State of the Site Address

About six months ago I wrote an editorial called “The Grand Design.” It seemed that a lot of people enjoyed knowing a bit more about the thinking process on the other side of the computer screen. Since updates have been few and far between as of late, it seemed appropriate for another editorial.

First, some rumor control! TrekRPGNet is not going away. It is not shutting down. It is not going to be “absorbed” by Last Unicorn Games. Paramount is not shutting us down.

As many of you know now, I am now an employee of Last Unicorn Games. I am the LUG Web Developer and am responsible for the updating, layout, and production of the Last Unicorn Games web site and all related electronic material. The new Icon Links fall under my auspicious umbrella, and I also interface with LUG customers (you!). I also, on occasion, will interact with third parties to write material for the web site.

So, now I’m toting the party line and am a puppet for LUG, right? Well, no. While I do work for them, TrekRPGNet has been, and always shall be, independent. At no point have I ever considered turning TrekRPGNet over to another party. While my personal involvement may be reduced because of restraints against my time, I’ll continue to host TrekRPGNet, and pay for it, as long as I can.

TrekRPGNet started out, quite simply, as a place to store all the stuff on the “trekrpg” mailing list that everyone kept creating. It was all great stuff. In fact, it’s all still here! In that time, more and more people have submitted their own creations to TrekRPGNet for us to edit, produce, and put online. Now, as the number of submissions increased so did our editorial standards. When you get as many submissions as we do, you can afford to be a bit picky. Working closely with LUG and feeling I have a pretty solid understanding of what Star Trek is, and what Paramount feels Star Trek is, we do our best to sort out the good from the bad. While other sites may slap any old submission online and call it done, I’d like to think that TrekRPGNet is just “a notch above.” You may or may not agree, but I hope you understand where we’re coming from.

Right now, I’d say there are roughly 150 submissions that need to be reviewed.

Yea. That’s a lot.

Now maybe you can understand the problem! Going through it is a slow process. Even more so when you want everything you put online to look “just right” and have a professional appearance. Now imagine doing all this for free in your spare time.

Thankfully, the esteemed Patrick Murphy has come aboard to help out. I have always been impressed with the quality of Patrick’s work, especially on the now-defunct “LUG Trek Netbook.” He’s someone, like myself, who “knows what good looks like.” Patrick helps weed through everything that gets sent to the submissions@trekrpg.net address and converts the stuff into HTML format. From there I do some final tweaking and it goes up.

Alas, were it that simple. In the past few months, aside from taking over the Last Unicorn Games web site, TrekRPGNet has befallen a series of poor luck. The first was a server move, which was initially painless but quickly went sour. The provider was poor, the service lackluster, and the features that were sold to me were not delivered. When you’re paying nearly $100 in fees per month to host this site, poor service is not something you take lightly. So, shortly after, TrekRPGNet moved – again.

The new service, although better, was a painful move. The old provider was holding TrekRPGNet “hostage;” they wouldn’t let us move. They did everything they could to keep TrekRPGNet “stuck” on their server. After two months, much complaining, and having a third-party resolve the matter, TrekRPGNet finally got to move. The whole time I was paying for TWO web sites (uugh). During this whole time performing an update was, to be frank, an exercise in frustration (just ask Patrick!).

Because the systems were fundamentally different, that meant redoing all of my CGI (perl) scripts as well as the message board. The message board has always been popular so I was keen to not only redo it, but to upgrade it as well. Obviously, that is something that I got quickly, and as I write this, there are over 2300 messages posted in our message area. Wow.

The cgi scripts I’m finishing up. Soon the contests will return. They’ll be better than ever. I have tons of stuff to giveaway, thanks to Last Unicorn Games.

Finally, with poor Patrick on the east coast, and the horrible weather out there, it’s been difficult for him to get anything done.

So there, in a nutshell, is TrekRPGNet the past four months. It sure hasn’t been pretty!

Although I haven’t received a ton of inquires as to what’s going on with TrekRPGNet (you’ve all been very patient), here’s probably what you’re wondering:

When are you going to put up more stuff?
We just did an update today and another one is coming in the next few days. Hopefully we’ll get back on some kind of schedule again.

Why hasn’t the product section been updated?
The products section was put up because Last Unicorn Games had no such section, and what they did have up outright sucked. Because the LUG site is much better now, and actually has information online about upcoming products, there hasn’t been much motivation to update the listings on TrekRPGNet. I’m considering bringing back a “Rumor Page” to talk about products that we can’t mention through official channels.

When is your next contest?
I’ve fixed the contest script, so very soon. There are going to be a few, actually. One will be a special contest open to registered users of the TrekRPGNet Discussion Boards only.

Why hasn’t my stuff been posted/uploaded?
Hard to say. It may be sitting in the queue. I still have items from January that need to go up. Personnel records take the longest to format and the longest to ‘approve,’ so they go up last. Other items usually get ‘bumped’ ahead. You’re submission may have been outright rejected because we didn’t feel it was in keeping with the Star Trek mythos. Size 10 Fleet Carriers don’t usually get approved. (Okay, they never get approved.)

Are you going to put up a chat area?
Probably not. I thought about it and my server supports it, but the Last Unicorn Games web site just launched one that is very cool. I suggest you check it out!

How can I help?
I actually have had a few people ask this one. Well, cleaning up submissions, making them ‘look’ as good as possible helps. This reduces the amount of work we have to do. Copying a similar page off of TrekRPGNet to use as a template is helpful, too. These aren’t necessary but they make our jobs easier. Moderators for the discussion boards would be nice, so e-mail me if interested.

Is TrekRPGNet aligned with Last Unicorn Games now?
Only in the manner that I work for both. TrekRPGNet will continue to post material online that is fan-created. Occasionally material will be submitted to LUG for their consideration, perhaps in the future for their web site. I will say that to date at least two new writers for LUG got their start from TrekRPGNet. Among them, the very talented Dave Biggins, whom everyone enjoys his adventures. So, keep submitting – perhaps the magic will rub off on you.

Is it true you wrote for LUG?
Yes, the Players’ Guide and Starfleet Academy Boxed Set both contain some of my material. I plan to continue to write for LUG, provided assignments are available (and they'll let me write!).

So, that pretty much sums everything up. Our plans are to work our way out from underneath this mountain of information for some breathing space. At that time I’ll probably redesign the site as I have some cool ideas.

If you have anything to add, please drop us a line. Although we may not get the chance to respond, it’s always good to hear what others think – good or bad. Sadly, I don’t have the time to read the TrekRPGNet Discussion Boards (how’s that for irony?).

Until then...the word is given.

Don Mappin
Webmaster, TrekRPGNet

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