Here I'm going to review what we, trainers, call the Cardinal Rules of Newsfleet. These are what I see as the most important rules we employ here. You've read about them already in the handbook (hopefully), so this is just a review.
1) Never, ever action for someone else. You control your character and your character only, thus, you cannot have another's character do anything, no matter how trivial.
2) Editing - we have the capability to edit your posts. This is ONLY to be used for fixing spelling and such. You cannot, repeat cannot, go back later and change your post because you did not like the way others reacted to it. The best thing to do is ask your SM before you do anything other than edit a spelling mistake.
3) The Newspaper Rule - This is my favorite. You cannot take any action with your character which would alter the integrity of the storyline. What I mean is, if your action would be on the front page of the newspaper (either because it would be a substantial event warranting coverage OR because your SM had no idea it was going to take place) then you'd better ask before you do it. For example, you cannot have your post report that a ship has been destroyed (without permission). This would potentially alter the SM's storyline, and as an SM myself, there's nothing that upsets me more than someone messing up my story. A rule related to this is that nobody but the commanding officer can give the order to fire a ship's weapons. I say a commanding officer rather than SM because there may be situations where as an OPS officer or whatever a character is in command of a shuttle, etc.
4) Posting - post at least 2 times per week. Some ships do only this, some do far more. Do what you want with this information, just stay within the 2 posts a week requirement. Typically, I give one warning on this, and then take action if posting does not pick up. Some SM's may handle it differently. There are always situations where a player can't do this. Thus, if you need to, just tell your SM and they can make arrangements. If you anticipate you'll be sporadic in posting for a few weeks because of work school, etc, just drop your SM a line...they'll understand (but don't abuse this).
If you are going on a lengthy trip, etc., request a leave of absence (LOA). If you've been involved in a situation where you can't post, but you were not able to give notice, let your SM know as soon as you can.
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CO Captain Harvey Kirkman
SM Valdivian Station / USS Trinity
7th Fleet Manager
Newsfleet Division Manager
Player - Mike Yan
myfreakylittlefriend@gmail.com