OngoingWorlds blog

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

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30 Years of STF: 1991-2021

Main banner/logo from April 22, 1998 (archive.org)

A few weeks ago I got to celebrate the 20th anniversary of my home club. But how about a 30th anniversary?

As far as I can tell, today is the 30th anniversary of the founding of STF, which likely makes it the oldest club still in existence, if not ever. According to a 1994 history by Jim Midyette, what would eventually come to be known as the Star-Fleet Sim Club (and later STF) began on July 21, 1991 on Prodigy when a group of Star Trek fans decided to return fire against some 90210 fans:

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Independence Fleet: 20 Years

Last year I got to mark my own 20th simming anniversary. This year I get to celebrate something even better: my club’s 20th anniversary. That’s right, founded all the way back on July 4, 2001, Independence Fleet turns 20 today. Given our humble and downright volatile beginnings, it’s hard to believe we’re still operating today. Nonetheless, here we are!

In addition to holding a Trivia Day earlier this year and a special Webcast yesterday (both with real prizes!), we also did our normal anniversary tradition of inducting the newest members of our Hall of Fame.

But a 20th anniversary calls for even more. With that in mind, this morning we published two items that we hope our members and the entire online role playing world can enjoy:

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What a SciWorld!

A SciWorld for the ages! Where do I even begin? With some of the most diverse topics & panels I’ve ever seen, great ideas & comments from the audience, and a trivia event that felt more like a shark feeding frenzy, this SciWorld had it all. I haven’t even mentioned the hilarious opening ceremony video yet; thank you Charles and the team for that. If you missed SciWorld, we look forwarding to seeing you at FallFest, which will happen sometime later this year. Both events will be held in this discord server moving forward.

Now that TNU Project‘s SimmingHub has officially assumed the management & administration of SciWorld & FallFest with the completion of our first convention, I would like to personally thank Ongoing Worlds and Charles Star for sponsoring the last three SciWorlds and all 10 FallFests. Your service to the community is much appreciated and we hope to live up to the ideals you championed. On behalf of the Ongoing Worlds Board of Advisors and the SimmingHub Organizing Committee it is also an honor of mine to bestow some awards to members of the community, without whom this event would not have been possible.

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2021 SciWorld Online Convention

The 2021 SciWorld Online Convention begins today at 11:30 am EDT (-4) / 3:30 pm GMT (+0) / 4:30 pm BST (+1). 

This year’s convention is sponsored by TNU Project, hosted by Independence Fleet, and chaired by Aurther Winters.

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4 Reasons to go to SciWorld this Saturday, June 12th

That’s right, if you haven’t already heard, SciWorld ’21 is on Saturday, beginning at 11:30 AM EDT (-4) / 4:30 pm BST (+1). Our team from Independence Fleet & TNU Project have put in a lot a work to create a dynamic and provocative list of events backed by an outstanding infrastructure. It’s going to be a great day, and we want YOU to be a part of it:

It doesn’t matter if you’re into Star Trek, Star Wars, Dr. Who, or something else entirely.  Or if you prefer chat sims, play by e-mail, or message boards.  If you’re a simmer or online role player of any persuasion, there will be something there for you!  But what do you really get out of SciWorld?  Here are 4 reasons you should attend:

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SciWorld 2021: June 12th

We hereby invite all simmers and online role players to join us at 11:30 am EDT (-4) / 3:30 pm GMT (+0) / 4:30 pm BST (+1) on June 12th for the 2021 SciWorld Online Convention. We’ll start with the opening ceremony, move into seven hours of engaging discussions, interactive trivia games, and live chat role plays, and then conclude with the closing ceremony at 7:00 pm EDT / 11:00 pm GMT / midnight BST. As always, it’s sure to include a little bit of everything.

As we previously announced, Ongoing Worlds is turning over general management of both SciWorld and FallFest to TNU Project and Josh Hina. This and future conventions will be sponsored by TNU Project’s Simming Hub. This year’s SciWorld will be jointly hosted by Independence Fleet & Pegasus Fleet, and co-chaired by Aurther Winters & Amethyst.

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2020 ToS Winners!

It’s time to announce the winners of the latest Tournament of Simulations (ToS). We asked for nominations in January, and you responded by nominating a whopping 64 absolutely incredible games from across the community. That’s definitely a modern tournament (since 2011) record, and maybe even of all time (since 1999). It just goes to show that simming and online role playing is far from dead. In fact, it’s as strong as ever.

As I say every year, evaluating sims is a subjective art, and this is certainly 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.  And that’s okay! In case you’re interested, this is how we select the winners. With that on the record once again, here are your 2020 tournament winners:

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2020 ToS: Submit Your Nominations Today

2020 has finally come to a close, which means it’s time for the annual Tournament of Simulations (ToS) competition. For those who may not be familiar with ToS, this is where you can enter your role play to potentially win a prize at no cost or risk to you! Judges from around the community go through all of the entries and grade them on story, characters, and readability. All sims will be considered, regardless of any club or fleet affiliation. We then present awards to the top-scoring games. The games that don’t place are not announced. That’s right: you’ve got nothing to lose, so why not enter?

Okay, enough on that. How about we get on with the nominations…

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That’s How You Do FallFest

What a FallFest! This past weekend, the entire role playing world came together for the 2020 Simming Fall Festival: a full day of lively discussions, great role playing, and interactive trivia games.  It was top-notch from the opening to closing bells. A real testament to the power of our greater community.  Simply put, FallFest was incredible!

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2020 Simming Fall Festival

The 2020 Simming Fall Festival is today.

A very special thanks to all of our hosts & contributors.