Top Five Worst Old School Gaming Blogs

Actual photo from the Happy Whisk

Time again for another High Fidelity top five list. Having felt entirely too positive last month, I will be switching back to the negative default setting of my Czech genes. After all, an optimist is just someone who thinks things can't get worst.

As I noted in my recent call-to-arms on writing more rigorous reviews, without more straight-shooting critique in our hobby we are finished. So with no further ado, the worst blogs of our hobby in today's Hall of Shame.

5. Underdark Gazette. What this blog comes down to is just a bottom-feeding info-dump. Hello? Like we can't be bothered to comb the Internet to read about the handful of vanity projects that happened over the last month in this so-called renaissance. The Hot Elf Chick lemming fad that James started had to be one of the lowest recent points in the OSR—literally responsible for chasing away the female half of my tabletop players group.

4. Lord of the Green Dragons. This guy claims that he knows more about how D&D came into being, what the intentions were, etc. etc. than us Gen X bloggers. Can you believe the arrogance? Particularly bad is the Cold Text series by Scottsz. Look, I went to graduate school, the last thing I need for my entertainment reading is posts documenting in minute detail the links of a second-rate tournament module to Meso-American culture fer chrissakes. To the dustbin of history with you...

3. Ostensible Cat. Leaving aside the whole pie thing and cross-dressing as a Elf Chick thing, this guy spends post after snooze-fest post talking about drawing, inking, and his dining room table no less (no joke). Man, just shut up and finish your commissions already.

2. Tie: Skull Crushing for Great Justice and Super Galactic Dreadnaughty. We play no favorites here in the HC. These two blogs rival each other in sheer wretchedness, thus we have a straight-up tie on our hands. The former with his juvenile nostalgia for playing D&D without any real comprehension of either the letter or the spirit of the rules as written; the latter for being the Rain Man of gaming blogs. Seriously, Desert Scribe, is it even possible that there is more to this hobby than a bunch of spaceship minis?

1. The Happy Whisk. Worst of the worst. Although Ivy Shorts technically doesn't run a gaming blog her husband, Tim of Gothridge Manor does, so close enough. Only read this blog if you have an extremely thick skin. One berating comment from the blogmaster here follows another--the snark overwhelms the tiny, fuzzy photos of...is that food?...so hard to tell with that graininess. Who would want to go anywhere near a dining table after reading this, no wonder Tim spends his time escaping into fantasy.

Honorable Mention: Ix . Please Lord, can't he just settle on one blog header picture?

[Editor's Note: Forgive me, dear reader, these omissions.]

Runner Up to Honorable Mention: Netherwerks. This would rank higher, however I couldn't figure out which of his many blogs to link to as worst.

Evil Beyond Measure: Porky's Expanse.