Wow, it’s been a fun seven months. Over 20,000 users – guess we must all be doing something right. I say "we" because I’ve always considered TrekRPGNet a collaborative affair. I sure couldn’t write up all the great material you find here by myself! Without the people who submit their quality creations and give me the honor to put them up for all to see, TrekRPGNet would be but a shadow of what it has become. I could throw some statistics out like the number of files online, the number of gigabytes of information transferred, or the number of e-mails from grateful visitors but the bottom line is that I sure couldn’t have done it without all your help.

So what’s going on? What’s in the future?

Good questions! A few people have suspected that I’m either now working for LUG or that TrekRPGNet could be going away (there hasn’t been a sizeable update in awhile). Both are close but not really true. (I am working on two writing projects for them currently, TNG Companion and the Starfleet Academy Boxed Set.)

The first is, as you know, the LUG web site is in a state of flux. For the longest time there was nothing there now there’s…well, nothing really there. That’s going to change, I can assure you. I’ve been working closely with LUG to help out on their site and I think when the "new" site comes out you’ll all be very happy. No, I’m not designing it and TrekRPGNet isn’t going to become LUGNet or anything like that. Just lending a hand as an independent contractor and as a guy who genuinely wants to see them succeed.

TrekRPGNet isn’t going away. In fact, it’s going to get bigger, better, and "bad-ass!" I’ve got some great ideas and ways to make it better plus I’ve never been short on material; as I write this I have a queue of fifty submissions to put online. I’m going to be soliciting for some help and assistance in maintaining the site and artists have been interested in featuring some art online. My closeness with LUG also allows me access to information that quite frankly you won’t find anywhere else.

I’ve also completed an exclusive arrangement with LUG that will please many of you writers out there and would-be writers who want to break into the RPG industry. Shortly, all submissions that come through TrekRPGNet will go through a second, higher level of scrutiny and passed on to the folks at LUG for their consideration. Those submissions, pending approval of LUG and the folks at Paramount, will then be featured on the LUG web site. In the industry we call that "exposure." <grin> It’s no secret that those who continually submit quality material could catch the eye of the Line Developers at LUG.

Don’t worry, I intend for TrekRPGNet to continue to be a resource of fan-created material for the game. The Kzinti Templates won’t be going away nor will any other of the cool submissions that we have online. These changes are in addition to what is already offered.

Pretty exciting stuff, huh? Well, I thought so! All I ask is that you be a little more patient. I have to finish putting this all together but in the meantime I wanted to share this information with you and to reaffirm that TrekRPGNet will continue to support the game we all love! I wanted to give you some insight into the "Grand Design" that I have for this site.

In closing I’d like to thank a few people. First, the folks at LUG for their hard work, professionalism, and willingness to embrace the player-community. I’ve dealt with my share of companies in the RPG industry and these guys are by far the nicest I’ve had the opportunity to work with. Second, the contributors that make TrekRPGNet what it is. It takes a brave person to put something together, polish it, and then submit it so that the world can see. This place wouldn’t work without those of you who submit material and your hard work.

Lastly, I’d like to thank YOU, the visitor. It may be strange thanking so many of you that I don’t know, but knowing that people visit TrekRPGNet, find the information on it useful, and like it enough to keep coming back just makes it all worthwhile.

Thank you all!