I got the six

Another year in the books and the blog’s still going, so here’s the obligatory cake for y’all.

The good news is that, despite my inkling that it might happen as early as two years ago, I haven’t turned my back on MMORPGs completely after all. As a matter of fact I’ve been playing the heck out of Black Desert Online since December, which has only slowed down a bit during the past few weeks.

I’ve taken a break from sailing and bartering for the time being, but am still grinding away for the infinite HP potion every now and then. I’ll also make sure to do the preparatory quests for Land of the Morning Light’s release, which is slated for June 14th.

And of course: checking in on my workers, as one does

As much as I’m looking forward to the new continent though, what I’ve come to realize is that BDO’s, like any other long-running MMO’s, biggest strength is the enormous wealth of content, systems and progression opportunities that are already there, as well as the countless iterations and (hopefully) improvements that all those things got over the years. I mean, the game was already quite good at launch, but by now it’s absolutely awesome and, in my opinion, one of the best there is.

Now, the anticipation for a game’s release can feel really great of course, and the craving for something new and shiny is always there in the back of my head. Still, when I look back on which MMORPGs I’ve played at or shortly after launch during the past few years…well, there’s pretty much only New World and Lost Ark, both of which disappointed me greatly.

I guess from now on I’ll take more of a wait-and-see approach towards new titles, while continuing to play stuff that’s had time to cook and already proven itself. Well, at least unless a game comes along that I feel I just have to play right away for whatever reason.

Still prefer this one over any of the alternatives

Diablo IV is not one of those games, in case you’re wondering. Even if I were to ignore the many good reasons not to buy it – like the fact that Kotick’s still in charge of the company, or the game’s steep price tag combined with a rather expensive cash shop and paid battle pass – I would still nope out for the time being.

Think about it – even Diablo II and III, which were made by “Good Old Blizzard” (anyone remember those times?), each needed a big expansion and many more patches to become as great as they are today. Why would it be any different now? I mean…worse? Sure, that may well happen. Better? Not bloody likely.

And, again, there’s already so many great games out there that are evidently good, polished and content-rich…

I like desert zones in general, but this in particular hits all the right notes for me

Yep, my rekindled enthusiasm for Genshin Impact hasn’t waned yet. I guess my playtime is split about 50/50 between it and BDO at the moment, which feels just right [Edit: Actually it’s more like 40/40, and 20% Hunt: Showdown]. The new (to me) regions, The Chasm and Sumeru, are really great; exploring those while questing and fighting along the way is tremendously fun.

I’ve even managed to get the character I talked about last time by investing only half of my available gacha currency, so I’m still sitting comfortably at 5 bucks spent for a full month of entertainment, with a handful of ten-pulls left over to boot. Take that, Bobby!

He’s… tougher than he looks

So, yeah, still playing, still blogging (well, occasionally). Good times.

I’ve also been watching a lot more basketball this year, starting right after Super Bowl. In years prior I only tuned in for the playoffs; turns out it’s much more satisfying to watch those when I already have a feel for what’s what and who to root for. Also, being there (kind of) when LeBron became the all-time scoring leader felt more special than I’d thought it would.

I’m even considering watching next season right from day one, but I’m afraid following the NFL and the NBA at the same time might be just too much (and pretty expensive too).

Either way, chances are the blog will remain primarily gaming-focused. What can I say, when it comes to sports I prefer doing it myself or at the very least watching. Talking about it – not so much.

Anyway, enough rambling. Year seven, here I come. Groovy gaming guaranteed!

High Five!

You know the drill by now…

Gosh, has it really been another year already? I’ve heard many people say that the whole Covid stuff kinda slowed their perception of time down, what with them being at home a lot more and so on. For me though, if anything the past two years seem to have gone by even faster than those before.

Anyway, this here blog is half a decade old today. Time to pop the champagne, no?

I’ll rather have a Corellian ale, but thanks!

On the face of it, yeah, absolutely. As I’ve said before, I really had no idea where or for how long this would go when I started, but I surely wouldn’t have bet any money on still being active five years down the road – if you’re willing to call one or two posts a month “active”, that is.

Because here’s the thing – I can’t help but admit that my enthusiasm for blogging has declined even more since my last blogiversary. In that post I talked about how there were no MMORPGs I really wanted to play at the time. Well…since then I’ve tried New World, which wasn’t for me, and Lost Ark, a game I had high hopes for but turned out to be a huge disappointment after the first thirty hours or so. Man, what a treadmill.

I don’t need to be playing MMORPGs to have something to blog about though, right? True. But, as I’m only now starting to realize, I need to be reading other blogs to feel a motivation to write myself, and that is something I haven’t done much of lately either. I still regularly read my handful of go-to blogs (you know who you are) because they’re just entertaining no matter the subject. Anything that’s solely focused on MMOs and/or isn’t compulsory reading for me has fallen by the wayside however, and that includes MassivelyOP.

While this might not sound like much of an issue it’s pretty big for me. I’ve visited that site religiously since I stumbled upon it, which was in 2011 I believe, back when it was still under AOL’s umbrella. I helped to kickstart its rebirth as MOP, and I’ve even applied for a writing job a couple years back (which I obviously didn’t get, but given how things have developed that’s definitely for the best). The site meant a lot to me for a long time, is what I’m saying.

I didn’t make a conscious decision or anything, I just…stopped, and only after a while I realized that I had, and also that I don’t even miss it all that much. Of course that’s actually not very surprising when I think about it, what with them predominantly covering a genre I’ve become pretty jaded and unhappy about. That some of the writers themselves, especially the boss lady, seem to feel the same way doesn’t help matters either.

Anyhow, I’m rambling. My point is, I’m discontent with the state of the MMORPG-genre, I’m by and large not interested in reading about it anymore, and as a result I have a hard time finding motivation or inspiration to write about anything myself.

That said, I haven’t covered everything I’d like to say about Hunt: Showdown yet, so I’ll get at least one more post out of that.

Also, to end this on a more positive note, I have no intention to quit for good. Posts may well continue to be few and far between for the forseeable future, but if nothing else I’ll try and show signs of life at least once per month.

So despite all of the above chances are we’ll still share another cake a year from now…

Blaugust 2021 Kick-Off

So here we are, Blaugust 2021 is a go, and despite my initial doubts I did decide to sign up after all. The thought of giving such a great event a hard pass just didn’t feel right. Which means, of course, that I’ll try and post at least a tad more regularly than I have in recent months.

As I’m in a bit of a gaming slump right now…no, that’s not actually true. I’m in a blogging about gaming slump, I guess that’s what it is…they key to that will most likely be to also write about stuff I usually don’t write about, or at least not nearly as often.

Which, incidentally, is what I already did during Blaugust 2018. Of the 31 posts I penned during my first ever Blaugust participation eight had pretty much nothing to do with video games at all.

Since this week’s theme is “Welcome to Blaugust” and veteran bloggers are encouraged to give some advice to newbies – not sure whether I would call myself a veteran quite yet, but let’s just roll with it for the moment – I guess this would be mine: don’t feel obligated to only post about a certain range of topics.

First of all, your blog is exactly that – yours. As long as you don’t intend to reach a very specific audience and keep it happy and/or plan to make a living with your writing you can post about whatever floats your boat at any given moment.

Sure, on first glance this corner of the blogosphere is all about gaming, but that doesn’t mean we don’t read and enjoy each other’s posts when they’re about something else for a change. You’ve probably heard this truism about giving speeches: “It’s 70% how you look, 20% how you sound and only 10% what you say”. I think there’s some truth to that, and despite the negative connotation it also has its upsides and kind of applies to writing as well. For example, it’s because of their writing style, their use of language and their sense of humour that I always enjoy some bloggers’ posts, no matter the topic.

And, again, it’s your blog. Whether I like your posts doesn’t really matter. As long as you enjoy the process of writing and are happy with the outcome yourself, you’ve already won. And you’ll have done something a great many people never do: stopped just consuming and started creating. Go you!

In the spirit of leading by example my next post will indeed not be about gaming. Well, not about actually playing games at least, so I guess it counts. What the heck, my blog, my rules – it’s gonna count! 😉

Happy Blaugust, everyone!

Blaugust 2021 post count: 1

Buckle up, folks, it’s almost (Bl)August-time again!

As July slowly but surely draws to a close we’re once more approaching the season of Blaugust, and as Bhagpuss accurately noted we’re collectively gonna let you know about it, like it or not!

Despite having lots of other things on his plate Belghast has graciously decided to host another round of our (well, his, but also kinda our) great annual blogging festival.

Why? Let’s ask the man himself:

The why is pretty simple. The blogging community is nowhere near as large as it once was. Many of us have aged out of blogging with real-world responsibilities or just moved on to other time-consuming hobbies. Blaugust gives us a chance to infuse the community with a fresh lease on life as we court new bloggers to join the fray. Those of us who have been carrying the torch of blogging for decades now, can sometimes lose hope as our blogroll loses a few voices each year. I’ve come to learn that getting out and mingling and mentoring a new crop of fresh bloggers can give us the perspective to stay engaged and hopefully make this community thrive. The thing is… it has over the last several years as we migrated from “just blogs” to a bustling Discord community that takes place year round instead of just during this one month.

As I’m not much of a socializer I’ve never been very active on that Discord myself, but I absolutely feel like being part of a great community regardless, and it all started with my first Blaugust participation back in 2018.

That being said, I haven’t decided yet whether or not to chime in this time around. Don’t get me wrong, I’d very much like to. It’s just that blogging isn’t very high on my priority list right now, and it has also started to feel more like work than fun more often than not. I’ve talked about one of the reasons for this in my blogiversary-post back in June. Another is that work has been very stressful lately, and chances are it won’t be any different during the whole of August.

Now, I know that nobody is obligated to post more than they feel comfortable with. Still, the event’s stated goal is to post every day for a month, and signing up for it without even having the slightest intention to put my back into it and at least post a little more often than in recent months kinda feels like cheating to me. There’s still some time left to decide though, so maybe I’ll change my mind.

Either way, it’s an awesome event, and if you have a blog or are thinking about starting one you should absolutely seize the opportunity! No need to be shy, everybody in this community is extremely helpful, and we appreciate each other tremendously.

Should you consider participating, all you need to know is in this post over at Tales of the Aggronaut. Here’s looking forward to reading even more terrific posts than usual!

Year four – more Other Stuff than MMOs

No blogiversary-post without a cake

We’ve circled the sun yet another time and I’m still posting (somewhat) regularly around here, so go me I guess.

Still, the blog’s fourth year has been a weird one, and for once COVID-19 wasn’t the main culprit to blame. I mean, sure, after a while masks, distancing, lockdowns and all that shit started to get to me just like everyone else, and I can’t say I’ve been my usual, upbeat self during these surreal times.

The main reason for my change in gaming habits and, as a result, my blogging is something else though: there just isn’t any MMORPG I’d really like to play right now.

It’s not that there aren’t any good ones available, quite the contrary. And, as Bhagpuss accurately notes, there are currently more new and promising releases waiting in the wings than we’ve had in years. I am definitely keeping an eye on Swords of Legends Online, and I’ll most certainly at least try it out when it launches. I also still log into EVE Online every now and again.

There’s always stuff to shoot in space

My enthusiasm for the MMORPG genre as a whole is at an all-time low however. Of course many things have changed during the 20 years since I started to play Ultima Online, and as far as I’m concerned definitely not all of them for the better. Yet after thinking quite a lot about it lately I’ve come to realize: it’s not the genre, it’s me.

I definitely still love the RPG part of the acronym, and I have no qualms regarding the O being in there either. No, it’s the MM aspect that’s become more and more of a turnoff for me.

Guild drama (and drama in general), bad pugs, trolls, people trying to tell me what I can and cannot do with my free time… I could – and probably will – write a whole post of its own about why having other players around is much more bane than boon to me these days.

Peace and calm…yeah, this is much more like it

I guess that’s why I still very much enjoy playing Genshin Impact, which has been my main game – and, at times, my only game – for eight months straight now. It pushes almost all of the buttons that made me addicted to MMORPGs in the first place – exploration, character progression, combat, getting to know a foreign world and then becoming a part of it, and now even housing – without the “baggage” of having other people around. Sorry folks, but that’s just how I feel right now.

Of course there are downsides to playing in self-imposed seclusion too. I’ve argued myself that other players are what puts the spice, the adventure into online games, and I still stand by that. As much fun as I’ve had playing Genshin, Warframe and a handful of other games this past year, I certainly don’t feel like I’ve been on any real adventures while doing so.

Surprisingly, though, I can kinda live with that. As I’ve come to realize it can actually be quite soothing to know in advance that any given play session will most likely not turn into an adrenaline-filled frenzy.

Home is where the heart is

However, I started this blog to write about my gaming adventures first and foremost. You know, about stuff that really excited me when it happened, that I feel the need to preserve and also show to other people, to maybe help them understand why I like to sit at my desk and play these games so much.

It’s probably no surpsise, then, that I’ve published less posts during the blog’s fourth year than any other. Even my first year, when I was still finding my footing and nothing I did had any regularity or plan to it, saw 34 posts published, compared to just 29 within the past twelve months.

Will that change again? Most likely. I’ve been fed up with MMORPGs in the past, and I’ve always come back. I do like having those adventures very much, after all.

Until then my posting cadence will probably remain on the lower end. But don’t worry, I’m not going anywhere.

Media that’s shaped my worldview

2020’s version of Blaugust is in full swing, and it’s my turn already. Thank you Dragonray for handing over the baton, I hope I’ll be able to meet the high expectations you’ve set for me. 🙂

Here goes.

Blaugust Promptapalooza – Prompt 3

What are some key sources of media (games/movies/etc) that have shaped your worldview?

As I’m writing a blog that mainly focuses on video games in general and MMORPGs in particular it shouldn’t come as a surprise that those will get a mention here. I was born in 1976 though, so I’ll have to start off with some earlier types of media.

Not ours, but we had the exact same model in our kitchen

You know, it’s funny. I’ve been working in radio broadcasting for almost 20 years now, and during that time I’ve often said that I enjoy it despite not being and never having been a radio listener myself. While thinking thoroughly about today’s prompt I’ve realized that it’s actually not true at all.

I couldn’t for the life of me tell you the stations’ names, but back when I was little the radio was always on at home. My mom also played vinyl (and shellac) records, of which I mainly remember The Beatles and ABBA, but mostly it was the radio playing.

I liked it a lot, and it didn’t take long until I begged for my own one with a built-in cassette recorder so I could record my favourite songs. Once I’d got it I would sit on my bed for hours on end, listen to the music and record the songs that I liked the most. To this day Depeche Mode’s Everything Counts is one of my all-time favourites, for example.

I guess radio shaped my worldview insofar that it taught me early on how beautiful, heart-warming and life-enriching music can be. I can’t imagine a life without it.

Ok, I’m not actually THAT old, but you get the picture

Growing up during the eighties in an urban environment also meant watching a lot of TV. Until about 1985 we still had a black-and-white set and a grand total of three programs to watch, but around my 9th birthday we got a color set, a VHS recorder and cable TV. From then on there was no stopping me.

I soaked up everthing a boy of that age ought to like (at the time): shows like The Muppet Show and Sesame Street, reruns of The three Stooges or Laurel and Hardy; a bit later I was really into The A-Team, Knight Rider, Airwolf and so on. I even got my first taste of Anime (without knowing it) with Captain Future and Saber Rider.

I wouldn’t call any of that life-changing experiences, but the things I watched have undoubtedly shaped me in some way or other.

At the age of twelve or so a true landmark event happened though: I got to watch Return of the Jedi – and thus a Star Wars movie – for the first time. I believe I’d never been so enthralled by anything in my life. Other stuff I’d just watched, but that movie took me to a galaxy far, far away indeed, and I think it really changed the way I watch movies. Nowadays I get totally absorbed by the story – usually even if said story isn’t all that great – and forget about everything else until it’s over.

I have to admit that it can be somewhat demanding to watch movies with me as I don’t tolerate talking, cell phone usage or anything else that might distract me (chips are okay though as long as I can have some too), but that’s just the way it is now and the price, I feel, for being able to immerse oneself completely.

Great movies and shows take me to places and let me experience adventures I would never see and have in real life, and I’m extremely grateful for that.

You probably wouldn’t be reading this now if I hadn’t been a huge fan of reading all my life.

It started, unsurprisingly, with comics, mainly Mickey Mouse, Asterix and Clever & Smart. I tried to like Marvel and stuff, but those were just too ‘loud’ for me, if that makes sense.

At age 13 or so I shifted away from comics and started to read ‘real’ literature – if you’re willing to call penny dreadfuls literature, that is. John Sinclair is written by a German author and tells the stories of a Scotland Yard inspector specialized in paranormal investigations. I used to read those every week for a couple of years straight, and that’s what kicked off my turning into a serious bookworm. I assume it’s also where my penchant for horror movies came from, to boot.

For the next ten, fifteen years I read a hell of a lot, mostly science fiction and fantasy, but also thrillers, historical fiction and even non-fiction (the latter especially about ancient Egypt).

These days I’m not reading as much as I’d like, but I still do of course.

If you’re reading this I don’t need to lecture you about the power of the written word, do I?  Suffice it to say, without reading so much I wouldn’t be the person I am today, and I’ll never stop enjoying it.

Playing video games is pretty much the earliest memory of consuming any type of media that I have, and it has always been my main hobby, if you will. It’s much more to me than a hobby though.

A really great game can, in a way, be the culmination of everything I talked about above. Experiencing adventures I could never have in real life? Check. Music that evokes strong emotions and makes the ride all the more enjoyable? Absolutely. Thrilling, touching or funny stories with heroes to root for and villains to despise? Sure thing. Well, sometimes anyway.

Add to that the ability to play an active part in all of it instead of just consuming passively, and in some cases to even fundamentally affect the outcome, and you get something truly marvelous.

Unfortunately playing video games has also helped to shape my worldview in a negative way though, as it has taught me that even amongst ‘normal’ human beings (i.e. not counting scum like terrorists, rapists and so on) there’s a frighteningly large number of dickheads out there. I’ve had stretches where I outright refused to play online-multiplayer games because I just wasn’t willing to take it anymore.

Apart from that though, what can I say, I just love playing video games. They’re inextricably a part of me.

And there you have it.

Tomorrow the wonderful Roger Edwards (thanks for all the great movie reviews by the way!) will be there for you with the fourth installment of Blaugust Promptapalooza 2020, so head on over to Contains Moderate Peril and have a look. I sure will.

Blaugust Promptapalooza incoming

In light of the rather trying cirmumstances we all find ourselves in this year the regular Blaugust event was rescheduled to April, which was great, but left us with the question of what to do come August.

Belghast, reliable as ever, had another great idea though. As being asked to post for thirty-one days straight is quite trying for many – even if it’s voluntary, the pressure to deliver is kinda there once you’ve signed up – we’ll not do that a second time within half a year. This time around we’ll pass the torch on a day by day basis. Enter Blaugust Promptapalooza.

On July 31st Bel himself will start the event by offering a prompt to write about a certain topic to the blogging community, and he’ll also present his own thoughts about said topic to us. Towards the end of his post the next day’s participant will be revealed by him, who in turn will give us his own prompt on August 1st, and so on.

If the suspense of who’s gonna post when is killing you already, fret not, for it ain’t a secret at all:

• 07/31/2020 – Belghast – Tales of the Aggronaut
• 08/01/2020 – Dragonray – Azerothian Life
• 08/02/2020 – Mailvaltar – Mailvaltar – MMOs and other stuff
• 08/03/2020 – Roger Edwards – Contains Moderate Peril
• 08/04/2020 – everwake – Everwakes Internet Adventures
• 08/05/2020 – Wilhelm Arcturus – The Ancient Gaming Noob
• 08/06/2020 – Stingite – The Friendly Necromancer
• 08/07/2020 – Rambling Redshirt – Beyond Tannhauser Gate
• 08/08/2020 – Easha and Poppy – Glittering Girly Gwent Gaming
• 08/09/2020 – Paeroka – Nerdy Bookahs
• 08/10/2020 – Krikket – Nerd Girl Thoughts
• 08/11/2020 – SDWeasel – Unidentified Signal Source
• 08/12/2020 – Jen Thorpe – Book of Jen
• 08/13/2020 – Heather – Just Geeking By
• 08/14/2020 – Chestnut – Gamer Girl Confessions
• 08/15/2020 – Syp – Bio Break
• 08/16/2020 – Endalia – Princess in a Castle
• 08/17/2020 – Bhagpuss – Inventory Full
• 08/18/2020 – Nogamara – Battle Stance
• 08/19/2020 – Solarayo – Ace Asunder
• 08/20/2020 – Naithin – Time to Loot
• 08/21/2020 – JamiesVlogUK – Whats Occurin: A Life of a Welshman
• 08/22/2020 – Professor Beej – The Geekery
• 08/23/2020 – MagiWasTaken – Indiecator
• 08/24/2020 – Joar – WoW Alt Addiction
• 08/25/2020 – UnwiseOwl – Leaflocker
• 08/26/2020 – Telwyn – Gaming Sans Frontières
• 08/27/2020 – Sandrian – Aeternus Gaming
• 08/28/2020 – UltrViolet – Endgame Viable
• 08/29/2020 – Kanter – MMO One Night a Week
• 08/30/2020 – Belghast – Tales of the Aggronaut

I think this is a really great idea, maybe even better than ‘normal’ Blaugust, because it creates more interaction between us, more cross-linking and -promoting, and it also gives us all a plethora of, well, prompts for topics to write about.

Can’t wait to read it all and to chime in!

If you’d like to hear from the man himself about his idea behind the event, here’s the original post.

Time flies when you’re having fun

As per tradition: moar cake!

Hard to believe, but today marks this here blog’s third birthday.

Had you asked me back then whether I thought I’d still be writing blog posts three years down the road…I really don’t know what my answer would have been.

One thing I do know for sure though. Had you told me at the time that I would publish 187 posts with a total of 156 thousand words, and still no end in sight, I’d called you crazy. But here we are.

The main reason, of course, is that it is a lot of fun. Much more so than I would have imagined. It’s also an ongoing learning experience. When I compare my first couple dozen posts with more recent ones it’s almost as if someone else had written the former. It’s remarkable how quickly human beings can learn stuff that’s rather alien to them and become at least somewhat proficient just by doing it over and over.

Along the way I’ve even learned a bit of HTML-code – I didn’t want to, but WordPress made me – which may come in handy…or not.

What didn’t happen was blogging becoming my true love and/or main driving force. Towards the end of Blapril Bhagpuss said that he’d rather write about games than actually play them, at least at the moment. To me actually playing the games is still much more important, and I wouldn’t want it any other way. After all the desire to chronicle my gaming adventures was and remains far and away the main purpose of this blog.

Speaking of which, this third year has indeed been quite an adventurous one, not least due to the release of ArcheAge Unchained in October. Sucker for sandboxes that I am I’ve been deep-sea fishing, building a family empire with friends, trading, making music and generally goofing around quite a lot since then.

Warframe was last year’s new addition to my gaming library, and a really great one. While it’s obviously neither an MMORPG nor a sandbox it has a surprising number of gameplay elements on offer that aren’t just about killing stuff. I’ve built a custom gun, went mining and fishing, composed deadly tunes, played Guitar Hero In Space and tried myself at parcours.

The third game I’ve spent a lot of time with was EVE Online. I went back to nullsec, experienced my first Keepstar-kill, saw a faction Fortizar blow up and went to fight inside wormhole space. In April we would have finally made a trip to Iceland and attended the EVE fanfest too, but of course that didn’t happen. Maybe next year.

Finally, about a week ago Lakisa asked me, quite unexpectedly, about an MMORPG we hadn’t been playing for a couple of years. Honestly, I’d had heavy-heartedly made my peace with the fact that I’d never play it again some time ago, what with the reboot it got in 2017 that, in my opinion, was totally uncalled-for and ‘improved’ an outstanding game very much for the worse. Turns out, though, that the original version can still be played and even has a couple handful of players.

So yeah, we’re back.

Looking stylish as ever…

Don’t be surprised to read some stories about a supposedly dead game around here in the near future. Year number four, here I come.

Wrapping up Blapril 2020

Today’s officially the last day of Blapril, so it’s time to look back upon this out-of-season festival of blogging intended to make us all feel a bit better during these trying times.

I’ve posted more and also read more than usual, so from my point of view the event absolutely succeeded – as usual.

I didn’t come even close to publish 31 posts, but then I knew from the start that I wouldn’t, and that’s ok. This isn’t a competition after all. A competition makes only a select few people feel better whereas, again, this thing is for all of us.

Just like during the last two rounds of Blaugust I’ve also learned something new and did a couple of things I’d never done before.

I had, for example, never thought a lot about tagging my posts properly. When I wrote a piece about EVE I tagged it EVE Online and MMORPGs, and that was it. While there probably isn’t an inherently wrong or right way to do it I guess this was a bit too general and not really helping all that much – unless you specifically wanted to only read stuff about EVE of course.

So I went back to many of my posts and added some new tags. Luckily I don’t have a backlog of thousands of posts yet like some fellow bloggers do. As a result there’s now an Opinion tag that’s got you covered should you for some reason ever feel the urge to only read my highly subjective rants about various topics, and an About me tag for posts where I don’t just talk about the games I’ve played, but also, well, about myself in one way or another.

That there even is a need for the latter is also due to Blapril, as I’d never done the various personality tests that made the rounds before, and probably still wouldn’t have if not for the event.

Lastly I published my first real guide on this blog. I was big into writing guides and generally helping folks out back when being active on forums still was a thing, but I hadn’t done so in quite a while. So there’s a Guides tag now, too. Maybe it’ll even lead to more than one post someday.

So this was Blapril 2020. Big shout-out to Belghast who hosted us again in his cool, calm and collected way, and to all participants who made our days a bit brighter with their many posts and comments. Looking forward to the next one!

Blapril 2020 post count: 15

Blogger recognition, neat!

It’s Getting To Know You Week in Blaprilverse, and while I’m way late to the party I guess now’s the perfect time to address the Blogger Recognition Award, which both Naithin and Bhagpuss tagged me for.

The rules are simple:

1. Thank the wonderful person(s) who nominated you and leave a link back to their blogs.
2. Explain your blog’s origin story or its history.
3. Hand out two or more pieces of advice for new bloggers.
4. Nominate 5 other bloggers and hook us up with links to their blogs.

Here goes.

Pictured: my history of writing, part one (ca. 1989)

If you’re reading this chances are you already know Bhagpuss and his blog, Inventory Full. He’s been around for a long time, posts very regularly and is always entertaining to read. When I discovered that there are such wonderful things as gaming blogs some seven or eight years ago, his was one of the first that I stumbled upon, and I’ve been a regular ever since. As a bonus he has the most extensive, auto-updating blogroll I’ve ever seen, which is very handy.

Naithin’s Time to Loot is relatively new in comparison. It isn’t his first blog though, and he’s a very active and thoughtful blogger too. Highly recommended.

Thank you both for nominating me, it’s an honor (not being ironic here)!

Ca. 1995; probably not exactly like mine, but close enough

As for my own blog, I think it came into being mainly for two reasons.

One, I’ve always been a big fan of language in general and the written word in particular. I love to read, and ever since I had a keyboard I’ve also been fond of writing (I hate writing by hand, it’s pretty much the most uncomfortable- and unnatural-feeling thing you could force me to do, and nobody would be able to read any of it either).

I’m not a terribly creative person though, so making up and writing stories or something like that was never even a consideration. I believe the first things I wrote were hints and walkthroughs for adventure games I’d beaten. I distributed those on 3.5 inch disks on our schoolyard. Once the internet had taken off I became a sucker for gaming forums. I read absolutely everything there was to read about the games that interested me, and I also added to the discussions and the knowledge base. Sometimes a lot. I wrote close to a thousand posts each in some forums I was active in, for example SWG.de, the biggest German Star Wars Galaxies community at the time, or our SWTOR-guild’s internal forum years later.

Websites and forums come and go though, and I’ve written a huge amount of stuff over the years that’s now lost forever. The majority of it wasn’t really worth preserving, obviously, but I clearly remember some guides I’ve written and conversations that I’ve had which I would really like to be able to read one more time, if only for nostalgia’s sake. So I guess at some point I started to feel that I needed my own, permanent place to stow away my ramblings.

Reason number two is that video games, especially MMORPGs, sometimes let me experience great adventures that I a) don’t want to forget, and b) would like to share with others. I remember vividly that one such adventure in specific triggered the actual, tangible wish to sit down a write about it. It took another couple of years however, but in the end I finally did.

So here we are, almost three years down the road from my first blog post. I’m really glad that I took the plunge when I did, and I’m grateful for the advice and inspiration all the great bloggers out there gave me beforehand and since, knowingly and unknowingly, because without that I’d probably not dared to.

Ca. 2003; I had this for about 13 or 14 years, great piece of hardware

Now, as there’s already so much great advice out there, what could I tell you about blogging that’s not already been said countless times?

I guess that’s advice number one right there: it doesn’t matter if someone else has already written about a certain topic.

Firstly, no one reads all the blogs. It might not seem likely from your perspective, but it’s absolutely possible that someone comes to your blog and reads about that topic for the very first time.

And even if not, everyone’s viewpoint is unique, so your take on the subject can still give new insights and perspectives that others might find useful or at least entertaining. Whatever it is you want to say, knock yourself out!

My second advice is to only publish blog posts that you are pleased with, otherwise don’t publish.

This one might just be me though as I set pretty high standards for myself, and it bugs me – probably more that it should – when I reread a post of mine after I’ve published it and think it could have been better. What really does not matter is what anyone else thinks about your writings though. Unless you’re getting paid for it you do this for yourself after all, so if you are happy with your creation you’ve done a good job, period.

This is what I’m typing these here words with, it’s really good too

At this point I’m supposed to tag some more folks for the award/challenge/whatever this actually is, and I’d really love to. By now most if not all bloggers I read have already been tagged at least once though, and I have completely lost track of who has or hasn’t been.

So please, if you read this and haven’t been tagged yet, consider yourself tagged now and chime in. It’s fun and doesn’t hurt at all!

Blapril 2020 post count: 7