OngoingWorlds blog

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

May
24

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A few nice words about last year’s Squiddie nominees

Category: Events, Roleplaying community Tags: Leave a Comment

happy finger drawings

As we’re in the midst of the 2016 Squiddie nomination period, I thought it would be helpful to post some of the kind words that we received for last year’s nominees. As you can see, there was quite a bit of talent that we weren’t able to award.

For a reminder, there’s just a week remaining to get your nominations in. See the original post here to submit your favourite role players, games, and clubs for a Squiddie – the top award presented by OngoingWorlds. 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

Apr
17

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Yahoo! Groups Sims… Take Note

Category: Behind the scenes - running RPGs Tags: , 2 Comments

This article was written for us by Sam Jones from the roleplaying game “Chronicles of Gaea”.

Yahoo groups in a CoffinAs you may or may not have heard, Yahoo! is going through some financial difficulties. This isn’t a huge surprise to those of us who have been using their products for years, but it still is something of concern, especially for the simming community.

Yahoo! Groups has been invaluable (and, even further back, Egroups and ONElist) for play-by-email simming.  I, personally, have been using them for fifteen years.  They archived everything, so as long as your old sim group wasn’t deleted, all the posts still exist.  Permissions issues notwithstanding. Read More

Apr
11

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Level Up – Description

Category: Writing tips Tags: , 2 Comments

I know many of us don’t want to be writers for a living, though some of us might consider it. The descriptions we use often paint pictures. While some aren’t as descriptive as others, this isn’t about the level of skill. It is more a matter of how that skill is acquired. As Role-Players, we have adjusted ourselves to describe our characters and what they do in detail, sometimes venturing into the X-Rated zone.

While many find this exciting, the level of description is easy to see. Those who have RPed for awhile, or those who write stories in their free time, tend to be more descriptive than those who haven’t written for long periods. It is in the descriptors. But what are descriptors? Simply any word that describes something, including (but not limited to) color, smell, and sound. 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

Mar
16

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THE BEACONS ARE LIT! TIBERIUS CALLS FOR AID!

Category: Advertising your game, Behind the scenes - running RPGs, Character Development, Competition, Events, Inspiration for writing, OngoingWorlds guide, OngoingWorlds site news, Play-by-post discussion, Roleplaying community, Website Improvements Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , Leave a Comment

beacons1

DID YAH MISS ME? WELL I MISSED YOU!

Hey-o Ongoing Worlds! It’s been a while hasn’t it? Don’t answer that, we’re not actually talking and you talking to a screen with no reply really isn’t flattering. Anyway, where was I? Oh yeah. The beacons are lit and I do call for aid! YOUR AID! Why? BECAUSE THE CHAT BOX NEEDS OUR HELP! Read More

Mar
6

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12 tips for writing Star Trek fanfiction & roleplaying

Category: Character Development, Inspiration for writing, Writing tips Tags: , 2 Comments

Star trek characters comic

Star Trek fanfiction is as old as Star Trek itself, and heavily dominates the world of online roleplaying. There’s many giant Star Trek roleplay clubs, like Starbase 118 and Star Trek: Borderlands. We’ve even got Star Trek games running on OngoingWorlds (see here). Here’s some tips for anyone who wants to write fiction in the Star Trek universe: Read More

Mar
4

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The most popular blog articles of last year

Category: OngoingWorlds site news Tags: , , 2 Comments

It’s always interesting to look back and see which of our blog posts attracted eager readers.. Here’s the most popular from the last year: Read More

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