Reclaiming Excellence: Why the Simming Community Should Rally Around the .com Prize

The Simming Prize has long stood as the pinnacle of recognition in our play-by-post roleplaying world—a symbol of creativity, collaboration, and excellence in storytelling. For many years, it honored those who built communities, pushed the boundaries of narrative, and inspired fellow writers across forums, games, and games. But today, that legacy stands divided, caught between two competing groups: the .com Prize and the .org Prize.

It’s time for the community to choose. Not just passively observe, not sit back in neutrality, but to actively support and partner with the version of the Prize that reflects the values we claim to hold dear. And that version is unequivocally the .com Prize.

The .com Prize isn’t simply a rival brand. It is the rightful continuation of the Simming Prize’s history, purpose, and governance. It is the version that respects the rules, operates transparently, and genuinely seeks community involvement. Meanwhile, the .org Prize has veered away from those ideals, prioritizing control over collaboration and convenience over integrity. If we, as a community, truly care about the future of simming and online roleplaying, we must recognize this moment for what it is: a call to action.

The .com Prize Honors the Spirit of the Community

At its core, the simming and online roleplaying community is about shared storytelling. It’s about empowering others to contribute, collaborate, and lead. The .com Prize embodies this philosophy. From its founding principles to its modern governance, it invites participation, values transparency, and holds itself accountable to its own published standards.

The .com Prize Trustees were appointed in accordance with the Handbook, the same set of rules that governed the Prize for years. When that Handbook was ignored and violated by the .org group—when awards were issued improperly, nominations were dismissed without justification, and transparency was replaced with private backroom decisions—it was the .com group that stood up and said, “This isn’t right.”

Rather than turning away or going silent, they took action. They didn’t seize control; they restored order. They published their reasons, followed the process, and established a new Charter to prevent future abuse. That’s not a hostile takeover. That’s leadership.

A Community-Driven Vision for the Future

The .com Prize isn’t just trying to preserve the past—it’s actively building a better future. By updating the Charter and inviting broader participation, the .com Trustees have made it clear that the Prize belongs to everyone. They’ve created space for fresh voices and new perspectives while remaining rooted in the Prize’s original mission.

Community members are now encouraged to volunteer, judge, nominate, and even help shape policy. The .com Prize Twitter and website are living platforms of communication, not static billboards. This is the inclusive, forward-thinking model that the simming world needs, especially as online roleplaying continues to evolve across formats and platforms.

By contrast, the .org group has largely operated behind closed doors. Their decisions to award multiple Prizes to their own group members and projects, despite clear rules to the contrary, erode credibility. Their refusal to engage in balanced mediation or accept shared governance signals a desire to retain unilateral control, not to foster unity or excellence.

Why Neutrality Is No Longer Tenable

Many members of the simming and RP community have understandably remained neutral throughout this split, hoping that the two sides would reconcile. That’s a fair instinct. No one wants to be caught in the middle of an organizational dispute, especially in a volunteer-driven space that should be fun and collaborative.

But we are now years into this conflict, and it is clear that reconciliation under the current conditions is not possible. The .org group has shown no willingness to share power, repair trust, or respect the foundational documents that once governed the Prize. Their continued operation, while technically active, only sows confusion and damages the Prize’s reputation.

Remaining neutral at this point is not a gesture of fairness—it is a quiet endorsement of dysfunction. It sends the message that legitimacy doesn’t matter, that rules can be ignored, and that those who act with integrity can be overridden by those who simply hold onto a URL.

If we believe that awards matter—and that excellence should be celebrated fairly and transparently—we cannot afford to look the other way.

How You Can Support the .com Prize

The good news is that rebuilding trust and momentum around the .com Prize is not only possible—it’s already happening. But it needs you.

Here’s how you can get involved:

• Recognize and respect the .com Prize as the official and historical continuation of the Simming Prize.
• Nominate outstanding games and individuals through the .com website.
• Volunteer to serve as a Judge or in another capacity—many hands make light work.
• Link to the .com Prize from your fleet or game to help spread awareness and legitimacy.
• Engage on social media, share announcements, and participate in discussions.
• Speak up in favor of fairness, transparency, and community-driven values.

It’s also equally important to disengage from the .org Prize. Stop submitting nominations. Don’t lend your name or your fleet’s reputation to awards that are inconsistently applied and questionably granted. Politely but firmly decline to participate in something that has lost its moral compass.

A Community Choice

We often say that simming is more than a hobby—it’s a community, a legacy, a creative outlet that stretches across generations of players and countless stories. If that’s true, then we owe it to ourselves and to those who will come after us to protect what makes this community strong: fairness, openness, and shared purpose.

The .com Prize is the only version of the Simming Prize that still honors those principles. It deserves not just our respect, but our engagement. Let’s stop waiting for unity to arrive on its own. Let’s build it together by choosing the path that leads us forward.

It’s time to rally behind the .com Prize.