OngoingWorlds blog

News & articles about play-by-post games, for roleplayers & writers

Jun
1

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Congratulations to our 2016 Squiddie Nominees

Category: Awards, Competition, Events, Roleplaying community Tags: 1 Comment

Ongoing Worlds Medal for Superior Online Role Playing

Ongoing Worlds Medal for Superior Online Role Playing

The nomination window for the 2016 Squiddies (aka the Ongoing Worlds Medal for Superior Online Role Playing) closed yesterday.  As some of you will recall, we asked the entire simming & online role playing community to nominate the best people, games, and clubs for the highest honor bestowed by this organization.  You answered with nominations for 29 outstanding people/games/clubs.  And what a fantastic list it is!  Without any further ado, here are your 2016 Ongoing Worlds Medal for Superior Online Role Playing nominees in no particular order… Read More

May
5

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The Awards Season Continues: Squiddie Time!

Category: Awards, Competition, Events, Roleplaying community Tags: 1 Comment

Ongoing Worlds Medal for Superior Online Role Playing

Ongoing Worlds Medal for Superior Online Role Playing

We recently concluded the Tournament of Simulations (ToS) and presented two more Ongoing Worlds Community Honors (OWCH).  However, it’s now time for the pinnacle award bestowed by Ongoing Worlds: The Squiddie!  (Officially, the Ongoing Worlds Medal for Superior Online Roleplaying.)  If you’re not familiar with the award, check out our past winners:

Here’s how it works:  Each year we present Squiddies to three different entities: one person, one sim/game, and one club.  Prior winners are not eligible for future awards.  Squiddies are bestowed for exemplifying one or more of the following characteristics, primarily during the previous calendar year:

  • Excellence in role playing
  • Originality and innovation
  • Facilitating the community experience

Nominations may be made by anyone using the form below. Read More

May
1

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Introducing the Two Newest Ongoing Worlds Community Honor Recipients

Category: Awards, Events, Roleplaying community Tags: , 3 Comments

The OWCH awardWith the Tournament of Simulations completed, it’s time for us to honor the individuals behind another absolutely fantastic role play:  Rhiannon (aka Emily Wake) and ryjones are hereby awarded the Ongoing Worlds Community Honor (OWCH) for their outstanding service as moderators of the 2778 A.D. sim.  Indeed, founded less than a year ago in August 2015, the game has seen an astounding 2177 posts since!  It has not only exceeded all expectations in terms of quantity, but it has also set the pace for Ongoing Worlds sims in the flash or short form posting style.  This has allowed for many fascinating and unexpected turns in the story.  If you’re looking for an adventure, this game is where it’s at!  Congratulations to both Rhiannon and ryjones!  Well done! Read More

Apr
30

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2015 Tournament of Simulations Winners

Category: Awards, Competition, Events, Roleplaying community Tags: 8 Comments

simcup2015It’s time to introduce the winners of the the 11th Tournament of Simulations (ToS)!  In case you missed it, ToS is an annual event where role play games of different clubs and genres compete against each other in a friendly manner for several awards.  The first tournament was held all the way back in 1999.  This year, each participating sim submitted 10 posts that were written sometime during 2015.  The posts were then evaluated by three judges in three different categories on a 1-10 scale: Story, Characters, and Readability/Grammar.  The games receiving the highest marks are now recognized.

As I say every year, evaluating sims is a subjective art and this is especially true with ToS.  We’re not here to identify the best games as this is impossible.  Instead, we’re here to identify what we think are outstanding role plays that exude excellence.  A different set of judges may very well chose a completely different set of winners.

Without an further ado, here are your winners…

Read More

Mar
24

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Interview with Mike Bremer

Category: Behind the scenes - running RPGs, Interviews, Play-by-post discussion, Roleplaying community Tags: , 4 Comments

Mike Bremer

Mike Bremer

Last week I had the opportunity to ask simming legend Mike Bremer a few questions.  Mike needs no introduction as he’s arguably one of the most important leaders in simming and online role playing history.  Mike started his career in Allied Electronic Simulations (AES) way back in 1996.  After moving over to Tango Fleet later that year, he then co-founded Bravo Fleet with Pat Weber in 1997.  Mike served as Bravo Fleet Commanding Officer (BFCO) from 1998 to 2004 and grew it into one of the first true mega-clubs of the Internet era.  Mike has received numerous accolades over the course of his career, including the 2011 Simming Prize and, most recently, the 2015 Ongoing Worlds Medal for Superior Online Role Playing (aka the Squiddie).  Mike also hosts the Starbase 400 sim (SB400, previously known as the USS Pegasus), which is incidentally one of the sims he joined back in 1996!  Starbase 400 has won multiple awards for its high-quality and longevity.  With that, I present to you, Mike Bremer in his own words… Read More

Feb
29

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How will the Simming & Online Role Playing Universe End?

Category: Roleplay Systems, Roleplay-related projects, Roleplaying community Tags: 16 Comments

NASA's 9 Year Microwave Sky Image

NASA’s 9 Year Microwave Sky Image
“The Face of God”

Much like the origin of the universe, the beginnings of the simming and online role playing community remain shrouded in mystery.  Sure, we know that it developed out of fan fiction on primordial online services of the late 1980s and early 1990s, but we lack specifics, and many of the details we do have are quite vague.

Records exist for many of the major players and significant historical events, but we miss a lot of the nuance.  It is also highly likely that there are pockets of our cosmos that we don’t even know about it, and now may never know about.

In the approximately 25 years since our creation, clubs, much like stars, have come and gone.  And role-plays, much like planets have come and gone too.  The community is much different now than it was then.  Indeed, just as the physical universe is more mature and less volatile than it was during its early days, our demographic is older and our universe more stable as well.  But how will it all end?  Here are three possibilities:  The Big Freeze, The Big Crunch, and The Big Bounce.
Read More

Feb
17

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2014 Simulation Cup Results… Finally!

Category: Awards, Competition, Events Tags: , 11 Comments

Simulation Cup

2014 Simulation Cup

It gives me great pleasure to (finally) introduce the winners of the 2014 Simulation Cup!  Before we get to the results, however, I’d like to quickly remind everyone what the Simulation Cup is and how it works.  It’s an annual competition that’s normally called the Tournament of Simulations where role play games of different clubs and genres compete against each other in a friendly manner for several awards.  This year, each participating sim submitted one mission/episode/thread that was completed during 2014.  Each submission was then evaluated by three judges on a specific criteria set.  The games receiving the highest marks are now recognized.

Evaluating sims will always be subjective and this is especially true for the Simulation Cup.  We’re not here to identify the best sim or sims as this is impossible.  Instead, we recognize what we think are outstanding role plays that exude excellence.  A different set of judges may very well chose a completely different set of winners.  And that’s okay!   Read More

Dec
31

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The 2015 Tournament of Simulation is Now Calling all Entrants

Category: Awards, Competition, Events, Roleplaying community Tags: , 5 Comments

simcup2015UPDATE: The Nomination window has been extended through February 29th, 2016.

Hear ye, hear ye!  Hosts, participants, and club leaders alike are all hereby invited to enter their games into the the oldest and most prestigious competition of the simming and online roleplaying universe:  The Tournament of Simulations!  Indeed, Ongoing Worlds is officially calling on on YOU to enter your simulations and online role plays in the 2015 edition of ToS.  This will be the 11th rendition of the tournament, which was first held in 1999.  Nominations will be accepted through January 31st, 2016. Winners will be announced sometime later.  Here’s how to enter: Read More

Dec
31

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The 2015 Squiddie Award Winners

Category: Awards, Competition, Events, Roleplaying community Tags: , , , , , , , 6 Comments

Ongoing Worlds Medal for Superior Online Role Playing

It’s time!  That’s right, it’s time to present our top award for the entire simming and online role playing community: the Ongoing Worlds Medal for Superior Online Roleplaying… better known as the Squiddie.  For anyone who isn’t familiar with the award, we present three respective citations annually for Excellence in Role Playing, Facilitating the Community Experience, and Originality & Innovation.

We received 30 outstanding nominations this year.  However, we are only able to present Squiddies to three: one club, one game, and one person.  And believe me when I say that picking the winners was extremely difficult as there were many absolutely fantastic nominees!  Without any further ado, here are the winners of the 2015 Ongoing Worlds Medal for Superior Online Roleplaying: Read More

Dec
19

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The Ongoing Worlds Community Honor now has two more Laureates

Category: Awards, Events, Roleplaying community Tags: , 1 Comment

The OWCH award

Ongoing Worlds Community Honor
image by David Ball

FallFest V officially belongs to history now!  For those who attended earlier this month on December 5th, you know what a fantastic event it was!  The entire team from host club UFOP: StarBase 118 put on another world-class show, just as they did two years ago at FallFest III.  I’d like to personally thank everyone who took some part in making it all happen:  those who hosted events, those who promoted & advertised, those who played a technical role whether it was graphic design or setting up chatrooms, and those who simply invited a friend to join in on the fun.  Thank you all!  And finally, I’d like to thank everyone who attended–without you bringing your energy and ideas, there would be no FallFest.  Thanks for everything!  For those of you who may have missed FallFest this year, we’ll see you next year for a day filled with lively discussions, trivia games, and role plays in IRC chat rooms.  With all that being said, it’s time to present a couple awards… Read More

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