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Re: Main OOC Thread

Reply #5176 –
WE HAVE A NEW CHIEF DIPLOMATIC OFFICER. IT'S LIEUTENANT ENYD ISOLDE MADSEN!
This is likely expected news, but as of this thread, set on Day 13 at 0800 hrs., Captain Ives received the news from V-Nine that - after four days of pre-surgery evaluation - Sickbay has deemed Lieutenant Commander Rutherford to be beyond post-stasis surgical intervention. It means that if a surgical or medicinal method of saving her life once she is thawed does exist, it isn't readily available aboard the Theurgy.

Therefore, as the highest ranking Diplomat, Lieutenant Madsen has already served as Acting Chief Diplomatic Officer since Day 09, and on Day 13, Captain Ives - after receiving the news about Rutherford - summons her to his ready room in order to give her the position on a permanent basis.

Lt. Enyd Isolde Madsen              Chief Diplomatic Officer (V1)

  - Writer: @Ellen Fitz

One of Lieutenant Madsen's first tasks will be to re-establish the chain-of-command in the Diplomatic Corps, and name a new Asst. Chief Diplomatic Officer. The obvious choice here is Lt. JG Nysarisiza zh’Eziarath, whom has the rank for it, and I encourage that this promotion play out In-Character  in a thread set after the one linked above. So congrats to @rae as well! I ask you all to take this In-Character development into account in all relevant threads set following Day 13, and make the necessary edits to the extent that you believe it merited in the context of each scene.

WHY NOT JENNIFER DEWITT?

I also want to take the opportunity to address a specific request made to have Lieutenant Commander Jennifer Dewitt return to the Theurgy from Breen in order to take over as Chief Diplomatic Officer. While I would love to write Dewitt again, I feel like it would be remiss of me to take over a Department when there are so many capable writers there already. Moreover, the plot gymnastics of having Dewitt pulled out of Breen and brought all the way to the Theurgy is more than just a little shoe-horned plausibility-wise. Sure, the Savi could taxi her back home if asking the Voice nicely (and ignoring the fact that the Savi rebels are fighting for their survival against the Scions), but if so, what was even the purpose of Dewitt staying behind in the Breen Confederacy? The idea is that she is there for sake of keeping the Breen appraised about the real enemy and aiding them in clearing their ranks from Infested influence - to keep them from joining the pending war. Perhaps, in the next Episode, even making the Breen allies?

So, Dewitt might make a cameo via subspace comms at some point, but it would be really forced in the story to have her return to the Theurgy at this point.

BUT WHAT ABOUT CROSS?

Next, I also want to address the fact that @Ellen Fitz will end up writing both the Chief Tactical Officer (Cross) and the Chief Diplomatic Officer (Enyd Madsen) aboard the Theurgy. As most of you know, because of old experiences, I aim to restrict writers to only writing one Departmental Head at the time, so that if RL happens and the writer has to leave, we are in less bad of a situation. I was, however, reminded by some of our older writers that there have been successful exceptions made before, like when @Nolan wrote both the Chief Science Officer (Simon Tovarek) and the Squadron Commanding Officer (Thomas Ravon). Another example is when @Brutus wrote both the Chief of Operations (Natalie Stark) and the Acting Chief Diplomatic Officer (Faye Eloi-Danvers). Granted, in the latter example, Faye was the only Diplomat aboard, lol. Before that, @Iron Ferrox (who left us during the Aldea Prime Anthology) wrote the Squadron Commanding Officer and also Selena Ravenholm, who had a dual role as the USS Harbinger's Chief Engineer and Chief of Operations.

So, I am making a rare exception in this case based on @Ellen Fitz 's writing, her posting frequency, adherence to posting deadlines, and post count average/day, all of which gives me great faith in that she can write both these Departmental Heads. Furthermore, as Enyd is the highest ranking officer in the Diplomatic Corps, it makes the most sense In-Character as well, which is also a big factor.

Congratulations, @Ellen Fitz ! (and @rae ! lol)  :)

CONGRATULATIONS TO SQWELOOOKLE & JUZZIE!

I realised that on top of yesterday's Sim Contributions Awards, two Theurgists have earned another prestigious Award. Namely, the Ye Olde Mug Badge! Those who have been actively writing in the sim for over three continuous years have earned this badge, and aside from those who already have it, here are the new recipients! :)



Congratulations, @Juzzie and @Sqweloookle ! Now, it's just two more continuous years until you earn the Ye Olde Mug of the Ancients Badge! :)

THE (INTERMEDIATE) LANDING PAGE!

Unless you have already seen it, I recommend you take a look at the base version of our new landing page, which is featuring some Thea and warp fighter art work. This would be the first impression for new visitors visiting www.uss-theurgy.com:

STAR TREK: THEURGY LANDING PAGE

But today, I got an awesome idea how to make the landing page truly epic. See, you have all watched the old trailer on the front page right, which is really dated and has a lot of dead characters featured. The problem with making trailers such as that is that it carves out an extraordinary amount of time making them, and as soon as some writers comes and goes, all that effort amounts to the fact that the trailer quickly becomes inaccurate in regard to character presence. This, after spending hours and hours on collecting video and image material, video editing, matching the development in the vid with the music, and then rendering all of it and uploading it to vimeo. Unless you have done something similar before, it's hard to relay just how time-consuming the endeavour of making such a trailer is.

So, how can we make a character reel that is immensely more easy to update, requiring just a single image of the character made, and then editing a javascript file? Well, doing that, we can have this kind of slideshow instead as a landing page! Check it out! [Show/Hide]

While it may take a little bit of time to make images such as this, its nowhere near the amount of time and challenge it would be to make a trailer. I have hundreds of stock art space images to superimpose present character art unto, so the process of making these images for the landing page will be a far easier process, and I already have the material I need. The result, as you may envision when looking at the image behind the [ spoiler ] button, is that we can have a pre-credit sequence just like a Star Trek show, generated by html, java and php scripts. The amount of time updating it will be minimal, and new writers will get to see their character in the pre-credits immediately upon joining.

Let me know what you guys think!

SECOND IDEA: AN ONBOARDING TRAILER, NARRATED BY PICARD OR THEA


So. if we remove the presence of characters in a new version of the trailer, what do we have instead? We have an opportunity to create a narrated onboarding info video, which will serve to tell the story and details about our story in an far more easily-digestible manner than reading tons and tons of text. Of course the information on the site have to be there for easy access, but what if the trailer functions like a story introduction, detailing the voyage so far and ending where the current development is at? New Applicants can listen to/watch the video and get a grasp on what's going on and what has happened before. While the narration goes on, I can even fill the visuals of the video with fitting stuff, be it images or video material showing settings and characters.

Even better, when we make progress, we can simply add a couple of minutes of narration to the end of the video, and thus keeping it up to date bit by added bit! That way, the time invested into the video-making will have a permanent worth for the sim.

You already know that I have enlisted the aid of two voice narrators in our old trailer, one being a Patrick Stewart impersonator, and the other being someone playing the role of Thea (at the end of the trailer). You can hear them here:

https://vimeo.com/manage/videos/70052709

So, if we go with this idea, and we make a completely different kind of video with a longer narration, divided into chapters for each Episode so far, we can have a poll about who should be narrating it! Either Captain Picard, as if reading the reports about what actually happened to the Theurgy, or Thea, making a personal log about the voyage so far.

Too early to make a poll for that now, since I have to compile the text that is to be narrated from the material we already have on the site. I will be asking the voice-over narrators for samples, picking a selection of different narrators for Thea's voice, and then we can hold a poll about whom we go with. Be it Picard or either of the Theas in the sample selection.

First, I am keen to hear what you guys think about it, so let me know!

Best,

Auctor Lucan

Re: Main OOC Thread

Reply #5177 –
Congrats to @Ellen Fitz , @Sqweloookle and @Juzzie ! Enyd is going to be an...er...well, unusual boss, methinks. I also like the idea of the slideshow, absolutely. It retains some of the cinematic feeling.

Regarding the voiceover: how about AL writes a brief script, then leaves it open for for various writers to try their hand at it? We have dozens of writers, after all, some of whom might just have wonderful voices. The quality of recording equipment might be an issue, admittedly. If there are no good submissions, the option is still open to have a professional VA do it, but it doesn't hurt to try it this way. Probably. Hopefully.

Re: Main OOC Thread

Reply #5178 –
Well, I love these new developments. Makes it all a lot easier to work with. Also like the slideshow for the cast on the homepage!

As for the narrations, that too would be good for the site. I listened to the Picard impersonator and while I think it's decent, it still doesn't sound enough like Picard to me. I like the idea of going with Thea narrating as she is actually interacting with the plot whereas Picard is not.

Either way, I am happy for the new ideas and developments!

Re: Main OOC Thread

Reply #5179 –
Congrats all! (Again)

I'd echo the sentiments of others in going a non-Picard route for a trailer. Having Thea narrate it would be more relevant to the story and allow for more voice possibilities.

Re: Main OOC Thread

Reply #5180 –
Congrats @Ellen Fitz! Nysari would be honored to be your assistant. However the chaos wants me to nominate L'Nari.  (laugh)

Congrats to everyone else who won an award as well!

I love the idea for the landing page. I would squee very loudly to see my characters on there. And Thea should narrate. Definitely Thea. I like Griff's idea of having one of the players do it. Saves money and adds to a sim created by it's players.

Quote
Given enough interest, perhaps we can arrange streaming sessions in which we can show the community how it is done. Keep it up!
I'm super down for this. I'm a disaster, but I want to watch @Auctor Lucan at work.

Re: Main OOC Thread

Reply #5182 –
Congratulations to all. Here's to more stellar adventures across the stars with this fine ship and its even finer crew ^^

Re: Main OOC Thread

Reply #5183 –
Congratulations!  Well done and I look forward to interacting with the characters at some point. :) 

I'd be glad to help with narration!

Re: Main OOC Thread

Reply #5184 –
This is all awesome stuff. I really like the idea of Picard Narrating.

In my brainstorming of how to blend Theurgy's temporal thread among the Trek multi-verse, I was looking at the Picard timeline and having him become an Admiral about the current story point we are on. It would be great having a newly minted Admiral Picard narrate the introduction for our story.
CPO Sithick [Show/Hide]
CWO1 Larrant [Show/Hide]
BG Natauna
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Re: Main OOC Thread

Reply #5185 –
I Love the idea of the slide show as it will allow for a much easier process of updating over the long run.

As for the voice over... I sort of think it might be nice to have some of the writers, if they are up to it and can record a decent VO, to share in the intro. Yes, someone could do Thea.. but we also have lots of other characters that could possibly add to the feel of a ship filled with various races. 
Ensign Mia Dunne   [Show/Hide]

  Kelistina (Kel) Kavot Droga   [Show/Hide]

Re: Main OOC Thread

Reply #5186 –
I am a PA announcer, theatrically trained, I do voices, and have done some radio work, nothing professional
CPO Sithick [Show/Hide]
CWO1 Larrant [Show/Hide]
BG Natauna
 [Show/Hide]

Re: Main OOC Thread

Reply #5188 –
My voice sucks, I wouldn't be good at that unfortunately. 
Really enjoying writing a halfway stable character for once...

Re: Main OOC Thread

Reply #5190 –
Thanks everyone.

I do Amateur dramatics and have appeared on a DnD podcast doing some limited Voice acting haha. So i'd give it a go.

Re: Main OOC Thread

Reply #5191 –
COME SEE RAE'S NEW CHARACTER: JARU REL! THE ORIGINAL WOLF LEADER!

Through a Butterfly Effect Change, the original squad leader of the Lone Wolves was never Tayl¤r Lucas, callsign Ice-man, but Jaru Rel, @rae 's third character!

Lt Cmdr. Jaru Rel          Wolf-01 [Janus] Wolf Leader

  - Writer: @rae

So, in all of the original crew of the Theurgy's memories, Jaru Rel was the original Wolf Leader, serving aboard the Theurgy from its commissioning in 2378 and up until the Niga Incident in 2381, where he was put into stasis, and Miles Renard took over his position as squad leader of our Tactical CONN officers. After Miles was lost at the Battle of Starbase 84, Thomas Ravon became the new squad leader, but after loosing his girlfriend Zephyr Praise in the Battle of the Houses, Ravon has been struggling with his role as the leader of the Lone Wolves. In events that will be played out in a couple of threads at the end of the Interregnum, set after Day 15 when V-Nine has managed to thaw and save Jaru Rel from stasis, Thomas will step aside for his old squad leader, whereas Thomas will become a Flight Leader instead.

In related news, Donna Petterson will be returning to the Lone Wolves after a Vulcan has "exorcised" the identity that took over her body during Advent of War (named Maxine). Donna has been in the brig during the Interregnum, and while the Vulcan may have cured her mental affliction, Donna will be having to earn back the trust of the other Lone Wolves during Episode 02. The Squadron Organisational Chart has been updated to this effect. If you write a Lone Wolf, please check it out, since the linked version will be the one in effect when Episode 02 starts. Since we have some NPCs in the squad, they might be killed off during the battles, so please consider the Squad Chart for what it is, being in transition depending on new and leaving characters.

Anyway, thank you for the privilege to work with you in the creation of Jaru Rel, @rae , and I look forward to reading the "continued" story of the first squad leader of the Lone Wolves. I will be making some updated to the forum in which Jaru Rel will be mentioned at all times Tayl¤r Lucas was (hence the ¤ format in this post), so that the butterfly effect takes effect through all of the story. I will also be cutting out events in which Tayl¤r Lucas was featured in Episode 02 that doesn't work with this replacement character. As for the fate of Tayl¤r Lucas in this timeline? His altered service record in Starfleet remains an unknown, likely not having served with any of the current Lone Wolves.

L'NARI IS NOW AVAILABLE FOR INHERITENCE

After much rumination, @Nesota Kynnovan has asked to give up L'Nari for inheritance. It has been a on-and-off discussion for some time, but the decision is now made.

Ens. L'Nari        Diplomatic Attaché 

  - Formerly written by @Nesota Kynnovan

This characters is now available for inheritance, and if she is not picked up, she will somehow be exiting the story at some point. Hopefully she will get a new writer since she's an awesome character!

Best,

Auctor Lucan

Re: Main OOC Thread

Reply #5193 –
I look forward to interacting with him! :)

Re: Main OOC Thread

Reply #5194 –
PLEASE WELCOME TONGIEBOI, WHO WILL WRITE ENSIGN JOSEPH ADAMS!

It is my pleasure to announce our newest member, @tongieboi ! They will write the Transporter Officer Joseph Adams!

Ens. Joseph Adams                  Transporter Officer 

  - Writer: @tongieboi

Ensign Adams was a part of the original crew of the Theurgy, but he was hurt during the flight from Earth in 2380, just when they passed Jupiter Station. He will be thawed on Day 8 after having undergone lengthy surgery to treat his head force trauma, after which a portion of his cranium now consists of synthetic bone. All the pieces of his broken skull were successfully extracted without damaging the brain, and all diagnostics show no lingering effects from shrapnel damage - the care of which the pieces were removed requiring a five hour surgery session.

Welcome aboard, @tongieboi ! Looking forward to read this young man's story. :)

Best Regards,

Auctor Lucan

Re: Main OOC Thread

Reply #5198 –
Welcome aboard! 
Really enjoying writing a halfway stable character for once...

Re: Main OOC Thread

Reply #5199 –
Welcome @tongieboi!  I look forward to writing with you!
 
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