So a few days ago, Minawara slipped an announcement into the TF13 & 72 Report. However, on reflection it’s big enough to gets its own space and also explain how it’ll work in TF29 and 47.
The Announcement
I’ll just copy Mina’s stuff word for word here.
We are going to be rolling out a new type of game for players. We touched on it a while ago, with opening up Esquimalt Station to having people able to play there and keep their characters. With this we are going to also be adding another option – Acting Commanding Officer roles.
While this name sounds like a more soft version of the existing commanding officer role, it comes with some different ways of play, and centres around the Esquimalt Station. How it will work, is those who want to be a CO and have a command, without having the responsibility of being a game master, will have an option to take out one of the various listed Task Force ships and do small, single missions. They’ll be assigned by a game master (myself or one of the other amazing folks part of the Brass) and can play out, with us interjecting from time to time to poke them along.
The obvious questions out of the way first here.
- You’ll top out at Commander. If you want to the full rank of Captain for a character in game, you’ll need to run your own game. But this is a great way to get your feet wet and actually play as GM, see if you like the role and then jump into running your own game.
- No, you aren’t stuck to starships. Back in the day there was a pretty awesome sim called “Camp Falkirk” which centred around a Marine Forward Operating Base. A lot of people have wanted to run similar games going forward, but don’t know how. Great news, 2nd Lightyear Division is attached to Task Force 72, so there are Battalions and Companies within the Task Force embedded to support those Marine Operations. You could run one of those. Or maybe you just want to run the intensive Intelligence Operation at Esquimalt and play your dreams of running a cool NCIS meets James Bond game. Lets make that happen.
- Other games will affect yours. Esquimalt and all the games that take place attached to it are part of a much larger operation and play. And as you won’t be the game master, it gives a chance for a game master to have those different sections influence yours, and make the changes feel more organic.
- Bring your friends. If you want to do a cool month long group writing session with your friends to tell your epic story, but not have to worry about FTPs and server hosting and if your webadmin with ever update to the most recent version of Nova, and just play a game, this is the mode for you. Tell your story, share your laughs and emotions, and then walk away if you want. Or keep writing if you want! The stars are the limit really.
- It’ll take place on IFS3. All of the work and writing will be done on IFS3, with everyone else writing in the space able to see your posts. The hope and plan from here is that you will then be able to encourage people to cross write with you. We also have a space set up on Discord to allow people to plot and get creative together. Then when you are ready, log into IFS3, and start writing on Esquimalt. Write alone, write together, or have your characters work together across ships. This is your peak time to write your epic space battle with a dozen ships, all written by your friends and directed by your game master. This is why IFS was created to do what it does.
What this means for Star Trek Roleplaying & Collaborative Writing in Obsidian Fleet
Put simply, we’re lowering the barriers significantly for people to start writing together. IFS3 and running games on it was a first step, you no longer needed to have the complexity and overheads involved with running WordPress, or Nova, or a forum on yours or anothers hosts. Now, we’re taking that next step so you can add characters, talk to a Group Director or member of the JFC to get some assistance in getting set up and off you go to do your thing. You can take temporary command of a starship, you can hitch a ride on a starship, you could even rope a civilian ship such as the Mary Rose in to give you a lift, covertly, to your destination. But you’ll be able to do it with your friends with support from experienced players and GM’s.
The UFP Goverment in TF13 will follow a similar model to 29 and 47. Starfleet specialist games will likely attach to Esquimalt. Although if someone wants to run a Starfleet Academy Hub or something, talk to a member of the JFC.
Roleplaying & Collaborative Writing in TF29 and 47
For these groups, it works in a very similar way with a few key differences.
- The Hubs will be just that, Hubs. You’ll be using them as a launchpad into your own ventures using the endless branches you can explore from the Eternal Library, or going on adventures and having a pint afterwards in The Travellers Rest.
- These games will be more freeform. Already there’s a bunch of people talking about going vampire hunting in the Rest’s forums on Discord. Other ideas might involve a trans-dimensional smuggling ring, racing, or whatever else comes into your brain.
Questions
OMG you’re killing off the traditional sim/roleplay game?
In one word? No. We’re offering an alternative route, like we do with IFS hosted games. Without going into a massive diatribe, the existing funnel of:
- Visit a fleet site
- Pick a game to command
- Apply to command
- Get accepted or rejected
- Set up Nova/Blog/Forum and a Discord server
- Recruit players like mad and hope it works
Has been in a steady decline for a number of years. Communities across the whole Trek space, with very few exceptions, are struggling to get new GM’s and players (who go down a similarly convoluted funnel) interested. We’re not afraid to acknowledge this – we need to adapt and evolve else there’s not going to be an Obsidian Fleet left. This is one method of doing so. We’d hope that this encourages more people to write together with friends and acts as the launchpad into people running their own games – be it via IFS3, Nova, WordPress, Forum or Discord.
IFS3’s a bit … janky .. in terms of UI. It’s not easy?
We know there’s loads we can do to improve the experience of GM’s and players alike and resolve some of the long-standing bugbears that people have with the system. Sadly some of the feedback and suggestions we’ve had are beyond what we’re capable of doing, and if you’ve got any experience of software development du Lac would very much like to hear from you.
I’ve got an idea, how can I get started?
For now? Talk to a member of the Fleet Council or the Joint Fleet Command on Discord. We’re working on application forms and other things to streamline the onboarding process.
The Annual Activity
It’s one week until Obsidian Day! Our Day 1 and Day 2 schedules are live. Hopefully we’ll see you there!