Question for and about those people who blog about GURPS stuff

[tbone]

Forgive me if I missed any past discussions that already covered this...

More than a few folks on this forum post GURPS-related content on their own blogs, or read such blogs to some degree. Simple question for anyone:

Should a blogger who posts some GURPS-related article announce it on this forum? Which of the following would you agree with:

1. "Sure! What better place to announce it than here? Title and URL, please!"

2. "Yes, though I'd prefer to see the actual content included with the announcement, so we don't have to chase off to some other site to read and discuss it."

3. "Nothing against announcements themselves, but I don't want to see the forum littered with 'New Blog Post!' posts. How about a dedicated (even sticky?) thread for such announcements?"

4. "Meh. It's fine to bring up blog posts within a relevant thread, but otherwise keep the announcements to RSS or Twitter or whatever you use."

5. "Ugh. If it doesn't live on this forum, I don't want to know about it."

6. "I have an idea better than any of these, and will now reveal it!"

What say ye, Forumites? (No fair rolling d6 to reply. : )

[Dammann]

3.5

I like to read some blogs about GURPS topics, and I read play reports from GURPS and D&D games as I find them. I like the interfertility that takes place between these forums and Douglas Cole's Gaming Ballistic blog, to pick an example. I see them as different in their roles, though.

The forum, as I see it, is a place better suited to give and take. A thread here is not "hosted" by the original poster, and I don't expect a thread to have the same sort of coherence that a blog post (on a blog I read regularly) should. A blog article probably stands on its own better than a single post here, and may or may not merit discussion, independent of whether it is interesting reading. I regard blog reading as a more passive interaction, usually, than the forum, which is much more active interaction. Stated another way, I consume blog material, but I participate in the forum.

I lean toward blog posts being mentioned on the forum as they are relevant to a thread. I think it is legitimate to use a thread to gather different viewpoints or insights or whatever prior to a posting blog article. I think it is less legitimate to promote individual entries to a blog in posts here. Partly, I think that it is borderline spammy, partly I feel this way because a comment thread on a blog item that is also being discussed here is less tidy, with a chance for confusion about which conversation on the same topic has covered what ground.

Promotion of blogs in sigs is the way to go. I'd hate to miss a specific awesome article on a blog I check less frequently, but for my specific current interest, GURPS DF, there is a Google+ group that keeps me pretty up to date. For others, I don't mind getting behind, then suddenly discovering a wealth of cool things I haven't seen. I wouldn't mind a single sticky thread that notifies forum users of new blog entries, but new threads all over seems like a potential irritation.

And with that, I'm off to see what's new in the Diner. :)

[Celti]

I pretty much am seconding Dammann here. An announcement thread plus relevant references in other threads plus advertising it in your sig (optionally updating your sig to advertise your latest post). I'd also like to see a GURPS Planet set up to aggregate GURPS blogs, if there's enough of them; I might even be encouraged to set such a thing up myself if enough people are interested.

[robkelk]

I suspect option 1 would violate the forum's "no link-dumping" rule, depending on how it's done...

[reddir]

I would love to see a sticky with a list of blog-links.

Adding a new post with each new blog entry would be nice.


---EDIT---
I mean to say, a new reply with each new blog. So, 1 single thread which includes any and all blogs.

[Turhan's Bey Company]

I like knowing who has GURPS-related blogs, but I don't need notifications of individual posts.

[benz72]

Originally Posted by reddir

I would love to see a sticky with a list of blog-links.

Adding a new post with each new blog entry would be nice.


---EDIT---
I mean to say, a new reply with each new blog. So, 1 single thread which includes any and all blogs.

I like this idea. I think it would be interesting to be able to read the story of a sequential adventure.
Also, depending on the level of mechanical detail involved it could act as a guide on how to run certain scenarios (which is certainly within the scope of this forum).