OngoingWorlds blog

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

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Independence Fleet: Star Trek Play-by-Post roleplaying

As David wrote a few months back in his advertising piece, Ongoing Worlds is open to publishing articles promoting the different clubs and groups out there.  A few examples are here, here, and here.  So why not shamelessly plug my own group?

I ended my term as President of UCIP last August.  Man, what a great group of role players!  If you’re into some serious writing and simming, you can’t go wrong with them.  However, as much as I love and respect UCIP, I was recently given the opportunity to finally return to my home club, Independence Fleet (IDFleet.com).  It was simply too much to pass up.  Yes, I’m back with IDF for my second stint as its Chief of Fleet Operations.

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20 Years of Sunfire Script

Utopia Fleet

For as long as I can remember, I’ve heard people say, “I’ve been simming for 20 years.” Well, I can finally say it myself.

I’ve been simming for 20 years. 

Wow, that felt good!

On February 16, 2000, the USS Sunfire NCC-3935, a Bedford class starship, launched in old Utopia Fleet’s Deep Space Exploration Division.  I was the ship’s CMO.  That’s Chief Medical Officer for all you non-Trek role players.  Fast forward to today and it’s hard to image my life without play-by-post role playing.

I’ve been a writer, a politician, a diplomat, a founder, an editor, a counselor, an investigator, a philosopher, a Captain, an Admiral, and even a game show host–all of which are never going to happen IRL (that’s In Real Life for you non-simmers).  Role playing’s taught me a lot about people, life, and myself.  All in all, it’s been a fun ride.

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Recruiting: The Lifeblood of Role Playing

Fish joining others in another goldfish bowl

No single factor plays a greater role in determining the success of a sim or club than recruiting. Read More

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What is Open Role Playing?

Captain Dick Sprague, Commanding Officer of the USS Chuck Norris

That’s a question I get a lot when people read or hear about my game, the USS Chuck Norris, as it’s quite different from most other sims out there.  But before I answer that question, I should first explain what the Chuck Norris is to set up the proper context.

The USS Chuck Norris is a play-by-email sim, but we use the NOVA system from Anodyne Productions that came out a few years ago.  Play-by-post seems to be the most popular term today for this type of game.  We launched on January 2nd, 2012, and are a member of Independence Fleet.  There are currently 16 active players on the Chuck Norris, and many have been with us for more than a year.  Although, we also have quite a few players that have been simming for less than six months.

With that out of the way, I’ll finally answer the question! Read More

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2011 Tournament of Simulations

Trophy

Two months and 27 sims later, the best games – the winners of the 2011 Tournament of Simulations – have been announced.

The Federation Sim Fleet (FSF) and the Starfleet Legacy Alliance (SLA), both venerable clubs noted for their chat sims, captured top honors in the chat sim category, with the USS Lionheart of the SLA winning as best Star Trek chat sim, and the Paragon of the FSF named the best Star Wars chat sim.  Starbase 27 of the SLA and the USS Providence of the FSF also earned marks, with Starbase 27 noted as the most creative chat sim, and the crew of the Providence named the best chat sim crew. Read More