OngoingWorlds blog

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

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Spice Up The Senses

spicy fireworks

This article was written by Maxwell Traenor from UFOP: StarBase 118

We as writers are used to “painting a picture” with our words.  Setting a scene that our characters inhabit is arguably the most important part of our writing in order to immerse the reader fully into the universe our characters live and breathe in.  But, the phrase “paint a picture” can be deceptive.  It implies sight, as in describing how the world looks through our character’s eyes. Read More

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Top Retention Tips

 

This article was written by James Drysdale from Starbase 118 (visit their website).

welcome mat won't you stay a while

Recruitment and retention have been hot topics on OngoingWorlds lately and they’re both important. Attracting players to your game is essential to keep it viable because no matter how good you are, people’s circumstances change and there are many things outside a GM’s control that can take players away from the game, from education or new jobs to expanding family or even caring responsibilities. New players are the lifeblood of our games, so what can we do to increase retention and as ensure our new players want to stay? Here are a few of my favourite tried and tested tips: Read More

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Why setting a scene is so important

This article was first posted on Starbase 118’s blog, but I thought it was so useful I’ve posted it here. Make sure to check out their other articles with tips about writing

Pixeltrek

We all know that dialogue is important. Dialogue is how we interact with other character and it is a critical part of our simming style. We write dialogue and leave tags for other characters to interact with.

But what about the parts of a post that are not dialogue? Read More

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A simple tip – Read your post out loud

Nimoy with microphone

I found this great advice on the RP community Starbase 118’s website, which is a simple tip to improve your writing. Read More

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Starbase 118’s guide to sexism in simming

ignorant prick saying girls suck at math

Hopefully sexism is a thing of the past, but unfortunately it still pervails enough for Starbase 118 (a Star Trek roleplaying club) to have written a guide which helps to ensure the roleplaying community is welcoming for all. Read More

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Some scene setting prompts from Starbase 118

writing-hand

There’s been a good article published recently on the Starbase 118 community blog, with some starting points which might encourage you to think about setting the scene in your own posts. They have some example paragrpahs showing how putting effort into describing the scene can make it seem so much more real, and I encourage you to take a look. Read More

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Second Annual Writing Improvement Month Hosted by Starbase 118

writingeventlogo2014 Painters wash their brushes. Carpenters sweep up sawdust. If your medium is the written word, there’s no reminder that it’s time for a bit of upkeep and reflecting on the craft. That’s why this February, UFOP: StarBase 118 will host its annual Writing Improvement Month. The month-long event covers topics from advancing a plot to writing alien species and includes tutorials, writing samples, and downloadable resources. Each week focuses on a different element of writing: overall writing improvement, setting scenes, building characters, and plot. A new article or resource will be released each day of February, bringing with it an opportunity to further develop your individual style as a writer. Read More

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Maintaining a creative atmosphere and inspiring players

Greir Reinard from Starbase 118

This article was written by Amy Drysdale who plays Greir Reinard from Starbase 118

The roleplaying games that stand the test of time are those that can maintain a creative atmosphere and keep their players inspired. There are times when a mission seems to stall for one reason or another and posting rates seem to drop. If left unchecked the game’s players will start to get bored and eventually leave. There are several things that can be done in-game and as a group to keep players interested and inspired in the long term.

It all begins with mission planning and looking at the crew and the strengths they have. By thinking hard about players’ capabilities it is possible to find more creative and interesting ways to include them in missions. Read More

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So You Want to Roleplay…

Sundassa Faranster

Ensign Sundassa Faranster is a character on the USS Apollo

So, you want to roleplay, good. That will help stimulate your imagination, give you an outlet to be someone or something else, see things you never imagined you would, while sharing the experience with like-minded people.

Now, what you will see or experience while roleplaying will depend on what the genre of the game is. If it’s science-fiction you can go anywhere you can see the future going, even alter the past. Fantasy gives you things from your wildest dreams, mixture of sorcery and sword play, faeries and dragons, witches and castles. Mystery, allows you to be a detective and solve a crime or find something, power of deduction. Simply go through https://www.paultolandlaw.com/vacating-criminal-convictions/ for the best criminal defense attorney. Read More

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Announcing the Squiddie awards – The winners

Squiddie award for superior online roleplaying

Now that the Oscars are out of the way, it’s time to present the real awards, the Squiddies! The Squiddies (officially the OngoingWorlds medal for superior online roleplaying) are our own award for roleplaying excellence, where we invite all roleplayers to nominate their games, clubs and fellow roleplayers for an award. Nominations were given to us by a form on an article published back in January (we postponed our event to not conflict with SimEnc’s Simming Prize). We announced the nominations last week, and our judges have been working diligently to reach a consensus on the winners.

The competition was fierce as we received nominations for 19 individuals, nine sims/games, and six clubs. Read More