Personal Log: Ben Versteegt

Two days ago, at the 28th of April, it was two years ago (that would be 2003), I first thought about joining Frontier Fleet. I joined the group at May 1st, so two years ago today. In the time between April 28th and May 1st, I looked at web sites, read the posting guides and finally stumbled upon the web site of Frontier Fleet.

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I read the posting guide and the rules, read them again, and again, then again and then again some more to see if I had really understood it. After that, I read them again, just to be sure, and I started to work on my bio and sample post for my PC character, Paul Velden. He was going to be an engineer... Well, that or science. I had no problem with any, but I liked engineering better.

At that time, we just had fast internet for less than a month, and I had stumbled across several PbEMs already. What a feast it would be, I thought, to join a group of writers and write what my character goes through... and all that in the Star Trek universe! The main question, of course, was what RPG I was going to join. I narrowed down my search to the professional look and the quality of the webpages (at which the Frontier Fleet site excelled) and to the posting format the RPGs used. I didn't want a script format or some format where I would also have to write other characters.

Also, I didn't want to join an RPG where the Federation was involved in a civil war, or where the Federation was at war with a (known or unknown) major power. I wanted to experience the life of a Starfleet officer, and that meant exploring -- not warfare. I finally narrowed down my choices to two RPGs that looked professional enough and which had the posting style I wanted, sort of. I believe they were the Galaxy-A on the one hand... and Frontier Fleet on the other.

I didn't like the idea of a fleet, to tell the truth. All ships were part of one big Starfleet, so what use was a single fleet within that fleet? It would only make that separate fleet an elite fleet, and I wanted my character to experience the life of a normal Starfleet officer -- I didn't want to be the best of the best of the best, but it seemed that most RPGs were full of that element. This fleet turned out to be different. While reading the posting guide and other documents (again and again and again), I especially liked the emphasis that was put on making your character as realistic as possible, with flaws and shortcomings. I agreed with the posting guide: a "flawed" character would be far more interesting to play.

A ship with transwarp seemed slightly silly, too, but that was something that I could live with. After all, it was a couple of decades after Voyager's return, and Starfleet would have had plenty of time making new technology and constructing a prototype Transwarp vessel. At any rate, it was far less ridiculous than some of the other RPGs out there.

I sent a mail to the game masters of both my final choices. I never got a reply back from the Galaxy-A, but the game master of Frontier Fleet sent me a mail back very quickly. I explained in my mail that I was from the Netherlands, and that English, therefore, was not my native language. I asked the game master if that was a problem, among other things. I also asked him a lot of silly questions that I felt did need answering in order for me to be sure I would join that RPG. After all, it was a very important decision, and certainly not a step to take lightly.

I asked the game master of Frontier Fleet whether or not I had to pay for this game; whether or not my English was good enough, what would happen if I didn't have time for it due to my studies, and other questions like it. I eagerly awaited the reply.

When the reply came, I was utterly surprised. The mail was not in English, but in Dutch! It turned out that the game master himself was a Dutchy, like me! That, of course, worked in the favour of Frontier Fleet. Not only that, but this game master (who was apparently called "Guido"), had taken the time to answer all of my questions thoroughly.

With all of my doubts alleviated, I saw no obstacle to join Frontier Fleet, and after reading the posting stats and game rules and about every other document on the site (for the umpteenth time), I set myself to the difficult, yet extremely fun, task of writing a character biography and a sample post. I spent quite some time on it, because I wanted it to be good enough to be accepted.

First of all, I needed a name. I wanted my character to have a Dutch name -- after all, he had a Dutch player, and I'd be lying if I didn't want him to be a slightly idealised version of myself. So a Dutch name it was. But it had to be pronounceable for English people as well, so it couldn't be something silly like Ben Versteegt. For the first name, I chose "Paul", because that, like the name "Ben", was a name used in both Dutch and English-speaking countries. The last name was a bit more difficult. I finally settled on the name of a small town in the Netherlands -- a town where a good friend of mine comes from. Coincidentally, it's not (terribly) far from the game master's home town, but I didn't know that then. My character, then, would be known as Velden. Paul Velden.

After writing a biography and a sample post, the waiting began. I wasn't sure whether or not I would be accepted -- for all I knew, this was a bunch of very skilled writers who didn't want to have a newbie like me in their midst. Frontier Fleet turned out to be a bunch of very skilled writers who did want a newbie like me in their midst. I didn't have to wait long to hear the news: the same day, the Academy Commandant (Rob Verlinden at the time) mailed me back to say that "Your biography sample post are OK. The post you've written was very good, almost perfect." Naturally, I was very glad. I was looking forward to the challenge of getting through the Academy and then write for my character on a dutystation.

Coincidentally, the AcadCM was another Dutchy, who sent me to a third Dutchy. By then, I was beginning to think that the entire game was made up of Dutchies, which, as I soon found out, wasn't far from the truth. I had originally intended to join a Dutch PbEM, but I hadn't been able to find them. On that search, I stumbled across a website about a Star Trek PbEM -- about Frontier Fleet. The page was in Dutch, and it mentioned a trip to the Efteling with certain members of that PbEM. It also contained a link to the Frontier Fleet website... and that's how I found FF. But back to the topic.

The instructor the AcadCM had assigned me to was, as I said, another Dutchy. It was an evil Dutchy by the name of Merijn ( ). The fun began when I had Velden walk into the Instructor's (Djarov's) office without tapping the door chime. In Merijn's reply, Djarov told Velden to check if the door chime was actually working, so Paul had to go out again and properly ask for permission to enter. I had fun writing that.

When I got promoted to the Academy list, I found out how to post together with others. One of those others was the infamous Cadet Duo. Ah yes, the memories... It was astounding how this person manage to practically upgrade everything to 600 % of normal efficiency, and still believe it's normal. But, well, enough said about Duo *shudders*... When I graduated from the Academy early June 2003, I and two others got assigned to Guido's ship: the USS Odyssey (which, of course, is now Rob's ship).

I had fun on the Odyssey (I'm still having fun there), and after a while, Velden got promoted and his character began to grow. Meanwhile, Rob (my brother) had noticed how much fun I had in Frontier Fleet, and he signed up as well. Of course, where I had taken a month to get through the Academy, Rob skipped it altogether. The AcadCM (also named Rob... what a coincidence ), saw that I had taught Rob everything I knew, and so Rob was ready to go on the lists. He went to Pandora, and quickly his influence spread to the other dutystations too. Soon, all of Frontier Fleet became immersed in his enormous flood of posts, leaving me and my "small" number of posts far behind. Ten years from now, everyone will still remember Rob and all that he did for Frontier Fleet, while I will have been reduced to just "one of the players" (just kidding, of course ). But I was still having fun.

I started to play an SPC: Tessa Elan, who, along with her brother, also served on the Odyssey. And I was still enjoying it. After playing both Velden and Elan for a while, Velden got promoted to second officer of the Odyssey. I was going to be part of the command team, and I liked it. It was also time for a new character: Mphilo Morabulu was created and put on Pandora Station, where he still is today. Some time went by, and after Pandora's Kotarrani mission, I created Nivas Belin, a Bajoran priest who lives on Pandora Station. I now had four characters, and that was enough.

A fifth soon came, though: Miranda Winter, my Instructor character. By that time, I considered myself an experienced poster, and Brother Rob being the AcadCM and various other things, I felt I needed to do something for the game as well. So I did. The only person I've been able to graduate is a maghook-shooting Schofield -- I'll let you decide whether that is good or bad. ;P

As if five characters wasn't enough, I had also already begun to write several stories. A new part of one of them still appears monthly in Frontier Fleet's newspaper. I now have five characters and a bunch of stories to write (for); I think it's safe to say I've reached my maximum. University's been taking up a lot of time, and I don't post very fast. But I'm still having fun.

Recently, Paul Velden made the definite switch from Engineering to Command: I was offered the FO position on the Atlantis, and Velden moved with me. I must admit, I had some doubts about being FO of the Atlantis, but now I can safely say that it's great. I'm still on the Odyssey with Elan, and on Pandora with Nivas and Morabulu, and in the Academy with Winter, but my PC is now on the Atlantis as First Officer.

And now it's been two years. From a newbie cadet to a reasonably experienced (if I say so myself) First Officer -- it's been quite a ride. I plan to continue posting for the next couple of years, and to increase the quality (and hopefully quantity too) of my posts. Frontier Fleet has made an impact on me, and I think it's safe to say that I made an impact on Frontier Fleet as well (for one thing, without me, Rob wouldn't have joined in the first place... ). I'm still having fun, on the Atlantis and also elsewhere in the fleet. I look forward to even more fun in the future.

Categories: Ben's Logs