Author: Charles Star

A futuristic, three-tiered podium with black and red bases, each displaying the Independence Fleet logo in large white letters. The top tier features the fleet's logo, a stylized star with a purple hue, surrounded by a laurel wreath. The podiums sit on a checkerboard floor, giving the scene a modern, sleek look.

Awards… For Monthly Awards!

Posted on | by Charles Star | 2 Comments on Awards… For Monthly Awards!

Wow, what a 20th Anniversary Webcast! It was so awesome that I think we have a new tradition here in this fleet. Our very own Admiral Ken Gillis hosted the event, where he introduced the Hall of Fame class of 2021 and awarded prizes to three people from among our monthly award winners. If you missed it, you’ll have to wait until tomorrow to see the Hall of Fame inductees. However, I can give a quick recap of the prize drawing.

First, here are the prizes:

Next, the names of the monthly award winners were added to the big wheel. Players received a spot on the wheel for each award they won dating back to March 2020 (award fractions were rounded up):

The three winners were…

Captain Aurther Winters of the USS Chuck Norris

Lieutenant J’goss Yass G’odoss, also of the USS Chuck Norris

and Chief Petty Officer Remal Kajun of the USS Sunfire

Congratulations to all three! And thank you again to Ken for hosting and putting this on. Bravo!

Please stay tuned for more anniversary news tomorrow…

EDIT: Due to our current embargo on shipping goods to Canada, Aurther Winters will instead be getting a Tim Hortons gift card as a consolation. Also, Remal Kajun has offered to donate his prize. As such, we drew two more winners: Lieutenant Dean House of the USS Sunfire & Lt. Cmdr. T’Ponga Shemara of the USS Montana. Enjoy the prizes!

A circular badge-style logo for SciWorld 2021. The background features a futuristic cityscape with sleek, towering structures illuminated by a sunset sky. Centered at the top is the purple-and-gold winged bell emblem of Independence Fleet. The words 'SciWorld 2021' appear in large neon pink futuristic font in the middle of the image.

SciWorld 2021

Posted on | by Charles Star | Leave a Comment on SciWorld 2021

Join us this Saturday, June 12th, at 11:30 AM EDT (-4) / 4:30 pm BST (+1) for the 2021 SciWorld Online Convention. Chair Aurther Winters, Fleet XO Ken Gillis, and many others have put in a lot of hours to make this an extra special event this year. After the 11:30 opening ceremony, we have seven hours of provocative discussions, interactive trivia games, and live role playing planned.

Since we’re this year’s host, you get a sneak peak at the official opening ceremony video:

This will be the 19th SciWorld, and the third hosted by IDF. The first SciWorld was held all the way back in 1999. And just to see how far we’ve come over the years, here’s the opening video from the first modern SciWorld, which we hosted in 2011:

See you this Saturday at SciWorld XIX!

A close-up view of a futuristic starship's bridge seats, featuring a central command chair with an elaborate design. The seat has angular, dark purple and beige components, with additional seats on either side, all positioned in front of a curved control panel. The overall design is modern with sleek, minimalistic features and geometric shapes.

USS Sunfire & USS Liberty Sim Swap

Posted on | by Charles Star | 2 Comments on USS Sunfire & USS Liberty Sim Swap

We know this is crazy, but basically the crews are trading ships: USS Sunfire CO Captain Sandy “Ghost” Shannon & crew and USS Liberty CO Captain Rhenora Kaylen & crew are permanently swapping ships.

Wait, what?

Over the last week, each crewmember added their character to the other sim. Then today, the two Captains published joint genesis posts on each sim: Here’s the Sunfire’s & here’s the Liberty’s. Crewmembers are free to participate on both sims for the remainder of the missions, which will be wrapped up before the end of the month. At that time, legacy Liberty members will have their characters deactivated as they continue on the Sunfire, and legacy Sunfire members will have their characters deactivated as they continue on the Liberty.

Why do this?

Both sims have tremendous histories here at IDF. In fact, IDF was born out of the original Sunfire, and it was one of our three launch sims back in July 2001. Shortly thereafter, the Liberty was our first expansion sim on August 1, 2001. The current registry numbers hark back to those early days. When we relaunched both sims last year, circumstances led to the Liberty crew largely consisting of players from the last incarnation of the Sunfire. They’re simply going home now. And fortunately, the crew of the Sunfire are good enough sports to play along.

How will these joint missions turn out?

I have no idea, but they’re sure to be wild as we’ve never attempted anything like this before!

With that said, as of today, Captain Rhenora Kaylen is now the Commanding Officer of the USS Sunfire, and Captain Sandy “Ghost” Shannon is now the Commanding Officer of the USS Liberty. Congratulations, Captains! May you continue to lead your sims to new heights!

A sleek, futuristic conference room table with grey surfaces and blue glowing lights on the sides. The chairs surrounding the table have a modern design with dark grey fabric and geometric shapes. The walls of the room are simple, with soft purple accents. The environment has a clean, minimalist, and high-tech aesthetic.

May News Updates

Posted on | by Charles Star | Leave a Comment on May News Updates

All, here are three command news items to keep everyone up to date:

  • An audit of our blog revealed that we never announced both of these October 1, 2020 changes of command in this forum: Captain Akeno Misaki of the USS Wayfarer and Captain T’Brei Sheridan of the USS Sunfire.
  • Captain Sandy “Ghost” Shannon assumed command of the USS Sunfire on May 1, 2021. A special thanks to Captain Sheridan for leading the Sunfire for seven months.
  • Captain John Wells will assume command of the USS Eminence on June 1, 2021. A special thanks to Captain Polto for leading the Eminence over the last 11 months.

Congratulations, Captains!

A futuristic, three-tiered podium with black and red bases, each displaying the Independence Fleet logo in large white letters. The top tier features the fleet's logo, a stylized star with a purple hue, surrounded by a laurel wreath. The podiums sit on a checkerboard floor, giving the scene a modern, sleek look.

Trivia Day Results

Posted on | by Charles Star | Leave a Comment on Trivia Day Results

We’re less than two months away from our 20th Anniversary this summer on July 4th. As part of the ongoing celebrations this year, we held a 20th Anniversary Trivia Day this past Saturday. In addition to giving away six “fantastic” prizes to our winners, we were able to cap the evening off with a Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan watch party. For those who were unable to attend, here’s the summary:

Prizes

  • Description (estimated retail value)
  • Independence Fleet mug ($15)
  • Micro Machines Star Trek Generations set ($16)
  • A Happy Birthday message from John de Lancie ($150)
  • Star Trek TOS VHS signed by IDF co-founder James D. West ($0.99)
  • Star Trek TNG Badge & Lapel set ($17)
  • Spock Vehicle Decal ($25)

Results

  1. Aurther Winters won Star Trek: TOS Season 1 and selected the IDF mug
  2. Galaxis won Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and selected the John de Lancie birthday message
  3. Aurther Winters won Star Trek Round Robin and selected the Badge & Lapel set
  4. LuckyFan won Doctor Who and stole the Badge & Lapel set; Aurther Winters selected the signed VHS tape
  5. NisaMage won Supernatural and selected the Spock Vehicle decal
  6. NisaMage won Star Wars Original Trilogy and selected the Micro Machines set

Beyond the prizes above, we will also be sending a small token to each person who correctly answered at least one question at any point during the day. Finally, we thank our event hosts for helping make it a truly special occasion: Shran dh’Klar, Trident, Angelus, Emmalyn Marcus, and yours truly.

All-in-all, it was a fantastic experience. Thank you again to all who were able to take part.

9/9/2022 CORRECTION: Aurther Winters actually stole the mug from himself, and then selected the Badge & Lapel set.

A purple-tinted space scene featuring a futuristic starbase and a Starfleet-style starship approaching it, with the text "IDFLEET.COM" in the bottom right corner.

20th Anniversary Trivia Day: May 8th

Posted on | by Charles Star | Leave a Comment on 20th Anniversary Trivia Day: May 8th

In honor of our club’s 20th anniversary later this summer, we’re hosting a day of trivia in our fleet Discord’s general discussion chat room on May 8th. All are invited to partake: current members, former members, and non-members.

Join the Discord server here

We have six one-hour sessions on a variety of Star Trek and science fiction topics planned. Feel free to pop in and out for the ones that most interest you.

Schedule of Events

EDT (-4)BST (+1)TopicHost
10:00 am3:00 pmStar Trek: TOS Season 1Charles Star
11:00 am4:00 pmStar Trek: Deep Space NineShran dh’Klar
12:00 pm5:00 pmStar Trek Round-RobinYou!
1:00 pm6:00 pmDoctor WhoTrident
2:00 pm7:00 pmSupernaturalAngelus
3:00 pm8:00 pmStar Wars Original TrilogyMarcus

Prizes!

Yes, prizes! We have six fantastic prizes to distribute to the six trivia winners. Here’s how it’ll work: The winner of the first event will get to pick one of the six prizes below. The next winner can then choose to take one of the remaining five prizes or to steal the first prize selected. Same thing for the next winner, all the way down to the final winner, who will have their pick of the entire lot. Anytime someone has their prize stolen, they have to take one of the unselected prizes–no back-to-back steals. You might recognize these rules as similar to a white elephant gift routine. And you’re right!

ImagePrizeRetail Value
Independence Fleet mug$15
Micro Machines Star Trek Generations set$16
A Happy Birthday message from John de Lancie to you or a friend
Must be used within 1 year		$150
Star Trek TOS S1E17: The Squire of Gothos VHS tape
signed by IDF co-founder James D. West
Not guaranteed to work		$0.99
Star Trek TNG Badge & Lapel set$17
Spock Vehicle Decal$25

Watch Party!

Finally, please also join us after trivia at 8 pm Eastern in Discord for a watch party of Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan.

Until then, good luck and enjoy!

A stylized banner for Independence Fleet featuring four celebrities dressed in Starfleet uniforms: Will Smith, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Courteney Cox, and David Schwimmer. They are flanking the glowing purple Independence Fleet logo in the center, which includes stylized wings and a liberty bell. The words 'Independence Fleet' appear below in a red and purple futuristic font, each word flanked by a Starfleet insignia. The background is a starry space scene with a faint nebula and planetary body.

=/\=INDEPENDENCE FLEET HOME PAGE=/\=

Posted on | by Charles Star | Leave a Comment on =/\=INDEPENDENCE FLEET HOME PAGE=/\=

If you stumbled across our website last Thursday, you might have seen something a bit peculiar. In case you missed it, we’ve archived it here.

The prototypical 1990s simming webpage, complete with animated gifs, a repeating background, and way too many Admirals was the brainchild of our Fleet XO and Chief of Technology Ken Gillis. As most of you know, IDF didn’t actually exist back then as it was founded in 2001. However, some of our members today got their starts back in the 90’s.

As with our Super Space Command 3000 gag last year, we hope you enjoyed this too. Well done, Admiral Gillis!

A futuristic, three-tiered podium with black and red bases, each displaying the Independence Fleet logo in large white letters. The top tier features the fleet's logo, a stylized star with a purple hue, surrounded by a laurel wreath. The podiums sit on a checkerboard floor, giving the scene a modern, sleek look.

2020 ToS Winners Announced

Posted on | by Charles Star | 1 Comment on 2020 ToS Winners Announced

The 2020 Tournament of Simulations (ToS) winners were announced yesterday at Ongoing Worlds. We were fortunate enough to have four of our sims listed among the 23 that won prizes.

Congratulations to the USS Wayfarer, USS Ganymede, Starbase 80, and the USS Liberty! We already knew that all of our sims are fantastic, but it’s still great to get this type of acknowledgement from the community. Well done, IDF!

Outstanding Star Trek:

Star Trek Gameplay:

Independence Fleet actually has a long history of winning at ToS. Our first awards came in 2011 with the USS Liberty and USS Sunfire. 2012 was a monster year with five winners: USS Chirikov, USS Liberty, USS Rioja, USS Sunfire, and USS Victory. We then had one winner apiece in 2013 (USS Victory) and 2014 (USS Chuck Norris).

2014

Excellence in Creativity:

2013

Best Star Trek sim:

USS Victory

2012

Outstanding Star Trek Sim:

USS Chirikov

USS Victory

Excellence in Creativity:

Excellence in Character Development:

Excellence in Readability:

USS Rioja

2011

Best Star Trek Sim:

Most Creative Sim:

Which of our sims are going to win for 2021? It’s anyone’s game!

A purple-tinted space scene featuring a futuristic starbase and a Starfleet-style starship approaching it, with the text "IDFLEET.COM" in the bottom right corner.

One Year Ago…

Posted on | by Charles Star | Leave a Comment on One Year Ago…

One year ago today, we launched IDF’s new website and URL. Or was it yesterday? I’m not really sure! Regardless, what a ride it’s been.

On behalf of the Admiralty, thank you to everyone who has been a part of the journey and for making our 10 Star Trek sims as great as they are today. If you’re not currently a member of any of them, feel free to give one a try by clicking their link in the “Join!” column of the table below.

FormatTypeEraClassJoin!
ScriptOpenTNG/DSN/VOYGalaxyAlbion
BothOpenTNG/DSN/VOYDefiantChuck Norris
ProseTraditionalStar Trek: PicardSaberEminence
BothTraditionalPost-Dominion WarLunaGanymede
ProseTraditionalPost-Dominion WarSovereignLiberty
ProseTraditionalTOS MoviesMirandaMontana
BothOpenPost-Dominion WarAkiraSunfire
ProseOpenPost-Dominion WarSovereignWashington
BothTraditionalPost-Dominion WarIntrepidWayfarer
ProseTraditionalPost-Dominion WarN/AStarbase 80

Prose = typical language of a novel or short story
Script = role playing syntax similar to a movie script (see this Ongoing Worlds article)
Both = uses Prose & Script formats

Traditional = players only write for their own characters (this is how most role plays work)
Open = all players write for all characters (see this Ongoing Worlds article)

We’ll see you onboard!

Banner image of the USS Albion, NCC-3020, a Galaxy-class starship illuminated by fiery light in space. The ship name and registry number appear in bold white text in the corners.

All Aboard the USS Albion

Posted on | by Charles Star | 1 Comment on All Aboard the USS Albion

Our newest sim, the USS Albion launched earlier this week on February 16th. If that date looks familiar, you have a good eye! The original USS Sunfire opened in Utopia Fleet on that date all the way back in the year 2000. The rest, as they say, is history! Speaking of history, this is Captain Dick Sprague’s 10th command in Independence Fleet, by far the most all-time.

While continuing the tradition and legacy of IDF’s USS Avalon series of sims, the Albion seeks to capture the original theme and feel of that original USS Sunfire. As such, this is an open role playing game that uses script format. All potential players are highly encouraged to read the Albion’s Sim page before joining to ensure they know exactly what they’re getting into. It may be different, but it’s a lot of fun.

USS AlbionNCC-3020
Format: ScriptEra: TNG/DSN/VOY
Type: OpenClass: Galaxy
CO: Captain Dick SpragueJoin!

Go check out the USS Albion today!