News

  • May 29, 2023
    • New Client Available
    • Version 4.5.1 is now available. Fix issue with chat background.
  • May 02, 2023
    • Registration Page is now available.
    • Registration Page is now available.
  • March 25, 2023
    • New Client Available
    • Version 4.5.0 is now available. Add Trails feature and Dark Theme
  • June 06, 2020
    • New Client Available
    • Version 4.2.21 is now available. Fix issues with the Federation Commander Room. Client now requires JDK 9 or later.
  • March 29, 2020
    • New Client Available
    • Version 4.2.19 is now available. Fix issue with tractors in the SFB Room. Federation Commander Room has been changed to be more like the SFB room
  • March 08, 2020
    • New Client Available
    • Version 4.2.18 is now available. Add support for adding ships using the library for the campaign room
  • July 1, 2019
  • January 28, 2018
    • New Client Available
    • Version 4.2.16 is now available. Add support for generic library shuttles
  • December 24, 2016
    • New Client Available
    • Version 4.2.12 is now available. This resolves issues with selecting type of plasma torpedos and simplifies the Fed Com room interface.
  • November 12, 2016
    • Website Revamped
    • The look for the web site has been updated. Many pages have been cleaned up or removed as unneeded.
  • January 19, 2016
    • Moved to New Server
    • We have moved to a new server. If you have not updated your version of the client. Please do.
  • June 12, 2015
    • Help Needed
    • I am trying to manage the conversion from the 2nd Generation Ship Definitions to the 3rd Gen Ship Definitions and doing a poor job of it. It is just not something I do well. So I think the best thing to do is to get help from somebody that has better management/organizational skills than I. If you a person and would like to help just managing it, (i.e. I am not asking you to do any of the conversions) then please post here or send a PM or an Email to Andromedan@sfbonline.com
  • May 16, 2015
    • Rated Ace Tournament #45 has Started
    • Gregg Diekhaus is judging the latest Rated Ace tournament. If you want to find out when the players are playing check out the RAT45/RA15Q2 topic on the Discussion Board
  • January 20, 2014
    • Rated Ace Tournament #42 has Started
    • Bill Scheoller is judging the latest Rated Ace tournament. If you want to find out when the players are playing check out the RAT42/RA14Q1 topic on the Discussion Board.
  • July 29, 2013
    • My Commerce/SWREG as a payment option has been removed.
    • Due to issues with charging taxes for non-taxable goods SWREG has been removed. Hopefully an option to PayPal will be available in the near future.
  • October 20th, 2010
  • July 24th, 2010
    • Rated Ace Tournament RA10Q2 Has Started
    • Ken Lin (aka Old_School) has volunteered to judge the RA10Q2 tournament. There is 36 signups. If you want to watch games or see the game reports. Go over to the Discussion Board and go to the Star Fleet Battles/SFB Online Client/Tournaments topic and you will find the tournament.
  • May 10th, 2010
    • We are alive
    • I have been contacted lately if we are still active. The answer is yes. Sorry, if things seem lifeless (i.e. no new news). I will post more minor news to the website in future. That is things like tournaments, client updates.
  • January 1st, 2009
    • Purge Old Accounts
    • Accounts that have been expired for longer than a year have been purged.
  • September 23rd, 2008
    • Price Increase
    • Starting with January 1st, 2009 the cost of a SFB Online or Federation Commander Online subscription will be increase from the current $39.95 per year to to $59.95 per year with a combined subscription costing $89.95 The cost of a SFB Online or Federation Commander Online for a 3 month subscription will be increased from $10.00 to $15.00
  • July 30th, 2008
    • Move to a New Server
    • The old server has been hardworking and faithful. It has not caused any problems. But it is now 7 years old. So we haved moved to a new server. It is faster and has a more update OS and which will help make it more secure. Enjoy the new server.
  • January 6th, 2008
    • DigiBuy service migrated to SWReg
    • DigiBuy migrated to SWReg.
      What does this mean to people using SFB Online and FC Online?
      Digital River that owns both DigiBuy and SWReg is migrating all of its customers from DigiBuy to SWReg. If you have used DigiBuy in the past, you will no be using SWReg.
  • January 1st, 2007
    • Franz Games, LLC aquires Star Fleet Battles Online!!!
    • Franz Games, LLC is the new owner of Star Fleet Battles Online.
      What does this mean to people using SFB Online and FC Online?
      Not much. Most of the work of maintaining the site and keeping the records was done by Paul Franz the owner of Franz Games, LLC, so the same excellence will be maintained.
  • June 27, 2006
    • Federation Command Online is Here!!!
    • The latest in the SFU family of products is now available.
  • June 24, 2006
    • Federation Command Online is Coming
    • The latest in the SFU family of products will be available to play online by the end of June 2006
  • June 27, 2005
    • New Version of the Client is Released
    • The latest and greatest version of the client Version 4.0 is finally released with better support for fighters, PFs and ships. Features like Tracking weapons, H&R Raids, directed reveal, Orion/WYN option mounts and fighter expendables to name a few. The library is also being completely re-done with the help and direction of Aaron Staley.
  • May 15, 2005
    • RA04Q4 Rated Ace Tournament Over
    • Congratulate, Jude Hornburg in becoming the winner for the RA04Q4 Rated Ace Tournament. Flying his ever so famous Lyran against Scott Moellmer's Orion in the final.
  • March 1, 2005
    • New President
    • Congratulate Paul Franz for being promoted to president of Symbiotic Games, LLC. He has been the Director of Operations for many years working hard to keep everything running as smoothly as possible.
  • December 4, 2003
    • Improved Integration with PayPal
    • In an effort to improve customer service we are integrating automatic notification of PayPal payments directly into our registration system. This will allow Symbiotic Games, LLC to ensure receipt of payment, while eliminating the need to block registrations coming from popular Internet mail sites such as Yahoo and HotMail.
      Additionally, renewals initiated through the new system and paid via PayPal will extend your subscription within moments. No more waiting for someone at Symbiotic Games to manually process the renewal. PayPal payments can be sent without additional charge in 38 countries (including the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, and Australia).
      Those who choose not to use PayPal can still subscribe and renew via check and money order.
      We will also continue to accept payments from DigiBuy though their greater processing fees require that we pass along a $5.00 charge per payment made using their service. Those living outside the area serviced by PayPal will need to use DigiBuy to pay with a credit card and if you contact us via the Contact Us link we will add an additional month to your subscription to help compensate for the inconvenience.
  • November 15, 2003
    • De-support for 2.x client
    • As of the ending of the RA03Q4 Tournament the 2.x client will no longer be supported. Due to it becoming clear that supporting two vastily different program to do the same thing in no longer feasible for a company of our size.
  • November 15, 2003
    • Free Email Service Available
    • As of November 15th, 2003 anyone who has a non-expired will be get a free Email forwarder. For example, if our callsign Cool, now you can get Email sent to Cool@sfbonline.com and it will go to the Email address for Cool account. So instead of trying to look up somebody's Email address. Just send it to their <callsign>@sfbonline.com .
  • November 15, 2003
    • 2.x style Impulse Activity illegal for Tournament play
    • After the RA03Q4 Tournament you will be required to use the "Activity Decision Window" for announcing any Impulse Activity.
  • October 16, 2003
    • New Communications Director
    • David Beeson has accepted the position on the SFB Online Staff as the new Communications Director. Please welcome him.
  • October 7, 2003
    • Communications officer retires
    • Communications Director, Kevin Block-Schwenk has decided to retire from his position at Star Fleet Battles Online. He wants to concentrate on other opportunities. We will miss Kevin and hope him the best of luck in his future endeavors.We are currently looking for a replacement. If you are interested please contact sfbol or webtech at sfbonline.com
  • September 29th, 2003
    • Tournament Email Address changed
    • Due to problems with spam. The tourneydesk@sfbonline.com email address has been de-commissioned. It will be changed to tournaments (at sign) sfbonline.com.
  • June 24th, 2003
    • New Star Fleet Battles Online Client Released
    • Symbiotic Games is proud to announce the releasing of a new version Java-based client called SFB Online XP. The following features have been added since 3.2.6:

      Ability to use a 2.x like UI.
      Tracking of Expendables.
      Using Expendable to automatically add counters.
      Easier to use launching (like launching multiple shuttles/fighters/drones/plasmas)
      Decreased bandwidth requirement
      New SFB Campain Room to help in the running of Campaign using the client.
      Map Overlay to allow people to add colors and images to the board that are not-interactive.
      Clean up of the menues.
      Reveal Info is more intuitive.
      Save Board as a Image file (so that you look at later or post it on your website)
      Better Performance and Stability (might require a full download w/VM).
      Speed Plot Calculator. (including calculating the cost of a change of the speed plot)
      Ability to Tractor other ships and have the client calculate the new pseudo speeds.
      Sort by Column in the Game Control by clicking on the column heading.
      Fix many, many bugs.

      New Updated User Reference by Kenneth Jones including a PDF version.
  • November 25th, 2002
    • Star Fleet Battles Online has moved
    • The previous IRC and web server host for SFB Online was not meeting expectations for server availability. So improve the service to our customers we have moved to a dedicated server. To use SFBOL on the new IRC server everyone must download and install the User-Defined Ship Version (v2.5.3) or the latest Java-based v3.2 (Release) which was made available on November 25, 2002. If you have any questions about the move go to SFB On-Line Questions & Answers topic of the Star Fleet Universe Discussion Board.
  • April 18th, 2002
    • Star Fleet Battles Online Releases Java-based Client
    • Symbiotic Games is proud to announce the releasing of a Java-based client called SFB Online 3.0. This will allow a greater amount of people to play. In addition to the cross-platform capabilities introduced with the version 3.0 of the client, the following features have been added:
       User-Defined Ships
       Multi-Ship/Multi-Player Battles
       Access to the ship repository
       Ability to group pieces
       Impulse Activity button (for announcing Impulse Activity)
       Click and drag interface for moving counters
  • August 25, 2001
    • Star Fleet Battles Online Organizational Changes
    • Symbiotic Games is proud to announce the following organizational changes to further enhance the SFB Online experience:
      Frank Bradford has accepted the position of Chief Operating Officer reporting directly to Patrick Abram. He will directly manage the day to day operations of SFB Online and help resolve any issues that may arise as the development of SFBOL Version 3.0 moves forward. Frank will also assume Patrick’s answer role on the SFB BBS, and can now be reached through the Contact Us
      Joe Butler has accepted the position of Chief Tournament Officer reporting to Frank. He will perform his current duties as RAT coordinator and will pick up the NETKill tournaments. Events Director Sam Clark will report to Joe and is heartily thanked for his efforts to keep SFBOL interesting to those who don't like RATs and NK as much as others.
      Paul Franz has accepted the position of Chief Information Officer reporting to Frank. He will perform his current duties as Web Technologist. Communications Director, Kevin Block-Schwenk will report to Paul and is also heartily thanked for his efforts to keep SFBOL customers involved and informed.
      Jeff Qualls has accepted the position of Chief Financial Officer reporting to Frank. His duties include Registrations, Contracts, and Finances. Jeff will be responsible for ensuring that all subscriptions are acted upon in a timely manner with minimal interruptions or delays.
  • June 28, 2000
    • Star Fleet Battles Online has moved
    • The previous IRC and web server host for SFB Online decided to quit the IRC server business effective June 30, 2000.This means that SFBOL needed to change servers within 8 days.There was no disruption in the service of SFBOL itself, but these web pages may have disappeared for several days.To use SFBOL on the new IRC server everyone must download and install the Latest Patch which was made available on June 27, 2000.Given the nature of this event all further messages will be posted to the SFB On-Line Questions & Answers topic of the Star Fleet Universe Discussion Board.


      February 21, 2000
      Symbiotic Games, LLC acquires the license for Star Fleet Battles Online from Online Game Systems, Inc.

      Statement from Symbiotic Games, LLC

      What does this mean to you?

      Let me first say that I believe this is a good thing for all Star Fleet Battles Online subscribers and SFBOL in general.It is my intention to continue the work of Online Game Systems, Inc. and improve SFBOL in the coming months and years.In the short term, the only changes you will see should be those that naturally come from a change in ownership.The web page is strikingly different.Someone new is going to be answering questions via e-mail and on the bulletin board.

      Why did this occur?

      Let me only say that this was no hostile takeover.I plan to continue working with OGS to make the transition as smooth as possible.Gregg Dieckhaus of OGS provides additional details in his statement below.

      Thank you for your time and I look forward to continuing your relationship with SFBOL.


      Patrick M. Abram
      President, Symbiotic Games, LLC

      Statement from Online Game Systems, Inc.

      Why did we do this?

      After showing Star Fleet Battles Online to ADB, and many emails and phone conversations,we came up with a deal that would allow me to acquire a license to provideonline tournament gaming to the SFB community. Online Game Systems, Inc.was born, and SFB Online became a reality. Even though we had hammered outa deal via email, we had not gotten an official contract done. But I knewthat it was crucial to the success of SFB Online that the product bereleased at Origins, so we went ahead and launched it operating under averbal agreement, with the understanding that we would get written contract done soon. But due to an inability to reach a mutually agreeable written contract to both parties, OGS was unable to acquire the Online Gaminglicense from Amarillo Design Bureau, Inc. In an effort to keep SFB Online alive, Symbiotic Gameshas worked with ADB Inc. to get the Online Gaming license, and acquired alicense for SFB Online

      What effect will this have on the subscribers of SFB Online?

      With Symbiotic Games acquiring the SFB Online License, the future of SFBOnline is in good hands. Let me reiterate what Patrick said, I believe this is a good thing for all Star Fleet Battles Online subscribers and SFBOL in general. Many of you may not know this, but Patrick is the person responsible for the graphic SSDs. Without his work and code expertise we wouldn't have them. Symbiotic Games will be able to bringmore resources to SFB Online and by doing so, provide new features at a faster pace than OGS could have. Online Game Systems, Inc. will betransferring the code base to Symbiotic Games, and they will be responsiblefor adding new features and enhancements. I will be available to work withthem on any technical issues that arise, and guide him through the quirks of the code. They will immediately take over providing official answers to questions on the Starfleet Battles discussion web page. The new SFB Online web page is a perfect example of the type of quality you can expect from Symbiotic games. It is also is an example of how the players will be better served by them. I had intended on changing the web page to a newdesign, but all my time was spent on running SFB Online and I could neverfind the time to fully develop it. I provided Symbiotic Games with my ideafor a new web page, they took this template and fully developed it into thenew page you now see.

      Symbiotic Games will take over the daily administration of SFB Online.This means they will handle billing questions, and run the tournaments. The procedures for signing up for the Rated Ace Tournament, as well asreporting NETKKill results stay the same. The web page can be used to sign up for the Rated Acetournament, and any Rated Ace judging questions or results should be sent to tourneydesk@sfbonline.com

      An additional bonus of the arrangement worked out between the parties is that I will now be able to play in the online tournaments. I plan to stayinvolved online, and look forward to actually being able to play all of you!

      Gregg Dieckhaus
      President, Online Game Systems Inc.


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