Feb
11
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:
Feb
9
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
Feb
8
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
Feb
3
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
Jan
30
This 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
Jan
27
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
Jan
19
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
Jan
19
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:
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
Jan
17
This article is written by David Whale from Starbase 118. David also blogs at whalewriter.com.
Yeah, I did it. I invoked the much-maligned theme song from Star Trek: Enterprise.
Hopefully you’re still reading, because I used that line for a reason and that reason was not just to annoy you or to get that song running through your head. Which I expect it is. My real reason for using that line is that I would like to have a chat with you about character arcs and how important they are in story-based role-playing.
Some of you may have heard me discuss character development on the UFOP Starbase 118 podcast in November, so you’ll already be familiar with a few of the points I’m going to make here. Read More
Jan
17
I’m proud to announce that Ongoing Worlds‘ third Community Honor (OWCH) is hereby officially presented to Leon Archer of Spellbound for his enthusiastic leadership and outstanding contributions to the Ongoing Worlds Blog. Congratulations, Leon!
Not only is Leon one of the leaders within the Ongoing Worlds game The Walking Dead, but he’s also the GM of two games that he founded, XCOM and Spellbound. A quick review of any one of his three games will reveal an infectious enthusiasm for role playing that quickly spreads to the game’s other members and beyond. His leadership, both in and out of story, is a model for us all to follow in creating and maintaining fresh and dynamic role play games.
Over the past few months, Leon has also written several articles covering an array of different simming and role play topics. His posts are always interesting and provide greats points for us to think about and apply to our games. These articles have contributed not only to our network here, but to the collective knowledge of our entire community. If you haven’t yet read one of his articles, check them out!
You can see some of Leon’s other awards here.
Well done, Leon!
