OngoingWorlds blog

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

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First Person Fortnight 2015

First person fortnight

It’s that time again, folk!

Well, not exactly since I’m pretty sure this happened at a different time last year, but anyhoo, it’s First Person Fortnight! Get excited.

This is your chance to win an award for your game (or games, if you are so inclined) and go down in Ongoing Worlds’ history as winner. Who doesn’t want that? Read More

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Tib’s Corner – Tale of Fahrvergnügen and Giddlysmooch

Hello children, Papa Tibby here to tell you all a fantastical story on the tale of Fahrvergnügen and Giddlysmooch. kryten-red-dwarfA tale of friendship, and betrayal [jk] Anywho, let’s begin the story of Fahrvergnügen and Giddlysmooch. [This is in no way to mention any names or games or point fingers at anyone!]

Once upon a time, in the magical forest of Gum-gum Wibbly, at the village of Tumbeldy Bum-Bum. Lived a magical elf by the name of Fahrvergnügen. Fahrvergnügen was a member of a special site that specializes in Play by Post games called “Perpetual Universes”, ran by Bill Sphere also known as “Turnip”. Read More

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First Person Fortnight 2013

First person fortnight

Greetings, Ongoing Worldlings! I come to you with an important message… A message that IT is almost upon us.

No, not the Festive Season (ick), I’m talking about something far more fun: First Person Fortnight! Read More

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Aimee gets her prize

You’ll remember a few weeks ago week Aimee won the First Person Fortnight competition, which meant I swiftly sent her prize (a snazzy mug) through the post to her. She sent me this photo of her enjoying a cuppa!

Aimee drinking from mug

Aimee with her prize

Congratulations again Aimee!

If you haven’t read the winning entries for the competition, you can see them here.

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Runner up – Back To the Deep End

This story was voted 4th place in the First Person Fortnight competition. You can read the winning story here.

Back To the Deep End, written by Sue Wilson.

I am down at the Dock watching the river go by. It is running high and fast and the ripples of brown water carrying detritus from upstream; logs, bottles, plastic, bags. Occasionally they vanish, sucked under by the current, some times reappearing a few feet  away, other times being lost forever. Others spin round and round in the eddies set up by the angles around the dock gates. It is almost hypnotic – I could watch this all day.

“Cale! There you are!”

Only apparently I can’t. Read More

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Runner up – Last Rites

This story was voted 3rd place in the First Person Fortnight competition. You can read the winning story here.

Last Rites, written by Mark Vorenkamp.

The once brilliant blonde hair was nearly all gone and what remained had turned grey-white. The fit physique of a country-boy had become the ponch of an older man in the age of easy divorce and fast food. The boyish charm and easy smile of long ago had been replaced by a pleading look and a slight quiver at the edges of his mouth.
How I hated him.
We had met a lifetime before, 1953, before civil rights, in a small town in the Deep South where even today crosses are burned in front yards and “good old boys” were the celebrated norm. I had the misfortune of having been born there. I walked an hour every morning to the small run-down school in the next town while my neighbors climbed into school busses and rode in comfort to the new brick structure standing as a monument in the center of town. That particular day I had been running late, having stayed after school to finish my work in one of the dozen communal-textbooks shared between the three classes of senior math. I had no choice but to take a short cut through a local farm to get to the elementary school before my brother and sister were released. They weren’t allowed to walk themselves back to town. Read More

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Running up – Evidence based tips for runners to avoid injury

recreational runners - corellation of running and osteoarthritis

With the beginning of a new year come new goals, many which include starting a new exercise program or setting new goals in existing programs. Runners often set goals of running a certain mileage (ie marathon), or goals of a personal best time. Here I’ve compiled some tips for runners to avoid injury when starting a new running program, this is how fit after 50 works.

  1. Plan well in advance to allow for adequate training time.

Preparing for a run requires time. Repeated studies have found that rapid increases in running distance, speed, the introduction of hills, etc will increase your risk of injury.1,2

One can follow the 10% rule when increasing training volume to minimize one’s risk of the following injuries: patellofemoral pain (runner’s knee), iliotibial band syndrome, medial tibial stress syndrome (shin splints), patellar tendinopathy (jumper’s knee), greater trochanteric bursitis, and injury to the gluteus medius or tensor fascia latae 3 How long you need to train depends on the race and your fitness level. Visit gobiofit.com for more detailed information about dietary supplements.

2. Include strength training.

There is no evidence to suggest that concurrent strength training impedes running ability. Results of a 2017 study show that runners who also do strength training improve their efficiency of running, strength and speed.4,5 Strengthening may also help prevent injuries. Check this
resurge review.

3. Include slow runs in your training.

Total training time spent at low intensities is associated with improved performance.6

Elite runners typically spend about 80% of their training below their ventilatory threshold – that’s below 77-79% of their maximum heart rate. You can calculate your ventilatory threshold using the following formula:  V=(220 – age)x 0.77 in beats per minute. Its also at about the point where you can run and still have a conversation.

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Competition winner announced

First person fortnight

The First Person Fortnight competition was a huge success, we had more entries than I even imagined! Before I tell you the winners, I want to thank the judges for all their hard work. Remember that every submitted story had to be read by our special ninja judges, then critiqued and scored to find the best story!

If you’re desperate to know the winner, you can scroll to the bottom but first Read More

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Give your members an award for taking part in First Person Fortnight

I’ve been encouraging roleplayers to take part in First Person Fortnight, just for something a bit different, and after writing in first person myself I realised how difficult it can be! So I thought it’d be great to reward members who are joining in with an award.

I’ve already given members of my game (Blue Dwarf) a special award for taking part, and I think it’d be great if other GMs and moderators did the same too!

If you’re not sure how to give an award, I’ve recorded this video to show you how!

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Subjective point of view in your stories

tree at night

As First Person Fortnight starts tomorrow, I’ve been posting some tips on writing in first person perspective. I’ve already posted some benefits of first person over on RPG-D, but wanted to get more into the details in this article.

Everyone knows that first person is from the point of view of a character. One of the main advantages of this is the freedom of telling the story how you want to tell it (or more accurately, how your character wants to tell it). Read More