James B. "Warp" Mitchell (or Warp) is a retired simmer from United Space Federation and current host in the Starfleet Legacy Alliance. He is commanding officer of the USS Potemkin.
Simming career[]
Mitchell, or "Warp" as he is often called, began his simming career in May 1996 aboard the United Space Federation's USS Potemkin. He departed in late 1998, but returned to the simming in 2001. By the time of his return, the Starfleet Legacy Alliance had been formed by simulations seceding from the USF, and he elected to join the SLA's version of the Potemkin under Seth Cotis (playing as Christiaan Back), a former crewmate.
In the fall of 2001, Warp was offered the executive officer position aboard the USS Lionheart. He declined after much deliberation. At the end of the year, however, Warp was promoted to the rank of captain and given command of the Potemkin. For the first two years, he worked to reconcile his own vision for the Potemkin with his conviction that the sim was still very much Captain Back's. He slowly introduced his own style to the sim as the years progressed.
In 2003, Warp suffered a simming crisis and nearly left the Potemkin. He ultimately chose to stay on, but faced a struggle in revitalizing a sim weakened by his uncertainty. After strengthening the sim once more, he continued to add his own touches to the sim, introducing more and more recurring characters and changing details such as the stardate system. In early 2005, he led the Potemkin away from AOL/AIM simming and onto IRC. As of 2014, he remained the captain of the Potemkin, the sim's longest-serving host by a large margin.
Public career within the SLA[]
In early 2002 he was made one of the Starfleet Legacy Alliance's first Fleet Captains, overseeing Shakaar Fleet. He later sought (and won) the position of Public Relations Chair on the SLA Council. Following a year in that office, he became the club's Expansion Chair for several months before resigning to focus on his sim.
In early 2005, he was appointed Fleet Captain of Cochrane Fleet, an entity which consisted mostly of sims from his original Shakaar Fleet, and returned to "public life" in the SLA.
Upon hearing news of Seth Cotis's death in July 2005, Warp secured the SLA's website and domain name. He sought and failed to win the position of Moderator Chair, which went to Pamela Kyle, often simply known as "Pam." For the next year, he and Pam worked to keep the SLA intact, sometimes working together and in clear opposition at others.
Warp took a leading role in drafting a new charter for the SLA. It was ratified on May 6, 2006. He continued in his role as Cochrane Fleet Captain into the summer. Following the departure of Pam and her sim in June 2006, Warp was elected as Council Moderator, a position he held until January 2010, turning the role over to Tavey Burgon . As of 2014 he remains a host in the SLA, but is not active in club leadership.