Latest News Items

» 2021 - Our Fifth Year

Posted on Wed Dec 29th, 2021 @ 1:22pm by Captain Nycolas Temple in General News

Greetings Crew!

As 2021 draws to a close, I want to thank each and every one of you for being onboard the Pandora and for continuing to make this one of the best Star Trek sims around. This was our fifth year flying on our beloved Luna Class star ship, on our unique and interesting mission into the Inconnu Expanse, and I can't imagine doing this with any other ship or crew.

As usual, I have made a birthday message for the sim. Normally, I like to do something fun and silly, but given the year that 2021 was, I've gone for a more reflective and thankful tone. This year, we lost our dear friend and absolute superstar player in Kim. A loss I know that his hit us - and indeed all of the ships she was part of - incredibly hard. Kim was a talented, amazing writer and a generous, dedicated friend to many. This ship will simply not be the same without her voice here.

In addition, I wanted to thank all of you for continuing to write for the Pandora and for staying on board in 2021, despite the loss and the challenges that we have faced. The real world has been a nasty, unforgiving place the past two years, and I know that simming has sometimes been hard to find the time (or passion) to do. But we have continued trucking along, continued to tell our stories, and given our characters their lives. We have spent more time on The Gauntlet mission than any others, and I think we've had some absolutely stellar posts this year as a result.

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

Here is the Birthday Video!

On a positive note, this is also the year we found our home in Theta Fleet. Theta has taken us in after the BF nonsense of the past and given us the space (pun intended?) and freedom to write for ourselves. It is a measure of a great Fleet when the sims within it can enjoy the safety, respect, and support of their Fleet to continue their sim in peace and harmony, without all the drama and negativity. Theta has given us that and more, and I am so thankful for them.

AND this is also the year where the Pandora received some galactic recognition. We have gotten so many awards, I stopped mentioning them one by one each month (that's my excuse and I'm sticking to it.) We have had some incredible recognition from Theta Fleet this year and I wanted to take a moment to list everything you guys have achieved:

Unit of Distinction
January - Bronze
February - Bronze
March - Bronze
April - Silver
May - Bronze
July - Bronze
August - Silver
September - Bronze
October - Bronze
November - Bronze

TGCO - Award of Merit
February
April
July
August
October
November

Player / Writer of the Month
February - Shae and Cailus Griffin (Mon and Suliac)
April - Aenardha (Brad)
May - Vecon Fick (Kim)
August - Nyx Temple (AJ)

Player of the Quarter
2nd Quarter 2021 - Kim

Executive Officer of the Quarter
Commander Owen Nash (Phil)

Post of the Month
October - "Under Fire"
July - "A Fiery Idea "
February - "Paradise Or Bust"

Admiral's Choice Award
Kim
From the words of the Admiral: "Kim was an excellent player who wrote with everyone. She was a vibrant and vital part of her sims. She was frequently nominated for awards, and deserved them all. She was also a good friend to many. She passed away recently and will be sorely missed by those who care about her, respect her, and write with her. We honor her memory, and her contributions."

Tournament of Sims Awards
USS Pandora - Outstanding Trek Award

Once again, thank you to everyone who was part of the Pandora in 2021. Let's make 2022 a fabulous year.

Cheers,
AJ

» A Year Ago

Posted on Thu Jun 24th, 2021 @ 1:04pm by Captain Nycolas Temple in General News

Hey gang!

The milestones page tells me it's been just over one year since we came to this new site, which means it's been a year since we left the old fleet and chose to take control of our sim.

I am still immensely thankful for all of you for putting our history and community first; for choosing to keep us together as a family rather than allow the old fleet to tear us apart; and for remembering the true purpose of simming - to write and have fun! When others so clearly lost their values, we held true to ours. When an ultimatum was forced upon us, we chose to stay together. Anyway, I won't harp on too much about the old Fleet; I'm sure you all know my thoughts on those people by now. But I will say that I could not have asked for a better group of people to sim with. The only good thing that has ever come from being in that fleet is meeting all of you.

ALSO, we cannot forget the ginormous efforts of those behind the scenes who painstakingly saved all of our posts and bios, then transferred it to the new site. Post by freaking post. We would not be standing here today if it were not for you guys putting in that ridiculous effort to save our history and work. And for Mon in particular for hosting the new Pandora site and keeping us alive.

THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!

In the past year we have seen some people leave, one sadly pass away, and other bright new faces join us, too. Through it all, the Pandora has survived and thrived. After a few months of independence, we are now in the stable, welcoming Theta Fleet - who actually recognises our writing and, especially, your amazing talents! It is such a thrill to see the sim and individual players being awarded for your work. Plus, Theta just lets us do what we do best - writing Trek RP! I'm grateful to them for giving us a soft place to land and letting us sim how we want to sim.

Speaking of Awards...

I have been absolutely terrible in posting the awards announcements here, but for those who don't know, we have received some wonderful recognition in the past few months:

Writer of the Month - March 2021

Lance joined us several months ago as Aenardha Sh'vastarth, and has been a bright addition to the crew. Aenardha is a unique, established character with a well-considered personality and unique traits that are fascinating to read. Lance is also a generous and courteous co-writer, and an eager participant in mission posts. His posts recently with another character, Qaraq, are detailed and genuine, they have a lovely rhythm and sense of character. Lance is an incredibly talented writer and a brilliant asset to the Pandora.

Writer of the Month - May 2021

Kim - aka Ensign Fick. Kim was an incredibly gifted, gracious writer. She was a close friend of so many on board the ship and part of our crew for four wonderful years. She hadn't been able to write much in the previous few months but she has typically been a force of energy, ideas, and enthusiasm onboard the Pandora. Her characters were a joy to write with because Kim was such an amazing writer and player. I would like to nominate her in honour of her many years of hard work and contributions to not only the Pandora but to so many sims across Theta Fleet and others.

Admiral's Choice Award

Kim was an excellent player who wrote with everyone. She was a vibrant and vital part of her sims. She was frequently nominated for awards, and deserved them all. She was also a good friend to many. She passed away recently and will be sorely missed by those who care about her, respect her, and write with her. We honor her memory, and her contributions.

Executive Officer of the Quarter

The best XOs are good team players, writers, and go above and beyond to help the CO with missions. A good part of the Nash success is due to Pendragon.

Unit of Distinction - Bronze

Unit of Distinction - Silver

OUR FIRST SILVER UNIT OF DISTINCTION!!!

Task Group CO Award of Merit

WOW! What an amazing few months we've had. Congratulations to Lance/Aneardha for the Writer of the Month Away and to Nash for XO of the Quarter!!! It was also so nice to see Kim being honoured and recognised for her years of contributions to not only the Pandora, but to the simming community as well. Finally, congrats to EVERYONE for the multiple Unit of Distinction Awards and the Award of Merit!

Let's keep up the amazing work and keep doing what we do best!

=/\=

» Vale Kim - Ensign Fick

Posted on Fri Jun 4th, 2021 @ 5:03am by Captain Nycolas Temple in General News

To the Pandora family,

For those of you not on Discord or already aware, the Pandora has lost a member of our crew.

Tragically, our fellow player, Kim - who primarily played Ensign Vecon Fick, Chief Flight Control Officer - was involved in a car accident in real life. Though she was taken to hospital and placed on life support, she could not recover and has passed.

Kim was an incredibly gifted writer, a beacon of energy and ideas, a respectful player, a genuinely passionate RPer. There are many here who knew Kim from other sims and ships, and those who have played with her over several years. To those of us who have not just lost a crew member but also, a friend - my heart goes out to you during this sad, awful time. The Pandora sends our sincere condolences to her family and friends.

Kim joined this version of the Pandora on July 13th, 2017 - having previously served on the original Pandora with many of our players as well. During the past four years, she brought to life the vibrant, earnest character of Vecon Fick, whom she played with energy, honesty, and depth. Fick was a delight to interact with because Kim was such an amazing player to write with. She has won the Player of the Month award, Post of the Month award, and been nominated for awards many times over because of her kind nature and collaborative skills.

We can remember Fick and Kim through the work she did on the Pandora and her other ships. Please have a read of Fick's posts at your choosing. Personally, I think the 6-part series where K'Laus and Fick return to Risa was a compelling, personal storyline and well-worth the read. She also brought us Tisar Zemel, the Cardassian with a passion for music, and the loving couple of Lieutenant Eiri Ashshy and Ashshy Ayan. In Theta Fleet, Kim was writing for the USS Wolff and USS Standing Bear. The Pandora joins with the Wolff and Standing Bear in this time of loss.

We will make a decision in due time about how to respectfully deal with the IC departure of these characters.

Though we may just appear as names on a screen writing for fictional Star Trek officers, that doesn't take away the sense of loss we should feel from Kim's passing. She was a part of this crew for 4 years and for many years with others in the RP community. This loss is real. I encourage anyone who requires time away from writing to please take as much time as you need to process this in your own way. I also encourage you to seek assistance from professional counselling services if you require it. Please ask for help if you need it.

Rest in peace, Kim. It was an honour to have served with you on the Pandora and a joy to count you as a member of this crew.

You will be missed.

=/\=

» Awards!

Posted on Wed Mar 24th, 2021 @ 1:09pm by Captain Nycolas Temple in General News

It's Awards time once again and the Pandora has received some amazing honours this month.

Tournament of Simulations - Outstanding Star Trek

A wonderful panel of judges from OngoingWorlds has chosen the Pandora to receive one of their Outstanding Star Trek Award for 2020. The panel is made up of a prolific group of highly respected and experienced RPG writers, who looked at many, many sims from several different groups. We share this honour with the USS Wolff of Theta Fleet, and Memory Theta of 22nd Fleet. The award is given to sims on a points systems judged on a fresh concept, interesting plot developments, original characters, and the readability of the sim. It is a high privilege to be recognised by our peers and a reflection of the incredible work you all have done to build the USS Pandora into a remarkable, fun, and creative sim.

Congratulations to each and every one of you for making the Pandora such a great place to write.

Theta Fleet: Post of the Month Feb 2021

"Paradise Or Bust" - Aenardha and Qaraq

This is an interesting post because of the gentle conversation between a Starfleet Ensign and her new-found friend Qaraq and the two having a discussion of deep understanding. I think the post is very Star Trek, in that it's an exploration of cultures and different people coming together; two strangers connecting in the name of a larger goal. Both characters are very well thought-out and realised, so there's a reality and authenticity to the scene that is sweet and genuine. Also, the ending where Katya sees the Pandora safe and sound at Paradise is nice.

Theta Fleet: Unit of Distinction, Bronze - Feb 2021

We have once again received the Unit of Distinction for Area 51. Congratulations everyone!

» January Player Awards!

Posted on Wed Feb 10th, 2021 @ 2:52am by Captain Nycolas Temple in General News

Greetings all!

It's that time again as Theta Fleet announces the Monthly Awards and I am pleased to announce that the Pandora has been graciously recognised once again. Here are our winners:

Unit of Distinction - Bronze

The Pandora has received the Bronze Unit of Distinction for the Area 51 Task Force. This is the second time we have received this honour and I have to say, it comes after an incredibly strong month here on the sim. We had some of our highest activity in quite some time, a lot of mission and personal story progression, and truly remarkable, entertaining, moving, exciting posts. We started 2021 with a BANG and I am excited about the direction we're heading and the stories we're telling. And most importantly, the community feel of the sim has continued as always, and I'm so thankful for the professional, courteous, and kind culture that we have here on this ship.

Congratulations crew! Let's keep making 2021 awesome.

Writer(s) Of the Month!

It should come as no surprise that we have a tied win for Writer of the Month for January. Our two amazingly talented OG players, Monoui and Suliac, burst back onto the sim with a series of posts that I believe has been some of their best work to date. Many of you agree as well, given the comments in OOC chat and the private nominations I received for them to be recognised for their posts. Their storyline has been terrifying and thrilling to read in equal measure and I'm so grateful they continue to be part of our sim.

I feel like I summed it up best in the nomination, so here it is:

"I know this is a double nomination but that is mostly because these two consistently write as a pair and could easily share the prize. They are both as good as the other and it would be unfair to award just one, when together they are a power house team of writers. Their posts have always been spectacular - emotional, honest, exciting, funny. Their "Aoife" storyline this month has been moving, action-packed, raw, and truly some of the best work they have ever done. They take risks, they push their characters, they explore deeply personal and interesting issues. They don't pull their punches. The Pandora is better for having them onboard and I think they deserve recognition for that."

Congratulations to Mon and Griffo for their award!

I'd also like to point out that this is our third successive Player or Writer of the Month Award since joining Theta Fleet. I'm super proud of the work that you guys put in week after week but I'm especially proud of the fact that your posts are being recognised so consistently. One of the reasons I wanted to leave BF was because they stopped caring about our ship and they blatantly ignored all of your fantastic writing and hard work. I am so grateful to now be part of a Fleet that is giving you the recognition and awards that I know you all deserve. We accept them humbly with full respect to the vibrant, passionate writer community we are now part of.

Thank you!

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