Ascendant membership questions

Games_n_Geeks
Games_n_Geeks
edited August 2015 in General Discussion
Hello!

I've been a member of Obsidian Portal for a while now but never really used it very much. I joined a local game that used it a bit more but even then, it kinda petered out. I'm planning to run a Star Wars RPG game and use the website to coordinate the group as well as have discussions OUTSIDE of gaming time and I was planning to pay for the Ascendant membership to help me with this. While somebody else suggested Facebook, well, I don't really like that format.

Anyway, here are my questions regarding the membership:

1. If I am GM and I have 5-8 players, will ALL of us have to pay for membership to get the benefits of the calendar, forum, etc.?
2. If I am GM and one of my players wants to have a turn at GMing and we're going to play a totally different campaign, will he have to upgrade to Ascendant or can we use my account for this second campaign? I ask this because we might have 2 or more campaigns that the group will swap between.
3. Is there any way to copy/download/save all the info we put in as backup or just before the Ascendant membership runs out?


I think that's it for now. I hope someone can help with answers. Thanks!

Comments

  • Travis19
    Posts: 8
    1. No, only the GM needs to be Ascendant.

    2. Ascendant features are keyed to the GM, so your friend could of course have a campaign of his own but he would need to be Ascendant to have the features.

    In other words--Ascendant flows downward from GM to player, but not from player to GM.

    3. No need to, if you downgrade from Ascendant to free no data is deleted or removed, but it becomes read only.

    So for instance you will still be able to view forums threads but you won't be able to reply or start new threads.

    There is a "campaign backup" in the Settings but beware that is more like a lot of raw data that a straight export (ie. You cannot easily use the results of a "campaign backup" to rebuild a site with a couple of clicks).
  • Games_n_Geeks
    Games_n_Geeks
    Posts: 5
    Thanks for that clarification.

    I've signed up for Ascendant but the Forum feature is quite a let-down... the lack of text formatting capabilities is quite surprising given what other forums can do years and years ago now. Any help?
  • Unknown
    You can do the same formatting in the forum you can anywhere else. There is minimal stuff in the little toolbar, but any Textile should work out just fine. I believe you can also still use HTML and inline CSS on the Forum as well.
  • twiggyleaf
    twiggyleaf
    Posts: 2,006
    Games_n_Geeks

    Hey, but GnG, I'm still sure you have made the right move!

    twiggyleaf
    CURRENT CAMPAIGN: "Mysteria":http://www.obsidianportal.com/campaigns/mysteria - set in Wolfgang Baur’s MIDGARD.
    Previous CotM Aug 2012: "Shimring":http://www.obsidianportal.com/campaigns/shimring

    "I met a traveller from an antique land....."

    CotM May 2016: Mysteria: set in Wolfgang Baur’s MIDGARD.

    Previous CotM Aug 2012: Shimring: High Level Multiplanar Campaign

    Inner Council Member

  • cgregory
    cgregory
    Posts: 780
    I think the answer to question #2 should be expanded on.

    bq. 2. If I am GM and one of my players wants to have a turn at GMing and we're going to play a totally different campaign, will he have to upgrade to Ascendant or can we use my account for this second campaign? I ask this because we might have 2 or more campaigns that the group will swap between.

    While what Travis said is correct, that isn't the full story. My players and I take turns GMing and typically what we do is I create the campaign page and then promote the current GM to Co-GM. That way they have access to all the features. However, I do have access to any GM only pages as the account holder and "main" GM.

    It just means he uses GM only pages with links them in GM only sections to signify pages he doesn't want me to go visit. There is a implied trust between him and I that I don't go read his GM only sections. After all, why play if I already know all the secrets. If you don't use GM only sections then there is no downside to the Co-GM setup.

    They are among us!

    image

                       XCom: Defiance - Campaign of the Month November 2016

     

     

  • Games_n_Geeks
    Games_n_Geeks
    Posts: 5
    Thanks for the help guys.

    So far, I'm getting the hang of things but still getting frustrated regarding the Textile functions in the forum. I have one line that is prefaced by h2. and it just shows that text while another line prefaced by h2. shows the next text in Heading 2 format. Unfortunately, it also applies the Heading 2 format to the next line.

    Adding p. does not really give me a new paragraph. I'm trying to space out paragraphs by 2-3 lines of space but I am unable to do so.

    For reference, I am using http://redcloth.org/textile/page-layout/ as my guide to help me format my posts, but it's usually a hit-and-miss, with mostly misses.
  • Belrathius
    Belrathius
    Posts: 206
    I'm not sure as to why, but I have discovered that some Textile formatting carries over to the next line if there is no blank line between them. Not a
    but an actual extra line with nothing on it. Again, no clue why. Personally, I have given up on Textile since my HTML and CSS skills have improved through building campaign sites. Textile is a simplified way of producing HTML, which is great if you a) don't know much HTML and b) aren't extremely particular about how your site looks and are satisfied with very basic markup. For me, the latter was unacceptable so I resurrected my HTML skills to ensure precise (sometimes to the pixel) placement and markup. If HTML and CSS is within your grasp, I would highly recommend using straight HTML and CSS to get the results that you are looking for.
  • Games_n_Geeks
    Games_n_Geeks
    Posts: 5
    Thanks, I'll have a look at HTML and CSS.
  • Games_n_Geeks
    Games_n_Geeks
    Posts: 5
    Is there some sort of "private messaging" function available? I'm communicating with my players via Forums and it's going great but what about if a player has a PC secret he wants me to know but is obviously not willing to post it on the forums?

    When creating an entry on the Calendar, is there a way to see who made the entry and maybe even edit the entry?
  • Unknown
    There are secrets you can do (on Wiki Pages and Adventure Logs) that can be just between the GM and specific players. This function does not extend to the Calendar or Forums presently, but it is certainly a good suggestion and I will keep it in mind to have the devs try and roll out after we get some of this backlog cleared up. You can, of course, also use the built in Private Message system here on the site as well, which might work better depending on the context of what you are discussing. If you go to any profile and scroll down a bit, just below their picture/location there will be buttons to send a Private Message (has a little envelope icon) and to add them as a Friend if you are not already.

    It is important to point out that this is on their profile at the main Obsidian Portal Page. The Community Forums and the Support Site each have their own profiles on them. To get to a main profile, click on the players avatar picture from your Campaign Page or manually put it in the address bar in the following format:

    https://www.obsidianportal.com/profile/Username
  • NikMak
    NikMak
    Posts: 379
    I use both the messages and the secrets sections in the wiki. Its arguably the most useful function of OP for me as a GM-running-a-game.
  • Unknown
    I love the Secrets option, I pepper those puppies in all over the place. I like my players to have access to different details, makes things more realistic and gives more weight and function to each character.
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