The 2023 Tournament of Simulations (aka ToS) were finally announced yesterday, and continuing our tradition of excellence, IDF took home three more awards! Congratulations to the Captains and crews of the USS Firebird, USS Sunfire, and USS Wayfarer. In fact, the USS Firebird was the #1 sim overall for the entire tournament Well done!
It was another performance for the ages from all of you! Look for the 2024 tournament to be announced soon.
If you visited this website on April 1st earlier this year, that’s how you were greeted! Continuing our April Fools’ Day tradition, we decided to go back to our roots and pretend we were rebranding as old Utopia Fleet, where the historical USS Sunfire, which later launched Independence Fleet, was created. In case you missed it, you can see the archived page at the Internet Archive.
Another special thanks to Ken Gillis for creating the new Utopia Fleet branding. It looks amazing! Maybe we’re on to something…
It’s high time we recognize some of the truly amazing simming and online role playing that makes this fleet a special place–a place where people join and stick around.
Congratulations to all of our latest award winners below!
Awarded to Lieutenant Owen Woodhouse of the USS Firebird for outstanding role playing. A charter member of the Firebird, he has done it all from writing for a variety of characters to introducing meaningful plot twists to setting up other players to take the lead. A master recruiter, he has brought in four players new to simming and has one Recruitment award win.
Awarded to Lieutenant Commander Rhiana t’Aegis of the USS Firebird for outstanding role playing. A member of the Firebird since shortly after its founding, the detail and nuance of her writing is second to none. She has contributed to multiple post awards and has also been a key leader in managing the ship’s website and teaching and training newer players.
Awarded to Commander Dean House of the USS Sunfire for outstanding role playing. One the remaining transfers from the Sunfire-Liberty sim swap, he continues to be an integral part of the crew. An excellent all around writer, he totals 9.61 awards, good for 15th place all-time, which includes 0.92 Best Posts, 3.18 Funniest Posts, 1 MVP, and 1.5 Recruitment awards.
Awarded to Commander Samantha Howard of the USS Washington for outstanding role playing. A superior simmer in all respects, she has won 5.23 Best Posts, 3.7 Funniest Posts, two Most Posts, and two MVPs, which are part of a grand total of 14.93 total awards, good for sixth place all-time. She simultaneously leads while filling in the gaps.
Awarded to Commander Kevin Lance of the USS Chuck Norris for outstanding role playing leadership. Recently stepping up to the Executive Officer role, he has not missed a beat. Mentoring others while leading high quality collaboration, he currently ranks 9th all-time with 13.4 total awards–an impressive stat line that includes 2.2 Best Posts, two Funniest Posts, seven Most Posts, and two MVPs.
Awarded to Commander Mashiro Munetani “Shiro” of the USS Wayfarer for outstanding role playing leadership. As the Wayfarer’s longtime Executive Officer, he expertly guides both experienced and novice players in working together to creatively advance the plot. He has totaled 2.96 monthly awards across his career that has seen the Wayfarer more than make its mark.
Awarded to Commander Savar cha’Salik hei-Surak Talek-sen-deen of the USS Sunfire for outstanding role playing leadership. As the Sunfire’s longtime Executive Officer, he always knows just what is needed–an update to the website, help to a newer player, or a witty plot twist. He currently ranks 13th all-time with 11.54 total awards, which includes five Most Posts and three MVPs.
Awarded to Captain Michael Murphy of the USS Montana for outstanding role playing leadership. Since promoted to Commanding Officer, he was the prototypical Executive Officer during his long tenure in the position. Winning a variety of awards–0.25 Best Posts, 0.5 Funniest Posts, two MVPs, and two Recruitment awards–he did all the big and little things that mattered.
Awarded to Captain Akeno Misaki for commanding the USS Wayfarer from 2020 through today for a remarkable 52 total months in command thus far. Known for beginning and facilitating wildly imaginative missions, she has taken home 2.24 Genesis awards and 2.81 Best Posts within her 5.17 total awards. She sets the standard for the modern Commanding Officer.
As most of you already know, but now to formally enter it into the record:
We would like to thank Captain Adams for his 33 outstanding months in command of the Montana. As Captain John Wells, he also commanded the USS Eminence for 8 months. We wish him Godspeed in all his future endeavors! Captain Michael Murphy is no stranger to the Montana, having previously served as the longtime Executive Officer there. We have no doubt that Captain Murphy will continue to build and develop the sim based on the strong foundation that Captain Adams has laid.
Happy 23rd anniversary, Independence Fleet! For anyone new and not aware or simply not wanting to do the math, this club was founded all the way back on July 4, 2001. Continuing a tradition we began a few years ago, here is a message from a special guest:
What else do we have for this year? You might remember the 20th Anniversary Almanac that we published three years ago. Well, we got the cover page signed by none other than Star Trek legend William Shatner:
A closer view of the signature:
In case you were wondering, the cover photo at the top is indeed based on the greatest Star Trek selfie ever taken by LeVar Burton. Thank you to Captain Misaki for creating our header image two years in a row.
I almost forgot, we have a second message this year too:
Happy anniversary, IDF! Here’s to 23 years and much more!
With another year in the books, it is again my great honor and privilege to formally announce the newest members of the Independence Fleet Hall of Fame. As a reminder, induction into the Hall of Fame is the highest honor this club offers–reserved for those who have demonstrated exemplary service or extraordinary contributions to the fleet, according to the Hall of Fame Charter (pdf). As such, here is your Hall of Fame Class of 2024:
Inducted by Election:
of the USS Minerva
A charter member of the fleet, the original and long-time Commanding Officer of the Minerva, and later member of the Admiralty, Krol was an ever-present figure during IDF’s early years. Regardless of the role, he truly immersed himself into his character and the greater Trek universe. Whether in-story or out-of-story, he always fostered an environment of exploration and wonder for others to use.
of the USS Victory
The most decorated crewmember of the Victory, T’Vyn was the engine that enabled the sim to be one of the most successful of its era as her seven Most Posts played no small part in the Victory’s 13 posting titles. Boasting 8.5 total awards, she still ranks within the top 20 all-time. Beyond her superior quantity, she was also known to be extremely inventive within the story to empower other writers.
Inducted by the Veterans Committee:
None this year.
Congratulations to each of our 2024 inductees! They continue to provide a timeless example for us still role playing today to follow. The inductees will hereby be remembered forever for their extraordinary service to Independence Fleet. Well done! There are now 43 total members of this most exclusive club.
Beam up to our Discord server this Saturday, July 6th at 7pm Eastern for our 23rd Anniversary Webcast, hosted again by Ken Gillis. Again, that’s July 6th at 7:00 PM ET (-4) / July 7th at 12:00 AM BST (+1). And yes, it will once more include real prizes!
Everyone who won any share of a monthly award from June 2023 through May 2024 had name added to the big wheel below, which we will spin this Saturday for real prizes. All award fractions were rounded up.
Speaking of the big prize wheel, an internal audit of our blog revealed that we never announced the winners from last year’s webcast spin. They were Lieutenant Bonnie “Bon-Bon” Durnell of the USS Sunfire and Captain Shran dh’Klar of the USS Washington. Their prizes were…
What will the prizes be this year? Tune in this Saturday to find out!
We have two personnel changes to announce:
First, I want to offer my sincerest thanks to Commodore Meadows and she has been a tremendous asset to the fleet over the last two years. Her counsel and wisdom have been invaluable in matters far beyond her formal role here. Our partnership will certainly endure as she continues to do great things in both Theta Fleet and the broader community.
Rear Admiral Mirtoh has served admirably as our Director of Personnel for over four years now. His management of the monthly awards, an institution that sets us apart from many other great fleets, has been second to none. I have no doubt that he will bring the same energy and enthusiasm to his new role.
And finally, Rear Admiral Winters is no stranger around these parts as he commanded the USS Chuck Norris for three years, and loyally served on that same sim for many more before assuming command. I have no doubt that he will fit right in with the Admiralty.
Just in the nick of time…
Lieutenant Tracey Walker
Chief Engineering Officer
USS Chuck Norris
For “Hunted”
Great action description!
Lt. Cmdr. Deanna Celes & Cmdr. Jonathan Grayson & Cmdr. Samantha Howard & Ens. Kate Kono & Ens. James Phoenix
ACOO / XO / CMO / SCP / TO
USS Washington
For “The War With the Machines”
A great bit of collaborative writing!
Ensign Kate Kono
Support Craft Pilot
USS Washington
I was not expecting that type of crossover!
Captain Rhenora Kaylen
Commanding Officer
USS Sunfire
For “Lost in Space”
A great opening with immediate possibilities for the rest of the crew to take the reins.
Commander Jenna Ramthorne
Chief Flight Control Officer
USS Sunfire
The Sunfire legend and future Hall of Famer returned with a bang with her patented outstanding posting.
Lieutenant Commander Kevin Lance
Executive Officer
USS Chuck Norris
For writing 20 posts. Lance took over right where his new CO left off–writing the most posts!
Ensign James Phoenix
Tactical Officer
USS Washington
A mainstay of the Washington, Phoenix upped his game with some incredibly well written posts.
None this month.
None this month.
I hope everyone had a great May too!
