Here are links for pen and paper roleplaying games, board games, card games, and everything that goes with these games that we found interesting on the week of November 14th, 2014.
This week I’d like to shine a light on five different websites that I read on a weekly basis. I’ve linked to articles from most of these websites in the past. They are essential reading for me each week for me to peruse through for my roleplaying information.
Roleplaying Tips ���� Long before I blogged or read roleplaying blogs, my roleplaying information on the internet came from two sources: roleplaying forums and Roleplaying Tips. Johnn Four runs a great website about anything and everything roleplaying has to offer.
Campaign Mastery ���� Mike Bourke writes some of the most in-depth articles on roleplaying (and related topics) that I’ve ever seen. His posts are a must read in my opinion, but be warned… have a drink and some time when you sit down to read his posts. They are less like blog posts and more like miniature eBooks much of the time.
Gnome Stew ���� Definitely the king of roleplaying blogs for the last several years. It’s a mainstay of information for game masters and anyone that plays roleplaying games. With numerous writers and guest writers, they consistently pump out several quality articles each week. The site has won numerous awards over the last several years.
The Illuminerdy ���� Although this site has been around for a while, it is a bit newer to my weekly readings. It is a high quality site that has a variety of different things to offer roleplayers. It has also won a couple awards over the last two years.
Black Diamond Games ���� John Lewis introduced me to Gary Ray’s blog for his company, Black Diamond Games. If you’ve ever wondered what it takes to run a top notch gaming store, I suggest you read this blog. His store has been in business for over ten years. It seriously opened my eyes to how much work truly goes into building a gaming store (a secret desire for many gamers).
We browse many roleplaying websites, articles, and social media connections each week. If you’d like to be listed on here, please contact use via our Contact page!
Appreciate the Kudos! Thanks, Samuel! Some people have suggested that I’ll eventually run out of material because I put what should be five, six, or more posts into single articles – but it hasn’t happened yet, touch wood! (I don’t think of it as a Blog, I treat Campaign Mastery as an online free Magazine for which I write two articles a week – which might explain a lot)!
Mike Bourke recently posted…Alien In Innovation: Creating Original Non-human Species
You provide something very unique that you don’t see out there. I appreciate it as a reader. You’re also very in-depth with the article topics you choose. You’re article series on names still blows me away. Especially as someone who’s had trouble naming characters or things in campaigns before.
Samuel Van Der Wall recently posted…Player Facing Mechanics
When Johnn and I were designing Campaign Mastery, we discussed what we wanted our point of distinction to be, what was going to make it different from everyone else, and in particular, what we didn’t like about what was on offer (all blogs, not just gaming blogs). Keywords for the latter were shallow, brief, and transient. So we deliberately decided to focus on depth, length, and evergreen content – at the expense of publishing frequency. That basic philosophy hasn’t wavered since (though there have been occasional hiccoughs), and every review notes the characteristics that we set out to incorporate. So I’m proud of what we created and of what was achieved. The hardest part was sustaining that when Johnn left and my workload doubled. Hearing that what I have achieved since is valued is the music that keeps me going, so thanks again! (One of these days I still have one final part of that naming series to do…)
Mike Bourke recently posted…Alien In Innovation: Creating Original Non-human Species
I think one of the hardest things is, “How do you both differentiate yourself and provide value?” Some people make it by just providing a better product than everyone else (someone has to be #1). But providing value and enjoying what you do is key.
I remember when I started out with RoleplayingPro long ago, there were very few RPG blogs. Then it seemed over the course of a year the market was saturated with them. I am surprised to see that so many have no been sustained since I was gone. RPG Bloggers are a virtual ghost town of people that come and go. The ones that seem to provide the most value are those that are constant in the industry. Probably like anything I suppose…
Samuel Van Der Wall recently posted…Breathing Life Into Goblin Civilization ���� Part 2/3
It;s definitely not easy to do, and it’s even harder to sustain it without painting yourself into a corner. Someone would have had *the* best blog about 2nd Ed D&D out there at some point, but it would be so isolated in relevance that eventually it becomes hard work without reward – and then folds.
Nevertheless, there are still lots of blogs out there – it’s just that they don’t seem to have the same level of community interaction as they used to. Back when Campaign Mastery started, it was quite common to comment on and link to each other’s blogs; these days very few people are “old school” in that regard (You’re one of them, one reason why I’m happy to return the favor). Instead, commentary is delivered in a transient form (social media) rather than being perpetual and potentially valuable insight to future readers. In effect, too many seem to be busy in their own little corners of the Blogoverse. Eventually, people will tire of being a big fish in a small pond, and either close down or learn anew how to reach out, seeking to reinvent their reach to suit a wider audience, so this is a temporary condition, I think – the trick is to survive.
When we started, the average lifespan for blogs (in general) was two years. Only about one in ten survived any longer, and each year thereafter, nine in ten would fold. I estimated at the time that gamers, being a passionate niche market, might have more staying power – perhaps one in five would make it through each anniversary. I think the numbers that I’ve seen come and go have more or less borne out that estimation. And the implication is that for every explosion in numbers, there has to be an equally massive dying off a couple of years later. Campaign Mastery is now closing in on its 6th anniversary, and it would not have made it without the support of a lot of readers like yourself ������
Saying that “the ones that seem to provide the most value are those that are constant in the industry” is, I think, putting the cart before the horse. The reason they are able to be constant in the industry is that they offer enough value to get readers coming back time and again.
But it still knocks me around a bit to realize that I’m now considered one of the “elder statesmen” of RPG blogging by some people. But that was only achieved through consistency and reliability, and that in turn was only possible because we found a blog structure, mission, and style that could be sustained. While you hope that what you have to offer is of value to a reader, each post is a shot in the dark, and the more readers you have, the more certain you can be that some of those shots will be wide of the mark for some of that readership. Does Campaign Mastery offer value to readers? I like to think so, but that could ultimately be self-deception; the only way to know for sure is feedback – and people coming back for more ������
Mike Bourke recently posted…Alien In Innovation: Creating Original Non-human Species
Sent you an e-mail via your “Contact Us” page.
Samuel Van Der Wall recently posted…Breathing Life Into Goblin Civilization ���� Part 2/3
By now, you should have read or be reading my reply ������ Long story short, I agree with your observations – there are still lots of RPG blogs out there, but they don’t seem to talk to each other as much as they used to.
Mike Bourke recently posted…Yesterday Once More: A pulp time-travel Campaign