Headlines Stardate 20304.26

HEADLINES

Federation Space celebrates three years online!

For those of you that don't know, March 1st marked the site's 3 year anniversary. Though we didn't celebrate with the fanfare we did last year, I'd like to take this opportunity to address several issues as we wrap up the Borg plot-line.

This year, we started 4 new ships, the Republic, the Titan, the Gettysburg and the Yoritomo.

5 members reached the milestone rank of Captain; Otlan, Wueste, Lanael, Rayne and Thrawn. One person reached Commodore, Gage.

We saw yet another face lift of the site that changed not only the graphical appearance, but added considerable content.

The Romulan War was interrupted by the Borg Invasion. This marked what will probably be the last site wide plot-line. By the time you are reading this, this plot-line should almost be wrapped up.

Where we are going!

We're going to take a break from war/combat oriented missions and spend some time focusing on science/discovery and rebuilding missions.

Since March, we have started 3 new ships. The USS Yeager will be replacing the lost Yoritomo. The Agincourt and the Copernicus are being manned as this is being written.

We started the 3rd Fleet with the USS Gettysburg and the USS Copernicus.

Our new Science Head, Cdr Dramar, will be restarting the transwarp project.

Several members will be starting back stories told from the perspective of the various races. Any one of the back stories could eventually develop into future missions or even fleet wide missions.

Current Events!

1) There have been several changes to the Constitution posted today. For the most part, the changes are minor, clarification issues.

2) For those that don't know, Capt Otlan is the VCINC. Lt Colso has become the site adjutant.

3) The Fleet Commander's are going to spin back up and become an integral part of the Federation Space command structure. RAdm Benestad will be the First Fleet Commander, the Second Fleet Commander is RAdm Peter Cantro, and the Third Fleet Commander is VAdm Jeffrey Linden.

4) I'd like to point out to everyone that it is the CO's that appoint Department Heads. The players should not assume they are Department Heads until they are told so by their CO.

5) Big Ship Syndrome. I've noticed a trend among many of our members to want to be stationed on the biggest, strongest ships or for CO candidates to all want the biggest ship they can get. Let me say this: This site is about the CREW, not the ships. That's why I usually put the clamp on uber-armed ships with 348 phaser banks and gatling photon launchers that can launch 47 torpedoes in .0038 seconds. That's not what we're about. Let's focus the story on the characters, not the ship. A good, character centered story, will make a legendary ship.

6) Some of you need to slow down and take the time to actually read messages. Many of you scan messages and then post. It becomes apparent because you post in a way that's inconsistent with the previous posts. Please take the time to read the posts before making your own posts.

7) Taking care of new players. I don't know how many times I need to jump up and down about this. We need to take care of our new players and make them feel welcome and part of the story. It is the duty of the FO and Department Head to ensure that new players are welcomed and involved on their ships. (See constitutional points 2.17.5, 2.17.6 and 2.18.3) Now, I know this isn't getting done on all our ships. I know it's not getting done because I started a brand new Ensign for me to play the game with and I have NEVER been contacted by anyone on my ship. I've been on my ship for almost 2 months and I haven't received anything. That is unacceptable. New players want to feel welcomed and want to know that they can contribute to the game. We need to make that happen by contacting them and bringing them into the game. Let's work on this and take care of the new players.

8) There are several NPC's out there that look like they are their own characters or player characters. That's not the correct means of playing NPC's. Here are the accepted formats: NPC Name {Player Name} or, if you wish to retain you anonymity, you may use NPC Name {NPC} NPC's that don't follow this format will be deleted next Friday. CO's must still approve NPC's. If the NPC is going to be anonymous, the CO of the player must email me and let me know.

9) As we are starting up 2 new ships, there will be some shifting of crews. Please be patient through this process. We tried to keep the movements down to a minimum and in truth, there are only 8 people moving that haven't been told. Everyone is listed in general positions and not department head positions. It's up to the CO's to decide who the DH's are. (This applies, mostly, to our new ships.) Many of these moves will give some up and coming players a chance to excel in DH positions. The new crew manifests are listed in the Personnel Office.

I've done a lot of reading on the site and have seen some excellent posting. Keep up the good work! I look forward to the year ahead, whatever awaits us!

Fleet Admiral Jonathan Beckett, CINC