Game Moderator Manual

Below you will find an outline of exactly what is expected and what defines a GM (Game Moderator) on Federation Space. Like most guidelines for Fed Space, this is a living document and subject to change. The following topics will be outlined below:

Introduction

Welcome to the official Federation Space Game Moderator (GM) Handbook. In it you will find useful information about being a GM, how GMs are selected and what is expected of you as you take on one of the most difficult positions in the game. Hopefully it will act as a reference guide for those of you who are GM’s and those who hope to become one. If you have any questions about the material below, please contact the GM Manager.

What is a GM?

GM stands for Game Moderator. The GM is responsible for keeping the story moving to its preplanned conclusion, without giving away any part too early or making the mission too easy. It’s an often difficult and under-appreciated job, but it is extremely important to how the missions on Fed Space work.

GMs are also there to help the crew interact with each other through non-mission related subplots.

How do I get hired as a GM?

The GM Administrator is responsible for the hiring and assigning of all GMs. The GM Administrator will also contact the Group Commanders and Commanding Officers for possible GM candidates from the various ships and groups. The GM Administrator can be reached via email at gmadmin@vlodnak.com.

Normally you must be Lieutenant JG or higher to get hired as a GM, however exceptions are made in certain circumstances.

There are three ways you can be hired as a GM:
1) If the GM Administrator wants to hire you, he/she will contact your CO and ask them for an endorsement to hire you. Following receipt of that endorsement, they will contact you about being a GM.

2) A CO may approach the GM Administrator and RECOMMEND you to be a new GM. In this case the GM Administrator will, if they are in need of a GM at that time, contact you.

3) You may APPLY to be a GM by emailing the GM Administrator. When doing so you MUST carbon copy (cc) your Commanding Officer on the application email. The GM Administrator will then discuss it with your CO and a decision will be made.

Under NO circumstances is a GM hired without endorsement of their Commanding Officer, and the Commanding Officer can, by contacting the GM Administrator, request that a player’s GM rights are removed at any time. This is to ensure that players are paying proper attention to their PC.

GM rules and guidelines

Below is a list of both rules and guidelines for being a GM on Federation Space. The rules MUST be followed whereas the guidelines are simply helpful suggestions that do not have to be adhered to.

Rules:

1. All ship missions should run the proper length of time as set at the beginning of the mission. This is flexible according to circumstance, but you will know how long your mission is supposed to run when it is assigned to you. The key is to make sure the mission isn’t running so long that everyone is getting bored, or so short that no one gets a chance to post. As a general rule this is 3-4 months maximum… if you find yourself off base on this, you should contact the GM Manager to discuss the situation.

2. All GM’s must respond to input requests or Emails within 3 days unless other arrangements have been made with the CO and the GM Manager. The goal should be to do so within 2 days maximum, however consider the third day as a ‘grace’ period. This will help to ensure players don’t become bored or wait around forever hoping for a response when it may have been overlooked. Also, this presents an appropriate time-table to allow other players to get involved. While there is some flexibility here, 3 days should be the benchmark. If the GM makes a post and no one responds within 2 days, the GM will move the story along. This is to help keep a proper pace on the mission without the players, or the GM waiting around for someone to do something.

3. All missions must follow the outline given to each GM. This ensures that if you cannot fulfill your GM duties, the backup GM will have a clear direction for the mission to continue. If changes are made, you MUST update the Mission Outline and send it back to the GM MANAGER.

4. If someone asks for input, when there is no clear answer, ask them what they are looking for input on. Occasionally, they really aren’t looking for an answer, just waiting for something to happen.

5. Try and keep every department involved. Sometimes people will not post and there is little you can do to make them, but try and make sure the department has an assignment so if someone says ‘== Hey, I’m bored and have nothing to do! ==’ you can point them towards the assignment given to the department as a whole. If they still don’t post, contact the DH, FO and CO and let them know they need to help to come up with a subplot for the player. The GMs shouldn’t control these subplots, but they should be aware of them and help the ship’s command crew when possible.

6. Be decisive! If you set the parameters for an answer and someone ignores it, or changes it, correct them, nicely. Sometimes information gets overlooked and we don’t want someone completely changing the mission outcome because they missed that the shields were down by 80 percent, and they thought they had 80 percent left.

7. GM points are assigned on a scale of 0-200 based on your performance. An additional 100 may be granted for exceptional performance at the discretion of the GM Administrator. If you do not post for an extended period of time and don't contact the GM Administrator and ship CO to let them know, you will be replaced as GM. If you need time away its fine, but the GM Administrator needs to know so they can set up a backup GM. Abandoning your GM responsibilities without notifying the GM Administrator will result in the GM being dismissed.

Also, you ONLY receive GM points for the ship mission. If you are running personal subplots with some players outside of the ship, or the ship is in dock and you’re GMing subplots, this is considered outside of your normal duties. The reason for this is to keep GM’s from doing subplots for themselves or friends and receiving points while not GMing any missions for the site. The downtime between missions is not only for the crews, but also for the GM’s to take some time off.

8. You should all have access to the GM area and an email account. If you have an invalid email account or fail to answer an email from the GM Administrator in 3 days, your GM account may be suspended and/or you may be dismissed as a GM. YOU MUST ANSWER EMAILS AND HAVE A VALID EMAIL ACCOUNT IN YOUR PROFILE!!!!

9. If you are having a problem with a player, or have a question about your mission, contact the CO and the GC. If needed, the GC will contact the GM Administrator.

10. The only people with access to the GM area are the GMs, the GM Administrator, certain administrative personnel and President Barnett.

11. Do not post mission information in the GM area. If a mission is posted, one of the other GMs may end up seeing their mission and it will effectively spoil the game for them, please be considerate to your fellow players and GMs.

12. Do not spread around the mission information, again, this would take the fun out of the game for the players to know exactly what will happen when their ship comes out of warp, or they are boarded by the bad guys. Above all else, this is a game and we all want to have fun. If someone, even another GM, asks for your mission outline, forward the request to the Creative Director. The Creative Director is the only person who should be sending out mission outlines. If a GM is found to be discussing a mission with players other than the CO without the consent of the CO or GM Manager, they will be dismissed. The GM Administrator IS NOT privy to mission details.

12a. If it is found that mission details have been shared with anyone other than the CO of the ship, your partner GM, and the Creative Director; without the express written permission from the creative director IN EMAIL, then both GM's will be summarily dismissed and banned as GM's.

13. Subplots, work these out with the CO. If you’re not sure if it’s feasible, or will affect the mission in an adverse way, ask the GM Administrator and they will work it out with you and the ship’s CO and/or the applicable GC.

14. If a CO, Group Commander, Chief Of Operations, or anyone else asks you to post somewhere other than your assigned ship as GM, you MUST contact the GM Administrator for approval. A GM posting on a ship other than the one they're assigned to can cause confusion amongst the players and difficulty within the mission outlines. Only the GM Administrator and President can assign GMs on the site.

15. Failure to follow these rules can be lead to the GM being dismissed. These rules are here for a reason; not following them can spoil the game for everyone.

Guidelines:

1. Maintain an open line of communication with the CO at all times. This isn’t a ‘rule’ simply because some CO’s prefer to be in the dark about the mission, and for them, having every detail outlined for them will spoil the game. However, it is important to communicate with the CO and let them know how things are going and get their input on various plots and subplots. I encourage you to have small ‘deviations’ in the plot from what the CO has been told, to keep the game dynamic for them, however anything that alters the flow of the mission or upsets what was agreed upon with the CO is not approved of.

2. It is COMPLETELY up to you whether or not you reveal your identity to the players on the ship, with the exception of the CO. There are merits to both methods. If they know who you are you can discuss things more openly with them… if not then they aren’t harassing you. But regardless of what you choose here, discussion of mission details with ANYONE other than your partner GM, the CO, or the GM manager is forbidden. And that includes FO’s… they ARE NOT privy to mission details. The CO will know your identity and will be charged with also keeping your identity secret. If a CO is found to reveal your identity, proper measures will be taken to both restore your anonymity and sanction that CO in some manner appropriate.

2a. A CO will not automatically be given your identity. They may request it via email of you or the GM-Administrator. In either case, the GM and GM-Admin should be copied on the answer so that it's official and keeps everyone honest.

3. You do not have Moderator access, if you need a post changed, email the CO or GC, and they will fix it. Normal user accounts only have about 120 minutes for you to edit your post, after that, you’re stuck unless you contact a Moderator.

4. Have fun! Being a GM is a lot of work, but it is also a lot of fun being able to control the fate of an entire ship and its crew, enjoy it, be creative, surprise them in any way you can. You will always have a complainer who hates every mission and never has any fun, but there are more people who will enjoy your creative writing than complain about it. So have fun! If a problem arises, contact the CO or GM Manager so they can be aware of it.

FAQ

PC Characters

Players will often ask what a GM is allowed to do to their character within the game. The answer is that the GM is supposed to set the environment and the mission so that the players can interact and react to what happens around them. The ultimate end for each character is based upon the person playing them. The GM should never do anything permanent to a Player Character that the person who controls that player does not agree with. For instance cutting the PC’s arm off, or changing their sex, killing their family members or making them pregnant. These are all things that could adversely affect the PC character and how that character is played. If a GM has an idea that might permanently change the character, they need to contact that character first to get permission.

The GM can change the surroundings, or the experiences of the PC characters as that is part of the mission and each character can react to the situations in their own way, not altering the character unless they want to.

NPC Characters

NPCs are generally there to help interact within different departments when a PC is not available. There are also many non-assigned NPCs on various ships and those NPCs can be killed, maimed or used in any way the GM sees fit, as long as it’s approved by the Commanding Officer.

Claimed, or assigned NPCs should be treated the same as PC’s.

Ship Assignments

GMs and players alike have asked why a certain GM is assigned to a specific ship and how that decision is made. The answer is that the GM can only be assigned to a ship where their PC character is not assigned. If the PC transfers to that ship, the GM will be reassigned.

GMs are also assigned based on their experience and their compatibility with the CO/FO’s and players, as well as CO and GM requests. There are many factors that lead to the assigning of GMs to certain ships.

Ultimately it is the decision of the GM Administrator on what GM’s are assigned to what ships.

Leave of Absence

Just like any other player on Fed Space, sometimes GMs need time off. When that happens, a backup GM will be assigned to their ship to cover for the missing GM, until the GM returns. If a GM knows they need to take a LOA, they need to notify the ship’s CO and the GM Administrator. Failure to do so can lead to the GM being relieved on their duties. I also recommend you post in the CA of the ship.

Submitting stories/Plotlines

Players will often send in mission ideas or stories they would like to see run on Fed Space and many times, there isn’t enough information or background to run the idea as is. Here is what we need to see for an idea to be used.

Background – What is the purpose of the mission? What’s the ultimate goal and why are the people involved doing what they are doing? Story – There needs to be an outline of the mission from beginning to end that encompasses the ship and crew as a whole. Having a story centered on a single player character isn’t really going to work on an entire ship. Resolution – What is meant to happen to the ship and crew at the end of this mission? Are they going to win, lose or end in a stalemate? What are the ramifications of their successes and failures to Star Fleet and the Federation? What about their adversaries? Also, for a mission to be considered, it must be submitted to the GM MANAGER directly. Sending it to a Group Commander or Commanding Officer for approval is not acceptable.

A standard mission outline form is available from the Creative Director.

Answering input requests

Input requests should be answered within 3 days maximum. This allows for others to post before the GM and gives the GM time to research their answers if need be, or to get to each request. Sometimes it’s not possible to answer within the three days, but all GM’s should at least adhere to the 2 post per week rule. Your goal should be 2 days to answer, with the third day as a sort of grace period. The players also need to be aware that they need to be patient when waiting for GM input. If the GM needs to do more research, or needs more time, an OOC post explaining that a post is forthcoming will keep the players from wondering if you've forgotten about them. To keep the missions on the site moving, this rule has changed slightly. The GM should post, wait 2 days for a player to respond, then post again. If the players are responding and keeping the mission active, this is not necessary, but if they seem to be waiting, it's up to the GM to move the mission along.

Player Interaction

GMs should use PC characters only when they absolutely have to. Generally it’s not necessary to use a PC, but when it is, the GM should limit the use to only what’s needed. This helps to keep the character from being played inaccurately and upsetting the PC’s owner.

Problem Solving

GMs are often asked questions that they don’t know the answer to. If you can’t find it on the site, then send an email to the Creative Director for clarification. A lot of times Fed Space is using a different source, or different information that what would be found on Startrek.com or ditl.org, though both can be very useful resources to not only GMs, but Fed Space players.

Continuity

As a GM, you set the stage that the mission plays on. Because of that, you have to make sure you are keeping true to the stage that you have set. If you create a dilemma and the players find a way around it, you have to adjust in a logical way. If you have established that the ship is going warp 8 to its destination and a player has said the ship is at impulse, be sure to correct them, gently. Everyone makes mistakes and everyone occasionally misses something. Everyone should have the patience to ask for clarification before attacking someone else over what is likely a simple point that needs fixing.

Using Fed Space canon

Much of what Fed Space uses in the game is taken from either the Star Trek series, movies, books, tech manuals, encyclopedias, startrek.com or Star Fleet Battles. That doesn’t mean it always matches up perfectly. The best resource to use in this instance is the FAQ section in Red Alert. If all else fails and you need an answer, contact the GM MANAGER, they can direct you to the appropriate resource. Our site is rich with content, don’t hesitate to use it.

Chain of Command

The GMs fall into the same Chain of Command as everyone else. If they have an issue on the ship, they would contact the CO and the Creative Director. If the CO has an issue with the GM, they would take it to their Group Commander, who would then escalate it to the Creative Director as necessary. A player should never contact the GM to complain about the job they’re doing. If the player has a problem with the GM, they should take it to their DH, then FO, then CO. Also, the CO is in ultimate command of the ship. The GM is not part of the ship chain of command, nor do they have any say in awards, medals or points issued to the crew.

Checks and Balances

The question often arises as to who checks up on the GMs in the game? The answer is that the Cos are meant to watch the GMs and see to it they are doing their jobs as Game Moderators. Much as the GM is meant to make sure the crew doesn’t completely alter the mission outline by launching a fleet of fighters, when the ship is only a Light Cruiser. Or that someone doesn’t call for a landing maneuver while helming a Carrier. It’s up to the GM to watch out for the crew and it’s up to the COs to watch out for the GM. This helps to maintain balance and accuracy for everyone.

Conclusion

Being a GM can be a lot of work and can also be very rewarding. If you wish to be a GM, make sure to throw yourself into the game and show that you can do it. That way when the time comes, you too can control the fate of an entire ship who may call out your GM number in utter fear or blessed admiration.

Contact Information

The GM Administrator can be reached at [gmadmin@vlodnak.com].

The Creative Director can be reached at [grayson@fed-space.com].