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Monthly Awards: December 2020

Posted on January 13, 2021 | by Rook Mirtoh | Leave a Comment

What a great way to close out a dreadful year: with monthly awards! Before we reveal the winners, I want to announce a change for next month’s awards:

Starting in January, we will be awarding two Best Posts each month: One for a single author post and one for a joint post. Sim Commanding Officers will be eligible for the joint post version. This is a result of your feedback and several discussions over the last few months. We heard you!

Now, on to the the December winners:

Best Post

Lt. Cmdr. Tyroh Vantic
Chief Security/Tactical Officer
USS Liberty

For “Cultural Exchange pt.2”

While there were multiple excellent submissions for Best Post this month, it’s clear that this writer is very familiar with the post’s subject matter: martial arts. It’s one of those rare posts that truly develops a character, providing a great baseline to be used in future missions.

Funniest Post

Lt. Anna Thesia & Lt. Bonnie “Bon-Bon” Durnell
Chief Medical Officer / Computer Systems Specialist
USS Liberty

For “Cocoa”

A woman dressed like a tree and wearing [EDITED]less chaps… hard to beat this post for straight up humor.

Genesis

Captain Abe Polto
Commanding Officer
USS Eminence

For “Briefing”

New crew, new captain, and a traditional Genesis post: Solid all around.

MVP

Lt. Anna Thesia
Chief Medical Officer
USS Liberty

The Liberty’s intrepid Doctor built upon her Rookie award last month and has engaged every player onboard for a joint post, drawing the already tight crew even closer together. She is motivating, engaging, and a lovely person to write with.

Most Posts

Lt. Anna Thesia
Chief Medical Officer
USS Liberty

For writing 26 posts.

Most Improved

Lt. Cmdr. Tyroh Vantic
Chief Security/Tactical Officer
USS Liberty

Vantic returned from a leave of absence with a delightful 4 posts, jumping straight into the organic and detailed storyline without hesitation. A seasoned player from the old days of IDF, it is an honor to have him back onboard.

Rookie of the Month

Lieutenant JG Steven Wright
Encryption Specialist
USS Chuck Norris

Joining at the beginning of December, Wright made a great impression with both Captain and crew through his posts and shows great promise for future growth.

Recruitment

None this month!

Thanks again for another great month, and don’t forget about the change with Best Post for January. You can read more about all of the awards here.

New Sim: USS Montana

Posted on January 9, 2021 | by Charles Star | Leave a Comment

Let’s give a warm welcome to Captain RS Harrison and our newest game, the USS Montana, which launched yesterday on January 8, 2021. The Montana is our only sim set in the TOS movie era, something that many of our players have been asking for for quite some time. Well, here it is, folk. Enjoy!

USS Montana	NCC-1889
Format: Prose	Era: TOS Movies
Type: Traditional	Class: Miranda
CO: Captain RS Harrison	Join!

Check out the USS Montana today!

Monthly Awards: November 2020

Posted on December 9, 2020 | by Rook Mirtoh | Leave a Comment

This may be the earliest we’ve gotten the awards out this year. Congratulations to all of the winners!

Best Post

Cmdr. Samantha Howard & Lt.jg. Carolyn Fredrickson & Cmdr. Jonathan Grayson
CMO / EO / XO
USS Washington

For “Ground Zero”

Funniest Post

Lt. Cmdr. Balen Pibb
Chief Security/Tactical Officer
USS Chuck Norris

For “My Stick”

Genesis

Captain Aurther Winters
Commanding Officer
USS Chuck Norris

For “Not Where I Belong”

MVP

Lt. Anna Thesia
Chief Medical Officer
USS Liberty

Although brand new to the Liberty, Dr. Thesia threw herself into the current mission and established a fantastic report with the crew. She has posted both solo and joint posts and is very active on Discord.

Most Posts

Lt. Bonnie “Bon-Bon” Durnell
Computer Systems Specialist
USS Liberty

For writing 18 posts.

Most Improved

Lt. Cmdr. Balen Pibb
Chief Security/Tactical Officer
USS Chuck Norris

After having communication issues with others, Pibb came back into the fray with increasing post quantity and quality.

Rookie of the Month

Lt. Anna Thesia
Chief Medical Officer
USS Liberty

Dr. Thesia came onboard the Liberty with a bang, throwing herself into the mix with an amazing 8 posts within her first 10 days. She is an amazingly talented writer who motivates and encourages others to participate.

Recruitment

Lt. J’goss Yass G’odoss
Chief Flight Control Officer
USS Chuck Norris

He recruited two new crewmembers to the ship in November, and continues to put the good name of the Chuck Norris out there on the Interwebs.

Congratulations to everyone again and have a great holiday season.

Monthly Awards: October 2020

Posted on November 21, 2020 | by Rook Mirtoh | Leave a Comment

It’s awards time again! Congratulations to all of our October winners below:

Best Post

Lt. Cmdr. Shylow Vitari
Chief Intelligence Officer
USS Liberty

For “Like a Glove”
With strangely compelling imagery, this is a nicely written post describing things and spaces on a starship I’ve never seen before. Well done!

Funniest Post

Cmdr. Samantha Howard
Chief Medical Officer
USS Washington

For “The War”
A blood curdling scream and an undignified string of something. This one has funny written all over it.

Genesis

Captain Shran dh’Klar
Commanding Officer
USS Washington

For “Appearances are Deceiving”
A nice way to get the ship and crew into action.

MVP

Lt. Cmdr. Ech’am G’ginloss
Chief Engineering Officer
USS Chuck Norris

Leading his ship in total posts, G’ginloss continued to keep things interesting with some excellent ones about trying to keep the USS Chuck Norris together while in the heat of battle. Great writing, a nice amount of joint posts, and star for the crew.

Most Posts

Lt. Bonnie “Bon-Bon” Durnell
Computer Systems Specialist
USS Liberty

For writing 13 posts.

Most Improved

Lt. T’Strella Drake
Chief Diplomatic Officer
USS Liberty

T’Strella increased her post count from 3 to 8, played a major role in the current storyline, and threw an interesting curve ball to boot. All in all, a massive leap in overall participation.

Rookie of the Month

Lt. J’goss Yass G’odoss
Chief Flight Control Officer
USS Chuck Norris

G’odoss took the initiative to create new plot lines, joint posts, and multiple interesting takes in addition to tying for the sim lead in totals posts. His performance continues to increase.

Recruitment

Savar cha’Salik hei-Surak Talek-sen-deen
Executive Officer
USS Liberty

The Commander recruited to the sim one new player, who has already begun making solid contributions to the game.

In other news, our fleet XO Admiral Ken Gillis was awarded the Ongoing Worlds Community Honor for his efforts with FallFest. Congratulations, Admiral, and thank you to everyone who had a role in putting on an outstanding FallFest.

This is why we sim! Keep it coming!

Today may be Friday the 13th, but tomorrow is FallFest; Sorry, we can’t do anything about the 2020 part

Posted on November 13, 2020 | by Charles Star | Leave a Comment

That’s right–join us tomorrow at 11:00 am Eastern for the FallFest X opening ceremonies. Our fleet XO Ken Gillis and friends AlexM & Amethyst from Pegasus Fleet have put together an absolutely fantastic schedule of events with an outstanding panel of hosts. It’ll be 8+ hours of simming and role playing fun!

Everything will happen in chat rooms in the FallFest Discord Server–be sure to sign up early so you don’t miss anything. And, of course, don’t forget about my Star Trek Trivia and Star Trek/Role Playing Family Feud games. These are must attends!

FallFest is a unique event, open to all simmers and online role players, regardless of rank or club affiliation. It’s where we all come together as a community to share ideas, energy, and fun! Independence Fleet and the Simming League held the first FallFest back in 2011. Originally intended to be a mini-SciWorld more friendly to European time zones, it has since grown into much, much more. OngoingWorlds has been the caretaker since 2012, although TNU Project will be taking the lead for organizing in 2021 and beyond.

See you tomorrow at FallFest 2020!

Join Us for FallFest X!

Posted on October 25, 2020 | by Charles Star | 2 Comments

If you haven’t already heard, we will be hosting FallFest this year with our friends from over at Pegasus Fleet. Please join us in three weeks on November 14th in this discord server for a full day of engaging discussions, interactive trivia games, and live chat role plays. All simmers and online role players are welcome regardless of rank or club affiliation.

AlexM of Pegasus Fleet and our very own Ken Gillis are serving as the co-chairs to put on the event. Here’s where to go:

So first, we hope to see you there. Second, invite all your friends to attend too. And third, email me at star [dot] idf [at] gmail [dot] com if you would like to host a one-hour event during the festival.

The first FallFest was held back in 2011, and Independence Fleet was the original host. Let’s help keep the tradition going with all of our partners in the greater role playing community!

Monthly Awards: September 2020

Posted on October 20, 2020 | by Rook Mirtoh | Leave a Comment

What a month September was with so many great posts and performances throughout the fleet. Unfortunately, we simply aren’t able to recognize them all. Without any further ado, here are your September award winners:

Best Post

Lt. Cmdr. Zoey Perkins & Lt. Tyvok & Lt. Rosaleen O’Donnell
2O/CEO/COO
USS Wayfarer

For “In the blink of an eye“
Gripping post with a lot going on and great emotional hooks. Well done!

Funniest Post

Lt. Bonnie “Bon-Bon” Durnell
Computer Systems Specialist
USS Liberty

For “Rhinestone Cowboy”
You had me at “[Edited] chaps.”

Genesis

Captain Rhenora Kaylen
Commanding Officer
USS Liberty

For “Diplomatic Masquerade“
Interesting Genesis post told from the other side. Well done!

MVP

Cmdr. Savar cha’Salik hei-Surak Talek-sen-deen
Executive Officer
USS Liberty

Savar stepped up from 2O to XO, moved the storyline forward significantly, and wrote some amazing character posts. He has been invaluable in the day-to-day running of the game.

Most Posts

Lt. Bonnie “Bon-Bon” Durnell
Computer Systems Specialist
USS Liberty

For writing 23 posts.

Most Improved

Lt. Bonnie “Bon-Bon” Durnell
Computer Systems Specialist
USS Liberty

Durnell did an exceptional job bringing an old returning character onboard while still keeping in play a wonderful subplot with many humorous twists. An outstanding player!

Rookie of the Month

Ens. Robert Lee
Tactical Officer
USS Wayfarer

Brand new to simming, Lee jumped right into it with two joint post posts and immediately got the hang of what we’re doing; a great addition to the crew!

Recruitment

No one again this month! Where’s the recruiting?

Keep writing and keep the great posts coming… And somebody seriously win the Recruitment award for October!

So You Wanna Be a Captain?

Posted on September 24, 2020 | by Charles Star | Leave a Comment

Over the last month, we’ve received quite a few inquiries about being a sim Commanding Officer (CO) in Independence Fleet. So, what are we looking for in sim COs? Before I answer, I’d like to tell the story of two:

Jimmy Rogers

Hall of Famer Jimmy Rogers joined his first sim in December 2010: the USS Liberty, which we were just relaunching. It all clicked. He ran away with the MVP award that month, and became CO of the Liberty on January 1, 2011 after only a single month of simming. Yes, you read that right: one month of simming.

The rest, as they say, is history! Rogers commanded the Liberty for 19 months, winning 2.33 Genesis awards, capturing 3 posting titles, and leading the ship to an incredible 315-post month in September 2011, which is still tied for 9th all-time. Beyond the numbers, he led amazing stories and mentored dozens of role players.

Aurther Winters

Aurther Winters began simming in 2003 after seeing an ad on a college message board. As James Sullivan, he slowly rose from Ensign to Commander on the USS Dragon in a Hall of Fame career that ended with seven monthly awards, still good for a tie at 11th place all-time. Then life happened and he drifted away from simming.

He returned to role playing on the USS Chuck Norris in 2012 as Aurther Winters. Winters picked up his 10th monthly award in August–one of only four people in IDF history to hit double digits. As with Sullivan before, Winter rose through the engineering ranks to eventually become XO of the Chuck Norris under two different Captains. He was the type of XO who just made the Captain’s job easy. Winters became CO of the Chuck Norris this month.

That’s right–James Sullivan/Aurther Winter simmed for the first time about 17 years before he became a CO, while Jimmy Rogers simmed for one month before becoming a CO. Both are in the Hall of Fame, and both are incredible Captains. Every career is different, and every route to CO is different.

Show Me the Money!

One of the most basic principles of good wring is show, don’t tell. Let the reader experience the story through thoughts, actions, feelings, dialog, etc. instead of saying what happened. The same with being a sim CO: Telling us you want to be a CO is great, but you know what’s even better? Showing us you want to be a CO! How do you do that? Like this:

Post! Quality & Quantity
Get others involved in the story
Recruit new players
Mentor younger players
Help solve and de-escalate disputes
Engage at the fleet level on Discord, Facebook, and Twitter
To sum it up: Lead by example!

Do you have what it takes to be a sim CO in IDF? Show us! Make the ship you’re already on great. Make your crew great. Make your Captain look great! It’s not necessarily easy, but then again command isn’t for everyone.

Admiralty’s Role in IDF

Posted on September 17, 2020 | by Ken Gillis | Leave a Comment

Greetings, officers!

I wanted to take a moment to address a topic that continues to come up regularly. I feel that we have failed in communicating the fleet structure, and how the Admiralty fits into all of this.

First of all, being an Admiral in IDF is just a special title for “fleet staff”. We have jobs that are important to the administration of the fleet outside of the sims, and traditionally we are named Admirals. However, we aren’t going to hop onto your sim as an admiral and start roleplaying, or commanding you around.

In IDF, COs are the “kings” or “queens” of their sims. This means they maintain the storyline, they maintain their rosters, and they decide the rules of the sim. There are a few minor exceptions, which are outlined in the Command agreement we make with each CO. But, our involvement in the management of the sim is limited to the placement of the CO.

This means, if a CO decides that they are going to run a sim about a Warship Intrepid with phaser cannons and transphasic torps, it is not the purview of the Admiralty to tell them otherwise. It is up to the individual members if they wish to remain a part of the sim.

To be clear: your recourse for a disagreement in how the sim is managed is twofold. First, you discuss with your CO. Second, if you don’t come to an agreement, and you don’t wish to RP there anymore, you may leave.

The Admiralty will be happy to mediate any such talks, but we will not use our authority to modify how the sim is run, with some very specific exceptions.

As far as the “political” structure of IDF is concerned, there really isn’t one. We don’t have a council, we don’t vote on things. The best description for the structure of IDF is a fan club/not for profit business. IDF is owned by Admiral Star and myself. There’s really not much more to it than that. We of course will ask for the opinion of our COs when making changes that will affect them, and individual CO’s may at times ask their crews for their opinion on a matter. But, at the end of the day, Charles and I have the final say in the administration of the fleet organization, and the COs have the final say in the administration of their sim (once again, some specific exceptions apply).

At the core of it all, we are striving to create a fleet structure that exists purely to support the sims. We provide certain services: central Discord server, community events, IT infrastructure, tech support, fleet awards, etc. Everything else is up to the COs and their crews.

Thank you,
Admiral Ken Gillis
Fleet Executive Officer
Chief of Technology

Monthly Awards: August 2020

Posted on September 14, 2020 | by Rook Mirtoh | Leave a Comment

We had a lot of great contributors in August, including some fantastic award winners below. However, there’s one thing missing: No Recruitment award. If you’re doing any work to recruit players to your game or the fleet, please make sure your CO is aware so they can nominate you for an award.

Best Post

Cmdr. Samantha Howard & Cmdr. Jonathan Grayson & Lt. Lisa Olsson
CMO/XO/CSTO
USS Washington

For “Bound but not broken PT 2”
Great conversation flow, and the element of danger is palpable.

Funniest Post

Lt. Bonnie “Bon-Bon” Durnell
Computer Systems Specialist
USS Liberty

For “The Rocketman”
Hilarious dialog about a shuttle named Debbie.

Genesis

Capt. Michael Meezo
Commanding Officer
USS Wayfarer

For “Enter Lord Chaos”
An interesting antagonist escaping from prison, a good start to any mission!

MVP

Cmdr. Jonathan Grayson
Executive Officer
USS Washington

Grayson does it again: Leading by example and filling in while the Captain had IRL items to deal with; A true example of what a team player XO looks like.

Most Posts

Cmdr. Aurther Winters
Executive Officer
USS Chuck Norris

For writing 25 posts.

Most Improved

Lt.jg. John Wyatt
Intelligence Officer
USS Chuck Norris

Wyatt upped his game from a rookie to a full-fledged contributor in story development. He also doubled his post total from 6 to 12.

Rookie of the Month

Lt. Lisa Olsson
Chief Security/Tactical Officer
USS Washington

The new Security & Tactical Officer wrote some solid posts and really picked up the pace at the end of the month.

Recruitment

None this month! Get to recruiting!

Keep writing and keep role playing! The IDF tradition continues…