Pass the Time-Small Talk

[2nd Lt JacobD 0]

First off, let me put a small disclaimer that this is not a tip from Moose...although, hopefully this will rank pretty close to it.  If you haven't read Moose's tips, I would call those suggested readings first.

 

Take a minute and picture what Star Trek TNG would have been without the interaction between the different characters to help them build their plots.

 

Picard>Ensign, set course to Starbase 228, warp 4 and engage.

Ensign>Aye, sir.

::Insert 45 minutes of silence here with occasional clicking and beeping of computers::

Ensign>We have arrived, sir.

Picard>Good.

::Insert 15 minutes of silence here while crew walks around ship heading directly to their duty stations.::

 

Now...had this been an actual script on TNG, the show would have been canned after the first 3 shows for the simple fact that it would have been boring.  For most of us, we would have slept through it, waking up a few hours later wondering what day it is.

 

When it comes down to simming, the first thing you need to do is basically learn to handle your stations and interact with the people around you.  Once you have a firm grasp on that, take some time and try adding a little small talk between the people that are working around you.

 

Here's an example.

stsf_laura: ::climbs into a Jefferies tube:: I hate these things.

jacobd: I do too...reminds me of a small box.

jacobd: ::climbs in after the co::

stsf_laura:  ::crawls toward the access shaft:: Did I ever tell you about the time I got stuck in one of these?

jacobd: No...you didn't.

jacobd: When did that happen?

stsf_laura: When I was a Lt.  I was doing some repairs... ::pauses to swing onto the ladder:: And the power cut out and trapped me between section doors.

jacobd: ::waits for the co to move a little and then gets on the ladder as well::Ouch...that had to be mentally painful.

 

Now, I know this one was a little long and I didn't add everything in there, but as you can see, the captain and I had a conversation while we were going down to the main computer control room.  If we would have simply went into the jeffries tube and then down the ladder to the deck with the computer room, I bet Laura and I both would have been asleep by the time we got there.

 

The trick is not to take away from the sim or its plot, but to enrich it with getting to know a little bit about the other people that you are simming with.  I believe that this was the first time that I actually got to know a little more about Laura in the few times I simmed with her.  Even if none of that was real, it tells me that she's someone who has simmed for a while.

 

You don't want to make small talk about something that could potentially detract from the plot of the sim.  Having a love affair with the ship's doctor while you are married to the chief engineer is probably not a good thing that you want to add in as small talk.

 

Anyway, this is getting kind of long, but if you grasp the different areas of simming and then add a dash of small talk, you are helping to make the sim more interesting for everyone.

 

Trust me on this one...Captain Picard and the young ensign will thank you immensely.

[STSF StarDust 0]

Very good suggestions Jacob.

 

As a GM, its really nice to see cadets interacting in this manner. It lets us know a little more about you, as well as making the sim more interesting. Once you are in advanced sims, the small talk can become very important.

 

If you watch the CO and XO of the academy sim, at the beginning they are usually exchanging small talk, and its almost always about the mission. There may even be something important about the plot, as when Laura and I were talking at the start of the early Sunday acad. This Sunday in the late night academy, Grom and I started jibing each other about our mothers visiting the ship. We made this a running joke throughout the academy, and everyone caught on to it, and added to it.

 

Just remember to keep it related to the plot. Having a love affair, ordering food, making dates, going off to the mess hall for tea, etc are NOT ways to introduce small talk.

[Vex Xiang 0]

When it comes down to simming, the first thing you need to do is basically learn to handle your stations and interact with the people around you.

 

Wait a minute...you mean I have to actually TALK to my crew? Geez I've been simming all wrong, ignoring everyone.

 

Great post :P

 

Having a love affair, making dates....are NOT ways to introduce small talk.

 

Sounds like a fun sim to me!

[Dumbass 0]

Having a love affair, ordering food, making dates, going off to the mess hall for tea, etc are NOT ways to introduce small talk.

Of course if you did these things in that order the small talk should be pretty interesting  ::P:

[Jenna James 0]

Was going to make comment, but decided not to  :P

[Cptn Moose 0]

Why Mr. Duncan, do I see a trace of antlers around your hairline?

 

Excellent advise.

[2nd Lt JacobD 0]

Call it old experience creeping back in.