AF Constitution

General Guidelines

• The rules apply to everyone. By joining Alpha Fleet or any of it's member simulations you agree to follow the rules. If you don't, then don't join. Simple as that.

• Alpha Fleet is a community of friends. Same as adopting the constitution as outlined above, if you intentionally set out to damage the group through whatever means, you will be removed from the fleet. This is a game and escapism for our members, we don't want that ruined by silly games from a few members.

• No one below the age of thirteen may play in Alpha Fleet and any of its simulations. This is to comply with COPPA ( The Children's Online Privacy Protection Act ) and is non-negotiable.

• Respect the COPPA classification of the simm. Do not post unsuitable material in a public board if it’s not rated for that sort of writing. On the flipside, if you are a player who cannot handle posts of a mature nature please do not join the PG-16 / R18 simms.

• Although AF has a fairly informal and relxed atmosphere we are based around a quasi-military group and as such we have a hierachy known as the Chain of Command.

1) Commander in Chief (Fleet CinC)

2) Deputy Commander in Chief (Fleet DCinC)

3) Fleet Command Council (Fleet Sr. Admin)

4) Task Force Commanding Officers (Fleet Admin)

5) Task Group Commanding Officers (Jnr Fleet Admin)

4) Commanding Officers (CO)

When you have a problem or suggestion, anything that requires attention by the people in charge, start by talking to the person at the bottom of this list and work your way up. When you need to get something to the fleet, don't go straight to the top. You have to understand that we all do different jobs in AF so if it is something that can be handled by someone at a lower level then it makes things faster right? Additionally, a department head is in a role to act as an authority or subject matter expert. In many cases, seeking the department head will net you a much faster and more accurate result.

• Poaching,(recruiting members with the purpose of having them leave AF completely) is not allowed. This goes for poaching from one AF ship to another as well! Through use of an embassy, cross recruiting for both ST genre and other genres is welcomed. Please remember than the purpose of cross recruiting via an embassy is to entice and welcome in new people.

• AF members are free to recruit other AF members for other AF and non-AF groups, provided they do not intend to draw players completely away from AF and that they do so over IM or email (mass mailing not withstanding).

• Alpha Fleet takes place in the Star Trek universe. Post according to official or established protocol and facts. Do not create new items or use existing objects from another series. (i.e. Light Sabres, Rebel Alliance, System's Commonwealth, Care Bears, etc.)

Character Guidelines

• Show respect to your fellow simmers. Remember that they're people too. Don't control or affect their character, NPC or anything of their ownership without their permission. If someone had your character jump off a cliff without a parachute, you wouldn't be happy now would you?

• Resignations are a serious thing. If you want out, e-mail your GM about it at least a couple of days before you intend to resign to give them some time to adjust the story. Never post your resignation publically, please do your CO's the courtesy of contacting them privately so they can arrange for removal of your character from their simm in a mutally agreeable manner. Post without doing this and you may not like the way they chose to remove your character from their simm.

• Your CO will determine your rank, promotions and any merits awarded. In some cases, your CO will work with you to determine the most appropriate role. (This may not be the first one you applied for…every case will be different!)

• Posting requirements, as set out by the individual simm's Command Team, should be closely followed. The definition of 'closely followed' is up to the individual CO. If a player can't keep up with the posting rules, it is up to the CO to take any required actions. (Note, if there is a situation or a circumstance that limits you or (even better) makes you more available, please make sure your CO knows.)

• Submit all plot ideas to the GM BEFORE implementing them. This applies to both players in the simm and also Fleet Staff.

• Unless the Admin Team approves otherwise, a player can only take command of one simm at a time in AF.

• Depending on the CO's preference, a player can have more than one character on the simm. This is different from one game to the next, ignorance is NOT a defence here, make SURE you know the rules on the games you play on. Any attempt to play a second character under a disguised ID will not be tolerated and the game CO may apply disciplinary action.

• Promotions are dependant on merits of service and quality of posting and decided by the CO of the simm up to one rank below him/her up to flag rank. Promotions to flag rank and above require approval from the Command Council. (Unless requested otherwise, the Council will also apply this promotion.)

• Awards will be distributed to recognize player excellence. Simm level awards can be given out at the GM's discretion. Fleet level awards require approval from the Awards and Promotions Admin.

Commanding Officer Guidelines

• A CO has the right to have the final approval on any plot line that affects his/her command.

• A CO represents his/her simm on the AF Forums and has the right to vote or abstain on CO related discussions.

• Once established, the name, class, and registry of your ship should not be changed without gaining permission from the Fleet Admin staff. This is to prevent confusion with the rest of the fleet. If you require to change any of these, you will need to contact your TFCO with the request who will pass this along to the Command Council

• New CO's who need guidance may be required to undergo Command Tutorial. This may be in a formalised Command Course, or through mentoring from an experienced CO in the fleet.

• It is the responsibility of the CO to create the website detailing general simm information and the forums / chat room or any other media where the simm activity itself will take place. If you need help in this department, you can ask for advice or assistance from any admin staff.

• CO's cannot 'destroy' their ship/station/base/team in character more than once every six months. If a CO is going to add this into their mission outline they must contact their TFCO with the request who will put it before the Command Council.

• CO's have the right to apply appropriate disciplinary action against players on their command. A record of disciplinary actions should be forwarded to their TFCO's and the Fleet Member Affairs Admin as it occurs. If a player feels that what (s)he did, did not warrant the punishment they got, they can appeal the decision with the Admin team.

• CO's are required to submit end of mission reports to their TFCO at the end of every mission detailing what happened, how they are doing, who was promoted, who deserves an award and who were removed and the reasons for the removal.

• CO's commanding ships who want to visit a station or base commanded by another player should ask for that player's permission first beforehand.

• The Admin Team has the right to remove any CO from the simm if they have been inactive or AWOL for more than two months. (Inactive is defined as inactive on their own simm forums, or other simming medium, which is after all the lifeblood of the game.)

• CO's may remove any player from their simm with reasonable cause. (This does not necessarily mean that the player will be banned from the fleet.) A report of the removal will be sent to the Fleet Member Affairs Admin. If a player feels his/her removal was unjustified, s/he may appeal the decision with the Admin Team. Note: A CO decides who serves on his/her simm, appealing a CO's removal decision will not result in you rejoining said ship unless the CO desires such. CO's are discouraged from abusing this prerogative.

• New CO's coming into the fleet are under a probationary period of one month. In that time they must have a suitable simming medium up and running, be that groups, forums or SMS, a linkable manifest page and have recruited at least four players. If these conditions are not met then Admin Team reserves the right to revoke command.

• Should a CO resign from the fleet, than he or she may not apply for command with Alpha Fleet for a period of 60 days. Should the same CO gain a command again and subsequently resign without a valid reason than the ban on command may be extended indefinitely. This does not carry over to individual characters. Re-applicants for a command role will be assessed on a case by case basis for re-admittance into the fleet as a commanding officer and is at the discretion of the Command Council as is any rank awarded.

• Resigning CO's have two weeks to rescind their resignation. If after two weeks there is no request from the CO about returning to a command position, then they will be officially placed on the CO Probation list and unable to gain a command for 60 days. The command council reserves the right to waive the ability of a CO to rescind their resignation at their discretion.

Task Force Commanding Officer Guidelines

Task Force Commanding Officer Rules

• Task Force Commanding Officers have the right to control the size and design of their Task Forces within the limits governed by the Alpha Fleet Command Council or CinC.

• TFCOs may recruit for sims under them by request of sim CO's. TFCOs must be availible to sim CO's under them in a timely manner.

• TFCOs should fairly represent the interests of their member sims in meetings and votes.

• All TFCO and TFXO roles will be nominated and voted upon by the Fleet Command Council.

• TFCO and TFXO persons in that role are expected to maintain a standard of professionalism.

• TFCO - Job Description

Command Council Guidelines

The Command Council, comprised of the Fleet CinC, Command Council and TFCO's will encourage and guide the development of fleet resources that will be made available to all simms and players.

• The Command Council has the right to approve or reject any new technology presented for release in the fleet. They may ask the advise of the RnD department should there be one active at the time, or individual members of the fleet with relevant knowledge.

• Regardless of IC position, all Command Council members have the right to vote in Command Council conferences. One player, one equal vote. A simple majority of 50% + 1 is needed to pass any resolution in both conferences.

• The Alpha Fleet Command Council is the only convening authority who has the right to promote the Commander-in-Chief and/or Deputy Commander-in-Chief.

• A member of the Command Council isn't required to have a command or senior fleet position in order to become a member of the group. Incidentally, a player may possess an IC senior fleet position but may not be a part of the Command Council.

• Only the Command Council has authority over fleet wide business. IC positions are just that. If the player isn't a member of the Command Council, his/her "authority" only extends as far as IC.

• The Command Council is also the only authority who can promote enlisted personnel to the highest rank possible: Master Chief Petty Officer of the Fleet, Sergeant Major of the Marine Corps, etc. This must be passed by a unanimous vote.

• There can only be one person (in the Fleet) holding these ranks at one time: i.e. one Master Chief Petty Officer of Starfleet, one Sergeant Major of the Marine Corps, one Fleet Admiral.

• The Command Council is answerable only to the Fleet Commander in Chief, who may over-ride decisions or issue Executive Orders if he/she feels the Fleet is at risk.

Conflict Resolution Guidelines

Disagreements happen. Its a fact of life. We may not see the same things the same way. This is what we do when we have a beef against someone or something:

• If the matter is confined to just within your simm, talk to your CO about it. CO's have conflict resolution authority over their own simms. CO's, please forward a short report to your TFCO regarding what happened. If you cannot resolve the matter by yourself or if you need help, ask your TFCO for assistance or any member of the admin team.

• If the matter is big enough to involve the TF, the TFCO has authority to resolve conflicts within their own TF's. TFCO's, please forward a short report of the incident as well as of all reported conflicts by your CO's to the Fleet Member Affairs Admin. If you cannot resolve the matter, take the issue up to the next level.

• If the matter involves the fleet itself or is something that cannot be handled by the CO or TFCO then the Admin Team steps in. The team will deliberate as a group and come up with a final resolution. The matter will be recorded and forwarded to the Fleet Member Affairs Admin.

• With the exception of certain decisions by the Admin Team, which may or may not be appealable, all cases can be appealed only once.

• The decision of the Admin Team, before or after appeal if it is allowed, is considered final and effective immediately or upon time set by the decision.

AF Forums

• Fleet forums are a public gathering place for all AF members in good standing. Regardless of the role you carry on an individual simm, the role you carry on the Fleet boards is not necessarily going to mirror it.

• Because the AF boards are a public place, you are expected to maintain a certain level of professionalism. If you abuse the privilege of being allowed to participate there, your permissions may be restricted or even revoked entirely. (This is with regard to the main AF forums, not individual simms)

• Fleet Admin Staff and above will have a minimum level of moderator. These people have been put into these roles for their abilities and skills. If you are asked to do something by a moderator, please do so. Persons in a moderator role will not ask something unrealistic or unfair.

• If you have an issue or a concern with any of the moderating staff from the AF boards, you are asked to attempt to resolve it with them first, and if that fails, you are asked to email mailto:feedback@alpha-fleet.com

• Categories and specific forums are created from time to time by the moderating staff. If you have a need for a specific one that does not yet exist, please email mailto:feedback@alpha-fleet.com

• Usergroups are created to extend certain accesses or permissions to more than one person where everyone needs the same settings. This is commonly done for daughter simms and if you require an area setup, as well as a usergroup, please email mailto:feedback@alpha-fleet.com

AF WIKI Guidelines

• The WIKI is a community site put together and maintained by AF Staff and members. The same guidelines that apply to the AF Forums will apply to the WIKI.

• CO's may apply via the forums for an account on the wiki and are expected to keep their ship listing information current (ie - CO, XO and mission details) as well as making sure the links to their simms are current and working.

• CO's must ONLY alter areas of the wiki involving their own ship. They may create pages and host information about their simms on the wiki but must NOT alter pages set up for other simms. All changes on the wiki are recorded through history so we can check back as to who changed what. (on the flip side, if you muck up, we can set it right.)

• Other members of the fleet (non CO's) may be allocated a wiki account for specific duties, such as updating the databases.