FASA's depiction of the Star Trek universe was widely received in the mid-80s, even by people who did not play role-playing games, and for the most part it was assumed by many to be canon. Many players therefore were dismayed when Star Trek: The Next Generation began to air in 1987 with what they saw as "changes" to a pre-established universe.

In effect, what had been assumed to be canon was, in a short space of time, no longer.

Paramount Pictures, who owned the licence to Star Trek, revoked FASA's license to publish the official role-playing game in 1989. The decision was sudden, and by some accounts provoked by what became the last two supplements produced by FASA - The Next Generation Officer's Manual, published in 1988, and The Next Generation First Year Sourcebook, published in 1989.

Both contained material which Paramount later said had been published without the correct clearances from within the studio. Given the rising success of the Star Trek franchise, it follows that Paramount now wanted to exert a greater degree of control over the game, to ensure it remained consistent with the TV series.

Many players blamed the studio for its abrupt dissolution of FASA's licence as well as Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry for retconning of what had been seen as established Star Trek lore. They sent letters of protest to the studio, and to contemporary science-fiction magazines such as Starlog and GDW's Challenge magazine, in vain.

Given the avalanche of canon material which has come since that time - the television series Star Trek: The Next Generation, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Star Trek: Voyager and Enterprise, several subsequent theatrical films and a library of novelizations - FASA's interpretation of Star Trek has largely been forgotten except by a handful of die-hard fans.

The rise of the internet, in particular, has given voice again to fans of the FASA version of the Klingons and Klingonaase, enthusiasm for "khomerex zha" and Klingon nomenclature (epetai, sutai) — a Klingon worldview and Klingon honorifics respectively, both created by John M. Ford — and references to "human-fusion" and "Imperial" Klingons.

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This site was last updated 04/28/08

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