New and confused! What next?

[Bethune 0]

Hello all,

 

I am a long time *casual* Star Trek fan, I've never really been heavily involved with online communities, role playing or even fan clubs before - but my curiosity has finally got the better of me and I would like to become involved and participate...

 

However, having found this site I have to ask how should I progress from here?

 

I didn't see any obvious FAQs for newcomers or brand new potential members outlining how they progress in becoming a member and what is expected of them - etc - can I ask if any members could give me some advice about how I should become involved and what I might expect in becoming a member. Any information would be very gratefully received.

 

Sorry if this - on the surface - seems to be a bit of a 'dumb question'!

 

Best regards,

 

B

Edited July 8, 2010 by Bethune

[STSF Kent 0]

Welcome to STSF, Bethune! ;)

 

We're a chat-based Star Trek simulation roleplaying ("simming") community; you can get into our chatrooms by using the button up in the top right of the forums that says "Live Chat."

 

In the long run, the idea is that you create a character and type out their actions and speech in an ongoing Star Trek scenario with a ship's crew who meet once a week in one of our advanced games. However, as a new player, your first stop should be one of our Academy games, which are one-hour games every evening with no continuing storyline, meant to allow you to get your feet wet and learn how things work around here. The STSF GMs (Game Masters) run things and keep an eye on the progress of all new members -- when they feel a cadet is ready to move on into the advanced games, the cadet will be "graduated" and will be able to move out of the academies if they choose.

 

You can read transcripts of past Academy chatlogs at http://www.stsf.net/forums/index.php?showforum=25 and transcripts of our advanced games at http://www.stsf.net/forums/index.php?showforum=26, which can help you get a sense of how a game runs. I'd also recommend you check out our website's "How To Sim" page, and the "Tips From the Moose" on the forums, both of which were written to explain to new players information about how to play and how to play well. :P

 

A schedule of when the advanced and Academy games take place can be found at http://www.stsf.net/schedule.php. The next one is tonight at 9PM.

 

If you have any questions at all, feel free to ask one of the Game Masters! We're here to help and don't bite at all. :P

 

I hope you enjoy your time with us here and look forward to seeing you in the academies!

[Bethune 0]

Many, many thanks for that very concise over-view of activities (and the welcome), it was exactly what I needed. I particularly found looking at one of the text logs very useful, as the out-of-character chat in it answered some more of my questions!

 

Thank you so much.

 

This all looks very more creative and spontaneous than the one online RP I have been before (which was a lot more like 'play by mail' where you emailed your participation and the whole thing could take many days to conclude a short activity).

 

I am now looking forward to becoming involved in one of the Academy games...

 

Two final questions.

 

1. I live in the UK - do you think that the time difference (my being on GMT) will adversely effect my involvement if the chat is scheduled in real-time?

 

2. Where do I sign up? :P

 

Again - thank you for the friendly response. B

Edited July 8, 2010 by Bethune

[STSF Kent 0]

I too started out in a more laconic RP environment (play-by-message-board) and simming is definitely a bit of a shift, much more spontaneous and quick-moving -- it takes a little bit to get used to but in my opinion is in the long run much more exciting and immersive. ;)

 

You basically sign up by showing up to an Academy. :P The GMs keep track of everyone who participates so just by arriving, you're involved right away, and you can attend as many academies as you like per week, or visit advanced games and watch them.

 

All of the STSF games *are* unfortunately set in the 9-11PM EST range (with one Saturday night game at 12AM EST)...so you may find the timing is a bit of a challenge in that regard, though we do have some very experienced players from the European side of things so...it's worked out in the past. :P

[Crash Calestorm 0]

This all looks very more creative and spontaneous than the one online RP I have been before (which was a lot more like 'play by mail' where you emailed your participation and the whole thing could take many days to conclude a short activity).

As Kent mentioned, the game play here at STSF is much more fast paced then a PBeM or Message Board game; I refer to the Live Chat method as "reading a book, but you are part of the action".

 

I had tried a Play by Mail (Battlestar Galactica based), and it's a great method if you prefer email as well as the slower pace. The influx to the InBox got out of hand. The time spent reading and formulating responses for a PBeM is something you as a Player really have to want to participate in.

 

In general, I prefer the Live Chat that we do here. STSF does the best of all worlds actually: One hour Chats, with Message Board Character Logs/Fiction (some Sims also prefer that a duplicate of the fiction be sent to a crew mail string) that fill in the blanks in between the weekly chat room meetings.

 

Welcome to STSF and happy Simming Bethune!

[KhreRiovtRex 0]

Yes, unfortunatley we just had to discontinue the one Academy that was running in the evening for the Europeans (Sunday afternoons US time), due to lack of interest.

 

And Jolan Tru and Aefhvahd!