SFHQ Scientist's Manual by Katherine Dedul

(Reproduced with permission from Katherine Dedul)

Introduction:

This manual will help you becoming one of the more important positions on a starship. The Engineers, Security Officers and Medical Officers typically get all the glory, but scientists arguably are some of the smartest folk on a starship. One of the orders of a starship is to explore new worlds and seek out new life...you can't do this effectively without a scientist!

We're going to start with the absolute basics and go into a bit more complex matters. This manual will cover the basics, but will provide you with links to excellent websites like Memory Alpha which contain more detailed information if you wish to use them. Our goal here isn't to bombard you with a bunch of information that may be of use to you, but rather to give you the tools necessary to succeed in a science posting on a ship.

Positions in Science:

There are two main types of science officer, the Chief Science Officer(CSO) and the Science JO(Sci). However, a science vessel may further specify their scientists into categories like "Geologist", "Biologist", "Chemist", etc.

A. Chief Science Officer

This is the senior most scientists onboard. They generally have a specialty, but have enough knowledge in all areas of science to act as an expert in that field if required. They represent the science department in senior staff meetings and will delegate tasks to the scientists assigned to their team. Typically, the CSO will also be part of the away missions if the Commanding Officer assigns a science officer to the mission.

B. Scientist

These folks are junior officers who report directly to the CSO. They will have one or two key areas of specialization(ie: Physics, Astronomy, Chemistry, etc) and will work to advance their work in that field when permitted. They will also be called upon when the ship is facing a problem that fits within their field of specialty, particularly if the CSO merely knows the basics of that field.

You may also hear terms like "ranking biologist" or something similar, this has nothing to do with the rank of the officer in question, but rather the depth of their understanding. A ranking biologist for example would mean that this particular scientist is more experienced in the field of biology than anyone else on the starship.

The Fields of Scientific Exploration:

This section concerns some basic concepts you might want to take with you as you play your medical character. I've included some links to the articles on Wikipedia and Memory Alpha, but you can always google these disciplines for a lot more articles and information. These fields and sub-fields are not how everyone would describe science, but rather one way of many. The field of science is constantly changing, with each new discovery in fact. It's not important for our purposes that you learn all you can about the field(s) of expertise you might choose for a character, but rather that you learn what types of work they might do in a day-to-day situation. Scientists are concerned with answering questions, making comparisons and furthering our understanding of the universe in general, but each scientific field is concerned with one particular area of the universe. Once you're through this section, you'll see why, there's simply not enough time in the span of the life of a typical Humanoid to learn it all!

A. Basic Scientific Fields

i)Physics - Basically defined as the study of matter and its motion through the universe. It can be further subdivided into the branches of:
a. Classical Mechanics
b. Electromagnetism
c. Statistical Mechanics
d. Thermodynamics
e. Quantum mechanics
f. Relativity

More information on Physics can be found:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Physics (Wikipedia)
http://memory-alpha.org/wiki/Physics (Memory Alpha)

ii)Chemistry - Defined as a study of matter and the changes it undergoes. It differs from physics because it studies primarily the composition, behavior, structure and the properties of matter. It can be further subdivided into branches of:
a. Biochemistry
b. Inorganic
c. Nuclear
d. Organic
e. Physical
f. Theoretical

More information on Chemistry can be found:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chemistry (Wikipedia)
http://memory-alpha.org/wiki/Chemistry (Memory Alpha)

B. Spatial Sciences

i)Astronomy - Defined as the study of celestial objects and other associated phenomena. Some people may refer to this field as "Astrophysics", generally they are seen to be one and the same. It can be further subdivided into the branches of:
a. Stellar/Solar
b. Galactic
c. Extragalactic
d. Cosmology

More information on Astronomy can be found:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astronomy (wikipedia)
http://memory-alpha.org/wiki/Astronomy (Memory Alpha)

Note: While not required, it is highly recommended that your character have at least a secondary specialization in this field, particularly if you're on a starship as this field would get the most "screen" time since the bulk of discoveries on starships involve spatial phenomenon. Most scientists on a starship would have a fairly solid grounding in this field.

C. Planetary Sciences

i)Geology - is the study of physical matter that constitutes a planet. It includes the study of composition, structure, properties and history of a planet's physical material and the processes by which it is formed, moved and changed. It can be subdivided into such categories as:
a. Economic
b. Engineering
c. Hydrology
d. Natural Hazards
e. Regional

More information can be found here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geology (Wikipedia)
http://memory-alpha.org/wiki/Geology (Memory Alpha)

ii)Geography - Geographers are typically concerned with the study of the spatical and temporal distribution of land forms, processes and features as well as the interactions Humanoids have with their natural environment. The main branches of Geography include:
a. Physical
b. Humanoid
c. Environmental
d. Geomatics
e. Regional

More information can be found here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geography (Wikipedia)
http://memory-alpha.org/wiki/Geography (Memory Alpha)

D. Life Sciences

i)Biology - Concerned with the study of life and living organisms. There are quite a few distinct branches of biology, some of them are:
a. Biochemistry
b. Agriculture
c. Botany
d. Entomology
e. Genetics
f. Paleontology

More information can be found:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biology (Wikipedia)
http://memory-alpha.org/wiki/Biology (Memory Alpha)

ii)Archaeology - Is the study of past Humanoid civilizations through recovery and analysis of material remains. Some sub-disciplines include:
a. Historical
b. Ethnoarchaeology
c. Experimental Archaeology
d. Archaeometry

More information can be found:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Archeology (Wikipedia)
http://memory-alpha.org/wiki/Archeology (Memory Alpha)

iii)Anthropology - Is concerned with the study of humanity. It looks at the origins of humanoids, how they developed culture and language. There are various subfields of Anthroplogy, some of which include:
a. Social
b. Cultural
c. Ethnology
d. Forensic
e. Urban

More information can be found:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthropology (Wikipedia)
http://memory-alpha.org/wiki/Anthropology (Memory Alpha)

Tools of the Trade:

As stated in the previous section, you don't need to know everything about the field you've selected as your characters area of expertise. You don't even need to study up on principles that the field is concerns with. Scientists have their own form of "techno-babble" that differs from engineers in that they're concerned with explaining the universe. This section will cover the common problems a scientist will be faced with on a starship.

A. A Strange New Phenomenon

Typically this is a new type of nebula, star, gaseous cloud, etc. Astronomers typically handle these types of problems(Hence why it's recommended that your character at least have a secondary interest in this field. Chemists and physicists may also see some use of their field here as well and if the new phenomenon is a space faring creature, then likely biologists may also be called upon.

This heading is also where you'll discover that wonderful five letter word...Probe. Probes will extend the sensor capabilities of a starship, it's important to keep in mind the specs of your ship(certain ships will have a certain set of probes in their inventory). Probes come in different classes and sizes, smaller ships will likely have only basic probes in their inventory and their number will vary based upon the space the ship has. When in doubt, consult the specs, if that doesn't clear up any confusion, check with your CSO or CO, they'll give you a definitive answer.

Typically the GM will provide you with details of the new anomaly. Your job will be to role-play your character checking the ever so useful Federation database for similar spatial phenomenon for comparison. GMs will typically base their creation off of something similar they've read about or seen on television, putting their own little "twist" on it, so they will typically give you details of the "original" phenomenon(or at least a link to where you can view it yourself!)

B. Planetary Story-lines

Another common science use is exploring a new planet or revisiting an old planet that is faced with a new problem(for example, a Federation world we know quite well facing a new weather phenomenon they haven't faced before).

Earth-based and life scientists will likely be involved here(physicists and chemists as well, depending upon the problem their involvement will manifest in different ways). Like spatially based problems, it will involve comparing the new problem with similar problems faced prior by other crews and starships by searching the Federation Database. Comparison is the basic method of understanding something new, by doing so, it may be possible to predict the behavior of the lifeform, predict the use of each part of a set of ruins or predict what may work to contain a phenomenon for further study.

C. Some Things to Keep in Mind

Scientists may not be able to relieve officers of duty like medical doctors and counselors can, but they can sometimes convince a superior officer to do as they wish by using their smarts.

Some scientists may come across as a bit arrogant(think: Nella Daren from the TNG ep "Lessons"), others can be more humble(think: Samantha Wildman from Voyager), both officers were certainly skilled in their area of expertise, but had different personalities. So it's up to you, whether you want to have an egomaniac of a character who thinks that his or her specific field of scientific study is the most important thing since sliced bread, or someone who is a bit more willing to listen to other fields of scientific research.

Don't be afraid to be creative, COs don't promote you based upon whether or not they believe the ideas of your scientist have solid academic grounding, they promote you based upon your ability to both post in response to specific direction from the GM and avoiding going AWOL when the mission doesn't involve you directly.

What to do When You're Bored:

You may sometimes find yourself waiting around for action in a mission, particularly if you are on a combat or diplomatic vessel. This section deals with some hints and tips on how to keep yourself busy when the mission isn't otherwise providing you with chances to post.

The idea is to create a few little sub-plots that can be easily ignored when the mission is keeping you busy, but ones that you can consistently turn to when the mission storyline isn't providing you with enough posting chances.

Some suggestions:

-Character development. Have your character do some independent research on their favorite topic.(Read our Article on Posting IC and Developing a Character)
-Visit the holodeck.
-Run diagnostics on all the lab equipment.
-Have a get together with other scientists in the messhall.

Conclusion:

This concludes our lesson on the basics of playing in the science department. Hopefully you found this informative and are even more excited at the prospect of playing a science officer out there in SFHQ!

Testing Materials:

The following are scenarios that the science course instructor may use when testing the cadets on the Academy ship. Instructors may come up with an entirely new scenario for you, but these should give you a pretty good idea of what will be expected of you when you are tested. It's up to you to make up any details that are not otherwise provided in the scenarios. All answers to these scenarios on the academy ship must be written by way of a IC post.

A. Exploring A New World:

i) You are the ranking biologist on your starship and as such the CSO has picked you as part of the away team to go down and explore the new planet.(Hint: As a biologist, what might you be interested in collecting and exploring?)

ii) You are the ranking geologist on your starship and as such the CSO wants you to head down on the away mission to a new planet.(Hint: What sorts of things might you be interested in as a geologist?)

iii) You are the ranking archeologist on your starship and the away team has discovered some ancient ruins, so naturally your CSO wants you to beam down and join the away team.(Hint: What sorts of things might you be looking for as an archeologist?)

B. Exploring A New Spacial Phenomenon:

i) You are the ranking astronomer on a starship and the ship has just discovered a new nebula, the CSO has put you in charge of the research on it.(Hint: What sorts of things might you want to start doing with the scans of that nebula?)

ii) You are the CSO on a starship that has been assigned to examine a new expanse of space. Delegate your staff appropriately.

iii) You are the CSO on a starship that has been trapped by a strange phenomenon, what are some of the things you'll need to do to begin to help the ship free itself?

C. Keeping Busy On Your Own:

i) You're on a mission and guess what...the science department literally has nothing to do....how are you going to keep yourself from being bored out of your mind?

ii) The CSO of your ship is busy with the away team, you're on the ship because as a astronomer, you aren't needed on the planet's surface, what might you do to keep yourself busy and productive?

iii) The CSO of your ship is busy helping the space based scientists map a new nebula, you are a anthropologist, you aren't needed. So what are you going to do to make sure you remain productive in the department?

Power Vacuum in SFHQ as CCP Granger resigns

SFHQ is in the midst of a power vacuum.

Following William Smith's discover that the Council Chairperson, Peter Granger, had gone AWOL, Silent Hunter proposed a motion to impeach him.

In the end, it proved unneeded, as Mr. Granger submitted his resignation via email to President Giesbrecht.

Peter never appointed a Vice Council Chairperson. Ty Shanahan, the previous vCCP, has offered to step in, but he was never appointed by this administration- and does not have a character in the club.

Legal clarification is awaited, but it's not good news for the troubled club.

An Baile Ùr is open

Robert Longtin, CO of An Baile Ùr, officially opened the sim at 10:06am PST yesterday.

It looks like it's going to be very successful.

Please, come and join us for some spectacular craic!

Editorial: Katherine Dedul creates a Medical Manual

As part of the planned Academy, Katherine Dedul has drafted a manual for Medical characters and posted it in Starfleet Command (time code 2010-05-11 16:48:49).

I have to say it is an excellent document and should be posted in Member Support as soon as possible.

IKV Vindicator Closes after CO resigns

Appointment #90

Silent Hunter is relieved of command of the IKV Vindicator, as previously announced.

The IKV Vindicator is hereby regrettably closed as well.

Kat
C in C
****
The sim had been in serious trouble for a while, with the CO having a GM vanish and having to dual-hat as GM. Activity was too low and he finally resigned on 30 April.

RTE limits votes to RTE members and senior AJJE leadership

Resolution #4

 

By a vote of 14 to 3, with two abstentions, the Township has resolved the following:

 

Only the votes cast by the Township, the AJJE Games Board of Founders or the AJJE Games Role-Playing Division's President and Vice-Presidents are legal votes. All others shall be ignored, but those whose votes are ignored will be invited to join RTE.

 

Silent Hunter

RTE Administrator

30 April 2010

 

This brings RTE into harmony with the rest of AJJE. The motion was proposed in December, but changes of Election Coordinators have delayed the vote until now.

Male vs. Female: the COs of AJJE

Just something for a bit of amusing discussion: a comparison of the genders of characters leading sims in AJJE.

LOTW: 12 male, 1 female
RTE: 5 male, 4(*) female
SFHQ: 11 male, 3 female
SGU: 7(*) male, 2 female

(*: Covert-81 has two SL equivalent characters, both female. For this discussion, they are counted as one. Also Goa'ulds are sexless, it's just that the SL of Goa'uld Empire has a male host.)

Total: 35 male, 10 female

LOTW extends terms of Admin Directors

Resolution #38

LOTW voted on the motion to permanently extend the term of office for elected Administration Directors to 12 months. This is subsequent to Resolution #17, February 15th, 2009, which extended the following term (our current term) from 8 months to 12.

It was another exceedingly well-run event thanks to EC Robert, AEC Matt, the COs, and the club's members. Some of the sims which have never previously produced a very high turnout are now climbing the ladder - a sign that more and more members are becoming aware of their right to vote and are putting that right to use!

The results are 38 for, 4 against, and 3 abstained from voting. The resolution is therefore passed.

This produces a 61.6% turnout of the LOTW Membership - roughly a 6% decrease since the last vote, but nevertheless an increase in our turnout at the beginning of this calendar year.

We have Elections coming up in June and this will be everyone's opportunity to have our say and to set the standard for the next year's voter turnouts!

So in gearing up for the Election in two months, I would encourage all of you to become involved in the elections in some way! We are currently looking at ways of improving awareness during the build-up to the elections. As ever, the admin team is open to all your thoughts and suggestions.

Ashley Leighton Plom
Parliament Leader
April 25th, 2010

The Academy heads towards a launch

SFHQ is taking the final steps towards creating a new Academy sim in a bid to boost its diminishing membership base.

This sim will allow new players to learn about Trek and AJJE's RPing environment in a controlled manner.

We'll be reviewing it in some depth as it launches.

Daniel Taylor named Public Relations Director

Vice President of Support Chris Wilkinson is pleased to announce the
appointment of Daniel Taylor to the position of PR Director. Dan is replacing
Gemma Holden, who has had to step down due to RL pressures.

Daniel Taylor has been with AJJE Games since 2007. He is very enthusiastic, experienced and I believe he
will be a wonderful addition to the Support team.

Congratulations, Dan!

Chris Wilkinson
Vice President of Support

Matt Forbes becomes Fundraising Director

The Board of Founders has oversight over two autonomous departments in addition to the AJJE Roleplaying division: Server Management and Fundraising. The Fundraising group is defined in the AJJE GP as the group that manages the Marketplace, Google Ads, and Paypal donation pages for AJJE Games. The Board hereby assigns Matt Forbes to the position of Fundraising Director for the Fundraising Division. Matt's task will be to review and evaluate the current programs in use, as well as generate proposals on how to elevate each program. Although Matt is new to AJJE Games, he has shown to the Board an ability to look at current AJJE functions in a new light, and new angle. We are excited to assign him to this position and hope that everyone will give him the support he needs in the coming weeks.

Thanks,

Alex Verdusco
Jud Bennett
Jamie Chamberlain
Edgar Cramer

Design AJJE Games's T-Shirt!

Update your graphic programs, break out your pens and get your creative juices flowing. AJJE Games is looking for designs to put on T- shirts, hats, coffee cups and anything else we can think of to help spread the word about our fabulous site. The designs must be original, with original artwork (if used) inspired by the shows upon which our clubs are based. The designs should also include (but certainly not be limited to) the following:

1) The name AJJE Games
2) The URL ajjegames.com
3) The phrase 'RPGs that Ride the Edge'

After that, it's all up to you. The winning design(s) will be chosen by the AJJE Games senior leadership on June 1, 2010.

Please submit your designs to either your club's administrative leader, AJJE Games President, VP Support, VP Anchor Clubs or VP Development.

Editorial: Changes and Challenges

By Silent Hunter

 

I’ve been feeling this blog is a bit too much press releases and could do with some more diverse content, namely original reporting and editorials.

 

So here it is. All opinions are my own and do not necessary reflect the official view of AJJE Games or anyone else involved.

 

The first year of a new decade has seen some changes in AJJE, with several new and exciting ideas about to come to fruition and some new challenges.

 

Let’s go through this club by club.

 

LOTW

 

The strongest club in AJJE currently runs at 13 sims. I say 13 as the Alliance Camp has now closed due to inactivity. I don’t know whether it was the reason for it, but this and the Independent Camp had a shared RP thread using a system called X-LINK, now being used for a cross-over sim between IPS Dakota and Raug’Moss. I  was XO of the latter until lately, so I didn’t get to use it to the full potential, but it’s something we could use elsewhere in AJJE.

 

Replacing Alliance Camp in the “Other Times, Other Places” area, when Server Management get the sim set up, will be something called An Baile Ur, giving LOTW back a sim with a Gaelic name after the renaming of Tain Bo Cualinge. Set in the year 2300, i.e. the early years of the ‘Verse as envisioned by Mr. Whedon, it’s set on An Baile Ur (The New Home), an Irish colony where people go to escape from the hectic pace of modern life. Or if you’re Caitlin Regan (yes, I’ve signed up for it) to hide out after a con has gone wrong.

 

RTE

 

When I handed out the Player of the Year Award for RTE at the Award Ceremony earlier this year (yes, all the Admin Leaders did speeches), I described what you could do in “my” club in four sentences, each covering two sims. I guess I’ll have to do a different speech as we’ve now got 9 and may well get two or three more.

 

We now have a second Harry Potter sim, Diagon Alley, set in the magical London area that has a lot of wizarding shops and taverns, a resting place before boarding the train at platform 9 ¾ to go to Hogwarts.

 

However, we’ve got some other sims in the pipeline. Teddie Dollins is unleashing romance and vampires on us with a Twilight sim, while Eddie Cramer is working on a pirates-based sim that I will be joining. While I’ve shelved my planned naval sim due to lack of interest, rest assured that this particular “sim-creating monster” (thank you Jeannette) have another idea brewing. Let’s just say that it will be arresting. OK, that’s an awful pun...

 

SFHQ

 

SFHQ is facing a major challenge. Half of the sims are unhealthy and the club’s membership numbers are declining. Last year, a number of sims were shutdown because of inactivity and I think we may get others going.

 

In an attempt to arrest this alarming trend, SFHQ is opening a new Academy sim, which may well replace an existing ship in the club, to improve recruit retention. I wish this sim every success. It’s a fairly steep learning curve to get into Trek despite the fact that the key characters and concepts have filtered into popular culture in a huge way. Anything that can help people with this is a great idea.

 

SGU

 

SGU is going to do the Timewarp. A motion was passed to jump the sims outside the expansion fleet forward a year to between Season 9 and 10 of the original SG-1. That means that the Ori (religious fanatics) have arrived in the Milky Way. The sim I run, Argos, is in the expansion fleet, but will also do the jump.

 

Overall

 

We’re doing well, but we need to keep there. In particular we need to broaden our leadership base- we have people doing several jobs.

 

There are ideas for this. Stay tuned...

Chris Wilkinson named VP Support

AJJE Games President Jeannette Giesbrecht is pleased to announce the appointment of Chris Wilkinson to VP Support. Chris is replacing Richard Thompson, who has had to step down due to RL pressures.

Chris Wilkinson has been with AJJE Games since 2007 and is active in all four clubs. He is very enthusiastic, experienced and I believe he will be a wonderful addition to the AJJE senior government.

Congratulations, Chris!

Jeannette Giesbrecht
President

Latest RPing News 2

The latest low-down on what's going on in the RPing world of AJJE.

Leaf on the Wind
Freedom of Wealth: The Freedom of Wealth is full of mystery and intrigue. Our chief purser has been shot by one of his assistants and his other assistant is dead in the infirmary, foul play is suspected. The engineering team has also found a device attached to the engines that was apparently designed by the XO's corporation to alter our course installed with the help of one of the black gang.
IPS Dakota: After a prison ship transporting Hashim, the purported head of the criminal organization known as the Syndicate goes missing, the crew of the Dakota is sent to Athens to discover the fate of the ship and re-apprehend Hashim. Little do they know that the Raug'Moss, which also has ties to Hashim, is docked at Athens. They will be getting more than they expected.
Shadow: After successfully hijacking the Tain Bo Cuailnge on Akers Bluff the pirate crew of the newly christened Shadow have arrived at the pirate controlled space station True Port to recruiter and upgrade the ship to better suit its use for piracy.
Claudia: After a narrow escape from Reavers, the battered Claudia – low on fuel, parts and supplies – has found her way to Regina, where the crew is hoping for a job. But why are so many pirate ships surrounding the moon?
Elemental: A salvage vessel - an older model - crewed with misfits and the rudderless lost, eking out a living as best they can between the Core and the raggedy edge. Currently refitting as a mercenary band of vigilantes for hire, turning the ship's sensor suite and powerful salvage arms to finding and taking down the badguys...
St. Michael: While picking up the pieces in Shatytown after the fire, a small posse including the Dockmaster and members of the Governor’s staff are out to shut down a child slavery ring. Meanwhile the folks from the electronics shop narrowly escape capture after killing the lowlife that set them up. Rick tries to coerce Virgil into a risky raid on the Blue Sun facility at Rocky Hollow.
Raug'Moss: A damaged ship seeks mechanics, but other things are coming too... that want the ship.
Prinz Eugen: The Fire Team is currently on Haven attempting to assist the rebels there as they conduct an uprising against the Corsair King. The Prinz Eugen herself is just beginning a high speed chase through the Black, as we pursue the Corsair King's personal vessel.
Independence Camp: The Independent forces were responding to a distress call off planet. Due to the vanishing of our GM for the length of time, I took it upon myself to drop the plot and go with a ship in distress (us) idea. We were hit by a chunk of debris, myself knocked unconscious, and am currently relying on my unreliable crew to keep the plot going. We are falling through atmo with a hull breech and precious little posting to keep us from being Reaver-bait.

Ride The Edge
Covert-81: A new thrilling tale is about to begin as Chameleon have to win an auction and Section 91 must infiltrate one of the most heavily-defended areas on Earth...

Starfleet Headquarters
USS Resolution: The crew of the Resolution aborts their planetary survey to rescue the first officer who was transported to a distant world. The young crew and their reptilian captain must overcome their difference to ascertain the potential threat by an advanced alien culture.
IKV Vindicator: While arriving on a Federation ship, the crew of this Klingon vessel encounter a Cardassian attack. The Cardassians are encountering something else...


Stargate Universe
SGU-2: Major Wuthering 'Worthy' Summers has assembled a large team of crack personnel for exploring the Milky Way. Encounters have included Anglo-Romans with guns, astral projection, spiritual manifestations, and a kraken at a beach party.
SGU-3: It is a sim that has been restarted after almost being shut down, due to non activity. The sim can be now called the Experimental Unit, they use this unit as Guinea Pigs, so come & be part of the great experiment.
Argos: The crew tackle the moral dilemma over whether to intervene in a planetary war.

Jeannette Giesbrecht becomes SFHQ Member Support Director

Resolution 26

I here by appoint Jeannette Giesbrecht to the position of Member Support Director.

Please welcome and give her your full support.

Peter Granger CCP

Edgar Cramer moves to new Harry Potter sim Diagon Alley

Appointment #56

Edgar Cramer is hereby relieved as SL of Hogwarts.

Eddie

****

Appointment #57

It is with great pride that we the Council of Elders are able to introduce another second sim for a genre in RTE. This sim is Diagon Alley and it will be part of the Harry Potter Genre.

Edgar Cramer will be taking the position of SL of Diagon Alley.

Congratulations Edgar, make us proud.

Eddie

****
Appointment #58

Due to Edgar's removal as SL of Hogwarts in order for him to take the role of SL at Diagon Alley the Council of Elders looked at two candidates to take over as the SL of Hogwarts.

The first candidate was Alexius ('Lex) Pendragon. 'Lex was considered due to the fact that he was the original SL of Hogwarts and under his guidance Hogwarts reigned as the best Sim of RTE for many months often appearing in the top five of the SSR's.

The second candidate was Dondi Ratliff. Dondi served as the ASL under Edgar and has excelled in keeping the Sim moving in one direction or another as well as handling the wonderful job of contacting new members on the roster and assisting them in getting acclimated into the sim.

The members of the Council felt that either the original SL or the current ASL would do a great job of keeping Hogwarts as one of the strongest sims in RTE.

So after many debates as well as many listings of pros and cons it was finally decided to offer the new SL the position.

So without further adieu it is with great pride and deepest pleasure that we the Council of Elders appoint Dondi Ratliff to the position of Sim Leader of Hogwarts.

Along with this promotion to SL Dondi is also hereby promoted to the rank of Apprentice.

Congratulations Dondi, make us proud.

Eddie

Jamie Chamberlain elected to Board of Founders

Over the last few months Board Member Edgar Cramer has led a search for a replacement for the open Board of Founder spot which resulted from Jessica McClary's retirement from AJJE Games. The Board wishes her well in all she does and took the task of replacing her seriously. Almost a dozen potential candidates were reviewed. Of those, a half dozen or so were given a set of questions by the Board of Founders and in some cases asked follow up questions.

We are pleased to announce that Jamie Chamberlain has been elected to the Board of Founders effective immediately. Jamie joined AJJE Games in April of 2006, almost four years ago. Jamie was one of the original players to join his home club, LOTW, when it had its grand opening in March of 2006. Since that time he has served as a CO in LOTW as well as one of the Operational Leaders of the Operations Team in LOTW.

In accordance with the AJJE Guiding Principles, the 20% ownership in AJJE Games that was once held by Jessica McClary shall transfer over to Jamie Chamberlain and he shall have one vote in all situations requiring a Board of Founder vote.

Please join us in welcoming Jamie to the Board of Founders.

Regards,

Alex Verdusco
Edgar Cramer
Jud Bennett

LOTW votes to update Administration Handbook

Resolution #35

LOTW voted that we update the Administration Handbook, essentially because there are a couple of things that could do with being added (like the job description for the OOC Lounge Moderators and how that department works). The Handbook itself can be found linked from the MOTD here in Parliament.

The vote results are as follows:

For: 44
Against: 1
Abstain: 7

The Resolution has therefore passed!

The total turnout percent was 67.5% (56 out of some 83 members), a significant increase on the 60.27% of our last election (44 voters out of 73 members)!

It may also be worth mentioning that within four days of voting, we had ten of our fourteen sims at over 50% turn-out, and four at over 70%. About half a week later we had our first sim reach 100% turn-out. By the close of voting, some sims had soared up the 'turn-out league', and we had two at 100%, eight at over 75%, and all our sims had reached at least 50% turn-out.

Something Election Coordinator Robert Longtin said during the campaign to publicise the vote really spoke to me. He shared with the COs the turn-out percentages and called it their "personal contribution". I'm so moved by this, it is so true. Our turning out to vote on issues that direct our club is our personal contribution to the growth and success of this awesome community.

It's my pleasure to serve you. The best is still ahead.

Ashley Leighton Plom
Parliament Leader
March 26th, 2010

Alliance Camp to close

The Leaders of the Wave have determined that due to continuous low participation rates and a general lack of enthusiam, the Alliance Camp of OTOP's Unification War is to be deactivated and its players transferred to other active sims. The Independent Camp will comntinue, as it is a viable sim with an active story line and players.

Mike Palmer
Chief Area Leader

Paul Baker replaces Jeannette Giesbrecht as SL of The Mallard Club

Appointment #55

Jeannette Giesbrecht has decided to step down as the SL of The Mallard Club.

The Council of Elders looked at the remaining participants of the RPE feel we made a wise decision when we asked Paul Baker to replace Jeannette as SL.

So without further ado it is with deepest pride and greatest pleasure that the Council hereby promotes Paul Baker to the Rank of Apprentice and places him as the SL of The Mallard Club.

Congratulations Paul, make us proud!

Eddie
Head Elder

Michael Parks becomes CO of SGU-3; Promoted to Captain

Appointment #64

As of March 1, 2010, Michael has been given command of SGU-3. To reflect this, he has also been awarded the rank of Captain with all right and privileges therein.

Congratulations, Michael and good luck.

Anna-Lyn Signey
4 March, 2010

Peter Granger becomes new CCP of SFHQ

Resolution 26

As of 21:32 PST on 2/Mar/2010, I hereby transfer the position of Council Chair-Person, and all the rights and responsibilities of the position, to my worthy successor Peter Granger.

CCP Catt Bennett

Peter Granger beat William Smith 11-7 in the election.

LOTW Resolution #32 Passes

Resolution #32

LOTW votes that players not post in RPEs where they are not rostered. Infractions will be investigated by the Parliament Leader.

The results are 31 in favour, 7 opposed, and 6 abstained. The motion is therefore passed.

Out of our 73 members at the closing of the booth, 44 voters is a 60.27% turnout – a great turnout!

We have seen a great rise in number of players voting at the booth over the last year, now topping off at 44 voters between this election and the previous election. I don’t believe this is the end however. With new efforts in place to increase member awareness of the voting booth and with much encouragement from the COs, we may very well see those numbers improve over the next few elections.

This is great news for the club, a good sign of our ongoing commitment to democracy. The COs have been made aware of their RPE’s individual turnouts. My congratulations to the following:
Bill Greene and The Freedom of Wealth for being the first to hit a 100% turnout this election!
James McGuire and The Queen Elissar, as well as Mike Palmer and The Prinz Eugen for also producing a 100% turnout!
In total, 3 ships have made a 100% turnout and 2 ships were exactly 1 vote away from a 100% turnout – this is an indication of progress and to all the COs, you have my sincerest gratitude for your efforts in making this election a true success!

Robert Longtin
Election Coordinator
February 20th, 2010

Allanna Maitland is LOTW's Player of the Moth for February!

Hey folks,

I'm standing in for Ash tonight to announce the Player of the Month for January. With all the excitement of the club wide awards, we didn't want to overlook the people that make the daily expereince here on LOTW so outstanding. The committee was faced with a fine assortment of nominees for this month's award but we had to boil it down to the top names. These illustrious players are:

Samantha Nelson (tpo Aria Qetesi on Akers)
Jon Stapley (tpo Lily Stock and Thaniel Fox on Akers)
Allanna Maitland (tpo Kin Leonardo on FoW)
Nick Buchanan (tpo GM of FoW)

After prolonged deliberation, secret ballots, white smoke and a variety of other top secret election processes, a winner was derived.

With no further ado, I would like to extend a hearty congratualtions to the young pilot and current sweetheart of the Freedom of Wealth, who has really contributed her wit, style and humor to making the Sim environment a better place for all our players, Miss Allanna Maitland!

(Pause for Applause)

Congratulations also to all our nominees. And remember, if you see someone contributing that extra something special tell your CO and have them report that person to our award commitee. They may find their name here next month!

Congratulations all!

-Kevin

Michael Parks becomes Acting CO of SGU-3

Appointment #63

Once again SGU-3 has fallen to way side. Unfortunately, the team's CO, Daniel Taylor has informed us that he no longer wishes to command SGU-3. It has fallen to MIlitary Command to search and find a new CO for the beleaguered team.

Fortunately, we did not have to look far. SGU-3's current Second-in-Command, Michael Parks, was asked and had agreed to take command of SGU-3.

So it is with great pleasure that we place Michael Parks as the Acting CO of SGU-3.

Anna-Lyn Signey
2 February, 2010

Eddie Cramer becomes CO of USS Khitomer

Appointment 89:

As announced previously we have an opening in Fleet Two for CO of the USS Khitomer.

On the recommendation of the second fleet flag officer, I hereby assign Edgar Cramer as CO of the Khitomer. Edgar holds club rank of Commodore and as such does not require a promotion.

Kat

C in C

William Smith promoted to Military Command in SGU

Hi guys,

Since Jess has left us and I've been handed the reins of Operations Leader, I asked around for a likely candidate as the fourth member of Military Command and one name was mentioned and a name came up.

I've asked William Smith to be our new member of the Military Command. Will comes highly recommended and is greatly appreciated by his peers for his dedication as the current Director of Member Support as well as a player.

So please extend a warm welcome to our newest member of Military Command, William Smith.

Anna

Samantha Nelson becomes new RPG Development Director

It is with great pleasure and eagerness that I announce that Samantha Nelson has accepted the position of RPG Development Director. Samantha has brought a great deal of talent, detail, and enthusiasm to every single task placed before her in all endeavors and will be a great asset to this department. I look forward to working with her once again.

 

My sincerest congratulations to you Samantha!

 

Teddie Dollins, VP of Development

 

Alex Verdusco honoured by Simming League

One of AJJE's Founders and past president Alex Verdusco has been awarded the 2009 Simming League Prize by The Simming League.
He was recognized 'for his distinguished work, founding AJJE Games in 2005, serving as its president until 2009, and establishing AJJE Games as a leading member of the simming and online role-playing community.'
Congratulations, Alex! This is well-deserved recognition.

AJJE 2009 Awards: Winners

* Department of the Year - Support Services (Kevin Diamond)
* LOTW Sims of the Year - Akers Bluff (Slow), Prinz Eugen (Regular)
** Third victory in a row for the latter.
* LOTW Player of the Year - Mike Palmer
** CO of Prinz Eugen
* SGU Sims of the Year - SGU-1 (Slow), SGA-2 (Regular)
* SGU Player of the Year - Michael Ives
* SFHQ Sims of the Year - Atlantis NX-05 (Slow), USS Independence (Regular)
* SFHQ Player of the Year - Silent Hunter
* RTE Sims of the Year - Order 66 (Slow), The Great Hall (Regular)
* RTE Player of the Year - Euan Reid
* Club of the Year - Leaf on the Wind

Deborah Leighton Plom becomes LOTW's first GM of the Year

And now, shortly in advance of the AJJE Site-level Awards, it is my very great privilege to present LOTW's first GM of the Year Award.

This has actually been one of the most deeply discussed awards we've handed out at club level, and for good reason. Our previous club-level awards have all been recognising achievements over a relatively short period of time, albeit wide-ranging and great achievements each time. But with the GM of the Year Award, not only was the scope that much wider - twelve times as wide, of course - in terms of time, but also that much more tightly defined in terms of criteria and in weighty significance to the club...

What I'm saying is firstly that this club couldn't exist without its members. Every member of LOTW is hugely valued, and I hope you all feel that way. But our players would have nothing to do if it weren't for the cohort of GMs that give of their time and energy to provide us with sims in which to play, environments to explore, and plots through which to develop our characters. The role of the GM is hard to define, and at the risk of being glib I will sum it up by saying there is no one way to be a GM. But even so, the Committee members bought considerable experience of both GMing and being GMd to the discussions, and we had well-developed perceptions of what makes good and excellent GMs.

In LOTW, we are currently blessed with a high quality cadre of GMs, and it is important for the Awards Committee to stress that every one of you who is reading this and is a GM: you are appreciated. Your efforts are appreciated. Your contribution is appreciated.

As one Committee Member put it, and I hope he won't mind my quoting him, "GMing isn't a thankless task, fortunately - we have a lot of considerate players who are extremely mindful, loyal and supportive of their refs and that's one of the many reasons why being involved in this game is so great. Neverthless, I do think it's important to show how high the bar is and how much all GMs are appreciated, even if they're not *the* GM of the Year."

So with that firmly in mind, we move on to focus on the award itself...

It was early this month that the Committee came to the decision to bestow a GM of the Year Award, which would be worth more than the 12 Player of the Month awards and would in fact be worth the same as the site-level Player of the Year award, in order to appropriately recognise the magnitude of this particular honour.

Nominations were immediately forthcoming, with three very worthy individuals soon making it to shortlist. To call them by name:

Deborah Leighton Plom, for GMing Akers Bluff and for her oversight role facilitating the GMing of the club in general under the purview of GM Support Director,

James Mcguire, for GMing the Prinz Eugen - a consistent flag-ship RPE not only by LOTW's high standards, but actually regularly at the top of AJJE's entire network of sims,

and

Kevin Diamond, for exceptional GMing of the Cocidius and also of St Michael, and all that that entails.

It also seems right to me to say that these three outstanding individuals made it to shortlist not because of anything the other GMs are doing or have done wrong, but because of a clear and powerful sense among the Committee that Deborah, James, and Kevin each embody much of what we felt was especially praiseworthy in the field of GMing. Other GMs certainly display outstanding strengths and have had noteworthy moments over the course of the year, but it was these three who rose to the fore over the course of our careful and thorough deliberations.

After being nominated, Kevin opted to remove himself from the discussions, temporarily delegating his voting rights on the Committee to a proxy, Robert Longtin. Robert proved a great asset to the Committee through the considerable diligence with which he fulfilled his responsibility.

Our discussions included coverage of such topics as 'what makes a good GM?', 'what is GMing, anyway?', and hard though it is to do justice to such theoretical and subjective questions, we moved forwards communicably and in a happy spirit of unity, with the club in mind.

Our candidates were praised with such adjectives as 'epic', 'excellent', 'encouraging', 'dedicated', 'proactive', 'responsive', 'helpful', and 'superb', with attention given to Sim Strength Rankings, player-focus, and so much more. One candidate was even described as being "as constant as the Northern Star" (and again, I hope this Committee member won't mind me quoting him either).

It was consistently understood that GMs are the glue which hold a sim together and that perhaps what makes for a great GM is their relationship with the players. For all of this we give them thanks and praise.

To conclude... the decision was a close run thing. Kevin came in a respectable third, which is no small thing in light of the competition just to get shortlisted. So please everyone join me in congratulating Kevin!

Now, one final quote, this time to describe the sim GMd by our runner-up:

"For the Prinz Eugen: the best and perhaps only way to describe it is such, if you've ever watched a show/movie with only the best actors all together (like Firefly/Serenity, hehe) where the characters they portray all bear that 'lovable' quality that makes you feel like deep down you can relate to that character, and the story, producer, and director are among the best in film history, if you could combine ALL of those things, it would be the Prinz Eugen. I'm rarely one to take such an extreme stance, but after reading 2 weeks worth (what felt like 2 months worth of reading in comparison to several other ships/planets), it had that 'perfect movie' quality where everything just rings true."

I couldn't have hoped to word it better myself. James, congratulations on this outstanding achievement. The Prinz is such an excellent sim.

And finally, to announce Leaf on the Wind's first ever GM of the Year...

*drum roll*

She's responsive, player-driven and supportive as a GM on Akers. She serves as GM Support Director, co-ordinating the club's GMing. Known by many players and, I think, all GMs through her many projects, it is my distinct and personal pleasure to present to you our GM of the Year 2009!

Deborah Leighton Plom!

Congratulations to you, Deborah!

Ash

Euan Reid becomes LOTW MSD

Resolution #33

In September last year, Topher Miller kindly stepped up as Acting Member Support Director when the then MSD Ed Reeve sadly vacated the position due to RL.

Naturally Topher excelled at the job, and I was loath to acknowledge the temporary basis on which he'd agreed to take the commission! However, the time has now arrived for a permanent Director to assume the MSD duties, and Topher and I readily agreed upon Assistant Member Support Director Euan Reid.

As such, it is my pleasure to announce Euan Reid as our new MSD.

Please join me in welcoming him to this position!

Ashley Leighton Plom, Parliament Leader, 19th January 2010

First Post: Harry Potter (RTE)

Note that there was a Harry Potter anchor club, but it reverted to a single sim due to lack of activity

Message Posted on 2007-03-03 22:43:19
Message Posted by 1st Year Crawford


Crawford thought the Hogwarts Express was amazing, more so than his friend Anna's description, but it was nothing compared to the Great Hall with it's vaulted vanishing ceiling, huge windows overlooking the grounds, and the five enormous dining tables overflowing with the year's inaugural feast.

As instructed by the professor that led the first years into the castle, Crawford, known as 'Lenny' to his friends, got in line in the middle of the Hall with the other first years, surrounded by the rest of the student body arranged in the four Houses of Hogwarts. "My Mum was in Hufflepuff, so I hope I'm there too." said a lithe girl with black hair in front of him. Lenny was the first child in his family for more than three hundred years to display any wizarding talent, and that ancestor didn't go to Hogwarts, so he didn't have any idea which of the four Houses he mind find himself sorted into.

"Slytherin!" called the Sorting Hat from the head of a boy with auburn hair and freckles who stood facing the rest of the assemblage. One of the tables cheered, while another jeered conspicuously.

"Hufflepuff!" called the Hat from the head of the skinny girl who had been in line in front of him. She got her wish. Now it was his turn. Lenny was surprised to hear the hat start to mumble to itself after being placed on his head by the professor, "Hmm, well... Not often do we find an unknown spirit... many qualities... My first thought is Gryffindor, the passion is strong, but the ambition is undeniable, a good match for Slytherin... there, there it is. The thirst for knowledge, the knowledge by which dreams are made real, and great mysteries are brought into the light."

"Ravenclaw!"

Michael Ives becomes new SL of Starship Troopers

Appointment #54

With the SL of the Starship Troopers RPE having gone AWOL and not responding to email the Council of Elders has decided to remove Ryan Briggs as Sim Leader of the RPE.

With a unanimous decision the Council of Elders are pleased to announce that Ryan's replacement is Michael Ives.

Michael is hereby promoted to Sim Leader of Starship Troopers and promoted to the rank of Apprentice.

Congratulations Michael!

Eddie
Head Elder

Tain Bo Cualinge renamed to Shadow

The Leaders of the Wave announce the approval of Topher's request to change the name of the Tain Bo Cuailnge to the Shadow. I have changed the name on the Area Homepage, and Topher has changed it on the sim MOTD page. We have requested Tech Services to change the name elsewhere within LOTW and beyond, as we do not have access to all locations where the name is listed.

This matter was brought to the Leaders' attention due to the potential historical significance of the name of the ship. It was one of the four original ships in LOTW, and one of two ships which have operated continuously since the beginning. I had the privilege of being her XO in early 2007 prior to being given my own command. The other original ship is the Rim Worlds ship, Raug'Moss.

However, in a split decision the Leaders felt that the CO's rights over control and operation of his/her own sim far outweighed the need to preserve the name of a ship which had a long history of poor performance. In the past, I have, on occasion, made requests of COs only to be told in no uncertain terms to "BUZZ OFF", as this was their sim and they'd run it their own way. I bowed to their will and honored the right of an active CO to exercise control over their own sims.

Thus the Leaders have voted to preserve and protect the rights and perogatives of LOTW's COs to have control over their sim environments.


Mike Palmer
Chief Area Leader

Robert Longtin becomes LOTW Election Coordinator.

Resolution #32

I am delighted to promote an exceptional Assistant Election Coordinator to the position of Election Coordinator. Robert Longtin's performance has been exemplary not least in the speed and alacrity with which he grasped how the office of the EC functions, but also with his capacity for improving upon how things have previously been done.

So, please join me in congratulating Robert Longtin upon becoming LOTW's Election Coordinator.

Ashley Leighton Plom, Parliament Leader, 6th January 2010

LOTW requires Parliament Leader to post monthly updates

Resolution #31

LOTW voted on the motion that the Parliament Leader must post monthly updates in Parliament drawn from AJJE figures on the club and site's performance.

The results are 27 in favour, 1 opposed, with 6 abstentions. The motion is therefore passed.

34 voters out of 85 players is a 40% turn-out. This is a bit lower than our last Resolution which saw a record 51 voters (out of 71 players; 65.38%), but the difference can possibly be accounted for by the time year, and possibly by the topic under vote being less directly relevent to many of our players than the issue of character images was. (Few players are as excited about reading the monthly reports in Parliament as they are about uploading a new image for a character!)

Voting opened on the 12th December and closed on the 2nd January.

Ashley Leighton Plom, Parliament Leader, January 4th 2010

Gundam Seed shuts down

Appointment #53

 

Due to zero posts being made in the last month as well as a constant showing in the unhealthy status of the monthly SSR's the Gundam Seed RPE is being shut down. 

 

Eddie Cramer

Head Elder of the Council of Elders

 

Jessica McClary leaves AJJE Games

Appointment #61

I believe that this is officially the hardest appointment that I have ever written. Just to give you all an idea of how difficult it’s been, I’ve been working on it for two weeks. I just can’t seem to get the words out right, which is why I did the long introduction to this one. In all honesty, my time here at SGU has been some of the greatest moments on the internet I’ve ever had. I’ve made so many friends and I’ve shared more laughter than aggravation. That’s something very special and I want you all to realize, to appreciate what a great thing you all have here.

As you all know I came from a club that was filled with bitter politics where you didn’t trust your friends to do more than stab you in the back. That isn’t the case here, in SGU we are all friends and we find ourselves laughing more than screaming. That is truly precious as I have seen the other clubs have their bickering and their fighting, lines drawn in the sand. Something that we have all been spared which is something I give thanks for.

So why this appointment? Well, that’s difficult to explain, but I will try. In the last several months, in fact since last April, I have been going through an awakening of sorts. I don’t want to sound all mystical or anything, but this awakening has been in relations to my faith. In light of this awakening I have rededicated myself to my studies, something I should have done a long time ago. The problem is this: I only have a finite amount of time unfortunately and because most of it is being used, the ability to find time to dedicate myself to actual study was severely compromised so I have to make the time.

Unfortunately I have only one place of flexibility and that means I have to say goodbye, that I am leaving the whole of AJJE Games.

Believe me, that’s harder to write than I thought it would be.

I know many of you will have a mixture of emotions and all I can say is that sometimes we all have to do the hard things to follow the right path for ourselves. I have been role-playing for 22 years and the idea that I might not be doing that any more scares me a little bit because it is such a huge part of my past and present, but when you are looking to the future you have to realize that sometimes the projects that mean the most are also the ones that you have to say goodbye to. The simple fact is that within the last year I have been in and out of active participation and this has affected all of you. I have tried to find a myriad of solutions, but I’m at the last.

While some of you may not agree with me, this choice is for the best of all of us.

With that said, please remember that I am only an e-mail away and I’m always happy to answer questions, give advice and just in general a laugh or hug. My shoulder is always available and despite a lack of presence I’ll still be looking in on you all and always remember, I do have my spies who are more than happy to leak to me little bits of information.

So with all that said, I suppose I better to get to the appointment itself.

Knowing of my plans I began to make the arrangements and in talking with the President and Vice President….my bosses… I was able to nail down the progression of authority for Military Command. I essentially took the fate of SGU in my own hands and got what I wanted…which isn’t all that surprising because I often get what I want (except a cure for the common cold, still waiting for that one folks).

Just recently, in August, this person was not only promoted to Brigadier General but I also named her my successor. I am very happy to make that happen so without further ado I hereby pass the reigns of Operational Leader of SGU to Anna-Lyn Signey who has been involved since the near beginning as Fox MacGyver.

As of the final toll of midnight US Central Time, Anna will be the official leader. Please show her the same love, devotion and dedication to the club that you have all shown me. I know without a doubt that in leaving SGU, I’m leaving my baby in the arms of those who adore it as much as I do.

Be well and know that you are always with me, forever….

Jess McClary
31 Dec 09

Richard Thompson becomes System Lord of Goa'uld Empire

Appointment #60

It's unfortunate really that the newly added Goa'uld Empire already needs a new RPEL (Role-Playing Environment Leader), but sometimes real life just gets in the way. Which is sadly what happened with Matt Brown, but hope is not lost! We know that the Goa'uld will continue to enslave the Universe until 2008... wait...I'll get back to you on that.

Anyway, in light of this, we had to find a new man for the job and after shifting through thousands of suitable overlords we finally settled on the only man for the job, Richard Thompson. We knew he could terrorize all the little Goa'uld's appropriately.

So it is with distinct honor, pleasure and with a smidgen of good humor, that we place Richard Thompson as the new System Lord of the Goa'uld Empire.

Congratulations Richard, Well Deserved!

Jess McClary
14 Dec 09

Symon Sylvester becomes Team Leader of SGU-1

Appointment #59

You know, there is a handful of people that I marvel at their fantastic role playing ability. I enjoy working with these individuals for the sheer fun of it, because not only are they able to weave together their character with the story line but they are able to almost magically transform text into something wonderful and life like.

In an even more select group are individuals who are just born leaders in my opinion. They have the gift to encourage, support and push a person just as they need to be pushed. They are the ones that lead from behind someone, the invisible person.

Then there is a third group of people that I consider to be a very close personal friend, the ones that I take into my heart and my soul, that stick with me no matter where I go. This next individual is one of them: Sy Silvester.

Many of you don't know him or at least you don't know him well, but if I was to ever suggest that you become a friend with one particular person, I would name Sy. So when I finally managed to convince him to rejoin SGU and join my team, I knew that I would want him as my 2IC. I quickly got my wish though I'm sorry that the person he replaced had been forced to leave, I was thrilled to have Sy as my right hand man again.

Well, inevitably it seems, I disappeared and Sy did what he does best, role-play with his heart, entertain the team and keep things going. He's the best there is in my opinion so when I realized the next sequence of events in my life I knew the most logical person to take my place as TL of SGU-1, that's right you guess it, Sy.

Fortunately for me, the rest of the Operations Team agreed and while I know that he'll give me grief for singing his praise like a canary I feel that it's important to show how much I consider him to be one of the best of the best in this world.

So it is my complete honor, pleasure and delight that I place Symon Silvester as the Team Leader of SGU-1 effective immediately.

Even more so I get the pleasure of promoting Symon to Major, putting him closer to his original rank when he was first in SGU as Brigadier General.

Well deserved Sy!

Jess McClary
14 Dec 09

Jessica McClary steps down from the Board of Founders

Jessica McClary has stepped down from the Board of Founders. The Board is starting a search for her replacement, something that they have three months to under AJJE’s Guiding Principles.

Server Management announcement

Effective immediately Deborah Leighton Plom will be taking a webmaster position with Server Managment. Deborah has served as a local webmaster on the club level for both SFHQ and LOTW for periods of time. Deborah will replace outgoing webmasters Alexius Pendragon and Jessica McClary.

 

Alex Verdusco

Senior Webmaster

AJJE Librarian announced

AJJE Librarian Announced

I am pleased to announce the appointment of Nick Palmer as the AJJE
Librarian. Over the next year, Nick will be compiling and writing the
history of AJJE Games, from its beginnings as a single Star Trek club
to its current status as a multi-genre hub of literary improv,
communal storytelling and some of the richest RPing environments on
the internet.

This is a massive undertaking, and I applaud Nick for taking it on. I
would encourage all AJJE members, especially the veterans, to share
with him their stories and recollections, and to provide him with
whatever assistance he needs. After all, AJJE is the culmination of a
lot of hard work by its members, which deserves to be acknowledged and
preserved.

Please join me in congratulating Nick on his new position.

Jeannette Giesbrecht
President
AJJE Games

Slew of Promotions in RTE

We the Council of Elders have been in discussion of the Ranking system which Euan pulled out of the dark dusty corner it had been tossed into and have decided that as there was never any official proclamation made that the ranking system would no longer be used that the system is still in place and as it states at the bottom of the General Ranks in Ride the Edge page”These ranks may be revised at anytime, but will be with a notification to those affected.” As stated the current rank structure is currently being discussed by the Council of Elders and if a decision is made to change the rankings from what is currently listed an announcement will be made here.



We also want to extend our thanks to Euan for finding the original ranking system.



Therefore the following appointments are being made to bring every member who has attained a command level (RPEL) position or higher to their appropriate rank.



Appointment #38



Alexius Pendragon is hereby promoted to the rank of Apprentice



Appointment #39



Edgar Cramer is hereby promoted to the rank of Grandmaster



Appointment #40



Jamie Chamberlain is hereby promoted to the rank of Grandmaster



Appointment #41



Haru Haseo is hereby promoted to the rank of Grandmaster



Appointment #42



Kaarin Aalborg is hereby promoted to the rank of Apprentice



Appointment #43



Paul Pautler is hereby promoted to the rank of Apprentice



Appointment #44



Amy Griffin is hereby promoted to the rank of Apprentice



Appointment #45



Deborah Crawford Leighton is hereby promoted to the rank of Apprentice



Appointment #46



Matt Bernardin is hereby promoted to the rank of Apprentice



Appointment #47



Silent Hunter is hereby promoted to the rank of Apprentice



Appointment #48



Ryan Hemm is hereby promoted to the rank of Apprentice



Appointment #49



Euan Reid is hereby promoted to the rank of Apprentice



Appointment #50



Adrian Aakre is hereby promoted to the rank of Apprentice



Appointment #51



Bernard McJeebus is hereby promoted to the rank of Apprentice



Appointment #52



Nicholas Palmer is hereby promoted to the rank of Apprentice



Appointment #53



Ryan Briggs is hereby promoted to the rank of Apprentice


Eddie Cramer
Head Elder of the Council of Elders

Lex Pendragon becomes new VP Anchor Clubs

Alexius Pendragon named new VP of Anchor Clubs

 

AJJE Games President Jeannette Giesbrecht is pleased to announce the appointment of Alexius Pendragon to the position of Vice-President of Anchor Clubs. 

 

Alexius is a veteran of AJJE Games, having been a member since 2007. He was part of the Operations team of the Harry Potter club and was involved with Ride the Edge at its inception.

 

As VP of Anchor Clubs, Alexius will oversee SFHQ, LOTW and SGU. His job is to ensure smooth operations of the clubs by making sure that AJJE guidelines are followed, AJJE policies are enforced, and AJJE standards are met. He will also make sure that smooth transitions are made from one elected Administration team to the next and one Operation team to the next. He is the first point of contact for the admin and ops teams of AJJE's three anchor clubs.

Please help me in welcoming Alexius to his new role.

Congratulations, Lex!

Jeannette Giesbrecht

President

AJJE Games

 

IKV Vindicator looking for crew

The CO of the Imperial Klingon Vessel(IKV) Vindicator is currently seeking to expand his crew.

Please contact Silent Hunter if you are interested.

Jud Bennett
Expansion Fleet Flag Officer

Richard Thompson becomes VP Support

New VP Support Announced

 

AJJE Games President Jeannette Giesbrecht is pleased to announce the appointment of Richard Thompson to the position of VP Support for AJJE Games. Richard is a veteran of AJJE Games, having been a member since 2005, and currently plays in SFHQ and SGU.

 

As VP of Support he will be responsible for overseeing the Public Relations Director and Support Service Director, and for helping develop the community side of AJJE Games.

Please join me in welcoming Richard to the position. Congratulations, Richard!

Jeannette Giesbrecht

President

AJJE Games

 

RTE Election Time

It's Election Time!

 

There are three positions up for election:

 

1) Administrator

2) Technical Support Director

3) Member Support Director

 

Job descriptions for each can be found on the RTE GP (accessible 

through the Council of Elders' page).

 

These people will help guide RTE in its growth over the next 8 months.

 

Don't be shy! Nominate yourself! Nominate your friends!

 

Come to the Election Ship to make your nominations and question any of 

the candidates. The election schedule is posted on the Election Ship 

MOTD.

 

Jeannette Giesbrecht

Election Coordinator

 

James McGuire receives Lion's Pride Award

Ladies and Gentlemen of the Prinz Eugen:

In its ongoing effort to recognize both superior play and meaningful contributions to LOTW sims, each Captain has been authorized to award between 5-10 sim-level recognitions to their players throughout the year. For the Prinz Eugen, the award will be called the Lion's Pride award, and I am requesting that the ribbon for this award be simply a Chinese red bar.

I am going to make our first award now, for the month of October 2009, and designate James McGuire as the recipient of the first Lion's Pride award. For his exemplary service to the ship as player and GM over a period of almost three years, I thank him and congratulate him. Well done James, and thanks!

I will now advise the VP for AJJE of the award so that we can get the award recognized and the ribbon posted.

Mike Palmer
tpo Captain Gunther Lindemann

Kevin Diamond replaces Chris Wilkinson as CO of USS Resolution.

Appointment 88:

As announced previously, this council voted not to extend Chris Wilkinson's leave of absence longer than the 30 days. As such we need a new CO for the Resolution.

On the recommendation of the second fleet flag officer and by vote of the council, I hereby promote Kevin Diamond to the rank of Commander and give him command of the USS Resolution!

Congrats Kevin!

Kat
C in C

First Post: Elemental

Message Posted on 2007-04-30 08:05:20
Message Posted by Crew Hiram Voorhees PhD (Academic)

 

Hiram stopped digging for a moment in order to wipe the sweat from his face. He thought he should have been spending more time with the Athabasca, but now that his theory had been proven true, the excitement of the find was waning. It was now a job for cataloguers and restoration experts. And worst of all, he couldn't tell anyone of this discovery! But he had given his word to the residents of New Canaan, and he intended to keep it.

The professor's digging followed the precise lines of his training, as though it was an official archaeological project. "Anything worth doing, is worth doing well", he said to himself as he dug. At last the job was done, and he pulled himself up out of the excavation area and sat down to rest and drink some water from his canteen. "Let's see", he thought to himself outloud, "what might I have missed that could be of immediate use?" He ran through a list of things in his mind while he waited for Flash and company.

Hiram Voorhees, Ph.D.

Nick Palmer becomes SL of new Star Wars RPE Obsidian

Appointment #37

Nicholas (Nick) Palmer is hereby appointed to the position of SL of the Obsidian.

 

LOTW Player of the Month Awards for September and October

AWARDS

I've added a new 'topic' to Parliament's posting options, that being Awards. As many of you will no doubt recall, AJJE's founding President Alex Verdusco rolled out an award system to go live on the first October this year, and we in LOTW discussed over the summer how we would handle the thing.

After the discussion (concluding in post 2009-08-07 09:18:26), we had decided on a monthly award, to be called Player of the Month (PotM), determined by an Awards Committee consisting of the Chief Area Leader or her or his designated proxy, and the elected administration department heads or their designated proxies (the elected heads are the Parliament Leader, the Technical Support Director, the Member Support Director, and the Cortex Lounge Moderator), following nominations by the membership. Each month's award will be posted in Parliament by about the 10th of the following month.

Criterior for the PotM nominations and awards are entirely flexible - characterisation, commitment, furtherance of the storyline, considerate playing, etc.; all these factors and more can feature in our decision making process.

As the award system went live on October 1st, the LOTW Awards Committee petitioned AJJE President Jeannette Giesbrecht to be allowed to award a PotM for September, effectively to be decided by the 10th of October. She granted our request, and as such we are today in the unique position of being able to give out two awards - PotM for September, and PotM for October.

Each Player of the Month award will be worth 500 points on the AJJE Points scheme (http://www.ajjegames.com/userpoints.php). I.e., it will be possible for a single LOTW player to earn up to 6,000 points over the year on PotM awards alone (500 x 12 = 6,000).

The nominations for September are *drum roll*:

Grant Hall and Mischa Brendel.

And the nominations for October are *drum roll*:

David Un and Kevin Diamond.

All four players are assets to our club, and the Committee felt that they deserved special recognition. It would also be fair to say there were many other players in our club who are consistently above the AJJE average, but we wanted to especially recognise some outstanding folk for certain criteria through these awards.

So, without further ado... the winner for September is...

A man who stepped up to the plate when the Claudia needed him, gave up his command of the Whisper to Angus, even though he had already begun to reorganize and strengthen that sim... he took over the ailing Claudia and brought it back up into the Healthy range before month's end...

It's Mischa Brendel!

Congratulations, Mischa. *hands Mischa the first ever LOTW PotM award ribbon*

And now... the winner for October is...

A man who has played a major part in bringing the Bo to the head of the SSRs. He's a fairly new player, but has already made such an impact in sims and OOC arenae not just in LOTW but already across the network. His great play on Akers alone might well be considered worthy of a PotM award...

It's David Un!

Congratulations, David. *hands David the PotM award ribbon for October*

*Applauds*

The Awards Committee will also be looking into adding a facility to the Parliament MOTD whereby players can nominate anonymously, and we will also be considering a monthly awards ceremony hosted on the IM. This might additionally provide us with a forum for a monthly club meeting, the transcript of which would be made available here in Parliament. We welcome your thoughts and comments.

Finally, we are also considering the possibility of handing out an additional three awards at the end of each year as special recognitions for various things. These awards would also be worth 500 points each, but would not be Player of the Month awards specifically. Perhaps they could be given to the most exceptional CO, GM, and new player, or something similar?

On behalf of the LOTW Awards Committee

Ashley Leighton Plom,
Parliament Leader

Chris Wilkinson removed as CO of USS Resolution

Just making a general announcement here in regards to the Resolution.

Due to an extended absence, the council has voted to remove Chris Wilkinson from command of the Resolution in hopes of saving the ship. Chris Backman will be responsible for searching for a candidate that we as a council can vote upon to take the vacant post of the Resolution, so if you think you have what it takes, you need to get in touch with Chris.

Kat

Roger Babin becomes CO of USS Churchill

Appointment 87:

On the recommendation of the first fleet flag officer and the subsequent vote of the Ops Council, I hereby promote Roger Babin to the rank of Commander and assign him as CO to the USS Churchill in the first fleet.

Good luck Roger!

Kat
C in C

Starship Troopers Sim Created

Appointment #36

 

It is with great pride that the Council of Elders announces the creation of a Starship Troopers RPE in RTE. We hereby appoint Ryan Briggs SL of the Starship Troopers RPE.

 

Eddie

Silent Hunter replaces Henry Cooke as CO of IKV Vindicator

Appointment 86:

As anyone familiar with the Vindicator is aware, the SSR numbers for that ship have been in terrible shape for the last few months, if not more. So it has become apparently obvious that a change in command is needed in order for the ship to succeed.

On the recommendation of the fourth fleet flag officer, and a vote by this council, I hereby appoint Silent Hunter CO of the Vindicator with the rank equivilent of Commander(I'm not quite sure how that rank will play out in the Klingon rank systems, Lt. Colonel or Major I would wager).

Congrats and good luck Silent!

Kat
C in C

Teddie Dollins rejoins RTE Council of Elders

Appointment #35

With the vacancy caused by the removal of Haru Haseo from the Council of Elders it is my pleasure to welcome Teddie Dollins back to the Council of Elders.

Eddie

Haru Haseo removed from Council of Elders

Appointment #34

While Haru Haseo has been a valuable member of the Council of Elders he has failed to respond to multiple emails regarding Council business which according to the AJJE Games GP makes him AWOL in his position as a member of the Council. Therefore effective immediately Haru Haseo is being removed as a member of the Council of Elders.

Eddie

Chris Backman becomes Second Fleet Flag Officer in SFHQ

Appointment #85:

Due to the absence and removal of Brad Adam from Starfleet Command and flag officer of fleet two, we are in need of a fourth member of our council and a flag officer for fleet two.

By vote of this council, I hereby assign Chris Backman the position of flag officer for fleet two and therefore a sitting member of Starfleet Command.

Congrats Chris!

Kat
C in C

LOTW Resolution #29

Resolution #29

LOTW voted on whether the Election Coordinator must appoint an Assistant Election Coordinator within 30 days of assuming office, so as to keep the Election Ship department in line with all other administrative departments.

The results are 35 in favour, 1 opposed, and 8 abstained. The motion is therefore passed.

This successful resolution vote secures a failsafe to ensure the smooth running of elections and resolutions.

Out of our current 85 members, 44 voters is a 51.76% turnout - not too shabby at all!

Our last voted Resolution was actually in May (Resolution 20, Plom 2 administration), and back then we had 25 votes out of 99 registered members; 25.25%. We may be seeing a trend, too - there were some 33 voters in the elections in July.

This is great news for the club, a good sign of our ongoing commitment to democracy. The Administration will be analysing turn-out from the club's RPEs so we can congratulate those COs who have achieved high turn-outs and encourage those COs who might need some pointers on how to make sure their players know about their right to vote.

Ashley Leighton Plom
Parliament Leader
October 15th, 2009

Server Management Position Open

Server Management has an opening for someone interested in working on 

the technical side of AJJE Games. Candidates should be fluent in HTML, 

with PHP experience a definite asset. Please e-mail Alex Verdusco at averdusco@aol.com.

Thanks,

Jeannette

The Triple Zero To Close Without Opening

Appointment #33

Due to the fact that The Triple Zero has not progressed as an RPE since its
inception, having only had one post since Appointment #29 which named its SL
we the Council of Elders have decided to have this RPE removed from RTE.

Eddie

Alex Verdusco steps down as AJJE Games President

Today, Alex Verdusco formally ended his term as AJJE Games President after four years, passing the torch to Jeannette Giesbrecht.

 

His final act as our leader was to award the first AJJE Presidential Award to long-term player Jessica McClary. He then made the following farewell address

Ladies, Gentlemen, and Tribbles...

 

The time has come, and boy was it a long ride. When I started down the road less traveled many years ago, there were many times during my term that I questioned that decision. I could have taken the easier road, the less stressful and time consuming one... but in the end, that isnt my nature.

 

I am going to speak in metaphor now... as we are all creative writers are we not? As I pack up my desk on the 20th floor of AJJE Games, I look around. The desk itself is massive and costly, made of solid oak. A large set of reference books are lined up against the southern wall, along the northern wall is a sitting area, complete with couches and a fancy globe of the world. The globe slowly rotates, seated gently on the plush carpet. I take a moment to look out the windows onto the downtown area, the sun setting in the distance. I take a deep breath, and lift up the small card board box with the last of my personal items...

 

Four years ago...

 

I sit at a card table in an old stuffy basement... its legs are wobbly and there are chips on the surface from one of the last three parties it was used for. Across from me I see Jess sitting on a lumpy old sofa, with her lap top, doing her best to stimulate RPing. Eddie sits on an old milk crate trying his best to manually process the days applications. The floor is pure cement, unpolished at that. There are no windows, no views, no sign that what we are working on will result in anything. I take a deep breath, and plow ahead to the future...

 

This best says where we were then, and where we are today. Its been a long journey for AJJE Games, but a successful one. We had some smashing successes, and some devastating defeats. We had some great conversations, and some bitter arguements. But overall, I believe the good outweighed the bad.

 

As I leave office I have no regrets on the path taken. I wish the new Administration the best of luck. I ask that they carry out the history project, as I believe that there are a lot of people and events that should be remembered. I did my best in the last email to name some of them, but there are many more. I also believe that when people know where we have been and how far we have traveled, its not so hard to dream how far we can go. I ask that the next administration continue to stay true to the principles of the founders. With all that said, I am excited on what the future holds.

 

As of 11:10 am PST on September 30th 2009, I hereby relieve myself as President of AJJE Games. I assign Bert the Tribble as acting President from 11:11am PST to 11:59pm PST. At 12:00am PST, in concert with previous Presidential Orders, I hereby order Jeannette Giesbrect be elevated to the position of President of AJJE Games.

 

It was fun... I was honored to do what I did... I wish you all luck... and as always... have fun... be creative... and always take the road less traveled.

 

Alex Verdusco

Former President, AJJE Games

 

Alex will continue to be involved in AJJE, not only in Server Management, but as CO of USS Independence  on SFHQ.

Haru Haseo replaces Ryan Hemm as CO of Gundam Seed

Appointment #32

Due to Ryan Hemm being AWOL from the Gundam Seed RPE for more than 30 days the Council of Elders after a lengthy discussion have decided to promote Haru Haseo to the position of SL for the Gundam Seed RPE.

Eddie

David Un becomes LOTW Election Coordinator

Resolution 28

I'm really happy to appoint one of LOTW's most exceptional very new members to the position of Election Coordinator, and am excited at what he is bringing to the admin team...

Please welcome David Un with hearty congratulations and applause!

Ashley Leighton Plom
Parliament Leader
September 28th, 2009

Changing of COs at LOTW

In order to rectify a problem situation in command structure and give the LOTW Club more stability, we are making some changes to CO assignments. We are pleased to announce the appointment of Angus Ross as CO of the Whisper, and the transfer of Mischa Brendel from the Whisper to command the Claudia. Mischa will replace outgoing CO Tish Boom, who is stepping down die to personal reasons. We congratulate both COs and wish them well. Let me personally thank all parties involved with making this change in command.

Mike Palmer
Chief Area Leader

Krystal Blaum becomes LOTW Advertising Coordinator

I'm delighted to announce Krystal Blaum as our new Advertising Coordinator. Krystal will be working directly with AJJE Public Relations Director Deborah Leighton Plom to ensure LOTW is publicised effectively, targeting such websites as Whedon fan forums and RPG communities.

Please welcome Krystal to the administration team with congratulations!

Ash

RTE General Meeting

The next RTE General Meeting is scheduled for Saturday 26 September at 12pm West Coast Time (3pm East Coast, 8pm UK) on our Messenger service.

This meeting will not only discuss the new awards system and plans for future RPEs for the club, it will allow you to express your views on any issue to do with Ride The Edge!

Make sure you come and have your say!

Silent Hunter
RTE Administrator

Explosion on Akers Bluff

(see 2009-09-22 15:39:46)

After a fire broke out at Harkin's Gun Store, someone decided to put out the fire by putting a gas cylinder in.

This has caused a massive explosion and levelled the store, but at least it's put the fire out.

Bruce Blunt becomes CO of Alliance Camp

I am pleased to announce that Bruce Blunt has accepted the offer from the Leaders of the Wave to command the Alliance Camp in OTOP. We wish him all the best and look forward to good things on his watch.

Congratulations Bruce!

Mike Palmer
Chief Area Leader

Mutiny on Raug'Moss!

In a thrilling twist, a mutiny has been attempted on Raug'Moss!

After seeing Captain Adman murder the Athens dockmaster (who was annoyed after the ship's weapon systems went wrong and shot up a derelict, Samuel Arkwright and Otto Schenke tried to relieve him of command.

Otto shot some people he didn't intend to shoot and now the two have fled, planning to get law enforcement to stop Adman, who is intent on fleeing the planet in a damaged ship.

Who will prevail in this struggle? Stay tuned!

First Post:: USS Resolution

Message Posted on 2005-06-05
Message Posted by Captain Cheeor-Captain (CO)

Cheeor-Captain toured the lower deck where was still on going. His tail twitched as he strode by engineers connecting cables, placing wall sections in place, or running diagnostics on systems already placed.

He felt a great amount of pleasure at finally having finally gained his richly deserved command. His liver practically ached with his desire to get the menial labors done and finally get under way.

...Eventually he departed the lower decks to once again check that his special fitted chair was being installed properly on the bridge, and to view the especially ordered trophy cases placed in his ready room. He wanted to once again look upon his great-grandsires battle armor, knowing he had finally earned his own.

Everett Lee- Wuollet becomes LOTW Cortex Lounge Moderator

Big welcome and big thanks to Everett Lee-Wuollet who's joined the moderator team in the Cortex Lounge - welcome on board, Everett; great to have you as part of the posse.

Nick

Mischa Brendel becomes CO of Whisper

I am pleased to announce that the Leaders of the Wave have offered command of the Whisper to Mischa Brendel, and he has accepted! Mischa has been a reliable, long-time player and we wish him well as he embarks on this next challenge in LOTW.

Congratulations Mischa!

Mike Palmer
Chief Area Leader

Topher Miller replaces Ed Reeve as LOTW Member Support Director

Resolution 27

With another senior member of the administration team stepping down due to RL constraints, I have the opportunity to promote a truly outstanding Assistant to Department Director.

Ed Reeve will be missed as MSD, but it is my delight to announce Topher Miller as Member Support Director for the remainder of this administration's term in office.

Many congratulations, Topher!

Ash
etc
September 13th, 2009

New VPs announced

Jeannette Giesbrecht, President Designate for AJJE Games, is pleased to announce the following appointments:

Ash Leighton Plom has been appointed VP Anchor Clubs, replacing Lyndsay Jarvis, who left due to RL pressures. Ash has been with AJJE Games since 2006, and has served in the administrations of LOTW and SGU in a variety of capacities, including Parliament Leader of LOTW and Senate Leader of SGU. He has also been an active role-player in RTE and SFHQ. He has been in the senior government of AJJE for awhile, most recently serving as VP Support, and was instrumental in helping bring social media such as Facebook, MySpace and Twitter into the AJJE Community. As VP Anchor Clubs, it will be his responsibility to oversee AJJE's three anchor clubs: LOTW, SFHQ and SGU. He will ensure that AJJE guidelines are followed, AJJE policies are enforced, and AJJE standards are met. As well, he'll serve as the first point of contact between other divisions and the Anchor Clubs, and for the Ops and Admin teams of AJJE's anchor clubs. In addition, he will serve as a resource to ensure that smooth transitions are made from one elected administration team to the next and one operation team to the next.

Chris Wilkinson has been appointed as VP Support, replacing Ash Leighton Plom. Chris is another veteran player, who's been with AJJE Games since 2007, and has served as Election Coordinator and Assistant Member Support Director for SGU and as the Council Chair in SFHQ. As VP Support, it will be Chris's job to oversee the departments of Support Services and Public Relations, and to appoint people in those positions. Chris will also be the first point of contact between other divisions and the support-focused departments. In addition, he will create and carry out a general direction for overall support functions of AJJE Games and shall use the departments under his jurisdiction to drive AJJE in that general direction.


Both of these members have shown themselves to be capable administrators, dedicated players and well-deserving of the opportunity to serve in senior government. Please join me in congratulating Ash and Chris in their new positions.


Jeannette Giesbrecht
President Designate
AJJE Games