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Wednesday, April 22, 2015

The Visitation of Chuck Strong

Jean Sexton writes:

Steve Cole is trying to rotate through working on various products so they all get "Steve time." When Chuck Strong, head of the Federation & Empire department, said he'd like to drop by, this week became F&E Week. Steve worked on the draft of a new product titled Minor Empires. This introduces the Lyran Democratic Republic, the Vudar Enclave, and the Seltorian Tribunal as players in F&E. They may be only a thorn in the side of the major empires, but what a thorn they can be! We are also working on updating the Fighter Operations rulebook to the new standards.

The really great thing about a visit like this is the immediacy of feedback. Steve Cole can find out what Chuck and his staff meant when they wrote something. Chuck can get Steven Petrick to work with him and solve problems so that F&E reflects the root database found in Star Fleet Battles. Chuck can see all my purple marks and find out if there is a consistent problem. What can take weeks over the phone and by email takes hours.


A slight obstacle to Chuck's visit was The Wolf who decided to repel the boarder. After the judicious application of treats, The Wolf decided that Chuck was a Good Person. (In fact, as I type, The Wolf has abandoned me to spend time with this marvelous person.)

Steve and I met with Chuck to discuss the timeline and priorities of work for his visit. Poor Chuck got to see the Purple Pen of Perdition in action as I caught a rule number issue. Together, Steve Cole, Chuck Strong, and I are working out a format for long scenarios.

What was accomplished?
Six Ship Information Tables (SITs) were updated.
A decision was made to make the SITs more easily accessible.
Two-step conversions for the Romulan Heavy Hawks were fixed.
Seltorian production issues were resolved.
A clear path for getting Minor Empires finished has been laid out.

We at ADB truly appreciate Chuck's taking time on his trip to stop by and work so closely with us. His dedication and hard work are respected by us.

Chuck, safe travels as you continue your trip! And thanks for the visitation!