A Week in Gaming and Blogging

I've been trying to get the most out of Blogger, all while I work on upgrading my old website using WordPress.  Blogger's got some nice strengths to it, especially with this week's incorporation of Google's Friend Connect.  (I for one worship our new overlords from the Googleplex...)  Incorporating authentication, commenting and social elements to an off-the-shelf blogging tool - in a way that ties into authentication used by millions - is very compelling.  Sure, I realize Facebook is trying to head towards this with Facebook Connect, but using your gmail login for...well...everything on the internet it seems is nothing to sneeze at.  I've added the Social Bar (see up above), the superfluous-but-why-not ratings box, and noticed that the Followers box has automatically updated to the Friend Connect model.  Hopefully, they'll roll out some new templates to support these widgets a little bit more smoothly, shortly...

So, all the while that I've been farting around with the new Blogger features and widgets, I've also been trying to do less navel gazing and read more of what others are saying on blogs about gaming - 'cuz that's what it's all about, right?  Gnome Stew has been a constant for me, and I'm proud to see them get props from Gamer cum Laude Wil Wheaton, recently.  I've grown quite fond of Grognardia (although I still find the flamewars on the comment threads to be startling and at times bizarre - no fault of the blog owner, and commentary solely on the public square that is the internet), and through seeing my friend Kerry's Adventurer: The Card Game plugged on it, I've started to take note of Back in '81, another great nostalgia site for all things early RPG-ish.  If anyone has any good RPG blog recommendations, feel free to message me or leave them in the comments, below.  I'd like to see what everyone else is reading.  

And outside the confines of my precious computer screen and its 8x11 window on the world?  I've recently picked up the RuneQuest RPG re-releases by Mongoose Publishing (see post, below) and am enjoying those a great deal.  The CoC mechanics mixed with a world that is part Norse myth, part Warhammer fantasy, and part Brothers Grimm is a compelling stew.  I've been adding a good deal of Elder Scrolls: Oblivion on the XBox to my repertoire as well.  One of the best sandbox RPGs I've played on a computer or console.  Good stuff.

Soon spring will be here, and the great outdoors will beckon.  For now, I'm maxxing out the time on the couch, being a loaf, and enjoying some good old nerding.