The Emperor's Hammer Strike Fleet Organization is located on America Online (AOL) under Keyword "FSRC">Message Board>Organizations>Emperor's Hammer...
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All previous Newsletters posted to date may be found in FSRC>Utility Files Area...
The Emperor's Hammer is an organization of online computer Flight Sim players. The Hammer is solely dedicated to the TIE Fighter (LucasArts, 1994) and Star Wars Universe. The Hammer is supported entirely by its Members which has been the primary reason for its continued phenomenal growth rate. Any questions regarding its operation or structure should be immediately directed to the Wing Commander @ W Call...
In accordance with recent conversations with the AOL FSRC Staff, the Wing Commander herein posts the following to help prevent miscommunication and conlicts with America Online (AOL). Unfortunately the Emperor's Hammer has gotten large enough where we now have to start worrying about this stuff for the continued existence of the Wing on AOL. Consequently, ALL Members of the Emperor's Hammer must adhere to and abide by the following in order to enjoy Active Membership in the Hammer:
1) As Members of the general AOL community, all AOL Terms of Service (TOS) remain in full effect. Consequently, no TOS violations will be tolerated (i.e. profanity on the public message boards, sending or receiving illegal copies of commercial software, harassing other Members via E-Mail or posted messages, etc.). Members desiring to know what the AOL TOS consist of are directed to AOL Keyword "TOS" for a detailed explanation.
The Wing Commander ("Leader" of the Emperor's Hammer) has been given the authority (and the responsibility!) to report ALL TOS violations directly to PC Roger, PC Sylva and/or PCA Joseph (the AOL FSRC Forum Staff)...Members who have been determined to have violated AOL TOS will be given ONE warning from the Wing Commander. A second offense will result in final and permanent expulsion from the Emperor's Hammer. It should be noted that AOL reserves the right to take whatever action it deems necessary with the offender's account...This may include notating the Member's account, AOL suspension or AOL account cancellation.
2) Only the Wing Commander is authorized to contact the AOL FSRC Staff regarding official Hammer business. Consequently, ALL such inquiries (i.e. on behalf of the Hammer) must be funneled through the Wing Commander. Of course, any AOL Member may send independent E-Mail to the Forum Leaders, but they shall not be sanctioned by the Hammer unless the Wing Commander gives his approval and passes the request first.
3) The Members shall follow the chain of command when making inquiries. As detailed below and in the Flight Roster Section of this Newsletter, there is a specific heirarchy when asking questions and making comments. Members shall contact their immediate superior officers first and then go through the chain of command, as appropriate. This is not done to restrict communication in the Wing, but mainly to cut down on confusing and chaotic E-Mail between a lot of people. The Wing Commander ALWAYS welcomes independent communication with a Member's specific or confidential problems or comments.
4) A Member will receive important Wing information from their superior officers. Important Wing events and communiques will be transmitted to the Squadron Commanders by one of the Command Officers who will in turn E-Mail them to their Squadron Members. Otherwwise, important messages will be individually distributed by the Wing Commander via E-Mail or posted in the Emperor's Hammer Message Folder.
5) Only those events, plotlines, missions, stories, rosters, etc, posted in the biweekly Newsletters will be considered officially "approved" for the Emperor's Hammer. Postings in the Message Board, Online Conferences, E-Mail, or Instant Messages (IMs) will be considered "proposed" or "pending" until officially posted in the Newsletters.
6) No Wing development idea, Battle Plotline, pivotal character, event or Roster revision shall be released to other Wing Members unless the Wing Commander or another Command Officer has approved them. The Wing Commander retains the right of final decision in these matters. In addition, ALL Members submitting plotlines for consideration must include their ID Line designation for later referral by the reviewing officer.
7) The Wing Commander is solely responsible for the award of Medals and promotions for the ranks of Squadron Commander and above. The other Command Officers and Squadron Commanders have the authority to place Flight Leaders and Flight members, as appropriate.
8) The Emperor's Hammer will not discriminate in its acceptance, promotion or evaluation of Members based on race, religion, sex, sexual preference, age, etc. Appointments, promotions and Medal Awards will be made solely on the basis of performance within the Hammer.
9) New applicants to the Emperor's Hammer will be placed as Trainees on "detached duty", pending completion of the entrance requirements posted in Newsletter No. 1. The Flight Officer and Training Officer are solely responsible for reviewing and accepting new TIE pilots.
10) Membership in any other AOL (or Internet) Organization will in no way affect a Member's Position or Rank within the Emperor's Hammer.
11) The Wing Commander reserves the right to modify or revise these Bylaws, as appropriate and without prior notice.
All Emperor's Hammer Members desiring to post Battle Plotlines and/or new missions are herein advised of the the following:
1) All designing Members are reminded that preliminary reviews of new Battle Plotlines and/or new mission designs will be performed by the Tactical Officer and the Tactical Staff. Consequently, new submissions should be forwarded to the Tactical Officer prior to the Wing Commander for initial review. The Wing Commander will then review for posting in the subsequent Newsletter.
2) New Battle Plotlines which have been approved for posting to the Emperor's Hammer will be posted in the order of receipt and as determined by the Wing Commander.
3) All Plotline and Mission designers are notified that they have 2 weeks to complete ALL missions in a particular Battle they have designed (beginning from the release of the first Newsletter posting their Battle Plotline). As it stands, the Emperor's Hammer already has too many "uncompleted" Battles. Although several Members have volunteered to complete these Battles, the addition of more such Battles would be pointless. Consequently, submitting Members will have 2 weeks to complete their Battles from posting in the Newsletter of its Plotline...Otherwise, any completed Missions will be broken up into Free Missions.
4) ANY Emperor's Hammer Member of Active Status (i.e. a non-Trainee) may submit Battle and Mission designs for review and posting.
5) The decisions of the Wing Commander and Tactical Officer will be considered final in the posting of any and all Battle and Mission designs in the Newsletters.
The following AOL structure is presented for review by ALL Members, as related by PC Roger on 4/15/95)...
AOL inhouse is broken into divisions, each area online is covered by a Producer who oversees the whole department. We'll keep it to where it pertains to us for ease of illustration.
Producer - responsible for maintaining, and building areas by request, and communicating with the Forum Leaders who make the requests. This person has many other duties, but the forums and the staff who run them come under their direct control. They hire the forum leaders, and in turn, give them control of their forums.
C&SF Coordinator - basically this person is our liason between us and inhouse. We go to this person when we need certain things done, and look to him for advice if we're unsure of how to proceed. We can also bounce ideas off of him to get a feel for a new project we may want to try.
Forum Leaders - the people who are the front line of the forums. Forum Leaders hire and fire forum staff, implement new ideas for their forums, and supervise the day to day operations of the forum. When members wish to participate in some forum function, or start something of their own, as you are attempting to do, the forum leader decides on it, and acts accordingly. He or she must decide what's best for the forum, and add or subtract from it according to their vision. Things that must be constructed, such as whole areas, message boards or libraries, must be submitted to the forum leader, who then forwards it to the Producer in the form of a proposal. The producer makes the final decision and notifies the forum leader of whether or not it will be done and gives an approximate time frame. This is almost always done through e-mail.
Other forum staff include PCAs (forum assistants who help the forum leaders directly) and PCCs (forum consultants who do other tasks such as file checking, board scans, host chat rooms, e-mail, and anything else they may be qualified for.
Clubs or SIGs (special interest groups), people like yourself who apply for "organizational status", to enhance the forum areas, attract members of common interests, and enrich online time by offering an activity that directly relates to the forum. Managers of said clubs report to the forum leader who in turn advises them of what might be possible and what may not in the running of the club. Club managers are directly responsible for the content of their areas, and should report any errant posts or violations to the forum leader as soon as it is noted. They set the club rules and agenda, and accept or reject members according to their rules. If problems arise that can't be handled within the club, or infractions of system policy occur, the forum leader should be notified, who makes the final decision.
Respectfully submitted,
Grand Admiral Ronin
Wing Commander
Emperor's Hammer Strike Wing
WC/GA Ronin/CF-1/SSD Avr