Pondering the new year
Looking at the past in order to chart the future as we head into December.
I started Gaming Ballistic on Dec 26, at my wife’s parents house, after (most likely) reading +Peter V. Dell’Orto‘s DF blog, and possibly some others. Re-reading my first week or two of posts, though . . . mostly it was Dungeon Fantastic.
Since then, I’ve written over 450 posts, in about 23 months (about 20/month).
I feel like “Thursday is GURPS-Day” is one of my more fun things. The Melee Academy and GURPS 101 series, with lots of collaboration from fellow bloggers, have been fun. The hell-month that it was where I interviewed as many VTT authors as I could was a heck of a month.
I should probably finish that Pathfinder read-through I started. That magic chapter was like hitting the wall. Also, the game that inspired it died, as the group moved on to other things.
And even if I do say so, the 18 Firing Squad interviews I’ve done have been some of my most widely read/listened-to work, which probably says more about my guests than it does me.
What Next?
One thing I observe is that it appears my viewership may be falling off or leveling, rather than climbing. Hard to say. Based on Google Analytics pageview feedback:
I hit a peak in Jan-March of 2013, coinciding with some of my better interviews. That hit 9,000-11,000 page-views per month, but since then I’ve tended more to the 7,500 range.
Not sure how to push that higher – more exposure, and of course more interesting writing, I suppose. Some of my better-received posts have been about DnD 5e or Pathfinder, which is not a surprise given market size. Likewise with the OSR play reports and occasional commentary.
You Tell Me!
So, trolling for ideas for the next year. What have you liked? What have you not liked? What would you like more of, and what not-so-much? Who should I try and interview? Are those interviews valuable?
What has attracted interest in what has been written here, and what is “meh?”
I write what interests me, of course. But I can also pick and choose, so this is your chance.
Thanks for reading, and as you head into the holiday season, have fun, and stay healthy!
Grand Unified Theories, or work on Smackdown Theory specifically, are my favorite. I don't know if they'll cause a spike in your page views, but if Google Analytics could record people thinking "I should use this"…
I like rules hacking, Pyramid or GURPS reviews, the GM thoughts behind stuff like alien menace and campaign logs.
I liked the interviews. More GURPS people!
I'm kind of meh on pathfinder and D&D discussion. For the read through It's interesting what a GURPS guy thinks when encountering it (and somewhat fun to see someone realize that sleep is good at low levels. Like, really good. Like, encounter winning button good. Like, a single spell more useful than the thief class. Like, part of the trinity of Sleep/High AC fighter/healing spells that are why you survive past level 1 good. It's even a good thing for removing low level guys that are bothering you but aren't actually bad at higher levels) but I'm already super experienced in pretty much any edition of D&D so the rules information isn't really useful. I'm not really interested in most D&D house rules.
Finally I'd strongly suggest adding an archive to your blog. I've been here since the beginning but when I find a new blog I start with the first posts and work forward. With over 450 posts that's unnecessarily frustrating without an archive. There are also some times when an archive is better than tags for finding old posts.
The blog used to have the archive, and it must have gotten lost. I've added it back. Thanks for the pointer.
I loved the Technical Natasha and Longsword fight breakdowns. That sort of analysis really helps me imagine what things like 'deceptive attack' and such are supposed to represent. I also enjoy the pieces about grappling that really cleared up how that all works and what is supposed to be going on. I still use Martial Arts without Tech Grappling, but it was very helpful all the same.
Take the summary paragraphs from your reviews and put them on re.co and then link to more back here. Re.co is really awesome and fast and will expose your blog to way more people.
In fact, a reader who Re.Co'd this blog is the reason you gained me as a reader today!
Good advice! I'll tackle this later today.