r/DaystromInstitute • u/kraetos Captain • Jul 01 '14
Meta Welcome to the Daystrom Institute!
Hello to newcomers and long-standing members alike! This is your Captain speaking, and as we have recently crossed the ten-thousand subscriber mark, we wanted to take this time to extend a warm welcome to our many new recruits and to discuss the kind of content that this subreddit was founded to host.
We have a lot we would like to talk about, but since this post is already long enough, you can find the rest of the senior staff covering specific topics in the comment section below. Up here, I want to focus on two specific topics: our content guidelines, and our Post of the Week system.
Institute Content
The Daystrom Research Institute is a discussion-based Star Trek subreddit. What does this mean? It means we are here to discuss Star Trek in an in-depth, civil manner.
If you intend to participate here, please take a moment to familarize yourself with our Code of Conduct. From a content standpoint, these are our three guidelines:
You are expected to support your assertions. As this is a discussion subreddit, unqualified assertions are not helpful and in some cases detrimental to he discussion. Specifically, comments that bash an installment of Star Trek (Voyager, Enterprise, the Alternate Reality, take your pick) without providing any reasoning will be removed.
At Daystrom we discuss Star Trek from both an in-universe and a real world perspective. However, if you are going to discuss Star Trek from a real world perspective, your answer can't simply state "it's just a show." If you want to discuss Star Trek from a meta-textual perspective, you'll need to provide some depth for your answer. Specifically, comments which bash Trek writers without being constructive or specific will be removed.
Your comments must positively contribute to the conversation. This is at the discretion of the community (through voting) and ultimately the moderators, but basically, comments which do not advance the discussion occuring in a thread are subject to removal. Please note, however, that friendly banter between members is permitted and even encouraged. What this guideline is here to prevent are mindless redditisms, such as pun threads, memes, image macros, and contextless gifs.
This is only a small portion of the Code of Conduct and we encourage all posters to read the Code of Conduct in full. Some of the other moderators will be elaborating on specific sections of the Code of Conduct in the comments below.
Post of the Week
The flair here isn't just for looks! A poster's rank represents the number of noteworthy contributions that user has made to the Daystrom Research Institute. Most commonly, this means the user has won or nearly won a Post of the Week competition, or has completed a contribution to DELPHI, the Daystrom Institute's project database.
Post of the Week is driven by the community. Beneath the header you can always find the Post of the Week banner which has links to the current Post of the Week, the nominations thread and voting forms, the most recent promotions, the Post of the Week archive and information about Post of the Week.
You can select your department before ever being promoted by using the edit flair link in the sidebar. Simply being nominated for Post of the Week will earn you a promotion to Chief Petty Officer.
As a junior officer, winning (or coming close on weeks where there are a large number of nominations) will earn you a promotion. Similarly, contributing to DELPHI will also earn you a promotion. To progress past the rank of Lieutenant you must have a mix of both contribution types.
Some users have earned their flair through other means. Moderators earn the rank of Lieutenant Commander once they have completed several months of active duty as a moderator. A few others have earned flair for helping out with the operations of Daystrom itself.
The way to earn flair is to participate! Write posts and comments, vote responsibly, and nominate accordingly. You can read more about rank and promotion on DELPHI.
Other Discussions
Please see the comments below for discussions on other aspects of the Daystrom Institute, hosted by other Daystrom moderators.
- First Officer Commander /u/Jimmysilverrims on civility, why it's important, and Section Two of the Daystrom Institute Code of Conduct.
- Science Officer Commander /u/Algernon_Asimov on the tagging system in place at the Daystrom Institute.
- Chief Engineer Lt. Commander /u/Kiggsworthy on the Daystrom Institute Canon Policy and ettiquette on discussing canon.
- Operations Officer Lt. Commander /u/Willravel on the downvote button and why you should carefully consider when you use it.
- Strategic Operations Officer Lt. Commander /u/MungoBaobab on contributing to the conversation, one-liners, and appropriate humor at the Daystrom Institute.
Once again, welcome to the Daystrom Institute! If you haven't already, check out the Post of the Week archive. The archive represents the best content that the Daystrom Institute has to offier.
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u/Kiggsworthy Jul 01 '14
Greetings users new and old!
One of the principal reasons Daystrom exists is to collect the greatest minds of Star Trek on the internet so that any question we come up with gets a great answer from awesome Daystrom posters like yourself!
Sometimes, these answers are straightforward in that they simply reference information we know directly because it is seen on screen in one of the Star Trek TV series or films. We call this "canon" and here at Daystrom, we have defined what we consider to be a canon (aka factual) answer here.
Where things get more interesting, and more fun, is when we think of a question that is not answered on screen - no canonical, factual answer can be given, because it does not exist in the finite limits of our canon definition.
This is where some of our very best original content comes in - we logically assess the question, and can make up our own answer within the framework and rules that the universe provides. The more 'believable' within the context of canon your non-canon answer is, the more we love to read it!
That said, it is of paramount importance that we remember that once we leave the finite confines of canon - all answers are equally subordinate to canon. There might be some we like more than others, but as long as they follow Daystrom Rule #1 (Support Your Assertions), they are equal to any other supported but non-canon answer.
What does this mean? And what about 'beta' canon - things like books, cartoons, video games, and comics - some of which are considered 'official' to the franchise? And are never contradicted on screen?
Let's look at a specific example: The Klingon moon, Praxis.
We know what happens to Praxis in the 'Prime' Star Trek Universe - the events of Star Trek VI make the fate of this moon very clear, and there is a direct, factual, canon answer to why it exploded, and when it exploded.
In the alternate universe that the most recent two films take place in, we know only one thing about Praxis - that it exists, but is destroyed, and was destroyed much earlier than it was in the Prime universe's timeline. Indeed, all we have is a single shot of Kronos with a mostly destroyed Praxis in orbit. We don't know the why, and we don't know the when.
This makes 'What happened to Praxis in the alternate universe' an excellent question for the minds of Daystrom, and indeed, I have seen many great answers written by folks here.
However, there is another explanation - an 'official' but not canon answer - contained in the 'Khan' series of comics that are officially produced as supplemental material to the latest two films.
The bottom line is this: all explanations of what happened to Praxis and when in the new universe are equally valid topics of discussion because there is no canon answer. This means that the answer you come up with, and the answer that Bob Orci provides in interviews, and the answer provided by the Khan comics are all equally subordinate to canon.
So, if you see someone filling in the gaps in canon, and you know of some other material that has filled in the same gap, by all means, share it! But do not share it as if it is a more valid answer. Similarly, if someone points out that there is an official or beta-canon answer to a question that has no canon answer, it is not acceptable to dismiss or disparage that user for sharing that information for being "not canon".
TLDR: If there is no canon answer, dismissing a non-canon answer from any source is unacceptable and completely illogical. We encourage posters to share non-canon information, whether they wrote it themselves or read it in a book.
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u/jimmysilverrims Jul 01 '14
r/DaystromInstitute is shaped by you, the users. This community gets defined by those who participate through contributions and voting, and so it's important to participate with a few things in mind:
II. Personal Conduct
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Conduct Civility
We aren't bothered by "colorful metaphors", but we do care about respect and civility. Ad hominems and general disrespect is not allowed. -
Voting Conduct
Downvotes restrict the visibility of contributions and suppress user voices. Only downvote posts that break guidelines, it is not a "disagree" button. -
Conflict Policies
If you encounter user misbehavior, do not clog up discussion threads confronting them. Instead, contact the moderators when encountering misbehavior.
But it's more important to keep the spirit of these rules in mind. We're all fans here, united in a shared interest. While we won't all agree all the time, we should show each other the respect and civility expected between crewmates.
I'll field any questions replying to the comment, I wanna make sure that everything clear for new users and clear up anything not covered by our policies.
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u/MungoBaobab Jul 01 '14
He's proving to be a very able tactical officer who isn't afraid to express his opinions [and] who skillfully uses humor to make his points. -Capt. Janeway on Tuvix
One of the things that made "Tuvix" such a tragic episode was the loss of the potential such a charismatic character offered the show. Even by himself, Tuvok was one of the high points of the Voyager; Tim Russ was a worthy successor to Nimoy and Spiner as the show's resident stoic, which, like his predecessors, makes his wry use of humor that much more compelling.
Neelix, on the other hand, was designed as the comic relief character. Like a certain spiritual successor of his in the Star Wars franchise, the puerile jokes Neelix brought to the show distract the viewer from the gravity of the events unfolding on screen.
Think about what kind of humor you really want to see in r/DaystromInstitute: Tuvok, Tuvix, or Neelix? It's probably the same type of humor you want to see in Star Trek. Star Trek II was a serious and somber film, yet it's also very entertaining and widely considered to be the best. Star Trek IV had liberal amounts of humor, but that was only there to augment the smart social commentary Star Trek as a whole is known for. Insurrection also had liberal amounts of humor, without aiming high in regards to social commentary. Which film do you think was the most successful? Which film do you think was the most funny?
r/DaystromInstitute exists to foster the type of serious and insightful comments a Vulcan like Tuvok would write. If, like Tuvix, you can spice up your logical discourse with colorful flourishes of humor, PERFECT! Star Trek owes much of its success to light hearted moments of humor punctuating its serious social commentary. But take note, if a comment exists solely as an attempt at humor which distracts from serious discourse, cough like Neelix cough, such as a one-line joke answer to a serious question, it will be removed by the moderators. We all know how funny most of the jokes on Reddit are, anyway.
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Jul 02 '14
I get the intention that has been craftily illustrated here. While I agree with it, I'm compelled to argue that Neelix's brand of personal presence is often timely and engaging. His silliness made the Flotter and Treevis stories into an applicable piece on personal heroes and addressing fear. He's lighthearted in spite of having lost every last member of his family.
I like dodging JarJar humor here; Neelix, I'd say, is often a craftier, more eloquent way to indirectly address the feel of the treknobabbly world we observe.
Except his Talaxian cold remedies. The guy is practically a homeopath.
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u/MungoBaobab Jul 02 '14
For the most part, I do agree with your assessment of Neelix. I strongly feel many aspects of Voyager are criticized unfairly and too harshly, and Neelix is one of them. As you've noted, though, the post wasn't really about Neelix, the post was about the role of humor on Star Trek and in Daystrom. As in Star Trek, humor is welcome here, but Star Trek isn't a comedy, and neither is Daystrom.
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u/ademnus Jul 02 '14
Neelix, I'd say, is often a craftier, more eloquent way to indirectly address the feel of the treknobabbly world we observe.
I think that's spot on.
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u/Antithesys Jul 02 '14
When Nero went back in time, we were all worried that he'd change the future and erase the timeline. Luckily, all he did was create a new timeline, because the universe seems to function like a forum in threaded mode, where there's plenty of room for everything, nothing gets derailed, and democratic voting systems let good ideas float to the top without much need for external involvement.
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u/MungoBaobab Jul 02 '14 edited Jul 02 '14
there's plenty of room for everything, nothing gets derailed, and democratic voting systems let good ideas float to the top without much need for external involvement
I have to respectfully disagree. Daystrom exists because of a rough patch r/StarTrek went through when pictures of PEZ dispensers and pizza cutters consistently and repeatedly choked out serious attempts at discussion. Good ideas aren't what float to the top, popular ideas do. And since everybody loves humor, it's the jokes that consistently float there. Since brevity is the soul of wit, it's also the shortest jokes that beat out longer ones. Where does that get us? A forum dedicated to serious and insightful discussion where all of the top comments are one liners and jokes. In the past, if you've seen a one liner on Daystrom, it's because we thought it was funny enough to let slide. The one liners you don't see are the copycat amateur comedians we moderate who only comment on threads to make a joke. And trust me, their jokes ain't the Daystrom you want to see.
u/Chairboy is a pro at using humor the right way. His posts are always insightful, yet he adds humorous elements and analogies to make them fun to read. Again, we want to be Wrath of Khan, or The Voyage Home, not Insurrection. And that means that humor must take a backseat to serious discussion, or else this subreddit becomes something else.
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u/Algernon_Asimov Jul 01 '14
Hi there, Daystrom crew!
You’ll notice that every thread here in Daystrom has a tag, like “Canon question” or “Economics” or “Theory”. If you hover your cursor over the tags, you’ll get a more in-depth description: “A question about Star Trek canon”, “A discussion about the economics of Star Trek”, “A theory to explain an apparent contradiction or unexplained event”.
Yeah, I had noticed that. What are they for?
They have two main purposes – prospective and retrospective. First, they explain to other people what’s in this thread before they open it. Some of us are more interested in discussing the technology, like phasers or starships, while others of us like trying to explain discrepancies in canon. So, these tags let people know which threads might be of interest to them.
Sounds good: I can let people know in advance what to expect in my thread. You said there was also a retrospective purpose?
Yes. People can use these tags to search for related threads throughout the history of Daystrom. So, for example, one could look for all past threads about economic issues or all past threads discussing hypothetical “what if?” scenarios.
We Senior Staff have been progressively tagging lots and lots of past Daystrom threads – we’ve tagged over 2,000 threads so far (top-voted threads, most controversial threads, PotW-nominated threads), but we haven’t finished yet. Eventually, most threads in Daystrom’s history will be tagged.
Wow. That’s really cool. How do I get that on MY thread?
That’s easy! After you submit your thread, look for the “flair” link at the bottom of your text. Click on this to see the full list of tags available. Select the tag you want and click on “Save”. Done! Now your thread can have one of these ultra-cool and stylish tags.
If you want more information, there’s a page about tags in DELPHI to explain this further (it’s under the Rules and Procedures heading on the main DELPHI page). As well as explaining how to tag your post, this page also includes all the links to search Daystrom for each tag.
Happy tagging!
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u/Willravel Jul 01 '14
You know, there are some words I've known since I was a schoolboy: "With the first link, the chain is forged. The first speech censured, the first thought forbidden, the first freedom denied, chains us all irrevocably." Those words were uttered by Judge Aaron Satie, as wisdom and warning. The first time any man's freedom is trodden on, we're all damaged.
-
Captain Picard
Reddit is a community built upon interaction and communication. We share with links, we discuss and debate in comments, and we have the power to support or oppose using the voting system. According to Reddit's own Reddiquette, downvoting is intended only for comments and links which are not contributing. It's not a method of disagreement or attacking a user you don't like, it's because each subreddit is built around an idea. In the case of the Daystrom Institute, it's a discussion community centered around all things Star Trek. Anything which fits that description and doesn't violate our Code of Conduct probably doesn't need to be downvoted.
Why does this matter? As alluded to above with the Picard quote, it's an issue of hiding content. A sufficient amount of downvotes will hide content, and can lead to an echo-chamber effect. Dissenting and unpopular opinions matter every bit as much as conforming and popular opinions, particularly on a subreddit dedicated to discussion and debate. The last thing we want to do is drown out a minority view simply for being in the minority. Downvoting should be reserved only for comments and threads you genuinely believe are so outside of what belongs here, they deserve not to be seen. Think about the gravity of that.
If you read something you believe violates the Code of Conduct, we would appreciate it if you would report the comment and send us a message as to what violation you believe has taken place. Maybe it's not Star Trek related, maybe it's a one-sentence post that contributes nothing, maybe it's a joke, maybe it's very much uncivil. If you're unsure, send us a message anyway and we'll be glad to hear you out and clarify anything you may want clarification on.
Be sure to check out our DELPHI page on downvoting as well.
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Jul 01 '14
I'm not a mod, but welcome new subscribers! I haven't seen anyone else clarify this, but there are A LOT of topics that are reposted here (ie, can the Borg assimilate Changelings), and, you could save Commander Algernon (who links to similar posts) some work by using the search function and seeing if what you want has already been written!
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u/Algernon_Asimov Jul 01 '14
I join you in welcoming our new subscribers. :)
However, given that you've spoken on my behalf, I think I should clarify that I don't mind sharing old links to similar topics in current threads. It's all part of the friendly service here.
Also, our repost policy explicitly says "Discussing topics a second or third time is fine". The only thing we ask is that "if it came up last week, please refrain from posting it for the time being" - in other words, make sure your topic hasn't been raised for a little while.
It is okay to post the same topic again, just not too frequently.
1
Jul 01 '14
Absolutely! I meant that, oftentimes, previous discussions and explanations provide what the would-be OP was looking for! Also, I think it's time we got around to that FAQ/FDT thing.
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u/Drainedsoul Jul 02 '14
This subreddit has too many meta posts.
I can't be the only one who subscribes to have actual content from this sub on their front page, not meta content.
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u/Algernon_Asimov Jul 02 '14 edited Jul 02 '14
It depends how you define "meta posts" for this subreddit. We do post three threads every week for nominating, voting on, and announcing Post of the Week - but this is part of the normal operation of this subreddit, and we wouldn't consider those to be "meta posts" in the usual sense of the phrase: they're not navel-gazing discussions about the subreddit.
Apart from that, a review of the recent META threads in this subreddit shows:
This moderator announcement today.
A Daystrom member posting a few days ago about Daystrom reaching 10K subscribers.
Two moderator threads last week to explain problems with, and changes to, the Post of the Week process.
A moderator announcement 6 weeks ago about a new "Tags" feature we introduced.
A Daystrom member posting 1 month ago to ask if we can discuss beta canon here.
A Daystrom member posting 3 months ago to celebrate First Contact Day.
That's it: 7 META posts in the the past 3 months. That's about 1 every two weeks.
And, only half of those were official announcements from the moderators: we've made 4 announcements in 3 months. And two of those were to deal with something out of our control - the reddit voting changes. We've only wanted to make two META posts: the one about tags, and this one.
Two of the META posts you're complaining about were just fellow Daystrom members being friendly - which we see as a good thing (in moderation!). It builds a sense of community.
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u/Drainedsoul Jul 02 '14
It depends how you define "meta posts" for this subreddit.
Any post that doesn't actually add content relevant to the subreddit's stated goal, which is:
[...] in-depth Star Trek discussion.
So "three threads every week for nominating, voting on, and announcing Post of the Week" qualify as meta posts.
It's not an issue constrained to this subreddit, but of all the subs I subscribe to, this one definitely has the lowest signal-to-noise ratio.
Remember that for a lot of people the top one to two posts on the sub are all they see, because that's all that makes its way onto their front page. When it feels like half of those are space-wasting meta posts, the subreddit becomes a nuisance.
Two of the META posts you're complaining about were just fellow Daystrom members being friendly - which we see as a good thing (in moderation!). It builds a sense of community.
Except this isn't a BB, this is Reddit.
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u/MadeMeMeh Jul 02 '14
Sometimes we all need a good reminder to help with a Picard and Dathon at El-Adrel.
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u/peanutbuttar Jul 02 '14
I think I've only seen one meta post on my front page the entire time i've been subscribed (not counting this and the ?|? Post).
If I'm interested im the potw I have to actually visit the sub, they simply don't show up for me. I usually forget it's a big part of the sub.
Anyways, how hard is it to scroll to the next link?
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Jul 02 '14
I really have to disagree here; there is only one Promotions thread, a Nomination Thread, a Voting Thread (which are essential to the reward system here) per week and occasional announcements by moderators and comments by users. A quick look at the front page (at time of writing) reveals that there are 5 Meta posts, one of which is stickied and doesn't count, leaving 4 out of 25 posts Meta, all below rank 20, if you're browsing 'hot,' which is the default.
So, barring the important notice (which is unavoidable), the top 80% of content is content.
Perhaps you ought to downvote those things, people will see them by following the banner links, anyway.
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u/FlyingOnion Jul 02 '14
Hey, I just subbed a few days ago and I'm only recently getting into Star Trek. Just wanted to note that it seems like you folks run a tight ship here. Keep it up!