Jordan aka FltAdmlWolf

Remember, voting and submissions end this evening! Pass it on to your crewmates!

No sims were disqualified due to low rating. This round of voting only qualifies one sim to be part of the final round of voting for the title of "Top Sim, 2008." REMEMBER: This is NOT a popularity contest. Vote based on MERIT, not the fact that someone is your crewmate. Any crews found "stuffing the ballots" or ratings, will be disqualified PERMANENTLY - yes, that means the whole crew.

For more information, including the rules and contest calendar, please see the Top Sims Contest website. Important Dates: - Round 5 Submission period opens: Mo 03-31 - Round 5 Submission period closes: Su 04-13 - Round 5 Voting period opens: Su 04-14 - Round 5 Voting period closes: Mo 04-27 Procedure: 1. Submit sims (from your ship, or another ship -- all sims welcome, member or staff) 2. Rate sims you see in this forum 3. Vote on sims submitted in the last round Notes: - Please find a balance between "too much" and "too little" on the submission end of this contest. Don't submit every post from your crew. But I DO encourage everyone to submit at least one post to the contest whenever they can. Last week there were approximately 300 sims in the fleet - an average of 40 a day. I would expect no more than five or six a day to be considered "Top Sim" contest worthy. - REMEMBER: This is NOT a popularity contest. We welcome submissions of your crewmate's sims, but ALL sims should be rated based on their MERIT, and NOT the fact that someone is your crewmate. Any crews found "stuffing the ballots" or ratings, will be disqualified PERMANENTLY - yes, that means the whole crew. - Want your crewmates to win more? Nominate only the best sims, and encourage higher quality sims!

Please use this thread for any general discussion or questions about the Top Sims Contest. Please do not post praise or criticism for submitted sims in this thread. Instead, post those praise or criticisms in the submitted sim's own thread. Any discussion about Round 4 should go in the Round 4 Discussion Thread, not here.

With just four votes (which is double what any other sim got!), "Listen..." by Tyr Waltas has won Round 3 of the Top Sims Contest. His sim will now be entered into the final round of the year for a chance at the title of Top Sim, 2008. Congratulations Tyr!

Guess so, buddy! Best of luck!

Let's go, folks! These contests happen every two weeks to give the best of the best the chance at the spotlight! Please remind your crewmates, and be sure to submit sims regularly!

Please remind your crews via OOC lists. Encourage them to rate and vote, as well -- not just submit! If we don't get enough ratings/votes, then the contest becomes invalid

This is an area for members of this training class to keep in touch with each other.DATES: The class began on March 9, 2008, and ended on March 15, 2008.LIST: sb118-academy1COMMANDING OFFICER: Lt. Ethan BriceFIRST OFFICER: LtCmdr. Toni TurnerCLASS MEMBERS:-ZhaalCongratulations to you all, and welcome to our fleet!

Four sims were disqualified due to low rating. This round of voting only qualifies one sim to be part of the final round of voting for the title of "Top Sim, 2008." REMEMBER: This is NOT a popularity contest. Vote based on MERIT, not the fact that someone is your crewmate. Any crews found "stuffing the ballots" or ratings, will be disqualified PERMANENTLY - yes, that means the whole crew.

For more information, including the rules and contest calendar, please see the Top Sims Contest website. Important Dates: - Round 4 Submission period opens: Mo 03-17 - Round 4 Submission period closes: Su 3-30 - Round 4 Voting period opens: Mo 03-31 - Round 4 Voting period closes: Su 04-13 Procedure: 1. Submit sims (from your ship, or another ship -- all sims welcome, member or staff) 2. Rate sims you see in this forum 3. Vote on sims submitted in the last round Notes: - Please find a balance between "too much" and "too little" on the submission end of this contest. Don't submit every post from your crew. But I DO encourage everyone to submit at least one post to the contest whenever they can. Last week there were approximately 300 sims in the fleet - an average of 40 a day. I would expect no more than five or six a day to be considered "Top Sim" contest worthy. - REMEMBER: This is NOT a popularity contest. We welcome submissions of your crewmate's sims, but ALL sims should be rated based on their MERIT, and NOT the fact that someone is your crewmate. Any crews found "stuffing the ballots" or ratings, will be disqualified PERMANENTLY - yes, that means the whole crew. - Want your crewmates to win more? Nominate only the best sims, and encourage higher quality sims!

Please use this thread for any general discussion or questions about the Top Sims Contest. Please do not post praise or criticism for submitted sims in this thread. Instead, post those praise or criticisms in the submitted sim's own thread. Any discussion about Round 3 should go in the Round 3 Discussion Thread, not here.

This was a close one, but it looks like "Monkey Work" by Ethan Brice has won Round 2 of the Top Sims contest. His sim will now be entered into the final round of the year for a chance at the title of Top Sim, 2008. Congratulations Ethan!

Ask, and ye shall receive, I guess! Now I just have to figure out how to prune down these entries for the voting portion

Discovery now has 4 of 7 sims submitted for this round.

Actually no, not the inspiration The challenge winner who's choosing the next challenge's theme gets to pick from about five. To get those five, I just free-associate, group similar themes, and then separate them into challenge rounds. (i.e.- a set of "objects" for one round, a set of "X or Y" for another round, etc.) "The Golden Path" was (apparently) the most interesting of the themes I presented to Falcon, which all started with "The..." I don't want to give away too much more, though, because the other themes might show up in the future. So it doesn't really "mean" anything. Don't try to put too much thought into the background of the theme -- you'll lose the spirit of the challenge that way

Thanks!

Why has their been such low turnout for these contests so far? It seems to me like the PERFECT opportunity to tell someone on your crew that you enjoy their writing, or you appreciate their participation! Let's get on it, folks!

I'm actually on time for once. Crazy, huh?

Guidelines: To participate, create a new thread. The subject of the thread must be the title of your story. If it is a Work In Progress, denote that with the heart post icon. If your work is complete, use the horizontal arrow post icon. Items not marked with an icon or marked with the WiP icon will not be considered for judging and will be moved to the "Character Cafe" forum at the end of the contest. Your work must be entirely your own. No co-authoring. You are welcome to create any character you so desire, but they must be from the Star Trek universe. No "canon" characters allowed. (i.e.- No one who has been on a show.) Want to participate, but can't start a new topic? Why didn't you view the "Read Me First!" forum? You'll need to ask a moderator or Senior Member to create a thread for you! Length: No more than 3000 words accepted. Beginning Date: Wed., March 5th Ending Date: Sat., April 26th See Also: the Writing Challenge Website Challenge: "The Golden Path" We're breaking with tradition since everyone seems to hate the Mar./Apr. "themes from Disney Movies" challenges. This year, we're going back to a generic theme for this round, probably for good. I probably won't be "priming" the theme with commentary anymore, unless it's something truly cryptic like the Jungian archetype we did once. So from here-on-out, you're on your own -- interpret the theme however you darn well please, as long as it's interesting. Good Luck!

Please use this thread for any discussion or questions about this writing challenge.

Robert Falcon has chosen our next topic, and I'll be posting it probably on Wednesday. Until then, continue the congratulations!

Falcon, your winner-banners are attached.

This isn't the first time someone has mentioned this, but in fairness, the rules DO state:

Titles aren't really descriptive... they're artistic