Hey.. Talon has a habit of flying in the face of orders.. Gavison is about the only one he obeys .. even then with some aggravation … what ever happens.. will happen.. if he is sent to the brig so be it.. if that is the Captain’s wishes… anyone else trying to do it might be in for a little trouble.

I eagerly await the outcome.

By the book. 1. Return to Docking Bay, she did. 2. Ordered to stand by, best place to do that is where the man is question is. Anyway he endangered her twin sister Brianna, so that deserves her attention.


HEHEHE Rhiannon is all MACO and a Gunny.

The brigs on this size ship aren't very comfortable...Poor Talon, just trying to do his job. Too bad Gavison has never been able to stomach direct insubordination.

It looks like Rrowl might be acting security lead in a bit. Oh, won't that get Talon's goat! Hee hee.

I can make that work just fine. For the Romulan, Rhiana, a thick slice of warm yeasty dark molasses pumpernickel bread slathered with real butter and orange honey. For water, the effervescent artisan Spring water from Rigel 4 with a twist of lime. for Brianna warm raisin scones with Devonshire Cream and Arrowhead Spring water.

Hey everybody!

Just wanted to drop in and say hello.

The project I'm in involved in at my new job has become ever-so-much more complicated in the past week, and I haven't even had time to check e-mail.

Hell, I've spent the night at work twice! Hehe.

Anyway, things are soon to get caught up there, and I'll have a bit more free time. The story is looking great, and I'll just jump in, maybe backposting a bit to catch up, as soon as things settle a bit.

While my Inn-visiting is sucking as a result, I have to say that I am LOVING the new job. I'm working for a defense contractor, and while the project itself is classified, I can at least say that it is EXCITING stuff!

Hope that all of you are well, and I look forward to leaping back into things as soon as possible.

Take care, all!

--Dunk

Seriously, folks. The point of the 'command staff' orders (aside from the need for the command staff to be present on the ship, of course) is to 'steer' the story along it's plot line. If your character is ordered to do a,b, or c, there's probably a plot-driven reason for it...

Sooo, I say one more time - "consequences schmonsequences" aside - be careful of what your characters do 'in defiance' of orders, folks... I can count at least 3 PCs that are coming very close to being victims as opposed to the vindicators that they're trying to be.

P.S. Just so there's absolutely no doubt - and I really hate to be a hard-arse but kind of have no choice since we're coming very close to this whole thing being de-railed, thank you - "victim" = NPCd or dead, folks.

Okay, I have posted for Fletcher.

Let me state a couple of things: no hard feelings intended, YeOlde. You are a superb player, one that I would waive any of my typical "writing sample" and other such requests for when I GM a game - you are welcome to play with me anytime. BUT, Talon is behaving in a manner that just cannot be allowed in a situation with a clearly defined chain of command. I checked with the GMs before I posted, just to see if there was some other avenue open to me. There is not.



Gang, as a whole, may I suggest that we probably would have never gone down this road if not for what smells a bit like some accidental metagaming? If no one had known that "Stan" was the sabotoeur, would be be where we are - at least two PCs disobeying orders because they "just know" that it's for the best?

IMO, Eol had posted that "Stan" was exceedingly stealthy about what he was doing. As such, he shouldn't have been discovered without checking with the GM first - this is the way one derails the plot. Now, people are coming up with all sorts of "facts" to jusitfy what is, at the heart of the matter, metagaming (definition: using out of game knowledge to influence in-game actions).

Feel free to control your own people and NPCs, but if your actions alter the flow of the game, it's a good idea (scratch that, it's MANDATORY) to check with the GM first.

So, if we, as players, didn't know there was sabotage, would survivors be treated like suspects? Probably not. A sloppy engineer, who out of panic tried to close a hatch on an escape pod, who is known by a member of the command staff of the other vessel, would NEVER have come under the scrutiny that he has.


Heed the not so subtle warning of the GM. Reign things in, follow orders. Please.

Okay, I am a bit confused. Regardless of what others have done, Brianna wanted to report on the mans behaviors thorugh proper channels. i had posted some "Assumed" actions for Stan about being a a pod by himself and trying to take off in it by himself. It made logical sense to me the player that he would want to be alone in and escape pod so I did not fell I was stepping on any toes so to speak.

Eol, if you didn't want that particular scenario I wrote up to be fact why didn't you say something then? And why did you tell me to remember the situation for when I was interrogated. I did remember and reported the incident.

With that scenario as I had written, Brianna would report him to the proper authorities for what she "saw" happen. I didn't want to just reporting him to NPC and make up my own reactions so I use Rhiannon to pass the report along to appropriate authority.

So what now?

Bri - do I mind that Stan tried to close the MACOs out of the pod? No... you made a good assumption and whatnot there... Stan would want to be alone.

Do I mind that MSgt McQueen wants to report him? Not at all... I wouldn't expect otherwise in a situation like that. Now, of course, given the situation, the report may be 'reviewed' and a determination made that Stan simply acted in a panic and wasn't thinking clearly when he was closing the pod up (human instinct for self preservation, etc, etc... happens all the time in RL disaster situations)... Stan would get a reprimand on his record, for sure, and possible other disciplinary action... no sweat.

Does it bother me that, with as implicitly stealthy as Stan was in his sabotage of the Cerberus, within 36 hours of the explosion that all of the sudden this nondescript and scarcely noticable engineer is suddenly under the microscope and is being all but directly accused of the sabotage and, as such, we've got military/starfleet personnel flying in the face of orders and just itching to crawl up Stan's keester to make sure that he doesn't go anywhere, ever, without somebody eyeballing him with overblown suspicion... Absolutley.

Does it bother me that we've got military/starfleet personnel behaving in a decidedly unmilitary/non starfleet manner? You bet yer bippy it does... I dare anyone to join up with any branch of the service in real life and try something like the out and out insubordination that we;ve been seeing here and think they'd get away with it... I did my own time in the Corps, folks, and I can tell you with no degree of uncertainty, that you'd be out on your keester muy rapido. A Marine ordered to return to the cargo bay and stand by had damn well better return to the cargo bay and stand by if they want to keep rank and freedom... not run to the cargo bay to make an appearnance and then decide that okay, stand by means that I can stand by where ever I please after I've returned to the cargo bay... ooo... there's the cargo bay... okay... off to sick bay I go. Won't fly in the real life military and won't fly in our 'make believe military' either.

Can you proceed with the 'hover around Stan' angle? Sure, but the consequences for that are far worse than anything the UCMJ would visit upon you for insubordination - can't say much more than that without blowing the whole plot and having to shut the game down all together, so we'll leave it there... Let's just say that, yes, Stan trying t shut the MACOs out of the pod was a 'bad thing' to do and, yes, there deserves to be some sort of formal complaint, etc, lodged against the man for it... however, that should be the extent of it... he doesn't need to be guarded by half a dozen MACO, Security, and/or TAC personnel... he's on an itty bitty starship (which is most likely on Yellow Alert anyway), currently stuck in sick bay where he's being monitored, etc... he's not going anywhere whether he's surrounded by Jarheads, Security, or anyone else for that matter.

Anyway, as I said, no fault with the whole Stan tries to shut MACO out of the pod bit... perfectly fine and good RP fodder, IMO... the insubordination and 'metagaming' stuff, however, is on a fast track to making this whole thing pointless and we kind of need to get back on track and play our military types as military types, not maverick gunslingers in the wild west.

Helping to get things back on track. I posted for Rhiannon

I want to apologize for any metagaming infractions that I apparently have conducted… it was not my intention to interrupt the game.. or metagame in any way.

Talon is always impulsive, a bit insubordinate, and very suspicious, especially of Romulans and Kzinti. Hearing the Cerebeus was destroyed he immediately thinks of sabotage and suspects the Romulans for one.

As for the insubordination, I watched a lot of Star Trek over the years, and I seem to recall several instances of insubordination in episodes, many of those were by Command Staff aboard the Enterprise, and things always worked out. I know that only works on TV and not in RL, having served my own time in the military I know this first hand.

His actions with the survivors were not as harsh as they may have sounded. He was only detaining people long enough for them to be scanned and cleared.. by the time the meeting in the messhall most, if not all, of the survivors other than those in the sickbay, would have been cleared and released and sent to a place they could relax and eat and etc. Everyone seems to make it sounds as if he was beating a confession out of people. It wasn’t like that.

As for Stan, he only reacted to a report that the man had acted strangely and even endangered others while escaping a ship, that kind of behavior warranted further questioning and detaining of said man for questioning.

But I can see how people would think I was using things of which my C was unaware. It was unintentional and I apologize for any disruption of the game flow. I have posted for Talon, a very compliant post, and since I have caused so much trouble, I will retire from this game with no hard feelings towards anyone, since the whole thing was my own doing. I hope no one has any hard feelings towards me for my missteps.

Thank you for letting me play.

Don't Go. I made mistakes too. Hopefully we have corrected those mistakes or have gotten the plot back into perspective and can play on, even with Talon. Please, do not leave because of this mistake. I do not think anybody did it intentionally.

Maybe it would help if The Powers That Be give a PM to anyone who might see, hear or discover something to be acted upon, or a PM if there is something they do not want acted on.

Part one:

YeOlde, I cannot speak for the GMs, but as I am in the loop, I can say with a lot of confidence that NOBODY wants to see you gone. You've been a little over the top, but this is nothing that cannot be played through.

Take a look at some service records - Rrowl and MacTavish both have spent time in the brig due to temper issues. Heck, MacTavish would have been a full four-pipped captain some time ago, had he not been demoted due to his own insubordination issues.

Don't quit. Use it as a "eureka!" moment for Talon, where he begins to have some realization that he cannot play on his own side forever, that he's got to be part of the team.

You are a great player, and are a reliable, active poster. Use this as a challenge, and build your character through it.

Please.

Part Two

To a point, I understand where you are coming from, DragonMistress, but RTFM. No need for the GMs to post "this is a big plot point, leave it alone." Trek is moderated freefrom, and it works like this:

You are always free to do anything that you like with your own character, provided that it does not affect any other PCs. If it does, you should check with them first (and this is a fantastic way to build the game, anyway, by collaborating with other players).

In situations that can alter the plot of the game, or that may affect many or all of the PCs, you should check with a GM before you post. This was made very clear at the start of the game, back when Eol and Bromern were recruting.

Cool to do on your own: make a minor discovery. Create or solve a problem that your character/department must address. Come up with an idea that might help address a major problem facing the crew (but check with the GM before posting that your idea DOES fix the issue). Flesh out NPCs in your own department.

Cool to do with one or more other PCs: make a moderate discovery. Create or solve a problem that will take more than one PC (or department) to address. Create a nice subplot (romance angle, personal grievance, social event, etc).

Only do with GM permission: make a major discovery. Create or solve a problem that affects the plot, many PCs, or the ship as a whole. Kill off a character.

When in doubt, ask a GM before you post something!
No need for me to rehash the specifics of how we have gotten off track - Eol's post above details that pretty well in regards to Stan. Once the warnings started to go out, rather than back off of it, we began adding details to back up why we were suspicious of him, and we used all sorts of over the top behavior to pursue that angle.

The GM dealt with this. We all get it now, right? So no real harm done. We're actually still early in the game. Let's regroup and press on, shall we?

YeOlde: Hey man, we don't want you to quit playing. I'll second Olan's sentiment in that you're a player I'll allow in any of my games. I, too, urge you to reconsider. The idea that this could result in an epiphany for Talon is great, or you could use the opportunity in another fashion, but it would be a loss for everyone playing if you walked away.

Everyone: So we had a few "off" posts. It isn't anything that can't be fixed, nothing that was causing serious problems we couldn't work out of, and so there's no need for anyone to feel like they were ruining the game. This sort of thing happens to everyone at one point or another, and the best thing for it is to just continue to have fun, redirect a few things, and BOOM! Everything falls into place.

In my opinion, free form role-play is extremely difficult. The GM tries not to give so much direction so as to limit your character development and storytelling (your total contribution), but at the same time we've got to have a plot or else the whole thing just falls apart. We're all going to find challenges within the role-playing aspect of this game, but that's part of the fun of it. Rest assured that Eol and I will share pertinent information with those who need to know that information to help shape the story. Some things we obviously cannot share because they are major plot points that we want you to find out to enrich your experience. This means that we're faced with the challenge of making sure that ingenious actions on the part of your individual story development don't derail the main storyline.

Think of it this way: The overall game "Operation: Persephone" is a few "seasons" worth of a television series. within those seasons there are progressing story lines for each major contributing character. Some of these stories can be resolved, or come to fruition, in a single "episode" while others will take many "episodes" to develop. We're still in the first season of this series: characters are being introduced, fleshed out, and established. Relationships are being built that will carry through future seasons and develop, or digress, as the writers see fit. Multiple plots will unfold, but overall there is that one, on-going theme of "Operation: Persephone" just like in Voyager they had a lot of adventures (episodes), some drawn out over the course of many shows (seasons), but overall, their theme was that they were trying to get back to Earth.

Each and every one of you contribute to the overall enjoyment of the game, and the challenge of character relationships is part of the fun. We just can't let everyone run free, or the theme is lost.

Anyway, you've heard it from Eol, Olan, and now me so I'll shut up about it...

I lied: One last reiteration. We really did not mean to hurt anyone's feelings, cause anyone to feel like they were ruining the game for others, or drive anyone away. We are thoroughly enjoying the players involved in this game, and I know I speak for all three of us (Eol, Olan, and myself) when I say that the loss of any player is not something we want to facilitate right now.

Just wanted to pop in an say hi. Mas'Riat is still on the bridge. And I'm still trying to figure out what that entails, exactly!

And YeOlde: Dont quit. Or the kitty will find himself wrapped in duct tape.