Tiered Awards System
Summary
Methods of writer and character recognition are divided into three categories: Character Awards, Writer Awards, and Promotions. Character Awards are further subdivided into Automatic, Minor, and Major categories, while Writer Awards are subdivided into Automatic and Other categories. Information on obtaining each type of award, or nominating others for awards, are listed under each award type, and summarized at the end.
Character Awards
Character Awards may be awarded to an individual character (or group of characters) to recognize outstanding service or some other milestone by that character. Character Awards may also be awarded to characters to recognize outstanding work by that character's writer.

The primary restriction on Character Awards is that they must make sense within the context of the character's biography. For instance, if a writer writes an outstanding arc in which their character does a major service to the Federation, that arc may be worthy of a Character Award, because it makes sense in-character for the character to receive the award. But, if a writer writes an outstanding arc in which their character goes on a massive killing spree, that arc would not be eligible for a Character Award because it doesn't make sense in-character. In this case, the arc may be worthy of a Writer Award (see Writer Awards section).

Automatic Character Awards
This class of awards includes items that are awarded simply by a character's participation in something. Awards in this category include Academy Graduation/Basic Training/graduation from other university-level programs, Dedicated Service ribbons, and ribbons awarded for participation in battles or campaigns.

These awards are typically added by the Webmaster during regular biography updates. If a ribbon is omitted from a character's bio, or a writer wishes to have such an award added to their character's bio, that writer need only send a message to the Webmaster reminding them to include the ribbon on their character's bio.

Minor Character Awards
This category includes ribbons like Combat Action, Exploration, Commendation for Excellence, and the like. These ribbons should be used sparingly in a character's biography before he joins the game, and any additional awards must be earned once the character is a part of the crew.

Any writer may nominate any other writer or character for a Minor Character Award. Writers may also nominate their own characters for a Minor Character Award. For more details, see the Nominating for Awards section.

Major Character Awards
This category includes awards like the Federation Star, Starfleet Cross, Golden Starburst, etc. These awards should be rarely (if ever) seen in a character's bio before he joins the game, and take a great deal of effort to earn in-game.

Any writer may nominate any other writer or character for a Major Character Award. Writers may also nominate their own characters for a Major Character Award. However, the effort necessary to receive such an award is much greater than it is for a Minor Character Award. For more details, see the Nominating for Awards section.
Writer Awards
Writer Awards are designed to reward writers for outstanding service, but for whom it may not make sense to give their character an award. Writer awards can be awarded to writers regardless of their character's status or what is going on with their character's personal arc. For instance, if several characters write an outstanding sub plot in which their characters mutiny, their characters may be eligible for court martial, but the writers themselves may be eligible for a Writer Award.

Automatic Writer Awards
This class of awards includes items like length of time spent on the game, Simmer of the Mission, High Poster of the Mission, etc.

Automatic Writer Awards are awarded automatically, either at the end of a mission (for mission-related awards) or at intervals (for time in-game). These awards will be added to each writer's bio by the Webmaster during regular site updates. If a ribbon is inadvertently omitted from a writer's bio, that writer need only send a message to the Webmaster to remind them to include the ribbon on their writer bio.

Other Writer Awards
Awards in this class may include items like Outstanding Personal Character Arc, Outstanding Side Plot, Outstanding New Writer, and similar awards.

Other Writer Awards will typically be awarded at the end of a mission, as this is when most other awards are given. Any writer may nominate any other writer for a Writer Award. Writers may also nominate themselves for a writer award. (Please see the Nominating for Awards section.)
Promotions
Promotions are both a form of character recognition as well as writer recognition, and should be considered at the same level or higher than a Major Character Award. The writer receiving the promotion must have shown an extended period of above average writing and leadership within the game. In addition, the promotion must make sense for the character receiving the promotion.

Under normal circumstances, Player Characters receive these sorts of merit-based promotions. (Typically, APCs and NPCs receive no promotions, or are "socially promoted" when it becomes necessary for the advancement of a storyline.) However, a writer who is chosen for promotion may elect to apply the promotion to a secondary character of theirs (perhaps in a case where their PC is a lazy slob, but their APC is a fine officer). The only restriction in this case is that the writer's APC must be of equal or lower rank to their PC.

A general rule of thumb is that a writer must enter the game at the rank of Ensign (or equivalent) and be a member of the game for at least one year before receiving their first promotion, and that writers are usually promoted no more than once a year. However, this should not be taken as hard fact. Characters may be promoted more quickly than this for a few reasons: outstanding service well above and beyond the call of duty coupled with regular PC development, departure of a department head requiring the department's senior Ensign to be promoted to fill the vacant position, etc.

Any writer may nominate another writer/character for promotion. Writers may also nominate themselves. Please see the next section for more information.
Nominating for Awards
In general, any writer may nominate any other writer (including themself) for any sort of award.

Nominating During Mission Feedback
In the newly revamped Mission Feedback format, Part 3: Writer-Related Questions is specifically designed to solicit writer feedback that will be used as input when it comes time to determine the next round of awards to be given.

In the case of Simmer of the Mission nominations, these will be compiled as usual, and the winner will have the Simmer of the Mission ribbon added to their writer bio. This will not change the current format of Simmer of the Mission feedback-- all responses received will continue to be added to the special Simmer of the Mission page at the end of each mission's weekly logs.

Feedback compiled from other writer-related questions in the mission feedback survey will be used as general input when deciding other writer or character awards. For instance, if Writer A or Character Z receives several pieces of positive feedback in this section, this may be cause for them to receive either a character or writer award (GM's discretion, but typically whichever is more logical for the writer/character involved).

Nominating at Other Times - Nominating Others
At any time, any writer may submit feedback to the GMs regarding awards or promotions. The quickest way to do this is to send an email to the GMs (tvara@ussgalaxy.net).

This may be accomplished very generally:
"I think Writer A deserves recognition for the work they did this past mission."
"Character Z really kicked ass this last mission, and I think they deserve something for it."

Or it may be accomplished very specifically:
"I think Character Y deserves Specific Award for saving Poor Lost Souls during Most Recent Mission."
"I think Writer B deserves an Outstanding Side Plot award for the plot they just wrapped up."
"Writer C has really been awesome over the past several months; I think they deserve a promotion for their work."

This sort of feedback will be compiled by the GMs and will influence their decision-making process.

Nominating at Other Times - Self-Nomination
At any time, any writer may also nominate themselves for an award. Again, this may be accomplished by sending an email to the GMs (tvara@ussgalaxy.net).

This may be accomplished very generally:
"I've really been busting my ass over the past few months and I think I deserve some credit for it."
"My character's really grown recently...any chance of a related award for it?"

Or it may be accomplished very specifically:
"I'd like to have a Commendation for Excellence added to my character's biography because of my work in the most recent mission."
"I just wrote a 30,000 word epic; would it be eligible for Outstanding Side Plot?"
"I've been here for two years now. When do I get a promotion?"

Writers may also ask for information/guidance if they would like to try for an award:
"I'd like for my character to get a Commendation for Excellence in the next mission. What do I need to do to accomplish that?"

However, in the last instance, please note that unless the GM's criteria are specific and quantifiable, fulfillment of the expected criteria is still subjective. For example, if the criteria are "eight posts of at least 2,000 words in length over the next three weeks" (maybe useful when judging a proper side plot), and that criteria is met, the award is given. But if the criteria is "We need to see a significant increase in posting over the next mission", and the writer goes from 4 posts in a 3 month period to 6 posts in a 3 month period, that may not qualify as a "significant increase". But if that writer goes from 4 posts to 25 posts...that's more likely to merit an award.

Please keep in mind that self-nomination carries less weight than nomination by others. It's possible that everyone has missed the genius of your last several posts, but this is a game based on the recognition of fellow writers, so if nobody else is singing your praises, you might be doing something wrong. Also, keep in mind that frequently self-nominating yourself, especially if you're the only one nominating yourself, may lead to GM frustration and make you less likely to receive awards in the future. (Just like bugging your boss every week for a raise is not likely to get you on his list of favorite people.)
How Awards are Decided
Generally, a list of award nominations is narrowed down based on the amount of feedback received by other writers (frequently nominated writers are more likely to receive awards if they deserve them), when they last received an award, general performance within the game, etc. The GMs will compile a list of all award-related feedback received over the course of the mission and use that to determine a list of awards to be handed out at the end of each mission.

Usually, only a handful of writers will receive awards in any given mission. One exception is a battle/campaign ribbon or something similar that is awarded to the entire crew, or a majority of it. There may be many writers deserving of an award at the end of a mission, so in order to avoid a huge glut of awards all at once, some awards may be held over to the end of the next mission, in order to prevent a situation where there are 40 awards after one mission and 2 after the next mission. Or, there may be instances where a writer/character is on the borderline for an award, so they remain on the list of potential future awards, until their performance in some future mission pushes them from the realm of "possible award material" into "definite award material".

Any writer may nominate any other writer, and they may nominate as many writers or as frequently as they want, but the decision to give awards is ultimately made by the GMs.
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