I’ve been meaning to do this for a long time. What “this” means exactly is still coming into focus. The gist of it is that I want to start focusing on growing our blog again. I feel like over the years this blog has been nothing but reactive, and though we have evolved, it has been because we are acted upon by outside forces rather than taking the reins. As a result, things haven’t been as great as I would have liked.
When we first started, MMORPGs were still in their hyping heyday. All we had to do was mention a game and we would have thousands of readers, instant first-page Google rankings, and developers banging down our door.  Things started to unravel a bit from there. The hype machine died, people matured (we matured), RSS feed readers went away, video killed the radio blogger star (Youtube and Twitch), Graev got busy doing other stuff leaving me to blog alone, and the MMORPG industry tanked hard. The environment has undoubtedly changed.
I still believe in blogging as a medium people enjoy and seek after. The internet is full of sh…tuff. When people have questions about games or want to learn more, I have always believed bloggers can provide that personalized touch. I love Googling, “How to make Money in WoD 6.2” and having lots of personal blogs come up with people’s strategies. I’m even okay seeing the websites like Icy-veins or WoWhead with guides. I love seeing people create original, helpful content. I get nerdchills from this stuff.
A few months ago you guys got me thinking about focusing on work and careers. Some of you mentioned how you put time into your careers and suddenly skyrocketed. I recently did the same. I not only got a promotion with more income, but I also started my own company on the side and partnered to start an additional side venture. I feel the need to justify why I’ve been neglecting my writing and gaming like I have, and that’s the best I can do.
Here’s how we’re going to get things going again.
You’re going to start seeing something new like this at the end of each post just about the comments:
I’m growing my email list. No, scratch that. I’m STARTING my email list. I know what you’re thinking: Keen has been blogging for almost a decade, he’s a marketer, and he hasn’t been building an email list? Yeah, don’t get me started. Look guys, subscribe will you? You’ll be notified each morning if I posted a new post the previous day. If I didn’t post something the previous day (shame on me) then you won’t get an email. I’ll never spam you. What I’m also going to do is give those people who subscribe first dibs on Beta key, game keys, and just about any goodies we get. I get so much crap to give away, and I want to use it to bribe entice you to give me your email. Once you give me your email, you won’t see that box anymore.
You’re also going to see more videos. Stop laughing. No seriously, you’re hurting my feelings. Yes, I’ve said it a dozen times. I know. You’re laughing again. I’ve upgraded my internet now and I can actually stream. I can also actually record my iPhone/iPad/etc now. That means lots of videos regardless of the platform.
I’m ramping up my coverage of new games. I need to do a better job of getting you guys TIMELY information. None of this reviews 2-3 months after a game launches. I also need to cover older games, weird games, odd games, etc. I need your help. Tell me what you’re interested in. Comment. Start a conversation. Stop lurking — there are 600 of you return visitors lurking every single day.
There will also be some technology changes around here. Just like my email opt in stuff, I’m going to start cranking out some pretty cool things to grow the blog. I’ll reserve those reveals for later.
Lastly, I’m bringing Graev back. I’m going to tie one of those elvish ropes around his ankle and drag his smeagol arse back here kicking and screaming. He plays 100x more games than I do. He’s also 100x better at most of them. I need him. You need him. Email him: [email protected] and tell him to come back. I think I’ve almost got him, and you can help.
There’s more to come, guys. I’m going to have the best Legion coverage I can provide. I’ll be cranking out the iOS game coverage — In fact, I have a few developers pushing me beta versions that they’re going to let me share. I want to start writing more tips and useful info like I used to. Remember that LOTRO guide? That thing brought in THOUSANDS of people every month, and my data shows a 25% conversion of those visitors into regular monthly readers. That’s insane, and proves I need to do that more. Time to stop being lazy, and time to put into practice here what I help others do on a daily basis.
Let’s do this!
I think I’ve commented… once before? At any rate, I’ve been following the blog for around six years or longer. Old school mmo player. (I miss Asheron’s Call.) I’m one of those six hundred you mentioned and this is still one of my go to places for gaming. Good luck with growing the blog! Let’s do this!
It’d be good to see Graev back. He’s funny and even though he almost never writes about any game I am ever going to play he’s always entertaining to read.
As for subscribing, I’ll pass on that. I don’t subscribe to any blogs and I don’t really use my email for anything to do with blogging. It’s much neater and more user-friendly for me as a consumer to get all my blogging updates via Feedly, which works seamlessly on all my devices from PC to Tablet to iPod, something my email really doesn’t do well. I don’t even reliably check my email daily whereas I look at Feedly about 50 times a day so being updated by email would mean visiting your blog less often not more…
Good luck with growing your audience. I should declare an interest – you’re my all-time #3 referral source for Inventory Full, although this year K&G has slipped to 5th – although all four spots above you are filled with various flavors of Google.
Glad to see this blog is coming back! Good luck!
kewl, good luck with it /signing up
if you get a large stream following you could get with some game companies to stream/highlight their game etc, works wonders
Weren’t you developping some kind of game not that long ago ?
I remember an initial post about it, then mostly nothing since then.
Were did that go ?
It won’t let me sign up on my Android (Galaxy S6)
Just an FYI 🙂
I actually don’t think I have you on my blogroll, which is odd because I stop by here regularly. I’ll go do that (but my blog ID just a hobby so don’t expect any giant traffic spikes 🙂
@David: Thank you for being a long-time reader. I know there are so many people who read and never comment, and that’s okay! Hearing from the people who read what I have to say, however, makes the experience all the more meaningful for me. I hope you’ll continue reading for another six years.
@bhagpuss: Graev is the other half of this blog. While he’s a silent partner right now, and definitely contributes to the brain trust around here, his own flare and personal flavor is needed. Having him with me on this adventure has always been a necessity. I hope he’ll return. As for email subscriptions, I totally understand. I only subscribe to a few. I hope this blog works well on feedly. Maybe you can provide a little more feedback on that for me. I think you’re one of only a few who still use readers — I wish more people would.
@Ravin.fish: Thanks! I’m going to give it everything I have to grow it again to what it was in its heyday. Not to make it out like we haven’t existed for the past few years or anything, though. We’ve managed the daily readership in the high hundreds or low thousands, but I’d like to see it grow back to what it was.
@Beibhinn: Thank you for you support! I fully plan on bringing Streaming to the blog in a bigger way. Despite my own personal love of writing content, people want video. Devs want video. I think I can meet them halfway and do a regular segment on a stream.
@Carl: We were! We had the entire storyboard done, all of the art assets done, and made a lot of progress developing it on a platform that suddenly didn’t pan out. I’d love to bring our game back. I’d have to convince Graev to work on it again, and find the time myself. Those were simpler times of being a college student and not having a job or a family. 😉
@Isey: Strange! I’m using OptinMonster which is a really widely-used and great service. I’ll reach out to them and see what’s up. I did notice that on mobile devices when I enter my email and click “Let’s do this!” it ends up sitting there and seemingly not doing anything. When you refresh, the optin box is gone though which means you’re subscribed. I’ll be sure to add your blog to my list of sites to check out. 🙂
I’m in the same boat as Bhagpuss, I catch all your updates using The Old Reader. I’m reading a blog, about MMORPGs, using a RSS feed… I think I just realized how irrelevant I am to the 2016 video game industry LOL. #dontevenhavetwitter
If I catch all your posts using RSS is there any benefit to signing up for the email subscription?
@Jenks: I will, of course, use the blog itself to give away plenty of goodies. I’m going to do exclusive giveaways to my email followers. I have so much data from my other projects that shows how email lists grow websites that I simply can’t ignore that opportunity here. So if you want to get some exclusive stuff via email, I’d say go for it. All content will be on the blog, though, and you’ll still get it all via your reader.
I’ve been a fan of your blog since the Gibberlings. ^_^ I’m looking forward to seeing and reading all the new things coming from y’all! I also picked up Stardew Valley and i’m LOVING it! I might have been a tad influenced by seeing how much fun you had with it. haha! 😀
I am very glad to hear it. I will subscribe. You could be massively (overpowered) you just need more material and fewer updates about Disney games! So hire a few part timers, change the site name to something less name like. KG.com comes to mind, and rake in the advertising dough. But you need people besides your brother to help. I’m not looking for more work so I say this with no hidden motivations.
Speaking of work. I’m the guy that said that a few months ago and I’m as stunned as you really. On Monday I will be named a Vice President of a 7,000 + employee organization. That wouldn’t have been possible a year or two ago when every waking moment was spent figuring out how to get more mmorpg cash, or a shiny cloak, or another level. I got hooked in the realm, like you did, and I’ve been sort of half assing my job ever since. When I started full assing my job recently the results have been ridiculous. I’ll keep reading, probably forever, but on Saturdays I’m not trying to find a random group of morons that I know is heading to a wipe. I’m putting in about 2 hours at work and making everybody else look like a slacker. It still feels like leveling and I’m sure I will hear a tiny “ding” on Monday.
I’m definitely not making the money around here to hire anyone. We bring in just enough each month to pay the bills on the site, forums, voice server, etc. I’m really not looking to try and make a business model here.
Would I be open to more people posting in the future? Maybe. I won’t close that door entirely, but for now I have no plans to make it anyone but Keen and Graev, and I’ll never change the name. We are who we are, we just need to be ourselves. 🙂
Maybe I’m weird, but the site just opens up automatically in a tab when I boot up Chrome. And then I click on it and check for updates (the same as the other sites that automatically open up when starting Chrome).