As another member of SB118 I am also open to sharing any information about simming in the UFOP. I've seen these questions in a few forums, and Toni actually has a Blog that answers questions about "simming" on another Trek forum, but basically its kind of an immersive roleplaying, there's no dice rolls, no hit points, but there are certain conventions and "rules of the universe" and simming ettiquette to adhere to. Think of it as getting together with six to ten of your closest friends and writing an episode of Star Trek. Each of you is responsible for a particular character's story arc. As you go through the episode you collaborate with other character writers to create scenes which push the storyline towards an eventual conclusion to the scenario. Its like a collaborative book writing exercise as well, where one person writes, and this is the worst literary example: It was a dark and stormy night. then the next person says, well, actually it was more of a 40 percent chance of showers, swells two to four feet with a dew point of 56 degrees farenheit type of night. Then the next person writes well, to be accurate the night was leaning in favor of the 60 percent good weather, but the point is it was night, and the USS Blabyblow was in trouble...
Of course its not that simplistic, but each person contributes and moves the story forward as well as engages in character development in expositional mini scenes...
hope that helps,
Post Merge: 04 May 2009 04:42 PM
I would be remiss in pointing out, however that the example I gave DOES NOT represent the actual experience of simming, nor the highly developed and multilayered scenarios in which we role play. Further, while the collaborative writing aspect is sound, I should note that there is a major difference between "chain story" writing and simming as done with the UFOP in that we have a very structured format which is conducive to interaction between characters through the use of "tags", and we do not utilize the more conventional prose style narrative, except in very rare occasions where it is nested within the screenplay type format. Of course there is a reason why Toni is one of our best Academy instructors and I am not, because she is very good at making it all make sense in a logical and easilly digestible form for new players, and makes it fun as well, introducing certain conventions and rules within a "play as you learn" environment. I on the other hand tested the very limits of her patience when I took a refresher course, having been away for almost ten years, because I had all sorts of bad habits from the early days. The UFOP of today is far and away a better gaming experience for the refinements of the past decade and more, offering a deeply immersive level of roleplaying while allowing players of all skill levels the chance to refine their writing styles and skills.
