Blogs..... what do we say?

[Robosmith]

As you can see here: https://wargamesgazette.com/ , my blog is still active alas not as frequently updated as it used to be.

I was looking at your blog earlier. Wanted to check out the frostgrave Barbarians. Small world..

I think you're right in saying how much FB has taken over from other web based mediums. The problem with FB is posts just disappear faster than yesterday's newspapers. So if you want a reasonable archive of everything you post, you've either got to have a website, or a blog. You can then use FB, Insta, Twitter, etc to share a blog link, and the traffic it should generate might make up for how soon the link post disappears off the page.

Social media has made it too easy to run a 'blog' with an immediate audience but it also makes everything disposable by design. Social medias design to make you scroll down an unlimited list of heavily curated things, never enough to actually fulfill your desires but enough to keep you chasing your tail. It's dystopian and something I personally try to avoid. Discord giving instant (ish) feedback is also slightly better than Facebook and especially instagram but I find I dislike those communities and people in charge so I never stick around. There's nothing like a good old fashioned blog where you can follow progress of a project over months. This forums pretty good for doing the same thing but it can also be full of filler comments (no offense to people posting supporting comments, I'm sure the owner appreciates it but as a project follower it's just stuff to scroll past). The youtube thing is also reducing the blog sphere quite a lot. People see money signs making youtube channels and end up buried because they never get recommended while the top channels do over and over again.. But blogs are timeless and there's something comfy about reading a 12 month project from start to finish in an afternoon.

I've found blogsofwar is great for finding blogs you might other wise miss but Brave search also gave us a great new tool. They recently added Goggles as a feature where you can decide what search results you want to see. They have news sources leanings and similar stuff like that but it has the holy grail for blog searching. No Pintrest results. And holy crap does that instantly improve search results. Search "Frostgrave barbarians" and hit image search and you discover lots of blogs painting them or sprues of them being built. Makes a world of difference and I highly recommend trying it if you want to find more "old chap chasing his passion" blogs rather than pinterest garbage.

[eilif]

Been giving this some thought and I think another value of blogs is as a tool to add context and explanation.   When you're in a forum conversation about a game, project, technique, event, etc, it adds allot of clarity to not just be able to make a comment but to be able link to the words and pictures that illustrate your point or experience.

Having a blog archive to quote and/or link alows you too remain succinct in your comment while simultaneously providing context and allowing readers the option to read further for edification or clarification.

[white knight]

I've found blogsofwar is great for finding blogs you might other wise miss

Can you post a link to that?

[Ruire]

Can you post a link to that?

I guess they must mean wargamesblogs - new to me!

[eilif]

I guess they must mean wargamesblogs - new to me!

That's alot of Blogs, almost too many. I added Chicago Skirmish Wargames anyway.

Another benefit of the long running blog.  I just had a PM exchange this week with a member here about a game some of our club used to play.  They found out posts worthy of a couple hours reading! That the blog posts can be useful years later to someone is certainly an argument in their favor.
I doubt I'd have the same exchange about social media posts from years past if that were my meliu.

[Robosmith]

That's alot of Blogs, almost too many. I added Chicago Skirmish Wargames anyway.

Another benefit of the long running blog.  I just had a PM exchange this week with a member here about a game some of our club used to play.  They found out posts worthy of a couple hours reading! That the blog posts can be useful years later to someone is certainly an argument in their favor.
I doubt I'd have the same exchange about social media posts from years past if that were my meliu.

As long as you can find them blogs are awesome for that. Or trying to find pictures of a sprue or size comparison. Things that get buried else where.

Finding your old blog can be fun as well, or make you wonder how you forgot like six months of gaming and people related to it you chatted with online.

[mikedemana]

I had never seen that link before -- looks like an impressive list. I confess I am a bit bummed my Lead Legionaries hasn't made the list. I have been updating it fairly regularly since 2013. I link posts of mine here on Lead Adventure Forum, too. How does one get listed on this?

Mike Demana

[Robosmith]

I had never seen that link before -- looks like an impressive list. I confess I am a bit bummed my Lead Legionaries hasn't made the list. I have been updating it fairly regularly since 2013. I link posts of mine here on Lead Adventure Forum, too. How does one get listed on this?

Mike Demana

There's a submission box at the bottom of the page.

[mikedemana]

There's a submission box at the bottom of the page.

Thanks! I'll try that!!

Mike Demana

[Warren Abox]

I've to using blogs as online journals and Central information clearing houses for multi-player games. If you set the blog up correctly, with pages, you can have both a newsfeed and a location for reference materials such as rules, maps, army locations, and current orders of battle. The comment section makes for a useful method of communication among the participants as well. In short, I'm a big fan.

It won't get a whole lot of views, but can be is a very useful tool. It's sort of a low rent wiki for guys don't want to deal with the hassle of running an actual wiki. And if you're running it for a small pool of friends, the number of views doesn't really concern so much as the usefulness.

Obligatory plug and proof concept time - I've been running a group solo campaign using blogger. You can join the fun and follow along here:

https://thesneedvillewar.blogspot.com/

[Pijlie]

Can you post a link to that?

Nah. Can't be any good. Mine isn't on it 

But seriously. I submitted mine as well.

[mikedemana]

But seriously. I submitted mine as well.

 

Now we sit around and wait and see how long it takes to make the cut!

Mike Demana

[Pijlie]

Now we sit around and wait and see how long it takes to make the cut!

Mike Demana

5 days and counting....

[Unlucky General]

I've been blogging for years now and will give it up when Google no longer supports it I suppose.

The advantage for me is that it's my domain (effectively) so I get to shape my pages how I like. I'm not sure if there are any rules but I haven't been limited yet by arbitrary decisions over content. Not that I'm looking to peddle any particular abhorrent philosophy or anything but I'm free to include images like a properly marked up German aircraft of WW2 - if you get my meaning. You can also make a contribution on your own blog without fear of contradiction or criticism which is also nice. The flip side is that you can't get into a discussion so much but that's what forums are for.

I follow many other blogs and check in daily. I think blogs give quality and quantity which all other mediums lack. I can also refer back to my own older postings and those of the other bloggers - and I do. I know YouTube videos are becoming increasingly popular but frankly, they are over-used and often for wargaming content which doesn't require footage and would be better off as written content with photography.

There was a time I was too interested in building followers and counting hits - I don't care about that now. I'm of a generation who could care less about followers or influencing - let the peddlers of Twitter and YouTube content worry about such things.

Sometimes I'll post on this forum and less often on Facebook if I think there might be a wider interest in something I've discovered or learned through one of my builds. I do catalogue most of my output on my blog but it's not always something I feel the need to share more widely.

As I personally loath commercialism, I don't advertise on my blog - it's a hobby, not my job. I admit to despising the Patreon obsession which has crept through the ranks of YouTubers which is all but universal now - not to mention endorsements and sponsorships which I suppose I just did. The bloggosphere is largely free of all that.

I note that some of us have allowed blogs to go dormant - at least for a time. I run four but only one or two are ever particularly active over any span of time. Yet the content is still there - I think of it as an evolving electronic book or magazine. I suggest this is better than the rubbish content that 'professionalised' and full-time YouTubers now clearly feel oblige to pump out. Some of them have bottomed out from what I can see in their chosen field but their funding model doesn't appear to allow them to stop -so quality and content is in serious decline.

I think I've written enough.

[TWD]

I know YouTube videos are becoming increasingly popular but frankly, they are over-used and often for wargaming content which doesn't require footage and would be better off as written content with photography.

This is so true.
99% of YouTube wargames content I see I think - "this video would have made an excellent blog post" - usually as I turn it off one minute into it's twenty minute run time.