BGG is a great centralized resource, but the group of friends I play games with aren't fanatics and wouldn't spend ten minutes trying to dig into BGG. However they will read my game blog once a week, or after a recent session, and then might click on a link directly to a game page, or to browse my collection on BGG. It seems to me blogs can only expand the community not fragment it.

There's more disemination of information via blogs. The recent BGIA awards were announced on virtually every boardgame blog I frequent. It was at that time that I realized these blogs are speaking to an expanded audience outside the "community". Friends and family who would otherwise never know such awards exist.

Well said. I've been kicking around the idea of writing such an article. Still might.

The "mall for boardgamers" was the analogy I couldn't come up with. Had I thought of that I would have used it. Very good description.

There's a lot of stuff at the mall that interests me, but there's even more that doesn't. It gets to be a chore to keep track of it all.

BGG is an indispensable resource that ties our community together. But the people who contribute the best content are frequently sniped at and ridiculed for their contributions by people who contribute nothing. Who needs it? I don't blame them for putting their effort somewhere else. So far blogs are pretty civil.

The "Coldfoot Theorem" is that blogs are harder to surf causing the lazier elements of society (who also happen to be the biggest complainers and flamers) to avoid them. Also, bloggers (and I probably fit this description the least) are less likely to be drawn into a flame war which makes trolling on blogs rather boring.

Not to be a curmudgeon, but back in the days when there were three or four new geeklists each week, and I was familiar with 80% of the users BGG was more fun. OK. I'm a curmudgeon.

I loved your "Mall" analogy; it fits perfectly.

As for hoping that anything written on the Geek will be there in the future, have you tried to access the Journals written? They're gone. I wanted to see something I'd written back in the Journal days, and although it lists how many Journal entries I made, I can't click on them.

BTW, I enjoy reading your blog. You do a great job of describing new games that you've played and your tastes are similar to my own. Keep up the good work.

I agree with Koldie. BGG was more fun back when I "knew" 80% of the people who were posting. Nowadays it's like hanging out in a crowded bar on a Friday night. Sometimes it's worse.

I also like the control that a weblog grants. Ever since the personal GeekJournals were lost in the transition over to the BGG forums (as Mary stated), the touch of having a personal space on BGG disappeared. I like my blog, even if the audience is a fraction of what you'd get on BGG despite a forum topic disappearing off the front page in minutes.

BLog on.

A few other reasons why blogging wins out over BGG:

1. You spend a bit of time authoring a nice post. On BGG it appears as a line item that quickly rolls off the page. On one's blog, it's the current chapter, front and center, until you author something else.

2. It's nice having your collective journal all bound up together and in one place. Your blog is a portrait of yourself.

3. Style. On BGG, Aldie has done a wonderful job at making it functional and well-organized, but it certainly doesn't have much aesthetic appeal. Each person's blog has a different flavor. A great article posted on BGG is presented on a typical Steno pad.

All this said, BGG remains irreplaceable. Nice post.

Well, as a blogger myself, I see nothing wrong with blogging about boardgames. The people who want to read them will and those tho don't won't. My own blog is first and foremost my personal blog, which happens to have gaming content. Most of the stuff I put in my blog I wouldn't post at the 'geek because it is not topical.

As for the gaming content, it usually makes its way to the geek somehow or other, at the very least in the form of ratings and "Games Played" but for larger events I usually make a geeklist. If I write something more serious, like a review, I will generally post it both places.

I don't see a problem here. No one's blog will ever replace the 'Geek. Even most of the new websites that are cropping up here and there for various purposes within the boardgame hobby won't replace the 'Geek because only a small subset of people will take the time to go to them. I consider myself pretty hardcore and I rarely go anywhere other than the 'Geek and occasionally BoardGameNews to read my friends' weekly articles.

Excellent article! You described my thoughts exactly.

I'm just discovering good games-related blogs and finally began my own. As you noted, I will still contribute something now and then to BGG, but I get more enjoyment from writing whatever I feel like writing in a more comfortable atmosphere.

I'm glad coldfoot included a link to your site today on Gone Gaming. I will enjoy very much visiting here often. There seems to be quite a community of folks who have similar thoughts about gaming as I have, and I am happy to be finding more of them.

Feel free to drop by my blog when you have nothing better to do....
http://timefound4games.blogspot.com

Thanks to everyone who posted a reply. It's been interesting reading other's views on the topic, here and in other blogs.

Gerald - I've already been enjoying reading both your blogs! We need to update the links here on our website. I've been reading all the blogs of people who have replied here for a while except for Petworth which I've now added to my personal list.