OK, folx, here’s what you’ve been waiting for – it’s time to recruit testreaders for another Ship Recognition Manual! In this case, it’s the SRM: TOS Era.
If you’re interested in getting involved, here’s the process – it’s similar to past testreadings for the most part, but contains some important differences. So, read carefully.
First and most importantly, this is a two-part testread. The first part, which I’m ready for now, is a testread of the new construction rules (about 14,000 words’ worth – shouldn’t take most people more than an hour or two to read). Since they’re more extensive than those in other SRMs, I want to get them settled first before diving into the creation of 30-odd ships. The second part of the testread, to occur a month or more after the first part finishes, involves reviewing the ships created with the new rules. I want the same people for both testreads. If you can’t (or won’t) participate now, you don’t get to participate later. If you don’t want to review the ships, don’t sign up to read the rules. (I will certainly understand if real life issues come up to prevent you from going on to stage two, but please don’t sign up for stage one unless you’re pretty sure at this point that you’ll be able to remain involved later on.)
Second, you can only sign up to testread by sending me a private e-mail (to SteveL1979@aol.com, or use the link with this post) headed “SRM: TOS Era Testreading” and asking to be let in. Posting a note here asking to participate doesn’t work.
Third, I’m only going to take about 20-30 testreaders, so first come, first served. This hasn’t been a problem in the past, but you never know. If necessary I’ll extend some preference to people who have testread constructively for me in the past.
Fourth, there are some prerequisites for testreaders. I want to avoid problems that have occurred previously. So, please be sure you satisfy the following requirements before signing up:
1. I (or someone else involved with the process) will create a yahoogroups (or other type of) mailing list, to which you will automatically be subscribed or be sent a message asking you to subscribe. If you don’t want to be on a mailing list, or have trouble accepting mails from mailing lists, don’t sign up to testread. I reserve the right to eject unconstructive participants from the group.
2. You must be able to check your e-mail on a regular basis (preferably at least daily). The group will communicate via e-mail and send me reports by e-mail, and I want everyone to be involved.
3. You must be familiar with the Spacedock rules. By this I mean you should have a copy of the manuscript, you should have read through it, and you should have at least tried to design a couple of ships on your own. I don’t want to have to explain any rules or concepts to anyone.
4. You need to have some perspective. I am not a big TOS fan; I consider it, along with TNG and VOY, a far distant second to the best of the Trek shows, DS9. If you disagree, that’s cool; in fact, I want to have hard-core TOS fans participating! But I’m not going to re-write every rule to make Kirk & Co.’s ships cooler or what have you; in fact, the rules significantly inhibit them compared to 24th century ships, given the lower level of technology and whatnot.
As a corollary to the above point, I couldn’t give a damn about what Franz Joseph, Shane Johnson, or any other non-official source has to say about TOS era ships. They didn’t work for Paramount, and I consider their ability to make up information about starships no better, and usually worse, than my own (and probably yours, too – we have more information available to us today, for one thing). So, please don’t come into this thinking I’m going to follow what they said in their books; I’m probably not. Of course, if they report some canon fact I’ve overlooked, by all means, tell me; and if you have information from a more official/reliable source, I’d be glad to hear it. But don’t ask me to include versions of ships Joseph et al. made up for their books; I leave that for people to do for themselves and post on the TrekRPG.Net message boards if they like.
Similarly, I don’t have access to TAS, so it plays no role in the creation of the SRM: TOS Era. Nor do any of the novels. So, don’t ask.
5. You need to be able to work constructively with the group. This means several things.
First, leave your rudeness and sarcasm at the door. It’s not difficult to express differences of opinion, or questions about the manuscript, in a polite and constructive manner. If you can’t talk nicely with the rest of us, I’ll remove you from the mailing list and the testread.
Second, I don’t want to get involved in any flame wars or nonconstructive arguments. I want to have some awesome and constructive discussions, definitely! But pointless bickering does none of us any good.
Third, if I say, in effect, “OK, that’s it, let’s move on, I’ve got enough on this topic, thankyewvedymuch,” stop talking about that subject. I want to hear the testreaders’ frank opinions, ranging from “This is great!” to “Why did you do this, it makes no sense to me.” But ultimately a lot of these issues come down to differences of opinion. If you fail to convince me after taking a good stab at it, my opinion takes precedence – that’s the cool thing about being the author. Continuing to try to convince me after I’ve heard all the points and made up my mind is just a waste of time. As always, you’ll be free to change things to suit yourself in your own game.
6. You need to be able to read the manuscript and comment on it. I understand that sometimes real life issues come up unexpectedly and prevent you from doing something you want to and promised to – believe me, I understand, and I sympathize! But if you have a reasonable suspicion that real life issues may interfere with your involvement with the project, it’s better for both of us not to get started with it in the first place. Fortunately, there’ll be a long deadline – see below – which will help things on this front.
7. You need to be able to read the PDF I will e-mail to you individually. The PDF is sufficiently small to fall within any attachment size restrictions I have ever heard of. I don’t believe there were any problems with this previously, except for the Case of the Mysteriously Dropped Apostrophes, and a couple of people with messed-up e-mail accounts, but we can live with that.
So, do you think you can live with those requirements? Still want to get involved? Then I’d love to have your input!
“But, Steve!” you exclaim. “This sounds like a lot of work – readin’ pages and checkin’ math and stuff. What do I get for helping you out this way and sacrificing my valuable time?”
Glad you asked. All participants who participate fully get three things:
1. My eternal gratitude.
2. A mention in the “Special Thanks” section of the book.
3. One of the coveted Pink Elephant Awards! Accept no substitutes; this is the genuine magilla. Previous recipients of the PE are eligible for additional PEs.
People who go above and beyond the call, for example by checking the math in all the Starship Templates during stage two, may qualify for additional rewards, up to and including the Exalted Pink Elephant of Merit Award.
Since I will be out in L.A. helping to craft the new Star Trek rules for Decipher from April 2 to April 13, the deadline for submitting your final notes/report to me will be tentatively set for April 16, 2001. We’ve probably got some flexibility on the deadline if need be, but given the small size of the first file, I doubt we’ll need it.
So, there you have it. Any questions or thoughts? If so, please feel free to drop me a line via e-mail or post a note here.
One other thing, before I forget -- when you e-mail me indicating your interest in participating, please provide the full name (plus nickname, if desired) that you want to appear in the credits.
OK, folx, the sign-up period for testreaders is now CLOSED. Thanx very much to everyone who volunteered, and I hope those who didn't quite make it in will consider signing up for the testreading of future books.
Testreaders Needed For SRM: TOS Era
But don’t ask me to include versions of ships Joseph et al. made up for their books; I leave that for people to do for themselves and post on the TrekRPG.Net message boards if they like.
Continuing to try to convince me after I’ve heard all the points and made up my mind is just a waste of time. As always, you’ll be free to change things to suit yourself in your own game.
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