Fleet Command Report #82

August 14, 2022

Yes, this is my 82nd Fleet Command Report (well, announcement!) since taking the reigns of BFCO. Time flies! Onto the news:

Magistrate Term Renewal

One of the few routine, procedural votes that Bravo Fleet Command undertakes once a year is the renewal of the Bravo Fleet Magistrate‘s term. These are one-year terms that are really just a built-in benchmark for the sitting Magistrate and, in many ways, a performance review. Much has been quiet in the land of the Magistrate in the past year. This can be deceptively misleading because that is the entire point of the Magistrate’s Office. The Magistrate is a “weapon of last resort” when all other forms of mediation and discussion have failed, and luckily for us things have been relatively quiet which means mediation is working! I’m happy to say that the Electorate of Bravo Fleet Command has voted unanimously to extend Rear Admiral T’Vrell‘s term as Magistrate for another year! Congratulations on another year!

Survey Results

A few weeks ago, the Comms Office released the Summer 2022 BF Survey! We’ve done this anonymous bulk survey style several times before, and there we a bunch of questions that we wanted to use to benchmark how we’re doing. What’s working, what isn’t, where we need to improve, and what people want to see more of. Bravo Fleet Command has already been versed on the results, and are working diligently towards workshopping it. But I wanted to give some very (very!) brief Cliff Notes on the responses:

  • Task Force staff are doing great at engagement with their members.
  • More gaming nights from the Gaming Office. Try and vary the days and times.
  • “Certain staff members” of “upper command” who “like public shaming on the Discord and don’t try to explain why a member violated a rule first” and are “seen as rude, off putting, and borderline disrespectful”. I could be way off base on this one, but I suspect this is from people seeing staff explain the same thing to the same people, quite literally, a dozen times and the frustration showing.
  • Fiction writing and the current fully integrating writing panel in BFMS are a huge hit.
  • Competitions, and especially Sundered Wings, was a huge hit.
  • There is a strong desire for more collaborative writing formats or styles; and while none of those respondents seemed aware that the Fiction writing we do can absolutely be done with others, there is a strong indication that is the case. There will be a major announcement and update to BFMS sometime in the near future regarding this.
  • More RPGs. Which, as I’ve said before and elsewhere, our RPG problem isn’t one of desire, it has been one of having GMs who actually want to run one. This has been our issue since Bravo Fleet was revamped. Once people saw what else they could do, writing wise, and there was no pressure by others to perform and it was on their schedule, almost all of the GMs we had were like “Yeah, screw this GM stuff!” We’re working on it! We want more RPGs, but we can’t force people to be GMs. Maybe all of this is fueled by nostalgia and not actual desire? Unsure. Its been proposed that we launch a channel on Discord where we workshop this with the people asking for it: “Ok, you want us to have more RPGs. We hear you. What do you want, though? Why do you want it? What type of scenarios/settings do you want to see?” so that may be coming soon!

Discord Changes

A while back, we instituted a Discord policy that was aimed at limiting spam that we seemed to be getting. We walled off the server between members and nonmembers, which essentially had the effect of limiting the spam bots we got into 3 channels; or, in many cases, butthurt sock puppet accounts of former members of Bravo Fleet. This would make it easier to clean up when they got in. Since then, Discord has implemented new features which make this just as easy and the spam bots joining have decreased. We do still strongly believe that interaction in a majority of Bravo Fleet’s Discord is a right of the membership, not the general public. However, we’ve decided to peel back the curtain a bit for the general public when they join our server. Look for updates that will allow anyone on the server to see several new channels including #bravofleet.

New RPGs

Whether a coincidence off the heels of the survey results or just divine intervention… we’ve also added two new, unique RPGs to the roster!

Commissioned in the year 2293, shortly before the signing of the Khitomer Accords, the Watchtower-class Eos Station (Deep Space 108) was a military outpost along the Romulan Neutral Zone. Charged with gathering intel on the Romulans, defense of the Federation borders, and keeping tabs on our Romulan neighbors, Eos Station was the best of the best. Equipped with all the latest technology of the day, Eos Station was a shining beacon for the Federation.

Following the Tomed Incident in 2311, the Romulan Star Empire entered a prolonged period of total isolation. In that time, politics changed, people changed, and the Federation’s needs changed. Once a part of the old guard, Eos was relegated to an overequipped, unimportant outpost along a border of the Federation that seemingly no longer mattered. Over the following decades, Eos fell into disrepair due to her low priority status. 2400 was the year that changed everything for Eos Station as the collapse of the Romulan Star Empire of Rator and de facto Romulan civil war changed the landscape once again. Revived and brought back to life, Eos Station is called upon again to serve the borders of the Federation, this time opposite Romulan space from the Romulan Free State homeworld of T’Met as well as many other unknown independent Romulan factions all vying for control.

The USS Mercy comes from a long line of hospital ships. The first ship was the United States Navy Ship Mercy which served faithfully. The USS Mercy is named after the Old Earth ship and has adapted her motto, “Steaming to Assist,” as a way to honor the original ship and her crew that sought to help and heal those across the globe.

The USS Mercy is an Olympic-class starship primarily set up for a medical and science diplomatic operation. The ship is deployed in situations ranging from search and rescue, medical emergencies, and scientific missions and rarely acts as a diplomatic envoy to colonies, ships, and stations and only when other ships cannot assist. Onboard the command team doubles as the diplomatic team when the need arises. There is a dedicated medical team and science team onboard. All officers and crew are trained and endorsed in combat operations if a situation devolves or requires additional support.

Activity Tracker Updates

Emily has recently updated the activity tracker, which now tracks almost anything you can and will do within Bravo Fleet. So there is no longer any need to report these things! Task Force staff will be able to see what’s going on already. The tracker now displays any competitions you’ve entered or organized, all activity and merit awards, your anniversary date, your Discord level, promotions, etc. Essentially the few things you’ll have to report are if you follow Bravo Fleet on social media, anyone you’ve recruited to BF, and when you’ve joined a gaming fleet. There may be others I’m forgetting, but you get the idea. Anything insular to BFMS, the activity tracker now picks up! Huge thank you to Emily for really building up this feature to make life easier for everyone! May this bring many blessings (promotions) upon Bravo Fleet!

Current Competitions

Other Ongoing Projects

  • A small team is currently reviewing the Bravo Fleet Charter and Bravo Fleet Magistrate Code to see if there are any improvements we can make, shoring up some language, making it more concise, and in the spirit of what we want these documents to reflect about Bravo Fleet and our values.
  • The Tech Team continues its pursuit of all things ship specs in Bravo Fleet. As a member of that team, since we’ve completed all (or almost all?) of the 2400 Starfleet ships, we are currently on hiatus working on other projects. But I suspect in a few months you’ll see new releases!
  • The Bravo Fleet Map is now an ongoing project. Task Force staff have been given instructions on how to request things get added to the map!
  • Emily is always busy diligently plugging away at several BFMS features. No news there until there is news. 😉

Other Worthy News

Teylas Ramar Bravo Fleet Commanding Officer
Fleet Command