Fleet Ops Handbook

Structure

Four groups of games; one in the Prime Universe and one for storylines
- TF47 – Non-Trek Games
- TF72 – Prime 24th Century Games
- TF29 – Alternate Reality Trek Games
- TF21 for online gaming, i.e. STO, Elite Dangerous, etc.
This structure may be revised through the Fleet Council’s Unanimous Consent Procedure

Game Managers

Each game is managed via a designated player, known as the Game Manager
The Game Manager is responsible for the following aspects of their game:
- Recruitment of players
- Managing storylines
- Promotion/demotion of players
- First-stage disciplinary issues that do not require support from Group Directors
- Recognising achievements within their game and rewarding players
- Maintenance of their games page within IFS
- Supporting players on their game and ensuring a minimum level of activity
Game Managers will be eligible for in-character promotions/demotions based on their games level of activity, measured over a 3-month period.

Stages of activity

There are three stages of activity, with a fourth stage reserved for games which fall below the minimum levels of activity specified for active games. These are:
1. Pre-launch: A pre-launch game is essentially a game at the nascent stage, i.e. the GM has applied and been accepted, and is in discussion with the Group Director, or Deputy Director over the design and fit of their game into the Obsidian Fleet universe. Pre-launch games will be attached to a hub and expected to post alongside the regular players. There is no minimum level of posting activity expected at this point.
2. Shakedown: Upon completion of the Intro to GM’ing course and signoff of the design and fit, the game manager will enter Shakedown status. During this stage, it is expected that the game will begin some independent posting, whilst recruiting the players needed to go active. The Group Director and Deputy Director will be attached to the game for monitoring and support purposes. A game in shakedown would be expected to meet a minimum level of activity (see item 2), failure to meet this will result in the game being reverted to pre-launch.
3. Active Status: Should a Game Manager meet the minimum specified levels, the game will be able to move to Active status. The game will be independently posting, at a minimum sustained rate and have a met a minimum recruitment target. The Game Manager will be expected to actively keep their IFS page updated and be actively working to better their game.
4. Refit: Should a game fall below the minimum rate of player activity or numbers for a sustained period, the Group Management will move the game to Refit status. During Refit, the Group Director and Deputy Director will be able to impose any, or all, of the following as they see fit.
  - Director and Deputy Director will be placed on the game to work with the Game Manager to identify areas for improvement and support the Game Manager to improve to specified levels
  - Request more frequent reporting from the Game Manager on progress against agreed targets. A minimum reporting level of once every 2 weeks would be the recommended, though this may be increased to weekly at the discretion of the Director
  - Recall the game back to a Fleet Starbase for redesign of the storyline and concept behind the game (TF72 ships only). A Game Manager would fold their storylines and revert to the default base story while this takes place.
  - Re-enrol the Game Manager back in Academy for further support and tuition.

Should a Game Manager need any support and advice at any point during their games lifetime, it is strongly encouraged that they contact a member of the Group Directorate or another member of the Fleet Council. We will do our utmost to assist you, guide and advise you, as necessary.
To move to the next stage, a game would be expected to achieve a minimum level of activity and recruitment. This is as follows:

Stage	Posting Levels (SPM per player/month)	Players (including Game Manager)
Prelaunch	0	1
Shakedown	0.5	1-4
Active	1	5+
Refit	<1	<5

In the event a Game Manager wishes to put their game on hiatus, they may do so for a maximum for four calendar months. Upon their return the game will be placed into a Shakedown state for one calendar month in order to facilitate the re-activation of the game.

Posting

To ensure consistency across long-form and short-form games, the Fleet has introduced a Standard Post Measure (SPM). A post under this measure is set at 500 words.
To convert a post to an SPM metric, simply divide the number of words written from an in-character perspective by 500, e.g.3500/500 = 7 posts
400/500 = 0.8 posts
Game Managers are required to report on this metric each month.
For the purposes of activity and promotions, the SPM for a month is divided by the number of players on the simulation to calculate an average SPM:Player/month ratio, e.g.3500/500 = 7 posts
7 posts/6 players = 1.16 posts:player/month
For alternative play methods such as tabletop and Play-by-Discord games, transcripts must be available as a minimum – extra content such as podcasts or videos will be negotiated during the game launch process. The transcripts will be used to calculate SPM for these games.

Ranks (in-character: applicable to TF29 and TF72)

Rank is defined as the in-character rank of a player, or a Game Manager aboard their game.
Game Managers are free to promote/demote a player within their game as they see fit. The Fleet would strongly encourage Game Managers to clearly define their expectations to players to allow a progression path to be identified.
Game Managers will be rewarded promotion to the next rank up upon achieving a series of milestones which clearly demonstrate their commitment to excellence and contributions to the Fleet.
A ship/station-based Game Managers rank is capped at Commodore or the marine equivalent, except for the Group Director who may achieve a rank of Vice Admiral or Marine equivalent.
Conversely, a Game Manager may be demoted for consistently poor performance or disciplinary reasons by the Group Director.
A Game Manager in charge of a sim will start at the following:
- Prime Universe: Lt. CDR
- Task Force 29: Negotiated with Group Director
Ship classes will be limited by the In-Character rank of the Game Manager. Promotion/demotion will result in different classes being offered to the Game Manager. Task Force 29 games will be awarded a ship class following negotiations with the Group Director.
Upon accessing a new tier through promotion, a Game Manager may choose to switch to a new vessel. This may be from any tier the Game Manager has access to. It is important to remember though that a Game Manager does not have to switch just because the option is available, and GM’s are strongly advised to discuss this with their Group Director and players before formally requesting a switch.
The SPM/Player:Month ratio must be sustained for the previous 4 months prior to a promotion being rewarded.
The levels of activity to be considered for promotion are as follows:

Rank	Academy Courses passed	SPM/Player:Month Ratio	Time at current rank	Contribution to the Fleet	Max. Ship Tier available
Lt. Commander (start)	None	0	None	None	1
Commander (start + 1)	CO Academy	1	6 months	Minor	2
Captain (start +2)	CO Academy	3	6 months	Notable	3
Commodore (start +3)	CO Academy Advanced Game Management	6	12 months	Significant	4

Appendix 1 – Ship Eligibility Matrix

Rank	Tier 1	Tier 2	Tier 3	Starbase
Commander and below	California Reliant Echelon Merian Nova-II (Nova Refit – Rhode Island) Defiant Parliament Sutherland Pathfinder Luna Duderstadt	–	–	Ithaca
Captain	All	Sovereign Gagarin Inquiry Curiosity Excelsior-II Akira Alita Vesta* Prometheus Sagan Ross Constitution-III		Colony
Commodore	All	All	Odyssey Excalibur Ascension	Stardock

Appendix 2 – Contribution to the Community

Examples of contributions are below. Please note this is not an exhaustive list, nor are specific metrics available for the definitions of “minor/notable/significant” contribution in the promotion criteria. It should be assumed that the more effort and time spent contributing to the community will be recognised accordingly.

Contribute regularly quality news articles through Obsidian Fleet IFS
Be beyond reproach on the requirements to attain any currently held rank (activity, player count, reporting, recruiting, dispute resolving, etc)
Contribute to the development of OF in a pro-active manner (being a buddy, join the focus group, run a joint mission, overall story arc, database articles)
Aid in one of the departments (Lore, Acad, Comms)
Organise / Run / Significantly contribute to events that involve the wider OF & RPG community (Quiz, CRT, Khitomer, Running a recruitment hub, creating a podcast, writing a blog)
Run gaming sessions, organise events in online games or OF clans/guilds in online games.