Blog Archives
First Emissary Report – Play On Con
Our first Emissary has come back from Play On Con in Irondale, Alabama. Revtobiaz has the full write-up on his blog, The Yoko Critic (Warning: header image is SFW, but you may get some raised eyebrows…)
Favorite Quote
As the panel winded down, I took the opportunity to complete my required task and handed out the material for OP. I was shocked to hear that only one or two people had heard about the site. The rest were quite interested in looking into it.
This is exactly why we started the Emissary program. Once you start using Obsidian Portal, it’s easy to forget that it’s fairly new there was a time that you didn’t know about it. It seems so obvious. But, the real truth is that most gamers still have never heard of us.
If any of you are interested in helping us illuminate the rest of the world about Obsidian Portal, we’re always accepting more people into the Emissary program. Just send an email to [email protected] with your username and the cons you attend, and we’ll get you set up!
Updated Feature: Image Uploader
We’ve made some awesome improvements to our Image Uploader feature. Care to see?
At 50% of Actual Size!
First, we made it so that you can upload multiple images at once. We also fixed a few nagging problems, so that now it really works with Internet Explorer. Was that 1 GB of storage space getting you down? We increased it to 5 GB for Ascendant Members. Play around with it. There are many interface improvements, and we’d love to hear what you have to say about them. Tell us if they’re too much, not enough, or just right. That’s it for now, but look forward to future improvements where we’ll add additional file types!
Remember, to pull up the Image Uploader, all you have to do is click on the picture icon at the end of the toolbar above the textbox your typing into.
We’ve been Nominated for a Second ENnie!
Last year we won our first Golden ENnie, and we owe that tremendous victory to you. You who are our users, our friends, our community, and our heroes. Help us make it two years in a row, won’t you? To vote for Obsidian Portal, please take the following steps:
How To Vote
- Go to http://www.ennie-awards.com/voting/ballot.asp
- Scroll down to 16. Best Website
- Select 1 from the drop down box next to Obsidian Portal
- Vote for your other favorite products (you don’t have to vote in any category you don’t want to)
- Scroll down to the bottom and click Submit my votes
That’s all there is to it. Thanks so much for being there for us over the last year and for helping us make Obsidian Portal the best Tabletop RPG Campaign Management Community in the world!
Forum Moderation and You
Hail Adventurers,
Obsidian Portal is looking for three new Forum Moderators. If you’re interested in being a Forum Moderator then you’ll have to meet the following prerequisites:
- You are a frequent user of our forums
- You can abide by the forum etiquette guidelines
- You are interested in keeping the Obsidian Portal forums a fun and unique
- You have ideas for/ are willing to run contests and promotions to keep your fellow forumites entertained
If you’re selected to be one of our new moderators, you’ll get a complimentary Ascendant Membership and a t-shirt! Interested? Send an email to dan(at)obsidianportal(dot)com with the subject Forum Moderator and remember to include your forum username in the body of the email.
iPhone, Android, and other mobile support
I’ve been getting more and more curious about how people are using Obsidian Portal via their mobile devices. Being a technology luddite myself, I still use a cell phone that would be at home in the late 90s. However, I do recognize the potential that mobile devices represent at the game table. It would be incredibly handy to be able to reference your wiki or bring up a character sheet and have it actually be readable without needing to scroll or zoom (too much). With that in mind, I’m cautiously exploring what it would take to make Obsidian Portal more mobile friendly.
Fair warning
Before anyone gets too excited, let me lay out 2 important disclaimers:
1) This is a hypothetical discussion at this point. We may choose to work on it tomorrow, next year, or never.
2) We’re not going to make a dedicated iPhone app. Obsidian Portal is a web app and will stay that way for a while. I just want it to be usable for all you mobile gadgeteers.
The hypothetical plan
The most likely plan of attack would be to create a special stylesheet for mobile devices that repositions and realigns some elements to fit the reduced size of the screen. I’ve read a couple style guides, and the process is pretty straightforward, but usually involves cutting things out altogether. That’s by far the hardest part. For example, what about our sidebars? Could we lose them on a mobile version? They mostly display auxiliary information, but sometimes there are important controls there, like for editing a campaign or inviting new campaign members. I don’t really see these as things you would want to do while playing with the site via a mobile device, but who knows?
Your thoughts?
Since I’m mostly uneducated in these things, I’d like to hear what you have to say. What are the most frustrating parts about navigating Obsidian Portal with a mobile device? What are some things you could do without on the screen so it would clean things up? What are some examples of similar sites that do a good job of presenting a mobile version?
New System Thursday: ICONS Superpowered Roleplaying
This week, we’re bringing you something new; Something fun. Something for the little superhero in all of us. Introducing ICONS Superpowered Roleplaying.
What kid raised in recent generations hasn’t pretended to be a superhero at some point: worn a cape, “flown” around, bounced imaginary bullets or shot “blasts of power” from hands or eyes? Why not? After all, the superhero is the perfect modern fantasy: powerful, respected, and loved by the public, but with a message of responsibility, duty, truth, and justice that appeals to parents as well as kids. In countless comic books, graphic novels, cartoons, and live-action television shows and films, superheroes continue to thrill and capture our imagination while also celebrating some of our better qualities. Who wouldn’t want to be a hero?
With ICONS, you can be!
Steve Kenson, the designer of the best-selling Mutants & Mastermindsdelivers a superpowered new role-playing game, inspired by the fast-playing old-school games and the new generation of narrative role-play! Within its pages are complete rules for character creation, abilities and powers, random adventure generation, a rogue’s gallery of villains, a complete adventure and all the superheroic action you can handle!
Interested in trying it out? Well I have good news for you! For a limited time, the rulebook PDF is 50% off! You gotta love those RPGNow/DriveThruRPG guys, huh? So… what are you waiting for? Grab the rules, grab some friends, and make an ICONS Superpowered Roleplaying game now!
