaneously shall be counted for both Gamemasters. Time served as an active Gamemaster shall include the time from when the Gamemaster was first licensed until the present, discounting any period during which the Gamemaster was not GMing for three (3) months or more.
These distinctions are primarily honorary but may be used as qualification for other roles and activities.
- APPOINTMENT OF GAMEMASTERS
Prior to the commencement of each mission, the Fleet Commander of a fleet or a subordinate of his choosing shall select a Gamemaster who shall serve as Gamemaster for that mission, subject to the veto of the CO of the ship in question. Notification of this selection must be sent to the Gamemaster Department within 24 hours of the selection, and at least 48 hours prior to the commencement of the mission. Failure to do so shall be considered a failure to complete a duty incumbent upon the office of the person in question. Additional regulation of Gamemaster appointments within a given fleet is at the discretion of the Fleet Commander.
If the Gamemaster in question is to be a Gamemaster Trainee, the Fleet Commander or named subordinate must inform the Gamemaster Department who shall appoint a Gamemaster Mentor, subject to the veto of the CO of the ship in question and the Gamemaster Trainee in question. The Gamemaster Department may recommend that a given ship host a Gamemaster Trainee, and the Fleet Commander or named subordinate responsible is expected to give this request due and fair consideration.
The Gamemaster Mentor must be a willing Gamemaster within STF of Full Gamemaster standing or better. The Gamemaster Mentor will be responsible for assisting the Gamemaster Trainee in planning a mission as needed, for providing the Trainee with advice and assistance as appears necessary and as is requested by the Trainee, and for reporting back to the Gamemaster Department on the Trainee’s progress and performance when necessary. The Gamemaster Mentor will be required to read the ship in question regularly and coordinate with the CO as necessary.
- MISSION RECORDS
Upon the completion of the mission or any time that a new Gamemaster is appointed in the middle of a mission, the Gamemaster in question must notify the Gamemaster Department of the change or mission completion, including the start and end dates of the mission accurate to the nearest month. The Gamemaster Department shall maintain a publicly accessible archive of the approximate start and end dates of all known missions, including the Gamemaster or Gamemasters involved and the CO or COs involved, for reference purposes.
- DELICENSING
In the event that the Gamemaster Director should receive a complaint about a Gamemaster who is acting in a manner unbecoming an officer and Gamemaster or is abusing his authority as Gamemaster, the Gamemaster Director is authorized to revoke the license of said Gamemaster. He may, at his discretion, first assign a Gamemaster Observer (GMO) to the ship where the complaint originated to monitor the situation and provide the Gamemaster Director with further details for a period of no longer than seven (7) days. The Gamemaster Observer may be any licensed Gamemaster of Full standing or higher. Regardless of the presence of a Gamemaster Observer, the Gamemaster Director must announce his decision no more than fourteen (14) days after the initial complaint is received. If the Gamemaster Director opts to revoke the license of the Gamemaster in question, he must provide a statement of explanation.
Should the Gamemaster Director decide to revoke the license of the Gamemaster in question, he must also specify a Probation Period of no less than thirty (30) days and no more than six (6) months, during which time the Gamemaster in question may not reapply for licensure. A license revocation may be appealed to the President.
- RELICENSING
In the event that a Gamemaster should have his license revoked, he may not reapply for licensure for the duration of his Probation Period. After the Probation Period has expired, he may reapply for training where he will be given the same consideration as any other individual.
Should the Gamemaster have held a classification higher than Junior Gamemaster prior to the revocation of his license, he will upon the completion of his training mission again assume the title of Junior Gamemaster. He must then successfully complete at least one (1) additional mission before he may apply for higher recognition. At that point he may count all missions he has run both before and after his delicensing, however, the Gamemaster Department may take the Gamemaster’s license revocation into account when making its determination.
- DISMISSAL OF GAMEMASTERS
A Gamemaster may be removed prior to the completion of a mission by the Fleet Commander or previously named subordinate should the Gamemaster exhibit behavior ill-suited for his position, does not uphold his responsibility of maintaining an enjoyable environment aboard his ship, or abuses the authority of his position beyond the boundaries of STF law and common sense. Dismissal of a Gamemaster by the Fleet Commander himself shall be considered an act of the Fleet Commander and treated accordingly. Dismissal of a Gamemaster by a subordinate of the Fleet Commander shall be referred first to the Fleet Commander before further action.
- AUTHORITY AND RESPONSIBILITY OF GAMEMASTERS
Gamemasters are responsible for providing an entertaining experience for members of STF on the ships where they serve, and are required to work with each ship’s commanding officer to accomplish this task. In issues pertaining to daily ship operations (i.e. promotions, demotions, logs, message of the day [MOTD]), the Gamemaster has no authority. A CO may grant a GM access to the ship’s MOTD at his discretion.
Under extreme circumstances in which one or more posts are irreconcilable with the actions in one or more other posts; with the laws of STF, reason, or decency; or with previously established RPG events; a Gamemaster may declare the posts in question to be null and void and must include a statement of explanation. Any voided post may be appealed to the Gamemaster Director by the voided member. If the Gamemaster is also the Gamemaster Director, it may be appealed to the Assistant Gamemaster Director.
Under normal circumstances, Gamemasters may not cause the death of a character on a ship that is controlled by a member of STF. The situations in which a Gamemaster may cause the death of a character on a ship that is not a Non-Player Character shall consist only of the following circumstances:
1) AWOL. If the character has been declared AWOL, the Gamemaster may do whatever he likes with it, without restriction.
2) The player gives consent to the Gamemaster, for whatever reason.
3) If the character has taken actions that, in the opinion of the Gamemaster, would result in a 90% or higher probability of death, a “Death Notice” may be served.
a) For the first Death Notice issued against a character, that character will be warned by the Gamemaster publicly against taking such chances, and remind the character that the move would ordinarily have resulted in death, had it been real. In this case, the Gamemaster shall void the posts in question, modify the situation to reverse the extremely risky move, or shall otherwise modify the situation as to allow the character to continue to survive.
b) For the second Death Notice, the results shall be the same as for the first notice, however, there shall also be an email sent by the Gamemaster to the ship’s CO, XO, and to the owner of the character, warning that the character has received two death notices, and that a third will result in actual character death.
c) For the third Death Notice, the Gamemaster shall rule the character has died as a result of his actions, and that character will be eliminated from the roster and their position. The CO of the ship shall have discretion as to whether to allow the person to create a new character on the same ship, and what position/rank that new character should hold on the ship.
d) In the event that it is the CO who is receiving Death Notices, the Fleet Commander shall be notified. In the event that the Fleet Commander receives such notices, the President shall be informed.
e) If a character has received no Death Notices in the past six months, but had received them prior to that six month period, all prior Death Notices will be erased from their record, and they shall have a clean slate to start from again.
f) If a member habitually receives Death Notices (more than 5 in a 6 month span), they may be ruled to be a suicidal character player by the Gamemaster Director or by the Fleet Commander of a fleet in which they serve. If a member is so classified, the limit for character death shall be one. Members may appeal a declaration of suicidal-tendency to the President. Such a declaration shall expire six months after the last death notice placed against a character controlled by that player.
g) The Gamemaster may not intentionally place a player into a situation where any action (including lack of action) would result in a death situation. Unlike the real world, there must be at least one morally acceptable way to get out. Violation of subsection g) is the only acceptable grounds for overturning the Gamemaster’s ruling of a “death notice”.
- MISSION TYPES
A normal mission is one in which a single Gamemaster who is not the CO of the ship in question serves on a single ship for a single mission. A Gamemaster may serve on multiple ships in different, unrelated missions simultaneously. All other types of missions are classified as Special Circumstances. All Gamemasters participating in a Special Circumstances mission must be of Full Gamemaster standing or higher.
Prior to the commencement of a Special Circumstances mission, all involved Gamemasters must obtain the consent of all related COs and all related Fleet Commanders, and must notify the Gamemaster Department prior to the start of the mission. In the event that the Fleet Commander or CO is one of the Gamemasters in question, the permission of the Gamemaster Director shall be required. In the event that the Fleet Commander is also the Gamemaster Director, the CO is also the Fleet Commander, or the CO is also the Gamemaster Director, the approval of the President shall be required. Special Circumstances missions must be approved on a mission-by-mission basis. Additional requirements for Special Circumstances missions are as follows:
1) A Multi-Ship Mission is one in which one or more Gamemasters runs a mission that explicitly spans multiple ships simultaneously. In addition to the standard requirements of Special Circumstances missions, should there be three or more ships involved the Gamemasters in question must notify the President prior to the start of the mission.
2) A Self-RPG Mission is one in which there is no explicit Gamemaster. Instead, all members of the crew have equal control over the storyline. In order for a ship to be considered for Self-RPG status, the ship’s CO must provide viable reasons why his ship is suited for self-RPG status. He must also provide proof that guidelines are in place maintain a pleasant role-playing atmosphere. The petition will be granted with unanimous approval from the Gamemaster Director, appropriate Fleet Commander, and ship’s CO. The CO shall be required to report to the Gamemaster Department in place of a normal Gamemaster, but will not have the full authority of a Gamemaster.
3) A CO/GM Mission is one in which the CO of the ship also serves as the Gamemaster of the ship. A CO may serve as Gamemaster of his own ship only with the prior consent of the Gamemaster Director and Fleet Commander. The CO must still be a Gamemaster of Full or higher standing. In the event that the Fleet Commander is also the Gamemaster Director, the CO is also the Fleet Commander, or the CO is also the Gamemaster Director, the approval of the President shall be required.
4) A Multi-Gamemaster Mission is one in which two or more Gamemasters jointly serve on the same ship at the same time. The Gamemaster Director must approve all Multi-Gamemaster Missions prior to their commencement. In the event that the Gamemaster Director is one of the Gamemasters involved or the CO involved, the approval of the President shall be required.
- DISPUTES
Any disputes between Gamemasters and COs, Gamemasters, or Fleet Commanders shall be moderated by the Gamemaster Director. Should any of the involved parties be the Gamemaster Director, the dispute shall be moderated by the President.
- IMPLEMENTATION
Any Gamemaster currently recognized as “Senior Gamemaster” will automatically be recognized as a “Full Gamemaster” under the new system. They need not reapply. Gamemasters who believe they qualify for a higher classification must apply for promotion.
Any Gamemaster Candidate or Gamemaster Apprentice currently in the process of their training mission may continue without interruption, however, the title of Junior Gamemaster will not be given to anyone who does not already hold it until they have completed their training mission.
Any Gamemaster currently engaged in either a normal or Special Circumstances mission may continue without interruption until the end of the mission, except that he will be required at the end of the mission to provide the Gamemaster Department with the start and end dates of the mission as per this Edict.