Operations Policy

Last Update: July 9, 2020

Section 1 - Chain of Command

The Bravo Fleet Chain of Command (CoC) guides players through the proper procedure for resolving issues and answering questions. If you have an issue with a member in your CoC, proceed to the next person in the chain. The Chain of Command, in order of first to last contact, is as follows:

  • Task Group Commanding Officer
  • Task Force Executive Officer
  • Task Force Commanding Officer
  • Bravo Fleet Operations Officer
  • Bravo Fleet Executive Officer
  • Bravo Fleet Commanding Officer

Section 2 - Task Forces

Task Forces are the primary organizational units of Bravo Fleet. The Fleet currently has five (5) Task Forces operating within the Fleet’s primary canon (known as “Bravo Fleet Main”):

  • Task Force 9 operates in the coreward (northern) Alpha Quadrant;
  • Task Force 38 operates in the Delta Quadrant;
  • Task Force 72 operates in the rimward (southern) Alpha Quadrant;
  • Task Force 86 operates in the rimward (southern) Beta Quadrant;
  • Task Force 93 operates in the coreward (northern) Beta Quadrant.

Section 3 - Departments

Departments are the primary support system for Bravo Fleet’s community. A department oversees a service, or range of services, offered to/for the fleet community.

  • Each department derives its power from Charter-defined Bravo Fleet Admiralty positions (excluding Task Force Commanding Officers);
  • Department Heads may, upon conferring with the Bravo Fleet Senior Staff, appoint Command Adjutants to assist in operating a department;
  • Department Heads may, at their discretion, create teams, committees, and non-Command Adjutant level positions to help departmental operations.

Bravo Fleet’s chartered departments are organized as follows:

  • The Bravo Fleet Lore Office maintains and develops the fleet’s canon, in conjunction with Task Force Staff and members;
    • The Holodeck is a special unit within the Lore Office that hosts writing groups and fictions outside of the fleet’s main canon, including in genres other than Star Trek.
  • The Bravo Fleet Office of the Chief of Staff maintains the fleet’s roster, awards, and competitions;
  • The Bravo Fleet Operations Office supports unit management and development;
    • Starbase Bravo is a training unit within the Operations Offices that houses members below the rank of Ensign, under the jurisdiction of the Bravo Fleet Dean of Cadets, a CA-level position.
    • The Bravo Fleet Academy provides coursework and training materials for the fleet, under the jurisdiction of the Bravo Fleet Academy Commandant, a CA-level position.
  • The Bravo Fleet Communications Office provides recruitment, social media, and news services to the fleet;
  • The Bravo Fleet Internet Office maintains and develops the fleet’s software, including BFMS, RSB, and the Infobase;
  • The Bravo Fleet Gaming Office supports online video gaming activities for the membership;
  • The Bravo Fleet Magistrate Office investigates player complaints and mediates conflicts.

Section 4 - Writing Groups (Games or "Sims")

Section 4.1 - Definition of Writing Group

  • A writing group is a group of two or more members led by a Game Manager writing together on a collaborative story that takes place within fleet canon and is associated with a registry item on the BFMS. All writing groups are housed within Task Groups, either in Task Forces or on the Holodeck.
    • Writing groups can either be proposed wholly from scratch or be designed by Task Force Senior staff and opened for applications for potential game managers, as described in Sections 4.3.
    • References to Task Force Commanding Officers and Task Force Senior Staffs in Section 4 of this policy also refer to the Bravo Fleet Loremaster and relevant Command Adjutant for games within the Holodeck.

Section 4.2 - Game Managers

  • Game managers are in overall control of the games that they oversee and are responsible for story development, recruitment, maintenance of their game’s BFMS entry, and (if applicable) maintaining the game’s individual website, in terms of its contents.
    • Game managers are free to appoint as many assistant game managers as they wish, who help them in their duties. Note: assistant game managers need not necessarily also hold senior in-character positions in the game.
  • Game managers are appointed by the relevant Task Force Commanding Officer and must be members with the rank of Lieutenant or greater. They must remain in good standing to retain their game.
    • To remain in good standing, game managers must:
      • Ensure that the members on their games keep an accurate report of their characters’ positions within the fleet on the BFMS;
      • Remain in regular contact with the relevant Task Force Senior Staff about the status of their games, which is defined as contact at least once per month;
      • Respond to communications from the relevant Task Force Senior staff within forty-eight (48) hours;
        • Game managers who are planning on being out of contact for more than forty-eight (48) hours should notify the relevant Task Force Senior Staff to make note of the absence.
      • Develop and adhere to an activity plan, discussed individually with the relevant Task Force Senior staff;
      • Participate actively in their own games.
    • Task Force Commanding Officers may, with the approval of the Bravo Fleet Operations Officer, remove the game manager of a game if they fail to maintain good standing for two (2) or more months, if they fail to meet any two (2) of the criteria in the preceding sub-section for good standing, or if credible complaints from a game’s players regarding the game manager’s conduct, activity, or ability to run the game are received.
      • Within 24 hours of removing a Game Manager, the Task Force Senior Staff must inform the crew of the game. The Task Force Commanding Officer may select a new Game Manager at their discretion. If no replacement is selected within seven (7) days after notifying the crew, the Task Force Commanding Officer must close the game.
    • Members shall be considered under probation from becoming a game manager upon removal or resignation from running a game.
      • Upon a Game Manager’s resignation or removal, that member shall not be able to run another game in the fleet for 90 days.
      • If a Game Manager is removed for extended inactivity or because of player complaints, that member shall not be able to run another game in the fleet for 180 days. Should the member apply for another game, a full review must be conducted by the Bravo Fleet Operations Officer and relevant Task Force Commanding Officer.

Section 4.3 - Writing Group Proposals

  • Members must reach the rank of Lieutenant Commander before proposing a writing group.
  • Applicants must select a ship from the Bravo Fleet Registry of a class within or below their current rank. Ships available at each rank are listed in Section 4.2 of this policy.
    • The use of a ship registry is at the discretion of the relevant Task Force Commanding Officer and the Bravo Fleet Chief of Staff.
  • For a proposal to be considered, the applicant must submit a detailed plan for their game, including a premise and possible missions realistic for the selected class. The proposal should reflect the applicant’s ability to manage a game and should provide a sense of how the game’s niche would enhance the fleet’s current offerings.
  • By submitting a game proposal, all Game Managers agree to the following: You acknowledge that you are applying for a game in Bravo Fleet for the ship that you have listed. If for whatever reason you resign your game, your Task Force Commanding Officer and/or Bravo Fleet may, at their discretion, without restriction and without notice to you, reuse the name and registry number of the ship, base, or other entity in use by your game in Bravo Fleet. By submitting this application, you acknowledge that you understand and agree to this;
    • You acknowledge that if you resign/are removed from your game for whatever reason, the Task Force Commanding Officer and/or the Bravo Fleet Admiralty may contact the members writing on your game about the situation. Games cannot be removed from Bravo Fleet;
    • You acknowledge that if you resign/are removed from your game for whatever reason, and if the incoming Game Manager is a current member of your game, Bravo Fleet reserves the right to use your game’s plot and story; and that your game’s history will remain a part of fleet canon;
    • You also acknowledge that the fleet reserves the right to reuse your Bravo Fleet-hosted website (including all of its content).
    • Notwithstanding any of the above, a Task Force Commanding Officer may award a game to the AGM or another crew member when a GM resigns or is removed.
  • Task Forces offer a small number of premade writing groups, which have a basic game concept, website, and history, as well as a selection of possible missions, available for use by potential new game masters. These premade writing groups will be listed as open on the BFMS.
    • TFCOs should consult with the Bravo Fleet Operations Officer and the Bravo Fleet Chief of Staff when creating new games to ensure both that there is enough capacity in the fleet to host a new game and to ensure that the registry is not already in use.
    • Members must hold the rank of Lieutenant or above to apply for premade games, must complete a game proposal in the BFMS for approval by the relevant Task Force Senior Staff, and agree to the same provisions that members proposing their own games agree to earlier in this section.

Section 4.4 - Game Ratings

  • Bravo Fleet uses the RPG Rating System to define appropriate content based on three metrics: Language, Sex, and Violence.
  • Each game must list a rating of each metric on a scale of 0-3.
  • Game Managers are allowed to designate their own rating up to Language: 2, Sex: 2, and Violence: 2 (16+ age rating).
    • Any rating above “2-2-2” (18+ age rating) must be approved by the Task Force Commanding Officer.
    • Any game rating above “2-2-2” must have a content filter to restrict access to explicit content.
    • Any game rating above “2-2-2” must have a member of the Task Force’s Senior Staff present on the writing platform.
  • No game may inappropriately depict acts of sex, assault, or violence. Appropriate content is determined by the Bravo Fleet Admiralty.
  • Games using a three in any category must not allow the explicit content to be the primary theme of their game. For example, explicit sexual content and explicit violent content should only be present when it would be a logical component of the story, rather than as the extent of the story.
  • If a game breaks any of the restrictions outlined in this section, the Bravo Fleet Admiralty reserves the right to remove the Game Manager and suspend Fleet hosting.

Section 4.5 - Activity Classifications and Style Categories

  • There are four activity classifications for games in Bravo Fleet, which refer to the administrative classifications in place related to the number of members writing on a game, its activity, and the status of its GM, active, provisional, inactive, and open:
    • An active game:
      • Has a game manager in good standing as defined in section 4.2;
      • Has been in the fleet for at least one (1) month;
      • Has at least two members (including the GM);
      • Adheres to its activity plan and style category.
    • A provisional game is defined as:
      • Has a game manager in good standing as defined in section 4.2;
      • Has been in the fleet less than one (1) month;
    • An inactive game is defined as:
      • Has a game manager in good standing as defined in section 4.2;
      • Is on hiatus, but has communicated a plan to the relevant Task Force Senior Staff to return to active status within two (2) months.
    • An open game is defined as:
      • A premade game that is open for new game managers.
  • There are three style classifications for games in Bravo Fleet, which refer to the way in which and speed at which the writing on a game is conducted:
    • A traditional game:
      • Posts tend to be predominantly solo-written, with a few large joint-posts per mission;
      • Players typically control a single character;
      • Paced at 2 posts per player per month, including joint posts as one post for each of the participating players.
    • A high-volume game:
      • Posts tend to be a mix of solo-written and joint-written posts;
      • Players often control more than one character;
      • Paced at 4 posts per player per month; including joint posts as one post for each of the participating players.
    • An ensemble game:
      • Posts tend to be written in a style intended more towards an outside audience than an interior one, and are all almost entirely joint-written;
      • Players typically control more than one character;
      • Paced at 1 post per player per month; including joint posts as one post for each of the participating players.

Section 4.6 – Available Classes

  • Members at the rank of Lieutenant Commander shall have access to write the following starship classes:
    • Ambassador-class
    • Argonaut-class
    • Atlantia-class
    • Centaur-class
    • Challenger-class
    • Cheyenne-class
    • Diligent-class
    • Dumont-class
    • Excelsior-class
    • Freedom-class
    • New Orleans-class
    • Norway-class
    • Nova-class
    • Reliant-class
    • Saber-class
    • Springfield-class
    • Steamrunner-class
  • Members at the rank of Commander shall have access to write the following starship classes, including the classes available at Lieutenant Commander:
    • Akira-class
    • Defiant-class
    • Elysion-class
    • Inquiry-class
    • Insignia-class
    • Intrepid-class
    • Luna-class
    • Nebula-class
    • Olympic-class
    • Resolute-class
    • Rhode Island-class
  • Members at the rank of Captain shall have access to write the following starship classes, including the classes available at Commander and Lieutenant Commander:
    • Century-class
    • Galaxy-class
    • Manticore-class
    • Odyssey-class
    • Prometheus-class
    • Sovereign-class
    • Typhon-class
    • Vesta-class
  • Members above the rank of Captain shall have access to write any class that exists within Bravo Fleet canon.
  • Members may not select a ship assignment that does not exist in the Bravo Fleet Registry. Class and ship assignments are subject to approval by the relevant Task Force Commanding Officer and the Bravo Fleet Chief of Staff.

Section 5 - Fiction

  • Personal fiction is written on Relay Station Bravo, in Task Forces’ sandboxes, or on individual ships. This fiction is set within fleet canon.
    • Each task force has a designated area on the forum for members under the rank of Lieutenant Commander to post, generally as part of their task force’s headquarters starbase. This writing is free-form and offers members a venue to express themselves and participate in fleet canon before they have their own ship.
    • When a member reaches the rank of Lieutenant Commander, they may request a ship of their own through the Bravo Fleet Management System. This ship is the command of their avatar character and is their vehicle for solo fiction, joint fiction, and participation in fleet contests.
      • Members must select an existing ship from the Bravo Fleet Registry. The use of a ship registry is at the discretion of the Bravo Fleet Chief of Staff and the relevant Task Force Commanding Officer.
      • The ship classes and registries available to each member follows Section 4.6 of this policy.
  • Task Force-level fiction may be associated with a registry entry (such as a base, flagship, or other entity), but need not meet other requirements for games, such as having a game manager or an activity plan. Instead, these are written directly on Relay Station Bravo and help direct the task force’s story.
  • These guidelines for fiction do not apply to the Holodeck and fiction there is left to the Lore Office’s discretion.

Section 6 - Training Units

  • Training units house new members and members otherwise in training, and function in a way similar to task forces, but without games or avatar ships attached to them. All members are assigned to a training unit upon joining the fleet and transfer to a Task Force upon reaching the rank of Ensign.
  • Starbase Bravo is the primary training unit for Bravo Fleet, consisting of all members under the rank of Ensign. It is under the purview of the Bravo Fleet Operations Officer, through the Bravo Fleet Dean of Cadets, a CA-level position.
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