OngoingWorlds blog

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

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Encouraging your members to post, an annoying necessity

girl forcing man to postWe’ve all seen roleplaying games where the posts have fizzled out, sometimes in the middle of an interesting story. So why does the story just stop and die? One of the reasons is a key player might suddenly have been unable to post, or suddenly they became too busy to post, or maybe they just forgot. After a long time the desire to continue fades, as does your memory of recent happenings in the game, and there’s no more posts.

I was interested in a recent discussion on RPG-Directory, where user Cady asked whether it’s okay to “poke, prod & beg for posts”. Read More

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10 tips for roleplaying in foreign countries

Green and red roleplayers

Roleplaying in distant lands has been a part of the simming business for many years; one notable early example is the focus of Twilight 2000 on Poland for a number of their modules, a country that most Westerners could not visit in the 1980s. Read More

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Approving and declining members is a big ol’ piece of cake

Roleplaying games are more fun with other members. In OngoingWorlds I’ve made it really easy to approve new members who’ve submitted a good character profile, or decline the ones that haven’t. Here’s a screencast explaining how to do it:

 

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Does creating audio podcasts make people take your roleplay seriously?

Music Energy (+clipping path, XXL)I love listening to podcasts. I’ve been listening to audio podcasts for many years, despite only owning a iPod recently. Usually I burn them to CD and listen in my car on long drives, or just my usual drive to work.

I love podcasts because they’re so specific on a topic, instead of listening to talk radio which usually has to cater for a wide general audience. You can check Radio Waves for latest radio talks. In recent years I’ve been a boom of podcasts, each created by amateurs who are excited about a niche topic. One of these is the Starbase 118 podcast, Starbase 118 is a community of many roleplaying games, which gives them loads of content to talk about in an audio podcast. Read More

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Week One, SB118 Writing Improvement Month

Marissa Jeffrey from Starbase 118

Written by Marissa Jeffrey from Starbase 118

The first week for UFOP: Starbase 118’s first ever Writing Improvement month has been wildly successful. Not only was the first event, an IRC Q&A with Star Trek and Sci Fi author Margaret Wander Bonanno, insightful and helpful to writers of all kinds, but it gave everyone involved a taste of what’s yet to come.

Some of our leadership also got together to help create tutorials that could be used by simmers both in the Fleet and in RPG games across the net, to improve their writing. This week’s theme was grammar and research, and how we could use it to write better. Read More

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Roleplayers: We’re definitely not antisocial subterranean morlocks

morlocks

There’s a stereotype that roleplayers are antisocial and a bit… weird. This portrayal states that roleplayers have no friends in the real world, and go online to live out a fantasy life with people they meet online. Read More

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Kicking Off Writing Improvement Month!

UFOP Starbase118 Writing Improvement Month 2013This weekend kicks off the Starbase 118 Writing Improvement Month with some exciting events. Overall, the entire month is focused on helping creative writers and gamers improve their skills in writing, with each week divided into specific themes. The first week of the event will feature information about using grammar correctly, general writing tips, and using research resources to improve the posts we write.

Be sure to sign up for the mailing list so that you can be kept informed about the many things going on throughout the month!

The schedule for this week will include various email tips and tutorials, helpful links, and some interactive live events that everyone is sure to enjoy.

On February 3rd, join us for our opening ceremonies and meet the people who will be partaking in the event and who are leading the various activities. Read More

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10 ways to keep your newest roleplayers

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Your Dilemma

Wes Davis

This post was written by Wes Davis, founder of Star Army

You’ve worked hard setting up your online roleplaying or simming community, and harder still to spread the word about it.

A stream of new players is joining, but some of them are flaking out and disappearing without a trace. How can you overcome new players’ shyness and make them feel comfortable and included in your community? Read More

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UFOP: Starbase 118 – 2013 Writing Improvement Month!

UFOP Starbase118 Writing Improvement Month 2013 Writing has always been a skilled art form since man scribbled on the walls in the cave. No writer anywhere thinks they are as good as they will ever be. Many of us strive to improve, and end up surprising ourselves with elements in our writing we never thought were possible. In the spirit of this idea, UFOP: StarBase 118 will be hosting month long event to help writers everywhere improve on their writing quality throughout February.

The group will be utilizing the Writing Improvement email list to send out tutorials, examples and schedules upcoming events. They will be hosting many different IRC and Google Hangout events during the month to help many writers with tips to improve their craft. StarBase 118 has lined up many authors to attend and host these chats, and all are welcome to attend. Read More

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Announcing the Ongoing Worlds Medal for Superior Online Role Playing

Ongoing Worlds Medal for Superior Online Role Playing

Ongoing Worlds Medal for Superior Online Role Playing

That’s right, we’re now accepting nominations for the Ongoing Worlds Medal for Superior Online Role Playing (also known as the Squiddie Award).  What is this new award, you might ask?  Simply put, it is the pinnacle award presented by our organization.  Each year it will be bestowed upon three different entities: one person, one sim/game, and one club.  They will then be entitled to use the honorific Superior Online Role Playing Laureate (or Squiddie Laureate).

Squiddies will be presented 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 (self nominations are permitted).  Each nomination should include a write-up of why the person, sim, or club is deserving.  The write-up should focus on one or more of the three areas mentioned above and not exceed 250 words. Read More