Happy 23rd anniversary, Independence Fleet! For anyone new and not aware or simply not wanting to do the math, this club was founded all the way back on July 4, 2001. Continuing a tradition we began a few years ago, here is a message from a special guest:
What else do we have for this year? You might remember the 20th Anniversary Almanac that we published three years ago. Well, we got the cover page signed by none other than Star Trek legend William Shatner:
In case you were wondering, the cover photo at the top is indeed based on the greatest Star Trek selfie ever taken by LeVar Burton. Thank you to Captain Misaki for creating our header image two years in a row.
I almost forgot, we have a second message this year too:
And yet another year of IDF is in the books with our 22nd Anniversary today. To remind you of how old we really are, here’s a quote from last year’s anniversary post:
“On our 22nd Anniversary, we will be further removed from the premiere of the 2009 Star Trek film (May 8, 2009) than IDF’s launch was from the premiere of The Next Generation (September 28, 1987): 14 years, 1 month, 26 days vs. 13 years, 9 months, 6 days.”
Well, here we are! For this year’s celebration, each of our 12 sims created a movie poster to capture their unique essence and feel. We are also very fortunate to have Amanda Rose from RPG Writing, NX-1701-G from Zodiac Fleet, and Beth from Sim Central to judge the entries in three categories: overall image quality, how much does it look like an actual movie poster, and general creativity/originality. Before we get to the posters themselves, we first have an announcement from a special guest:
“I’m impressed by the technical skill and originality that went into this poster.”
“If you’re familiar with Anime movie posters, this is spot on.”
“Having anime Trek characters in the mirror universe with the crack showing the Federation and Terran emblems on different sides was brilliant.”
“Of all the posters shared this was the one that actually made me want to join the game in question.”
“Image expertly merged the dinosaur imagery with clear Trek imagery without making them appear distinct.”
“This poster screamed movie poster. I would expect to see this on the wall in some theater. A starship with dinosaurs and big lettering. Well done!”
“I’m not typically a fan of the starship and character posters, but this one spoke to me.”
“I kept wanting to rate this poster higher in my rankings. There’s a lot to like with the faded facial imagery and ship…
…[including] ‘Coming Never,’ which was mildly amusing.”
Congratulations to all three winners, and a special thanks to our judges! However, to quote Kirk from Star Trek III, we’re not finished yet! Here are superlative awards for our other nine games:
Best poster for Seinfeld/Trek crossover USS Albion CO: Captain Dick Sprague Poster by: Akeno Misaki
Some bold judges not to pick this one! USS Chuck Norris CO: Captain Aurther Winters Poster by: Bonnie Durnell
Best poster for past meeting the future USS Churchill CO: Captain James Stewart Poster by: Akeno Misaki
Best poster if you actually watch Picard USS Eminence CO: Captain Alex Shepard Poster by: Akeno Misaki
Best poster for a random trailing light USS Ganymede CO: Captain Dyllon McMahon Poster by: Akeno Misaki
Best poster for a low Earth orbit view USS Liberty CO: Captain Kaylia Strenvale Poster by: Akeno Misaki
Best poster for the IMAX experience USS Montana CO: Captain Jackson Adams Poster by: Bonnie Durnell
Best poster for “Aft torpedoes, fire!!!” USS Washington CO: Captain Shran dh’Klar Poster by: Akeno Misaki
Best poster that could double for Dune Starbase 80 CO: Captain Kathleen O’Shea Poster by: Bonnie Durnell
While we’re on the topic of movies, we are now further removed from our July 4, 2001 founding than it was from the premiere of the first Star Trek film Star Trek: The Motion Picture (December 6, 1979): 22 years vs. 21 years, 6 months, 28 days. Feel old yet?
Continuing last year’s tradition, we again have a second video message:
The Importance of Fleet Management in Today’s Business World
In today’s fast-paced business world, effective fleet management is crucial for the success of any organization that relies on vehicles to operate. Fleet management refers to the process of planning, coordinating, and controlling a company’s fleet of vehicles, including cars, trucks, vans, and other types of vehicles.
One of the primary benefits of fleet management is cost savings. By properly maintaining and utilizing vehicles, companies can reduce the need for costly repairs and downtime. This can be achieved through regular maintenance, vehicle tracking, and the use of fuel-efficient vehicles.
In addition to cost savings, fleet management can also improve safety and compliance. By implementing safety protocols and tracking vehicle performance, companies can reduce the risk of accidents and ensure that their vehicles are operating in compliance with local and federal regulations.
Effective fleet management can also increase productivity and efficiency. By using real-time tracking and scheduling, companies can optimize routes and schedules, reducing the time and resources required to complete tasks.
There are many tools and technologies available to help companies manage their fleets effectively. Fleet management software can be used to track vehicle location and performance, schedule maintenance, and optimize routes. GPS tracking devices can be installed in vehicles to provide real-time location information and alert managers to any potential issues.
In summary, effective fleet management is essential for any organization that relies on vehicles to operate. By implementing cost-saving measures, improving safety and compliance, and increasing productivity and efficiency, companies can achieve significant benefits through proper fleet management.
Needless to say, I think it missed the mark! It might be due to the bot’s inability to actually visit our website. Next I asked: Can you write a scene for a new Star Trek movie?
Could this be a post? Maybe!
The scene opens on the bridge of the USS Enterprise, as the ship speeds through deep space on a mission to explore a mysterious new planet. Captain Kirk is standing at the helm, gazing out at the stars.
Suddenly, the ship is jolted by a violent explosion. The alarms start blaring and the lights flash red.
“Report!” Kirk shouts, as the crew rushes to their stations.
“We’ve been hit by an energy weapon, Captain,” says Spock, who is working at the science console. “It’s of a type we’ve never seen before.”
“Where did it come from?” Kirk demands.
“I’m not sure, sir,” Spock replies. “It seems to be coming from the planet we’re approaching.”
Kirk takes a deep breath and makes a quick decision. “Helm, take us into orbit. Mr. Sulu, arm the phasers. Mr. Chekov, scan for any other ships or weapons in the area.”
The Enterprise enters orbit around the planet and begins to scan for any signs of danger. As they search, they pick up faint readings of a highly advanced alien civilization.
Kirk looks over at Spock. “What do you make of it, Spock?”
Spock’s eyebrows lift in surprise. “It appears to be a civilization far more technologically advanced than anything we’ve ever encountered. But there are no signs of hostile intent.”
Kirk nods. “We’ll approach with caution. Mr. Sulu, set a course for the nearest city. Let’s see if we can make contact and learn more about these aliens.”
The Enterprise heads towards the city, and as they get closer, they are amazed by the towering spires and gleaming structures that stretch up into the sky. It is clear that this civilization is highly advanced and technologically sophisticated.
As they approach the city, a bright beam of light shoots out from the planet’s surface and envelops the Enterprise. Kirk and the crew brace themselves, but instead of an attack, they find themselves transported to the surface of the planet.
They are greeted by a group of friendly aliens, who introduce themselves as the Q’tahli. The Q’tahli welcome the Enterprise crew and invite them to explore their city and learn about their civilization.
Kirk and the crew are amazed by the Q’tahli’s advanced technology and benevolent nature. They spend several days learning about the Q’tahli and their way of life, and even manage to help resolve a minor crisis that had been plaguing the Q’tahli’s society.
As the Enterprise prepares to leave, Kirk thanks the Q’tahli for their hospitality and friendship. “We’ll be sure to visit again,” he says, as the Enterprise sets course for its next adventure.
While this was a fun little exercise, I think it’s safe to say that ChatGPT has a ways to go before it can start role playing! You can read more about the backstory of ChatGPT here. You can also see a similar article to this one over at Ongoing Worlds.
What an exciting bit of Independence Fleet news that I get the opportunity to share with you all. This very post marks the 100th blog post since IDF launched the new website on February 29, 2020. That’s a lot of blogging and I am delighted that these 100 posts have been mostly celebratory and honoring our members.
Ironically, we also have 100 blog comments so far. It is always nice to receive comments from the IDF community. It makes every blog post all the more wonderful and though my work schedule the past few months derailed my involvement, I am glad to be part of the fleet in this capacity. I don’t know where we will be 100 more blog posts down the road, but it undoubtedly will be a great journey with you all.
Let’s have a look at some blog statistics:
Author
Posts
Charles Star
50
James “Rook” Mirtoh
32
Bolak
6
Ken Gillis
5
James West
4
Heather Meadows
3
Stay tuned for more exciting IDF news and blog posts!
It’s going to be near impossible to top last year’s Day of Trivia, Webcast, and special edition Message & Almanac. And that’s for good reason: 20th anniversaries are a big deal in role playing! But 21st birthdays are important too. Indeed, if Independence Fleet (IDF) was a humanoid (living in the United States), the 21st would be even more important. I’m quickly getting off track…
What did we decide to do? For our 21 years together, here are 21 facts about IDF, Star Trek and/or other topics that might change your perception of time. Modeled after two articles from Buzzfeed (here and here), we hope you enjoy the list.
But before we do that, here is a special message for this year’s anniversary:
IDF’s launch (July 4, 2001) was closer to the release of Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (June 4, 1982) than it is to today: 19 years, 1 month vs. 21 years.
Ditto for the North America release of the Nintendo Entertainment System (October 18, 1985): 15 years, 8 months, 16 days.
And for the release of Windows 1.0 (November 20, 1985): 15 years, 7 months, 14 days.
And also for the release of the world’s very first website (December 20, 1990): 10 years, 6 months, 14 days.
The time from IDF’s launch on Angelfire to the registry of its first URL (July 4, 2001 – February 26, 2005) was longer than the entire run of Star Trek: The Original Series (September 8, 1966 – June 3, 1969): 3 years, 7 months, 22 days vs. 2 years, 8 months, 26 days.
The time from the registry of IDF’s first URL to officially moving to its current URL (February 26, 2005 – February 29, 2020) was longer than the entire run of the TNG/DSN/VOY television series era from the premiere of Star Trek: The Next Generation to the finale of Star Trek: Voyager (September 8, 1987 – May 23, 2001): 15 years, 3 days vs. 13 years, 7 months, 25 days.
The time from moving to IDF’s current URL to today (2 years, 4 months, 5 days) is shorter than all but three periods between Star Trek movies: The Wrath of Khan to The Search for Spock (1 year, 11 months, 28 days), Generations to First Contact (2 years, 4 days), and First Contact to Insurrection (2 years, 19 days).
However, it’s longer than the time from Utopia Fleet’s founding (April 7, 1999) to IDF’s founding: 2 years, 2 months, 27 days.
Utopia Fleet’s founding was closer to the North America release of the Atari 2600 (September 11, 1977) than it is to today: 21 years, 6 months, 27 days vs. 23 years, 2 months, 27 days.
Ditto for the release of the original Star Wars movie (May 25, 1977): 21 years, 10 months, 13 days.
The time from the launch of the original USS Sunfire NCC-3935 (February 16, 2000) to IDF’s launch was longer than the entire run of Star Trek: The Animated Series (September 8, 1973 – October 12, 1974): 1 year, 4 months, 18 days vs. 1 year, 1 month, 4 days
The launch of the award-winning USS Sunfire NCC-3001-D (October 10, 2010) was closer to IDF’s founding than it is to today: 9 years, 3 months, 6 days vs. 11 years, 8 months, 24 days.
The launch of the USS Chuck Norris NCC-4005 (January 2, 2012) was closer to the first Chuck Norris facts appearing on the Internet (sometime in early 2005) than it is to today: ~7 years vs. 10 years, 6 months, 2 days.
IDF is older than the iPod (October 23, 2001),
Facebook (February 4, 2004),
YouTube (February 14, 2005),
the Microsoft Xbox (November 15, 2001),
commercially available Blu-ray Discs (June 20, 2006),
and NBA All-Star LaMelo Ball (August 22, 2001).
At IDF’s launch, Tom Brady had zero Super Bowl rings. In fact, he had only completed 1 NFL pass.
The time from IDF’s launch to today is longer than the time from The Original Series finale to The Next Generation premiere (June 3, 1969 – September 28, 1987): 21 years vs. 18 years, 3 months, 25 days.
And for a bonus, something to look forward to next year: On our 22nd Anniversary, we will be further removed from the premiere of the 2009 Star Trek film (May 8, 2009) than IDF’s launch was from the premiere of The Next Generation (September 28, 1987): 14 years, 1 month, 26 days vs. 13 years, 9 months, 6 days.
Until then, let’s keep role playing!
Oh, I almost forgot: We have another video message for this year:
Much is being made about today. After all, it is 2-22-22. Or 22-2-22, depending on where you’re from. To top it all, it’s even a Tuesday! If you’ve been around IDF long enough, you know we also like neat dates. Here are just a few that come to mind:
The previous USS Sunfire launched on 10/10/10
The second USS Pioneer launched on 2/14/11 (Valentine’s Day): The original Pioneer was known as “The Love Boat” due to its relationship centered posts & stories
Ten years ago today, our very own USS Chuck Norris launched. That makes it the longest continuously running IDF sim in its current form: Despite two URLs and two Novas, it’s still Defiant class and NCC-4005. And as far as I know, no other ship in Star Trek simming has anything like the USS Chuck Norris facts!
Through four Captains (Dick Sprague, Shane Youngblood, Grover vonMcCormick & Aurther Winters), dozens of crewmembers, and many zany adventures, the Chuck has seen it all. Beyond the story, it’s also been quite the historical sim. It sponsored the 2012 Simulation Cup (aka Tournament of Simulations), the only game ever to do so. It later won its own award at the 2014 competition, the last IDF sim to win until the 2020 tournament.
Let’s also not forget perhaps the Chuck Norris’s biggest contribution: When IDF’s old website went offline in early 2019, the Chuck kept simming over email to keep our legacy alive. Without that effort, there would be no Independence Fleet today. Like so many other fleets, IDF would already belong to the ages.
But we are here today. So let’s all write a post in honor of the USS Chuck Norris!
It’s finally here: The 20th anniversary of the founding of this great club. Who knew back on July 4, 2001 that this group, launched with humble beginnings on Angelfire and YahooGroups, would not only still be around today, but standing among the titans of simming?
Independence Fleet has seen good times, bad times, and everything in between. Throughout it all, we’ve endured to create some of the best Star Trek role playing the Internet has ever witnessed. With that in mind, we have an important message from a very special guest:
In honor of this historic and momentous occasion, we hereby publish the Independence Fleet 20th Anniversary Almanac. It’s 20 pages of history, games, perspectives from the fleet, and more:
Whether you’ve been a member for one day or all 20 years, this legacy belongs to you! On behalf of the entire IDF Admiralty, we hope you thoroughly enjoy today’s message, almanac, and everything this fleet offers.
One year ago today, we launched IDF’s new website and URL. Or was it yesterday? I’m not really sure! Regardless, what a ride it’s been.
On behalf of the Admiralty, thank you to everyone who has been a part of the journey and for making our 10 Star Trek sims as great as they are today. If you’re not currently a member of any of them, feel free to give one a try by clicking their link in the “Join!” column of the table below.
Prose = typical language of a novel or short story Script = role playing syntax similar to a movie script (see this Ongoing Worlds article) Both = uses Prose & Script formats
Traditional = players only write for their own characters (this is how most role plays work) Open = all players write for all characters (see this Ongoing Worlds article)
Over the last month, we’ve received quite a few inquiries about being a sim Commanding Officer (CO) in Independence Fleet. So, what are we looking for in sim COs? Before I answer, I’d like to tell the story of two:
Jimmy Rogers
Hall of Famer Jimmy Rogers joined his first sim in December 2010: the USS Liberty, which we were just relaunching. It all clicked. He ran away with the MVP award that month, and became CO of the Liberty on January 1, 2011 after only a single month of simming. Yes, you read that right: one month of simming.
The rest, as they say, is history! Rogers commanded the Liberty for 19 months, winning 2.33 Genesis awards, capturing 3 posting titles, and leading the ship to an incredible 315-post month in September 2011, which is still tied for 9th all-time. Beyond the numbers, he led amazing stories and mentored dozens of role players.
Aurther Winters
Aurther Winters began simming in 2003 after seeing an ad on a college message board. As James Sullivan, he slowly rose from Ensign to Commander on the USS Dragon in a Hall of Fame career that ended with seven monthly awards, still good for a tie at 11th place all-time. Then life happened and he drifted away from simming.
He returned to role playing on the USS Chuck Norris in 2012 as Aurther Winters. Winters picked up his 10th monthly award in August–one of only four people in IDF history to hit double digits. As with Sullivan before, Winter rose through the engineering ranks to eventually become XO of the Chuck Norris under two different Captains. He was the type of XO who just made the Captain’s job easy. Winters became CO of the Chuck Norris this month.
That’s right–James Sullivan/Aurther Winter simmed for the first time about 17 years before he became a CO, while Jimmy Rogers simmed for one month before becoming a CO. Both are in the Hall of Fame, and both are incredible Captains. Every career is different, and every route to CO is different.
Show Me the Money!
One of the most basic principles of good wring is show, don’t tell. Let the reader experience the story through thoughts, actions, feelings, dialog, etc. instead of saying what happened. The same with being a sim CO: Telling us you want to be a CO is great, but you know what’s even better? Showing us you want to be a CO! How do you do that? Like this:
Do you have what it takes to be a sim CO in IDF? Show us! Make the ship you’re already on great. Make your crew great. Make your Captain look great! It’s not necessarily easy, but then again command isn’t for everyone.
