THE FOUNDING OF THE WCA. . .
The Wing Commander Aces Club (WCAC) was officially established on April 15, 1995. It is currently nearly eight years old, with hundreds of members keeping it going.
Most of the members of the WCAC are well aware of its humble beginnings—six people founded the club. These founders met and became friends in the "Wing Commander Pilots Club" (WCPC) of America Online back in '95 that the current Aces club is a humble offshoot of. A club that was founded and administrated by 15 year-old David Borton. They were all thrilled to meet others people who shared our enjoyment of the Wing Commander games, and believed that the club was a fantastic idea.
Their enjoyment of the WCPC, however, did not last long. Heated arguments over issues such as realism, military ranking of members, and the administrative procedures of the club subtracted a great deal from the WCPC experience. In particular, some members were chastised and removed from the WCPC simply for voicing their opinions. It was their feeling that Borton was treating them unfairly, and understandably so.
An election within the WCPC was held and someone other than Borton was elected as a leader. Borton’s efforts to void the election disgusted many members, who then left the WCPC. Among those who left the WCPC, six friends banded together and founded the Wing Commander Aces Club (WCA). The WCA was meant to be a democratic club. Every member in the WCA has a say in the way the club is run. The founders are only there to help solve problems and mediate disputes before they get out of hand. It is the club that the WCPC should have been, but never was.
THE GROWTH OF THE WCA. . .
From the six founding members, the WCA grew rapidly. Members in the WCA have few restraints, and this meant that the discussions were lively, the play-by-email stories creative, and a wonderful time was there for all to enjoy. As the word spread, more Wing Commander fans joined, making the WCA larger and even more diverse.
It was not clear what happened at this point, but for whatever reason, Borton decided to end the WCPC, depart from America Online, and start a new club, named Terran Confederation (TC), on the Internet.
For a brief period of time after the start of the TC, there was some feuding between the WCA and the TC. Eventually, however, this was stopped, as both sides realized that they were all here to enjoy the rich Wing Commander universe, not to trade insults and prejudices.
CURRENT EVENTS. . .
The WCA has now grown to become the largest Wing Commander club anywhere in the world. Our PBMs are being written by so many different members and from so many different perspectives that it almost seems as diverse as a real world. The WCA is past four years old now, and still continues its policy of democracy and majority rule among the members.
Widely varying ideas for stories, art, and everything else are brought up, refined, and put into reality on a constant basis. There is a large linked list of home-pages and web-sites called "AceNet" that showcases the disparate elements of the WCA, including people, carriers, fighters, stories, and much more. Although our membership may seem uneven, with members as young as early teens and as old as late twenties, it is the Aces’ belief that the very diversity of the membership makes the WCA an interesting place.
ACES CLUB FOUNDERS. . .
These are the five brave souls that brought the Aces into being. The Founders have become little more than historical figureheads at this point - once the mediators in club-wide disputes, the membership is now expected to resolve conflicts without the need for Founder intercession. Indeed, Founder involvement in the activities of the club has waned. But their original vision of a member-driven, completely democratic organization continues on.
PLAY-BY-MAIL (PBM) COORDINATORS. . .
With the conclusion of the King of the Mountain saga, the Aces' currently are delving into multiple PBMs, run by several adept coordinators. These PBMs range from small excursions to large multi-faction fleet situations. To best learn where you can join in, visit the AceNet Posting Board, and inquire about where people may be needed.
Currently, there are two club-"official" (the term is now used loosely) PBMs being administrated. "Holding The Line" (HTL) and "Maintaining The Vigilance" (MTV). HTL is coordinated by Rajan "Raptor" Ragupathy and MTV is coordinated by Nick "Psychopath" Huynh. E-mail them for inquiries on writing opportunities within these PBMs.
NEW TECHNOLOGY REVIEW BOARD. . .
These seven are the final word in what technology can be used in Aces' stories and which can't. It's no easy task, as creation of technology is a prominent part of many member's activity. For more information on Aces'-approved technologies, visit the Technology Database page, and the NTRB Submission Status and Voting Booth page.
ACENET CENTRAL ADMINISTRATORS. . .
This third major iteration of the AceNet Central site at acenet.simplenet.com is a group work of several WCAC members. They may be notified as a group via the COMMUNICATION area off the AceNet website, or individually below.
INTERACTIVE MESSAGE BOARDS. . .
The Aces' maintain numerous points of interest throughout the Internet community. However, the following three stops offer perhaps the most variable cross-section of visitors, as well as the best mix of information.
JOINING THE ACES. . .
You may join the Aces in a couple of ways. First, you may fill out the form in the Aces' Enlistment Office off AceNet Central here; second, you may send an E-mail to Rajan "Raptor" Ragupathy at theraj@es.co.nz. In any case, please allow a few days for the information to be processed.
To join the Wing Commander Aces mailing listserv list (not to be confused with the normal mailing list), send E-mail to MajorDomo here with the word "subscribe" in the body of your E-mail. In a couple minutes you will then get an E-mail back telling you you’ve subscribed, and can then send E-mail to the list here, and will begin receiving mail from the list.
For all you new members, to summarize, you can introduce yourself and post whatever is on your mind regarding the Wing Commander universe via the AceNet posting board, which can be reached here.
The Wing Commander Aces channel on DALNet is #wc-aces (basically vacant the last few years). The general Wing Commander channel on DALNet is #wing-commander, and the Wing Commander channel for those of the www.wcnews.com ilk go to #wingnut.
You can also reach all AceNet pages through the newly updated AceNet Central, located here.
Reach the new members resource page (where you can obtain the FAQ and the new members packet) here and Doc’s New Member Page here.
