We have a few basic guidelines on what format to use when posting. In time, you will find they make keeping track of the story & other people's characters easier. Don't worry about making mistakes... that's what the Academy is for. :>
Posts are written in the narrative style, using third person, past tense. So, instead of writing, "I walk along the Promenade," you should write, "Odo walked along the Promenade." Also, enter twice at the end of a paragraph, creating a blank line between each paragraph.
Avoid the 'SuperHero Syndrome'. We want realisitc characters with as many flaws as attributes. Not every plot should have a happy or clean ending.
The Subject line
The subject line of your email should contain your character's position on the ship and, if confusion is possible (ie. two or more ASTC's), your character's name. Our mailinglists will automatically include the name of your ship in front of it. For example, if you are the Enterprise's Chief Medical Officer, you would write "CMO Crusher" or "CMO Beverly Crusher" in the Subject Line. When the mail is sent, it will appear "Subject: Enterprise: CMO Crusher".
The Header
The header is present as an additional tool to help clarify the both the geographic position and the position in time of your character. Always read the complete posts of other players and do not simply skim the headers!!
The headers format is (Ship/Base/Planet - Location - Stardate, Time), so a correct header should look like:
(USS Enterprise - Bridge - 2375.12.24, 1414)
The location is always the location on and not the location of the specified ship/base/planet. The dates always consist of 4 digits for the year, a dot, 2 digits for the month, a dot, 2 digits for the day. Then a comma follows with a space. Then the time comes, consisting of 4 digits without a colon. Remember that Startrek, and this game, uses military time (24 hours, 0000-2359).
You should try to avoid posting in at two different times. The timeline within your ship will not be straight, but you should avoid bouncing around within your character's own timeline. In other words, don't jump ahead to a later scene when the current one isn't finished yet.
Skipping too much time is not a good idea either. If everyone is posting at 1400 hours, don't write a post detailing what your character did up to 2300 hours. Doing this as an officer might inadventantly make yourself unavailable, thereby missing for example a Red Alert.
Communication
We have several ways to distinguish different forms of communication. When your character is speaking, use quotation marks:
"I'm a doctor, not a bricklayer," McCoy complained.
When expressing your character's internal thoughts, it's usually best to describe them in a narrative form. However, there will be occasions when you want to write your thoughts as dialogue, espically when conversing with a telepath. Thoughts should be expressed in this form:
Deanna looked into Will's eyes. ~ Hello, Imzadi. ~
When you are hearing someone's voice over a communicator or comm link, use the following form:
What Janeway heard next made her jump out of her seat. =/\= Delta Flyer to Voyager. We are under attack! =/\=
Keep in mind, that if you are speaking to someone over a link, your dialogue will be in ", and only their replies will be in =/\= marks.
You are also allowed to use ^ or =^= instead of =/\=.
When the computer speaks to you, you should write it's voice in this way:
<> Link Established. <>
Reply request
At the end of your post, you should specify who you want a reply from. If anyone can reply, add the term "Any". "All" can also be used, it is rarely necessary for all players to reply to a post, so be carefull with using "All".
It should take the following format:
(Reply Sisko, Kira, any)
End note
After the reply request, list your real name. It should look like this:
(Posted by Kate Mulgrew)
After this you can add can include your email and any alternate ways to contact you over the net.
Posting method
One of our previous Academy Commandants, Walter Flaat, has put together a nice image which explains you the best method to write your post. You still need the posting guidelines on this page to actually write a post.
