Ranks and Promotion Criteria

Within the Star Trek Division of ERP, members progressed through ranks depending on their performance, as assessed by their peers and group leaders.

In mid-2003, ERP came under some criticism for how it promoted its members due to its less than clear approach. This led to much discussion in the Conference Room (the discussion forum for ERP's leaders and the elected Federation Council members). The group decided that a set criteria should be established for each rank, and when members reached this level the Council would suggest that member for promotion.

On 1 December 2003, the first version of these criteria were publicly published, for what was then still just the Star Trek division. Criteria evolved over time and other divisions adopted their own approaches, but these versions have been lost to time. However, the original criteria presented below served as the basis for promotions for many years.

ERP Cadet

• Registered in the forums
• Knows the basic rules set for RPing on a server
• Behaviour is acceptable in both server and forum
• Knows basic Star Trek knowledge
• Has the potential to becoming an Elite RPer

ERP Crewman

• Outstanding respect of the chain of command knowing when to speak and when to be quiet.
• Star Trek philosophy is abundant and used although not always applied with complete accuracy.
• Developed skills in two or more areas of rping.
• Confident to rp and not afraid to attempt any task handed to them by superiors.
• Have shown enough commitment to ERP and its rules to earn the right to wear the rank of crewman.

Ensign

• Meet all of the criteria of Crewman.
• Demonstrate knowledge of ERP rules and can apply them on the server.
• Can join a progressing rp without interfering with its current plot.
• Can rp in different departments but show obvious sign of excelling in a particular area.
• Can successfully run a department.
• Are willing to respect and listen to their superiors comments and constructive criticism both on the server and forums.

Lieutenant Junior Grade

• Meet all of the criteria of an Ensign.
• Have begun to develop a character with identifiable traits.
• Can join the server, pick a position, and receive orders without interfering with an rp in progress.
• Have knowledge of galactic politics and can successfully collaborate with alien races.
• Begin developing skills to play multiple positions through use of NPC's.

Lieutenant

• Meet all of the criteria of a Lt Jg.
• Have developed enough respect for the principles of ERP to help prevent non-members from doing unbelievable things.
• Can play most of the positions of a starship even though they might not be the best at it.
• Show respect to not only fellow members and superiors, but non-members as well.
• Can run a department successfully and give orders to other members or NPC's that may be rping in their department.
• Can create additional plots without hijacking the already created rp.
• Have begun to develop successful command skills.
• Are willing to help a struggling non-members with ERP rules.

Lieutenant Commander

• Meet all of the criteria of a Lt.
• Can successfully command an rp from start to finish
• Understand the concepts of day to day operations of a starship and integrate it into an rp session.
• Can play non Starfleet characters (other races) well.
• Can successfully demonstrate proper character development skills in the 'down time' of an rp.

Commander

• Meet all of the criteria of a Lt. Cmdr.
• Show mastery skills towards day to day starship operations.
• Are a model ERP citizen in the areas of respect to both fellow members and non-members.
• Follow the rules consistently and set the perfect example for everyone.
• Can play in all departments and choose a position to best benefit an rp.

Captain

• Meet all of the criteria of a commander.
• Demonstrate mastery skills in all positions of a starship.

Promotions would work as follows: When a council member wished to nominate someone for a promotion they would start a vote to do so. They would display the criteria for that particular rank and then answer each aspect of the criteria with a yes, no, or maybe. A member would be allowed to recieve one no, or two maybes to still recieve a yes vote. They would then share with the other council members why they answered a maybe or a no. The other council members then followed suit by answering the aspect of the criteria themselves before voting.

These criteria were retrieved from the original* ERP forums via the Internet Archive (link).

*Probably the third forums? After EFMods and a very temporary one, I think.