As Instructors of ST: Frontier Fleet you do the actual training of new players. You learn them becoming a capable player in our game. The Academy Commandant is responsible for delivering 'quality' to our dutystations. To make the Academy work more smoothly, this document was created.
This guide is based largely on the previous instructor guide, created by Rob007 (thank you for that!), the posting guide created by Guido Dorssers and others (thank you as well!) and the etiquette guide made by Ben Versteegt (again, thank you!) It is our hope that this guide will help instructors solve problems their Cadets might be having.
Good luck! Created by Rob Versteegt.
Academy Setup
Stage 0: (Most people don't make it past this point)
1. Person visits the website; fills in the join form and submits. 2. Academy Commandant decides whether to accept or to reject the application. 3. When accepting the Academy Commandant the player a mail in which he/she asks the Cadet to write a report-in post and send it to acadcm-at-frontierfleet.com.
Stage #1 (Individual training)
4. Upon receiving this post, the Academy Commandant writes a post back in which the Cadet is being assigned to an Individual Instructor and gives the cadet the email address of his instructor. He warns the Instructor that he/she has a new Cadet with the email address of the Cadet. 5. The Cadet and Instructor start posting together. (How to do this, is described later) During this individual training the Instructor also takes a look to the Cadet's Biography and makes sure it is a correct one, without unrealistic things, superhero things, etc. (See http://www.frontierfleet.net/vessels/other/sfacademy/page/347 and another part of this guide for more information) After the Instructor finds the Cadet's posting correct according to Star Trek Frontier Fleet's posting format, and the biography is okay, he sends the Academy Commandant a notification that this Cadet is ready for Graduation. This notification should be accompanied by the latest post of the Cadet as well. 6. The Academy Commandant looks over the biography and the latest post of the Cadet. When the Academy Commandant agrees with the opinion of the Instructor (which will usually be the case) he/she sends a mail to the Council, who then graduate this Cadet, and place him/her on a dutystation.
Of course, a Cadet can skip this stage, if the Academy Commandant thinks the Cadet can already post according to the Frontier Fleet format, then the AcadCM can also mail the Council immediately to let then assign the Cadet. This is called a Direct Placement.
Duties of an Instructor
The most important thing of an Instructor's job is giving the Cadet hints on how they should post and to correct their mistakes. This is the NRPG-part. The RPG-part is to write a post yourself, which is an example for the Cadet to follow. So it is really important that an Instructor posts according to the Posting guide. Also, the instructor needs to review the biography of the Cadet, and give hints and pointers to him/her, in order to improve the biography.
When receiving a Cadet, the Instructor can mail the Cadet to give a friendly greeting, saying he/she awaits the Cadet's post. This isn't necessary though, since the AcadCM will already have asked the Cadet to send a 'reporting in to the Instructor' post to the Instructor. From there, the instructing can begin.
What problems can an Instructor face?
There are all kinds of Cadets who enter the Academy. Most of those Cadets at least have a bit of an established character, and can write more than a few lines of post. But of course, that doesn't mean that this Cadet can immediately write posts the way they are supposed to be written. Everything which is in the Posting Guide or Biography Guide could be used the wrong way. Here are a few of the problems which could appear:
Not using the correct style:
In Frontier Fleet, we use the narrative style, while we write in the 'third person'. However, there have been Cadets who are used to posting differently. An example:
-----
I am walking through the halls, and see a terrible monster coming at me! I fire my phaser, and it's dead. ~Phew.~ I think, and smile. "I have saved the day!"
-----
This rather silly example shows that this fictional Cadet writes in the first person (The I-form), and in the present tense, while in FF, we write in the past tense. While this has to be corrected, it's clear to see that this fictional Cadet also knows the ~ sign and the " sign, and he/she knows when to use it. That is, of course, pretty good: you, as Instructor, won't have to pay too much attention to that then.
Another version of aforementioned problem, is shown in the next example:
-----
Cadets log: I am relieved to see that my room is still in one piece. For a moment there, I thought my roommate was going to break it apart. Thankfully I'm well, and the room isn't damaged. *turns off the viewscreen, and goes to lie in bed.*
-----
Here, you can see that the Cadet uses a log as a post. While logs can be used in posts, our posts are meant to interact with other characters, not to fill entire posts with logs. Also, it should be noted that this fictional Cadet doesn't use the past tense, or the narrative style either. Again, the Instructor should mention that to the Cadet.
And finally, another example:
-----
Cadet: "Hello Sir! I wish to report for duty!"
Receptionist: "Sure. Just go down that hall, take a left, take the turbolift up to the fifth floor, and turn right again. Walk ahead for a while, take a left, a right, walk down the hallways, and then you'll find the office. You cannot miss it."
Cadet: *Tries to understand what the receptionist just said* "Uh... okay."
-----
This posting style is used often in other sims... it's the script style. There are quite some Cadets who are used to using that style. And of course the Instructor at FF should tell this Cadet that in FF, we use another posting style.
Copy/pasting:
This is an issue which Instructors come across regularly. An example: if I, with my character, post this:
-----
Robert smiled at the Cadet. "Tell me young man." He said, remembering that he at that age did not like to be called 'young', "Why did you join the Academy?"
(Reply Cadet)
-----
And when the Cadet then posts this:
-----
Robert smiled at the Cadet. "Tell me young man." He said, remembering that he at that age did not like to be called 'young', "Why did you join the Academy?"
Terry shrugged. "Dunno Sir."
-----
Then the Cadet is copy/pasting. Naturally, Instead of copy/pasting, it should be encouraged to write posts from one's own character's point of view. So instead of the previous example, the Cadet should post something like:
-----
Terry tried to smile back at the Academy Commandant, but frankly, he wasn't in such a good mood. It was probably because of his headache. "Tell me young man." Academy Commandant Baine now told him, "Why did you join the Academy?"
Terry now shrugged. "Dunno Sir." He merely said. After all, he was too tired to say anything else. And his head hurt like someone was pounding against it with a shuttle!
-----
Spelling:
There are quite some Cadets who do not use the spellchecker, or who not read over their own posts before sending them. So, some posts tend to be somewhat like this:
-----
Terry was sittign a tthe tabel. "im hungry." He sayd. "RU?" he psaued, and looked at teh person opossiet of him. "i aksed u a qeustion, n00b. shud u not aswner?" ROFL
-----
As you can see, this is not how a post should be... it's terrible to read, and downright annoying as well. First of all, characters saying something like 'dunno' is acceptable, but 'r u hungry' certainly is not. Also, abbreviations like 'cmdr.' may be use in the posts, but abbreviations like 'rofl' are once again out of the question. A post should be easy to read, and an Instructor should tell his/her cadet this.
Reply Requests:
It is my understanding that most new players find our Reply Requests the most difficult aspect of Frontier Fleet. If you as Instructor find out that your Cadet is having difficulties with the reply requests, try to explain to him/her how to reply without assuming too much (preferable without assuming anything at all, but that's of course difficult). An explanation could be that after asking a reply request, the Cadet would have to think about what the other person is going to say. Of course a Cadet cannot assume that the other person will suddenly stand up and hit the Cadet, but the Cadet can assume that the other person will listen, if they are both in the middle of a discussion. For more information about this, go to http://www.frontierfleet.net/lcars/member_handbook/posting_guide. Or, for the updated posting guide, which has more information about the Reply Requests, go here: http://forums.frontierfleet.net/viewtopic.php?t=2048 and download the newest posting guide.
Realism:
Realism is also a point which seems to be difficult for some Cadets. I sometimes see posts like these:
-----
Suddenly, the Academy halls started shaking. "We're under attack!" Terry shouted. Out of his pocket, he quickly grabbed the type-2 phaser he always carried. Normally, it wouldn't have that much power, but luckily, in his other pocket, Terry had other parts, which he used to create a type 3 phaser rifle. "Come on Sir!" He shouted to the Instructor, while Borg suddenly started beaming in. They nearly assimilated the Instructor, but thank goodness Terry was able to shoot that Borg down. "You can thank me later Sir, right now we'll have to save the Academy!"
-----
As you can see, this is rather unrealistic. First of all, no Cadet just happens to have a phaser in his pocket, let alone items to create a phaser rifle. Also, the Academy is on Earth. . . it cannot be under attack, otherwise the rest of Earth would have noticed a fleet of hostile ships or so in orbit. Anyway, you probably know for yourself: this is highly unrealistic. It's important that you, as Instructors, tell your Cadets that realism is highly valued in Frontier Fleet... and give them examples, so that they can see that realism and creativity *do* match.
Posting Lenght:
In Frontier Fleet, a post should be at least 100 words, although an average post should be along the lines of 300 words. More and less is allowed, but 1-line posts are certainly not acceptable. If your Cadet is posting such posts, please tell that Cadet that we value quality over quantity. It's better to post longer, good posts, than to post short posts which lack quality.
Cadets who don't reply fast enough.
This is another problem which instructors can face, although this particular problem has nothing to do with the posting guide. Still, it is a problem which happens far too often. Officially, every player (including Cadets and Instructors) must reply at least once a week, and preferably more than twice a week (over time) for a promotion. However, sometimes there are people who do not post for a long period of time.
If this is your Cadet, then you as an instructor must do something about it. When the Cadet hasn't replied for 2 weeks, you should send a warning to that Cadet. The warning should tell the Cadet that he/she hasn't posted for 2 weeks, it should mention Frontier Fleet's minimum posting activity of once a week, and it should ask the Cadet to reply as soon as possible.
When the Cadet doesn't reply within a week after this warning, you send him/her a final warning, in which you say that if he/she doesn't reply within a week, with a reason why he/she hasn't posted, then you will send a mail to the Academy Commandant to say that the Cadet needs to be removed from the roster. If the Cadet still doesn't reply within a week, then that cadet will indeed be removed.
Cadet ignores advise:
This is a problem which, unfortunately, does happen from time to time. You, as Instructor, have given the Cadet plenty of advise, told him/her how to post correctly dozens of times, repeated to your Cadet that he/she needs to use the spellingcheck. But still, the Cadet keeps posting in his/her own way. What then?
Unfortunately, there aren't a lot of things you could do about that. If this happens, then you can either continue to repeat everything over and over again, and hope for the best, or you can threaten to remove him/her from the roster and from Frontier Fleet, if he/she doesn't follow your advise. I have noticed though, that the first approach doesn't often work. So instructors, I'd advise you to use the latter method: to make the Cadet know that there is no room for people who don't listen to their instructors.
With such problems though, it's probably best to talk to the Academy Commandant as well. He/she might be able to give you some more advise on what to do, or the AcadCM could even talk to this Cadet, if necessary.
Cadets on a LOA:
This too happens sometimes: Cadets are also only human. If they have to go away, they'll have to go away. Whenever a Cadet announces a LOA though, be sure to ask him/her for how long he/she will be away, and when he/she comes back. Some Cadets are not clear about this, and don't start posting after they come back...
Arguments with your cadet:
This too, is not unthinkable: A Cadet might not appreciate something you said to him/her, or he/she might not like the posting guide. There have been a few of these arguments over the years. They're not common, but they do happens sometimes. What to do?
The best thing to do, is to try to find out what the Cadet is angry/sad/frustrated about. If the Cadet is angry at you for saying that he/she has to use a header in the post, while the Cadet says that this is complete nonsense, then you can always point at the posting guide. If the Cadet then says the posting guide is nonsense, then you have a slightly bigger problem, although that could be solved (hopefully) by telling the Cadet that this is how Frontier Fleet works. If he/she doesn't like that, and wants to change it, then you could tell him/her that the Council members are the ones deciding if there should be changes, not a Cadet. You could also tell him/her that Frontier Fleet is here for people to have fun, not to complain, and that if the Cadet doesn't stop with this complaining, he/she'll be removed from the roster.
Well, that's just one situation of course. If the Cadet is angry at you for something you said, try to find out what that was, and how you intended it. There might be a miscommunication going on between you and the Cadet. Try to explain what you meant, and assure the Cadet that you did not want to anger him/her in any way.
Arguments with Cadets do happen from time to time, and most of the times they're about different things. I've listed two of those possible arguments above: if you have an argument with a Cadet which is unlike the two aforementioned arguments, go to the AcadCM: He/she might be able to help you.
Biography
The biography of a Cadet is important as well: it establishes the character of that person. Like a post, a biography has to be realistic. So this is of course out of the question:
-----
Character history: Grew up in Borg territory. Eluded assimilation all his life. At the age of 6, he could kill a Borg. At the age of 12, he could destroy a Borg ship with nothing more than a pocket knife. When he entered Starfleet Academy, he was the best of his class, and was graduated after only one year.
-----
Of course, these kind of biographies will probably be refused into the Academy by the AcadCM, when he reviews the signup. Still, there can still be quite some things in the biography which the instructor has to tell the Cadet about. Look for spelling issues, writing style, lenght of the biography, age of the character, etc. For more information about how biographies should look, or how to write some good biographies, look at http://www.frontierfleet.net/vessels/other/sfacademy/biography_guide .
Things an Instructor should be aware of:
There are a number of things an Instructor should be aware of:
HTML mail or Plain Text mail:
In Frontier Fleet, the lists of the dutystations don't accept mails written in a HTML format. A mail should be written and sent in a plain text format. While HTML mail can be sent and received during the individual instructor-period, it's best to ask the Cadet to write mails in Plain Text anyway, so that he/she can get used to that. For more information, please direct the Cadet here: http://www.frontierfleet.net/email/.
Complaints about an Instructor:
Sometimes, a dissatisfied Cadet sends complaints about the Instructor to the Gamemaster or the Academy Commandant. These complaints will, of course, be discussed with the Instructor as well, and if necessary, appropriate actions will be taken. Although of course this only happens when the complaints are valid. Usually, the complaints can be explained by the Instructors themselves.
Instructor's behaviour:
As Instructor, you are the first impression the Cadet has of Frontier Fleet. Of course, we want to let that be a good impression. So all Instructors should be familiar with the posting guide, post according to that guide, use spellcheckers, and post at least twice a week, if possible. Of course, we're all only human, so mistakes can be made... just not too often. . . ;-)
