A) The sim must have at least five active players.
B) The sim must have a functional website which includes:
• A front page or presentation page ("splash page") including the following:
• A sim teaser.
• A rating stating behavioral patterns observed and allowed within the sim's storyline (G, PG, PG-13, R, MA-17, etc.), with a written declaration of expected content beside the rating.
• A banner with a link back to NHS. Banner graphics are available at http://www.novahorizon.com/graphics.htm and the banner should link back to http://www.novahorizon.com. The banner should indicate the sim's applicant status. If the sim is accepted into NHS, the banner should then be changed to reflect this.
• Copyright and credit information, accompanied by a not-for-profit disclaimer where appropriate.
• A listing of the characters, preferably including biographies.
• A listing of available contact information of all the simmers, for the simmers.
• The website must have no broken links or images. If you're not sure whether your site has broken links, try Xenu's Linksleuth.
• All text and graphics used on the website must be accredited to their original creators.
C) All applying and member sims will be affiliated exclusively with NHS. Applying simulations also cannot share the same name as a pre-existing member simulation.
D) The sim's GM must be free of a misconduct report held by the NHS Administrative Council (not by individual members of the Council, unless a point made by a member is found to be validated by a majority as an initial misconduct report with NHS).
E) The sim's GM must have 3 months previous simming experience in the format of their sim, or their sim must have been running successfully for 3 months.
It is encouraged that applying sims have at least 1-2 writers new to Nova Horizons. (If you, the GM, are new to our community, that counts!) It is not mandatory or a requirement; however, this helps us grow.
If your sim does not meet these criteria, you can still be considered for membership by applying for "Developing" status. Your site will be reviewed and any criteria not currently met will be noted and discussed by the NHSAC, who may decide to accept your sim into development. A dedicated Development Officer will be assigned to help you get your sim up to the minimum standards. You will have a maximum of six months in which to complete this phase, after which you will be expected to formally reapply for full membership status. During the development phase, GMs may participate as non-executive (i.e., non-voting) members of the NHS Administrative Council.
Once accepted into NHS, GMs have a responsibility to submit brief sim reports every two months and are strongly encouraged to participate fully in the day-to-day business of running NHS. They must also maintain their sims according to the basic criteria listed above; if at any time a member simulation falls below this standard, they will be placed on hiatus until the situation is resolved.
After carefully reading the above and ensuring that your sim complies with the criteria listed, follow the link below. Pay careful attention to whether you are applying for full membership (ACTIVE) or developing status (DEVELOPING). Please be aware that if you apply as ACTIVE, your sim is expected to be just that; you should not wait to gain membership before starting simming, as the Council needs to assess your sim in full. Also note that meeting the basic criteria is no guarantee that your sim will be granted membership. The GMs who form the Council will conduct a subjective quality review of all applicant sims and cast their votes according to their individual assessments.
The whole process should take no longer than a week to fully complete. You will be kept informed of the progress of the application and contacted as soon as possible after your form is submitted. We look forward to hearing from you!
NOTE: The names Star Trek: Cairo and Star Trek: Miranda have "protected" status within NHS, by agreement among the NHS Council. Any sims applying under these names will be automatically rejected, out of respect for these two founding members of Nova Horizon Simulations.