Stardestroyer.net
is a Star Wars vs Star Trek website started in 1998 by a Canadian engineer named Mike Wong (forum handle "Darth Wong"). Compares the strengths and weaknesses of both franchises, examining them with real science. The site has been inactive for some time, but the forum is still active. Also the source of the Trek/Wars fic Conquest.
Provides examples of:
- Alternate Character Interpretation: Wong argues that the Federation is actually an oppressively conformist, communist dystopia [1]. Not to mention brainwashing, hypocritical progress stifling and ignoring its people's safety.
- Done again during his look at the The Phantom Menace, Wong argues the Trade Federation isn't as evil they may have been intended come across as given a lack of on-screen villain, and that during the battle with the Gungans he notes the droid army was taking prisoners despite Palpatine ordering the Viceroy to wipe them out.
- The "Technology" page is full of interpretations on why Starfleet's ground military seems so bizarrely deficient. Even the designs of phasers, which were regarded as bizarrely unergonomic, is suggested to be because they were originally meant to be concealed weapons used by diplomats and ended up being distributed to the entire army for unknown reasons - and since Starfleet officers are well-trained and don't get into fights much, the downsides of the weapon haven't become apparent yet.
- "Cavemen vs. Astronauts" Debate/Hypothetical Fight Debate: Who would win in a fight between the Enterprise and a Star Destroyer? That would be the Star Destroyer of course.
- Deconstruction: They poke holes in the Federation utopia idea, and Mike Wong writes at length about how the small towns he's lived in are not the idyllic paradises the movies portray them as.
- Fan Fic: Has an entire subsection dedicated to them, and hosts a few notable fics. For example: Once More with Feeling and Thousand Shinji.
- Fight Unscene: Lampshaded in the "recapture colony" scenario, where the second option (likely solution by actual series writers) is "budget cannot handle massive ground battles, rewritten to have the Defiant clear the way for troop transports instead".
- Fridge Brilliance: Wong argues this when discussing holes in the Trade Federation's droid army; he notes that, as a shipping company, their enemies wouldn't normally be a fully fledged army.
- Fun with Acronyms: The sex&rel forum is titled Adult Relationships & Sex Education.
- Hollywood Tactics: Pointed out heavily, and often justified. In particular, the fact that the Federation seems to never use weapons besides hand phasers is a major reason given for why they lose, and is explained with the idea that Starfleet has assumed so much power that a ground army is seen as an afterthought.
- Kangaroo Court: The moderators sometimes write one up for people who are to be banned from the forum. This is mostly for the entertainment value: if you're getting one, the moderators and admins have already decided among themselves that you're going to be banned for violating forum rules (and the "trial record" will contain links to the offending posts).
- Logical Fallacies: The main site has an essay on several of the most common ones, and the forum has a rule against using them.
- Network Decay: Qualifies for Slipped. The main site is still focused on Wars v. Trek, but that matchup is currently a sub-sub-forum on the boards. Stylistically it's the same as it always was (substance over style), but the content has expanded to everything from technical and physics breakdowns of the latest 40k novel to exchanging recipes.
- Original Position Fallacy: Pointed out in a forum thread comparing various fictional settings. At least one poster noted that since you're far more likely to enter The 'Verse as a random average guy than as one of the heroes or major villains, the high standard of living in Star Trek's United Federation of Planets has a lot to recommend it.
- Plot Tumor: Wong goes into detail on how many themes in Star Trek changed over time when one persistent little idea (which he calls "brain bugs") took over with time.
- Throw the Dog a Bone: Though the majority of the "Battles" force substitution essays treat the Federation as whipping boys, they do manage a few victories - they outdo the Trade Federation at Naboo since they can just transport the Viceroy into an orbiting ship and ensure his safety, and they outdo the Rebels at Hoth because, for the same reason, they can evacuate much faster. Wong suggests the Federation could have even outdone the Empire at Hoth, thanks to their ships being small and maneuverable enough to dodge the ion cannon... assuming they managed to show up, anyway, and after taking absurd casualties on the ground.
- To Win Without Fighting: A major part of Wong's "Battles" essays deal with this, noting that the best determiner of Who Would Win is who would accomplish the objective better, not who would blow up more people in the process. For instance, the Deep Space 9 force substitutions universally go the Empire's way, because it can ignore many of the objectives those battles were fought around (for instance, it doesn't need to capture the Bajoran wormhole, since its ships can already get across the galaxy easily).
- Ultimate Showdown of Ultimate Destiny:
- The main site is centered around the question of who would win if the United Federation of Planets and the Galactic Empire went to war. The Empire comes out on top due to drastic advantages in canonical firepower, numbers, and industrial capacity, as well as a distinct lack of morals and a better selection of ground weapons.note
- In the interest of full disclosure, some forum members dispute the firepower argument (on grounds that the highest level of canon has never demonstrated the numbers given in the Incredible Cross-Sections books). They still generally agree that the Empire's numerical and industrial lead is insurmountable.
- Meanwhile, the forums debate all manner of other X versus Y matchups (everything from the Imperium of Man versus the Yuuzhan Vongnote to Airwolf versus the Bayformersnote ).
- The main site is centered around the question of who would win if the United Federation of Planets and the Galactic Empire went to war. The Empire comes out on top due to drastic advantages in canonical firepower, numbers, and industrial capacity, as well as a distinct lack of morals and a better selection of ground weapons.note
- Your Magic's No Good Here: Site rules for versus debates avert this: each side's phlebotinum is decreed to work just as well in the other side's setting as it does in their own.
- The exception is that weapons or technologies from either side that were used once and then never mentioned again are assumed to not be available.
