Welcome to the USS Mercutio!

Latest News Items

» Social Media

Posted on Thu Jun 28th, 2018 @ 9:28pm by Captain Henry Crow in General News

Hello folks.

Just a quick note that we're going to try branching out into social media and help bring some eyes into all that we do. If you want to give a follow and help promote us.

https://twitter.com/USSMercutio

» Privacy Standards

Posted on Tue May 22nd, 2018 @ 8:11am by Captain Henry Crow in Out of Character

From the Brass:


Hello everyone,

You will have, no doubt, been subject to a bombardment of emails asking you for your explicit consent on using your data, keeping you informed and a myriad of other reasons. This is down the General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR) that the Euro Zone will be introducing and enforcing on 25 May 2018.

As Obsidian Fleet is an International Community, we have a duty to ensure that our rules and policies are compliant and that we support our members in ensuring that they process data correctly.

This guidance is offered for information only, and not intended as legal advice. If legal advice is required, guidance from the Information Commissioner or qualified legal counsel should be sought.



What is GDPR and how does it affect us?
GDPR is the new Data Protection rules introduced by the European Union. The GDPR applies to processing carried out by organisations operating within the EU. It also applies to organisations outside the EU that offer goods or services to individuals in the EU.

The GDPR applies to ‘personal data’ meaning any information relating to an identifiable person who can be directly or indirectly identified in particular by reference to an identifier.

This definition provides for a wide range of personal identifiers to constitute personal data, including name, identification number, location data or online id, reflecting changes in technology and the way organisations collect information about people.

The GDPR applies to both automated personal data and to manual filing systems where personal data are accessible according to specific criteria. This could include chronologically ordered sets of manual records containing personal data. (Information Commissioners Office, 2018)

For more information, go here

We have created a blank template for a Privacy Policy for your simulations; please edit the [INSERT: ] section to fit with your website. If you are not sure, or if you need help, then please contact me at datacontroller@obsidianfleet.net, and I will look through your privacy policy to ensure the data is correct. Again, this is not legal advice, but making sure your policy has the relevant information. You may use and/or modify the Privacy Policy freely and without restriction for your simulations, as long as it is compliant with all applicable laws.

For those running Nova
We know Anodyne Productions will be releasing an update to their Nova system to allow for easy edit/display of the new Privacy Policy. Please ensure that you have updated your Nova to the latest edition once it is released to make adding your Privacy Policy a lot easier.


Our Policy:

Privacy Policy
The USS Mercutio (“Site” or “We”) collect and use personal information solely to provide an online collaborative writing environment. Where feasible, We collect personal information only with the knowledge and consent of the individual concerned (“Individual”), and, if the Individual notifies us that they wish to revoke their consent, We will make a best effort to remove all personal information related to the Individual from our Site within one Calendar Month of the request.
This Privacy Policy, along with our Cookie Policy, and the Do Not Track Policy, define in full how the Site collects, manages and processes an Individual’s personal information.

Your rights

You may have certain rights in relation to your information including a right to access or to correct the information we hold on you. Some of these rights will only apply in certain circumstances, however, such as the right to be forgotten. They will generally not be available if we required by law to keep the information or if the information is relevant to a legal dispute. If you would like to exercise or discuss, any of these rights, please contact the Data Controller.

You can remove consent, where you have provided it, at any time, as well as update any of your opt-in preferences by logging into your account.

You can ask us to confirm if we are processing your information.

You can ask for access to your information.

You can ask to correct your information if it’s wrong.

You can ask us to delete your information.

You have a right to be forgotten and you can ask that our
systems stop using your information.

You can ask us to restrict how we use your information.

You can ask us to stop using your personal information, but only in certain cases.

You have the right to complain to the relevant supervisory authority.

What we collect

“Required Member Information”: When an Individual signs up for the Site (becoming a “Member”), We collect the Member’s name, age, email address, language and timezone.

“Optional Member Information”: We allow a Member, at their discretion, to provide additional contact information, a geographic location, interests and a biography.

“Access Logs”: When an Individual visits the Site, We collect incidental personal information in the Site’s logs including the Individual’s IP address and user agent.

Collected Information

Required Member Information and Optional Member
Information are collected with an Individual’s consent when the Individual signs up for the Site or edits their account within the Site. To participate in the Site, a Member must provide all Required Member Information. A Member may provide a pseudonym instead of their real name if they do not wish to disclose their real name.

Access Logs are collected by our web server and web application when an Individual uses the Site.

Why is information collected?

Required Member Information is collected to allow a Member to participate in the Site. A Member’s name, email address and timezone are listed on their profile. A Member’s email address will also be used to contact the Member and to send the Member story posts and other content directly related to the Site. A Member’s age is only used to confirm the Member meets the legal requirements to participate in this Site.
Optional Member Information is collected to allow a Member to share more details about themselves to other Members of the Site.

Access Logs are collected for diagnosing technical problems with our Site. In rare situations, We may also use Access Logs to ban an Individual found to be acting inappropriately with the Site, including, but not limited to, violating the rules of the Site, placing an undue burden on the Site or violating applicable laws (“Inappropriate Use”).

Where your information will be held

When we share your information, your information may be transferred outside the European Economic Area.
We store our information on cloud servers located in the USA or engage vendors which do not always have equivalent data protection laws to those applicable in Europe. The transfer of this information is therefore governed by a contract including standard contractual clauses (SCCs) approved by the European Commission. Wherever possible all data is retained within the European Economic Area to ensure compliance with all applicable data protection laws.

When you provide us with this information you are consenting that we may collect and use it in the way we’ve set out.
We will keep your information for as long as it is reasonably necessary. It will depend on factors such as whether you’ve still got an active account or have interacted with recent Members. We will retain and use your registration information as necessary to comply with our legal obligations only.

We will only transfer data to jurisdictions outside the scope of the European General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) where the appropriate safeguards set out in the GDPR are in place.
Information we share

A Member’s name, email address, time zone and Optional Member Information are shared with other Members of the Site through the Member’s user profile.

A Member’s name, age, email address, time zone and Optional Member Information may also be shared with Obsidian Fleet, the organisation within which the Site belongs.

There are certain circumstances where we may transfer your personal data to authorised and other third parties. Some examples of when your personal information is transferred to other third party organisations are as follows:

We may share information about you with other members Obsidian Fleet so that we can provide the best service to our group, including Manifest updates or reasons within the Fleet Law. They are bound to keep your information in accordance with this Privacy Notice and the Obsidian Fleet Privacy Policy.
If we’re required to by law, or under any regulatory code or practice we follow, or if we are asked by any public or regulatory authority.

Your personal data may be shared if it is made anonymous and aggregated, as in such circumstances the information will cease to be personal data.

Access Logs are generally not shared, although they may in rare circumstances be shared with Obsidian Fleet or the  1and1 (“Host”) to diagnose technical problems or when an Individual is reasonably believed to have committed Inappropriate Use of the Site.

The Site or the Host may share personal information with relevant law enforcement authorities as required to comply with applicable laws. The Site will notify the Individual if permitted by applicable laws, when this occurs.

The Site will not share any personal information with any other parties without the Individual’s consent.

Information Security

We are committed to keeping your personal information safe. We’ve got physical, technical and administrative measures in place to prevent unauthorised access or use of your information and we ensure that we comply with our own internal security policies.

We will also routinely refresh our information to ensure we keep it up-to-date.

Data Retention

Required Member Information and Optional Member Information is retained as long as the Individual remains a Member of the Site. Once an Individuals account is deleted this information is removed from the server and no longer accessible. Historical information posted to the site by the Individual will remain and identifiable by either a Guest tag and/or their Character name only as in such circumstances the information will cease to be personal data.

Access Logs are retained for 1 months after someone is declared inactive.

How can information be removed?

A Member may submit a request to Bmoffat@live.com to have their account deleted and all Required Member Information and Optional Member Information removed from the Site. This will cause them to no longer be a Member.

The Site cannot ensure that other Members do not personally retain Required Member Information or Optional Member Information shared with these other Members through the Site as described in this Policy.

The Site routinely deletes all Access Logs, so an Individual does not need to request its removal explicitly.

Cookie Policy

The USS Mercutio uses cookies solely to provide an online collaborative writing environment.

Cookies are small pieces of text sent back and forth between your web browser and a website you visit. A cookie file is stored in your web browser and allows the Site to recognise you and make your next visit easier and the Site more useful to you. Cookies can be “persistent” or “session” cookies.
When an Individual accesses or uses the Site, the Site may place a number of cookies in the Individual’s web browser. We use both session and persistent cookies. Specifically, We use cookies to authenticate Individuals and prevent fraudulent use of accounts, and We use cookies to remember an Individual’s email address when prompting the Individual to log in again.

Do Not Track Policy

The USS Mercutio does not track Individuals over time to provide targeted advertising and therefore does not respond to Do Not Track (“DNT”) signals.

This will be posted in the Database for future reference

» We Have Ignition

Posted on Wed Mar 21st, 2018 @ 1:19pm by Commander Edra Crow in Sim Announcement

Hello, Folks

Those of you already a part of this know that we are attempting to become part of the Obsidian Fleet, after having been in the Starfleet Legacy Alliance for so long. But as that organization--and the Mercutio--has been getting less and less participation, we wanted to stoke the fires, and try something new. It's hard to get people to commit to a particular day of the week any more, when they are busy all the time. So we are trading in our Live Sim for a Nova-format, which is a play by post format. We are hoping to lure those who have recently had to bow out back into the fold, since posting can be done any time one has the chance.

At the moment, we have the application for the Sim to join OF, this website, of course, which is still getting some detail work done, and when we finish the current mission, we'll start the switch over to Nova.

As things progress, we'll keep you updated on what's happening. Thanks to everyone who have made this a drama-free transition, and those who have already come back. We can't wait to see where this takes us!

Latest Mission Posts

» Dance Lesson, Part 3

Mission: Side Stories
Posted on Sun Jan 20th, 2019 @ 12:18am by Lieutenant JG Aemilia "Millie" Stepanova & Commander Vox Templar

Millie murmured something, her fingers holding tightly to the sleeve of his uniform. She walked gingerly on her left leg, the repair still a little on the uncomfortable side. It didn’t matter, however. She wanted out, and she would have walked back out on a broken ankle.

He wrapped an…

» Dance Lesson, Part 2

Mission: Side Stories
Posted on Sun Jan 20th, 2019 @ 12:13am by Lieutenant JG Aemilia "Millie" Stepanova & Commander Edra Crow & Commander Vox Templar

When the lift doors opened they found Edra standing there waiting to disembark. But the slight ballerina’s sounds of agony cut through whatever the First Officer had had her mind on. “Prophets! Millie, what happened?” Though she addressed the counselor, she looked to Vox for a possible answer too. She…

» Dance Lesson, Part I

Mission: Side Stories
Posted on Sun Jan 20th, 2019 @ 12:10am by Lieutenant JG Aemilia "Millie" Stepanova & Commander Vox Templar

(( If you would like a look at what Millie is dancing https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=42pGuw07UWY 14 minute mark))

Millie stretched her arms up over her head. She was more exhausted than normal--the switching between shifts for counseling appointments was something she never totally enjoyed about the job. There was a nonstop flow…

» The Woman in Black

Mission: To Boldly Go
Posted on Fri Jan 18th, 2019 @ 9:02pm by Commander Edra Crow & Captain Henry Crow & Commander Vox Templar & Lieutenant JG Aemilia "Millie" Stepanova

Following the surprising surrender of the ship in the Badlands, a team had been dispatched and found one sole occupant. The woman from the video of the freighter. The Jem'Hadar were dead, scans showing they had been poisoned. Now as the Mercutio headed back to the Starbase, the woman sat…

» Reporting for Duty

Mission: Side Stories
Posted on Mon Jan 14th, 2019 @ 4:45pm by Lieutenant Paul Carter & Lieutenant Commander Caressa Melanick

Caressa was sitting at her desk console going over duty rosters and the details of injuries from the last battle. The good thing was there was nothing major. She had received notification that a new crew member would be coming aboard. She also needed to go over his file prior…

Latest Personal Logs

» Little Late Dinner

Posted on Sat Jan 12th, 2019 @ 10:43am by Lieutenant Commander Brielle Jayde

It had felt like an overly long shift, but Brielle got back to her quarters to a toddler running towards her, one who should have been in bed. She caught Razot's eye and he shrugged with a smirk. "Ossan, you should be in bed buddy."

"Stay up and see you!"…

» An Unpaid Debt

Posted on Tue Apr 10th, 2018 @ 7:07am by Banks

Banks looked out of the view port at the blue marble just beyond. She never thought she'd see it, or any other familiar world again. She couldn't thank the man responsible. She'd skipped the funeral, telling Chance she didn't think it was any place for a child and she'd keep…

» Chief Tactical Officer’s Personal Log

Posted on Sun Mar 11th, 2018 @ 8:19am by Lieutenant Commander Brielle Jayde

The information Hartsfield brought to us is..interesting. The science side of me can’t help but wonder how it will work, if it will work. There is too much testing still to do to know one way or another. The tactical side of me, okay, there is nothing. There isn’t anything…