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DATES: The class began on 2020-04-20 and ended 2020-04-27 LIST: sb118-Academy1 COMMANDING OFFICER: Lt. Commander @Jo Marshall FIRST OFFICER: Lt. Commander @Addison MacKenzie GRADUATES: @Maxwell Traenor @Ishani Kasun (as Luthas) @Mekhil Prime Chip Foley Welcome to the fleet – we're so glad you're here! My door is always open if you ever need anything

Welcome to our forums! Thank you so much for choosing to be a part of our community. We appreciate that out of the thousands of groups on the web, you came here. The forum staff would like to invite you to join in on all of the latest discussions regarding our group, Star Trek, and other real-life issues. We have some rules and guidelines that all members must abide by. Please take a few minutes to review the information below. Where to Post and What to Post Please try and keep on topic. We've divided the board into many different categories so as to allow discussions to be held in their appropriate areas. People who go to a forum for a specific guild DON'T want to read three pages worth of banter about what someone simmed yesterday! (Want to participate in silly, free-form chat? Head to the chat room!) "General Discussion" is where the "anything else" stuff goes. This is "off topic" conversation or things that don't seem to have a place elsewhere. 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We have one more job before we say goodbye to the Top Sims Contest forever: Crown the Top Sim for 2017! Please read these three sims carefully before choosing your favorite in the poll above. Voting closes automatically at 23:59 Pacific Time on Sunday, October 15. Set 1 winner: Jalana Rajel & Sal Taybrim, "Captain to Captain" Set 2 winner: Kamela Allison-Parker and T'Lea, "The Gloves are OFF!" Set 3 winner: T'Lea and Della Vetri, "Seven Year Itch" Each of these sims were submitted by a member of the community. A panel of judges, consisting of one judge from each ship, voted on the best sims submitted in each round. The winning sims were then sent to the run-off rounds, where community members like you voted to select the winner for each set. And now, finally, we're voting on which of those set winners is the best sim of 2017. You can see each of the run-off votes here: Run-off round 1 Run-off round 2 Run-off round 3 And you can see all the sims submitted for the 2017 contest in the Hall of Fame archive. FAIRNESS AND VOTING For a vote to win the final round, at least 10% of its votes must come from a ship other than the one the sim was created on. That does not mean that you can't vote for a sim that was originally simmed on your vessel. You just shouldn't vote for a sim from your ship simply because it's by your crew-mate. Instead, choose the sim that you believe is the best written, most engaging, and embodies the principles of good simming that this community values. Your vote in this poll is public so that we can ensure that one ship's crew is not "stuffing the ballot box."

The Top Sims Contest is closing. Our last job is voting to crown the Top Sim of 2017, and after that, the contest will close permanently. But we still want everyone to highlight great sims, which is why we've created the Appreciations forum, where you can post sims without rules or restrictions – and no need to post "complete" sims! Head over to that forum to highlight things you enjoyed reading!

Per the Community News post about the closing of the Top Sims Contest, please note the following: Round 20, 2017 – which closed on Sunday night – is the final submission period for this contest. Run-off Round 3 will open next week, and close approximately a month later by September 15. The final vote – which will pit the winners of 2017 Run-off Rounds 1, 2, and 3 against each other – will be open for 30 days, ending mid-October. You may still post sims in this forum as a way of highlighting great writing of your crewmates. We plan to transition from a contest format to more of a "kudos" format, where we encourage everyone to post great sims in an open and free-form way.

This is it, the final round of voting for 2015's Top Sim! The winner of this vote will be considered the Top Sim of 2015 -- one of the most highly coveted writing awards in our community. Voting closes automatically at 23:59 Eastern Time on Wednesday, December 30, 2015. Please read all four sims before choosing the one you like the best in the poll above: Set 1 winner: Tracey Townson, "Awaiting Deception"Set 2 winner: Saveron & Alora DeVeau, "Sad Songs Say So Much"Set 3 winner: Maxwell Traenor & Noros (PNPC), "Max"Set 4 winner: Alora DeVeau & Saveron, "Where Vulcan Flowers Grow"These sims were submitted by members of the community. A panel of judges, consisting of one judge from each ship, voted on the best sim from each round. The sims they selected from each round were then voted-on by members of the fleet. You can see those votes here: Run-off round 1Run-off round 2Run-off round 3Run-off round 4The 2015 Hall of Fame archive contains all the sims submitted in 2015. Pinned sims are the winners from each round. FAIRNESS AND VOTING For a vote to win the final round, at least 10% of its votes must come from a ship other than the one the sim was created on. Your vote in this poll is public so that we can ensure that one ship's crew is not "stuffing the ballot box." If we find that any one crew is trying to force someone from their crew to be the winner, that sim will be disqualified and the ship will be ineligible to participate in the contest for all of 2015. Similarly, if anyone is found coercing members of their crew to vote for them, or a sim on their ship, that sim will be disqualified -- before, or after the vote. That does not mean that you can't vote for a sim that was originally simmed on your vessel. You just shouldn't vote for a sim from your ship simply because it's by your crew-mate. Instead, choose the sim that you believe is the best written, most engaging, and embodies the principles of good simming that this community values.

Polling closes at 11:59pm Eastern on Sunday, December 6. This is a run-off poll, where our general membership (that's you!) chooses which sim, from Set 4 of 2015 (Rounds 21-26), should proceed to the final round of the contest for a chance to be selected as the Top Sim of 2015! These sims below were chosen by a panel of judges (one from each ship) from the sims submitted in Rounds 21-26 of the contest. TO START, please read these sims: ​Round 21: Charlotte deBarres, "Bird Droppings"​Round 22: Didrik Stennes, "Contrition Vol. 1"​Round 23: Ceilidh Riverview, "The power of memory"​Round 24: Alora DeVeau & Saveron, "Where Vulcan Flowers Grow"​Round 25: Hannibal Parker, "Recognition, Resignation"​Round 26: Wyn Foster, "What Friends are For"NEXT, using the poll above, vote for the sim you like the most. It should be the sim that's the best written, with strong characterization, and evocative or descriptive scene-setting. DON'T vote for a sim just because you serve on the same crew as the person who wrote it. Any crew that "stuffs the ballot" (by having everyone on the crew vote for the same sim to ensure that it wins this poll) will be eliminated from the contest and shamed by the rest of the community as terrible, terrible cheaters. That would be awful. Good luck to the nominees!

Polling closes at 11:59pm Eastern on Sunday, October 18. This is a run-off poll, where our general membership (that's you!) chooses which sim, from Set 3 of 2015 (Rounds 14-20), should proceed to the final round of the contest for a chance to be selected as the Top Sim of 2015! These sims below were chosen by a panel of judges (one from each ship) from the sims submitted in Rounds 14-20 of the contest. TO START, please read these sims: ​Round 14: Hannibal Parker, "Cat Food"​Round 15: Sovak, "Taarikh"​Round 16: Maxwell Traenor & Noros (PNPC), "Max"​Round 17: Aron Kells, "Turn and face the strange"​Round 18: Kalianna Nicholotti, "Unremembered Familiarity"​Round 19: Kellan Joran & Ashley Yael, "Regularly Scheduled Support"​Round 20: Seth Ralston (NPC), "Showtime"NEXT, using the poll above, vote for the sim you like the most. It should be the sim that's the best written, with strong characterization, and evocative or descriptive scene-setting. DON'T vote for a sim just because you serve on the same crew as the person who wrote it. Any crew that "stuffs the ballot" (by having everyone on the crew vote for the same sim to ensure that it wins this poll) will be eliminated from the contest and shamed by the rest of the community as terrible, terrible cheaters. That would be awful. Good luck to the nominees!

Polling closes at 11:59pm Eastern on Sunday, August 2nd. This is a run-off poll, where our general membership will choose from the top sims of 2015 Rounds 7-13 to find the best sim that will proceed to the final round of the contest. Please read the sims below, which were chosen by a panel of judges (one from each ship) to find the best sims from each round of Set 2: Round 7: Saveron & Alora DeVeau: "Sad Songs Say So Much"Round 8: Zayar Feraoun, "They Were Here First"Round 9: Tyr Waltas: "Hearts I Leave Behind"Round 10: T'Mar & Liam Frost, "Changing of the Guard"Round 11: Surem (PNPC), "Better This Way"Round 12: John Valdivia & Raj Blueheart, "Old Friends Are The Best Friends"Round 13: Vance Sheridan & Sabina Tiam, "Shadows of the Noguwi"Vote for the sim which is best written. We recommend looking for strong characterization and evocative or descriptive scene-setting. If any crew is found "stuffing the ballot" -- having everyone on the crew vote for the same sim to ensure it proceeds to the final round -- that crew will be eliminated from the contest for the remainder of the year. Good luck to the nominees!

Polling closes at 11:59pm Eastern on Sunday, May 11th. This is a run-off poll, where our general membership will choose from the top sims of 2015 Rounds 1-6 to find the best sim that will proceed to the final round of the contest. Please read the sims below, which were chosen by a panel of judges (one from each ship) to find the best sims from each round of Set 1: Round 1: Leland Bishop: "Admiral Nibbles"Round 2: Tracey Townson: "Awaiting Deception"Round 3: Aralo Onil (PNPC): "Everything"Round 4: Raj Blueheart & Emerson Ravenscroft - "Photograph, An Alternate Tale"Round 5: Kalianna Nicholotti: "Recollections"Round 6: Talisa zh'Eriss & Michael Jellico (PNCP) "Transfer Request"Vote for the sim which is best written. We recommend looking for strong characterization and evocative or descriptive scene-setting. If any crew is found "stuffing the ballot" -- having everyone on the crew vote for the same sim to ensure it proceeds to the final round -- that crew will be eliminated from the contest for the remainder of the year. Good luck to the nominees!

Hello, everyone -- entrants and readers and judges alike, It's with a heavy heart that I announce that the November & December 2014 round of the Writing Challenge will be the last regular Writing Challenge of the contest as we know it. Going forward, we will hold Writing Challenges only during special events -- for example, during our yearly Writing Improvement Month -- and we will be working to incorporate much of what kept the Writing Challenges going for so long into the Top Sims Contest. The decision to end the Writing Challenges wasn't easy and involved a lot of discussion on the Executive Council, but it's our hope that by ending the Challenge now, we will be able to improve the many forum contests (Top Sims, Featured Bio, and Graphics) that also exist. I know that many of you will be disappointed by this announcement, so I encourage you to remember the Challenges here -- a favorite story or theme, perhaps, if you're a regular writer, or something you learned or enjoyed writing as a result of the Challenge. I look forward to reading your remembrances, and I'll start off with one of my own: In August of 2005, I was a cadet and was just poking around the forums for the first time when I noticed the Writing Challenge that was going on at the time. The theme, "Devil in the Dark," seemed to be encouraging a lot of grimdark, gritty entries, so I decided to write something lighthearted about a Q who went by X. That story, "X Factors," was named the Challenge's winner when I was barely an ensign, and it established my interest in and association with the Writing Challenges from the very first. I look forward to reading about your memories! Help me celebrate the end of this great contest in style!

This is it, the final round of voting for 2014's Top Sim! The winner of this vote will be considered the Top Sim of 2014 -- one of the most highly coveted writing awards in our community. Voting closes automatically at 23:59 Eastern Time on Sunday, December 28, 2014. Please read all four sims before choosing the one you like the best in the poll above. These sims were submitted by members of the community. A panel of judges consisting of one judge from each ship voted on the best sim from each round. Then, the best sims from each set were culled in run-off rounds voted-on by members of the fleet. The 2014 Hall of Fame archive contains all the sims submitted, as well as the run-off votes. Your vote in this poll is public so that we can ensure that one ship's crew is not "stuffing the ballot box." If we find that any one crew is trying to force someone from their crew to be the winner, that sim will be disqualified and the ship will be ineligible to participate in the contest for all of 2015. Similarly, if anyone is found coercing members of their crew to vote for them, or a sim on their ship, that sim will be disqualified -- before, or after the vote. That does not mean that you can't vote for a sim that was originally simmed on your vessel. You just shouldn't vote for a sim from your ship simply because it's by your crew-mate. Instead, choose the sim that you believe is the best written, most engaging, and embodies the principles of good simming that this community values. For a vote to win the final round, at least 10% of its votes must come from a ship other than the one the sim was created on. LIST OF SIMS – please read all before voting: Jalana Laxyn, "I am here, don't you hear me?"Kalianna Nicholotti, "Legacies"Della Vetri & T'Lea, "You're hired, so deal with it."Della Vetri, "Extreme Babysitting"

Polling closes at 11:59pm Pacific on Sunday, December 7th. This is a run-off poll, where our general membership will choose from the top sims of 2014 Rounds 21-26 to find the best sim that will proceed to the final round of the contest. Please read the sims below, which were chosen by a panel of judges (one from each ship) to find the best sims from each round of Set 3: ROUND 26: Luna Walker: "To Sleep, perchance to nightmare"ROUND 25: Sky Blake & Tristam Core, "A holographic step"ROUND 24: Quinn Reynolds & Alleran Tan, "Symmetry"ROUND 23: Alleran Tan, "The Broken Mirror"ROUND 22: Ben Kaji, "To the Briefing!"ROUND 21: Della Vetri, "Extreme Babysitting"Vote for the sim which is best written. We recommend looking for strong characterization and evocative or descriptive scene-setting. If any crew is found "stuffing the ballot" -- having everyone on the crew vote for the same sim to ensure it proceeds to the final round -- that crew will be eliminated from the contest for the remainder of the year. Good luck to the nominees!

Polling closes at 11:59pm on Sunday, October 5th. This is a run-off poll, where our general membership will choose from the top sims of 2014 Rounds 14-20 to find the best sim that will proceed to the final round of the contest. Please read the sims below, which were chosen by a panel of judges (one from each ship) to find the best sims from each round of Set 3: Round 14: Toni Turner & James, "Dinner"Round 15: T'Lea & Dade Adarnis, "A Fitting End"Round 16: Tyr Waltas, "When the Demons Come"Round 17: Della Vetri & T'Lea, "You're hired, so deal with it."Round 18: Alleran Tan, "Missing This"Round 19: Quinn Reynolds & Roshanara Rahman, "Explanations, Or the Absence Thereof"Round 20: Rode Mitchell, "Memories"Vote for the sim which is best written. We recommend looking for strong characterization and evocative or descriptive scene-setting. If any crew is found "stuffing the ballot" -- having everyone on the crew vote for the same sim to ensure it proceeds to the final round -- that crew will be eliminated from the contest for the remainder of the year. Good luck to the nominees!

Polling closes at 11:59pm on Sunday, June 29th. This is a run-off poll, where our general membership will choose from the top sims of 2014 Rounds 7-13 to find the best sim that will proceed to the final round of the contest. Please read the sims below, which were chosen by a panel of judges (one from each ship) to find the best sims from each round of Set 1: Round 7: Aron Kells & Arden Cain: "The Seeker"Round 8: Liam Frost & Hsina Amman, "Qualifications"Round 9: Tyr Waltas, "Here we go again"Round 10: Raj Blueheart, "Dreams Made Of Memories (Part 2)"Round 11: Nienne Kenoi, "A Moment Described"Round 12: Kalianna Nicholotti, "Legacies"Round 13: Eileen McCleran, "When the unknown gets impatient"Vote for the sim which is best written. We recommend looking for strong characterization and evocative or descriptive scene-setting. If any crew is found "stuffing the ballot" -- having everyone on the crew vote for the same sim to ensure it proceeds to the final round -- that crew will be eliminated from the contest for the remainder of the year. Good luck to the nominees!

Polling closes at 11:59pm on Sunday, March 9th. This is a run-off poll, where our general membership will choose from the top sims of 2014 Rounds 1-6 to find the best sim that will proceed to the final round of the contest. Please read the sims below, which were chosen by a panel of judges (one from each ship) to find the best sims from each round of Set 1: "I Left My Heart in San Francisco," by Lt. Cade Whitman (PNPC)"I am here, don't you hear me?" by LtCmdr. Jalana Laxyn"Churches," by Irina Pavlova"Fighting Fire with Fire," by Lt. Sinda Essen"Kindred Spirits," by LtCmdr. Wulfantine & Lt. Richards"Confronting The Past," by Capt. Tyr WaltasVote for the sim which is best written. We recommend looking for strong characterization and evocative or descriptive scene-setting. If any crew is found "stuffing the ballot" -- having everyone on the crew vote for the same sim to ensure it proceeds to the final round -- that crew will be eliminated from the contest for the remainder of the year. Good luck to the nominees!

This is it, the final round of voting for 2013's Top Sim. The winner of this vote will be considered the Top Sim of 2013 -- one of the most highly coveted writing awards in our community. Voting closes automatically at 23:59 Eastern Time on Sunday, December 29, 2013. Please read all three sims before choosing the one you like the best in the poll above. These sims were submitted by members of the community. A panel of judges which consisted of one judge from each ship voted on the best sim from each round. Then, the best sims from each set were culled in run-off rounds. Run-off Round 2 had a tie between two sims, and so both of those sims are now in the running during this final round. Your choice will be public, so that we can ensure that one ship's crew is not "stuffing the ballot box." If we find that any one crew is trying to force someone from their crew to be the winner, that sim will be disqualified and the ship will be ineligible to participate in the contest for all of 2014. Similarly, if anyone is found coercing members of their crew to vote for them, or a sim on their ship, that sim will be disqualified -- before, or after the vote. That does not mean that you can't vote for a sim that was originally simmed on your vessel. You just shouldn't vote for a sim from your ship simply because it's by your crew-mate. Instead, choose the sim that you believe is the best written, most engaging, and embodies the principles of good simming that this community values. For a vote to win the final round, at least 10% of its votes must come from a ship other than the one the sim was created on. LIST OF SIMS – please read all before voting: Hannibal Parker, "Revelations & Invitations"Tal Tel-ar & PNPC Sherana, "Sparring Match"Katy Orman, "Clashing"Greir Reinard & PNPC Chen, "Come Hell And High Water"Tal Tel-ar & PNPC Sherana, "I will remember you"

Polling closes at 11:59pm Eastern on Sunday, December 1st. This is a run-off poll, where our general membership will choose from the top sims of Rounds 19-24 to find the best sim that will proceed to the final round of the contest. Please read the sims below, which were chosen by a panel of judges (one from each ship) to find the best sims from each round of Set 4: Tal Tel-ar & PNPC Sherana, "I will remember you"Saveron, "The Quick And The Dead"Cade Whitman (PNPC), "Don't Mess with Texas"Rogg, "Finis"Sorel, "Addiction"Tracey Townson, "For The Love Of A Child"If any crew is found "stuffing the ballot" – having everyone on the crew vote for the same sim to ensure it proceeds to the final round – that crew will be eliminated from the contest for the remainder of the year. Good luck to the nominees!

Polling closes at 11:59pm on Sunday, September 22. This is a run-off poll, where our general membership will choose from the top sims of Rounds 13-18 to find the best sim that will proceed to the final round of the contest. Please read the sims below, which were chosen by a panel of judges (one from each ship) to find the best sims from each round of Set 3: Diego Herrera, "Super Brother"David Whale & Oliver Weston, "Namesake"Tyr Waltas, "Lost Time"Javan Tark (Liam Frost), "Curtains Up"Greir Reinard & PNPC Chen, "Come Hell And High Water"Roshanara Rahman & Dre'lith Chaun, "Falling Away"If any crew is found "stuffing the ballot" -- having everyone on the crew vote for the same sim to ensure it proceeds to the final round -- that crew will be eliminated from the contest for the remainder of the year. Good luck to the nominees!

Polling closes at 11:59pm on Sunday, March 31st. This is a run-off poll, where our general membership will choose from the top sims of the first six rounds of the contest to find the best sim that will proceed to the final round of the contest. Please read the six sims below, which were chosen by a panel of judges (one from each ship) to find the best sims from each round of Set 1: Wulfantine & Richards: Guilt RiddenWALTAS: One More TimeMajor Hannibal Parker - Revelations & InvitationsFox, Malon, (msNPC)s Zaveri & Dalal - Invitation to a ForfeitedLt.Cmdr. Kevin Breeman/Lt. JG. Johanna MacLaren JP: Healing HandsEnsign Devon Romjin & Tadanobu Hoshino - The Legacy Of The SonOnce you've read the sims, vote in the poll above. Choose the sim that's the best written, most evocative, makes you feel the most, and generally deserves to be considered as one of our fleet's very best. If any crew is found "stuffing the ballot" -- having everyone on the crew vote for the same sim to ensure it proceeds to the final round -- that crew will be eliminated from the contest for the remainder of the year. Good luck to the nominees!