Welcome to the blog of the Opinionated Gamers! Thanks for taking the time to check out the site! I hope that you will come back often as we hope to provide a steady stream of writing on boardgames: reviews, commentary, strategy, and other topics related to boardgaming.
This blog was formed from (half of) the ashes of the old Boardgame News site. In January 2011, Boardgame News (BGN) was merged into http://www.boardgamegeek.com (BGG), and in this transition, the focus of BGN shifted towards more news and facts. The columns and game reviews which used to be part of BGN will not be continued with the new format – “There won’t be opinions on games in the new News section, only information” – and many of those authors previously found on BGN will be here writing much of the same content they used to provide for BGN. I felt that there was still a need for a home for the “opinion” part of BGN – so I contacted many of the writers who used to write on BGN as well as a few other semi-retired writers – and formed the Opinionated Gamers.
We do not intend to compete in any way with Eric’s work at Boardgame News. Eric is the best in the business at gathering and sharing news about our hobby, and in fact, many of the writers from the Opinionated Gamers will still be working with Eric at BGN. However, as BGN will no longer be in the “opinion business”, the Opinionated Gamers will try to continue those features from the old BGN which will not survive the transition.
The majority of the content here will be game reviews and columns about gaming – and we won’t be shy to share our opinions! Many of the reviews here will be collaborative efforts where you will be able to read multiple opinions about a game in a single review. The gaming comic, Board2Pieces, will also make its new home here continuing on its usual twice weekly schedule — look for new strips from Ted Alspach each Tuesday and Thursday.
Currently, there are over 30 gamers who are planning to contribute material to this blog. You will recognize many of them from previous writing stints on Boardgame News, Gamefest, the Games Journal, Counter Magazine, and many other places. Click on the Contributors link at the top of this page to see the full list as of today.
We have a fair bit of content already finished to get the blog off to a good start, and I’m striving to post one piece of new content each weekday. There won’t be a set schedule for posting at this time, but since we’re in a blog format – it should be easy to follow us via the RSS feed or to stop by periodically and see what’s been posted lately. Ideally, we’d like to try to keep publication to no more than one full article a day so that there is plenty of time to read and discuss the blog entries (and also not to overwhelm the writers who are all trying to fit in the writing around their work and other activities).
That’s a pretty good introduction to the Opinionated Gamers and what we hope to achieve. I know that we’re all excited to get started, and I hope that you find the articles and reviews here on “the OG” interesting and informative.
As we’re just getting started here – we would certainly be thankful for any help in spreading the word of our new website. If you like what you see so far, a note on Facebook, a quick Tweet, or simply emailing a column to someone you think would be interested would be much appreciated!
Dale Yu — founder and editor of the Opinionated Gamers
Any chance of a full text RSS feed instead of teasers?
I think we need motivated opinion as well, in our field. Game criticism as there are literary criticism, music criticism, movie criticism and so on. So, well done and good luck!
To quote the tv show “Frasier”: talk, Dale. I’m listening.
Thank you for this new website, any new voice in this business is more than welcome!
Nice to know it’s a new project to speak deeply about games. Good luck for the future!
If you need an Italian point of view about games and/or events, please give me a scream.
@Chromaline – We do have an Italian presence here at the Opinionated Gamers – Andrea Ligabue will be contributing here on a regular basis… Thanks for reading
Dale
1 for the full text RSS feeds. That was grey about Boardgame News when Eric enabled it.
Thanks for starting this up! I’ve been missing reading the articles you posted for the last couple of weeks. Always some good information and fun reads there.
@Matt, Bo — OK – still working on the whole setup here – running a blog is a new thing for me! I think I have found the switch for full-text feeds…. Is that better?
Dale
Wishing you great success! We’ve posted a blurb about your site launch at our newsdesk.
Since BGN stopped working, I’ve really missed the regular columns as part of my daily boardgame catch-up. BGG is great, but sometimes less is more. Congrats and all the best.
Dale
I think that this may be the best thing since sliced bread, although probably only Mike Siuggins will know what I mean. Good Luck and I hope to contribute although I do tend to be several years behind you experts
Good luck with the new blog, Dale!
How doe sone contact you Dale… I’m struggling to find an email address on your new site.
Congratulations by the way! Looks very promising.
Congrats on the new site! Looking forward to more!!
Look forward to Board game news again, glad you’re all back, love reading the reviews.
@Kevin – you can reach us thru the “Contact Us” Link found at the top of the page (just underneath our graphic logo).
Thanks!
Dale
I like the format idea, several gamers giving their views on one game at the same time. I will be checking here often.
Just found this and I am glad I did. This was the part of BGN I really liked.
Thanks for keeping this going!