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Back to the Basics

I stopped blogging for several weeks after several other weeks of being in it half heartedly. I think the lost drive can be attributed to many things, but mainly the absence of the MMO industry. My mainstay has always been the MMORPG genre, and without it I’ve felt lost — like treading water.

I haven’t stopped playing games. In fact, I’m quite busy with them. I’ve played and completed most f the recent big releases. I’m currently playing Satisfactory, World of Warcraft, Total War: Warhammer, Diablo 3 Season 16, Farm Together, Stardew Valley, and Skyrim. I’m all ove the place.

I do derive great enjoyment from “variety” gaming, but lately I haven’t felt the drive to write about every little game I’m playing. The “share what you’re playing” scene has become so saturated with let’s plays, live streaming, video coverage, etc., There are plenty of sites that do the whole “review” thing way better than I have the desire to do. That has never really been me.

I’m what I would call a “commenter.” I provide commentary and try to promote discussion about games. I try to create a setting here where we can take a game and dissect it, discover what makes it tick, find out why it’s great or what it’s missing, and then discuss it or debate it, or whatever else we might all do. Together.

To get back into blogging and sharing my thoughts about games, I want to go back to the basics of being a commenter and discussionist— even if I’m only talking with myself, seeing as most of you have probably moved on given my hiatus.

If you’re still interested in reading blogs, and haven’t given up on this one, then I invite you to stick around. One day, we may have MMOs to dissect again. Until then, we can theorycraft about what’s (maybe) coming in the MMO genre, and occasionally evaluate some cool stuff about other games too.

This hiatus was a way for me to find a new way of thinking about blogging — a new way to approach it and come to terms with enjoying it again — even if it’s only internal semantics. I’ve found that, so I’m back.

  • Welcome back, Keen. Glad to see you plan on getting back to blogging. I hope you can continue finding the same enjoyment of writing that we have in reading your blog.

    • It’s nice to hear that! Sometimes I get it in my head that people just don’t check blogs anymore, or that everyone has moved on to streams and videos. I appreciate you taking the time to see what I’m thinking about over here.

    • Thanks Anakh. 🙂 I’m getting back to a regular schedule (work has been crazy), so I hope that I’ll be able to give you something to read on a somewhat daily basis.

  • Keen i started reading this blog around the time of Allods Online. if you can get past that you can get past anything.

  • Hey man you’re still doing better than me. I think I made 2 or 3 blog posts before I realized I’m too lazy/busy playing games to spend the time sharing my thoughts on them. I appreciate what you do.

    The MMORPG genre has become pretty stagnant. It’s funny to me when the most exciting MMO news is the re-launch of a 15 year old game. I got sucked back into EverQuest on the new Mangler TLP. I just can’t quit you EQ.

    Thanks for the update.

    • Although my posts are short thoughts, it’s still a lot of work. Sometimes even sitting down to write for 15-20 minutes feels like I’m having to set aside a huge chunk of time. Between life and games, I totally understand anyone who can’t find the time.

      I always want to stick with the EQ TLPs. I have the greatest intentions, I really do. Where I end up floundering is in the 40-55 range when things start to require a lot of time and finding a group is difficult (without a set group). Contrast that with a game like Warcraft where I can find an hour and jump in and play. Sometimes I need that ease of access.

      You’re totally right, though, about the 20 year old games (I think it’s EQ’s 20th?) being the most exciting thing out there.

  • Your site is one of the few that sticks to keeping alive the tradition of old mmo’s, and the perspective of hard work pays off, continuing in game progress is paramount, and end of game isn’t the be all end all. Please keep up the posts!

    • I appreciate the observation. That has been my brand for the past twelve years. Though I sometimes drift away from it, it’s still who I am at my core. If you keep reading, I’ll keep posting!

  • I check in probably 1-2 times a month. Most people should understand that we have lives outside of the web. 🙂