Marines

[FruitLoop]

Alright. I'm going to be honest, don't be afraid to be honest back. I have tried to recruit 3 ships in the past. None of them came here because we don't have very many classes with Marines. I have just tried to recruit the 4th player in 2 months. None of them wanted to sim here because they play Marines best. I know a lot of Marines turn into Deathblade characters, but some people actually do play good marines. And after the Dominion War, it makes sense that they would still have them. The DW put a different spin on the Quadrant. And I know Kitty's old argument. If Kirk or Picard or Janeway had Marines they would have used them. That was before the Dominion War. We are almost 15 years after that, and I doubt that the Federation would have dropped its guard that soon. I think they would still have Marines on any class big enough to have them because of the War. It sort of woke them up that not everyone is as nice as they are. And honestly, it's losing us players. Do we want to lose players because of this type of opinion? Who knows, maybe they would have played another dept down the road. If we did have Marines, we might have had three more very active ships. I'm concerned that this is hurting the fleet. I don't want to see PF hurt because of an attitude towards a certain dept. That's my two cents.

[Williams]

We have low numbers of marines on our ships because that's what feels most realistic to us - even after the Dominion War, Starfleet is a peacekeeping and exploratory armada, and so they aren't going to outfit every ship with enough room a battalion of marines.

However, we have always said that there is room for flexibility; new COs or prospective COs can submit a deviation request to R&D - they would have to give up something in their specs, say a cargo bay, and in return (if they made a good enough argument obviously, beyond "they're awesome! Ka-pow!") they'd get a reasonable amount of marines to fit in the space that would be converted for them.

We altered a few things last time this came up to try and make the deviation requests a more visible aspect of R&D, but if anyone wants more details on it, info should be on the R&D site.


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[FruitLoop]

Okay. I'll try to put the word out for the next few. *grumble grumble*

[Alex]

I won't add much because Admiral Sanchez explained in pretty well. Outside of the normal classes assigned marines, other ships can use them if the CO gives a compelling enough argument, subject to R&D's approval. They will lose something in exchange, such as the afore mentioned cargo space in order to meet limitations of the ship. This goes for any change a CO would like to make, including requesting a tank, hazard team, new shuttle loadout, or anything else, all subject to R&D approval. This has been fairly under utilized. Perhaps it would be good to add a better process. I'll put together a proposal to the PFA for a standard template that we might be able to add to IFS. That might help raise awareness.

[Sengar Anjohl]

I don't know if I have a right to speak here, but I just want to say, some ships, like mine, the USS Vancouver, are small ships, and don't really support marines. I mean a Nova class wouldn't support marines, I don't think. And I also think the Intrepid, like mine, is a little small for marines. That is where I stand with marines, size of ship.

[FruitLoop]

Yes, but in this fleet even larger ones aren't allowed to have Marines unless you ask for special permission, meaning that they could deny it if they wanted to.

[Sengar Anjohl]

Oh I didn't know that...

[Alex]

It depends on the category of the ship. Carriers and cruisers all come with marines. A pretty good argument could be made for destroyers, though corvettes would be a little more difficult due to their smaller size. Ships-of-the-line generally will not have marines because they usually act as the Federation's flagships. The are designed as multi-role vessels that are well suited for combat and science, but are also often used for diplomatic functions or command of fleets. Marines could be allowed on them if the CO has a good enough reason.

Marines can be tough because while they do offer a chance for a unique roleplaying experience, they offer opportunities for abuse if not handled carefully. As we have said before, some ships simply do not lend themselves well to marines, while others do. The best option for potential players is to look into a ship that does offer marine positions, since those ships are often better suited for that type of role. Ships with available marine positions do exist, although it may not be the ship that is doing the recruiting.