Custom ranks?

[waxen wyvern]

Will there be options for customizing the rank structure?

For instance, something that a non-UNSF crew/ship would use. Or more minimal, or even more complex, rank structures as they are now (E.G. adding more enlisted ranks, expanding on admiralty-like ranks).

[bold mural]

Sound cool, and would be good for RP.

[proven magnet]

Right now the ranks are tied to roles directly, but once we have an actual rank structure I'll have a look at how we can add some customisation to it.

Initially I've been reluctant to add things like rank, uniform and alert customisation, because it's going to be confusing if you join a multiplayer game and none of the ship structure makes sense. But, I can definitely see the value in making a much deeper RP environment.

[waxen wyvern]

I believe your current rank structure is Enlisted, Ensign, Lieutenant, Lieutenant Commander, Commander, Captain, Admiral, and Ambassador -- though I haven't been on either build in a while, so I don't remember precisely -- and are in my opinion great as-is.

It fits the bill of a pre-Star Trek era, humanity-focused UN organization (my explanation is wanting). It mostly covers the archetypal spectrum (I'm reaching with this explanation; maybe better explained as simply a good coverage across the main officer ranks -- junior, senior, and flag) of world military officer ranks, with some omissions that others might find valuable, but ~6 officer ranks is a good balanced number. I could see people using less, not more, at least on the officer side (and depending on number of people on a server at any time).

I do see some potential on the enlisted side, and while it's counter to the argument "everyone's an officer", which I've just happened upon elsewhere and I don't think you ever outright declared, some ships may find more use for an expanded enlisted rank structure (as well as officer ranks, but I digress).

If anything, the ability to change the name of the rank could suffice (maybe not even just in the short-term), and maybe some additional enlisted ranks, though I'm not in a position to offer solutions to a problem I don't fully understand. Thanks for your reply and consideration of this though.

[waxen wyvern]

Yeah, I may be missing some point here somewhere. I remember enlisted was an option on a role basis, as was various officer roles. And now make that connection with your opening statements.

Can roles be tied to ranks, instead of the other way around? (Eh, this doesn't work well.)

I'd imagine the roles are more static, as well as minimal / archetypal, and will almost always be that way based on the design direction of the game overall. Having a handful of roles, and tying* them to a rank (one of your default, or any arbitrary/custom enlisted or officer rank).

Or can the rank and role be distinct from one another, and tied to the character (PC or NPC) another way?

Anyways, I'll leave the topic alone.

[bold mural]

On a full-on military starship I think there would be more ranks then there currently is though, with more specilization (gunner's mate, torpedoman etc). For example currently "tactical officer" would be everything to do with weapons/security, everything from firing and maintaining the weapons, internal security, off-ship security (away-team/boarding party) etc.

[waxen wyvern]

Another discussion point is that not every ship will be a full-on military ship, and I'm sure some may want to move away from it, perhaps limited more to command and tactical/operations. If I remember correctly, the UNSF and Distant Horizons mission [of Starsim] are a multinational project and built with both military and civilian involvement.

Additionally, should all science roles adhere to the same military ranks? I could see many scientific/research ships wanting something entirely different, at least for their science division(s). Just a thought to add on the subject, but I did say I would leave it alone... for now.