OngoingWorlds blog

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

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The Art of the Play-by

This article is written by Silent Hunter, & appears in Phoenix Roleplaying‘s Jan 2015 newsletter.

Art of the play -by (some faceclaims)

‘Play-bys’, or as they are known on many sites ‘face claims’ are one of the most common practices in RPing; many bigger RP sites keep lists to avoid duplication (we keep an entry on our wiki ourselves). For those of you not aware of the term, this is picking an actor as the ‘face’ of your particular character, hence ‘face claim’. Read More

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Is it okay to be emotionally connected your RP character?

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I saw this meme from the Tumblr blog Fuck Yeah Roleplay Rabbit (which is often brilliant but sometimes cryptic), and it got me thinking if it’s okay if you get a bit too emotionally invested in your character?  Read More

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Out of context roleplay quotes

roleplay quote

There’s a great Tumblr with funny quotes taken completely out of context from roleplaying games (mostly D&D it seems), that I wanted to share here. I wondered if we could create a similar article with quotes just from games on OngoingWorlds? Submit them via the form at the bottom of this article or to our Facebook page. Read More

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10 rules for simming – from Kepler Station

kepler station banner

I recently saw that the Kepler station roleplay had a downloadable PDF guide for roleplaying, which includes useful information not just for their roleplay, but for everyone. Read More

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Starbase 118’s guide to sexism in simming

ignorant prick saying girls suck at math

Hopefully sexism is a thing of the past, but unfortunately it still pervails enough for Starbase 118 (a Star Trek roleplaying club) to have written a guide which helps to ensure the roleplaying community is welcoming for all. Read More

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Is the term “Mary Sue” sexist & belittling?

Peggy carter is a strong female character, but that doesn't make her a mary sue
There’s an ongoing debate about the term Mary Sue, and what it means in the literary world. In roleplaying, we know that Mary Sue characters can ruin a game for others, but in a novel surely it’s okay for a protagonist to hog the limelight and display all the characteristics of a typical Mary Sue, right? Read More

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The Toughest Skill for a Role Player to Have

the toughest skill for a roleplayer

There are a lot of good skills for a roleplayer to have, good grammar is one of them, the ability to keep writing through a dry spell, getting past writer’s block. But if there is one skill that I think is the toughest to have it’s not the ability to create narratives, come up with plots, nor to come up with names (I suck at that last one). It’s selflessness. Read More

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Still time to enter your game for the Simulation Cup!

Simulation Cup

2014 Simulation Cup

About a week and a half ago, we announced the 2014 Simulation Cup (historically known as the Tournament of Simulations).  Thus far we’ve received nominations for 18 outstanding games.  And what a group it is!  Everyone who entered a sim into the competition should have already received a confirmation email.  If you have NOT received your confirmation email, please forward your entry form to me at star [dot] idf [at] gmail [dot] com.  Just want to make sure we don’t miss anyone.

I also want to let everyone know that we’ve extended the deadline to submit your game(s) to 24 hours after the publishing of this post.  So there’s still time if you missed the last window… Read More

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Two More Ongoing Worlds Community Honor Laureates

Fall festival ongoingworlds squid logoWith another outstanding FallFest in the books, it’s time to officially recognize two people who really made it happen this year.  But before I do that, I want to thank Phoenix Roleplaying and everyone else who had a role, no matter how small, in helping make FallFest ’14 another great success.  Event hosts, promoters, participants, and the like.  Without you guys and gals, we at Ongoing Worlds wouldn’t be able to do what we do.  YOU make these events possible.  So again, thank you!

With Phoenix Roleplaying picking up a Squiddie earlier this year and then hosting the 4th FallFest, history might end up recording 2014 the year of the Phoenix.  Who knows?  Okay, enough from me.  On with the Ongoing Worlds Community Honor… Read More

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Will typos & bad grammar bring about the world’s end? (Hint: No it won’t)

Roleplay apocalypse

A few weeks ago I posted an article about spelling and grammar, asking the question how much should you care about grammar in posts in your game. There was a frenzy of comments, some in disgust at the deliberate typo I’d made in the article’s title (I really know how to make writers wince!). Read More