Mar
11
Hi dudes, I’ve made an update today to how the character’s recent activity is displayed on a character profile. This new timeline layout displays the dates the character profile has been updated, as well as the most recent posts where they were mentioned.
If you’ve got any feedback about this update, send me an email through the contact page, or in the chatbox. Thanks, and I hope you like the new layout! Read More
Feb
25
It was the Oscars last night, and the week before we had the BAFTAS, and before that were the Golden Globes. Awards ceremonies recognising the best of cinema. Roleplayers and roleplaying games deserve awards too, and just like movie awards, these also come at once. SimEnc announced their awards last week, and we’re also going to award our “Squiddies” in the coming week.
But for now, how about I tell you who the nominations are? Read More
Feb
24
Name your hobby. Go on. Because I can’t.
When I first started roleplaying I learned that the term to use was PBEM. Sometimes the agreement over capitalisation would alter like PbEM or PBeM, but it’s essentially the same. It stands for “play by email”, the way that I used to play. People would send emails to a newsgroup, to be distributed to the other members. Read More
Feb
16
We’ve all seen roleplaying games where the posts have fizzled out, sometimes in the middle of an interesting story. So why does the story just stop and die? One of the reasons is a key player might suddenly have been unable to post, or suddenly they became too busy to post, or maybe they just forgot. After a long time the desire to continue fades, as does your memory of recent happenings in the game, and there’s no more posts.
I was interested in a recent discussion on RPG-Directory, where user Cady asked whether it’s okay to “poke, prod & beg for posts”. Read More
Feb
11
Roleplaying games are more fun with other members. In OngoingWorlds I’ve made it really easy to approve new members who’ve submitted a good character profile, or decline the ones that haven’t. Here’s a screencast explaining how to do it:
Feb
9
I love listening to podcasts. I’ve been listening to audio podcasts for many years, despite only owning a iPod recently. Usually I burn them to CD and listen in my car on long drives, or just my usual drive to work.
I love podcasts because they’re so specific on a topic, instead of listening to talk radio which usually has to cater for a wide general audience. You can check Radio Waves for latest radio talks. In recent years I’ve been a boom of podcasts, each created by amateurs who are excited about a niche topic. One of these is the Starbase 118 podcast, Starbase 118 is a community of many roleplaying games, which gives them loads of content to talk about in an audio podcast. Read More
Feb
3
There’s a stereotype that roleplayers are antisocial and a bit… weird. This portrayal states that roleplayers have no friends in the real world, and go online to live out a fantasy life with people they meet online. Read More
Jan
30
This weekend kicks off the Starbase 118 Writing Improvement Month with some exciting events. Overall, the entire month is focused on helping creative writers and gamers improve their skills in writing, with each week divided into specific themes. The first week of the event will feature information about using grammar correctly, general writing tips, and using research resources to improve the posts we write.
Be sure to sign up for the mailing list so that you can be kept informed about the many things going on throughout the month!
The schedule for this week will include various email tips and tutorials, helpful links, and some interactive live events that everyone is sure to enjoy.
On February 3rd, join us for our opening ceremonies and meet the people who will be partaking in the event and who are leading the various activities. Read More
Jan
19
Writing has always been a skilled art form since man scribbled on the walls in the cave. No writer anywhere thinks they are as good as they will ever be. Many of us strive to improve, and end up surprising ourselves with elements in our writing we never thought were possible. In the spirit of this idea, UFOP: StarBase 118 will be hosting month long event to help writers everywhere improve on their writing quality throughout February.
The group will be utilizing the Writing Improvement email list to send out tutorials, examples and schedules upcoming events. They will be hosting many different IRC and Google Hangout events during the month to help many writers with tips to improve their craft. StarBase 118 has lined up many authors to attend and host these chats, and all are welcome to attend. Read More
Jan
13
Mary Sue; the name is immortalized in a song and in literature, but they aren’t the same person. So, my friend, you want to write a book, short story, or merely participate in a play by E-mail online roleplaying game and need a character. This article is going to tell you how to avoid a trap even the best authors can fall into called Mary Sue.
It can be seen by some as a wish fulfilment of the author to live vicariously through the character while having no noticeable flaws or having flaws that don’t make sense, either physically or mentally. Read More
