Reporting for Duty

In the 80's, I tried to get in with the "Dungeons and Dragons" crowd, but they didn't want a girl. Same thing with "Magic: The Gathering" in the 90's.  I can't really blame them for not wanting me. Role playing games can be a safe place where geek guys can be themselves, without fear of being judged, and including a girl could really throw off that dynamic. For a long time, it seemed I was destined to be shut out of that world, as fictional as it was.
And then, in the new millennium, and two amazing things happened: MMOs, and Felicia Day.

MMORPGs (Massively Multi player Online Role Playing Games) brought the whole thing online. Now, it's possible to get involved without anyone knowing who you are. You can immerse yourself in the character, and there will be people all over the world, who will only know you as only the character you create.

Felicia Day embraced this, and has been a leader for geek and gamer women, like me, who have waited for our chance to get in on this. About a year or more ago, I started watching her series "The Guild." Immediately, I wanted to join my own guild.
Do I even need to mention that the game I chose to focus on was "Star Trek Online?" Seriously, duh.

I started playing in November of 2011, and quickly became addicted. For about 9 months, I played on my own, venturing out on a few missions with my friend Data, and then some other strangers. It was about a month ago that one of these strangers invited me to join a fleet, and I accepted.

I have to admit, being invited to join Starfleet Elite Force is in the top 3 exciting invitations I've received in my life*. Not only did it mean that I didn't totally suck as a fictional Starfleet Officer, but it felt like the invitation to the "cool table" at lunch that I had always been waiting for.

But of course, that night, I couldn't sleep.What if I had accepted too soon? Was this the right fleet for me? What if they were mad when they found out I was a girl? What if I just couldn't "hang?" What if? What if? I agonized on this for about a week before I went on my first mission.

After that first mission, I realised that while I'm not the best player, I'm not the worst. In fact, we all have our strengths, and what's great about being part of a fleet, is that we all learn how to work within our strengths, and the strengths of our team mates, in order to become the strongest team possible.

In fact, in 9 months of just trying to figure out the game on my own, here's what I learned:

• Don't ever mix muscle relaxers and wine before logging on. It only leads to an akward "warp of shame" the next morning.
• Tribbles breed. A lot.
• Don't get your ship lodged in a starbase.

In just one month of playing with the fleet, I've learned so much more, that will actually help me be a better Starfleet officer. For instance.

• It probably wasn't a good idea to use my porn name** as my character name. I'm now forever known as "Tingley" to my fleet. I guess it could be worse, as far as nicknames go.
• Rainbow Ships are ships that have multiple kinds of weapons.
• Rainbow Ships are bad.
• I have a Rainbow Ship. (It seemed like a good idea to diversify my weapons. Apparently not.)
• Even though it's not real, it's still OK to totally geek out when you meet McCoy or Scotty in the game. Everyone else does.
• Don't piss off the Borg. (OK, I knew that before, but now I know that that's called "Agro.")
• Other terms I've learned: DPS, PUG, and SOP
• Star Trek humor is funnier when everyone gets it.
• When you go off course, and someone on TeamSpeak politely says "Tingley, where are you going?" - They don't actually want the story of how you were going to shoot at something, and then realised you were flying too close to something else that was going to kill you, and you swerved out of the way, forgetting that you have no real turning radius until you separate your saucer section. Just apologise, and get your ass back to where you're supposed to be. They will forgive you.
• There is no shame in putting post it notes on your monitor that say "Right" and "Left." (OK, there's some shame in it, but being able to go in the correct direction makes up for it.)

• Don't remind your fellow fleet members that their female avatars would actually be too top heavy to fight the borg in real life. Just let them have their fantasy alien woman.
• Don't get wedged behind your own cover shield. But if you do, fess up before you begin the mission. Your team will forgive you if you are just honest.
• And, most importantly of all, have fun.

...And it has been fun. All of the fleet members have been super-great, and patient, and I've been improving every day. I'm sure there are loftier goals in life, and more noble pursuits, but right now, I'm perfectly happy trying to be the best part of the team I can be. What I do online may not make a difference to the world, but I can be an important part of SFEF, and that can make a difference in the fictional, future galaxy that I, and almost 200 other people in the fleet, call "home."

See ya in the Alpha Quadrant!

Jenny Lee


*In order:
     1. Marriage proposal from 3of8
     2. Very first internship offer from the morning show at Power92
     3. Invitation to join Starfleet Elite Force

**Your porn name is the name of your first pet, and the street you grew up on.