Chapter 1 - Introduction

==Introduction==
I.) Role Playing Standard
: a.) Role Playing Organization
*The fleet itself is considered to be a Role Playing Organization. Like all social clubs, these have officials that are appointed to safeguard the role playing and story lines of our members.
*When you generate a character for Daedalus RP Community you are expected to generate a character at the start of it's career. Daedalus will no longer be accepting senior officers and such rank will be awarded to players as they perform their duties on their starship.
*RP Groups are organized into several key ships and have scheduled role playing group meets twice a week. During these events a Game Master will be present to provide missions and interaction with the universe of Star Trek.
: b.) Key Concepts
*Role playing of any style, free-form or otherwise, is a mutual endeavor which requires cooperation between the players to progress and succeed as an interactive experience in a shared environment.
*In free-form role playing, nothing can happen to your character without your consent. Your character is your creation and is subject only to your control; no one can require your character to suffer emotional or physical trauma or death. The reverse is also true – you cannot affect another character without that player’s consent.
*Game Masters are exceptions and when they give direction players are expected to take it.
*Courtesy is the oil that keeps community friction to a minimum. Practice it!
*When in doubt. Roll dice!
II.) IC & OOC
: a.) All players belonging to the forum community must consider the difference of Out of Character, with In Character, (OOC & IC). Specific Channels have been designated for such to cause less confusion.
*Tell Channel: (Private Messages): These are acceptable means of sending subspace transmissions or contacting your allies. These may also be used as Out Of Character messages. It is upon the player to ensure there is no confusion between Private OOC and Private IC Communicator Messages.
*Fleet Channel: This is In Character communication frequency that can be used to contact other fleet starships. OOC brackets must be used at all times when speaking out of character over this channel. No exceptions.
*Officer Channel: This is an encoded version of Fleet Channel. A channel with a higher security clearance. This channel is specifically for Fleet Captains, the Admiral, and the Senior Administrator.
*DOIC, DOIC1, DOIC2, DOIC2, DOIC3, DOIC4, DOIC5, DOIC6: These are all in character channels that groups use during their gaming sessions. Typically DOIC is reserved for Game Master narration and direction. DOIC1 is reserved for bridge, and DOIC2 through DOIC6 are for elsewhere. The specific locations can vary from ship to ship and from session to session, depending on the needs of the episode.
*Daedalus OOC: This channel is the out of character channel that links our Fleet Members, Friends, and Allies OOCly. This is where the fleet communicates as community.
*English is the accepted method of Role Playing and using LEET Speak destroys the value of role playing. Please use proper English while role playing your characters.
*Fleet Daedalus Omega Message Board is the storyboard for our role playing community. http://daedalusomega.proboards.com/index.cgi
: b.) The Character & The Player:
*The player is the person beyond the character, the actor so to speak. They are the people sitting at the keyboard typing. As such whenever the word Player is used it sets the precedence of Out of Character. The Character is created by the Player. As such it is the reasonably of the player to always remain in character.
: c.) Metagaming
*The use of information or abilities not normally posessed by the character, usually obtained through Out of Character methods. Such complications occur when key concepts of role playing fail. Such infractions are up to the community to enforce on an honor system, where meta-gamers are placed on ignore or disciplined by their fleet commanders.
: d.) The Character Standards
*Since Star Trek Online is the backbone to our gaming, we are forced to abide by how it has been engineered. Such standards place us all as Federation Officers, Klingon Warriors, or any other race the game allows. In all cases we are restricted to how the game is organized. Characters should be designed within the boundaries of Star Trek Online’s capabilities.
*All races that are playable in Star Trek Online are valid. Custom Telepaths are restricted. Telepathic Characters often leads to an avenue of god-modding that causes disruption of role playing if not role played well. That is why it takes special consideration by the Game Masters to approve players to make aliens with telepath powers. As a general standard a telepath character cannot be a players first character in this Role Playing Community. (A player must have been active in the community prior with character). Betazoid characters may be exceptions.
*The genre of Star Trek is the medium we use to create our characters and such characters should make sense based on the Star Trek story line.
*All features of Star Trek Online reflect your status within the federation, Klingon Empire, and other factions that maybe added in the future. This includes Pip Ranks displayed, Division Color, Ship Classifications, Energy Currency, Game Items, and so on.
*All elements of Star Trek Online should hold merit in any role playing situation.
*Characters look like their “toon” does, so please take the time to engineer exactly how you wish your character to look.
*Character Backgrounds are entirely up to the player; however they must remain true to the heart of Star Trek.
*God Modding occurs when, despite any effort of other players, they are powerless to change an outcome. This establishes an godly persona of that character. This is considered poor role playing and it is strongly suggested that dice rolls be used as often as possible to test character skills to avoid this kind of role playing.
: e.) Stardates
*The current in-universe date can be calculated as "<current date> + 404 years." For example, the date on July 26th, 2021 would be July 26th, 2425, or stardate 98308.51. All stardates can be located in the log book option in game, or at http://trekguide.com/Stardates.htm
: f.) Non-Player Characters (NPC)
*Are real characters that should hold merit to all your Role Playing. The Admirals and Commanders that hand out your quests are among the leadership of the Factions you belong too. Only the Game Masters control these NPC's and is done so through the UGC.
*Game Masters are the only members of the fleet that have the privilege of making Key Ranking NPC's to interact with characters.
: i.) Star Trek Universe as Boundries
*All places in Star Trek's background may exists for storyline and background purposes; however the places that are found in Star Trek Online are the only places your character can physical visit during gaming. Such are the boundaries of MMOs.