Assignment recommendation: USS Brunel

[FF] Vice Admiral Nairne · March 2018

Greetings captain!

It’s Commander Branch again, the chief personnel officer at Starbase 63. As you may recall, we’re near a recurrent temporal anomaly, one of the more stable in this universe, and as a result we have a steady supply of displaced personnel, many of them well-suited to jobs in this universe. My job is to orient newly arrived refugees and find work for those willing and able to lend a hand to Starfleet at this difficult time.

There are, however, some special assignments which Starfleet Command has asked me to forward to you and some of the other captains running point during this temporal crisis. In each case I’ve compiled a dossier of potential candidates, and am looking for your recommendation for this difficult assignment.

When last we spoke, you recommended Dr. Elias Giger be assigned to Ophiucus III.

The eighth of these assignments is as an engineering consultant on the USS Brunel. Although exploratory missions have been cut back in light of the temporal crisis, Starfleet feels it is important that it remains true to its founding principles, and in that light the Brunel is scheduled to undertake a four year voyage through the sporadically explored Beta Quadrant.

Our candidates:

Danby Connor, formerly the operations officer on the USS Shenzhou. His primary skill is engineering, with secondary ability in command.
Lieutenant M. Fincke, formerly an engineer on the Enterprise NX-01. His primary skill is engineering, with secondary ability in command.
Marla Gilmore, formerly the acting chief engineer on the USS Equinox. Her efforts helped thwart a mutinous attempt by desperate Equinox crewers to destroy the USS Voyager, and she was later integrated into the Voyager crew. Her primary skill is engineering, with secondary abilities in science and diplomacy.
Phoenix Geordi La Forge, formerly the chief engineer on the USS Enterprise-E. The distinguished engineer crossed over to our timeline after having helped repair damage to Earth’s first manned warp vessel, the Phoenix. His primary skill is engineering, with secondary abilities in command and science.
Enterprise-B Montgomery Scott, formerly an honoured guest on the USS Enterprise-B. The veteran officer crossed over to our timeline after having helped free that ship from an energy ribbon known as the Nexus. His primary skill is engineering, with secondary abilities in science and command.
Gideon Seyetik, formerly one of the Federation’s top terraformers. He’s a brilliant engineer and scientist, and if you don’t believe me, just ask him. His primary skill is engineering, with secondary abilities in science and diplomacy.

For Cardassia · March 2018

Enterprise-B Montgomery Scott

A tough one. Tough because I don't have particularly strong feelings about any of the crew.

In the end though I had to choose Scotty, because it's Scotty. Also he probably has the most relevant experience with Klingons, who are the main force in the Beta Quadrant.

[FF] Vice Admiral Nairne · March 2018

Enterprise-B Montgomery Scott

Some of you will be wondering why M. Fincke made the cut for this list. I think of him as a fun little Enterprise Easter egg.

Yateball · March 2018

Marla Gilmore

Went with Marla... not sure why

robownage · March 2018

Danby Connor

More Disco! Give us some of those minor crew.

Dirk Gunderson · March 2018

Phoenix Geordi La Forge

That’s a really tough one between Scotty and Geordi but I had to go with Geordi.

Captain_Who · March 2018

Enterprise-B Montgomery Scott

There's the role playing and proper assignment answer of Marla Gilmore. Then there's the answer to the actual but unstated question of which card do I want, and that's always Scotty.

Captain Durf · March 2018

Marla Gilmore

I picked Gilmore because the Equinox episodes of Voyager were fantastic.

[FF] Vice Admiral Nairne · March 2018

Enterprise-B Montgomery Scott

Captain Durf wrote: »

I picked Gilmore because the Equinox episodes of Voyager were fantastic.

"Equinox" and "Year of Hell" were easily the high points of the series for me.

MirrorMartigan · March 2018

Enterprise-B Montgomery Scott

Enterprise-B Scotty. Need more movie era uniforms.

eXo | das411 · March 2018

Enterprise-B Montgomery Scott

MirrorMartigan wrote: »

Enterprise-B Scotty. Need more movie era uniforms.

This this this - can we have an Enterprise-B Scotty AND a "knows the ship like the back of my hand" Enterprise-A Scotty AND a "shoots Odo out the window" Star trek VI Scotty??

NS111111 · March 2018

Marla Gilmore

Marla Gilmore because Equinox is the second best episode of Voyager.

That said, trade almost any suggestion for Captain Ransom...

CookingWithNeelix · March 2018

Phoenix Geordi La Forge

First Contact is on of my favorite Star Trek movies so, GO GEORDI!

[FF] Vice Admiral Nairne · March 2018

Enterprise-B Montgomery Scott

One last bump for this. New assignment coming tomorrow.

Jim Steele · March 2018

Enterprise-B Montgomery Scott

Has to be Scotty, LLAP

Shan · March 2018

This is better suited for Strange New Worlds

[FF] Vice Admiral Nairne · March 2018

Enterprise-B Montgomery Scott

Shan wrote: »

This is better suited for Strange New Worlds

Well, I've been doing these in the main section of the forums going back to July 2016. For two years nobody has had any problem with them being here.

I'm not particularly interested in doing them if they're going to be shunted off to a side room. So I guess this is the end.

And I'd add: I disagree emphatically with the idea that these sorts of discussions are better suited to Strange New Worlds. This isn't general conversation about the shows, it's specifically a poll about new characters for Timelines and even the window dressing around it is designed as though it were taking place inside the game.

But that's your call, not mine. The only thing I can control is my participation.

[FF] Falken Maze · March 2018

Enterprise-B Montgomery Scott

Full disclosure, Nairne is a fleet mate of mine, but I have enjoyed these Assignment Recommendation polls long before joining FF. I know I can now find them in the Strange New World room but I would hate to see them relegated to a side room. The Bridge is where the most discussion is generated and these posts fit well with the Bridge theme of Timelines discussion.

Yateball · March 2018

Marla Gilmore

Agree... moving these here **tsk tsk**

Yateball · March 2018

Marla Gilmore

This poll has 70 votes, and if it's required to post these in Strange New Worlds now they'll get three or four.

I had a thread moved here today that was about Discovery which is understandable, these threads are about new characters requested for the game. @Shan How is that any different than the Most Wanted Crew sticky thread in The Bridge?

Almost a Angel · March 2018

Gideon Seyetik

Can I vote for two, of course I like Scott too! 😉 Oh and @Shan I'm not getting any younger, scrolling way down here is hard in my wrist...Rubs more ointment on. LOL

Data1001 · March 2018

[FF] Vice Admiral Nairne wrote: »

it's specifically a poll about new characters for Timelines

But it's not presented that way at all. By its very nature, it's presented as a diversion — a sort of side-game.

It’s Commander Branch again, the chief personnel officer at Starbase 63. As you may recall, we’re near a recurrent temporal anomaly, one of the more stable in this universe, and as a result we have a steady supply of displaced personnel, many of them well-suited to jobs in this universe. My job is to orient newly arrived refugees and find work for those willing and able to lend a hand to Starfleet at this difficult time.

There are, however, some special assignments which Starfleet Command has asked me to forward to you and some of the other captains running point during this temporal crisis. In each case I’ve compiled a dossier of potential candidates, and am looking for your recommendation for this difficult assignment.

Your own words above say nothing along the lines of "which characters (or variant) would you most like to see in STT?" If you only want to suggest new characters, there is already a thread for that. If your entire thread has nothing to do with STT, other than the fact it's about Star Trek, then Strange New Worlds is where it belongs.

[FF] Vice Admiral Nairne · March 2018

Enterprise-B Montgomery Scott

Data1001 wrote: »

[FF] Vice Admiral Nairne wrote: »

it's specifically a poll about new characters for Timelines

Your own words above say nothing along the lines of "which characters (or variant) would you most like to see in STT?" If you only want to suggest new characters, there is already a thread for that. If your entire thread has nothing to do with STT, other than the fact it's about Star Trek, then Strange New Worlds is where it belongs.

1. I've been doing this for two years. I assume the general forum member is smart enough to see this as the new crew suggestion poll that it is.

2. Strange New Worlds is for, "Discussions around the Television Show, Movies and other Star Trek related products" which this manifestly is not. The fact that it's presented as taking place as a side-game *within STT* makes it *more* appropriate to the bridge, not less. Outside of the STT game, this makes no sense as a discussion about the shows, movies or related products.

3. A thread for new character requests already exists, but there is no mechanism within the thread for the forum population generally to say which of the suggestions they prefer. Thus this particular series adds an extra element not covered elsewhere.

4. If, in fact, requests for new characters belong in "Strange New Worlds", than the stickied thread in the bridge forums should go here, too. They deal with precisely the same subject matter.

5. I know a lot of players enjoy these threads, and I've always felt they were a positive and lighthearted addition to a forum which often focuses on the negative. I've never seen a complaint about these polls in the two years I've been doing them; they were relatively infrequent and (if I may) smartly presented.

6. Shan obviously disagrees, and she's the moderator so its her call, regardless of my viewpoint. But there's no incentive for me to continue doing these threads if there aren't going to be enough votes to determine which characters people would like to see within the game. Regardless of your view or my view, these long-running and popular polls are coming to an end because Shan has made it impossible for them to continue.

Data1001 · March 2018

[FF] Vice Admiral Nairne wrote: »

Data1001 wrote: »

[FF] Vice Admiral Nairne wrote: »

it's specifically a poll about new characters for Timelines

Your own words above say nothing along the lines of "which characters (or variant) would you most like to see in STT?" If you only want to suggest new characters, there is already a thread for that. If your entire thread has nothing to do with STT, other than the fact it's about Star Trek, then Strange New Worlds is where it belongs.

1. I've been doing this for two years. I assume the general forum member is smart enough to see this as the new crew suggestion poll that it is.

I've been on the forums since early January 2017 and I never saw it as that, so I guess I'm not "smart enough"?

[FF] Vice Admiral Nairne wrote: »

3. Strange New Worlds is for, "Discussions around the Television Show, Movies and other Star Trek related products" which this manifestly is not.

How is it not? It's talking about characters, ships and planets that are from Star Trek. That exactly fits that description.

[FF] Vice Admiral Nairne wrote: »

The fact that it's presented as taking place as a side-game *within STT* makes it *more* appropriate to the bridge, not less.

How is it "within STT"? Show me where you reference the actual game in your OP. The only thing that comes close is talking about primary and secondary skills, but that's not exclusive to STT.

[FF] Vice Admiral Nairne wrote: »

3. A thread for new character requests already exists, but there is no mechanism within the thread for the forum population generally to say which of the suggestions they prefer.

Then you have presented it in such a way as to obfuscate that fact.

[FF] Vice Admiral Nairne wrote: »

5. I know a lot of players enjoy these threads, and I've always felt they were a positive and lighthearted addition to a forum which often focuses on the negative. I've never seen a complaint about these polls in the two years I've been doing them; they were relatively infrequent and (if I may) smartly presented.

Nobody's saying your threads aren't enjoyed or valid or positive or lighthearted or whatever. They were simply in the incorrect subforum. It's not a prison sentence. People can still easily find your threads, and interact as they did before.

[FF] Vice Admiral Nairne wrote: »

Regardless of your view or my view, these long-running and popular polls are coming to an end because Shan has made it impossible for them to continue.

The "I'm taking my ball and going home" thing seems like an extreme overreaction, since it's far from "impossible" to continue what you've been doing. But hey, it's your thang, do what you gotta do.

[FF] Vice Admiral Nairne · March 2018

Enterprise-B Montgomery Scott

Data1001 wrote: »

How is it "within STT"? Show me where you reference the actual game in your OP. The only thing that comes close is talking about primary and secondary skills, but that's not exclusive to STT.

From the opening:

It’s Commander Branch again, the chief personnel officer at Starbase 63. As you may recall, we’re near a recurrent temporal anomaly, one of the more stable in this universe, and as a result we have a steady supply of displaced personnel, many of them well-suited to jobs in this universe. My job is to orient newly arrived refugees and find work for those willing and able to lend a hand to Starfleet at this difficult time.

There are, however, some special assignments which Starfleet Command has asked me to forward to you and some of the other captains running point during this temporal crisis. In each case I’ve compiled a dossier of potential candidates, and am looking for your recommendation for this difficult assignment.

I'm not sure which temporal anomaly and temporal crisis you think I'm referring to, or which captains you think I'm referring to, outside the context of STT.

This is clearly and directly referring to STT players in their capacity as Federation captains, which is what they're referenced as within the game. It's also clearly referencing the central conceit of the game, which is that a temporal crisis has thrown different timelines together.

Outside of STT, this makes no sense. You aren't playing a Federation captain, and there is no overarching temporal crisis jumbling the various Star Trek franchises together in the various shows and films. This only happens within the framework of STT.

Take this outside of STT, which is what "Strange New Worlds" is specifically for, and it makes absolutely no sense.

Data1001 wrote: »

Then you have presented it in such a way as to obfuscate that fact.

Without meaning any offence to you, it legitimately astonishes me that anyone would look at these polls and not realize they were new character polls. Both because I've been explicitly running "new character polls" for two years, and because of the wink, wink nature of what I thought was a fun little in-game opening.

I'm not trying to cause confusion. I was trying to present these in a fun way within the STT universe, rather than the more boring real world "what character do you want next" approach.

Data1001 wrote: »

Nobody's saying your threads aren't enjoyed or valid or positive or lighthearted or whatever. They were simply in the incorrect subforum. It's not a prison sentence. People can still easily find your threads, and interact as they did before ... The "I'm taking my ball and going home" thing seems like an extreme overreaction, since it's far from "impossible" to continue what you've been doing. But hey, it's your thang, do what you gotta do.

If the polls don't get views, they fail in their basic purpose - showing which crew people within the forums want to see in the game.

Take a look around "Strange New Worlds". How many comments from the past week do you see outside of this specific thread? It's a dead zone. Intentionally or not, what Shan has done is kneecap them by taking away their raison d'etre.

That is of course her right - again, she's the moderator here, not me. But don't tell me these polls in this location are going to get anything close to the amount of attention they got on The Bridge. Without votes, they simply aren't worth my time to create.

Pallidyne · March 2018

Enterprise-B Montgomery Scott

Sorry Data, but I gotta side with OP on this one. Though It is done in a storytelling fashion, these character request polls have been going on since before either of us showed up AND appear to have led to several new characters being introduced. They were on hiatus for a while, which was very disappointing, but I am glad they are back.

I remember when 'coincidentally' shortly after a few polls in 2016 we suddenly got several characters that had topped the polls. Now those older polls were a little more direct in description, (so clarification would be a good thing) but I'm pretty shocked to have seen this moved.

I'm still grateful to former polls for bringing to the forefront charcters like Vina, Vic Fontaine and others that I've either already gotten or am trying to get that were heavily discussed because of those polls.

And Shan, I'm sorry, but maybe it was too obscure in the description, but don't you remember these from days gone by? I know you and Nod both read them based on other conversations.

Edit: Further exposition.

For Cardassia · March 2018

Enterprise-B Montgomery Scott

Just want to toss my support to the "these shouldn't have been moved" camp.

They are very clearly about the game. They aren't "who is your favourite Star Trek character?" polls, they are "within in the context of the game, which character with this kind of specialty should be 'chosen'"? Is it laid out in block letters and monosyllabic words that "THIS POLL IS FOR NEW CREW FOR THE GAME"? No, but it's also pretty clear by reading it. And I've personally enjoyed the little preamble before each poll. Makes it feel like more than a simple poll.

I was actually saddened when I couldn't find the new poll for this week, which I think speaks to the place these polls have within the community, and their relevance to the game.

Pallidyne · March 2018

Enterprise-B Montgomery Scott

Pallidyne · March 2018

Enterprise-B Montgomery Scott

I somehow feel this is falling on deaf ears.... or not even making it to the ears.

[FF] Vice Admiral Nairne · March 2018

Enterprise-B Montgomery Scott

Pallidyne wrote: »

I somehow feel this is falling on deaf ears.... or not even making it to the ears.

Yep.

Assignment recommendation: USS Brunel

Assignment recommendation: USS Brunel 73 votes

Comments