User:Neocapitalist/SDnet

Stardestroyer.net (SDN) is a science fiction information site and online community maintained by Michael Wong, primarily devoted to the Star Trek versus Star Wars debate. SDN presents its case (in the Technology and Tactics sections) through the fictional narrative of an Imperial intelligence officer weighing the strategic and tactical balance between Star Wars' Galactic Empire and Star Trek's United Federation of Planets.

Overview
Stardestroyer.net's primary page covers the topic of Star Trek vs Star Wars and has some discussion of the portrayal of science in science-fiction. However, over the years Mike Wong has expanded the site to cover other topics within his interests. These include pages dealing with Creationism and fundamentalist Christianity in regards to science and morality, fan fiction written by Mike concerning ST vs SW, and Mike's personal page. Most recently, discussion forums were added to the site in 2002 shortly after the release of Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones. The forums have expanded into a community with over two-thousand members, discussing many diverse topics.

History of the Main Site
A brief outline of the page's history follows. Only major events are included here:

In April, he launches his hate mail page, showcasing some of the more colorful feedback he received about his site.
 * 1998: Mike Wong's Star Wars vs. Star Trek main page first comes online in August.  Mike Wong also begins work on his fan fiction Conquest.
 * 1999: In March of this year, Mike Wong obtains the Stardestroyer.net domain name for use on his site.

In August of this year, prompted by the removal of evolution from the school curriculum in Kansas, Mike Wong adds an essay/rant on the topic to his site. This is the beginning of his Creationism and Christianity pages. In November of this year, he also begins work on a new fanfic. After this year, there aren't many major updates to Stardestroyer.net itself, with the bulk of Mike Wong's time being taken up in his discussion forums.
 * 2001: In March of this year, Mike Wong gathers together his Creationism and Christianity pages and places them in their own sub-site.  Also, he now hosts Brian Young's Turbolaser Commentaries, a site that had been a valuable reference to the Wars side of the debate for a number of years.
 * 2002: In July of this year, Mike Wong creates the Stardestroyer.net discussion forums.  The forums' members are initially drawn from the Usenet group alt.startrek.vs.starwars, as well as Spacebattles.com.
 * 2004: In September of this year, Mike Wong purchases another domain to exclusively house his Creationism and Christianity pages.  The new site is called creationtheory.org

Criticism
The main site makes an exhaustive if disputed case for Imperial superiority over the Federation in many physically quantifiable categories. The site features a series of critical essays addressing the Star Trek franchise's general treatment of science and technology, politics and society, economics, plot and theme--all of which attract criticism over both tone and content. Critics frequently attack the culture of SDN's discussion boards, accusing the board of having institutionalized intolerance toward differing viewpoints. Defenders argue that enforced adherence to a presumably higher standard of conduct raises the quality of discussion and debate. However, detractors maintain that the nature of the enforcement makes board politics the final say in many hot-topic debates such as Star Wars versus Star Trek. Either way, reaction to the boards draws attention to SDN's controversial role in the Star Wars versus Star Trek debate.

Board Statistics
Statistics are taken from big-boards.com and are current as of 5 August 2005.


 * Total Posts: 1,646,125
 * Total Members: 2454
 * Posts Per Member Ratio: 671