Hello,
I did start another thread about time scales. That was slightly different in that I was opening up a discussion about using a different measure of time (cycles/rotations) so we didnt have to specify hours and have a more abstract definition of how long we are on shift. For example we could say a mission lasted 3 cycles, but in real game terms it would have lasted about 45mins to an hour. A cycle wouldnt have to be clearly defined, but we could say that something like 1 cyclw is the minimum amount of sleep/ refresh time a crewman needs to be able to be effective. An officer is expeced to work at least 5 cycles ( with the 6th being rest time). Longer missions would last more cycles, pushing the limit (10 could be max or something). None of these need times put to them; we dont have to say one cycle equals so many hours for example. If you consider how long you can be up for (about 6am till about 10pm) before really needing sleep (and still feel refreshed in the morning) then it gives you an idea how long 5 cycles might be.
Consider too that we might have some kind of artificial stimulatant (or just caffine!) and we could last longer.
It was just a thought though and I opened it up for discussion.
As for crews, I imagined the main qualified officers being on the bridge and on duty most of the time. NCOs could take out place whilst off duty. These could be the odd bridge NCO who could jump on helm for example, or monitor engineering systems, just while the main officers get their head down. For a mission, an officer might be required to stay at their post for a longer duration. If you consider how fatiguing some of the 2 hour missions can be,you definately get the feeling of being alert for a long period of time. They could step away to get a quick drink or snack, but most of the time be operating their console and drinking caffine/ taking stims to keep going. This kind of thing seems to come up often in books I’ve read (the Black Fleet trilogy/ the Lost Fleet series – see the book club thread for references).