BGN - The New Kid on the Block

Boardgame News is the new boardgaming kid on the block. Rick Thornquist is back with boardgame news and "Gone Cardboard." This is a good thing.

When Rick announced he was quitting GameWire and Gone Cardboard, the boardgaming community lost a valuble resource. Rick's coverage of the boardgaming scene in a professional journalistic style is unique and sorely missed when it was gone. It's wonderful that Rick is back on the job.

The new web site is very impressive. The presentation is very nice with news bits and columns mixed together in a chronological order. Sort of like a blog on steroids. I'm impressed with the line up of columnists and look forward to reading the latest column each day. I hope the columnists can keep up a regular and steady flow of columns on a week by week basis. The news factoids are welcome and interesting.

I subscribed to the site on the very first day of operation because I want to support this kind of endeavor. When Rick quit Gamefest, there was an almost spontaneous offer of support. I said I would pay for the type of content Rick offers and I've put my money where my mouth is. I hope everyone else who said they would be willing to support Rick's efforts with $$$ will do so.

After about a week of operation, I can say that I'm very pleased with the results and do not regret spending my money on a subscription.

There has been some discussion on BoardGameGeek about the new site. Some folks have fallen into the "There Can Be Only One" trap and wonder why Rick started up a new site rather than add his content to BGG. BoardGameGeek and Boardgame News are not competitors. They are complimentary sites. Boardgame News is no more a "threat" to BoardGameGeek than Gamefest's Gamewire was. In fact, Boardgame News is simply Gamewire reborn.

I blame Tom Vasel for BGG vs. BGN controversy. It was Tom's comments, both on the new site and on his podcast The Dice Tower that started off the controversy. Tom announced he was moving his "Musings On..." series of articles to Boardgame News exclusively and that he was proud and excited to be part of a "quality" boardgaming web site. In Tom's defense, he probably had no idea what a firestorm his comments would start. I don't think Tom meant to impugn the reputation of BoardGameGeek, but that was the way many readers (and listeners) took his comments.

When I say that I "blame" Tom Vasel for the controversy, I say that in the a light-hearted way. I'm not pointing a finger of blame at Tom. I'm simply pointing out where the fire started, in my opinon. As always this kind of discussion is all "sound and fury, signifying nothing."

I welcome Boardgame News, as does most of the boardgaming community.