First, to set the stage.
We bloggers are a fun bunch – we chat about games, and life, and life in games, and gaming lives, and what not. We tweet about it, blog about, share on sites. We have a community. Often we complain – whine, bitch, moan, criticize – and why not? We love gaming so we share our opinions about it. It’s a fun and sometimes spirited conversation. I especially enjoy it because I learn a lot.
Everyone has a blogroll and I always try to participate in the community in two ways: first, is by commenting on blogs. If I read something I like, I leave a note. Sometimes to agree, sometimes to disagree, but if it gets me thinking then I share that. The second way is by clicking on a blog on their blogroll. It’s amazing on what (and who) you find out there.
Since I joined twitter (cutting edge here at I HAS PC) all of two weeks ago, that is another medium to find things to read. While video is on the up and reading is on the down it is still my preferred format.
This post started a long time ago, and it originally was meant to highlight some lesser known bloggers that I feel have done a great job in building community – and the more I spend in this space there are just so many. So, instead, I am going to highlight three great community initiatives – some of which I have participated in and others not – because they took the effort to build BlogNation in a larger and more involved way then what a lot of us do individually.
Today we salute you, people who support the blogosphere.
Roger Edwards, Contains Moderate Peril
 ∂ Mister build a massive gaming blogroll site that updates every post from those sites every day when they are posted so we can go read in one place guy!
The Gaming Blog Nexus is an inclusive site aggregator and since I have joined it it has driven some new, regular readers to my site. It is also a great place to see what blogs have updated what. I know there are some other aggregator sites out there and the GBN is fair because it is open. Hell, they let me in, so you know quality control is flexible. (*ahem*). It is a great place to find a lot of great gaming topics fast and easy.
Chris “Doone” Mills, The Newbie Blogger Initiative
∂ Get a bunch of people to start doing something they might be intimidated to try and provide support and community around that effort so they have a chance to become a long time blogger and further add to BlogNation for years to come as long as they are loving it person-guy!
While the NBI is bigger than Doone (and a lot of people put in a lot of effort) I am pretty sure he is the one driving it all. I could be wrong – I know Roger Edwards also participates as do other bloggers. I am definitely going to do a better job of supporting it next year. Fresh blood perspectives are important in the gaming world – no matter which part you are in (blogging, designing, playing) so good sources are very handy.
Mark Temple (Belghast), Tales of the Aggronaut
∂ Encourage people to dig deep and post every day in the dog days of summer and push their own comfort and writing limits for consistency and volume in the blogosphere while also promoting anook for gamers dude!
Blaugust was a fun and personal achievement for me. I had some hard days, and some not so great posts, but I gave it my all and even got a prize from it. The prize was random of course, I wasn’t the “best”. The great part about Blaugust was the spirit of it all and after 6 years of blogging for me actually helped me enjoy it more. Already looking forward to next August!
People blog for so many different reasons but the above three gentlemen took the next step and embraced and encouraged community around our hobby. Just a little hat tip, a big thank you, and keep it up. I’ll participate and support these (and other) initiatives as they occur throughout the year.
Speaking of which, keep an eye over at Me vs. Myself and I as he announced on a recent podcast an initiative coming up in October, with a fest in the title. Whether or not beer is involved is not yet known.
I think I and a lot of others have been thinking it would be nice to have other ways to acknowledge members of the community. NBI does it for newbies, but theres nothing else really to sort of ….keep it connected. Hmmm. I think I just found a project for you.
This could be fun. Let’s see what we can come up with!
Info to come soon about Bragtoberfest. Just waiting on some graphics to be produced 🙂
I still want an answer about the beer… =)
Beer is always welcomed. You buying?