Thank you to Captain A’Koja Dea of Starbase Sixty for permission to adapt her Rules page, which, if I may say so, rules!
USS Hiroshima – Simulation Rules
Above all – enjoy the sim, make friends, and have fun! But follow the rules below to make that possible for everyone.
Players must submit an acceptable character biography and sample post
Creating a character to star as in this show is essential to joining the game! We welcome a wide variety of character types. If you have ideas or questions about limitations you should feel free to email the CO before applying to get an idea of how you can add your uniqueness to our story!
We’re excited about the creativity and quality of our players and look to add individuals that meet that level of excellence to our game.
Help for preparing your application will be available from this site shortly. Until then, please take a look at the other biographies on the manifest. As always, feel free to email Captain Yearling with any questions.
You may have only one player character on the ship
USS Hiroshima, as with all Obsidian Fleet sims, only permits one player character per sim. This is in order to allow the widest range of players the fairest selection of positions. This character should be your primary development focus, although you may have protected non-player characters (support characters you write regularly) also. Please see the NPC Policy for more information.
The CO holds the sole right of assigning a rank to your character
Most commonly, new commissioned officer characters on USS Hiroshima will carry the rank of Lieutenant Junior Grade to maintain a policy of a fair starting point for all new players. There is more about this on our Applications: Common Questions page.
Character rank and suitability, however, is determined based on the following criteria:
– The quality of the biography.
– The quality of your sample post.
– Your simming history and experience.
– The type of character outlined in the biography.
– The position being applied for.
– Ranks of existing players on the sim.
The captain’s adjudication of final rank upon joining is not negotiable.
Cadet Academy and Mentorships
If you’re new to the game or feel uncertain, you may be assigned to a mentor or request to have assigned to you a mentor.
Regardless of any previous simming experience, the CO may require a player to sit and pass the Cadet Academy. Until the player has passed the Cadet Academy, they may hold rank no higher than Lieutenant (Junior Grade). Asking a player to sit the Academy is the CO’s prerogative throughout Obsidian Fleet.
Posting Requirements
Naturally, you’ll have joined the Hiroshima to write with like-minded people, and while we hope you make lots of friends with us while you write, there is also a certain level of posting that is required of all members of the Hiroshima.
The basic posting requirement is two posts per month, for all players. Feel free to write more than this, though – in fact, it’s encouraged to participate as much as you can or would like, as long as you at least meet this limit. This can be one post per week, four in one week, one every fortnight – whatever works best for you.
Department heads and command staff are expected to be particularly active, as they will be setting an example for their department or the sim as a whole.
In order to keep the sim healthy and active, the command staff will enforce these posting limits each month, as follows:
At the end of the month, all players who have not met the four post requirement will be contacted by the command team to determine the reason for their inactivity. Based on the response, or the lack of same, one of the following will happen:
– if the player responds and gives a satisfactory reason for their inactivity, they will be allowed to remain on the sim provided that they post within a week and then meet the requirement for the rest of the month.
– if the player responds in an unsatisfactory manner (examples of such responses being ‘I didn’t feel like posting’ or ‘I don’t find things interesting so I won’t post’) – or, to word it differently, if the response is such that the player has no intention of working with the CO to resolve their problem – then the chances are that they will be removed from the sim.
– if there is no response within seven days, the player will be removed from the sim.
If, in the estimation of the Commanding Officer, a player is abusing the posting requirement system by posting, for example, four low-quality posts at the end of the month to avoid removal, they may be demoted or removed.
The CO reserves the right to judge the quality of a post. Posts of less than 200 words in length will not count toward the requirement for a particular month, although they are still permitted. The CO may also disqualify posts from counting if they deem that to be appropriate for a particular post.
If at any time you are confused as to what to post or are unable to follow the story, use the Out of Character mailing list as a resource to ask fellow crew members for help, ideas or information, or contact the CO and XO as soon as you start feeling disconnected to let them know!
If you have trouble participating because of real life matters you should request an LOA or at least discuss it with the CO. Whatever you do, don’t let yourself quietly drop off the list! Get connected. Talk it out, brainstorm and make an effort.
Leave of Absence
If you are unable to post for a time, then you may ask for a Leave of Absence (LOA), stating when you expect to return. COs should not refuse a request for LOA. Similarly, personnel should not abuse the LOA system. LOA requests should be EMAILED either to the CO, XO, or to the OOC mailing list, and should include the date of the start of the LOA and the expected date of return. Giving reasons for needing the LOA are encouraged but not required.
Notifying the CO of your LOA as soon as you are able allows the CO to plan for any story adjustments and to inform the crew that your character will not be available while you are away.
Those on LOA for extended periods of time (over a month) who hold offices of Department Heads aboard the Hiroshima may be demoted and their position replaced with another player at the CO’s discretion.
Plot Advancement
It is the CO’s sole right to start or end a mission. You should not interfere substantially with the storyline such as finishing the mission early or steering it onto a major sideplot without approval of the CO. In general, the sim is very flexible and can accommodate most subplots, but the CO (as Game Manager) needs the ability to weigh in on the decision. The CO reserves the right to disallow subplots that they deem disruptive to the plotline, unrealistic, or in any way unsuitable.
For minor subplots, it’s a good idea to contact other players who will be affected before going forward with it. If it may significantly affect the entire sim (i.e. break security, cause a red alert, affect the time line, create a new Federation enemy/ ally, use strange technology etc) always err on the side of caution and ask the CO first!
The CO reserves the right to “strike” (remove, nullify) posts (or portions of posts) that are unrealistic with the outlined universe or that interfere with the storyline or create a story split, purposefully or not, or that contain distasteful material.
The Hiroshima also employs a system of “Days” during a mission. Advancing to the following day is the sole right of the CO, or the CO may give permission for Day advancement to a player. Back-posting to a previous day is permitted within reason.
USS Hiroshima is rated 13+
No one under the age of 13 can be accepted to the Hiroshima. Likewise, no writing should be unsuitable for this rating. Take this things into consideration as you craft your posts and if you ever have a question about how far you are allowed to write something, remember to be safe and not sorry and just ask the CO or XO first!
Often your character can suffer as much violence or enjoy as much romance or be as rough around the edges as you intended them to be without needing to be explicit in the nature of your narration.
Promotions/Demotions/Assignments
It is for your Commanding Officer to determine promotions/demotions and appointments at their discretion. Promotions are based largely on posting quality and quantity and any other help given with the sim. There are limits on what ranks may hold what positions but allowances can usually be made in certain circumstances. Promotions become more difficult to earn at higher ranks. Sometimes a player will do excellent work, but the character type they have chosen will prohibit promotions from making sense in the story. All this is taken into account when considering players for promotion recognitions.
Sometimes demotions may reflect a player’s Out of Character (OOC) activity/ inactivity (poor behavior, poor posting quality, failure to meet monthly posting req). However, in many cases players will often submit their characters to demotion for story reasons and demotions may not always reflect OOC disciplinary measures. In Character only demotions will be so noted in the player’s record so as not to injure the reputation of a player who elects to take a demotion for story purposes.
Assignments on the ship will be determined by the CO- just because you are the Ast Dept Head doesn’t solely qualify you to take over the department if the Senior Staff spot becomes open. While you are welcome to enquire about it, the CO reserves the right to recruit from outside of the Sim to fill that role.
Awards
The CO elects to give out awards to players as they are able, and as the awards are applicable to the player’s writing and activity.
All players should also feel free to write to the CO or the XO off-list and nominate fellow players to the CO for awards! If you see a fellow player writing well, please mention it to the CO who will be glad to consider them for an award or possibly mark their record for the good effort.
Awards tend to be entered either on a monthly basis or following the end of a mission, but this is just a random pattern that largely depends on the life of the CO at the time.
Writing other Player Characters
The Hiroshima discourages players from writing extensively the characters of other players in their posts without the consent of the player who lays claim to the character in question. Some small exceptions are permitted- nods, short answers that don’t conflict with the other player’s character and otherwise small mechanics.
Extensive dialogue or actions are not permitted and will often result in a striking of the post to preserve the Character of the other player.
If you wish to interact with another player you can use the system of “tags” or compile a Joint Post via email or over a chat client or instant messenger program! To connect with other players outside of the Posting List, You can use the OOC mailing list or email the player directly.
The Commanding Officer (or Executive Officer with the CO’s permission) may use the characters in their posts in situation of Plot Advancement Posts, but will be sure to preserve the integrity of the characters the players have created. Any issues with such use by the senior staff should immediately be brought to the attention of the Commanding Officer (see Player Conflicts, below).
Player Conflicts
If at any time you have a disagreement with another player you cannot resolve, report the matter to the CO and XO immediately.
If your issue is with the CO and cannot be resolved, you have the right to contact the Joint Fleet Command or the JAG office (triad[AT]obsidianfleet[DOT]net for the Joint Fleet Command; jagoffice[AT]obsidianfleet[DOT]net for the Office of Judge Advocate-General). They will advise you to try to settle the conflict without escalating the matter and may help resolve it.
There are no penalties for players who voice their concerns calmly and reasonably within the rules and all players have the right to obtain counsel or aid from the appropriate venues at any time.
“Superheroism” and Sim research
While this is a game and we can all have abilities we certainly wouldn’t as humans in our time, the Hiroshima strives to maintain a fun environment for all the players where the characters can face hosts of challenges, physical, intellectual, emotional etc. When developing your character or writing your posts, we ask that players keep this in mind.
Also, in an effort to maintain that consistency and 24th century Star Trek realism (is that an oxymoron?) We strongly encourage the players to research technology, cultures etc and to ask questions while composing posts!
Dea’s closing word of wisdom: If you ask a question you’re a fool for a moment. If you never ask, you’ll die a fool.
Yeah, learned that one by more than one experience….