A recent review of our records revealed something very interesting: Captain Shran dh’Klar of the USS Washington is currently in his 90th month of command in Independence Fleet. This breaks the previous tie of 89 months with Steven MayTa Death for the fleet’s all-time lead. You read that right–Captain dh’Klar is now the longest serving sim Commanding Officer in the history of Independence Fleet. A quick recap of his command career:
December 2010 – May 2012: USS Washington (18 months)
December 2012 – August 2013: USS Archimedes (9)
April 2015 – current: USS Washington (63)
Let’s put the 90 months into perspective: That’s 7.5 years of command! Wow! As of June 1st, that includes 1,320 total posts and a tie with Rhenora Kaylen for first place all-time with 26 monthly posting titles.*
I still remember when Captain dh’Klar first took command of the Washington. I had just returned to IDF as Chief of Fleet Operations and we were re-launching several historical sims. I really wanted him to be one of our Captains and offered him whichever command he wanted. I was very happy when he selected the Washington, which at the time was already one of our most storied games. Captain dh’Klar has since taken the Washington to even greater heights, creating a nearly unparalleled legacy.
Captain, thanks again for your service and we’re looking forward to the next 90 months!
* IDF does not have sim records from January 2004 to September 2010 and is missing posting totals for September – October 2018 and December 2018 to May 2019.
Recruited the Washington’s stellar rookie and continues to work on recruiting for the ship.
Congratulations to all of our winners. Good luck to everyone for May and keep simming! That’s what I said last month too? I’m must be getting too old for this.
Hidden within this nonsense article are 25 names of popular Star Trek characters. Can you find them all?
Greyfriars Kirkyard in Edinburgh, Scotland is fabled to be the home of the scottish faeries. While some consider the legends to be part of ancient Scottish lore, others consider them to be the result of a drunken Scot typing nonsense to sell cheap local literature. Old Jimmy Price is recognised as the author of most contemporary prints and evidence of his historical research can be found in the old mans pocketbook which is on display in Edinburgh public library.
Old Jimmy Price made millions from his local tall tales and bought himself a Lamborghini with the profits from the first volume. The second edition was even more popular that the first allowing him to say “adieu Huracan” and “bonjour” to a brand new Porche 911. He would often be found sitting in one of his expensive cars tucking into a bag of ready salted McCoys.
Old Jimmy was also something of a politician and had the french consul under his influence due to an overhead Back handed jibe made by the frenchman at a local function. He used his influence to fund the opening of a zoo where he cared for a varied menagerie. It was during these years that he began his famous treaties on the natural sciences making ground breaking observations such as;
When feeding platypi, cardboard containers are prefered due to the animals aversion to plastics. He discovered that feeding a penguin an icecube was an excellent way to facilitate egg production and through lengthy observations of his pet Kestral Jane, discovered the in workings of the birds mind through the application of Odorless Ordifal oil to the feeding trough. If you study the data it will show Orfidal is often prescribed to treat anxiety. Unfortunately his discoveries were cut short when one day his assistant gave Jane way too much of the oil and she sadly died.
Jimmy Price was indeed an accomplished man. A man’s man. He was an expert archer, a superb swordsman with an ability to strike right on time to deal the finishing blow. He was an expert fisherman and once caught a prize winning pike which he kept over his fireplace in pride of place next to his ancient scottish Blood axe. In his latter years he moved his field of interest into the sciences and discovered that the centroid or geometric center of a plane figure is the arithmetic mean position of all the points in the figure before concluding that a quark is a type of elementary particle and a fundamental constituent of matter. He was however until his dying day a terrible cook and could even burn ham if not properly supervised.
Fame came at a price however and it took the form of his older brother George. Quite simply Jimmy made George ordinary and uninteresting by comparison. Turning up to his older brothers 60th birthday party Jimmy made the bash irrelevant as the friends and family ignored the birthday boy to flock around Jimmy to hear his latest tall tales of adventure and accomplishment. So incensed was George that he invited his brother on a trip and while traveling he attacked and killed the poor fellow placinging his body in a mechanical crusher to hide his crime.
Until this day the body of Jimmy Price has never been found, though rumours abound of his grizzly fate.
Independence Fleet hereby announces the launch of Starbase Mikia, currently our only starbase sim. This is an open role playing game, set after Star Trek: Nemesis, led Captain Jensen Russell. In case you were wondering, Mikia is unofficially the Klingon name for Michael.
Located in the Beta Quadrant, where the action never seems to end, starships and traders from all over the galaxy make stops at Mikia for all sorts of reasons. Captain Russell and his team are loaded with mission ideas for Star Trek storytelling.
Star Trek: Picard has arrived in role play: The USS Eminence commanded by Captain Caymen Greener. The ship is a Saber-class scout/patrol vessel assigned to the former border areas with the Romulan Empire a few months prior to the events of Star Trek: Picard in 2399.
While the sim is set near the old Romulan border, it will not exclusively run Romulan-based missions. Captain Greener has a lot of great ideas for this game, and it will only get better and better as both the crew and the series continue to build the lore.
If you would like to join simming’s cutting edge while still honoring Star Trek’s past, join the Eminence today!
It’s that time again as we reach out into the community and ask one of our esteemed members about their “Favorite Trek.” Aurther comes to us after a break from the simming world and we are overjoyed to have him back.
Aurther cut his teeth back in 2003 when he was recruited into his first Sim through a college message board. So started the adventures of James Sullivan on the USS Dragon in IDF. From lowly Ensign to Chief Engineer James rose through the ranks until that thing we call “a life” dragged him away.
But the call of Captain Youngblood of the USS Chuck Norris called him back again to engage in technobabble once more, a language in which Aurther is quite fluent. Alas life struck again and Aurther went of to live it for several years before recently stumbling on an invite to returned to his old stomping ground to Trek once more!
Now a proud father of a beautiful 8 week old daughter and a man with a little extra time on his hands (or perhaps better time management skills) he has returned to the Chuck Norris and Independence Fleet to which he has remained loyal all these years!
Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you Aurther and his Favorite Trek :
Name: Aurther Winters
Rank: Commander
Sim: USS Chuck Norris
Position: Executive Officer
Favorite Star Trek episode? Darmok
Why? This was in the height of the TNG best writing and acting. The plot and the messages that came out of it were some of the best. The premise of being able to speak the same language but not the same language is a dynamic I don’t think is often explored enough.
Favorite Star Trek series? The Next Generation
Why? It expanded what was originally set out in TOS, but the stoy and acting was far superior. It also laid out the groundwork and subplots for would would come later in different series. Also I feel like there is nothing more iconic then then the Enterprise-D.
Favorite Star Trek film? First Contact
Why? As much as I love how Iconic the Enterprise-D was, when the Enterprise-E made the scene I was in love. As a fan of the ships on Star Trek this was one where there was just so many to see and like. This one also had a good fee call backs well also being interesting and showing us all where the line is. Here. No further! *Insert smashing glass scene*
Favorite Star Trek Captain? Captain Picard
What year did you start simming? 2004
What sim was it? USS Dragon
What keeps you simming today? Keeping the writing skills and imagination up, and love of Star Trek
Favorite non-simming hobby? Hockey
Favorite non-Trek series? The Orville
Favorite non-Trek film? Ghostbusters
Favorite book (fiction or non)? Redshirts
Favorite video game? Halo
Favorite musician or band? Greenday
Favorite superhero? Captain Canuck
If you could have any super power, what would it be? Don’t know if you would call it a superpower, but being able to understand and speak every language
Favorite sport? Hockey
Favorite team? Colorado Avalanche
Favorite food? Tacos
Coke or Pepsi? Pepsi
Lennon or McCartney? Lennon
Jordan or LeBron? Jordan
Star Trek or Star Wars? Star Trek
Rank the Trek TV shows from best to worst. The Next Generation (1987–1994) Original Series (1966–1969) Discovery (2017–present) Picard (2020–present) Orville (2017) Enterprise (2001–2005) Deep Space Nine (1993–1999) Voyager (1995–2001)
Rank the Trek movies from best to worst. II: The Wrath of Khan (1982) VI: The Undiscovered Country (1991) IV: The Voyage Home (1986) III: The Search for Spock (1984) The Motion Picture (1979) V: The Final Frontier (1989) First Contact (1996) Generations (1994) Nemesis (2002) Insurrection (1998) Star Trek (2009) Into Darkness (2013) Beyond (2016)
Was this too many questions? I mean by the end I thought you might have been asking for my shoe size, but I think this was a good amount.
Fantastic Aurther please take a bow and everyone else have a great Easter weekend!
Rook Mirtoh, your friendly neighborhood Director of Personnel here. It’s been a number of years since I was last in the IDF Admiralty. So many that I’ve lost count! Regardless, I’m back and so is IDF. March was a great month with many great posts and performances. Alas, we don’t have enough awards to honor everyone who is doing excellent things with us today. However, we can honor these outstanding members of the fleet.
Best Post
Cmdr. Jonathan Grayson (XO) & Lt. Cmdr. N’Sachzny P’Glosho (CSTO) USS Washington
For “Meeting old friends?” Beautifully written, an in depth look at the characters, history, and politics. Well done!
For jumping right in on the new website in his old role as XO and posting a fleet-high of 6 posts, all helping set the tone for what’s coming. Already stepping up as a leader and getting new crew integrated.
If you visited our website yesterday, you might have seen something peculiar: IDF replacing Star Trek with Super Space Command 3000 branding after a court order authorized CBS to collect royalties from fan fiction websites. April fools! In case you missed it, we’ve recreated that main page at the bottom of this post.
This is actually the third time IDF has pulled the ole’ SSC3K joke. The first was all the way back in 2003. The second was in 2011, when we were joined by Theta Fleet and Starfleet Legacy Alliance. Theta Fleet played along with us again this year.
Of course, thank you to everyone for being a good sport about it once more! Here are some of the best comments we received for 2020’s joke:
You’ve got to be kidding!!!!!
Not cool.
It seems wrong and I am sure even from an outsider perspective.
Come on CBS, that is such a mean move!?
This is an outrage! Greedy corporate execs! We should all write in and give them a piece of our minds 😡
How the heck are we supposed to pay royalties to CBS?
How much do I need to pay to not see that?
Did you get this on a graphic design consultation website or in house? 😛
Omg hahahaha!
Love it lol
Hahaha Hilarious!
This better be an April Fools joke.
I hate this day.
Nice April fool’s day gag.
I hate April Fool’s Day. 😝
I’m not a huge fan of April Fool’s, but well done 😉
Independence Fleet website, April 1, 2020:
The Fleet
Alert: Yes, it’s true. CBS is going to require that Star Trek role play sites pay royalties that we simply can’t afford. Here’s a link to the article we’ve cut and pasted below:
SAN FRANCISCO-A three-judge panel for the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ruled yesterday that CBS Studios has the authority to collect royalties from Star Trek fan fiction websites, even if the websites generate no revenue. All privately-owned publicly-facing Star Trek themed sites will be required to register with CBS immediately to pay fees based on policy to be set later by CBS.
The decision was a blow to many Star Trek fan writers, who commonly organize themselves into groups called “sims” or “role plays”. Lawyers representing an anonymous group unsuccessfully argued that CBS’s demands are a violation of free speech. CBS countered that “Star Trek” is a registered trademark. The court agreed with CBS in its 44-page decision.
Immediately following the ruling, CBS announced that official policy will be determined in six to eight weeks. Since so few fan fiction websites collect revenue, CBS is expected to charge royalties based on membership and participation. All affected websites who refuse or are unable to meet the financial demands will be forced to choose a new theme. Representatives for several websites have vowed to appeal to the Supreme Court.
It is unclear if CBS plans to pursue a similar policy with any of its other trademarked franchises or if other media companies will follow suit.
But not to worry! We’ve come up with something even better than Star Trek: Super Space Command 3000! That’s SSC3K for short! We think this will give us all more flexibility with our stories and characters, and most importantly, we hold all the legal rights for SSC3K. In short, we’re excited about our future in Super Space Command 3000 starting today. Please send any comments or suggestions to star.idf@gmail.com
Thank you, Independence Fleet Command
Welcome to Independence Fleet Command! We’ve hosted top quality Super Space Command 3000 role playing since 2001. Regardless of what you call it–simming, play-by-post (PbP), play-by-email (PbEm), or even creative writing–it’s what we’ve been doing for nearly 19 years.
Join one of our exciting adventures below and tell your Star Fleet tale with other Trekkies from around the world!
That’s simply the style of writing used for the particular game. Prose means it’s written in regular language like you would find in a novel or short story. Script refers to a specific role playing syntax:
Still don’t get it? Here’s the same line written in each format:
{Planet’s Surface}
John picked the communicator up from the table. He wasn’t sure what to do. “Here goes nothing,” he muttered before speaking into the device. “Bridge, this is John.”
{Planet’s Surface}
John: ::picks up communicator from the table:: (I’m not sure what to do.) “Here goes nothing.” =/\=Bridge, this is John.=/\=
As you can see, the {Location} tag is frequently used in both formats. Also, the exact syntax will likely vary from sim to sim.
What’s the difference between traditional and open role playing?
In traditional role playing, you only write for your own character without explicit permission or guidance from other players, generally speaking. This is how almost all Star Trek simming games usually work.
Open role playing differs in that everyone writes for everyone. All characters are at at your disposal for use with every post. While this is uncommon in the role playing community, you’ll see a higher number of open role playing sims in Independence Fleet. Here’s an article from Ongoing Worlds that explains open role playing in more detail.
Independence Fleet = Excellence
Tournament of Simulations
USS Chuck Norris
2014
USS Victory
2013
USS Chirikov USS Liberty USS Rioja USS Sunfire USS Victory
2012
USS Liberty USS Sunfire
2011
Ongoing Worlds
Squiddie Award
James D. West, 2015 AJ Wheeler, 2013
=/\=
Community Honor
James D. West, 2018 Landon Wakeland, 2013
Legacy Simming League
Simming Prize
Charles Star, 2016 Independence Fleet, 2011 USS Sunfire, 2010
At 11:59 PM tonight, the USS Sanctuary will officially transfer from Independence Fleet to UCIP. The Sanctuary has been a mainstay in IDF since she launched back in October 2012. According to available records as of March 1st, the Sanctuary had seen 1,718 total posts and 17 monthly posting titles. Wow!
Perhaps even more impressive is that Commanding Officer Steven Mayta Death is not only the longest currently-tenured CO in IDF, but he is also first all-time in IDF history with 89 completed command-months, all with the Sanctuary. His alter ego, Steven Mayta Cha’Dich adds five more (one with the Sanctuary and five with Starbase Prime). What a record!
But Steven’s and the Sanctuary’s run doesn’t end here. Steven actually began his career back in UCIP, and he’s simply going home. Here’s to all the adventures he and his crew are going to continue to have for years to come!
As I often tell an old friend of mine; life and death are seldom logical, and there is nothing logical about the state of the earth right now. It seemed like a good time to reach out and check up on you all, wish you well and encourage you to stick together during these troubled times.
We are after all ahead of the game when it comes to sticking together and building communities while in reality being physically quite separate and sometimes isolated. We have a talent for using out imagination and communication skills to bridge the gaps in time and space that separate us. The world needs people like us right now.
As a trained Star Fleet doctor I could tell you all about washing your hands, and maintaining social distance but you already know the basics. So what advice should I give? I often tell my good friend that the release of emotions (something he struggles with), is what keeps us healthy– emotionally healthy, that is.
Staying emotionally healthy right now is just as important as keeping that virus at bay. We have these great imaginary worlds to lose ourselves in and express ourselves through, as well as wonderful communities of people from all walks of life to chat and share with. Reach out and make the most of it.
I’m a doctor not a fortuneteller so who knows what the future will bring, but I do know that I feel lucky to have such great communities to enjoy my time and express my creativity with.
