Gold Fleet- Players and Characters
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In simple terms, a "player" is a real-life person involved in the game (Alt.Starfleet.RPG). A "character" is someone living in the fantasy world of the ASR universe.
Players know that ASR is a game based on writing to and interacting with other players through game characters in a common place in a common fantasy world. The player often has knowledge that the character does not. In other words, if someone writes about what their character is thinking, but does not say it to another player's character, then there is no way for the character to know about it. However, the other player does read what is being thought by another player's character and this helps that player gain a clearer picture of the thought processes of the character and helps make for richer interactions. A player must always be cautious to make sure that their character is acting on information that the character knows, not extra information that the player knows.
In the ASR universe, there are two basic types of characters: player characters (PC's) and non-player characters (NPC's). Different ships, bases, fleets, etc. have slightly different rules for NPC's and PC's. Simple put, a PC is a player's main character. The player will most often write from the perspective of this character or about this character's actions. NPC's are like extras in the cast of a movie. When there are over a thousand people on a starship, it is very unlikely that a character will continue to interact only with a handfull of other crew members. Thus, NPC's are created by various players as they feel they are needed to fill out the role-playing environment.
Many ships try to keep track of a list of NPC's that people can refer to when they are in need of a character from a particular department. In general, unless a player has created an NPC for a specific purpose, the NPC is under the supervision of the respective department head. It is common practice that if an NPC is going to be killed or seriously injured, that the player supervising the character be informed first and asked if he or she has any objections. All characters, both PC and NPC have time invested in them and we try to be considerate of the players involved by discussing the fate of characters under their control with then before doing anything drastic.
In general, common sense should be used in interactions between characters. When acting as a character, try to put yourself in that character's place and use what you know about the character to judge how he or she would react in the given situation. Also, remember that the characters and players are different. Just because a character acts one way or thinks one way, do not think that they player is thinking the same thing. There are often players who are good friends who have two characters that hate each other.
And more than anything, remember this is just a game! So have fun!!!
