Brilliant Gameologists

""Play like you have to""

In mid-07, three gamers got together and began recording a Podcast, and created a website to contribute to the gaming society. The three (Meg, Josh, and Zeke) created BG and posted this podcast, asking a very simple question: What do you like about gaming?

While initial traffic was low, this would change due to events at the Wizards of the Coast forums. The Broken Base created by the release of Dungeons & Dragons 4th Edition, combined with repeated, nigh-incomprehensible overhauls of the entire board (including a temporary rebranding to "Gleemax, a Myspace for gamers"), resulted in large chunks of the userbase becoming... upset. Eventually Meg was fired from the moderator position she held at the Character Optimisation section, and a large chunk of the regulars there followed her to her podcast's boards in protest. By the times things stabilized, BG had become a community in its own right.

To this day, BG is a pillar in the tabletop optimization community (specifically oriented around Dungeons & Dragons 3.5, but they will help posters with nearly any system or game if asked, or at least point you in the right direction), rivaling TheGamingDen and GiantITP in sheer resources, and the podcasts (while infrequent) are very insightful for any gamer.

Currently in need of some Wiki Magic.

Note: The forums have been replaced. The old boards are currently (11/07/11) in read-only, and will remain so for a few months before being taken down entirely.

Episodes/Threads of this site/forum provide examples of:

 * Character Tiers: Home to the most widely-used tier list for Dungeons & Dragons 3.x, with classes rated on how much effort a Game Master needs to handle them (high tiers have Story Breaker Powers, while low tiers are incapable of harming common enemies).
 * Elite Tweak: The "Min/Max It" section is capable of squeezing power out of even the strangest and most obscure classes or abilities. Even a joke Flaw from a magazine which gives you a random chance of pulling out a chicken whenever you reach for an item.
 * Eternal September
 * Game Breaker: In general, if you ask, it can be found.
 * Gushing About Shows You Like: Josh is well known for his opinions of Burning Wheel.
 * Lethal Joke Character: A number of builds fall into this category, using abilities like jumping high, drinking alcohol, or commanding hippos to deadly effect.
 * Min-Maxing: By the boatload. As stated above, BG has one of the largest collections of optimisation content on the internet, being particularly known for its collection of Class Handbooks for Dungeons & Dragons. Several of the podcasts also cover basic optimization tactics.
 * Noodle Incident: There's a reason the forums haven't been upgraded since 2009.
 * One of Us: The Gameologists themselves (or at the very least, Meg) are familiar with TV Tropes.
 * Play-By-Post Games: There is a section dedicated to these types of games, with private boards available.
 * Podcast: Not that it needed to be mentioned again. Primarily discusses D&D, but the Gameologists have covered many topics over the nearly two score episodes they've posted.
 * Rules Lawyer: The Lawful Good variety is very common among the userbase.
 * Strategy Guide: A near-comprehensive assortment of "handbooks" exists for each of 3rd Edition's classes, as well as certain iconic character types and abilities. In general, if you can't find it at BG or WotC, it likely doesn't exist.
 * All the Tropes Will Ruin Your Vocabulary: Make sure you know the definitions of the terms "optimiser", "powergamer" and "munchkin" before you use one. They are not the same as those used by this wiki.
 * "339" refers to the pre-Gleemax Character Optimisation forums, derived from the number in its URL.
 * Similarly, common acronyms may confuse newer players. In particular, you should know what CL, ECL , LVL , WBL , EL , and PrC mean when you ask for help.