OngoingWorlds blog

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

Feb
16

By

A Round of Applause for our Squiddie Nominees

Category: Awards, Competition, Roleplay-related projects, Roleplaying community Tags: , 1 Comment

Ongoing Worlds Medal for Superior Online Role Playing

The window for Squiddie nominations has closed, and my did we get some good ones! In addition to the high quality, I was surprised by the sheer number of nominations we received: 88 total over all three years. It’s quite a bit for our judges to go through the next few weeks!

I would also like to thank Nim for taking over as the coordinator for the Squiddies moving forward. It’s a big, but often thankless job so I’ll thank you: Thank you, Nim!

Expect to see the winners announced soon. Until then, here are your Squiddie nominees:

Read More

Sep
14

By

2018 Squiddies: The Winners

Category: Awards, Competition, Events, Roleplaying community Tags: , , , , , , , 2 Comments

In June, we asked for nominations.  You responded, and we announced 19 nominees in August.  Now it’s time to reveal the three winner of this year’s Squiddie (officially the Ongoing Worlds Medal for Superior Online Role Playing).  Choosing just three winners from 19 excellent candidates was extremely difficult as many are deserving of a top-level award.  However, that’s our job!
If you’ll recall, Squiddies are awarded to only one person, one game, and one club each year.  The prizes come in three categories (Excellence in Role Playing, Originality & Innovation, and Facilitating the Community Experience) and are awarded primary for actions during the prior calendar year.  In this case, that’s 2017.  Without any further ado, here are your 2018 Ongoing Worlds Medal for Superior Online Role Playing Laureates…

Read More

Jun
17

By

Enter Your 2018 Squiddie Nominations Now!

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

The time is here!  Time for YOU to nominate the best from our community to win a Squiddie (aka The Ongoing Worlds Medal for Superior Online Roleplaying).  Each year we present Squiddies to three different entities: one person, one sim/game, and one club.  Squiddies are bestowed for exemplifying one or more of the following characteristics, primarily during the previous calendar year:

  • Excellence in role playing: Outstanding role play or leadership performance far above and beyond the typical person, game, or club
  • Originality and innovation: Using a new technology or innovation or combining existing technologies together in a new way to elevate the role play adventure
  • Facilitating the community experience: Enhancing interaction, cooperation, and/or collaboration among role players to improve or advance the community

You can read about past winners here: 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 Read More

May
13

By

2016 Tournament of Simulation Winners!

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

Hear ye!  Hear ye!  It’s time to announce the winners of the 2016 Tournament of Simulations (ToS).  For those who may not be aware, ToS is an annual competition, sponsored by Ongoing Worlds, where role play games of different clubs and genres compete against each other in a friendly manner for several awards.  The original tournament was held back in 1999.  For this year’s ToS, each participating sim submitted 10 posts that were written sometime during 2016.  The posts were then evaluated by three judges in three different categories on a 1-10 scale: Story, Characters, and Readability/Grammar.  The final scores were then adjusted based on the individual judge’s respective averages and standard deviations to adjust for both hard & easy grading judges and judges with small & large ranges of scores.

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!  With that said, it’s time to finally announce our winners… Read More

Dec
9

By

How to Win a Squiddie (and other awards too)!

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

Ongoing Worlds Medal for Superior Online Role Playing

Ongoing Worlds Medal for Superior Online Role Playing

We have received a few questions about how we choose the Squiddies winners (2016, 2017, 2018) and what makes a good candidate.  Before we get to that, I want to do two things first:  1) Explain the Squiddies to anyone who might not be familiar with them, and 2) Provide a brief overview of some of the other major annual awards within the greater simming and online role playing community.

  1. The Squiddie (officially the “Ongoing Worlds Medal for Superior Online Roleplaying”) is presented annually to three entities: one person, one sim, and one sim club.  It also consists of three categories: Excellence in Roleplaying, Originality & Innovation, and Facilitating the Community Experience.  The award is sponsored by us, Ongoing Worlds, and was first presented in 2013.
  2. The Squiddie is one of three families of major community-level awards.  The oldest is the Simming Prize (officially the “Prize for Simming and Online Role Playing in Memory of Seth Cotis“), dating back to 1999.  Originally awarded by the Simming League and later by Ongoing Worlds, it is now bestowed by a group of trustees.  It is presented to up to five entities each year and is named in memory of an early influential simming leader.  ToS (“Tournament of Simulations”) is the final group of awards.  In ToS, volunteer judges from around the community read posts form participating games and choose winners in different categories that may vary from year to year.  ToS also dates back to 1999.  It is currently presented by Ongoing Worlds, but began in the Simming League as well.

Clear as mud?  Fantastic!  So here’s how we choose Squiddie winners… Read More

Aug
25

By

We’re Now Accepting Host/Chair Applications for FallFest 2016

Category: Behind the scenes - running RPGs, Events, Play-by-post discussion, Roleplaying community Tags: , , Leave a Comment

Fall Fest 2015

FallFest 2015 logo
Image by Jalana Rajel

That’s right, it’s time once again to plan the online roleplaying community’s premier event: The Simming Fall Festival (aka FallFest).  This will be the 6th festival since our beginnings back in 2011.

For those who may be new to the Ongoing Worlds blog, FallFest is a one-day online convention held annually in IRC chatrooms for anything and everything simming and online role playing.  We remember our past and look to our future.  It generally runs for about seven hours and includes multiple discussions, trivia games, and live role plays.  Originally intended to be a mini-SciWorld more friendly to European timezones, FallFest has since grown into much, much more.

We need a host & chairperson to make it all happen…

Read More

May
1

By

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

Jun
17

By

The 10th Ongoing Worlds Community Honor is hereby awarded to…

Category: Awards, Roleplaying community, Uncategorized Tags: , , , 8 Comments

Ongoing Worlds Community Honor

Ongoing Worlds Community Honor

It give me great pleasure to present the 10th Ongoing Worlds Community Honor to none other than David Ball for founding Ongoing Worlds and leading it over the last 4+ years.  Indeed, David has not only created a wonderful website where independent sims, both themed and original, can thrive, but he’s also developed an online blog that has now become the intellectual center of the online role playing community.  Simply put, no one is more deserving of a community honor than David.  Congratulations! Read More

Oct
29

By

Chas Hammer is awarded the OWCH

Category: Awards, OngoingWorlds site news Tags: , , , Leave a Comment

The OWCH awardI’d like to inform everyone that Chas Hammer, a member of our Board of Advisors, has resigned and decided to move on with his career. Chas joined us earlier this year in March when OngoingWorlds and the Simming League merged. During his seven months on the board, Chas has been an invaluable asset to us all. With that in mind, I now present the second Ongoing Worlds Community Honor to Chas Hammer for his service on the Board of Advisors and for hosting SciWorld 2012.

Congratulations! Read More