Critical Hits

The Journal of Gamer Culture

RPG Bloggers Unite!

Last year, Dave the Game and Bartoneus of Critical-Hits approached me with an idea to create a sort of hub where the RSS feeds of various RPG bloggers could be found on one site. The idea was not to create competition but rather create a combined stop for RPG blog readers where they could glance at the titles and short excerpts of the recent posts of various RPG blogs.

With the announced demise of Gleemax and a flurry of activity in our e-mailboxes as various would-be entrepreneurs were moving on the news, we decided to make our own move.

Please allow me to introduce to you http://rpgbloggers.com/. It’s the newest house for the combined feeds of a few RPG blogs that decided to join the network at launch.

The idea is quite simple. If readers see posts of interest to them, they click on them and get transported directly to the original post on the blogger’s website. That’s it, no post slurping, no stealing of content. It’s a one stop shop for a group of like-minded bloggers that will surely grow.

At launch, the current blogs are on board:

I hope many more will join! If you are interested, have a look here for our adhesion requirements.

This is not a social media site, it’s not a forum and it most certainly not about a Brain in a Jar! It’s a bunch of friendly bloggers joining together to make their content easier to access for their shared/overlapping communities.

Will it grow out of this to something bigger? Maybe, only time will tell. For now, it’s something geeky that we’re proud to be part of.

The Chatty DM is the "nom de plume" of gamer geek Philippe-Antoine Menard. He has been GMing various versions of D&D and other RPGs for nearly 30 years. A renowned RPG blogger, game designer and published author, he squats a corner of Critical Hits he affectionately calls "Musings of the Chatty DM." (Email Phil or follow him on Twitter.)

Comments

No Responses to “RPG Bloggers Unite!”
  1. maikeru says:

    Broken Link in text.

  2. Darn straight I’m proud to be in the RPG Bloggers network!

    Propagandroids last blog post..Important Update

  3. ChattyDM says:

    @Maikeru: Fixed!

    @Propagandroid: Welcome to the (not so) Secret Cabal!

  4. Tenach says:

    I will have to keep RPG Bloggers in mind when I finally get around to making my RPG dedicated blog… :D

    Tenachs last blog post..Sounds

  5. Questing GM says:

    Woots! I should get my blog there….but forgive the ignorant newbie blogger, how do i submit a feed?

    Questing GMs last blog post..Big News and other stuff

  6. Bartoneus says:

    10 points for successful and evocative use of the word “adhesion” in an everday sentence!

    Bartoneuss last blog post..Announcing: The RPG Bloggers Network

  7. ChattyDM says:

    @Tenach: If your blog has a few RPG posts and you can find a way to isolate them in your feed (usually through categories) then you can submit it to Dave,

    @Questing GM: In your sidebar, there’s a ‘subscribe to Questing GM’ option. That points to various ‘Feeds’ of your blog. You need to find the address where it points to and submit this to Dave over the ‘join us’ page.

    @Bartoneus: Why thank you… now that you mention it, I think I made a Frenchism which just happens to fit in English too.

  8. greywulf says:

    Ooooo! Lots of Brains in /lots/ of Jars :)

    Very neatly put together too. Well done and good luck, guys and gals. World domination is only a planet away.

  9. Donny_the_DM says:

    YES! I is Teh Boomstick!

    Unfortunately, now I have to step up the content a bit…why do all swords have to be double edged? Why can’t I have a stinkin Falchion for once!

    Stand back folks, it could get BIG! lol! …too much caffiene = aforementioned sword.

    Donny_the_DMs last blog post..A completely random epic hook…

  10. Tom says:

    I just submitted my humble site as well. I’m just hoping I can do my part in making the world a better gaming experience ;)

    Toms last blog post..Sticking To Your Guns

  11. ChattyDM says:

    Thanks guys, the response to the new site has been absolutely staggering and there’s actually some jostling at the gate.

    Membership nearly quadrupled in less than 24 hours!

    This…. is something.

    Please don’t blame us too hard if we turtle a bit while absorbing this response.

  12. Tom says:

    FWIW, I’m thrilled to be a part of it now! This is very cool, and I’m glad to be one of the earlier members :D

    Toms last blog post..Quirks…What’s in YOUR Character?

  13. ChattyDM says:

    Good luck Tom, I think this will act as a motivator for people to post quality articles.

  14. Ninetail says:

    This is a great idea, and I’m happy to join in.

    Ninetails last blog post..Myth Direction

  15. Diane says:

    That is a very cool idea. I will definitely be book marking that site

    Dianes last blog post..World Building: Culture World Hooks

  16. Micah says:

    I hate to be a spoil-sport, but the blog network seems to result in a high quantity, but not necessarily high quality. There is a smattering of decent posts and lot of noise, interspersed with some blog posts dedicated to individual campaigns.

    It might be hard and/or elitist, but I’m thinking it would be a good idea to be a little more selective in who gets through the door. Raise the bar of entry and make it a real badge of quality to be selected. Hell, close down all entrance and make it an invite-only club.

  17. ChattyDM says:

    Duly noted Micah, We’re focusing on trying to get it to work properly. QC/QA will come shortly.

  18. I’m all over it! Thanks a ton for putting this up. Now that Gleemax is gone, I hope to see more community control over projects like this.

    Let me know if you have any coding issues, Johnny over at RoleplayingTips will (hopefully!) be more than willing to give you plenty of good references about my work.

  19. ChattyDM says:

    Thanks Eric.

    We are currently discussing what to do about the prolonged crash and technical issues we’re currently dealing with.

    I’ll let you know.

  20. greywulf says:

    Holler if you need a hand, CDM.

  21. Sure thing, Philippe! Just let me know, and I’ll be more than willing to take a look at what you’ve got and see what I can do. Trust me, managing a roleplaying community with over 1,000 active members and 1,000,000 pageviews per month is a challenging task on its own, I know how difficult load handling can be!

    Eric Martindales last blog post..Overgrown Tokyo Begs to be an RPG Setting

  22. Questing GM says:

    Sweet! I’m now a member that proudly sees my blog on the sidebar….now I need a banner.

    Thanks Chatty!

    Questing GMs last blog post..Wizard’s Employee Shoots Wife and Kills Self

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