Overview

OVERVIEW ★ GAME DETAILS ★ SHIPS & CREWS ★ UPGRADES ★ TAKEN CHARACTERS

PLAYER & MOD CONTACT ★ ACTIVITY & HIATUSES ★ APPLICATIONS ★ DROPS ★ EXTRAS!

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★ LET THE SHOW BEGIN! ★

You are a star among the stars now, aren't you excited?

Whatever life you had going on before is just going to have to wait, because you are now involved in something much more important. The twelfth cycle of Drift Fleet is beginning, and you are one of those lucky few creatures in all of the multiverse selected to participate. You cannot fathom the odds that were stacked against you; the fact that you are here now is nothing short of a miracle.

So, be sure to give it your all! Remember, the worlds are watching.

▶ Premise . . .

The number-one priority here is to have fun. We try to keep up a relaxed atmosphere, provide ample opportunities to do whatever you want with your character, and encourage everyone to make friends and don't stress. All the 'competition' elements of the game are strictly IC-oriented, meaning it's only there to give your characters reasons to do things. OOC, you keep track of your own progress at whatever rate you want, and play however would make you the most happy. All of the upgrading, the events, the more complicated elements of the game can be entirely ignored if you like. Feel free to keep track of and participate in as many or as few of the extra things as you want--it's really just there to offer ample opportunities to get as much out of the setting as you want.

The Drift Fleet is more or less a jamjar-style game, set in space and built for any sort of character to be able to join in, regardless of their origins or skillset. Every passenger in the fleet is implanted with an augment that uploads important information into their minds, making sure that everyone at least understands the concept of space, and knows how to use the technology and gear within a specific skillset. Depending on their augment, any character could suddenly find themselves with the knowledge of how to work communication equipment, repair an engine, or perform emergency surgery.

Once abducted and implanted with this new knowledge, the upgraded passenger is set loose on the fleet. At first, they will find themselves in the sterile confines of the HS Marsiva--the massive ship around which the fleet is forced to drift. From there, they are randomly dumped into one of the smaller ships in the fleet, until they submit a request to be transferred to another one if they so choose.

And so the crews within the fleet are forced to coexist (peacefully or otherwise) while they are dragged along within the confines of the Hostship's path. As long as they don't stray too far from Marsiva, they are allowed to do whatever they want--and they are encouraged to do so! Got to keep the ratings up!

Because, of course, the fleet is subject to the whims and mysterious desires of some galactic reality show, run by some mysterious thing called "Atroma". Characters can either whine and fight against their ridiculous situation, or they can intentionally try to accumulate the nebulously-defined "ratings" that define how well an individual is doing on the show. High ratings manifest in bonuses and payment, which can be cashed in for perks and upgrades--to both ship and passenger augments. It's also said that whoever holds the highest ratings at the end of the cycle wins their freedom!

Sure, no one knows exactly how long a "cycle" lasts, but... You're excited to be here anyway! Right?

▶ Who can app here...?

The Drift Fleet and 13th Cycle are now museboxes!
Applications, activity, etc. are no longer necessary!

Currently, the Drift Fleet is an invite-only game. Current players can invite one new player a month. For the answers to all of your burning questions pertaining to this process, check out the "player invitations" section of the applications page.

▶ Who and what can I play here...?

Canon characters, AUs, and OCs are all welcome. You may also play characters with previous game history and/or personal storylines. Since it is generally understood that Drift Fleet pulls from many alternate universes, multiple versions of the same character will be allowed, as long as they have significant differences between them. We do not allow canon-OCs that have any sort of connection or influence on the canon characters. Further details and examples for all of these options can be found on the app page.

As for memories, characters can arrive with any arrangement of memories that you'd like. Space and time travel can have strange effects, and those darn augments are known to malfunction. Memory loss (partial or total) is allowed, as is getting those memories back later if you change your mind--most likely through an augment malfunction or repair.

Basically, we'd like you to be able to play whatever version of your character you want.

▶ Can my character keep his cool sword and awesome powers...?

We want to allow flexibility when it comes to powers and items that characters get to keep when they join. That said, we also have a couple of guidelines to keep characters from breaking the game (or immediately murdering all of their crewmates). Below is a brief overview, but more details can be found on the app page.

→ Powers
Most powers are allowed in the Drift Fleet--it's good entertainment! However, Atroma gets a little nervous about "overpowered" cast members. If your character would have the power to tamper with the fleet at large, open rifts in space and time, manipulate reality to their whim, destroy entire civilizations, etc, the character's augmentation will dampen the ability to a much safer level, block it when a character acts out against the fleet, or simply stop the character from being able to use that ability at all. The level at which their powers get toned down is ultimately up to the player, but please adjust anything that would compromise the setting of the game or make the character untouchable. You can also block more than just their game-breaking powers, if you feel it would be fun to play the character without them! There will be IC ways for characters to temporarily gain back their full powers--if they can afford it.

→ Items, accessories, and animals
The characters will appear with only what was on their person at time of abduction. Additionally, weapons and dangerous-seeming objects will be removed from their persons before they wake up on the Marsiva. Pets, vehicles, and utilities will also be left behind. Exceptions will be made for items that characters absolutely need to survive. Don't mourn the loss of your personal belongings; during some mod-sanctioned special events, characters might find their stuff mysteriously available in shops later on...

→ Stuff from previous games
As long as it follows the rules above, characters can arrive with one ability or harmless object from each previous game, psl, or AU that they've been in. If you would like them to arrive without these extra powers or items, that's perfectly fine too.

▶ Crews, ships, and augments . . .

Crews are meant to give your character a smaller group that they're forced to acknowledge the existence of and interact with. Whether the character likes it or not, their crew is always there. There will be plenty of opportunity to interact with the rest of the fleet as well, on stations and planets, or when crews meet up and hang out in each others' ships, etc.

If your crew isn't quite what you're looking for, or your character is getting antsy, changing ships is a breeze. It's so easy, in fact, that sometimes Atroma does it without anyone's permission! Stagnation makes for poor ratings after all.

Speaking of things your characters may or may not be happy with, the other inescapable element of the Drift Fleet is the passenger's augmentation. Whatever technology Atroma uses to drag people through time and space also alters their physical makeup so that their bodies will accept an augment upon joining the show. This augment cannot be removed, no matter what they try. It supplies them with the knowledge needed to function in their new life, and is... mostly completely safe to their health.

Characters will have the option to upgrade both ships and augments every month. While there is a "price" to each upgrade, it's only there to give characters something to strive towards, or encourage them to get good ratings. We will not be policing or keeping track of individual currency or ratings OOC, so you are free to purchase upgrades however you think is appropriate. Keep in mind that characters who don't appeal to "ratings" probably won't be able to afford expensive things unless they save up for a long time, and junk ships are unlikely to become sleek space machines overnight...

You can read more about augments on the game details page, and you can see a list of available upgrades here.

▶ What do you mean, "ratings"...?

Ratings are basically "points" that your characters earn by being interesting to the viewers. Ratings can be cashed in at the end of every month for upgrades, and occasionally some mysterious sponsor will grant extra gifts and incentives to passengers who've been doing particularly well. It's difficult to track what exactly makes for good ratings, however, and everyone's idea of "good television" is different.

It is entirely up to the player to decide how they want to handle ratings. They are an IC incentive only, and a way to excuse whatever experience you'd like your character to have. If you want your character to have shiny space tech and ride with the powerhouses of Drift Fleet, assume that whatever they're doing has caught the attention of some mysterious sponsor. And if you'd rather have your characters scrape through space flat-broke and by the skin of their teeth (more like Bebop or Firefly crews, for example), then maybe their efforts have been far less fruitful than they'd like.

Another approach to ratings is to use them as an incentive to get characters to do things you want them to do. For example, players who love writing out fight scenes may reward their characters with "good ratings" whenever they get into a scuffle with another character. Players who wish their characters were more social can say their ratings go up a little whenever they talk to someone new. Maybe the ratings spike whenever a character has a mental breakdown, or maybe ratings start to drop when it's been, like, a billion episodes since they made out with someone...

▶ Events and the world story . . .

Every month, posts will go up describing the current area of space that the Drift Fleet is confined to. There will be descriptions of what way-stations and outposts are like, planets or larger stations, any interesting news or events going on in the area, warnings of dangers that might pop up, things people can do for extra money, and so on.

Most events and locations are entirely opt-in, as is anything having to do with the larger world story. There's a lot going on in space, and exploring is the kind of thing that usually leads to higher ratings... But in the end, it is up to the player. Your characters can either care about it, or not.

▶ Applications and activity checks . . .

We like to keep our apps open and our activity requirements small, to be convenient for those of us stuck with demanding schedules. For more information on both, take a look at the activity and hiatuses page.

▶ Are there any player restrictions...?

Yes. The Drift Fleet is currently a game for players ages 18+. While it's not the main goal of the game, we still want to allow people full freedom to explore darker or more mature themes that may not be appropriate for a younger audience.

We also don't allow playing out sex or drug use with any character under the age of fifteen, or playing out rape with characters of any age. Having these themes present in the character's backstory is fine, but this topic can be extremely upsetting to players who aren't expecting it. Please exercise caution and good sense when it comes to themes that are particularly triggering or controversial.

On that note, we are fine with players playing out sex and other related acts outside the above rules. However, we do require that before your character initiates any physical contact of a sexual nature, you obtain the other player's permission to do so. Permission doesn't need formal, just a quick check over plurk/discord/pm/etc is fine, and you don't need to contact the mods about it. Just please exercise good sense and consideration for other players.

If you have concerns and issues with another player that you wish to talk to the mods about, please contact us. You can find more information about contacting us on the Player & Mod Contact page.

OVERVIEW ★ GAME DETAILS ★ SHIPS & CREWS ★ UPGRADES ★ TAKEN CHARACTERS

PLAYER & MOD CONTACT ★ ACTIVITY & HIATUSES ★ APPLICATIONS ★ DROPS ★ EXTRAS!

( And remember... Put on a good show. )