Star Trek?
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Is there anywhere to play Star Trek that doesn't have strange app requirements? I've the itch to play a betazoid science officer again.
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Not that I wish to derail the thread too much. What is a 'strange app requirement' you've experienced before - that's Star Trek game specific?
He/Him
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@cobaltasaurus game.phxrising.org 1701
I gave it a shot, but I really can't focus on more than one game at a time. It's not bad from what I've seen.
ETA : I haven't been around there for a month, so if they turned into shitbags? Sorry!
I didn't ask for this, it sort of fell on me.
Playlist here : http://musoapbox.net/topic/1935/layla-s-playlist -
@layla Is there any info on this place? It's setting, who the staff are, what systems it uses, etc?
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Apparently its run by some people who were involved in WNO before it closed. I believe that it's mostly comprised of the staff who were not happy with the direction that WNO took. I don't want to go hogpit here, but they seem like a good bunch.
Directly from the helpfiles :
--[Help canon]-----------------------------------------------[Phoenix Rising]--
What do we consider canon here at Phoenix Rising? Good question, and it has a
relatively simple answer.All of the TV shows, with the exception of Star Trek: Discovery. We're on the
fence about the Mycelium Spore Drive, and some of the tech they've introduced
so far was introduced as new in some of the TV shows that came before it, yet
are after it in the timeline. That makes it a little hard to reconcile.Also, the two J.J. Abrams Star Trek movies, and the third that followed, Star
Trek Beyond co-written by Doug Jung and Simon Pegg are not considered canon
here on Phoenix Rising. All good movies, but they are in an alternate
timeline from the movies and TV shows that came before them.Primary sources for canon information that have been used in developing
Phoenix Rising are:Memory Alpha (http://memory-alpha.wikia.com/wiki/)
Star Trek Star Charts - The Complete Atlas of Star Trek
written and illustrated by Geoffrey Mandel
Star Trek Deep Space Nine Technial Manual - Pocket Books
by Herman Zimmerman, Rick Sternbach, and Doug Drexler
Star Trek The Next Generation Technical Manual - Pocket Books
by Rick Sternach and Michael OkudaAs for the system, not sure. Sorry.
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@tinuviel said in Star Trek?:
Not that I wish to derail the thread too much. What is a 'strange app requirement' you've experienced before - that's Star Trek game specific?
The last one I tried was "you go through this weird long chargen, and then get put on a ship based off of what you've app'd, you're not supposed to approach anyone to see what they need or what, and no one answers any questions".
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@cobaltasaurus I can loan you Traveller Book 5 High Guard for that sort of "RP".
If you want, you can roll the dice, and I'll "GM" it for you.
"Sorry no promotion this year."
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I'd love to see a nice Star Trek game that had some meat to it beyond 'command consoles'.
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@bobgoblin Command consoles, stupid space battles, and then... REPORT RP!
ETA: I didn't and don't mind making reports a la Gamma One, fwiw.He/Him
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@tinuviel said in Star Trek?:
@bobgoblin Command consoles, stupid space battles, and then... REPORT RP!
ETA: I didn't and don't mind making reports a la Gamma One, fwiw.Seriously the whining about “report rp” always fucking baffled me. Take two minutes add what you did the to the AAR, move on unless asked for more detail.
It seriously wasn’t that bad, also if someone tries to insist on getting info without RP, say no!
Though god I feel like reports saved me from some boring ass RP man.
“So, ensign, what did you learn about mysterious substance A?”
“Well, sir, it acts like a base but had an acidic pH, and when you put it in whater it turns to sand.”
“Oh, interesting, what happens when you apply heat to it?”
“Oh, I’ll try that!” OOC: Staff didn’t say, so I can’t say yet!
“Okay, what about when you do...”
“OOC: Gotta go back to Staff...”
“Or...”
“OOC: Staff...”
“Okay, hows your coffee?”
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I never had an issue with the report RP in the sense of using it to generate information for players to then share. To me it was no different then when a DM hands you a sheet of paper that has the results of some of your investigations around town or some such. Just a way to pass information and share said information.
That said, I do get why some people felt it bogged down their RP. It's hard to file a +report about your most recent bout of sexual exploits.
Or is it...
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@bobgoblin I think some places took Reports to an extreme and expected it to be written up in an IC, professional and detailed manner. That’s just annoying. A pithy OOC summary can convey important plot details to players and staff who weren’t there, but hardly anybody wants to read (let alone write) a realistic AAR. They’re long and dull.
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@faraday said in Star Trek?:
@bobgoblin I think some places took Reports to an extreme and expected it to be written up in an IC, professional and detailed manner. That’s just annoying. A pithy OOC summary can convey important plot details to players and staff who weren’t there, but hardly anybody wants to read (let alone write) a realistic AAR. They’re long and dull.
This. The place I had seen it the report requirement was the equivalent of "Office Space: The RPG" and if you didn't have the cover letter on your TPS report you got crapped on.
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@wildbaboons said in Star Trek?:
@faraday said in Star Trek?:
@bobgoblin I think some places took Reports to an extreme and expected it to be written up in an IC, professional and detailed manner. That’s just annoying. A pithy OOC summary can convey important plot details to players and staff who weren’t there, but hardly anybody wants to read (let alone write) a realistic AAR. They’re long and dull.
This. The place I had seen it the report requirement was the equivalent of "Office Space: The RPG" and if you didn't have the cover letter on your TPS report you got crapped on.
I now need an Office space Mush in my life. I know it would be really boring but it couldn't possibly be worse then all the school life roleplay mush's out there. Imagine all the wacky hijinx you could get into!
On a more on topic note I've tried most the current Star Trek Mushes out there for a reasonable amount of time. That Star Trek ToS game is nice but it's a bit... light... on actually letting you have a character background and the like feels more like a code light mud then a mush. Which is a problem I find with a lot of Star Trek Mushes, they just come off as Code light Muds, or sometimes even code heavy muds. It's kind of sad to be honest.
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I've batted the idea of a Star Trek Mush around for a good chunk of years but just can never motivate myself to make it happen.
I see the breakdown coming with differences on setting and locations. Ships vs stations etc.
I also see Trek as being very dependent on story tellers in most designs which makes me nervous. Burnout is real bro
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@bobgoblin said in Star Trek?:
I've batted the idea of a Star Trek Mush around for a good chunk of years but just can never motivate myself to make it happen.
I'm in very much the same position.
I'd love to make a game based on the new series, but every time I think about doing so, I check out the Mudconnector and am reminded that only two of the eight Trek games listed there have enough players to be considered active (and only moderately active, at that). The rest have been trying, without much success, for years (over a decade, in some cases) to establish a player base.
What chance does a new game stand of attracting players, when so many of the existing games are empty? It's not like there's something new that we could try. After all, Trek MU*s have existed for 30 years, it's all been done, and probably more times than I could count. You could maybe make a small single-ship Federation game work but me, personally, I am not going to bother with making a MUSH for 8 people. I would use Roll20 or something similar instead.
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@rnmissionrun I mean let's be honest part of the reason they're all dead is because every time they get active they split their damn playerbase onto different ships in order to let people ascend the rank. You make a single ship that stays a single ship where the entire game focuses on that single ship you'll probably have a good time. Just don't listen to people when they demand more ships just so that THEY can play captain and you'll get plenty of players.
Seriously I swear they shoot themselves in the fragin knee the second they start to get any headway just because they decide the game HAS to cater to klingon players and romulan players and needs more ships because everyone HAS to be able to be captain of their own ship. If I wasn't already committed to launching two mushes I'd do it myself.
Stick to a single ship in a time period people actually like and you're golden. Treat that one ship like a city rather, and have your events be away missions or visits to some new planet maybe something going wrong on the ship the entire playerbase can get involved in. Just bring the scope down and you'll get players.
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My thought process has followed this path many times
How do you keep the playerbase together?
How do you keep it reasonable for characters to come in and out?
How do you incorporate new players to the game?
How do you have progression in a setting that is military without many times room to promote?
How do you provide opportunities for characters to lead in this setting?
How do you provide for player ran adventures while maintaining an overarching plot line?
How do you offer alternative cultures equal footing in said military setting? (Ie Klingons and romulans)The best solution I've found would be a starfleet academy type setting. Not an 18-23 year old college Mush. But an advanced officers school in conjunction with the younger kids. You have player ran missions in form of holo assignments. You have progression in form of "grades". You have people able to come in and out smoothly. You can have Klingons and romulans in cross training programs. You have meta plot of actual starship assignments. You have people able to do leadership roles and everyone can be a captain at different times if that's their thing
Dunno. It makes the most sense to me. You get adventure. Exploration. Social. Combat and progression in theme and setting without being limiting to new people. Everyone's together in a central location as well
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@mr-johnson said in Star Trek?:
@rnmissionrun I mean let's be honest part of the reason they're all dead is because every time they get active they split their damn playerbase onto different ships in order to let people ascend the rank. You make a single ship that stays a single ship where the entire game focuses on that single ship you'll probably have a good time. Just don't listen to people when they demand more ships just so that THEY can play captain and you'll get plenty of players.
Seriously I swear they shoot themselves in the fragin knee the second they start to get any headway just because they decide the game HAS to cater to klingon players and romulan players and needs more ships because everyone HAS to be able to be captain of their own ship. If I wasn't already committed to launching two mushes I'd do it myself.
Stick to a single ship in a time period people actually like and you're golden. Treat that one ship like a city rather, and have your events be away missions or visits to some new planet maybe something going wrong on the ship the entire playerbase can get involved in. Just bring the scope down and you'll get players.
The only Trek games with acceptable activity levels are not single ship games. That is not a coincidence. Games where a single player controls everything ICly, live or die according to that player's activity levels and how hard he works to be inclusive. Usually, the person in charge is the game owner, and the only important players are himself, his harem and a few friends (all high ranking officers). Everyone else is basically an NPC whose RP consists of filing reports with his CO. If you're lucky you might get invited to some of the captain's big scenes. But you'll never be the hero. As Ensign Blueshirt down in Stellar Cartography, the toughest decision you'll have to make all day is whether you're going to dust underneath the consoles, or just the tops.
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@rnmissionrun said in Star Trek?:
Usually, the person in charge is the game owner, and the only important players are himself, his harem and a few friends (all high ranking officers). Everyone else is basically an NPC whose RP consists of filing reports with his CO. If you're lucky you might get invited to some of the captain's big scenes. But you'll never be the hero. As Ensign Blueshirt down in Stellar Cartography, the toughest decision you'll have to make all day is whether you're going to dust underneath the consoles, or just the tops.
That has absolutely nothing to do with it being a single ship and everything to do with it being a crappily run MUSH. Who wants to play a NPC filing reports? For that matter, who actually thinks that Ensign Blueshirt down in Stellar Cartography is ever going to have anything interesting to do on a routine basis?
You can have a single ship and still make it interesting. You could also do a single space station - I'm surprised nobody's done a DS9 game honestly, as I think that's the Trek setting most conducive to being a MUSH setting (and similar in vein to Babylon 5, which was a successful MU way back when).
Trek according to the starship model has a problem of expectations, because the show basically shows the senior staff doing everything and everyone else doing nothing. That's fine for a TV show with a limited cast, but abominably stupid from a military standpoint. All you have to do is make it work more like a normal navy would, and suddenly a much broader swath of crew members have opportunities to go on away missions and get involved in adventures.
