In the case of the wonderful @[member="Seroth Ur-Rahn"] - tagged because you're discussing him, as is polite - he was judged by his faction, that is the Vagrant Fleet, and was voted to the rank of Master not only for his writing skill but his always amenable, approachable and friendly personality, his contributions to his faction on an out-of-character basis, in addition to his outstanding and excellent service to the SWRP community as a Roleplay Judge. Let none fault him for his flawless record - he is a better Master and role-model for this community than many who hold the title, as I believe. A Sum of Lies was the catalyst, not the reason.
Talking of an independent Master, truly, what makes them a Master? In the case of any discipline real-world or fictional, what makes someone a master? I argue that mastery is not the be-all and end-all of knowledge, strength, power or wisdom. No, that would be silly, because there is always something more to learn. I'm going to use the martial arts equivalent, the black belt, for so many Eastern martial arts - the black belt does not signify total knowledge of an art. I can tell you from my own experience that will never be true for any man alive. Instead, it signifies that the holder is able to demonstrate all their basic techniques and their various applications, is wise enough not to follow dogma blindly but knows how and when to ask why, and how to learn and adapt to new concepts within their sphere of influence. Why else are there many tiers of black belts-- indeed, why are there even tiers of Masters, that some can perform rare abilities like Force Storm, and others can not? Being a Master alone is meaningless until you inject meaning into the rank.
That's what this is: how do you be a Master here? Do you just get the rank and automatically become some kind of demi-god who can command the laws of physics? No. The respect is gained by actions, both IC and OOC. You speak purely IC, but in all honesty, for any character of a roleplaying site, it can't just be in-character, because we are also always judged for our out-of-character action. You get respect, and power, for an event. When @[member="Siobhan Kerrigan"] brought down the roof on Roche, the entire board knew at that point that she was the premier telekinetic powerhouse of SWRP. Actions speak louder than words - given that this is a written medium, this statement has so many double meanings, but rings especially true.
Finally, an independent master of the Force would have some kind of peers. Self-learning with the Force is very difficult; there's going to be a mentor involved somewhere, or even an opponent that would make a good yardstick. There's going to be a companion somewhere. You can't roleplay with yourself forever.
