As far as the second question, I myself like to work in a capital ship (as I already do). However, I wouldn't mind making a new character and running him through the Starfighter Corps (of course, when I get bored of Echelon). As far as positioning in a capital ship, I don't really mind. I've written from plenty of NPC positions in a capital ship, and I've enjoyed all of them.

For the third question, I'll answer yes and no. I think it is great to have starfighters and capital ships working together, but I also think it is important for them to work in their own units.

I'm not sure how to answer the fourth question, as I don't really understand what it is asking. I like how we use NPCs as it is, and I don't think anything needs to change.

I don't often keep in touch with my ship captain, Stormz, as he isn't on IRC often, nor does he post often. Honestly, I'd like to keep in touch with him more, but I can do fine without. In our current story, I've done plenty without being commanded to do something, and I've enjoyed it too. I think we should be able to receive commands, but at the same time be open within those commands, if you get what I'm saying.

For the last question, I'll answer this: yesterday, I went LARPing with my friend in the woods, and we got lost. I wore a tartan (kilt) and it came undone, so I had to wrap it around my bare legs. Then, when we found a road, our neighbors came by, and they were quite confused by the large plaid cloth wrapped around my waist and foam swords in our hands.

I hope this will help improve the Navy.

1. Right now I'm one of the only vets still flying an interceptor, so I've been trying to develop Maroy into a more mature, helpful character. I'd like to eventually get her to executive officer or squadron commander. I don't ever want to leave the cockpit, though.
2. Starfighter, all the way. I like the system we have now, although I'd be really interested in brainstorming ideas with someone to make writing as a bomber much less of a chore.
3. I think both groups should do much more coordination in-story, because right now even though we're technically in the same story it doesn't usually feel that way. Regular unit stories should still stay the most common, but even in those some collaboration with the ships that have PC officers as well would be nice.
4. I think the current system (using four to six NPCs per squadron as cannon fodder) works fairly well, although shuffling those around would make it a bit less conspicuous. I also think having two or three longterm 'pet' NPCs in the squadron would help cover personality gaps that PCs don't cover.
5. Commanders definitely need to be a lot more present than they are, particularly the ones that are supposed to be easy to reach and have lots of direct responsibility. Usually squadron commanders are around quite a bit, but I've seen the NHC completely disappear from public threads and IRC for weeks at a time. I think some more XO-style positions like yours will help.
6. We need more people. I realize there's not much more we can do, but we might try to wrangle up another round of vets or something. A few recommendations to some Army members wouldn't hurt, either.

Sorry to sneak onto your boards, but Serpent has a good point. The wiki is very messy now, and almost requires a clean slate in certain areas to help people get orientated.

I discussed this previously:

http://comnet.imperialnetwork.com/topic/14898/

and

http://comnet.imperialnetwork.com/topic/14903/

I had huge resistance from he who shall not be named when we tried to organise this project before. But since he's not around any more I figure it may be time to start up the idea again.

We need to synchronise boards across the divisions, I need to publicly release some info from the DJO bards that has galaxy-wide implications and we need to have a decent set of pages that introduce all newbies to our current position and is agreed upon and used by all divisions.

Sorry I know the thrust of this thread is to do with other Naval organisations, but thought I'd add to that.

1. When I joined the VE I basically had just one large goal in mind - to create one or more chars and slowly develop them as time passed, through either personal stories, squad/squadron stories, fleet/platoon stories or later even various certs & skills posts. I never really cared where I developed these chars so long as development was indeed achieved - this is part of the reason I ended up experimenting with all four VE divisions (both official and unofficial ones: Army, Navy, Osk and DJO).

I never cared about branching out just for the sake of seeing a bunch of positions added beneath by Comnet avatar, but rather I joined all those divisions because I believed they would help better flesh out my own chars. I believed they would provide the opportunities required to trigger certain personality changes or at least provide the necessary circumstances to better describe some of the existing char traits, be them physical, intellectual or emotional. Thus far I have not been disappointed by my decision.

The above however were my grand plans in general. As far as the Naval division was concerned I had and still have 2 distinct goals. The first was to create "the ultimate pilot" or at the very least an ace, one that could be acknowledged as such by all others. I'm not entirely sure I'm quite there yet with my main char but I am definitely on the right track and this pleases me greatly. My second goal was to create an entire ship's crew. I'm talking of a fairly small capital ship (corvette class or similar) with 200 crewmen tops. The ship captain would need to be a PC of course but my intention in this case is to shift emphasis from his own development path to that of the crew as a whole. I'm still working on this second goal and at this point in time I have no clue when it'll be ready for implementation - or in what circumstances.

2. No doubt obvious from the above reply, but my answer here would be SFC pilot. I never intended to turn over my char to the CSS and as proof of this I ended up turning down both opportunities when I was presented with this option. Don't get me wrong, it was still nice being asked though and I appreciated the thought each time. I'm well aware staying in the SFC limits one's OOC progression in both position and at some point even rank, but neither position nor ranked really mattered to me as much as IC implications and the actual roleplay.

A suggestion I could make in this regard is to allow members to have multiple chars in the same division. I know it was done before by and for different members and could yet be done in the future for other ones. Should this be implemented however then a number of restrictions would also need to be placed in effect so as to prevent abuse, be it IC, OOC or both. Put plainly the member asking for this would need to convince the NHC that he/she is both active enough to handle more than one account but also responsible enough not to misuse it. If done properly such a measure could also help boost Navy activity as a result.

3. My answer to this question would be yes, I believe crewmen and jocks should be allowed to RP together when plausible. Currently the SFC flies Interceptors lacking hyperdrives, which indirectly forces the squadrons to use starships for various deployments. I see no reason for said starships to be manned entirely by NPCs and only be mentioned in passing - if at all for that matter. The reverse also stands true as there would be no particular good reason for ship captains to only command NPC squadrons. So long as no member is actually forced to join a story he/she is not particularly interested in then I for one see no problem in such subdivisional cooperation.

That said I should also note that there may be occasions where either a ship's crew or a bunch of fighters flying around would not be necessary at best or would make absolutely no sense at worse. Obviously both CSS and SFC should adapt accordingly so as to maintain a plausible level of realism in such stories.

4. We obviously need NPCs if we are to have any chance in hell to create some good stories, be them personal or larger in scope. Heck, a crewman wouldn't really be able to walk down a ship's corridor without seeing some other folks scurrying abound. Likewise a handful of people would not really be called a squadron, not to mention that if there would be no enemies to shoot down they'd be pretty useless to boot.

As for how NPCs should be used - I believed they're used fairly well the way they already are. Large factions should either be created or approved by the higher ups, key NPCs (XOs and the like) should also be created or approved by those in charge of a ship/squadron... Whether regular members will be able to interact with them in a certain way or kill them off or whatever - that I believe should also be discussed prior to the action itself. As far as personal stories go, well everyone will be able to use or not use however many NPCs they wish - no way to prevent that after all.

5. Well I do have higher-ups to report to but am at the same time a commander myself so I'll just divide the answer to this question in two. Personally I only get in touch with my superiors when certain issues arise or when certain stories start out or when I generally think about trying something that I personally believe might require NHC green light. In the large scheme of things these interactions are fairly rare but I for one like it that way. Not like there would really be much to be discussed more often anyway...

And as a CO I'm generally available either on the Comnet or IRC. IC activity might not be too great at times but I doubt anyone can say I'm not around even then. If questions are asked I do my best to answer them or if it's the case I take them a level higher for further approval. And if changes, minor or major, are required in whatever aspect I notify people of that as well, possibly providing detailed explanations should they be requested. For the most part though I'm confident in my underlings - their ability to think for themselves as well as the ability to comprehend that which is required of them at any given time. Underlings, don't let this get to your heads though!

6. As some of the other members already pointed out, members and activity are our biggest concerns, and both of those issues happen to be intertwined as well. I've seen and in a few cases been a part of various attempts to correct this but given the current state of things their effectiveness should be self-explanatory alas. Not really sure what more we could use to improve on these issues...

Also not really sure what I had for breakfast either

1.      I can't really answer this question at the moment as this character has only been in the Navy for a little over a year, more specifically about 13 months. I'd just like to see where the Navy takes me char dev-wise but ultimately would like to make my char much more interesting than she is now.
     
2. My assignment on this one's already been made and I did spend a few months as a pilot; as I'm also in a command position in the Army I like where I stand right now not so much because of the position, but because it allows me to view things from a slightly different aspect as well as helps me push myself to improve on many levels, not just writing.

    3.    I'd like to see some more collaboration on this level though I've seen some already but to a degree which I feel could be improved on, with time and if this was to be done regularly I feel it would benefit everyone in some way, no matter how small.
     
4. NPCs in any division are vital, in my opinion however we might be overly using them in some situations. If a campaign requires heavier NPC use than usual I would suggest each PC has 1-2 NPCs to take care of, unless the NPC is eliminated intentionally the PC will have control over the same NPCs as the last mission or at least always have a small number of NPCs under their command one of which is one they've used before. This is so that there is a limit in terms of confusion if one would like to use an NPC commandeered by someone else; as well any NPCs used should be created on the Wiki so that we can all follow. I know some folks  in the VE like to create them on-the-fly which has potential to make things confusing
     
5. I tend to talk to my immediate superior, as well as the higher-ups on a consistent basis. Not as much as I'd like to but I talk to a little of everyone when they're on IRC.
     
6. We definitely have low numbers all over, not just in the Navy which affects everyone in general, but maybe you have something up your sleeve to generate some excitement or increase activity? Set a rat loose or something to stir things up a little. This time of year is usually the start of the 'active' season but it all seems quite quiet, even with the numbers we do have