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What happened to Vanguard Command?

Posted: July 28th, 2016, 10:40 pm
by SirCampsAlot
So go to log on and see what people are up too and see that either someone didn't pay the bills or the fleet folded. What's going on? I was getting excited about potentially playing with people again. =(

Re: What happened to Vanguard Command?

Posted: July 29th, 2016, 12:50 am
by Picard
Hey man. Vanguard Command didn't work out. We're regrouping and re-opening at:


http://www.startrek.st
http://www.startrek.st/forums

Your log in should still work. It's a massive undertaking things will be much better. To quote the Trump. It will be great again - huge. But the structure/site/forums are far from ready. In the meantime I've given you officer access here. People come from time to time.

Re: What happened to Vanguard Command?

Posted: July 29th, 2016, 5:48 am
by EVOXSNES
SirCampsAlot wrote:So go to log on and see what people are up too and see that either someone didn't pay the bills or the fleet folded. What's going on? I was getting excited about potentially playing with people again. =(

We're still here :)

Re: What happened to Vanguard Command?

Posted: July 29th, 2016, 9:30 pm
by Costello
SirCampsAlot wrote:So go to log on and see what people are up too and see that either someone didn't pay the bills or the fleet folded. What's going on? I was getting excited about potentially playing with people again. =(
I needed to cause a meltdown phase to wake people up from their old-guard stupor and shake off the dead-weight going through the motions. Times are ever-changing and we required a rebirth.

Picard got the message and acted with the savvy I expected.

Re: What happened to Vanguard Command?

Posted: July 23rd, 2021, 2:02 pm
by Jesse
Rebirths are hard. The conditions that made organizations like FC and UFP flourish no longer exist, if the conditions did exist I think the community would be very active regardless of what FC was doing. I’ve been trying to understand for a few years the changes that took place in the community and so far this is what I have:

In the dim and beautiful light of the early internet, human imagination and creativity detached from worldly things to create a special yet ephemeral place for organizations like ours to come into being and flourish. It didn’t matter who you were or what you did in real life - online you were reborn again and had a second identity that was mostly decoupled from your offline identity. You wore a mask and behind it could express yourself in ways that were different from your offline self but also still 100% real and 100% you. Possibly even more real and true to yourselves than your offline selves. Online communities like ours freed you to develop aspects of your personality and potential that real life wasn't equipped to handle or perhaps even stifled. We did this within the worldview of Star Trek, a common interest of us all, and within the framework of a structured gaming institution. And our imaginations created all kinds of conflicts and interactions that created a novelty that kept people coming back day after day and year after year.

Some people put more time into this organization than they did in their day jobs and it became a big part of people’s personal lives. It wasn’t just kids with too much free time either, but grown adults with impressive careers and family commitments. What would make a person do that? You weren’t being paid. It wasn’t changing your real life circumstances. But still you wanted to be here.

In the early days the veil was still in place so to speak, the internet remained a vast and unknowable expanse and we had our own unique space in it which made sense to us. And we created a form of online reality that was truly something special, and within that reality people did great and amazing things. The people I have met online here are some of the biggest influences in my life and the most interesting and inspiring people that I have ever met (some are in this thread, you know who you are.)

Yet slowly things began to change. It seemed the entire world had to come online too, and when they did there were no longer isolated pockets of the internet where people could express themselves behind a mask, our online selves were forced to be merged with our real life selves. The latter consumed the former. Society moving online and evolving technology which linked people together more than ever before cast a light on dark places and changed each and every one of us, The first casualty was the online self, and then people’s online appetites changed and became obsessed with the happenings of the world, such as social and political issues. You can’t escape the world now it follows you wherever you are.

We can’t simply turn the lights back on at FC and expect it to work, because people’s online selves aren’t there anymore. I think this is a tragedy. Nevertheless I am so fortunate for the great times we had across two beautiful decades and hold out some hope as who knows what the future will hold.

Re: What happened to Vanguard Command?

Posted: August 25th, 2021, 12:45 am
by Picard
Jesse,

This last post is simply wonderful. It's a thoughtful and thorough analysis of a bygone era. It offers an insightful perspective into the dawn of internet but also a glimpse into the shared experiences that made us who we are today.

This could be your last post, ever, on these forums and it would be a most grandiose exit. Reading it quite simply took me through a wide range of emotions. It is true that social media and easy access to the internet ended up really killing the magic. As they say, too much of a good thing...

Thank you for this.

Re: What happened to Vanguard Command?

Posted: September 19th, 2021, 5:40 am
by Jesse
Picard wrote:Jesse,

This last post is simply wonderful. It's a thoughtful and thorough analysis of a bygone era. It offers an insightful perspective into the dawn of internet but also a glimpse into the shared experiences that made us who we are today.

This could be your last post, ever, on these forums and it would be a most grandiose exit. Reading it quite simply took me through a wide range of emotions. It is true that social media and easy access to the internet ended up really killing the magic. As they say, too much of a good thing...

Thank you for this.
Thanks Picard. I always reserve some hope. And so it will not be my last post. :-P

Re: What happened to Vanguard Command?

Posted: January 16th, 2022, 9:04 pm
by DaDigi
Looks like startrek.st has an invalid certificate. I like the look of this site, better ;)

Re: What happened to Vanguard Command?

Posted: January 26th, 2022, 1:40 am
by Picard
DaDigi wrote:Looks like startrek.st has an invalid certificate. I like the look of this site, better ;)

These classic PHP website and PHPBB forums will always occupy a place of nostalgia within my heart. But yes, I should probably renew the certificate for startrek.st - just really haven't had the time and given that people more often come here - it might not be all that relevant.

For another trip down memory lane - these forums should get fixed :

http://ufpfleet.org/latest/

http://ufpfleet.org/web