About

Logo featuring a star with wings, surrounded by a laurel wreath and a blue starry background.
James D. West’s 2003 IDF logo was the first to feature the now-famous bell & wings

Independence Fleet (IDF / IDFleet.com) is an online Star Trek role play-by-post / role play-by-email / simming / creative writing club that was founded on July 4, 2001 by James D. West, Charles Star, and Robert Seldon with three original games: the USS Sunfire, USS Avalon & USS Washington.  Our tradition, however, dates back to February 16, 2000, when the three founders began their adventures on old Utopia Fleet’s role play-by-email USS Sunfire, commanded by Commodore Jay “Robbie” Robertson.

In the many years since, hundreds if not thousands of Star Trek fans have made IDF their role playing home and written their galactic adventures with fellow Star Trek fans from around the world. While we’ve come a long way from our humble beginnings on Angelfire and YahooGroups, three factors still separate us from other similar groups:

  • Captains have autonomy over their sims: With few fleet requirements, Commanding Officers are free to lead their role plays as they see fit
  • We regularly recognize crew members for their contributions: Each month we present eight unique awards for role playing excellence
  • We’re a family: You can’t truly appreciate the community atmosphere here without experiencing it yourself

What is play by post?

The bridge of a futuristic starship, designed with a circular seating arrangement. In the center, a large, command chair is surrounded by four other seats, all with ergonomic, cream-colored upholstery. The curved ceiling has a series of geometric panels with ambient lighting. Behind the seats, large control consoles with touch-screen interfaces are mounted on the walls. Two doorways and an elevator are visible on either side of the bridge.

It’s the most popular term today for what we’ve been doing from day one: simming, role playing, role play by email, creative writing, or even collaborative writing.  First, you create a character (a crew member) and join a group of other Trek fans (a crew).  Together, you then tell the story of that crew and their starship or starbase through small incremental sections called posts.  You’re free to post as often or as little as you like. Some people post a lot. Some people post a little. Some people write longer posts. Some people write shorter posts. Regardless, the main goal is simple: Have fun! The possibilities are only limited by your collective imaginations.

History

Logo featuring the letters 'UF' in silver, surrounded by a laurel wreath, with a blue and starry background.
IDF’s mother club, Utopia Fleet, was one of the most popular groups from 1999-2000; this logo was created by Annika McKenzie in 1999

Online role playing began in the 1980s on university computer networks, bulletin board systems (BBSs), and early Internet service providers (ISPs). Containing aspects of both fan fiction writing and tabletop role playing, it appealed to players from each. In the 1990s, clubs formed, formal structures were instituted, and community norms were established. Around 2000, most groups migrated from their ISPs to the World Wide Web. Eventually the community settled on play by post as the dominant name for the craft.

We prefer a hands off approach of allowing everyone to record our happenings through collaboration: The article about us at the Roleplay Wiki is an excellent resource.  However, we do have a good portion of our history documented in the official records spreadsheet:

IDF Record Book (Google Spreadsheet)

  • Monthly Awards: all known monthly awards presented to crewmembers
    • Monthly Awards Character Table: sorted by character by number of awards
    • Monthly Awards Sim Table: sorted by sim by number of awards
  • Major Awards: the highest honors presented to active members
  • Hall of Fame: a list of all retired characters who have been inducted
  • Outside Awards: awards presented to IDF and its members by other organizations
  • Sim Records: confirmed post totals for each sim by month
    • Sim Records Sim Table: sorted by sim by number of posts
    • Sim Records CO Table: sorted by CO by number of posts
    • Sim Record Admiral Table: sorted by Admiral by sims launched
  • Admiralty Positions: all known Admiralty jobs ever held
  • Seniority: all known members to have held Admiralty ranks
  • CO XO Timeline: a list of those who have served as fleet CO or fleet XO
  • Charter Members: a list of fleet members as of IDF’s original launch on July 4, 2001
  • Unofficial Eras: a list of the different generations of simmers over IDF’s history

Monthly Awards records exist for Jul 2001-Oct 2005, Oct 2010-Jul 2013, and Mar 2020-present. The Sim Records exist for Jul 2001-Dec 2003, Oct 2010-Aug 2018, Nov 2018, and Jun 2019-present. Unfortunately, the rest is currently lost to history.

Traditions

As you can tell from the sections above, we have a lot of traditions around here. However, two others stand out: April Fools’ Day and our anniversary. We invite all current and former members to explore what this club has meant over the years with the content below:

April Fools’ Day

Anniversary

A man with gray hair and beard, wearing glasses and a dark button-up shirt, sits in a well-lit room with a wooden acoustic guitar hanging on the wall behind him. This is Actor Jonathan Frakes.
Jonathan Frakes
20th Anniversary Message		Actor Andrew Robinson smiling warmly in a close-up selfie video. He is wearing a dark shirt and is positioned in front of a softly lit, neutral-toned wall with a subtle pattern. The word 'Cameo' appears in the top right corner.
Andy Robinson
21st Anniversary Message #1		Actor Brian Baumgartner smiling in a well-lit office setting. He is wearing a white polo shirt under a dark vest, with framed certificates or diplomas hanging on the wall behind him.
Brian Baumgartner
21st Anniversary Message #2
Actor Brent Spiner smiling subtly while wearing glasses and a dark shirt, with a neatly trimmed white beard and light gray hair, seated indoors in a softly lit room.
Brent Spiner
TNG 35th Anniversary Message		Actor and martial artist Chuck Norris smiling while wearing a black cap and dark polo shirt, seated indoors in front of windowed doors with warm lighting.
Chuck Norris
USS Chuck Norris 11th Anniversary		Actress Nana Visitor smiling warmly, wearing a pink top with styled gray hair, seated indoors in front of dark curtains.
Nana Visitor
DSN 30th Anniversary Message
Actor Garrett Wang smiling gently while wearing a dark collared shirt, standing in a brightly lit room with white walls and a closed door behind him.
Garrett Wang
22nd Anniversary Message #1		Actor John O'Hurley smiling outdoors in a wooded area, wearing a light blue polo shirt with sunlight filtering through the trees behind him.
John O’Hurley
22nd Anniversary Message #2		Actor Edward James Olmos outdoors wearing a white fedora with a dark band, thoughtfully resting his hand near his mouth, with palm trees and greenery in the background.
Edward James Olmos
2024 Important Announcement
Actress Judith McConnell smiling warmly, wearing a light blue top and earrings, in a softly lit indoor setting.
Judith McConnell
23rd Anniversary Message #1		Actor Phil Morris smiling in a pinstriped suit and tie, seated indoors with decorative pillows and a framed photo in the background.
Phil Morris
23rd Anniversary Message #2		To be continued…
Cover page of the Independence Fleet 20th Anniversary Almanac, dated July 4, 2021. The document features a subtle winged emblem in the background, a signature at the top, and the website link 'https://www.IDFleet.com' at the bottom.
IDF
20th Anniversary Almanac		Puzzle answer sheet titled 'Independence Fleet 20th Anniversary Almanac Answers,' featuring a completed crossword, a maze with a red solution path, a filled Sudoku grid, and a numbered list of steps from a tribble-themed logic puzzle. The URL https://www.IDFleet.com is shown at the bottom.
IDF
Almanac Puzzle Answers		Cover page of the Independence Fleet 20th Anniversary Almanac, dated July 4, 2021. The document features a subtle winged emblem in the background, a signature at the top, and the website link 'https://www.IDFleet.com' at the bottom. Signed by William Shatner
IDF
Signed Cover Page

F.A.Q.

  • Q: Does IDF have a maximum content rating?
  • A: Yes, none of our games exceed content typical for a PG-13 film rating (U.S.). This generally corresponds to RPG rating, numbers 212 from RPGRating.com. Specific interpretation is left to sim Commanding Officers, and some may choose a lower content rating.
  • Q: Who determines if I will be accepted on an IDF sim?
  • A: Sim Commanding Officers have sole authority to determine whom they accept or don’t accept on their respective games.
  • Q: Who determines my rank and/or position?
  • A: Sim Commanding Officers have sole authority to assign positions on their respective games; they also have the authority to promote any of their players up to Commander (O-5).
  • Q: Can I have more than one character on a single sim?
  • A: Players are only permitted to have one player-controlled character per game; however, the rules for non-player-characters (NPCs) vary from game to game.
  • Q: Can I be on more than one IDF sim at a time?
  • A: Yes; however, each character should have a different name.
  • Q: Does IDF have an overarching fleet story or timeline?
  • A: No, sim Commanding Officers have final say for everything in-story in their respective games.
  • Q: Does IDF allow independent sims to join?
  • A: Yes, although we don’t do this very often. If you are the CO or host of an independent Star Trek sim and you’re interested in joining us, please contact Charles Star at star [dot] idf [at] gmail [dot] com.