Lesson III (D) The basics of being a CO

Started by Minutias, April 21, 2014, 09:32:53 PM

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Minutias



Chapter III: Jumping into roleplaying
Lesson D: The basics of being a CO

Written by Telex Ferra
Edited by Academy Faculty

Check out these related video tutorials:
Video 20 - Choosing the Right Ship
Video 21 - How to Begin an RP
Video 24 - Dealing with Interruptions
Video 25 - RP Length and Ending




Again, the art of being a CO cannot be condensed down into a guide of any size; you'll just have to do it for a while to get used to it. Just remember that all of the veterans you may see in TLO started off where you are now, and had to learn how to be a good CO from good and bad experiences.

The CO or Commanding Officer is the person in charge of the RP. Almost every time, this person plays the captain of the ship, the commander of the station etc. It is up to the CO to come up with the plot, or at leas the basic framework for one, and to choose the map the RP is played on.

Here's a list of things a CO should do, and some examples of how to do them to best play out your story.

1: Come up with a story!
You don't always need to have the entire plot mapped out, but you at least should have the basic premise in your mind. "A Starfleet ship on the edge of the beta quadrant encounters an unknown alien vessel that begins abducting the crew" is a perfectly good premise. You should always ask yourself if your premise makes sense. If your premise is "President of Starfleet steals a Runabout and single-handedly uses its phasers to blow up Quo'nos" then your story may need some tweaking, or at least some explanation for such improbable things.

2: Make sure everybody knows the story.
A mistake I often see COs make is that they assume that everyone can read their mind and know what the story is. Maybe you've already told the other players your premise, but they still need to be introduced to the setting, your character, each other's characters etc. The best way to do this and to set the tone for the RP is to start with some sort of briefing or captain's log. These things give you the opportunity to divulge information about the story in character, and give the other players an opportunity to see the tone you're trying to set for your plot.

3: Make sure everybody has something to do.
As the CO, it's your job to do your best to ensure that everybody feels included in the story. You most likely will not be able to include everybody all the time, but good COs are able to include everybody at least a few times along the way. In the briefing I mentioned above, you should take the opportunity to delegate tasks to your crew. Tell the CE that he and his team need to make some upgrade; tell the CSO that she and her team need to recalibrate the sensors. These things not only help pace the story and convey your plot, but also give players something to do.

4: Make sure you're not the only real character.
Another mistake I often see COs make is that they insist on playing out all major plot elements themselves. When this happens, all the other players on the server feel more like they're watching a one man show than actually participating in an interactive story. If you want a Romulan Warbird to decloak, pm it to your CoS so that he can say it to you in-character. This involves him in the story, and also prevents your character from being the only one who can advance the plot. In fact, most good COs do not advance the plot at all with their own character, and thus PM instructions to other people so that those people can say the things that advance the story.

It's vital that you PM instructions to other players so that they can help you advance the story, and so that they can feel involved in your story.

5: Do your best to derail plotjacking.
I've seen many good plots that have had so many plotjacks added to them that they become bloated and collapse in on themselves. No, it's really not pretty. As CO, the final decision about the plot is yours. If the CoS has announced a Borg fleet's arrival and that's not part of your story, do not hesitate to tell everyone out-of-character to ignore that disruptive addition to the plot. You may feel like rolling with everything everyone says is a good way to include everybody, but every time the plot will end up so weighed-down by everyone's individual additions that it will never resolve any of them or even get to your intended plot.

If anyone consistently plotjacks after you tell them not to several times via PM, you are perfectly within your rights to call a vote to kick them from the server. If this doesn't help, contact an admin.