This week in gaming: Happy Anniversary!

Thursday, February 19th, 2015

Welcome to another edition of “This week in gaming.” Earlier this month was the one year anniversary of when I started writing for the Battleground Games website. For this week’s issue, I’d like to go over some of the content we’ve gone over and maybe where the future of this column could lead to.

Identity

You may have noticed that on a few occasions (especially this week), this column has been called, “This week in gaming” rather than “This week in Magic.” This is, of course, when I’ve got other topics I’d like to cover. However, there is no reason that “This week in gaming” can’t exist. In the end, though, it all comes down to the fact that most of my experience is in “Magic: The Gathering.”

Don’t get me wrong. I would love to cover more gaming topics for everyone out there. In fact, there has already been some talk about this. If all goes well, you may be seeing more topics in Dungeons and Dragons as well as more product reviews coming your way.

Something I’d, personally, like to see is more variety in the voices we read here on the site. With that said, I’m always looking for more people to write. We’ve already have some guest work done by local gamer, Ken Briscoe. We’ve also had a few tournament reports done by some of our local players. I think we can get more. Consider this an open invitation. If you’re a local player and would like to try your hand at this, let me know. I’m sure by now people are sick of reading about Mono Red Burn. While it may not be the only deck I know how to play, I do tend to write about it a lot. Are you experienced in Modern RUG Twin? Maybe you consider yourself more of an expert in the Limited format.

If the only thing holding you back is that you think you stink at writing, let me tell you that you have nothing to worry about. That’s what I’m here for. I’m not the solution to everything, but I will be there to help edit your writing.

Taking a look back

I think it’s been a pretty successful year writing for the website. My biggest hope is that many of you have been repeat customers. Somewhere along the way, I hope you’ve spread the word and told your friends about the kind of content you can find here.

I started writing for the website in the beginning of February. It wasn’t until the end of May where I had established a title for the weekly article I had been contributing. I’m glad I had finally come up with a name for the column. Don’t get me wrong, I didn’t mind coming up with a title every week. By adding a formal name for the column, it gives it some uniformity. In addition, when things really get rolling on the site, it will give the column a confirmed identity from among the other weekly columns that may develop.

In the many months I’ve been writing this column, I’ve covered mostly “Magic: The Gathering.” I’ve also written a few product reviews as well as a few general gaming news roundups. One thing I’d like to try is writing a story. I don’t mean to come up with one on the spot. What I would really like to do (or someone else could do it if they have one) is to recount a Dungeons and Dragons session. The catch is that they would have to do it in story form. I’d like to hear about it from the perspective of their character. Also, I want the whole experience. If there was a foul odor in the air, I want to know about it and what it smelled like.

If I had to rank my articles, I think the best one would have to be “From couch to cash: Redefining the gamer stereotype.” That was an article that came very easily to me. I remember writing and not stopping for a bit to take a break. The best part about writing that article is that it lead to the Extra Life initiative and then eventually to all of us raising over $2500 in October of last year for the charity.

What’s next for you?

I’m going to keep writing here, that’s for sure. I’d like to branch outside of Magic some more though. If you have any suggestions as to what you’d like to see from me, then let me know. I’m game for almost anything.

PAX East is coming up in about two weeks. I’ll be doing media coverage for another outlet I write for, but I also intend on putting up some posts while the whole crew is out there. Whenever I’ve “worked” PAX, I’ve booked myself busy trying to meet with big wigs from the video game industry. This year, I’ve tried to keep an easy and free schedule so I can spend more time in the board game room. So, if you see me there, then stop by and say hello!

It’s time to wrap things up, but before I leave I figured I’d say a few things regarding Extra Life 2015. Due to the fact that last year was such a huge success, we’re hoping to do it all again this year. In fact, I’ve already gotten things registered and people can go donate for the 2015 campaign as we speak. Additionally, I’ve set things up so we can put a Battleground Games & Hobbies team together. If you’re interested in more information regarding joining the team, then let me know. I’d be more than happy to fill you in. It’s still early in the year, so stay tuned because I’ll be doing an article covering my plans for this year’s event as well as some fundraising ideas and I’m going to need all of your help.

Well that’s it for now. I hope you enjoyed this little look back and look forward. Until next week…

About the author

Simeon is now the Community Manager for Battleground Games & Hobbies. If you have any questions or inquiries, then you can reach him at Sims@battlegroundgames.com. He is also an avid gamer who loves to play board games and video games. He graduated college with a degree in Political Science, and now serves the public by writing about games. You can check that out here. Don’t forget to “like” him on Facebook as well. It’ll update you on all of his newest content. Best of all, you can follow Simeon on Twitter (@SimeonCortezano) for some real time hilarity. Thanks for reading!

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Tags: anniversary, extra life, Magic the Gathering, MTG, pax, pax east, Simeon Cortezano
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