Fleet Rules

Terminology used

Fleet = Obsidian Fleet
JFC = Joint Fleet Executive, the executive body of the Fleet
FC = Fleet Council, the primary decision-making body
GM = Game Manager a member of the Fleet in charge of a Game
Game = a game within the Fleet
TFCO/GD = Group Director – A Game Manager who has additional responsibilities for the smooth operation of their Game Group
Group Directorate = the Director and Deputy Director of the Game Group
TF – Task Force/Game Group, the main organisational unit of the Fleet
NPC = non-player characters, these are characters who, while not the primary character of the player or a played character on a sim, are used as plot devices to enrich the simulation
PC – Player-character

General Rules

  1. The minimum age of entry to Obsidian Fleet is 13 years of age. This is due to the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (USA) and General Data Protection Regulations (EU).
  2. Any hateful comment (including but not limited to racist, homophobic, sexist content) is forbidden within the Fleet and will not be tolerated. Any player or sim found to be in breach of this rule shall be immediately subject to disciplinary action, potentially resulting in their removal from Obsidian Fleet.
  3. Unless under specific circumstances allowed by the Joint Fleet Executive, the advertising of paid services to Fleet Members is forbidden.

Player Rules

  1. A player may have a maximum of six player-controlled characters in Obsidian Fleet Members of the Fleet Council have an additional character allocation for their in-game persona to allow them to guest post on sims or play as their character as they see fit.
  2. A player is limited to one “main” per game, plus several NPC characters at the discretion of the Game Manager.
  3. Should a player be unable to post for a period, they can request a Leave of Absence from their Game Manager. The Game Manager determines the format of this request, but it must include an idea of how long the leave will be.
  4. Should a player wish to move between games, they should contact their Group Directorate, both Game Managers involved in the process and state the Game they are moving from, to and the reason. The Group Directorate Staff will liaise with both GMs to agree appropriate ranks, positions, with the player and agree a transfer date.
  5. The following races are prohibited from any player/NPC position on a game
    a. Non-Humanoid Races (big rock creatures, Tribbles, etc.)
    b. Omnipotent beings (Q, Douwd, etc.)
    c. Androids
    d. Iconians
    e. Shapeshifters
    f. Jem-Hadar/Vorta/other races still in the Dominion
    g. Suliban
    h. Species 8472
    i. Augments, Angosians and similar genetically engineered races.
    j. Races from non-Trek universes on Trek sims
    k. Any established characters from Trek, or other fandoms, including descendants or familial members. No, you cannot be James T. Kirk’s illegitimate great-great-granddaughter or Luke Skywalker’s cousin.
  6. All characters created by a player must be an original piece of work by the player. Player disputes involving character work should refer to the Meditation and Arbitration Process.

Game Manager Rules

  1. Any player wishing to become a Game Manager must have completed the Obsidian Fleet Game Management course since January 2019.
  2. Any member of Obsidian Fleet may be a Game Manager on a maximum of two games within the Fleet, either in Task Force 29 (Alternate Reality Trek), Task Force 72 (24th Century Trek, Prime OF Timeline) or Task Force 47 (Other fandom sims).
  3. A Game Manager looking to gain command over another game will be presented with two options. Should their game meet the requirements for the rank of Captain for 3 months leading up to the promotion to application, they will be allowed to begin the process of setting up a second game. Alternatively, if they wish to start a new game and do not meet the requirements, they may be presented with the option to resign their current command, and move to the new game, allowing a new GM to step up and take their place.
  4. Game Managers are required to complete the GM Application Form fully and be willing to engage in discussion with the Group Directorate to work out an appropriate sim, age rating, plotline, etc.
  5. If a player resigns from the Game Manager position and subsequently wishes to become a Game Manager again, they must wait a period of four calendar months before applying for command again.
  6. Likewise, a player who is declined a Game Manager post on application, must wait for a period of four calendar months before re-applying for command.
  7. Upon re-applying for a Game Manager position, an GM may be presented with one of two options. Both are at the discretion of the GD who, in agreement with the Joint Fleet Executive, may waive either of these options if evidence to support such a decision is applicable
    a. If the player has been away from the GM post for less than a year, they may not be required to sit GM Academy again
    b. If the player has been away from the GM post for more than a year, they will be required to sit GM Academy.
  8. If an GM resigns from their game, there is a cooling-off period of 7 days in which the GM is free to withdraw their resignation. The GD may, in agreement with the Joint Fleet Executive reject this request should evidence become known to support this decision during the cooling-off period.

Game Rules

  1. To be compliant, an externally hosted Game must clearly display the following on the front page of the website:
    1. A clearly visible statement identifying the game as a part of Obsidian Fleet containing a link to Obsidian Fleet’s website (https://www.obsidianfleet.net) must be present on the front page. An example of this could be:

      “The USS Example is a proud part of Obsidian Fleet’s Task Force X” with Obsidian Fleet being the link.
    2. A link to the games Privacy Policy, pursuant to LGDP, COPPA, GDPR and CCPA compliance, which must contain statements identifying the information stored about players and its use.
  2. A game must maintain a minimum level of activity to be considered active. The definition of activity is defined in the Operations Handbook.  Should a game fall below the activity level, the Group Directorate Staff will follow an intervention system outlined in the Operations Handbook.
  3. GM’s are expected to keep their game pages on IFS current and updated with fresh game updates, and regularly submit news, features, etc. for inclusion on the front page and on social media. Failure to do so will result in action being taken. The range of measures is outlined in the Operations Handbook.
  4. The maximum In-Character rank of a player is capped at 1 rank below that of the In-Character Commanding Officer rank, or the marine equivalent.
  5. The Game Manager has the right to assign ranks and promote/demote players as they see fit within their simulation.
  6. The Fleet reserves the right to reuse any content shared on the Fleet News feeds for promotional purposes.
  7. The creative content (characters, posts) generated by a game belongs to the players of that game. However, the intellectual property of the game (e.g. game name, fleet-generated artwork, storyline, submitted news posts, etc.) belongs to Obsidian Fleet and may be reused as the Fleet deems fit should the game close or leave Obsidian Fleet.

Discord

Rules specific to the governance of conduct on the Fleet Discord server can be found in the #welcome channel. Members are advised to be familiar with these.

Game Proposals

Any player who meets the criteria for applying for a Game Manager position may present a proposal for a new sim for either Task Force 29 or Task Force 47. Such proposals must explain the premise of the game, which fandom it is based on (where applicable), GM Character being proposed, sample post, written by GM (must be at least 500 words/1SPM)  and outline, in 500 words or less, the plan for the first three months of operation. If a site is already created (i.e. the game has been created and the player wishes to bring it into OF) then links to the site may be submitted alongside this proposal. 

This will then be reviewed by the appropriate persons in Fleet Council and put to a vote as to whether or not to approve the game, which will be decided upon and the verdict given to the applicant in no more than seven calendar days unless otherwise specified in communications from the Game Group Director due to mitigating circumstances such as LOA or need for further review. The applicant may be requested to provide further information on their proposal before a decision is made. Following a positive decision, the applicant will be entered into the Game Management Course if they have not previously completed it.

If a Game Manager does not meet the required eligibility on their game currently within the fleet but has another game already active outside of the fleet they will be allowed to bring to the fleet on the condition of 3 months consistent posting and a minimum of five crew.

Fleet Lore

Prime fleet timeline Lore (Task Force 72 games) falls under the purview of the Lore department. All lore for other timelines and fandoms (Task Force 29 and 47, respectively) will fall under the purview of their respective Director/Task Force CO’s. In the event a collective of Game Managers wish to establish a shared universe across multiple games in the same timeline or fandom, this must first be approved by Fleet Council vote, and the review and addition of relevant timeline materials to the OF site will fall to the respective TFCO’s where applicable.