If you’ve been here for any length of time, you know we’re pretty big on anniversaries. However, it’s not just about our own. Indeed, the My Favorite Trek series from our early days was the inspiration behind the 2016 Star Trek’s 50th Anniversary: Your Favorite Trek article over at Ongoing Worlds. If you’re a serious Trekkie, you might already know that today’s a pretty important day too! But if not, we have a special guest to fill you in:
Enjoy!
It’s that time again…
Lieutenant Torvin Anor
Chief Engineering Officer
USS Wayfarer
For “Counting flotsam and jetsam”
We often forget the tedium of being an engineer. This post is great in its illustration of that.
Capt. Shran dh’Klar & Lt. Ayana Hillis & Lt. Cmdr. Deanna Celes & Cmdr. Jonathan Grayson & Cmdr. Samantha Howard & Lt. Cmdr. Shoniara T’ghann-Travis & Lt. Cmdr. Callie Raven-Grayson & Ens. T’Plana-hath & Ens. James Phoenix & Lt. Seth Travis & PO1 Amethyst Reece
CO / ACRTO / OO / XO / CMO / ACMO / CC / IO / TO / CDO / CA
USS Washington
This is a great holodeck scene featuring Lord of the Rings characters. A nice juxtaposition between real time events happening on the bridge while seconds are passing on the holodeck. Fun!
Cmdr. Dean House & Lt. Bonnie “Bon-Bon” Durnell
CTO / CSS
USS Sunfire
For “Feels like the first time Pt 4”
Nothing like a decaying Deanwich to help you get to the bottom of something…
Captain Shran dh’Klar
Commanding Officer
USS Washington
For “A Breach in Temporal Accords”
Nice multi-scene genesis post about time travel. Excellent use of Daniels!
Lieutenant JG Luna Eclipse of the House of Martok
Flight Control Officer
USS Wayfarer
The Wayfarer’s FCO had a fantastic month, leading and organizing posts while also injecting some great Klingon humor into the story.
Lt. Cmdr. Shoniara T’ghann-Travis
Assistant Chief Medical Officer
USS Washington
For writing 15 posts.
Lieutenant JG Aurora Vali
Chief Counselor
USS Sunfire
The Sunfire’s Chief Counselor had many contributions this month, but the most noticeable was moving the plot forward in creative ways that inspired other players to take some chances.
Lieutenant Nicole Logan
Chief Security/Tactical Officer
USS Washington
Lt. Logan wasted no time in getting to know her fellow crewmembers, jumping immediately into the action.
None this month
2022 is nearly 3/4 done. Keep the great posts coming.
It’s time to announce the monthly award winners for the first month of our 22nd year:
Ensign T’Plana-hath
Intelligence Officer
USS Washington
For “Reminiscences on ‘God-like’ Beings”
A change of pace from the typical Best Post with a stream of consciousness personal log.
Captain Akeno Misaki & Lieutenant Mark Johnson
CO / CMO
USS Wayfarer
For “Thankyou”
Wow, what a fantastic post! It’s not just about the mission, but some good sickbay activity too. A real tear jerker.
Lieutenant Bonnie “Bon-Bon” Durnell & Lieutenant Anna S. Thesia
CSS / CMO
USS Sunfire
For “BACKPOST – A green duck and a blue gemstone”
Ribbing the prude is always funny. And quite different from the Best Post!
Lt. Mark Johnson & Capt. Akeno Misaki & Lt. Cmdr. Jonathan Miller
CMO / CO / XO
USS Wayfarer
For “The Ballad of Johnathan Miller”
What a great post that sets up things well for both the plot and character development.
Lieutenant Shoniara T’ghann-Travis
Assistant Chief Medical Officer
USS Washington
A heavy volume of deep and detailed posts throughout the month. She collaborated with others to paint vivid portraits to advance the plot and generate enthusiasm with the rest of the crew.
Lieutenant Bonnie “Bon-Bon” Durnell
Computer Systems Specialist
USS Sunfire
For writing 12 posts.
Ensign James Phoenix
Tactical Officer
USS Washington
He played a key role in the current mission that tied very well to his character arc in a very natural way.
Ensign Geneviève Boudreaux
Head Nurse
USS Montana
The new Ensign hit the ground running and is just fun to be around, a great example to rookies and veterans alike.
Commander Michael Murphy
Executive Officer
USS Montana
Every time he is online he tries to get people to join the ship. I have had several people ask to join based, largely, on his efforts.
Great job everyone!
Congratulations to those who won some real prizes at our annual gift drawing earlier this month. Here’s the first group to place their names on the big wheel for next year…
Commander Samantha Howard
Chief Medical Officer
USS Washington
For “Progress”
Writing for doctors can be difficult, without constantly employing a deus ex machina to solve a problem. Spending time writing about the thinking process and coming up with a creative solution is sometimes the best kind of medical post. Love this one!
Capt. Rhenora Kaylen & Lt. Cmdr. Dean House & Lt. Ashlesha 4827/A & Ens. Kitiuas Thenis
CO / 2O / COO / SO
USS Sunfire
For “Bridge Crew”
This is a very interesting subject, not seen often in Trek posts, which kept me engaged. Well written, seamless even though multiple folks contributed, and just the right mix of personal interactions with technical jargon. Well done!
Lieutenant Nerex
Flight Control Chief
USS Eminence
Ok, intentionally flying a shuttle into a black hole and dying over and over again is inherently funny!
Captain Shran dh’Klar
Commanding Officer
USS Washington
Unexpected, yes, and a perfect way to get the crew going.
Lieutenant JG Luna Eclipse of the House of Martok
Flight Control Officer
USS Wayfarer
Lt. jg. Luna has really developed her character in a short amount of time. She expertly writes the clash of the Human/Klingon slides while easily incorporating it into the mission with the rest of the crew. A great teammate!
Lieutenant Anna Thesia
Chief Medical Officer
USS Sunfire
For writing 10 posts.
Lieutenant Ashlesha 4827/A
Chief Operations Officer
USS Sunfire
Still relatively new to the Sunfire, Lt. Ashlesha continues to involve herself in all matters of the mission and consistently offers great ideas and well written posts. She is also super easy to work with, which is always a plus.
None this month
None this month
It’s hard to believe this crazy group we call IDF has now been around for 21 whole years. Here’s to 21 more!
It’s going to be near impossible to top last year’s Day of Trivia, Webcast, and special edition Message & Almanac. And that’s for good reason: 20th anniversaries are a big deal in role playing! But 21st birthdays are important too. Indeed, if Independence Fleet (IDF) was a humanoid (living in the United States), the 21st would be even more important. I’m quickly getting off track…
What did we decide to do? For our 21 years together, here are 21 facts about IDF, Star Trek and/or other topics that might change your perception of time. Modeled after two articles from Buzzfeed (here and here), we hope you enjoy the list.
But before we do that, here is a special message for this year’s anniversary:
And for a bonus, something to look forward to next year: On our 22nd Anniversary, we will be further removed from the premiere of the 2009 Star Trek film (May 8, 2009) than IDF’s launch was from the premiere of The Next Generation (September 28, 1987): 14 years, 1 month, 26 days vs. 13 years, 9 months, 6 days.
Until then, let’s keep role playing!
Oh, I almost forgot: We have another video message for this year:
And in case you missed it, here’s a recap of our 21st Anniversary Webcast that was held on Saturday.
One of my greatest privileges as Independence Fleet’s Commander-in-Chief is to announce the newest members of the Hall of Fame each July. These are the best of the best from throughout our history–those with exemplary service or extraordinary contributions to the fleet, according to the Hall of Fame Charter (pdf). For those who attended our 21st Anniversary Webcast on Saturday, you already know who is being inducted this year. For everyone else, it is now my great pleasure to formally introduce our Hall of Fame Class of 2022:
Inducted by Election:
of the USS Excalibur
A longtime member of the Excalibur, McGregor Blaine still managed to stand out despite being a part of arguably the greatest crew of all time. Finding his niche, he excelled in multiple areas, including writing, leadership, and recruiting. Blaine’s great breadth of contributions led to him earning five total awards, with all five being of different categories: Rookie of the Month, Recruitment, MVP, and two Post awards.
of the USS Excalibur
A member of the Excalibur, Dusty Redroi still managed to stand out despite being a part of arguably the greatest crew of all time. Making his mark with a rare combination of excellently crafted posts involving other characters and high quantity, he was instrumental to the sim’s long-term success. He won four awards over the course of his career, including Funniest Post and two Most Posts.
of the USS Washington
The personification of the team player, Zingela did all the little things to foster a cohesive and productive crew. He worked well with players of all types and styles that led to some truly great role playing. He worked his way up the chain, eventually commanding the Washington out of necessity rather than ambition. Zingela tallied five total awards, including three different Post awards and two MVPs.
Inducted by the Veterans Committee:
of the USS Patriot
A longtime member of the Patriot, Savai N’gellin’s career spanned from IDF’s early period through the middle years. As a crewmember, he earned seven total awards, which still ranks within the top 20 all-time. N’gellin eventually joined the Admiralty and severed for several years, most notably as Director of Fleet Intelligence & Security, during some of the fleet’s most productive periods.
of the USS Conqueror
A true shooting star, the late K’lar Rasmehlier commanded the Conqueror for only nine months. However, it was a nine months for the ages as he led his sim to win the fleet posting title in all nine months with consistently high numbers not seen before or since. In addition to the quantity, he led his crew on imaginative missions that allowed each player collaboratively fulfil their potential.
Congratulations to all five of our 2022 inductees! Well done, and thank you for providing a timeless example for us still role playing to follow. You will hereby forever be remembered for your extraordinary service to Independence Fleet. There are now 38 total members of this most exclusive club.
Harking back to our early history, four of the five inductees represent sims that aren’t currently in our line-up. The two from the Excalibur bring that early-era sim’s record total up to seven inductees. Incredibly, all seven simmed together on the same crew!
First, thank you to our very own Ken Gillis for hosting the anniversary webcast yesterday. An outstanding show, just like last year! He introduced our Hall of Fame class of 2022 and played two special videos. Unfortunately, those who missed it will have to wait until our official anniversary blog post tomorrow. However, we can now share who the winners of our annual prize drawing were. Here’s how it worked:
Everyone who won a monthly award over the last year had their name added to the big wheel. 1 award = 1 entry. All award fractions were rounded up. Then time to spin the wheel!
The three winners were:
In order, they will have their choice from among the following three prizes:
Congratulations to all three! Should anyone not be able to provide a US mailing address, they will be given a gift certificate for their country of residence and we’ll draw a replacement winner.
With a long a illustrious history in the simming community, Independence Fleet has been a bedrock for quality Star Trek role playing for over twenty years. Although IDF’s leadership works hard to ensure our members have several games to suit their role playing needs, we also know how to have fun, and what better day to enjoy our brand of humor than on April’s Fools’ Day. For those of you who have been part of IDF for a while, you know that April Fools’ Day jokes have become a pretty big tradition around here. We’ve done World Wide Sims, the classic 1990s simming website, and Super Space Command 3000. Actually, we’ve done Super Space Command 3000 three different times–no one said we were original! For those of you new to IDF this year, your introduction was our, er, rebranding where we took on a new menacing moniker.
Additionally, what we included for our humorous 2022 was the spectacular trial and banishment of our fleet CO–this is simming after all! And then added for good measure, a good ole’ useless administrative burden for sim COs, complete with threats of facing JAG. All in good humor, but these whimsical jokes mirror the real-life history of dozens of simming fleets (sadly including even this one at times), fleet XO Ken Gillis overthrew fleet CO Charles Star and installed Joseph “Stealth” Carroll as his JAG Magistrate… just in case you missed it! These were all great ‘Easter eggs’ for those of you who have been around the community and witnessed some of the ludicrous events that have unfolded in past years outside of IDF.
Here are some of actual statements Admiral Star received in response to the gag:
And here are a few of the quotes from our Discord server:
Thank you again to Ken Gillis for planning and organizing this year’s joke, and a special thanks to Charles Star and Joseph “Stealth” Carroll for playing along and being great sports. On behalf of the Imperial Defense Fleet, I hope everyone else enjoyed it! I can’t wait to see what tomfoolery that is in store for 2023 and remember: “Forget the ring! The ring is bupkis! I found it in a Cracker Jack box!“
After the rave reviews following last year’s 20th Anniversary Webcast, we decided to do it again this year. Admiral Ken Gillis will return as host, and yes, it will again include prizes!
Join us on July 2nd at 12:00 PM ET (-4) / 5:00 PM BST (+1) in the fleet watch party channel of our Discord server. We’ll be announcing the newest members of the Hall of Fame, drawing names from among our monthly award winners over the last year for some real-world prizes, and we may also have a surprise or two.
See you there!
Congratulations to our May award winners. We have some new faces this month!
Ensign James Phoenix
Tactical Officer
USS Washington
Well put together post about ancient history… nice writing!
Lieutenant Deanna Celes & Commander Jonathan Grayson & Petty Officer 1st Class Amethyst Reece
Operations Officer / Executive Officer / Counselor’s Aide
USS Washington
Really well written and blends well together, despite being a joint post. This is a very solid Trek plot, I love it.
Lieutenant Bonnie “Bon-Bon” Durnell & Lieutenant Commander Dean House
Computer Systems Specialist / Chief Tactical Officer
USS Sunfire
For “Feels like the first time ptII”
How better to get to know your superior officer than to introduce him to your wolf pack?
Captain Rhenora Kaylen
Commanding Officer
USS Sunfire
For “Genesis – New Harrington”
Ahh, classic genesis post, distress calls are the best!
Lieutenant JG Patra Rommel
Structural/Environmental Specialist
USS Wayfarer
Since joining as a non-senior staff in Engineering, Rommel has done a fantastic job of getting onto the ship and story and finding things to do in the field.
Lieutenant Anna Thesia
Chief Medical Officer
USS Sunfire
For writing 7 posts.
Lieutenant Thriss Kla’ren
Chief Engineering Officer
USS Sunfire
The Sunfire’s Chief Engineer has really stepped up the past month, encouraging other players to work on joint posts and moving the story along nicely.
Ensign T’Plana-hath
Intelligence Officer
USS Washington
The Washington’s new Intelligence Officer joined late in the month, but still managed to post and have an immediate impact to the current mission that was already well developed, showing that she will be a great addition to the crew.
None this month
Congratulations again and have a great summer of role playing!