Naturelich Games

Now, let's start FeedDemon. Currently 51 board game blogs. Click Refresh. Any news? 5 new posts on Yehuda. The guy from Jerusalem. With a posting on The real news about The Games Journal. It's not Nuremberg, but sounds interesting, too. *gone reading* Oh, apparently the Games Journal is back online. Somwhat at least. Exciting news. Going back to the other posts. What defines you? Well, what's that? Let's see. *gone reading* Oh, okay, I don't like CCGs not as much as I did. I don't like wargames too much, but maybe that's changing. These are interesting questions. Maybe I'll post something on my blog, too. Just to let everyone know.

And that's how BGG is different from blogs. I know which blogs deliver good content. As each blog delivers ~1 article every two days I can cope with the amount of data. After using FeedDemon/RSS aggregation for a couple of months I now have a pretty good idea about the quality of each blog and whether they match my personal tastes. If I click through an RSS feed on Yehuda or Chris Farell's Gaming Blog or all the others I know what to expect. As opposed to BGG, the click will be worth it. 50%+ chance that I'll read at least half of it (let's be honest!). I totally ignore BGG GeekLists unless I browse for something interesting to be put in the GeekListAggregator. I follow all Ticket to Ride games on the Geek, seeking news about inofficial expansions. I use the Geek for many other things. But they all have their intent and purpose to avoid background noise. I have just learned that I will get frustrated by simply browsing the Geek. I'll find a few interesting tidbits, but it takes at least an hour of my time.

On the other hand, the background noise on blogs is little. If there is something interesting an RSS reader helps you quickly sort the interesting pieces from the junk data stream.

Please follow me back to The Game Ranch blog. Susan Rozmiarek points out:

Here [i.e. on BGG; ed.] you can often be entertained or find some good nuggets of info, but just as often you’ll find that you’ve wasted your time with meaningless arguments. There are some nice ways to show your personal side here such as with avatars and badges, but I equate that with the clothes I wear and the bumper stickers on my car.

On the other hand, The Game Ranch feels more like my home. I can kick off my shoes and do what I want because I’m in my own private space. I don’t have to worry about impressing anybody; I can post my thoughts, comments and news items even if they are very trivial. If people aren’t interested they can drive right by without stopping. Even though it may be just an illusion, I simply don’t feel the pressure of public scrutiny as much here. This place reflects our personality and it’s decorated to our tastes. We can play around with it and experiment. Having your own website and blog is a fun, creative outlet that is a hobby in and of itself. Friends drop by and so does the occasional stranger. (Even unwelcome ones. Thank goodness for spam software). As a matter of fact, new friends have found us through our website. It’s hard to get noticed in the crowds at the mall. I also enjoy visiting others in their virtual homes and hearing what they have to say in their own style. It can be hard to find and get to know them in the crowded public places as well.

I wish I had written these lines. Susan really hits the nail on the head here. I want the board game hobby to be personal. Board gaming is a very social hobby and blogs - to me - feel far more social then public forums. Both will have their rightful place in the community and I would not want BGG to decease. It is a great, great site. But the board game blogs serve their purpose as well. And even if it's only reading session reports by someone playing board games in Alaska, Jerusalem, Tampere or Düsseldorf. It just feels more personal...