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The Registrar's Introduction to Online Star Trek Sims

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Overview of online sims

A PBeM is a "Play By eMail" game. It combines roleplaying with interactive writing, creating a rich and diverse story line.

Members take on the persona of a character in the Star Trek universe. Most of the time, these are characters they created. Using the background of the character, they take turns with other people writing in the game's story line.

There are many organizations and individual games dedicated to Star Trek. Most of these games are "semi-cannon." That is, they follow the official information about the Trek universe, but modify it slightly to create a more playable or interesting game. Games that follow the Trek universe to the letter are said to be "cannon." Games that throw everything to the wind and make up a whole new universe are "non-cannon."

There are other kinds of interactive story writing role play. For example, some games can be play using chat (like AIM). There are also IRC or MIRC games. The players in this type of game have to meet at the same time in cyberspace. Interaction is high, but the writing and plots are secondary to game play.

Another way to play is by bulletin board. PBB games are more flexible than IRC games in that there is no designated time for meeting. However, some believe the writing in PBBs are not as rich as PBeM (usually hard-core PBeM players say this.)

The newest format for online Star Trek sim play is the use of blogs. Blogs work great in organizing information and creating archives. Blog sims are reletively new, and might go by different names.

For a great list of Star Trek RPGs, visit Scifimatter.

What to Look For In a Game

Posting Requirements: What are the number of posts per week you will be expected to write?

Rating: Does the game have adult content?

Lurkers: Does the game allow "lurkers?" A lurker is a person who reads the game posts but doesn't participate.

Incentives: Does the game award "medals" for good participation? Or other prizes?

Cannon: Does the game rigorously follow the "official" timelines, technology, and history? Or, does is meet it half way (semi-cannon) or go its own way (non-cannon).

Format: Does the formatting fit your idea of the perfect blend of fun, creativity, and writing challenges? Do you want more interaction (Chat) or time to write well (PBeM)?

Abbreviations

Insiders' Lingo

Abbreviations:
PBeM- Play By eMail
OOC- Out Of Character
IC- In Character
JP- Joint Post
PBB- Play By Bulletin Board, Post By Bulletin Board
PBF- Play by Forums
IRC- Instant Relay Chat
AIM- AOL Instant Messaging
XO- Executive Officer

T.U.R.R.N.

The Universal RPG Recruiting Network

Yahoo! Group for player recruiting, TURRN has many Star Trek PBeM games amoung the diverse games listed on the group. Since 2003, this Y!Group has been an excellent resource for players and sims.

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The Registrar's Introduction to Online Star Trek Sims

Overview of online sims

Contents at a Glance

Contents at a Glance

What to Look For In a Game

Abbreviations

Insiders' Lingo

T.U.R.R.N.

The Universal RPG Recruiting Network

Star Trek Sim Resources

Sims, organizations, how-to, links, games, etc.

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by PaxLamprey

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