CAPTAIN'S LOG
A Joint RPG Newsletter of the Star Trek Universe
Issue 10: JUNE 1ST, 1999
 
 

"'What do you think you are, some sort of Jedi or something?'"
~Watto to Jedi Knight Qui-Gon Jinn - Star Wars: Episode One: The Phantom Menace

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

    1. Frustrating Fundamentals: The Borg
     2. A Different Approach: Guide to the 24th Century
     3. Subscribing Fleet News
     4. Meet the Members: Will Haywood of Gamma Fleet
     5. Neophite News: Choosing More?
     6. Trek Trivia
     7. Federation History: The Khitomer Accords
     8. Classifieds

"The Frustrating Fundamentals"
by Sean Berg, Fiction Editor

 - The Borg:   How the writers have been written into a corner.

The Borg are, without a doubt, one of the most creative 'enemies' or villains ever created for a science fiction series.  They represent something formidable, alien, dominating, and a unique perspective of story telling, because they are truly "that bad."  They've provided a source of some fascinating characters, from the infamous "Hugh" to Jerri Ryan's character, Seven of Nine, on the current Star Trek: Voyager.   They have allowed stories to move farther and in different directions than with other 'enemies', and as an alien force they stand out as unique.  All these things aside, when the writers of Star Trek created the Borg, they wrote themselves into a corner, and then had to live with it.  Some amusing, interesting and creative methods have been employed to occasionally sneak away from that corner, but in the end, they arrive back at that, or a similar corner, time and again.

Quite simply put, the problem with the Borg lies in the fact that they are an 'invincible' enemy.  Every time they are encountered, therefore, a new, unique solution must be found to somehow defeat them, and the more times they are used, the less plausible these explanations become.  What's worse is, as time has passed, the Borg have become less 'frightening' in a sense, because of the manner in which they have been so casually employed, and somehow our heroes have come through every time.   Be that as it may, the Borg represent the most serious 'threat' to peace and stability in the Star Trek universe, and, as in the case of Star Trek:  First Contact have provided a serious challenge for our characters along with some spectacular special effects.

How could the Borg have been done better, then?  Firstly, the Borg should not be so infallible and invincible.  Q described them as being the ultimate consumer, and that the Enterprise was something that they thought they could consume.  They were relentless, and they were 'mean', in a mechanical sense.  Pause.  This is an excellent concept.  Resume.  You hit them with everything you've got, dozens of starships, and it doesn't damage their ship.  Pause again.  Now hold on a minute.  That's not fair, and it means that, in an era (at least, before the Dominion war) when conflicts are fewer and farther between, the one opportunity one creates to show some nifty special effects and Starfleet in action, and the good guys lose every time.  (Almost anyway).  Secondly, the Borg represent total overkill.  As things stand, against just one of their ships, the Federation or anyone else almost does not stand a chance.  They assimilate entire ships, worlds, millions of people.  Like a sentient disease, a virus but worse.  In my opinion, they went too far.  In an ideal universe, the Borg would not be so invincible, but they might come close.  The Borg have superior numbers, better technology, and most importantly, they are totally ruthless.  They hardly need to have the advantage of 'adapting' to anything used against them to be a waste of effort.  We can take heart, however, in the fact that we ourselves to not have to face the daunting task of overcoming such writers' blockage, in the way that the actual writers do, and more often than not, do well.

"Guide to the 24th Century"
by Julian Machin

That trusting emblem of the Federation can be warming and secure. The band of countless worlds all united under one flag reassuring. Beware anyone boarding new hardware in the form of a Federation starship or conversing with the ranks of Lieutenants, Commanders, and Captains. Take heed, and learn what you need to know in the 'Guide to the 24th Century'.

On your standard starship, regardless of class, you will normally have a sickbay, shuttle bay, cargo bay, and bridge. Perhaps a battle bridge, turbo lifts, Jeffries tubes, an engineering section, holodecks, and transporter rooms.

Sickbay is a reasonably safe area, normally furnished with a doctor and nurse. NCC 1701D had a Beverly Crusher and a Nurse Ogowa. You might find a holographic doctor, also known as an EMH. In the 24th Century a hypo spray or small blue torch will pretty much cure everything, multiple fractures, third degree burns, or even a nasty case of the trots or hemorrhoids.  If not it will become necessary to resequence your genes. We are not talking Levi's however. No, this involves lying down, real serious medicine. Although coughs, colds, and broken limbs can be cured, your injuries will become far more serious in deep
space. Lucky for you the medical tricorder, which it appears has no need for medical training can come to your aid. Simply having the doctor waggle it in the general direction of the patient and pushing a couple of buttons (any two it really doesn't matter) will get you a diagnosis. If things start getting out of hand, the doctor can pull out the salt shaker from the top of medical
tricorder and use the waggle technique again to achieve results. Otherwise it's gene resequencing time and hours in make up I'm afraid. Oh also if the doctor insists on making use of a small Federation medical lunch box of implements, you will know you're into double episode territory.

Shuttle Bays house - wait for it - shuttles. These small starships are capable of three things: impulse drive, warp speed, and crashing into planets. I mean it, leave them in their bays, they crash all the time. They are flimsy, have crappy shields, and are the basic station wagon of interstellar travel. You might come across Delta Flyers or Runabouts. These will only crash harder into
planets and have bigger doors. Steer clear.

Cargo bays invariably contain equipment and barrels. Barrels will leap aggressively at you if stacked higher than two. Cargo bay stuff generally explodes or falls on you. Think of a cargo bay as a giant high cupboard in the kitchen with bleach and poisons in it. Again, treat with a wide birth.

The bridge is the nerve center of any starship. It will have the big chair, a science station, a CONN and navigation station, and lots and lots of buttons. The big screen fore of the bridge is designed for seeing out, the window into space, if you will. Not a good place to be during a battle. During a battle, sure as the Borg are nasty, someone will beam aboard the bridge when shields are shot to this location. A Mr. Worf or security officer will then vault over a chair and retake the bridge. A Battle Bridge is where the crew goes when the main bridge gets too dangerous a place to be or when the ship gets split in half.

Jeffries Tubes are what you use when Turbo lifts and corridors are impassable, or things get dangerous (i.e. the ships been taken over). Learn where they are; you will need 'em. I have no idea who Jeffries was by the way.

Engineering is where all the power and 90% of the buttons live. Rest assured, the people who work in here could set your video and remember how the microwave clock is set without an instruction book. You will find the biggest lava lamp known to man contained in here. But this is not for decoration, oh no, this puppy will put you into light speed. Light speed is what happens when you go so fast that your headlamps don't work anymore. Everything here will take either two hours or a week to fix. Oh and if large billows of white smoke come out of anything, run for your life; something really bad is about to happen. White smoke or a warp core breach is like the big end going on your car. Terminal stuff.  Anything that the ship encounters which is more dangerous than Harry Kim gets beamed into a containment field in engineering. A containment field is the 24th Century
equivalent of a dishwasher proof casserole dish with a lid. Engineering is really hot at fixing stuff or giving you a really really good reason why they can't. They will either reply to a problem asked by the captain with: 'Yes captain it will take some doing, but give me a couple of hours and everything will be okay' or it's: 'Captain, it's impossible, we will either have to change the gravitational constant of the universe or work out how to reverse a tachyon field to emit warp bubble implosion bursts. Okay I only asked!' Engineering rocks.

Okay, a word about holodecks, if your starship is anywhere more dangerous than Disneyland, go play some 'pick up sticks'. Holodecks go wrong all the time. I can tell you about numerous incidents involving dangerous holodeck programs that went wrong. If you want excitement play Doom or something. Holodecks might look cool, and generally they are, but anything more complex than Windows 98 is going to crap out on you eventually. Tech support involves teams of people with hydro spanners and a security team more heavily armed than a platoon of Navy Seals. Don't forget to send back your registration card, they will need an address to find you with.

A transporter room is sold as being the safest way to travel in the 24th Century. They work by disassembling your atoms into a matter stream and then beaming you to a predetermined location using coordinates. A guy in a red uniform normally determines where you end up. Use a shuttlecraft, at least they have an escape hatch and somewhere to sit whilst you die.

Be careful be afraid be very afraid………..

"Subscribing Fleet News"
 

"Tango Fleet"
by Liesel Gresham, Tango Fleet Consultant

Since the last log, there have been some changes.  I took over the game manager slot from Amy Lindeman and I am now filling in the role of keeping the rest of you up to date on the happenings from our end.

I would like to inform you all, we have just added a Starbase Tango to the fleet.  This is a slightly different game, as it is shoreleave oriented.  Most of the staff are NPC's, with only a couple of people that actually run the list and station.  Whenever a ship goes on shoreleave, they can go to the station, where there are other ships or just themselves, and enjoy the
time interacting with others without having to use their ship mailing servers.  This is a collaboration of Greg Katasay and Dries DeRoeck, with help from Robert Williams and Dean Hayes.  This has been received with high praise from everyone and I hope that it will serve us well.

We also had a departure from the fleet, the USS Dauntless.  I wish Captain Arania Lucard and her crew well.

Things have quieted down now and everything is back to normal, whatever normal is. :o)  The USS Bismarck is under new command and is picking itself back up, Commodore S'Slanne has resigned his commission and is touring the fleet, and so far, there aren't any complaints.

"Starfleet Command"
by Timothy Carter, Starfleet Command Consultant

StarFleet Command, led by it's newly-appointed CIC Julius Carver, has been triumphantly re-built from the ground up in a process that started in January of this year (with the resignation of former CIC Seeds and
general disolvement of the fleet). New administration, new ships, and new crews have all been assembled with the shared goal of creating one of the web's most prosperous, and quality, RPG's!

The first steps towards this objective, which promises to be the reward of a very exciting journey, have already been taken. Our newly revamped web page has attracted many eyes, and directed many service applications. Currently, our flagship Navigator, base-of-operations Deep Space 11, as well as both the USS Everest and USS Stallion are up and running, carrying out most admirably their cutting-edge missions. As well, the USS Angelfire, under the command of our Commander Riker, is awaiting crew. Sadly, we regret to report that Commander Gares, our former Director of Intelligence, has resigned and relinquished command of the USS Testament, one of our finer CO's and ships that will be missed dearly.

That looks to be all. Looking forward to seeing you on the final frontier!
 

"Meet the Members"
by Sebastian Reese, Associate Editor
 

<Reese>   Welcome and well met.  Today we have the honor of interviewing a member of Gamma Fleet, Will Haywood.  Will, would you mind telling the people exactly what it is you do for Gamma Fleet?

<Haywood> Well, I do a variety of things. My first responsibility, is that I am CO of my ship the USS Falcon. On top of that, I am the Gamma Fleet Consultant to Captain's Log, and I am editorial assistant of the Gamma Fleet News. REcently I have been taking a bigger role in the organization of the Fleet, with some of the Admiral's absences.

<Reese>   Wow!  Sounds busy!  Do you serve on any other ships?

<Haywood> Yes. I am the XO onboard the USS Melbourne in Gamma Fleet which has just launched. I am also member of the USS Virginia in the Below Decks group.

<Reese>   Definitely sounds busy...  How do you find the time?

<Haywood> I have problems. Recently with some exams, I have been rather pushed. I am getting back in the habit though.

<Reese>   That's good.  I feel for you there...  I have a quite a few characters, and Captain's Log. Well, what, in your mind, makes Gamma Fleet a good gaming environment?

<Haywood> Well, we are only small, so I know every other Captain in the fleet, well have spoken to them at least once.
I like to encourage joint missions between the ships, not too long ago, we had a three way joint mission against the Borg.

<Reese>   So, it is a very friendly community?

<Haywood> Well yes and no. We have had a couple of disputes.  Gamma Fleet is a friendly community, but it does have its problems like any other game.

<Reese>   What made you get interested in Star Trek?

<Haywood> Well I have been interested in Star Trek for about 9 years right now.  I think I watched it at a friends house, and got hooked.

<Reese>   The Next Generation?

<Haywood> Well the first thing I watched was one of the original films, then I watched any sort of Trek that was on.

<Reese>   That's cool.  And what made you come across Gamma Fleet?  Were you an avid RPGer before?

<Haywood> No, actually the Falcon was the first ship I joined and now I am in command.  I came across ST RPGing on the newsgroups.

<Reese>   And you decided to join?

<Haywood> I kept seeing adds saying things like "Have you ever wanted to be an officer" etc. so I thought I would see what it was about.  I went to the Merlin's site, it looked interesting, but there wasn't the position I wanted free, so I checked out the falcon, then joined.

<Reese>   Cool.  What is your favorite part of the RPG experience?

<Haywood> I think it is "actually" being part of then Trek universe

<Reese>   Ya', I like that too... control over everything.  So how long have you been with Gamma Fleet?

<Haywood> Almost a year now... well it will be a year in June.

<Reese>   How long have you been in command of the Falcon?

<Haywood> Well, that will be a year in July.

<Reese>   So you've been in command almost since you started.  Was it difficult for you to take on that kind of responsibility with such little experience?

<Haywood> Well it was and it wasn't. We only had a small crew, so there wasn't much trouble organizing. Within a month we had recruited more people and I had got the hang of it, but I have never really stopped learning. I don't know many people who have.

<Reese>   So, what is your advice to anyone who is a new command officer?

<Haywood> Well. You need to make sure that you have thought through anything you are going to do, as your decisions influence how the game moves, and everybody playing the game. If you make a hash of something, it could jeopardize the game more so than another player might.

<Reese>   Good advice.  What is the hardest thing about command for you?  I know that a lot of people have trouble coming up with fresh missions.

<Haywood> That can be difficult, but my crew provide good suggestions, which can provide inspiration or actually be used. Right now, we are in the mirror universe, simply because someone sent something to the list about it, and almost everybody replied saying how cool it would be. It was what my crew wanted, and it would make them happy, so I gave it them.  But the hardest thing for me, I would say is telling people off so to speak, for "mis-behaving" or acting inappropriately.

<Reese>   Sounds like you really care for your crew.

<Haywood> Well they are in the sim to have fun, so am I. We may as well all have what we want, and have a good time. If your not having fun, then why stay in a sim? Unless of course it has sentimental value of course :-)

<Reese>   As an XO I've sometimes had trouble with that as well.  Thanks very much Will!  You have represented Gamma Fleet, and the whole Star Trek Gaming community well!  It was a pleasure speaking with you.

<Haywood> Thanks.  Bye.

"Neophite News: Choosing More?"
by Amy Lindeman, Editor in Chief

Modern society seems to consist of a culture that constant wants more of something.  When my dad goes to McDonald's he gets more by "Super Sizing it".  When my mom goes to Dillard's she gets more by shopping at a two for one sale.  Three Star Wars movies weren't even enough and the public wanted more -- they got it.

Sometimes getting more can be an extremely gratifying experience but that is not always the case.  The question I will deal with today is whether more is better in the case of online gaming.  Some gamers will say yes with little hesitation and in most cases they are probably right.  Those will be the people with twelve characters on nine ships in five fleets with three administrative positions dispersed amongst them.  And the crazy thing is that people like this enjoy their gaming experience.  For those people who can handle such an extreme dose of rpging, I have nothing but the utmost respect ... however, I will never understand them.

I do not pretend to claim that I have not had my own periods of overdose in the RPG area, but in the end, I have always dwindled my way back to the two games that have always been the most meaningful to me -- and for the most part, I know that I can keep up with them both as well.

My conclusion?  More is not always better -- at least not in the RPG arena.  Although some people can handle multiple games superbly, the majority of us simply do not have the time (nor the patience) to spend the countless hours in front of a computer screen that it would take to read and produce posts for that many games.  And there is certainly nothing wrong with recognizing the fact that we are human...

Nevertheless, one of the most common trends I have seen in the RPG environment of late is towards players joining more games at a faster rate.  It used to be that the only players with multiple characters were those who had been around since the beginning of the RPG world (at least in my eyes) and knew everyone on every ship and simply couldn't get enough of the games and the people.  Now, however, it is becoming more and more common that not a week after a cadet graduates from the academy is that person already on three ships and vying for an administrative post of some kind or another.

I'm not saying that newbies are not just as capable of handling so demanding of a RPG schedule because many of them are, but my concern is that new players are becoming too involved in the entire RPG environment before they have even adjusted to the RPG environment of one ship.  RPGs can be a lot of fun, but if you burn yourself in your first month of gaming, you will never really be able to experience the fun and long term friendships that you can develop on any individual ship.

I couldn't be more supportive of people who take on a second ship, administrative position, or even a second fleet, in order to get a more diverse role playing experience and increase the enjoyment that they get from online RPGs.  My warning to anyone who is considering these options, however, is simple -- take it one step at a time and don't let it become overwhelming; as many opportunities as there are in the RPG community, they aren't going to go away while you wait and allow yourself to adjust to one thing at a time.

"Trek Trivia"
by Stacey Lauer, Trivia Guru

Match Column A with Column B:

Column A                                                                            Column B
 

Section 31                                            The Federation Ship Voyager found in the Delta Quadrant.
Martok                                                 The latest entry into the Dominion Alliance.
Bynars                                                  The planet where Garak, Kira, and Damar are marooned.
USS Sao Paulo                                     The most recent Chancellor of the Klingon Empire.
Borg                                                     Who took over the Enterprise in "11001001"?
Breen                                                    In essence, to whom does the Federation owe its existence?
Rom                                                      The newest Grand Nagus of the Ferengi people.
Jak'tahla                                                Who infected Odo with the morphogenic virus?
221-G                                                   Defiant-Class Vessel newly assigned to DS9.
Cardassia Prime                                    What sector of space does the USS Excalibur patrol?
USS Equinox                                         Klingon puberty (though that hardly does it justice).
 
 
 
 
 

Answers to last month's Trivia:

1. Worf taught Heq'Dup to Yoshi O'Brien.
2. Kai Winn Adami.
3. K'mpec was poisoned.
4. T'Lar refused Spock's katra with his body.
5. Eight Weyouns.
6. Gowron WAS the Chancellor, since the last trivia session that has changed.
7. Tuvok's wife is T'Pel.
8. Spock is undercover on Romulus.
9. Duras murdered K'mpec and K'Ehleyr
10. Q gave q-power to Will Riker.
11. Seven is amused by human behavior.
12. Captain Janeway's birthday is May 20th.

"Federation History: The Khitomer Accords"
by a Tango Fleet Academy Cadet

The influential event that I will write on is the Khitomer Accords of 2293.

After the destruction of the energy producing moon Praxis, the Klingon Empire was in dire need of assistance or else it would die. Chancellor Gorkon had led a peace initiative that would bring help from the Federation. His assassination almost ceased this movement toward peace, however the dedication of the crews of the Enterprise and the Excelsior saved the Khitomer Peace Talks. The outcome would be the peace treaty that would create the alliance between the Klingon Empire and the Federation.

This is a well known event that changed the Federation. Until this time, the Federation was a very aggressive entity. The purpose of Starfleet was exploration, but when new civilizations were discovered, many battles were fought. The first contact procedures were not as involved as they are today. Time and again the Prime Directive was poorly administered due to the
mindset of the Federation Ships. What the Khitomer Accords brought to the Federation was an open mind. The adversarial nature of the Federation had to give way toward cooperation, peace, and mutual advancement. This new peace would also
bring strength to the Federation. The Accords would also ultimately help the Federation with the current war with the Dominion. Without Klingon support, many of the battles fought would have failed.

Finding peace with the most feared adversary of the Federation would bring strength and wisdom to the Federation which would guide it for years to come. The Khitomer Accords have taught us the valuable lesson that peace and compassion bring about more strength that hate ever could.

"Classifieds"
 

"Respect Between Fleets, New and Old"
by Liesel Gresham, Tango Fleet Consultant

While just browsing through other fleets, Tango Fleet's guestbook and message board, and talking to other Fleet Admirals, I have found something that disturbs me.  New fleets that are either stealing work or criticizing harshly older fleets about their game.  One that brings into mind is Utopia Fleet.  A new fleet that broke away from Bravo a few weeks back.  I have found three messages, between the guestbook and message board, recruiting our players away.  Not that I am concerned that our players may want to play in a new fleet but the fact that it was done in a derogatory way.  The Fleet Admiral of Utopia hasn't shown respect for what Tango Fleet is and was making comments about the game in general.

I hope that everyone enough has enough pride in their fleets to respect others who have their own.  And keeping communication open between all the fleets out there is important to those who want to be on friendly terms and have no problems.  But I find now a second fleet who has no regard for the work of others and has no problem with recruiting through other fleets.  As I see
it, all fleets respect each other enough that we don't actively recruit from our sister fleets.  You actually go out there to the newsgroups, search engines, or advertise elsewhere to attract new players.

I would like to believe that we are all here to play in the Trek universe, to be creative in writing, and to have fun.  But it is people like Utopia that take that fun out and make it into a personal grudge match in to see who is better.  It is not who is better than another, it is if people are enjoying the game and the other players they play with.  Every fleet has qualities that appeal to the certain person who is searching for a game.

I think enough is said.
 

"Follow-Up to Liesel's ITO Alert"
by Sebastian Reese, Associate Editor
 

        I realize that ITO alerts are not usually included in the actual newsletter, but this seemed the best place to put them this month.  Remember that these views are not necessarily supported by Captain's Log, or it's staff, but that these alerts are included at the request of parties belonging to the gaming community.  These alerts are by no means included to start a flame war between Captain's Log subscribers and the fleet in question.

Therefore, I will continue.It has been brought to my attention by Mike Bremer, Senior Game Manager of Bravo Fleet that Utopia Fleet has been causing serious problems for Bravo Fleet as well.  A member of his fleet has composed the following website: http://www.usmo.com/~egoodwin/debate/McKenzie.htm  What this site serves as is a compilation of all of the evidence against Fleet Admiral McKenzie of Utopia Fleet.  Please check it out if you would like to know the truth behind the rumours.
 

"A Brief Note from Captain's Log"
by Sebastian Reese, Associate Editor

         This is just a quick note to let you all know that Amy Lindeman, Chief Editor of Captain's Log, is on vacation and if you're interested in writing an article for the July issue of Captain's Log please send it to me at: [email protected].  Thanks.  We are definitely looking for an original story taking place in the Star Trek universe.

        Another brief note, hope no one was offended by the Star Wars quote at the beginning, I just couldn't resist.