Wednesday, December 17, 2008

Welcome Aboard!

Greetings :-)!

Welcome to the "Captain's Blog" for the USS Steadfast, a Play-By-EMail Star Trek roleplaying simulation proudly serving in Task Group Artemis, Task Force 21 of Bravo Fleet. Steadfast is a Defiant Class vessel, newly constructed and currently in final testing before her formal commissioning. Once commissioned, she will be taking up patrol duties along the Federation border between the Romulan and C'hakilian Empires.

Like her class leader, Steadfast is a small, spartan vessel, primarily built for fighting. Her 50-member crew is packed in tightly and must endure more routine hardships than those of larger vessels. Only the Captain, Executive Officer and senior NCO have private quarters and even they must make due with the same 3 x 3 meter, double bunk cabins as the lowest ranking crewman. There are more jobs to do than crew to do them, so almost everyone wears more than one hat', works long hours and there are no 'days off' when in space. There are no holodecks or dedicated recreational facilities, no personal replicators in quarters and very little personal storage space. Even in the galley, the replicators only produce simple rations, though our Chief Engineer plans to work on that :-)!

All this means that Steadfast's crew must integrate well together, working hard not only to meet the challenges of their important jobs, but also to manage their relationships. There are few places to go to avoid someone you have a personal conflict with and the stresses of the job can escalate such conflicts quickly. Also, although equipped with limited scientific capabilities, Steadfast is still a Starfleet vessel, with a responsibility to uphold it's principles of exploration and discovery.

Sound like fun?

You bet it will be :-)! That's because USS Steadfast is a Star Trek simm, a collaborative writing exercise among people who share a passion for writing and Star Trek. Players take on the roles of crew members and guide their characters through the ship's adventures, interacting with other characters and the environment. Unlike traditional RPGs, there are no game mechanics to learn, no dice to throw. The rules of the game are simple courtesy, intended to maximize cooperation and keep everyone having fun.

So, if any of this sounds interesting, come check us out at http://www.usssteadfast.com. Any questions, please don't hesitate to email me at co.uss.steadfast@gmail.com.

I hope to see you aboard :-)!

Mark Beatty

aka Lt. Cdr. David Rolandson
CO, USS Steadfast NCC-80021TG Artemis, TF 21, Bravo Fleet
"Ad Astra Per Aspera (A rough road leads to the stars)"