New to sims....first two academy sims and I'm hooked.

[keptin 0]

Hello all, I'm brand new to the world of simming and I have to say that after two sims I am completely drawn into it. I would never have thought that something that has the complexity of a board game could be so much fun....I guess imagination combined with my passion for all things Star Trek is what makes it such a great (though short) experience.

 

I'm quickly getting used to the position of CMO, being one on both of the sims so far. Saturday night we gave chase to a Nausicaan pirate ship and then beamed them onto the ship while infested with a biological pathogen and Sunday (still Sun...kinda) our ship was infested with a number of creatures with the craving for red shirts....sadly Ensign Ricky and his pals didnt make it.

 

 

Anyhow, I hope to try to catch as many academy days as possible during the week and I'll definatly be there on the weekends.

[Charles Stone 0]

Welcome! I too am very new to the whole on line sim life. It certainly is addicting. People here are great and quite a few of them could be professional writers I have my suspicions...

 

One fact that has struck me from your post is how facinating it is to see a story evolve after the BEGIN SIM message. With little more than 'so we arrived at the star base' all the characters seem to take over and with Ouija like precision write the next chapter.

 

The hardest thing Ive run into so far, is how to best help move the story. If you are playing the CMO, and you find a body, a decision must be made as to whether you can save them, they die, they have a disease etc.

 

Anywho, glad you are enjoying yourself!

[Joy 0]

Welcome aboard.

 

I was your AMO Monday. I've been a around a good while, but usually at science or Ops. I informally rated you as a veteran CMO helping an android not used to biological stuff on track. You seem to be a natural.

 

Have fun, and hope to see you about!

 

Bob / Joy

[keptin 0]

Thanks Joy! It was sure fun having an AMO...I'll have to brainstorm some more ideas on how to keep AMOs busy (myself included as I will probably start on a ship as an AMO.) Thanks for the compliment too...it's got to be all that star trek that my brain has 'assimilated'....all I have to do is repeat it ; )

 

I just love how each sim flows like an episode...it's exciting to be able to make new episodes after I've exhausted all of the official ones. You even get to experience these first hand!

 

 

 

Btw, I read your Bio and its very cool. I'm contemplating the possibilities of becoming a hologram based lifeform (ie. the Doctor), but it may be too restrictive. There are also a number of potential loopholes for a character like that (ie. being a "save the day" invincible army of one know-it-all)...I'd have to set knowledge limitations and there would definitely be a number of physical limitations such as existing anywhere else on the ship except the holodeck and sickbay (though, technically there would be a certain amount of portable holoemitter technology out there....perhaps place a time limit on the battery so the Doc cant be superhuman on away missions.) I'd also have to come up with a way on how it was created....I'd love to be EMH gone sentient being, but that may be too close a parallel to the VOY storyline. I'll do some thinking on that one....

Edited February 28, 2007 by keptin

[Joy 0]

STSF has a healthy an academy system as you are likely to find, but, yes, too often there is only one member in each department. You did good in creating a subplot in keeping the AMO busy without disrupting the main plot. Yet, when the main plot resulted in injury, we dropped everything and joined the main plot. Or tried to. When the CO and XO kill themselves off to see how the players react and solve the problem, there often isn't much the medical department can do about it. Thus, when creating department subplots for medical, one has to allow for the away team that is apt to form a half hour into the sim, which will often need medical support, or the battle scene that may or may not break out forty minutes in.

 

A holodoc would be interesting but tricky. Think it through. Choose a ship that runs in a 'post Voyager return' time frame. Talk to the captain to see what he or she thinks of your ideas. Portable holodeck projectors seem to be a plausible technology in that time frame, but are essentially miniature Q continuums. Reality within their zone of influence would be subject to change without notice. Could one enable safeties on a portable holodeck? Could one beam a portable holodeck anywhere on the ship that an injury occurs?

 

I'd also be reluctant to try to portray the personality of the classic Trek holodoc. The actor that portrayed him just did such a dang good job that I wouldn't dare try to duplicate the personality.

 

I'd concur that one should try to avoid unusual abilities that come into play very often. The Vulcan cultural inhibition against mind meld is a fine example of a way to avoid over using a plot device. Joy's Laws of Robotics, fed through her emotion chip, makes her want to avoid violence. Thus, even if she is fast and strong, she doesn't like to hurt people, doesn't want her superiors to think of her as an asset in combat. In simply role playing a character who doesn't want to hurt people, who embodies the principle that violence ought to be the last resort, that all other possible means should be considered first, it simply never comes up that Joy just happens to be fast, strong and trained.

 

Personality, if played well, can be enough of a limitation. A character designed as a holodoc might well be programed to abhor violence and injury.

 

But it is also a matter of finding the right captain. Some like exotic characters more than others. It might or might not be best to play a more conventional character the first time out, so you can get a feel for the environment of the 'advanced' ships, and so the command staff can learn your style and get to know you.

 

Anyway... see you about the galaxy!

[keptin 0]

Some very good points made. I'll definitely keep them in mind...perhaps I will go with a more standard lifeform the first time out to get a hang of it all. As soon as I graduate the academy I will do some good searching on which ship I should join...there are many variables to the setting alone which can completely change the plot line of each 'mission.'