S47 Express March 2011 Edition
Mar 8, 2011 12:37:48 GMT
Post by SA. Stacey Jackson [Ret] on Mar 8, 2011 12:37:48 GMT
Greetings fellow members, it is with joy that we revive Section 47’s very own newsletter and this time it’s here to stay! Four times a year this newsletter will bring you the inside scoop on CSS and what they are currently working on. Glean a closer look at what is going on in the fleet as well as most excitingly bring interviews allowing you a chance to get to know some of your fellow members better.
Interview with a member:
Commodore Savot, currently the commanding officer of USS El Salvador, hails from Vulcan where he spent his childhood practicing many forms of Vulcan combat. This discipline has served him well during his tenure, as well as during his captivity while in a mirror universe incarceration. Considering his dedication to duty along with a remarkable service record it is no surprise that he holds many prestigious commendations such as the, Literary excellence award, Star of Excellence, and Captain Cross to name a few.. We hope you enjoy this brief interview with Commodore Savot.
“How long have you been simming / Role Playing?”
I want to say about 10 years give or take at this point. First joined S47 with Savot coming aboard the El Salvador A then commanded by Matt Sheldon; played for several months and witnessed the destruction of the El Sal A and the christening of the current Prometheus class El Sal B, and then college demanded a lot more of my time so I said what I thought would be permanent good-byes.
About 2 years after that I ran a search for S47 just out of curiosity and found it still going strong but on checking the El Salvador's board I found that only Steven Smith and Dr. Sam K'vada comprised the crew, so completely unplanned I asked if I could rejoin, back at my Operations post, and Personnel was fine with it; and I came back aboard alongside an influx of other new crew including Captain Vreenak and I've been here ever since.
I've simmed on other boards for non-Trek role playing as well, but S47 will always be my first and the most prominent in my mind.
“What do you enjoy most about it?”
That's really a multi-part answer as I've come to enjoy different aspects over my time here. At first it was just the fun of writing in the Star Trek universe, but when I started I was really nervous about it because I hadn't done that style of role playing before and so I would always worry about writing the wrong thing, or what another player's character would write in response, so my first posts were heavily stand-alone and I hesitated to interact with other players.
But the S47 community is a good one and I've had the privilege of simming with both talented and considerate writers, of particular note in my memory being Robert Agalacticae. He came aboard around the time I rejoined and served at the El Sal B's helm, which was right next to the Ops station and as such interaction between us was only natural and he directly engaged me in posts and I became more and more confident about interacting with other simmers so that portion of it was my favorite part for a long time.
I still enjoy interacting with other writers, Savot's been around long enough to see some characters come aboard the El Salvador, develop and grow from new crewmen into seasoned veterans, and even go on to command vessels of their own. So if I had to rank one aspect as my absolute favourite it would probably be getting to witness character development and for that to take place over months or even years. Where a young human scientist, who used to try ducking bridge watch every chance he got, matures and becomes confident enough to become First Officer when the chips were down in-story.
“You have had a chance to simm in both Operations and Command do you have a preference of the two?”
Savot himself still quietly laments the loss of his Ops station *LOL*, and would never have imagined to be even a First Officer let alone a Captain so he and I were both quite surprised at that turn of events. Operations was a lot of fun to sim - and given half the chance Savot still tries to use the station whenever it's vacant. It's a position that can easily become important to the flow of a mission, without having the full weight of responsibility that a FO or CO has to bear so for me it was a good middle ground where when I was feeling confident I could increase my input to the story but if not could stick in the background.
I think the site's rank guide describes Captaincy really well in that on the surface it seems like there's not a lot for a captain to do directly. He/She might be qualified to tinker in engineering, but that's your Engineer's job... and so on, but over time I've gotten a better feel for it though I still don't consider myself an expert by any means.
Savot never wanted to command; even now he feels that while Vulcan logic is certainly a boon in most situations, that the ultimate authority on a ship is best held by someone with gut instincts and an ability to rally and encourage one's crew. He became FO because a good friend became captain and asked for backup she could really trust; and First Officer eventually became a very enjoyable position for me to write and play.
Then the captain had to leave for personal in-story reasons and duty demanded that Savot handle the captaincy until he was replaced by Starfleet Command. The circumstances were fairly dramatic, not only having a friend depart abruptly but having to assume a mantle he didn't feel he deserved in the first place, and that was really interesting to write because he wasn't going to blatantly fall apart so I had to think of little, subtle ways to hint at what was going on internally.
But in general the best aspect of captaincy for me is having the ability to address problems if I see them. If a crew member has a question about how best to work into a mission, or wonders why their rank is displayed lower than it should be on the boards, I can set about addressing those issues more easily as a captain than I could otherwise. Thankfully I haven't experienced this yet, but if one crew member was abusing another with their writing I can immediately intervene, delete inappropriate remarks if need be, and talk to the parties involved to see what can be worked out.
“If you could have your character Savot do anything without having to take into account logic or time lines.. what would it be?”
The one thing I'd love to do with Savot above all else would be some kind of interaction with Spock, as he's my all time favourite Star Trek character. Whether it were somehow TOS Spock, TNG's Ambassador Spock, or Captain Spock of the Intrepid II; any era would be fine but thus far I content myself with just mentioning Spock in a post comment every year or so : )
“Do you have a particularly favourite mission you have been in?”
If I had to choose a single mission it would probably be "Pulling Back Together" in which Savot was injured and I participated mainly via npcs and got to introduce his mother and sister. Though "Not a Sentient was Stirring" was also a lot of fun as it coincided with an influx of new crew who sent our posting activity nearly off the scale, and Savot met a little girl who'd hidden under the Ready Room desk during a game of hide and seek *chuckles*.
Really though my "favourites" are certain sections from many different missions. In "Tenuous Talks" Savot was thrown in jail on charges of assassination and the First Officer posed as his wife in order to get a message to him; assisted in delivering a baby in "Mission: Distress", and the list goes on but I won't in the interest of not boring readers into unconsciousness : )
“If your character could jump in a time machine and travel into the future say fifty years, what would you imagine he would find his future self doing? Still on a ship or off for larger pastures?”
Savot would have to be ordered off of the El Salvador before he'd leave most likely. It's the only vessel he's served on during his S47 time and he's developed a non-Vulcan nostalgia about it; it's home more so than most anywhere else in the cosmos. He'd be a little over 100 then so he'd still be able to handle ship missions relatively well. But then again, 7 years ago I'd never have thought he'd be captain so who knows what the future holds?
“Have you ever found it difficult to stay true to the character of a Vulcan while writing Savot?”
My goal from the beginning was to make Savot essentially Vulcan while avoiding the overcompensation I found present in the Vulcans of Star Trek: Enterprise. A vast majority of them in that series were arrogant and condescending which... newsflash, are emotional states, so I didn't like that portrayal too much.
At the same time, while Spock is a huge inspiration for Savot's character I try to avoid exact duplication because that's just uncreative; leaching off of Mr. Nimoy's incredible performances. I wanted Savot to be logical and controlled without being standoffish and unapproachable since as mentioned earlier a huge part of simming is writer interaction. Savot's not the most exciting character in the universe but he'd be even harder to interact with if all he ever did was say "illogical" and give the apathetic equivalent of smiling and nodding while ignoring people. So, not sure how successful I've been but I hope he's pulled off a kind of middle ground while leaning towards Vulcan behaviour.
In parting I just want to say thanks for considering me to interview. It's been an honour and I hope readers find it worthwhile
I would like to thank Commodore Savot for generously taking the time to answer my questions, if you would like to give an interview for future editions please contact Stacey Jackson, We would all love to hear from you!
Section 47's very own SMS Ship!
As most of you know Admiral Reckus and Captain Jackson have been hard at work setting up the SMS test ship. Well now we can reveal more about it!
The ship has been called USS Grayson in homage to Amanda Grayson (Ambassador Spocks mother)
Applications for a spot on Section 47s first SMS ship are now open, we hope you will join us for our three month test cruise.. Knowledge of SMS use is not required Admiral Reckus and Captain Jackson will be offering as much help as needed for people new to SMS.
Find the new ship here!: USS Grayson.
Projects in the works!
As is so often the case when something is announced it is often swallowed up quickly by another post.. As such, we would like to take a moment to shine a much-deserved light on the Section 47 Wiki. Since the old wiki crashed people have been hard at work trying to make a new and better one.
Soon we hope it will be as extensive as the old one replete with Ship histories, Species created specifically for Section 47 and past missions. So follow the link and check it out here! :Section 47 Wiki
A Message from the Recruitment Department.
As you, all know this site would be nothing without the fantastic and talented members who make it a great place to Simm, and new members only add to enjoyment as such the recruitment officer has been hard at work creating sites on social networks to help spread news of our great site.
The Facebook can be found here :Section 47 Facebook
And Twitter here :Section 47 Twitter
Commendations:
Did a post make you smile or laugh? Is there someone on your crew who always puts in that extra effort?
While we all know the awards aren’t real (Shame I know! We all like Gold) they are nice to receive none the less. It is more than a picture on a profile it is a sentiment that says.. I enjoy your writing or I appreciate the effort you put in.
So next time a post makes you smile despite the terrible day you are having, or someone helps you out nominate them for a Commendation!
Closing Statement:
We hope you have enjoyed this edition of Section 47 Express, mark your Calenders because we will be back in June!
Do you have something you want to appear in the next edition? if so please contact me and we can make it happen, feedback and comments are also welcomed!
Editor - Captain Stacey Jackson - Chief of Section 47 Communications
Associate editor - Commander Jamey Gaz - Deputy Chief of Communications.
March 2011