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Pierre_LaRoche

Academy SIMs

It's been a number of years since I last SIMMED and absence has made the heart grow fonder. Certainly my time watching the Aegis SIMs has been enjoyable. I have found a few of the Academy SIMs quite enjoyable. Afterall, I am able to play in these. Let's see. I have served recently as:

 

· An assistant engineer who saw his ship destroyed by a Romulan Warbird. I truly wish the Chief Engineer had taken the warp core off line, or at least told the Captain something like, "She cannot take much more of this" or "One more hit like that and we're all dead." Maybe we could have avoided certain doom?

 

· A Chief of Security on a runabout. I didn't realize that Academy SIMs are known for changelings serving as the GMs. The clues given were subtle, but I suppose I could have picked up on them before the XO mysteriously disappeared and reappeared in the Runabout. It sure stank to be stranded on the planet.

 

· An assisted engineer from the Corps of Engineers. This was my favorite! A Hercules class tug showed up to retrieve a (Galaxy-class) saucer section. Nearly all of us were engineers assigned to two teams, one from a starship and one from the Corps. Oh yeah, we had 2 chief engineers. Talk about confusion! We all persisted, enjoyed the SIM, and no one got killed or stranded!

 

· A Chief Science Officer of a 'no plot' SIM. This is the one where the ship had been out on mapping the universe for much too long. The crew was demoralized and began bickering. It might have been easier if the Captain or even the XO were throwing in the occasional ACTION statement. Instead, I got to hear at least one lover's quarrel, the grumpiness of a Captain confined to quarters, the MXOs discussion of his wives cooking, etc. Bottom line, if the GMs don't want to make and/or support an actual Star Trek plot, the SIM is bound to degenerate into a Soap.

 

I suppose personal taste is the best way to describe why I enjoyed one over the other. I have noticed that there are quite a few people who like to explore relationships in advanced SIMs. I used to make it a point to read every log to make certain I keep up with the main plot lines, but I found that excessively long romance logs are not enjoyable reading. I am certain others feel different.

 

Just a bit of babble from someone who misses writing logs.

 

 

Pierre

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· An assisted engineer from the Corps of Engineers. This was my favorite! A Hercules class tug showed up to retrieve a (Galaxy-class) saucer section. Nearly all of us were engineers assigned to two teams, one from a starship and one from the Corps. Oh yeah, we had 2 chief engineers. Talk about confusion! We all persisted, enjoyed the SIM, and no one got killed or stranded!

 

Actually, that sim was Starfleet bringing a saucer for a new Jupiter-class starbase.

 

· A Chief Science Officer of a 'no plot' SIM. This is the one where the ship had been out on mapping the universe for much too long. The crew was demoralized and began bickering. It might have been easier if the Captain or even the XO were throwing in the occasional ACTION statement. Instead, I got to hear at least one lover's quarrel, the grumpiness of a Captain confined to quarters, the MXOs discussion of his wives cooking, etc. Bottom line, if the GMs don't want to make and/or support an actual Star Trek plot, the SIM is bound to degenerate into a Soap.

 

Those are the best, because they lead towards character development. It also doesn't help that RL plays a big role with the Wednesday night GM. And even in Advanced Sims, you don't always have constant ACTION statements the full hour.

 

I suppose personal taste is the best way to describe why I enjoyed one over the other.

 

And that hit the nail on the head, Pierre. Even every GM has a different style of simming, as a veteran of STSF you should know. Muon's style is as different from Gromvik's is as different from N'Dak's (suicide missions). But you make the best of a scenario and run with it.

Edited by will_marx

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Wow! that is a lot of posts! are they academy sims? I just had my first aca. sim. it was slightly confusing, but I think I did ok. I have new respect for ASCI's lol

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And that hit the nail on the head, Pierre. Even every GM has a different style of simming, as a veteran of STSF you should know. Muon's style is as different from Gromvik's is as different from N'Dak's (suicide missions). But you make the best of a scenario and run with it.

 

 

I resemble that remark! :lol:

 

 

But dead on, every GM team is a little different. There's general mechanics works that are the same across the board, but we all have different... flavors.

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Hey Cuda,

 

The design of the Academies is not necessarily centered on reaching a certain plot end goal. I would submit instead that the goal of the Academies is for newer players to learn the conventions of simming and then learn how to handle different situations and interactions among other simmers. We GMs assess less what you accomplish in an Academy sim but more for how you handle what's thrown your way, how you interact and treat other simmers, and how you adhere to established simming conventions, among other things.

 

Don't take it personally when sometimes the plot does not end the way you anticipated or hoped. Every GM's command style is different. As many players who dislike some of the fatalistic plots from some of our GMs, there are players who absolutely love the impending doom. I personally tend to avoid hopeless plots because that's my style. Of course, when the Pandarians are in town, I can't guarantee anything.

 

In advanced sims, where the focus is more plot driven, you will find that plots do have more of a definitive end and do (to certain degrees) depend on the work and decisions made on the sim.

 

Above all, we try to keep the Academies fresh and exciting, which is no small task to do! Enjoy your time while you're there. I can almost guarantee you that once you graduate, you'll visit the Academy and actually enjoy some of fatalistic plots our notorious GMs have to offer. B)

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Hola!

 

Acad sims where nothing happens are invaluable! They teach you how to keep yourself busy. When you are on an advanced sim, you will run into this constantly. Think about a star trek episode. Let's say our episode's plot mainly deals with engineering. It's possible that you will not see any of the medical staff for the entire episode. Or...its possible that in between the engineering cuts, we will see the CMO in ten forward talking with someone about personal issues. the CMO is not accomplishing anything, but the viewer is learning about that character. Sims or "real time" is even worse...because while the eng staff is accomplishing something, the med staff and sci staff and bridge staff are all still sitting there. They have to keep themselves busy, either with mundane department stuff, or with personal development. This is where the "Soap" stuff happens.

 

Also, rest assured, you won't encounter as much death in the advanced sims. NPC's die once in a while. But (as you can read in a few topics buried in this forum), the death of an actual character involves tons of work and great care. Afterall, you are ending something you have spent a great deal of time creating and growing. Death in the academies does not matter because the character only really exists for that one hour, self contained plot. So if the GM is just observing players simming abilities and not concerned with the plot...why not end with a bang?

 

Glad to have you back!!

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