@Nojo We are actually in the middle of adding calendar/scheduling support for the site. It’s a non-trival task, but we hope to have feature out soon.

@Taellosse We are also adding support to ease linking to other/new wikis when you’re editing. This should be available shortly.

Thanks again for all your comments/suggestions and criticisms. We want to make the site as useful as possible and the only way to do that is to know exactly what our (potential) users want and need.

Most videogame review sites are a joke; they either inflate all of their reviews, or base their entire review on that one thing they didn’t like. That way lies madness.

I’m very pleased that we’re starting a tradition of being honest with our reviews. Our readers deserve our frank opinions, the companies being reviewed deserve blunt and honest feedback, and our reputations ride on our integrity.

Good review, Patrick.

But having taken a look at both, it seems their free versions are robust enough that I’m going to give both a try. Might be a fair amount of copying back and forth, but they both have their benefits, I’ll just have to see which (if either) fits my needs better.

Thanks for posting the review and giving me the nudge to finally try them out!

@kenmarable – I know that another gnome is going to review Obsidian Portal in the near future. I am not a fan of comparison reviews, but I do believe that reviews of similar products on Gnome Stew should be linked to each other for easy reference. I’d much rather give each site my complete attention and use the same system for rating the sites. Just my preference.

Not all groups are going to use online tools, and some game systems will need highly customized tools. Yet I believe that sites like EpicWords are going to become increasingly popular.

I really do believe that EpicWords is a site too keep your eye on. Keep in mind that this is a “first generation” product, and it is delivering what it promises. I am looking forward to what features are added and refined as the site matures. Plus, it might be the right fit for you as of right now. At the very least do yourself a favor and try the free account out to see if it is a match for you.

Will the players buy into it and use it?

Mine just don’t. I’ve tried free forums and now a wiki. I’ve gotten them to sign up but that’s as far as it goes. It’s frustrating for me because I love being able to track things, see different perspectives on actual play write-ups, and, at the very least, organize scheduling beyond email (which I find a hassle). No go.

Also, “useful features” depends largely on what you’re playing. Loot tracker? For D&D, yes. For Burning Wheel? Not in the slightest. Experience tracking? For D&D, yes. For Burning Wheel? There is no XP. Etc.

Since my group plays Burning Wheel, you can see how “bells and whistles” are of little relevance.

It’s all about the group. Keeping game continuity between sessions can be tricky. To that end, one of Epic Words’ goals is to provide a breadth of tools to help make it fun and easy. It also helps keep game time for actual gaming.

Since not everyone is a prolific writer, we wanted to provide a variety of features for different game-organization styles. Wikis are great, but for some folks they can be a bit like staring at a blank page. Different tools prompt different types of collaboration. And if all you end up using is the private forum to discuss pizza toppings for the next session, well that’s cool. (It’s not what we had in mind, but who are we to argue?)

*wave* to jasales. Glad to see you read Gnome Stew too!

I’m thinking of giving one of them a try and would like to see people’s opinions of how they compare to each other.

Based on what you’ve written and what I checked out briefly, I’d say that was a fair review.