UFP Department of Colonial Affairs FAQ
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What is UFPDOCA?
UFPDOCA stands for The United Federation of Planets, Department of Colonial Affairs. UFPDOCA is charged with the administration of, and supervision of, the various Federation member worlds' colonization efforts throughout explored space. DOCA's primary role is to act as the liaison between Federation colonies and the Federation government.
It is also charged with settling disputes that may arise between colonies and member worlds, or between member worlds themselves, on issues of colonization. The Department is a cabinet level office of the Federation government, headed by the Secretary for Colonial Affairs, who is appointed by the Federation President, and confirmed by the Federation Council.
Who is the current Secretary?
Currently, the office of Secretary of Colonial Affairs is vacant.
That's nice, but how does all of this fit into ASR?
UFPDOCA has been charged by the Flag Council, and the CINCSF, to catalog and provide information on the various colonies of the Federation, as created by players in various missions, as well as in their character bios. It is the hope of both myself, and the Flag Council, that by doing so, the 'tapestry' that is ASR will be improved, providing a resource for players and COs to draw upon for character information, as well as potential plots.
The possibilities for use by ASR players are endless. COs will have a large database of colonies to use for the purpose of building plots for their ships. Flag players will be able to know what worlds are in their areas, as well as provide interesting details for their commands. Individual players will have the opportunity to create new PCs and NPCs with richer backgrounds because of this.
Perhaps the greatest advantage is for players who create new characters. They need not always create a 'new' colony world from which their character hails, unless they choose to do so, of course. Instead, they will be able to access the DOCA database, and can tie a character to a preexisting colony--one which has all of the 'messy' details supplied already.
How does the UFPDOCA Secretary fit into all of this?
The Secretary of DOCA's purpose is to act as a facilitator and 'clearinghouse' for all of this information. While in RP, the Secretary answers only to the Federation President, in NRPG, the secretary answers to the player of the CINCSF, and the Flag Council.
The Secretary of Colonial Affairs is charged with creating a template and format for submissions to the ASR Colony Database. They are also charged with taking submissions, and adding them to the database, as well as seeking clarification from players as needed.
It should be stressed that this position is -not- a position with actual powers of 'judgement' over the 'worthiness' or any other creative question, of colony submissions. The Secretary is not someone who judges submissions prior to their inclusion. All submissions, so long as they are in the proper format, will be included in the database, regardless of the creator or content.
However, the standard ASR disclaimers about content standards gamewide apply. The Secretary would like to remind all potential contributors that this is a family forum, there are no cross-overs allowed, nor any ultra-powerful resident alien races.
Great! How do I submit a colony to the database?
Simple. The UFPDOCA Secretary has taken the liberty of creating a submission template to aide you in detailing your colony submissions. Simply fill in the details in the appropriate blanks, and send the submission to the Secretary. Please make the Subject header as follows: UFPDOCA: [colony] Where [ ] is the name of your colony. The Secretary will get back to you within a few days after sending your entry, and will let you know if there are any questions that need clarification, or information that needs to be provided.
So, what does the template look like?
Go to the UFP Department of Colonial Affairs Colonial Submission Template for a view.
What do the template fields mean?
To give you some idea of what kind of information is expected for each of these headings, here is a brief description of what each of them might entail.
UFPDOCA Official Submission Template
Colony Name: self-explanatory
Creator: If you created this world on your own, simply supply your own name. Otherwise, please detail the co-creators of the planet, since we do want to give credit to those who have earned it.
GEOGRAPHY
System/Location: Name of system, and location. If your colony is located near a neutral zone, near disputed territory, etc., please detail that information here.
Distance to Nearest Starbase: Approximate time, in days/weeks at Warp 6 to the nearest Federation starbase. This tells how remote the colony is, and also has a significant impact on how soon help could arrive from Starfleet. This base need not be one of the fleet command bases (ALPHA, GAMMA, DELTA, etc.). It can be one of the 'lesser' starbases, an outpost, DS station, etc.
Planet Classification: M-Class, L-Class, etc. This tells other players how large your planet is, and what kind of atmosphere it has. If the colony has a non-oxygen atmosphere, please detail what kind of atmosphere. Also, if the colony's gravity is significantly over or under 1G (Earth gravity), please detail this information here.
Note: DOCA has provided a table to help players with classifying colony worlds. Feel free to use these guidelines when developing your world. Also, consulting the Starfleet Sciences webpage can be of further help int his matter.
Satellites/Space Stations: Number of moons, and whether or not they are inhabited. Please also supply whether or not there are any orbiting space stations.
Land/Water Ratio: Percent land/percent water.
Climate Controlled: Yes/No. Some colonies will be, others will not.
Native Sentient Life: Yes/No. Again, some colonies will have it, and others will not.
COLONY INFORMATION
Colony Age (approximate): Years since the foundation of the colony. You may also, if you have a specific year in mind, supply that information, but that is not necessary- you may approximate.
Population (approximate): Again, exact figures are not necessary. You may approximate this number to the nearest million, thousand, hundred, etc.
Species Present: If the colony is almost entirely human, you may simply put 'Human' in this field. If there are a significant number of non-humans present (over 5 percent), please detail the percentages involved.
Colony Status: This field describes the colony's official and unofficial relationship with the UFP. Many colonies will be 'UFP Protectorates,' but others will be of other classes; independent, eg.
Government: If the colony has a specific form/manner of governing itself, detail this here. Some colonies will be in states of 'anarchy.' If this is the case, please detail how bad the situation is.
Major Cities/Settlements: Self-explanatory. This field may be left blank, if necessary.
History: Detail (briefly) the colony's history. Please include any important events, treaties, etc. here. Be detailed, but don't try to explain everything.
Economy: Most will be latinum-based, though depending on other factors (tech level, government, etc.), their economy could be based on something else. Also, this would be where you would detail any major products the world is noted for, or industries.
Tech Level: Level of technology. For most worlds, this will simply be 'Modern,' though, some may be less advanced.
Culture: Culture and society of the world. Describe what, if anything, makes the colony unique.
Notes: Use this field to cover anything that the other fields fail to cover.
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Do you have an example?
Check out the DOCA Colony Index for examples of completed colony entries.
Need I fill out each template field?
We would prefer it if you made your submission as complete as possible. This is for several reasons. Most importantly, the more detailed your submission is, the easier it will be for other players to use that colony in the future.
However, if you do have problems filling in details for each of the fields, please feel free to ask questions of the DOCA staff. We would be happy to explain the possibilities available to you for the different fields, and help you make your submission complete.
What is the address of the UFPDOCA homepage?
The UFPDOCA homepage can be found at the UFP Department of Colonial Affairs Bureau of Information site.
There, you can see the bios for the UFPDOCA staff, as well as look at the database of ASR colony submissions.
What are these 'megacorps' mentioned on the homepage?
'Megacorps' are giant, ultrapowerful Federation corporations, which have been created by various players in ASR for various uses. At this time, submissions for megacorps are only being accepted on invitation/case-by-case basis.
Anything else?
Nope. That's it. Fill out the form, send it to DOCA, and we'll take it from there. Someone will be back in touch with you shortly afterwards with any questions, and a personal thank you for helping in this project.
Once more, all you need to do is send it to the Star Fleet Flag Council. Thank you in advance for your interest and help.
Respectfully,
Karen Fainges
K'lip taiDulain, PhD
Former Secretary, UFP Department of Colonial Affairs (UFPDOCA)
Document History:
FAQ originally authored by Trevin Sandlin. Updated (v2.0) November 16, 1997 by Trevin Sandlin. Last revision (v2.2) October 16, 2003 by Scott Lusby.
