Blog Herding: Community Edition 11/10/11

It's a fantastic time to be a gamer right now as we are presented with a collection of spectacular video games released on every system and spanning every genre. But if you're reading this, then obviously you've taken a break from playing, so take a look at some of the week's best blogs.

Blog Herding Stats:

Period Reviewed: October 31 - November 06, 2011
Number of User Blogs: 128
Number of User Bloggers: 70
Number of User Blogs Herded: 12

Upcoming Events:

FragFest Fall 2011 Event Schedule
You know all of the big games that have come out recently – Battlefield 3, Modern Warfare 3, Uncharted 3. What better way to play these games online than with the Game Informer community? Well, you can do just that by participating in the Frag Fest events. Check out eyros2k's blogs for the full schedule.

Community Blogs:

How To Curb Spam And Inappropriate Behavior
Given the continued blog spam harassing the community, this appropriately timed post by "the mods" (one of Game Informer's official moderators) offers specific guidance on how to respond to this nuisance.

Sinners And Saints: Dichotomous Morality In Video Games
How could I not select a blog that has my name in the title? Seriously though, LittleBigDaddy takes a turn with the popular and often provocative topic of morality in video games.

My Gaming Autumn - Tough Choices
Game Informer's favorite irregular blogger Hist stops by to write about an issue many of us are struggling over – with so many good games coming out, which ones are must haves and which ones are going to get passed over?

Why I Love Gears Of War 3
There's no denying the popularity of Gears of War 3. In this personal narrative deserving more attention than what it's received, godofwine7 discusses his favorite features of the game.

Violence Shouldn't Be This Easy
Responding to LittleBigDaddy's blog titled 16, 291: A Reflection, which was selected for Blog Herding last week, Apozem questions violence as it relates to reality and virtual reality.

RC's Diary Of Dark Souls, Part 1: Undead Asylum
Rabid Chipmunk chronicles his adventure in Dark Souls with this saga that's more akin to a weary adventurer's journal entry than a video gamer's blog about the experience.

Celebrating 8 Strange Years On This Site
A short blog marking a milestone achievement in the membership of community member -STRAFE-, who celebrates his 8-year anniversary as a member of the Game Informer community.

Battlefield 3 vs. Modern Warfare 3: An Unnecessary FPS War
The Battlefield/Modern Warfare debate is certainly one of the most controversial and overdone topics in recent times, but this clever musing by rookie blogger J. Swigart is still worth a look.

Custom GI Avatars: Deep Fried Avatars
Game Informer's resident custom avatar creator returns with a special Thanksgiving edition. Check out what TurdFurgy cooks up in his latest installment of specialized avatars including a pretty nifty submission inspired by Skyrim.

5 Things I'd like To See The Gaming Industry Do
Are you satisfied with the state of the video game industry or would you change anything about it? Community member dkeller briefly discusses five elements of gaming he'd like to see incorporated.

A Look Back At Modern Warfare 2's Campaign Of Silliness
A fan of the Modern Warfare series pokes a few holes in the single-player campaign with this humorous blog by Noobtubin8er, who questions some obvious shortcomings with the story.

Telling A Story
This blog was actually showcased in last week's episode of Blog Herding, but I inadvertently included the wrong link, which potentially prevented some readers from seeing it. It's another stimulating blog by EuphoricEnnui that discusses the ability of video games to be used as a medium for telling stories.

Notable Reviews:

Lord Of The Rings: War In The North
One of the best reviewers at Game Informer, Samurai Zero turns in his evaluation of Lord of the Rings: War in the North, a game that he awards a 7.50.

Uncharted 3 Review: No Spoilers
A true spoiler-free review of one of the year's most anticipated games – Nikao reviews the critically acclaimed Uncharted 3 and awards the game an impressive 9.75.

A Great Game Overall, But Not What It Could Have Been
A very thorough and detailed review of Gears of War 3, Jellosnake marks the game an 8.50 and provides the pros and cons of each category he used to evaluate the game.

Community Podcasts, Vlogs, and More:

The Indie & Mojo Show Episode 12 Part 1
Indie & Mojo welcome a very special guest – Eyros2k to assist with the hosting duties this week as the group talks about various topics including Uncharted 3, Rage, Battlefield 3, and Frag Fest.

Robot In The Corner Podcast: Episode 2-7
Dean, Wes, and Titus discuss Batman: Arkham City, Battlefield 3, and this week's Netflix Instant Queue Movie Review for Creature from the Black Lagoon. They also announce a special guest to be featured on the next episode, so listen to the podcast to see who it is.

Gameinformer Online Radio - Episode 30
A podcast with more hosts than any other, the Game Informer Online Radio crew talks about Battlefield 3, GTA V, Skyrim, Uncharted 3, and other fun topics. 

Don't forget to send your feedback, recommendations, and community events in to my personal Game Informer account located here to ensure this feature continues to provide the content you're eager to read.

Happy Blogging!

Your friendly neighborhood blogging community (10/31/2011 - 11/06/2011):
Anticitizen-One, Apozem (3), benderstrike64, BlackHeartedWolf, blaze6106 (3), born4this, brainraider1 (2), Chris K, Chris Moss, Christopher Williams, Cogito Splicer, Craigaleg, Cyber-Luddite, DeadManWalking (2), Derreck, dkeller2 (3), dragonryder, Drym Shyuan (5), DStubbs, Dustin G, EuphoricEnnui, freezeimacop690 (3), God Of Irony (2), Hist (2), Icefire13, indiejones, J. Swigart (3), Jack, The Quixotic Gamer, jets96y, Joshua Weibel, Lancehead255 (2), libertydude (9), LittleBigDaddy, Matthew Fugere (2), mojomonkey12, Mray901 (2), N7Kevin, Noobtubin8er, o_JMan240_o (2), Oni no Tenshi (3), Rabid Chipmunk, Robo LoCicero, Roddslayer, Scott (2), Sean, ShadowDragyn, Shootist2600, sk8terguy97 (2), Special Agent eyros2k, SPLOG Assassin LEVON (2), -STRAFE-, superpretendoboy89, TARG, the mods (4), The Most Interesting Fox in the World (7), The Stranger In Us All, The Trombogon, TheClassyOne, thegodofwine7 (2), Titan (2), Tony DAurio, TurdFurgy, Undertaker Adrian, Vurtax, Wampa King, Wayne Strickland, wayoverdue (5), xl9, xXBourne07Xx (6) and of course yours truly...Saint.

* Due to the significant number of spam blogs, regret any names inadvertently left off of the list *

Video Game Quote of the Week:
"I'm not the pirate you're looking for." – Guybrush Threepwood, The Curse of Monkey Island