Obsidian Fleet Academy – Freshman Orientation – An Introduction

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An opening note from the new Director of Obsidian Fleet Academy!

Greetings Everyone:

Allow me to be the first to welcome you all to the beginning of the new Obsidian Fleet Academy. I want to thank you, the members, and the Fleet Council for this opportunity to be the Director of Obsidian Fleet’s Academy. I bring to the position years of experience, as I have been involved in the simming world since 2000. I also bring my experience in conflict resolution. I’ve I have taught in my professional field since the year 2000 and have taught and coached merit badges in Scouting before that. That being said, the Academy is less of a classroom and more of a study hall. Less teachers and more tutors in Obsidian Fleet.

I can tell you all that my goal is to make the Academy a fun place to pick new techniques and less a place for requirements. The goal of OFA, is to help the community grow by expanding knowledge of Star Trek and of writing. In that spirit, OFA also won’t be fully active for some time as the course catalog rebuilds and is redesigned. Currently, the Academy is only offering COAL and COR as they are needed. However, more courses will become available as they get redesigned. As this process goes on I will be reaching out on the Discord channels to all of you for input on the content and types of courses you would like to see.

My goal as the new OFA Director is, a one year plan of rolling out courses and testing them. First and foremost is the recreation of COAL and COR. These two courses are important as fresh blood begins to take command, and old blood needs to be reminded from time to time. The plan is that once the redesign on these courses is finished you will be able to register for them and take the course through IFS and the OF website. You will be able to keep track of what courses you have taken, your grades etc… I am also working on ribbons that will be given upon course completion, these ribbons can be added to your character should you choose. During this phase I am also going to be designing an application for tutors. When this application is done it too will be on IFS and you will be able to apply for the position and assist in expanding on the Academy.

The second phase for the Academy’s return will be the Cadet course and specialty courses. The return of the Cadet course will allow two things to happen. The first is Obsidian Fleet to expand, so that new players who may not know about Star Trek or simming can get trained up and join in on the stories that we are telling. The second is for Commanding Officers. COs can recommend players that may benefit from the course. This will not only help make the player better but will help the community that is Obsidian Fleet grow for having the better writer in it. Specialty courses will be rolled out one at a time. However, there will be one for every department, including the Starfleet Marine Corps, and the Diplomatic Service. These courses are under design as we speak. Keep your eyes out for the tutor application, because you can become a tutor in a specialty course and help design the course as well.

The third phase, which is not for way down the road is something new that I plan to introduce into the Academy. This is a lecture series. Once every few months a guest lecturer will come to the Academy Discord channel to chat about a specific sim related issue. You fine members of the fleet will be able to sign up for the lecture via IFS and have access to the Lecture Hall channel for the duration of the lecture. It is my hope that as these lectures get started people will approach the Academy to volunteer as a lecturer. I am also open to having members of the fleet suggest topics for lectures.

Anyone wishing to apply as a tutor just keep your eyes on the Academy page and file the application when it becomes available. Anyone who needs COAL or COR training please contact me via e-mail at [email protected]. If you are interested in helping redesign the specialty courses you can contact me via email tell me a bit about yourself, what sims you’re currently on, any relevant experience, where you see OFA in the grand scheme of Obsidian Fleet, and what specifically you could bring to the courses. Nothing too fancy, but you should be able to articulate those last pieces clearly.

Thank you all, and I look forward to serving everyone as the new Obsidian Fleet Academy Director!

Rear Admiral Travani Dal

Director

Obsidian Fleet Academy