Argo Initiate Period
Congratulations on completing the application process and being accepted as an Argo Initiate. Please read on to learn about the initiate period and how to progress to full member!
Activity
Initiates are expected to be reasonably active in the fleet for a period of at least 30 days. You should make a point to try to involve yourself in not only RP, but also the OOC community. We’re friendly, get to know us! Note that activity is only one component of the initiate period, and it may take longer to complete your other promotion requirements.
Initiates will be removed from fleet when activity checks are made if they have not progressed to Member rank and have also not logged into the game for more than one month without leaving some kind of LOA notice/explanation. Should you happen to be an Initiate who gets removed on one of these sweeps and you’ve come back to the game, automatic re-invite to Argo and resumption of the trial period may be an option for you.
Restrictions
- In-game, Initiates cannot purchase items from the fleet store that require provisions.
- Initiates are only allowed one character in the fleet. We will not approve any alt apps until you are promoted to full member.
- Initiate characters must be part of the IC Fleet Orientation Program. Functionally this means your character will be assigned to our starbase. You will not be able to join or host a crew of other players. More on this below.
Fleet Orientation Program
As an Initiate in Argo, your character will be assigned to complete a Fleet Orientation Program. Completing this program is an OOC requirement to progress to full member, but is also an in-character construct to help guide your first RP steps and to orient your character to the fleet.
IC, most characters will be placed on temporary assignment to our starbase (or faction equivalent) during the initiate period. To complete this program, you must complete at least three tasks from the list below.
In addition to the tasks you choose to RP, your character will be assumed to be doing other background orientation tasks like receiving their access codes, studying local starcharts, learning the fleet structure and chain of command, etc.
Initiate Task List
The tasks below are grouped into categories, but you may choose ANY three individual tasks to fulfill your requirement, regardless of category.
Some tasks may be more appropriate for some kinds of characters than others, so make sure to select what’ll work best for you! If you find you are having trouble completing your tasks, feel free to reach out to staff and we’ll be happy to help you out.
Attend Orientation Events
These events are held periodically throughout the year and may or may not be scheduled during your initiate period, or on a day/time when you happen to be available. If you are particularly interested in one of these, feel free to reach out to staff and we may be able to arrange one for you.
Your attendance at any of these events will be recorded by the host. No other documentation on your part is required.
-
Strategic Operations Briefing
Suitable For: Anyone
These periodic updates are hosted by 38th Fleet Command. They provide you (and your character) with a high-level overview of the general situation in our local area, a summary of recent events, and an opportunity to ask questions and offer suggestions. -
Regional Intelligence Briefing
Suitable For: Anyone
These periodic updates are hosted by DS13 Intelligence. They provide you (and your character) with a focused review of recent events and ongoing operations, and an opportunity to ask questions and offer suggestions. -
Diplomatic Situation Briefing
Suitable For: Anyone
These periodic updates are hosted by the Federation Diplomatic Corps. They provide you (and your character) with an overview of the diplomatic situation in our local area, with a summary of nearby civilizations and their relationships with the Federation. You will also have an opportunity to ask questions and offer suggestions. -
Icebreakers
Suitable For: Anyone
The DS13 Counseling Department holds regular icebreaker morale meetings. Officers may attend voluntarily, or it may be mandatory (ie. if you want to go but you don’t think your character would volunteer). OOCly, these events are designed to give characters a setting to introduce themselves to others in a social setting other than ye olde bar trek.
Get An Evaluation
These tasks all involve completing an RP in which another player’s character will write an evaluation of yours. You can request an appointment for any of these evaluations here. After arranging the RP all you have to do is show up, the evaluator will make sure you get credit for completing your task.
-
Baseline Medical Assessment
Suitable For: Anyone
Complete an RP session with a DS13 medical officer. The doctor will write an IC evaluation of your character’s physical health. -
Baseline Psychological Assessment
Suitable For: Anyone
Complete an RP session with a DS13 counselor. The counselor will write an IC evaluation of your character’s mental health. Note: Non-Federation characters will have a significantly different psychology-based experience suitable to their respective faction. -
Small Craft Qualification
Suitable For: Anyone
Complete an RP session with a DS13 operations officer. The officer will write a pass/fail evaluation of your character’s qualification to pilot shuttlecraft. -
Weapons Qualification
Suitable For: Anyone
Complete an RP session with a DS13 security officer. The officer will write a pass/fail evaluation of your character’s qualification with personal weapons. -
Observing Officer Evaluation
Suitable For: Crew
Attend any RP event with an Argo crew and ask any other attending character to write an IC evaluation of your character’s performance. You can repeat the process with different crews and multiple evaluations will count towards your total. -
Starship General Readiness Inspection
Suitable For: Captains
Complete an RP inspection of your character’s starship with a Fleet Command authority. The inspector will write an IC evaluation of your character’s ship and crew. -
Starship Technical Inspection
Suitable For: Captains
Complete an RP inspection of your character’s starship with a DS13 engineer. The inspector will write an IC evaluation of your character’s ship.
Evaluate Someone Else
Suitable For: Captains, Operations, Security, Engineering, Medical, Counseling
Completing any of the ‘Get An Evaluation’ tasks listed above for another character as the evaluator will also count as one of your tasks. If you choose to take this on, you will be responsible for completing the RP and posting your character’s evaluation in the appropriate thread. Completing additional evaluations of the same type for different characters will count towards your total.
Submit An After Action Report
Suitable For: Anyone
Participate in a mission RP and provide an After Action Report on the event after it happens. If an AAR is already submitted for an event you attended, you can always provide an ‘Addendum’ report that provides your character’s perspective specifically.
You can write more than one AAR and count each towards your total, however, only one task will be counted per RP session. For example, attending two events and writing an AAR for each counts as two tasks but, attending an event in which someone is doing an Observing Officer Evaluation for you and then writing an AAR for the same event would only count as one.
Do Your Job
These tasks involve RPing your character performing their duties. Your RP session must include at least one other player. These can be scenes of your own creation, or may be provided by other players, but they must be unique RP sessions, not simply parts of other organized events.
(Since tasks in this category may not produce a report on the forums, please post a reply to your character application here to let us know that you’ve completed one, and include the name of the other characters that joined you.)
-
Operate Something!
Suitable For: Operations
The Operations Department on a starbase is a diverse group of specialists and generalists. In addition to command-track officers in middle-management roles, this is where you’ll find your communications and logistics officers, transporter chiefs, pilots, and computer programmers. To complete your task, you must complete an RP session in which your character performs their day-to-day duties. This may be something like preparing the duty schedule, or a shift handling traffic control, or doing an inventory or transfer of cargo, or setting up an LCARS update. Maybe your character is on duty in the transporter room, or assigned to ferry someone/something on a shuttle. The other character(s) involved may be fellow operations officers, or other persons involved in or requiring the task. -
Organize or Participate in a Security Drill
Suitable For: Security
Starbase security has to deal with everything from simple unauthorized access attempts, to alien invasions, to breaking up bar fights. The department frequently runs drills and simulations to keep its officers prepared for anything and everything the universe might throw its way. To complete this task, have your character organize or participate in a security drill. The other character(s) involved should be fellow security officers, but you can also recruit other players to act out parts or be NPCs for the scenario. (Note: if there is an actual non-drill security incident that your character is involved in, you can file an AAR to get credit for that.) -
Perform Maintenance or Repairs
Suitable For: Engineering
The various systems and equipment around DS13 need constant maintenance and occasional repairs. The fleet’s starships also make frequent use of the station’s drydock. To complete this task, have your character perform maintenance or repairs on either the station itself or on a ship in drydock. The other character(s) involved may be fellow engineers, or they may be the people requesting the repairs/maintenance. -
Conduct an Analysis or Investigation
Suitable For: Intelligence
Among its other duties, the intelligence team is responsible for digesting intelligence data gathered during the fleet’s missions and synthesizing it into usable reports and recommendations. To complete this task, have your character follow-up on a fleet event. The other character(s) involved may be fellow intelligence officers, or they may be interviewees or interrogation subjects, or they may be command authorities receiving your character’s recommendations. (Hint: posted AARs are your best starting-point to find plotlines to follow) -
Prepare for Briefing
Suitable For: Intelligence
To complete this task, have your character assist the Chief Intelligence Officer in preparing for the Regional Intelligence Briefing orientation event. The live RP requirement for this task may be waived if you provide IC forum posts or other prepared remarks that assist the chief in preparing to host the briefing. This task is only available during the lead-up to a scheduled Regional Intelligence Briefing. Completing this task and then attending the actual event may count as two separate tasks. -
Perform an Experiment or Analysis
Suitable For: Science
From testing theories to analyzing samples brought back by the fleet or away missions, the station’s science labs are constantly in-use. To complete this task, have your character perform an experiment or conduct a scientific analysis. The other character(s) involved may be fellow scientists, or they may be the people who asked your character to run the experiment/analysis. -
Prepare a Lecture
Suitable For: Science
Part of being a scientist is presenting your findings. There are two ways to complete this task. You can either host an RP event in which your character delivers a lecture on a particular scientific topic to a live audience, or you can make a forum post containing your character’s lecture. If you choose to complete this task via forum post, you do not need to complete a live RP session - instead, other players who read your post will be permitted to say that their character(s) attended the lecture off-screen. The topic is completely up to you. It can be something general in your character’s field of expertise, or the results of a particular experiment, or even an analysis/presented findings from something that happened in an RP event. -
Treat an Illness/Injury
Suitable For: Medical
DS13’s sickbays provide medical treatment to not only the station’s population, but also to any visitors. It also receives cases that are too critical to be handled aboard the fleet’s starships. To complete this task, provide medical care to another player’s character. -
Provide Counseling
Suitable For: Counseling
DS13’s counselors provide psychological evaluation and counseling for the station’s population and the entire fleet. To complete this task, provide counseling services to another player’s character. -
Ask for Help
Suitable For: Anyone
Many of the above tasks rely on or can be improved by having someone else providing the prompt. If your character creates a prompt that leads to one of the above tasks, you can receive credit as well. For example, having your character suffer an injury and letting it be treated by another player’s medical officer. Or calling engineering to have another player’s character come fix a device, or conduct repairs on your character’s starship. (Hint: this task is a great option if your character doesn’t fit in one of the above categories, eg. if you’re a civilian.)
Promotion to Member & Permanent Assignment
The initaite period ends when both of the following conditions have been met:
- The player and character have been reasonably active for 30 days.
- The player has completed at least three of the RP activities from the Initiate Task List above.
Once these conditions have been met, you are eligible for promotion to the rank of “Member”. Typically we will pull you into a discord ticket to discuss your progress when the time comes, but please don’t be afraid to reach out to staff to check - especially if you feel like you have met the criteria but have yet to be promoted. After all, we’re only human!
Upon promotion to member, all initiate restrictions will end, and we will discuss your character’s post-orientation assignment. Character assignments in argo are centered around our “player groups”, and as a full member you will either join or create a group. In the most common examples, Captains can join a starship squadron, create a new squadron, or create a player crew. Lower ranked characters can remain on the starbase crew, or join a player crew.
After your character has been assigned, if you ever need assignment changes in the future (transfers, promotions, etc.), you can simply reply to your original character application (found here) and we’ll help facilitate it.