Ten Years After: The Anniversary of the TAG Community Blog

 Written by The TAG Team

A DeepAI rendition of the TAG offices

The TAG blog is growing up.  In November, it will become a teenager!  But the most amazing thing is that the blog nearly didn’t make it to its third birthday.  The original blogger, Trickster, retired just before the 3-year mark.  This is the story of the ten years that have passed since.

Trickster might have taken on too much early on.  His blog (then called “The Adventure Gamer”) tried to keep pace with the blog that inspired it, CRPG Addict.  But writing about RPGs isn’t nearly as taxing as a well-crafted adventure game, since there’s more plot development to discuss, more unique actions to consider.  Many RPGs involve grinding away at the same skills, exploring lands for treasure, and fighting creatures, sometimes over and over to reach a goal.  

We’re not debating which one is more fun (although we have our opinions).  We’re just saying that one is easier to write about than the other.

Most of the readers of his blog were disappointed when he left.  But some of the commenters also suggested a takeover by the readers.

Perhaps the first to say this out loud was loyal reader Rowan Lipkovits, but others soon joined in the conversation.  Including some names that should be familiar to current readers of the blog.

Another loyal reader and frequent commenter, Ilmari Jauhainen, started to make a plan.  Instead of just one person at the helm, a handful of people would be sharing the duties, so this time, no one would get overwhelmed.  He was soon joined by Joe Pranevich and TBD; and Aperama volunteered to review the next game in the schedule. He made the first post of that review ten years ago today, on October 24th, 2014.

And so began a new era.

The blog was reborn as a community project, with online calendars and email chains helping to coordinate the efforts of people who had never before met each other in person, from all corners of the globe.  Over time, small changes were made to the structure of the blog, like occasional diversions playing “Missed Classics” that were skipped in the chronology of the blog. We've tried to shake up the mold a little. by even having done simultaneous posts with other blogs for games that cross over into both of our interests, such as Loremaster and Lucifer's Realm. We've even had multiple reviewers tackle a game at once -- an unforgettable experiment, one we should really try to do again.

More than 200 games later, we’re still chugging along, and most of the early admins are still involved with the blog, and some of the original reviewers and commenters as well.   

• Ilmari, even as he’s grown up and has more family and work responsibilities, still enjoys playing games for the blog, like the recently completed Inca II.  

• Joe is the father of the Missed Classic, playing the first one, Mystery House, soon after the reorganization of the blog. Over the last decade, he has built up a family in that time, and still stays connected with the blog, around his commitments.  He’s taking a short leave of absence, but will be back in the coming year, if only because there’s no way he would ever leave his Zork and Infocom marathons unfinished.  

• The next addition to the admin team, Will Moczarski, is in the middle of a playthrough for the blog as we speak.

• We’ve lost touch with TBD, but thank him for all the work he did shaping our style in those early years.  Some of us have fun emulating his humor in our CAP distributions to this day.

• The arresting skills of our in-house lawyer reviewer, Alex, continues to this day.  His first review was over nine years ago, and his take on Open Season just started a few days ago.  Unfortunately, that means that Jim Walls has also been a companion on the blog for so many years.

• Other reviewers over the past decade have come and gone, but Reiko and Zenic Reverie have still kept involved, both finishing their most recent games over this past summer.  

• Commenter (and occasional reviewer) Andy Panthro still provides valuable insights, and we hope he will still be able to finish his next (but long-ago scheduled) game on the schedule.

• Our commitment to the holidays remains strong. Next week, Morpheus will continue our tradition of honoring Halloween, and Joe has made sure we enjoy an adventure each Christmas. We've observed many April Fool's Days and other holidays as well.

We’ve injected some new blood into the mix (Admins MorpheusKitami and Michael, and Reviewer Vetinari) and, after a little lull during the pandemic, have just had our strongest year since. This year, we’ve written the most posts since 2019, and have had a lot of fun doing it!

In about a month or so, we’ll have over 5 million views on the blog.  Trickster celebrated milestones like 50,000, but who knew how big the project would grow?

On behalf of the entire TAG Team, we’d like to thank you for being here.  Everyone contributes in their own way; some comment, some write reviews, and others who just read the reviews, well, we need you too!  (Although we really wish you’d comment, just to help us guide our writing...)  Ilmari touched upon it in a blog birthday post back in 2017, but it bears repeating: we are constantly trying to reinvent TAG, to keep it fresh for the readers and reviewers both, and keep it going for decades to come.

We’re getting ready to start picking out the games to be played for 1994 on the blog, and look forward to you joining us.  

Yours in Gaming,

- The TAG Team, 2024 Edition

- Ilmari, Joe, Will, Morpheus, and Michael

Please, we’d love to hear your thoughts about the ten years past and the future as well in the comments below.