Site News

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New theme and other changes

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home_remodeling Today I decided it was the time for a few changes here at Stargazer’s World. The most obvious change is the new theme. Stargazer’s World now uses the Mystique theme by digitalnature. This theme has a much better readability than the one I used before and looks pretty cool. Alas I am not completely happy with the background, so I will probably change it in the next days.

I also got rid of the Disqus comment system. Recently the service was not that reliable and it often caused severe slowdowns on the site. So I replaced it with Intense Debate. Intense Debate definitely integrates better into the blog and has a few more features I find useful (like CommentLuv support).

I am still in the process of tweaking the theme and some of the plugins, so don’t get alarmed if something doesn’t work like you were used to it. If there are any major issues, please let me know. I’ll try to fix any errors ASAP.

Stargazer’s World is “Best Gaming Blog” according to RPG Blog 2

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Every year RPG blogger, podcaster and ex-ENnie judge Zachary Houghton presents his picks for the best in gaming. Yesterday he posted his personal favorites in the following categories: Best Supplement, Best Adventure, Best Setting, Best System, Best Game, Best Writing, Best Gaming Accessory, Best Gaming Company, Best Gaming Blog, and Best Trend.

And it seems this year he picked Stargazer’s World for the “Best Gaming Blog” category. Here’s how he explains his decision:

Michael Wolf and company have managed to take on new contributors without seeing any dip in their already-awesome quality. It also would have been easy to pick the most excellent Gnome Stew, but in a lot of ways Michael’s done more with less. Plus, I’m pretty sure we were all surprised that he didn’t win an ENnie, so hopefully this will help in ever-so-slightly compensating for it.

Thanks a lot, Zach! And I have to thank my team without something like that wouldn’t have been possible. I also need to thank my readers. The blog would be a pretty pointless with out you guys reading it!

You definitely should check out Zach’s post to find out about the other awardees. Some of the picks may surprise you, but trust me, Zachary picked a few true gaming gems. And don’t forget to give the honorable mentions a look, too!

DISQUS

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Earlier today I installed the DISQUS comment system on Stargazer’s World. At the same time I disabled the Janrain Engage plugin which allowed users to sign in using various social media services. The Janrain plugin has caused several issues lately and to add insult to injury it lost its setting almost regularly so I had to fix it much too often. The latest update of the plugin also forced me to open site registrations again which has lead to the creation of endless accounts by spammers.

The DISQUS plugin will add some new features to the comment system and will hopefully make it easier for you to read and write comments. If you encounter any issues with the new system, please let me know!

UPDATE: One thing I’ve noticed is that the widget in the sidebar to the right shows pretty ancient comments as recent. I am pretty sure this was caused by the import process and will remedy itself as soon as new comments are coming in.

Chat

Introducing the Stargazer’s World IRC chat channel!

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Stargazer’s World
now has a chat channel!

This channel is accessible both by chat client (mIRC, Xchat, and so on). It is also accessible by a browser-based Java applet on the network’s website. I will provide instructions for both forms of access:

Using an IRC Client
0.) If you do not have a client but wish to use this method, download mIRC for Windows, Colloquy for Mac, or Xchat for Linux (Xchat for Windows cuts itself off after a trial period and is, in my opinion, far too expensive for a program which is free under Linux). Be aware that mIRC asks you to pay after a trial period, but does not actually cripple itself after that period; it’s on your conscience and honor whether you pay the requested money. Spend some time learning how to use the client — help files!

1.) Point your IRC client at the server irc.sorcery.net on port 6667, 7000 or 9000.

2.) Join #StargazersWorld

Using the Stargazer’s World Blog Chat Page

1.) Go to http://www.stargazersworld.com/irc/

2.) Follow the instructions.

Using the Network Website Java Applet

1.) Go to the Sorcerynet website, http://sorcery.net/

2.) Click “Chat Now” in the top bar.

3.) In the page that loads, enter your chosen nickname in the “Nickname” box, and “#RPMN” in the “Channels” box.

4.) Give the applet time to connect. You’ll know when you’re in the channel.

5.) Begin chatting!

Be aware that your chosen nickname may be registered by someone else for their personal use. If you see a warning message, change your nickname, or the network may change it for you to something like “Nonick-3B4AE”.

A Few Basic Guidelines

1.) Be respectful. The occasional curse is fine, we’re adults. Racism, sexism, generic attacks on groups of people, countries, etc. will be frowned upon. No personal attacks, no stalking, and any arguments will have a lid put on them if they go beyond civil disagreement. Finally, try not to gross out your fellow chatters, please.

2.) Please try to use decent spelling, punctuation, capitalization and grammar. Some folks really don’t care to hit the Shift key, and that’s fine too, but txtspk will be frowned upon unless it is used in humor or illustration.

3.) There are only two forbidden topics. These are politics and religion. These two topics are easily the most contentious subjects in society today, and lead to far too many arguments, especially online. Use common sense: talking about the fact that the United States has a bicameral Congress is fine, because it is factual, but talking about the doings of the Senate, the behavior of a particular figure, the “real” causes of such and such war, etc. is across the line. As for religion, again, factual statements are fine, but anything beyond that is not permitted. If an op asks you to stop, please do not argue the case, even if you believe you have not crossed the line. There are plenty of other places to discuss these two topics.

If you have IRC experience and wish to be considered for a channel op (admin) position, contact me either here or in the channel. My nickname on IRC is Corvus. I will not automatically op everyone who asks; this isn’t a personal judgement or an insult.

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Thanks to all of you!

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Thanks! Yesterday the 800th post at Stargazer’s World went live. This is a great milestone and I am still amazed we were able to reach it in about 25 months. And I have to admit this wouldn’t have been possible without the support of our readers. Thanks to all of you and I hope you’ll continue to support us!

By the way, the small guy to the right is a character I invented back in 10th grade. If you like him, he might have a few more appearances on the blog.

I also decided I should reveal the pageview statistics of the blog since I started it in August ‘08. Here they are:

Pageviews

And now let’s return to our regular program…

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Fantasy Craft Giveaway: We have a winner!

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Fantasy Craft On September 1st I announced a Fantasy Craft giveaway contest in order to celebrate Crafty Games latest release: “Time of High Adventure”. There have been 30 eligible comments and two late entries which couldn’t be considered. Instead of rolling my trusty d30, I used random.org to generate a truly random number between 1 and 30. The lucky number was 29 this time and so, Typhon won!

I already sent him an email and when he accepts his prize, he’ll be reading Fantasy Craft in no time. In the unlikely case he doesn’t accept, I’ll do a second drawing. Typhon, if you read this and you haven’t got an email yet, please contact me using email (my email address is shown under that post).

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The Penny Arcade Expo

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I am so excited to be attending the Penny Arcade Expo (PAX) in Seattle this year! I have never been to a gaming convention before and I am looking forward to this epic adventure! I hope to come back with inspiration for new posts and maybe even a write up of my experiences at PAX.

I will be traveling to Seattle with my fiancé for this event. PAX is from September 3rd – 5th. We are both excited to see as many games and talks as possible. We are both interested in checking out what Wizards of the Coast has going on for Dungeons & Dragons related events. I am hoping to find a Green Ronin booth and maybe talk with someone about the new DC Adventures RPG.

My fiancé and I will be treating this trip like a vacation for us. After PAX I will be spending a week in Washington State visiting family before returning to Juneau Alaska. I am not planning on doing much writing while I am on vacation, but please feel free to follow me on twitter (@nicap) as I am sure I will be posting updates and pictures from PAX.

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