OngoingWorlds blog

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

May
23

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It’s 2017 Squiddie Time!

Category: Awards, Competition, Roleplaying community Tags: 1 Comment

That’s right–now that the Tournament of Simulations is completed, it’s time to turn our attention to Ongoing Worlds’ pinnacle award: The 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 Read More

May
13

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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

Feb
10

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Online Role Players & Pokémon Go

Category: Interviews, Play-by-post discussion, Roleplaying community Tags: , , , 2 Comments

Editor’s Note: This article was published shortly before Pokémon Go’s February 16, 2017 Gen 2 update.

The mobile application Pokémon Go was released a little over seven months ago today.  Unless you’ve been hiding under a rock, you know what a big hit it was.  Indeed, almost immediately it broke multiple download and revenue records for mobile apps.   Read More

Jan
1

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It’s time for the 2016 Tournament of Simulations (ToS)

Category: Awards, Competition, Events, Roleplaying community Tags: 7 Comments

ToS2016That’s right, it’s time for our annual Tournament of Simulations (ToS) competition!  Role players, hosts, and club leaders alike are all hereby invited to enter their games/sims/role plays in the the oldest and most prestigious competition of the entire simming and online roleplaying universe (yes, it’s ToS!).  Indeed, Ongoing Worlds is officially calling on on YOU (yes, you!) to enter your simulations and online role plays in the 2016 edition of ToS.  This will be the 12th tournament to be held (the first happened in 1999).  Nominations will be accepted through January 31st, 2017. Winners will be announced sometime later.  Here’s how to enter: Read More

Dec
9

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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

Nov
18

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FallFest VI is in the books & another OWCH

Category: Awards, Behind the scenes - running RPGs, Events, Play-by-post discussion, Roleplaying community Tags: , , , , 2 Comments

fallfestvi-500

2016 Simming Fall Festival
image by Myrkul Sharr

What a FallFest!  Indeed, the 2016 Simming Fall Festival was one for the ages.  For those who missed it on Saturday, we had a schedule full of provocative discussions, live role plays, and interactive trivia games.  Attendance was strong throughout, with some individual events registering as many as 40 participants.  It’s a real testament to the power of our broader community.  And it was a blast! For book related information go and check this.

I’d like to personally thank everyone who had a part in making FallFest 2016 happen–everyone from chair Myrkul Sharr and his leadership team at Obsidian Fleet to the event hosts to anyone who had a role behind the scenes, be it IT support, graphics design, advertising, or something else.  Finally, I’d also like to thank everyone who attended and participated.  Simply put, without you bringing your energy & ideas, there would be no FallFest.

For those of you who unfortunately missed FallFest this year, we’ll see you in 2017.
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Nov
12

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2016 Simming Fall Festival

Category: Behind the scenes - running RPGs, Events, Play-by-post discussion, Roleplaying community Tags: , , , 2 Comments

fallfestvi-500

2016 Simming Fall Festival
image by Myrkul Sharr

Head on over now to join FallFest 2016.  Lots of interactive discussions, trivia games, live role plays, and more.

This is simming.  This is community.  This is FallFest.  https://discord.gg/86ENTZ5

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Nov
11

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4 Reasons You Should Attend FallFest Tomorrow

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

fallfestvi-500

2016 Simming Fall Festival
image by Myrkul Sharr

In case you live under a rock and haven’t yet heard, FallFest VI is tomorrow.  That’s right, on Saturday, November 12th at 15:30 United Kingdom / 10:30 am New York / 7:30 am San Francisco time, we’ll officially kick off the 2016 Simming Fall Festival.  Click here to see the current line up of events and how to join the festivities.  Myrkul Sharr and his leadership team from Obsidian Fleet and other clubs have quite extravaganza scheduled for us.

It doesn’t matter if you’re into Star Trek, Star Wars, or Dr. Who.  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 for you!  So what do you really get out of FallFest?  Here are 4 reasons you should attend tomorrow:

  • 1) You’ll get to rub elbows with many prominent members of our community.  In fact, some of the most successful and influential role players and simming leaders in history will be attending and facilitating events.  Learn from the best!
  • 2) You’ll hear about the latest and most innovative techniques and strategies for leading a successful role play.  Indeed, there will be multiple events dedicated to running better games.  Discover what’s working for others now!
  • 3) You’ll be able to role play with others from different clubs and genres.  With a diverse set of hosts and settings, you’ll experience a wide range of concepts and ideas.  Challenge the simming norms and help break barriers!
  • 4) You’ll have fun!  All simmers and online role players, regardless of rank or club affiliation, are invited to attend and participate.  There’s no way to energize your sim than to come back with a fresh perspective.

See you there!

Oct
15

By

Announcing FallFest VI

Category: Behind the scenes - running RPGs, Events, Play-by-post discussion, Roleplaying community Tags: , , , 3 Comments

2016 Simming Fall Festival

2016 Simming Fall Festival
image by Myrkul Sharr

It is time to officially announce the 2016 Simming Fall Festival…  The sixth annual FallFest will be held on November 12, 2016 from 15:30 United Kingdom time (10:30 am New York / 7:30 am San Francisco) through 02:00 the next morning (9 pm NY / 6 pm SF).  We’re proud to have Obsidian Fleet serving as club host and Myrkul Sharr as chair.  Myrkul and his team from Obsidian Fleet and other groups are putting together quite a show for us this year!

For anyone not familiar with FallFest, this is a time when the entire simming and online roleplaying community comes together for a few hours in online chat rooms for engaging discussions, interactive trivia games, and live chat role plays.  In short, we share ideas and energy! Read More

Sep
8

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Star Trek’s 50th Anniversary: Your Favorite Trek

Category: Interviews, Play-by-post discussion, Roleplaying community Tags: , 10 Comments

The first episode of Star Trek, "The Man Trap," aired on NBC on September 8, 1966.

The first episode of Star Trek, “The Man Trap,” aired on NBC on September 8, 1966.  While it was the sixth episode filmed, the studio elected to show it first because of its horror-based plot.

Fifty years ago today the very first episode of Star Trek aired.  In “The Man Trap,” viewers saw Captain Kirk, Spock, McCoy, and the rest of the USS Enterprise crew battle a shapeshifting alien attempting to steal the salt in their bodies, which of course would kill them.  (Spoiler Alert: The crew survives and the mission continues… otherwise we probably wouldn’t be publishing this article!)  Reviews of the episode were mixed.  For what it’s worth, I like it.

Most people, including many in the cast and crew, expected the show to last only a season or two and to be nothing more than a footnote in television history.  As they say, the rest is history.  The Star Trek franchise is now valued in the billions of dollars and a cultural phenomenon that permeates many sectors, including the simming and online role playing community that we’re all a part of.  Just imagine, for a moment, simming without Star Trek.  Gene Roddenberry surely could not have foreseen all of this!

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