[ 3:03 PM] Kathryn Burke:  The next presentation is on how to write/participate on a sim if the CO isn't active.       
		[ 3:03 PM] StarDuster:  Happens all too often unfortunately ¬ 
		[ 3:04 PM] Kathryn Burke:  If Amelia doesn't show up in the next two minutes, we'll pinch hit. (edited) 
		[ 3:04 PM] Willvoy:  And i'll be participating in 2 panels at once ¬ 
		[ 3:04 PM] Kathryn Burke:  Cool! 
		[ 3:05 PM] Kathryn Burke:  Okay. I have nothing prepared, but I've dealt with this a lot. So, comments and examples will be appreciated! 
		[ 3:06 PM] Kathryn Burke:  We've all been on sims where either the CO or GM has stepped away for a bit and nothing is going on. That doens't mean you can't write, and it doesn't mean you can't move things foward. At least for a time. 
		[ 3:07 PM] Kathryn Burke:  I apologize for the typos. ¬ 
		[ 3:07 PM] Kathryn Burke:  I am NOT proposing hijacking the sim, but there are things you and other plyers can do while you wait. 
		[ 3:08 PM] Kathryn Burke:  We'll talk about some things you can do, and get others to help with, that can keep people happily writing until the CO returns.       
		[ 3:09 PM] Kathryn Burke:  First, there are always character development posts. Meet other people on the ship. This can be formally, as in a visit to their department, or it can be a chance encounter. 
		[ 3:09 PM] TheDoctor:  I’m dealing with it right now. We’re just messing around. Doing whatever. I’ve got one character in training for a recertification. Another is gossiping with friends. 
		[ 3:10 PM] StarDuster:  Love character development posts especially if it's characters or writers that don't usually get to interact. 
		[ 3:10 PM] Kathryn Burke:  (Nods* I've had characters accidentally walk into someone else's holodeck program. I've had things break, like replicators and showers, at awkward moments.       
		[ 3:10 PM] Kathryn Burke:  Standing in the middle of your quarters in a towel because the shower is soaking your quarters is a great ice breaker. 
		[ 3:11 PM] Kathryn Burke:  Feel free to add your own suggestions! 
		[ 3:12 PM] Kathryn Burke:  I've planned holodeck parties that go wrong. We had one that started out as a luau and was invaded by pirates. 
		[ 3:12 PM] Kathryn Burke:  You can take a part of the planned mission that involves your department and develop it with other players. 
		[ 3:13 PM] Kathryn Burke:  One of my first COs would plan a mission, write a brief description, get a message from Starfleet, brief the crew, then sit back and let us do the rest. 
		[ 3:13 PM] Josh:  ¬ 
		[ 3:14 PM] Kathryn Burke:  I was really gung-ho back then. I suggested things and he told me to run with them. It was only later that I realized he never planned to lead anything after the briefing. 
		[ 3:15 PM] Kathryn Burke:  Like StarDuster said, this is a great opportunity to interact with someone you'd never work with on a mission. 
		[ 3:17 PM] Kathryn Burke:  For example, if you're the doctor, instead of waiting for someone to come in for a physical, go to them. Or have something break and need it repaired. Call in ops or engineering to fix something and see how the two interact. 
		[ 3:17 PM] Amelia:  I'm a bit late, but I am here. 
		[ 3:17 PM] Kathryn Burke:  Meet someone in the arboretum. You can start a lot of friendships by bumping into someone. Literally. 
		[ 3:18 PM] Amelia:  Let me know when I can do mine 
		[ 3:18 PM] Kathryn Burke:  Go ahead. I was pinch hitting. ¬ 
		[ 3:19 PM] Gregory:  On one sim where it was December OOC and the GM didn't have any formal stuff planned (because of the holidays), one of the other players and I wrote a JP where she showed my character and his two tween nephews (that he has custody of) a holodeck program that was a ranch, but instead of horses it had various mythical winged creatures (Pegasus, griffon, etc.) and we had an air race. 
		[ 3:19 PM] Amelia:  Hehe. Be a few minutes though.. trying to rush up something       
		[ 3:19 PM] Kathryn Burke:  Okay. Jump in when you're ready.       
		[ 3:19 PM] Kathryn Burke:  While we wait, does anyone else have a suggestion?       
		[ 3:20 PM] Amelia:  Mine is more so advice than suggestion as I get many who are like I don't know what to do, write etc.       
		[ 3:20 PM] Kathryn Burke:  I have an ops character who is fascinated with old radios. She will often have parts strewn across a table. It opens up interesting conversations.       
		[ 3:20 PM] Kathryn Burke:  Or a science officer who built a treehouse on the holodeck.       
		[ 3:20 PM] Kathryn Burke:  And in the arboretum.       
		[ 3:21 PM] Kathryn Burke:  One sim had an entire sub-plot involving an elaborate garden on a starbase. (edited)       
		[ 3:21 PM] Josh:  Hope this was fun even though I was only here a few minutes       
		[ 3:21 PM] Kathryn Burke:  These are just some of the things you can do to write with others while you wait.       
		[ 3:21 PM] TheDoctor:  That reminds me of the “dinosaurs on a spaceship” subplot we did once. It was pretty hilarious. ¬ 1          
		[ 3:22 PM] Kathryn Burke:  I don't like solo posts, so I'm always looking at things I can do to involve other players.       
		[ 3:22 PM] Amelia:  As a GM Or Assitant GM, Have you ever had players tell you that I don't know what to write! I don't know what to do! I don't know how to participate, etc. despite what information is there?       
		[ 3:22 PM] TheDoctor:  Yep. I usually start a jp with them at once! Lol ¬ 1          
		[ 3:23 PM] Amelia:  A long time ago, a person told me that was GM that couldn't tell every person what to write, etc. Told me this... Don't start Jps with them... Tell them to envision as to how their character would act or react in situations and go with that.       
		[ 3:24 PM] Amelia:  Tell them to take their own Risks and Jump in , Create stories as to how their characters would do in situations, etc. It's also good as to why you give them a senario to do. If they can do that - Possible they can do more without being like a parent to them. 
		[ 3:24 PM] TheDoctor:  I so rarely have it happen that it’s usually because they ran out of JPs. (edited) 
		[ 3:24 PM] Amelia:  Writing is ABOUT creativitiy. ¬ 1          
		[ 3:25 PM] Amelia:  They should learn to embrace and experience their own creativity with Personal Logs, etc. 
		[ 3:26 PM] Amelia:  They can write with others, if they want. Embrace to start their own Jps as well and take the risks. If a gm doesn't like. Give opinon, but be thankful. SO many just join and sit on the sidelines, until they're tagged, etc. ¬ 1    
		[ 3:26 PM] TheDoctor:  Sometimes the muse is just dead and you need someone to say, “okay, here we go.” 
		[ 3:27 PM] Amelia:  Yea, but when you have mission details or what's going on so far in a mission. One can react with all of that, give their opinions of it, etc. Even as a doctor, Start jps with players - doing exams, etc. 
		[ 3:27 PM] Amelia:  Or create npcs and write. 
		[ 3:28 PM] TheDoctor:  I guess my sim is a bit weird. We don’t really have missions. Right now we’re dealing with a demon, but we’re meant to be disorganized, so that makes it a bit weird. 
		[ 3:28 PM] Amelia:  Engineering can do the daily of what he/she experiences in the engine area, even what could go wrong to fix, etc. Sto has a bit of this, but Star Fleet Core of engineering Books really can help as well. 
		[ 3:29 PM] Amelia:  for mine, I have a core mission, but players can keep an eye out on like the Xo mentioning them in a paragraph, etc. and forget to tag, etc. which does and can happen in sims. Even ones i use to do. I'd jump in and respond. 
		[ 3:30 PM] Amelia:  I want to say is let's try to encourage these players to do more than joint posts or waiting to be tagged. If they liked the main ship deal, storyline, etc. They can take references from movies, shows, books, etc. and florish. 
		[ 3:30 PM] Kylindra:  Part of the problem I have is that if I'm not tagged, I'm not sure what to do, and lack enough data to really project forward believable actions 
		[ 3:31 PM] Amelia:  They can Also ask the gm for ideas, etc. if they can't use other sources, but I say try to be the char. Be in the moment. how would he/she react in situations, act in other situations, etc. 
		[ 3:31 PM] Kylindra:  which is why I appreciate the idea of ideas/sources, but.. what do you do if you're staring at the previous sims and drawing a blank? 
		[ 3:32 PM] Amelia:  I had to create my own logs for a live sim - just to write and be creative with npcs, etc. as there's more than just those that you deal with daily. 
		[ 3:32 PM] TheDoctor:  That’s another problem with my sim: no reference material. We’re making it all up as we go along. It’s fun, but can be a challenge. 
		[ 3:33 PM] Amelia:  There's always reference materials that can be used - Ideas every where tbh like Daystrom, sto, other sims, other fleets, other sites that's fan or actual star trek sites. including the films made. 
		[ 3:33 PM] Amelia:  anything "similar" can be used. 
		[ 3:33 PM] TheDoctor:  Non trek. ¬ 
		[ 3:33 PM] Amelia:  I know that for an Episode in Voyager, they used the bible, they used other sources to write the story. 
		[ 3:34 PM] TheDoctor:  Vampire/Lycan/witches. But as I said, we’re making it up. 
		[ 3:34 PM] Amelia:  Even using just pure stories based on those can help, there's a sci-fi fantasy series that's similar to what you say, but I can't remember the name of it. 
		[ 3:35 PM] TheDoctor:  There are lots of them. 
		[ 3:35 PM] TheDoctor:  But tbh, we really don’t want influence past the generic lore. ¬ 1    
		[ 3:35 PM] Amelia:  You don't have to just use trek for your sources to imagine what could be used with advanced technology and mythical creatures. There are some similar in a few shows, including Strange new worlds for instance. 
		[ 3:36 PM] Gregory:  Think about the amount of times Trek has borrowed from Shakespeare. ¬ 1    
		[ 3:36 PM] Amelia:  Indeed. 
		[ 3:37 PM] TheDoctor:  Ooo now that’s an idea. 
		[ 3:38 PM] Amelia:  ^.^ Ideas are actually in a lot of places and tbh trek has taken ideas from other sources. they may not cite them, but it's obvious like Opera episodes in voyager or a time travel style taken like from other shows. 
		[ 3:39 PM] Amelia:  They've taken things and expanded some, but not past a lot of it - watching like the military episodes for instance and you'd see they just changed some/ a little, but kept true to the events, etc. 
		[ 3:41 PM] Amelia:  but I found ideas, not just in the video side made, but the books, etc. written by fans or even authors and get ideas, expand on the ideas. Creating like an outline if needed - guides as to what can be used. 
		[ 3:41 PM] Amelia:  or what affects the creatures, etc. 
		[ 3:43 PM] Amelia:  As a player, I would just take the mission outline, the course of what's gone on so far and be like okay where's my character at. how does she react to all of this. who are her friends, etc. If scared - ask if you can create npcs that don't have to be on the site. Chances are that it could be approved. 
		[ 3:46 PM] Amelia:  Not taking risks and sitting on the sidelines of a sim, story, etc. Won't help it go any where and won't help you as a player/writer. if get an idea, write. I respond to one right now that I honestly hvae no idea much on this temporal anonomly or time period, etc. But I write as to what my character would do and how she would respond with what is known - even generic usage. ^.^ like okay well say for instance Ops does this stuff, Science does this, Engineering does that. It'd be good to have an academy, but you can use academy sources from other fleets, fan sites, etc. on each profession, even your own. There's always guides out there in the pertaining department needed or to get just an understanding/ slight idea from.       
		[ 3:47 PM] Amelia:  Any questions? 
		[ 3:50 PM] Amelia:  None? 
		[ 3:51 PM] Gregory:  All very good points. 
		[ 3:53 PM] Amelia:  We've had a co be afk for many of a sim and used the information provided to continue on a bit further. even when none of us knew exactly what was expected, etc. We just went with what we've been writing with on the mission at hand and try to acheive a little more towards the goal. He took that and continued as well. So, taking risks - you'd be surprised at where things could go. it could likely be an addition and imo, it'd be rare to have a mad co/gm. If you do have one of those - yea the sim imo probably wouldn't do well and be harder to play in. 
		[ 3:55 PM] Kathryn Burke:  ¬ FIVE MINUTES ¬ 
		[ 3:57 PM] Amelia:  I'm leaving the last few minutes open for any questions, thoughts, etc. Feel free to speak your mind.       
		[ 3:59 PM] Maho Takahashi:  I missed the whole panel (and for that matter, most of the conference) so no questions here. ¬