Greetings and happy holidays, Bravo Fleet! This is normally probably the most hectic time of the year for most people. This year, as with most things in 2020, is much different. People aren’t traveling, holiday plans are totally different. It has been a transformative year for many of us and for society in general.

2020 has also been a transformative year for Bravo Fleet. From rolling out the “new model” (but not so new anymore!) in April to many other structural changes, this has also been one of the most active times Bravo Fleet has had in many, many years. People are engaging with one another and the organization as a whole more than I have seen since the early days. There were, of course, losses as well. After the roll out, some people decided this wasn’t for them. It was understandable and fully expected when the BFA decided to roll out these changes. But we’ve also pulled in a lot of new faces. From October to December alone, we’ve gained 60 new members to Bravo Fleet. Overall the BFA is extremely happy with the changes and direction the fleet is headed, so let’s make 2021 an even better year for Bravo Fleet!

Downtime

The first thing I want to address is the recent downtime we had on bravofleet.com. I won’t bore people with the specifics too much, but the tl;dr is that we were attempting to do too much with the domains at once (renew, new registrar, some server stuff, etc.) and it turned into a bit of an order of operations mess. A quick fix was deployed by Emily, and the problem is now fixed and we’re back up on bravofleet.com! We thank our members for being patient, and that should be the last domain-related downtime we have for a while… or at least until BFMS2 launches right around the corner (more on that very Soon™)!

TF17 Task Force Commanding Officer Applications

Because of the downtime we had, coupled with all the holidays this month, I’ve decided to extend applications for TF17CO until January 15, 2020 at midnight EST.

In the past, the TFCO role was primarily concerned with managing the fleet’s games (“sims”), but now the role is entirely focused on enhancing the member experience by developing competitions, encouraging activity, and helping folks find the activities they enjoy doing the most. Generally, it’s always been given to folks who were themselves game managers, but since games are now their own separate activity entirely, it’s not necessary for TFCOs to have experience running their own games. It’s a role well-suited to people who enjoy interacting with others and have strong knowledge about our awards and ranking system, but prior staff experience at this level isn’t necessarily required.

If you are interested, you can apply here! If you have any questions regarding TF17, the TFCO duties, or applying, feel free to pop on Discord and ask!

BFA Holiday Break

For those of you that weren’t around for my previous ~~reign of infallible tyranny~~ terms as BFCO, it has always been my tradition to temporarily suspend BFA operations over the week between Christmas and New Years. To the BFA I say: please enjoy that time with your families (however you may be doing that this year!) and/or get so drunk that you can actually tolerate them. This is a well-earned break for the BFA who have all worked incredibly hard this year. This year the break will run from December 24th, 2020 until January 2nd, 2021, with normal operations resuming January 3rd, 2021.

During that time, I will be around to make sure that the trains keep running if anything comes up. I know some of the BFA also will be around, but may not be as responsive as normal.

Task Force 72 Week: SENTINELS of Peace Extended

Another thing we’re extending due to the site downtime is the currently running competition week for Task Force 72: SENTINELS of Peace until December 23rd, 2020. The individual competitions are:

Our individual task force series of competitions have been incredibly successful thus far, and with all the stuff going on in the world, many have welcomed them as a great distraction on top of their normal writing. We’ll have one more series for Task Force 93 in the new year, and after that our next big event will be the next Bravo Fleet-wide Fleet Action Event.

Operational Readiness Protocols

The Bravo Fleet Lore’s Office is currently running a month of competitions, Operational Readiness Protocols, with a focus on your characters and your ship! There are three competitions for you that will run throughout December:

Captain on Deck! Write a biography for your Primary Character
All I Ask for is a Tall Ship: Write a flash fiction about your Avatar Ship
This Fine Crew: Create images and introductions of your bridge crew

Bravo Fleet has changed a lot in 2020. We’re no longer just a gathering of disparate sims, where the BFA and the TFCOs supervise and support GMs running the games for their players. Our structure is now about every member, from the newest fic writer to the seasoned STO gamer to the experienced sim GM.

That means you – every person reading this – have an important place in the Fleet. You can engage with the Fleet however you want, but your starting point should be with yourself – and with your dossier, where all your achievements in the fleet are recognized and stored.

Every player has a primary character listed on their dossier who’s a ship commander – or soon will be. Every player who reaches Lieutenant Commander (that is, every player who’s been consistently active for a few weeks) gets that ship. Those ships, those primary characters – those are Bravo Fleet, more than the sim or the fiction or the STO game. IC, those are the commanding officers and the starships of the Fourth Fleet and its Task Forces. OOC, that’s your starting point to launch off into any activity in the fleet you choose.

To recognize and highlight the importance of the dossier, of your primary character, of your ‘avatar ship’ (even if it’s only a dream to come, for some!), the Lore Office is running a month of competitions revolving around these parts of Bravo Fleet membership.

Other Important Reports

Announcements

Go Fast! Ship Update