Gather Your Gamers

During Origins this year, we decided to participate in some gaming events that required signing up for new gaming sites. One site sent out emails immediately after the convention, and i have to say it wasn't that impressive. Recently, I received another email from the other site we registered with, GatheringGamers.com. Strangely enough, their actual URL is : http://creativegamingevents.com/.

Now, I'm pretty well represented on several sites that my friends belong to and also sites that reward me for my time (although I occasionally take breaks from them). This seemed like another site among the heap until I read farther down their announcement. They offered new members the chance to become bloggers to win passes to GenCon. This seemed like a site that was ready to put up to get some folks enrolled. Now, writing as many blogs as I have (I know, not enough to have fresh posts regularly), I decided it might be worth a second look. The requirement for eligibility is to post 2 entries per week and receive at at three comments on them each until GenCon next year, basically. After the screening process I was accepted in and so far have been meeting the terms, or very close.

I have to say I'm impressed with the quality of the site for a new start-up. They had the initial glitches that most companies have the first run out the door. There are some typos some places, and their auto-enrolled profiles had some glitches at first. But now it seems like the major snags have been worked out and they're already asking for input. They offer a CCG marketplace, auctions with cash back on purchases, free advertising for retailers, networking to connect publishers to gamers, and social networking for gamers to help find other players in their area. This is a huge undertaking and i have to say they have a goal in mind and are absolutely working toward becoming the best networking site for gamers out there.

Now, don't get me wrong, I love boardgamegeek.com and what it offers to the gaming community, but it does have its own quirks that are daunting to new users. It's super easy to search for games, but everything else takes some getting used to. GatheringGamers.com has a fairly straightforward interface that is really similar to most social networking sites. It doesn't take long to figure out how to navigate the site, but hopefully a few design improvements will be made in that area so that it's even easier.

Anyway, this site is for gamers only, so if you don't like games of some sort this probably isn't the site for you. For those who do like to play, I definitely suggest checking it out. And if you do, be sure to look me up and read my game blog. With the 2-a-week commitment there, I may be slow posting here for a while.