Welcome to Far Point Fleet
February issue
February Birthdays
02.01 Bibi Besch (Dr. Carol Marcus, "Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan")
02.02 Brent Spiner (Data, Star Trek: TNG)
02.08 Ethan Phillips (Neelix, Star Trek: Voyager)
02.14 Andrew Robinson (Elim Garak, Star Trek: DS9)
02.16 LeVar Burton (Geordi La Forge, Star Trek: TNG)
02.22 Jeri Ryan (Seven of Nine, Star Trek: Voyager)
02.23 Majel Barrett (Christine Chapel, Lwaxana Troi, Ship's Computer, Star Trek, ST: TNG, ST: DS9, ST: VOY)
02.26 Chase Masterson (Leeta, Star Trek: DS9)
02.10 Steve (Capt. Ryan Storm, USS Excalibur)
*************************************************************
Star Trek News
Star Trek :
Star Trek:
After four seasons, Star Trek:
Enterprise has reached the end of its mission ....
PRESS RELEASE
UPN and Paramount Network Television have jointly
announced that this will be the final season of Star Trek: Enterprise on
UPN. [Production will continue until the end of this season, which will finish
shooting in March.] The series finale will air on
"Star Trek has been an important part of
UPN's history, and
David Stapf, President of Paramount Network Television,
said, "The creators, stars and crew of Star Trek: Enterprise
ambitiously and proudly upheld the fine traditions of the Star Trek
franchise. We are grateful for their contributions to the legacy of Trek and
commend them on completing nearly 100 exciting, dramatic and visually stunning
episodes. All of us at
A prequel to the original "Star Trek" series,
Since this press release, there has been a push by fans
to get the top brass at UPN and
http://www.saveenterprise.com/
http://www.PetitionOnline.com/NX01/
http://www.startrekfans.net/petition/index.php
*************************************************************
Fleet News
Far Point
Fleet One Year Anniversary
To all Members of Far Point Fleet, Past and Present,
Let me take this opportunity to congratulate you and a
wild success. It has been a year. Wow.
Many of you, in fact I would not be far off by saying
that most of you were here since inception of the fleet and have seen it
through some rough times and some good times. Many of you started out as
rookies and now hold positions of responsibility on your ships and in the fleet.
I want to remind all of you that you all hold positions
of responsibility, to each other. If you can remember back to when
your ship was small and posting only a few times a month you will understand
what I am saying. It takes each one of you to keep the sim and the fleet
strong. Posting maintains interest and that provides the impetus for
growth and with growth comes success.
Last year when I conceived the notion of a Fleet that
was not controlled by a couple of people but by the fleet in large, I approached
Russ, AJ, and Jade and asked if they would be interested in such a thing.
They were as excited as I was. The notion that a sim group could be
administered democratically was exciting.
One other Fleet even went so far as to say that we would
come crawling back in just a few months. Well, they were
wrong. We have grown beyond them and are now one of the most
respected Star Trek Sim Groups on the Web.
I gave birth to the Fleet but all of you must
congratulate yourselves in raising it to be the successful entity that it
has become.
And from the bottom of my heart I wish to thank each and
every one of you for making my dream come true.
I wish you all safe travel on Earth and where ever the
heavens take you.
Admiral James Britanicus (ret)
What a year!
We've seen several changes, met some new people and lots
of new characters. As a fleet, our crews have met new challenges and
faced new threats both separately and jointly. To my knowledge, we
conducted the first ever fleet-wide joint mission. Using the Starbase for
a forum, we've found a way for the crews to interact with each other.
As a fleet, we posted 2,713 posts in 2004. That's
an average of 226 posts a month. The Horatio Nelson led the pack, posting
1,259 of those posts. The
As of February 14, Starbase 25 saw 737 posts.
(Thanks to Kay/Shyloe for compiling this information for me!) That alone
is an incredible accomplishment! That means there were 700 opportunities
for players from different ships to interact with each other, to share side
plots, and to really become a fleet. It’s one of the things that makes
this fleet stand apart from others.
One of things!
All in all, it was a good year. Thanks to Chris Clysdale
and to Russ Robinson, without whom this fleet would not have happened.
Thanks to Steve Gione/Storm for taking over the newsletter and all the
headaches that can foster. :-) And also for getting us on the TOP
lists. (Don't forget...go to those sites and vote for Far Point
Fleet! Do it often! It is a primary recruiting tool.) And
thanks to Jade for all her work on the websites, and her work with Academy and
the new recruits. Thanks to the Captains, and XO's, and 2O's who do all
the behind the scenes stuff that keeps things going. But also, thanks to
the players. Your posts are what make or break the
simm. The quality of your posts is ultimately
what will bring people into the fleet.
It was a great first year. Let's keep the snowball
rolling in 2005!
Would it be plagiarism for me to say "Go
Boldly?"
Vice Admiral Nniol N'Var
CO, USS Washington, NCC-75505
Administrator, Starbase 25
Far Point Fleet
ACADEMY NEWS
I have some great news... we now have another academy
graduate. Cadet Seija Tyyne finished her Cadet Cruise aboard the USS Excalibur. She
is now an Ensign and will continue to serve as Assistant Security Officer
aboard the X. I have had a great time helping Alonzo (who plays Tyyne) out with
simming. We've had a lot of fun and I know we will continue to meet up on the
Base.
Congratulation Ensign Seija Tyyne!!!
Other News
I
will be trying to update the Academy site soon, if RL will cooperate with me.
Very soon we will be merging it with the Starbase. I also want to update and
change some of the lessons around.
What does this mean for you? Well the changes in the lessons will not
affect what you have done. It will still count and there will be no added
requirements. I'm will just be changing some of the order around. Joining with
the Starbase will hopefully make it easier
for you to interact with other ships that are docked and not have to worry
about a separate ship. The Academy will be located inside the Starbase.
If you have any questions at all concerning this or any other thing,
please contact me with your concerns.
Rear Admiral A.C. MacGyver
Co-Administrator, SB 25
Academy Commanding Officer
Far Point Fleet
USS Washington
Posting: January
was our best posting month since I have had command of the ship.
93.5 posts!
Credit goes to the players! Especially to Lrunin
(16.5) and Samuels (15.25). But Kudos to everyone. Only one person
posted less than once a week, and most averaged twice a week. That’s
great posting! Thanks to the entire crew!
ANNIVERSARY:
A year ago, the Washington left IDF to become a charter
member of Far Point Fleet. In that year we’ve seen several players come
and go…but we’ve also seen some great writers come and stay. It’s been an
up and down year for most of the ships in the fleet. The W’s no
exception. That’s to be expected. All in all we’ve had a great
year! So here’s to the next one…and the one after. May the
ships of the fleet Live Long and Go Boldly!
News:
Thanks to Russ, the Washington now has a Science
Department page. It looks great too. Everyone should check out the
“species database.” It is just getting started, but it looks to be a
great resource.
Rookies (or more accurately, new players):
Lanara Jeyaa
– Not totally a rookie, but new to us. Lanara was just promoted from
Ensign to Lieutenant (jg). She is Assistant Chief of Security, and she
posted 7.25 times in January. This x-Bajoran resistance operative turned
Starfleet Officer had to face her worst fears this month. Not only did
she have to go into the Cardassian DMZ, and into a Cardassian prison camp…she
had to work closely with the W’s Intel Officer, Cardassian Adaco Marhon.
She did a great job of keeping the background tension high while sorting
through her emotions and instinctive reactions.
Jose Rodriguez –
Jose is not actually a rookie either. He simmed aboard the Stalingrad.
Rodriguez has only posted once thus far, bringing his character aboard as
Tactical Officer.
Tracey Walker –
What can I say? There’s no way I could actually call Tracey a rookie,
since I’ve had the fortune of simming with his player for a few years now.
“Trace” as he wants to be called, does not like the fact that his name is most
often associated with the female gender. He enjoys his alcoholic
beverages a tad too much, and he seems to wish he had been a fighter pilot
instead of Xenoscience/Anthropology specialist.
Welcome to all of you!
In other personnel
changes :
Thora Samuels has been promoted to the rank of Lt.
Commander.
Steve Latinner transferred to the Washington and has
been promoted to the rank of Lt. Commander.
Adaco Marhon and Chim Cheree were promoted to Full
Lieutenant.
Cam Circuit and Lanara Jeyaa were promoted to Lieutenant
(jg).
Jesslyn Phoenix transferred to the Washington with the
rank of Lieutenant (jg).
USS Horatio Nelson
Posting:
The HN posted its 3000th post this month.
Congratulations guys, keep up the great work!
102 posts for the month.
Promotions:
Commander RAM McNitt Promoted to Captain
Lt. Commander Shyloe Townsend-McNitt Promoted to
Commander and XO
Lt. Paul Saunders Promoted to Lt. Commander and 2XO
Departure:
Captain J’Dem retired to a monastery on Vulcan
Lt. Steve Latineer transfer to the USS Washington
Lieutenant <j.g.> Doran Murphey leaves the SIMM.
Ensign Echo Talon transfers to the USS Excalibur
USS Alliance
Posting:
The Alliance had 61 posts for the month.
USS Excalibur
Posting:
The Excalibur reached a milestone of 500 posts and had
70 posts for the month.
Promotions:
Cadet Seija Tyyne is promoted to Ensign.
New Players:
Ensign Echo Talon
Lt. Carl Alexander Jarvis
Lt. Dominck Chauncey
************************************************************************
Top Site Lists
In an effort to recruit new players and ships to the
Fleet, I added our Fleet site to 4 TOP Site Lists. They are:
· Central Core Top Trek Sites
· SlipStream Top 250 Trek Sites
· Worldwide Topsites
· WebTrekkies Top RPG sites
Here is where we sit on these lists as of 02/14/2005:
· Central Core 23 votes, ranked #18 overall, # 10 PBEM RPG (Play By E-Mail)
· Slipstream 21 votes, ranked #20 overall, #12 PBEM RPG
· Worldwide 18 votes, ranked # 17
· Webtrekkie’s 34 votes, ranked #16
We need to get these numbers up so that we are higher in
the rankings. The higher we are, the more our Fleet will be seen. If everyone
in the Fleet voted at least once a week, we could probably double the numbers
we have now. Here are the links to reach the two pages to vote:
http://www.angelfire.com/trek/ussexcalibur4399/topsitevotepage.html
http://www.geocities.com/farpointfleet/index.html
Follow the link to the top site, and then use the Far
Point link to open our webpage.
************************************************************
Current Missions
USS Washington
We spent the early part of January helping clean up the
tribble damage at the Starbase. J But soon after, the Washington was dispatched to
a planet in the old Cardassian DMZ where intel believed Federation Macos were
being held prisoner. It was to be a highly secret operation leaving no
possible means of tracing the rescue operation back to the Federation.
Imagine Starfleet’s surprise when the Washington returned with refugees in
addition to Maco’s.
USS Horatio Nelson
The USS HN-A while exploring the boarder of the Tholian
Empire with a UFP news crew, the HN was summoned to help the USS Alliance who
was attacked by an rare Iconian ship. The ship turned out to be from a Race of
people that was supposed to be extinct for over 200,000 years. With completion
of the Mission the HN-A towed the USS Alliance back to the SB. After the
mission Captain J’Dem retired and left to contemplate the meaning of his
existence and the HN-A’s Commander RAM McNitt was promoted to Captain.
USS Alliance
Our first mission involved us investigating an ancient
Iconian ship, unfortunately it wasn't quite as uninhabited as we would have
liked. In the course of the mission the Alliance was *again* badly damaged,
necessitating the assistance of the HN. Thankfully though once help arrived the
two crews were not only able to beat the creature but
return the Alliance home for repairs.
Our Second mission has only recently begun, the crew have been shown a
recording, from the future, of the destruction of the Alliance; and have been
sent to investigate this. Unfortunately they've been joined by an observer from
Starfleet special investigations, who may or may not be what she seems.
USS Excalibur
The Starbase picks up some strange readings from sector
358. Its strange subspace message from 15 light years away, on a frequency that
no known race uses. The signal is heading toward the Starbase at sublight
speeds and there is only one word that can be understood, Excalibur. Admiral
Jade sends Storm and the Excalibur to investigate. What will the Excalibur and
her crew find? A plague ship? Someone who knows Storm? Or someone out to get
the Excalibur? One way to find out, read our posts.
************************************************************
Fleet Posting Awards
Best Story Post:
Lt. Steve Latinner, Post # 2945, USS Horatio Nelson
http://games.groups.yahoo.com/group/horationelson/message/5119
Best CD Post:
Ensign Lanara Jeyaa, Post # 3368, USS Washington
http://games.groups.yahoo.com/group/uss_washington/message/932
Funniest Post:
Doctor Sushil Jantika, Post # 491, USS Excalibur
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ussexcalibur4399/message/710
Genesis Post:
Lt. Ammen Desai, Post #481, USS Alliance
http://games.groups.yahoo.com/group/starshipalliance/message/914
Most Valuable Poster: This special award is not issued every month. It
is reserved for special services to the ship, simm, or fleet. There was
no award made for January.
*************************************************************
February Writing Tip: Guidelines on Writing Action
By Steve Latinner, aka – Steve Rhodes
This writing tip is mainly aimed at the newer players.
Simple things you can do to improve posting quality:
Using Proper English
First off, I would like to talk about grammar and
spelling. They
are possibly the most common problems in posts, and that is a shame,
because a lot can be done about this. Posts need to be understandable and
enjoyable for others to read. Keeping this in mind, it doesn't hurt to read
over your post once before it's sent, making sure every sentence is how you
want to say it.
In most email programs or sites, a spell checking tool
is available. It's a good idea to spend a minute using the
checker if you're not confident with your spelling. If your posts
constantly do not follow grammar rules, and contain easily correctable spelling
errors, you may appear careless to others. Groups like these work best when
everyone puts in good effort. Reading a polished post is a pleasure, and
provides motivation. It's a good idea to keep this in mind when writing.
I should mention it's very important to define the time
and area that you are writing about. It's easy to do this with brackets,
i.e. [Carlo's Place - 17:30]. By doing this your post looks structured,
and is easier to understand within the storyline. Lastly, you should remember
that action is enjoyable to read when someone has written extensively about a
situation. For example,
"Shaman and the away team beamed down to the planet
surface, and entered the building. After attacking the guards, they found
the missing lieutenant."
The post would be much more enjoyable to read if it was
expanded. Take the time to write in detail. Like most things, writing an
action sequence is something you will only get better at if you practice. If
you are stuck for describing words, check out www.thesaurus.com. It is a valuable
resource for me when writing action.
Relevance
A post is only useful if it is relevant. During a
mission, your action scenes have to be relevant to the issues in the mission,
and they have to move the plot forward.
If you're creating new issues and threads in the
storyline, it is wise to make sure the plot is not becoming too branched out.
If other people have already created subplots and threads, it is usually better
to focus your post on those, rather than branch the mission out so much that it
turns into disarray. It is best to follow the simple guideline: If there is
already a lot going on, don't create other subplots. Usually the Captain tries
to tie the plots together, but I believe this should be a shared
responsibility. The player has to do his or her bit, to keep the storyline
consistent, and make sure his or her posts are relevant.
Continuation
If you are directly replying to someone's last post,
make sure you include a snip, such as their last line. Your post should
generally follow on from the current situation, unless your character is somewhere
else. But even so, there is nothing wrong with using other characters to
further the storyline, as long as they are written correctly. Keep in mind that
what you write will be continued by another player; keep the storyline open for
them to work with it.
A Shared Game
Each simm is a shared game. It is a bad idea for one
character to own all of the action. When you use other characters, make
sure it is in a productive way. Keep it realistic to their
personality, and do not harm them unless you have permission. Other characters
should be respected as you would like yours to be. If you have written an
action post without using other characters, ask yourself, “Does this post give
opportunities for players to join the plot?” Don't suddenly jump in
and end the mission with single-handed heroics. This is a matter of
being courteous and fair.
Consequences
Did your character do something bad? Are you willing, as
a player, to accept demotion or other “in character” effects? Most things you
write will have a consequence; it's good to keep this in mind while you are
writing. If you are unsure about something, it's best to check with your
Captain before posting. Crashing the ship or radically altering the mission
storyline is generally not acceptable unless you have permission.
And finally, to the more daring writers, don't forget
PG-13 is there for a good reason. The Alliance may be rated 15, but in all
action sequences be careful of what you write; there is a line between
entertaining and disturbing. Respect that line, don't tread it.
*************************************************************
I was hoping for a little more this month with the
Fleet’s first year Anniversary and all, but I think it’s still a good read. As
always, I would appreciate any and all comments. Thanks to Lt. Steve Latinner
for this months writing tip and to everyone who sent in news bits and articles.
Until next month…..
Capt. Ryan Storm
Far Point Fleet Newsletter Editor
CO USS Excalibur NCC-4399
