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10 Years of Blogging

Ten years ago I decided to start a website where I would write my thoughts on the gaming industry and share my personal experiences with video games. My inspiration for beginning this blog came down to these two facts:

  1. Very few websites existed where the actual player was writing about his or her experiences in the game from an unfiltered point of view.
  2. I wanted a place where I could have control over my own thoughts and share how I really feel about games.

From my very first entry on Keen and Graev’s Gaming Blog:

I spend countless hours browsing the internet every week. During any given day I might come upon a gaming website or affiliate that offers lots of great guides and tips to the new or uninformed gaming community. I might browse the normal websites that “review” a game and attract a cult following. These websites do a great job at presenting mass information to the players in a really friendly format – by no means am I ragging on them. But what do those websites lack? They lack the “real game” feeling. Their primary goal is not to give true unedited, uncensored, and unbiased opinions. They worry about ads, sponsors, affiliate status, and keeping traffic flowing to their websites. I have a different agenda.

I truly had no idea that 10 years later I would still be writing. I had no idea that over the next decade of blogging that I would grow so much in my understanding of myself and of the industry.

Let’s take a look back at some memories and fun stats, shall we?

Fun Facts:

  • The idea for Keen and Graev’s Gaming Blog started in a hotel room on February 7, 2007 when we were bored out of our minds watching an episode of Myth Busters.
  • The highest offer we received for our blog was $20,000 back in 2008
  • Our blog has been cited in research papers and projects
  • Keen used the blog for his own consumer behavior research data and analysis in 2010

Top 5 Posts by # of Visitors During their Year of Publication:

Lots and Lots of Projects
I laugh at all of the projects we start and stop around here. Here’s a look back at some of our “finest” and favorite moments.

CTRL+F Funny Comics
A satirical and whimsical commentary on the video game industry.

Goblannoyed Comics
A comic about our adventures in Warhammer Online. Obviously we know how long that lasted.

Keen and Graev’s Podcast
We attempted a podcast series to augment our written commentary. It lasted a few episodes.

Keen and Graev’s Video Game
We even attempted to make our own adventure game for iOS! We actually started the project back up this past month and plan to hopefully keep it going. Right now we’re looking at PC, iOS, and Android.

Here’s to Another 10 Years!

We’ve changed a ton over the years. We’ve started and stopped projects, hyped and ragged on countless games, and gone through our own rollercoaster of playing or not playing genres of games. One constant remains: We play games and write about the industry. That won’t change.

I once again wish to extend our sincerest thanks and gratitude to our readers. You guys continue to visit day after day. Those of you who comment are particularly dedicated, and I thank you for your participation. I have personally enjoyed agreeing with you AND debating with you. I like to think that even if no one ever commented that I would keep this up, but thankfully that has yet to be tested.

Ten years isn’t a long time in the grand scheme of things, but the gaming industry has undergone more change in these 10 years than it has in all previous years combined. We saw the rise in popularity of MMOs, and its fall. We saw the rise of several business models, and then their fall. We also saw the industry ravaged by poor decisions and ill-gotten gains.

In many ways, we appear to be approaching an industry reset. For years, developers were expected to produce the same type of game. Now we’re waiting for someone to be different. The playing field is leveled. The field is open. The choices and decisions are theirs. The direction is theirs. The future is theirs. We’ll be here to talk about it — with you — every step of the way.

– Keen and Graev

 

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  • Congrats on your anniversary! ^_^ I started reading your blog when Allods started up so it’s been awhile! I love peeking in every few days and reading what I’ve missed and seeing what new adventures you have been a part of. <3 I hope you have many more years of amazing gaming adventures.

    p.s. We haven't heard any new piano music for awhile! 😀 Perhaps a final fantasy 15 main theme cover? ^_^ ^_^

  • Grats! I think I came in somewhere around Allods too, although maybe it was Aion – I forget which came first. Allods turned out much better than you thought it would I’d say – dunno about Aion though – still never played it. Whatever, like you they’re both still around and long may that continue.

    Keep up the good work…and get Graev to do some of his reviews once in a while – they always makes me laugh.

  • Woo hoo! Congrats on a decade of writing! This is one of the sites I’ve considered to be “in the neighborhood” of fellow MMORPG and related bloggers since I started considering the idea that there was something of an interconnected neighborhood of sorts.

  • [standing and clapping] Congrats Gents! Thank you for all the time you put into the site and community. Great Memories!

  • Congratulations guys! Found your blog back when the WAR hype train started and have followed you ever since.
    On that topic, man that was one epic hype train!

  • Huh no idea you guys were older than my blog, and especially not by almost 3 years. Huge congrats on 10 years, very impressive. And agree with Wilhelm, you guys are one of the few blogs left standing in what I consider the original pack of MMO blogs in our corner of the internet.

  • Congrats on 10 years! Thanks for all the wild and varied things you’ve put up for us over that time. Looking forward to another 10.

  • Grats man. I’ve enjoyed reading it. And best of luck on another 10!

    Unfortunately I think MMORPGs have become Verizon vs Sprint commodities. They are all basically the same. And there are 100s of them if you are just trying to lower costs.

    We’ve traded a modest audience totally committed to these games, with one that is much bigger, but more spread out, and definitely less committed beyond a month or two. Willing to swap for the next developer that says “can you hear me now?”

    So they go on to that and “hear” them for a bit. Then move on.

    Hard + Rewards for spending your life in the game used to work, to set you apart, if only in this tiny, funny, game. Possibly to forget how powerless you were over real life.

    Hard was the key. I’m not sure though that hard can still work with the vast choices now available and people that don’t seem to realize that hard was why they liked it. Can you hear me now?

  • Keep it up Keen! Always like reading, and I’m glad last September I decided to comment and join in on the WoW raiding 😀

    And thinking back, I’m pretty sure that LOTRO leveling guide is what brought me here.