This is a logo of a B, not an 8. Idiot.
Greetings once more bloggers, casual readers, aficionados and obsessive fans! Doing like I do, I’ve picked yet another of the more self-aware topics in the MMO-Blogosphere. Of course, you could say that there are far too many blogging circles, friends, and networks for it to be something so simple as a sphere, and so I encourage you to imagine it as a dodecahedron instead. I’ll give you a bit to go and Google what a dodecahedron is (because apparently, I put in too many links.)
Done looking it up? Okay. I understand, it takes a bit.
……..
Got it? Gooooood.
So let’s get started shall we?
We shall. Although I’m sure not all of you do, I’m also quite certain that plenty of you read the blogs of others, yes? It’s just something we do. If we like blogging news, it’s only natural to find similar thoughts or comforts with other vocal members of the community. Some are personal friends of ours, some have the talents (or money) for their own personal domain. Others happen to run free Blogger or WordPress accounts, (in fact I’ve recently mentioned those) if you look through my previous entries. Pay no mind to that though, but focus on the idea that there are well known bloggers using all of the aforementioned sources. Sure, they may find the casual reader because of their origins, but they have ultimately drawn attention for other reasons. In my earlier mentions, I had been rather vague, so let’s shine the spotlight onto some people and take some analysis into the writing styles the others present to us.
Let’s start with someone I’m sure many readers are familiar with; Beau Hindman. In the MMO world, we could think of this fellow as part of a “celebrity pairing” as he has had the excellent fortune of being with his podcasting wife Leala Hindman. Both had their own respective audiences, and both very…well, varied I suppose. Eventually, like transforming robots, they came together in epic proportions and created Spouse Aggro, fusing their audiences together and ultimately drawing on a new one, like creating an epic hybrid animal, only far less exciting once you realize you’re just thinking of a few different kinds of people, instead of a giant transforming robot or fire breathing godzilla rip-off. In the end, what the Turkeys provide is the most natural form of blogging, which really consists of just sitting and talking about what’s on their mind. With this sort of Average Joe approach to things, it’s a nice change of pace from the typical overly passionate rage or spewing cynicism. They don’t really start talking about what’s right or wrong…they just talk. As a final note, they have spanned the most mediums, having their own personal domain for blogs, a Ning network, countless podcasts, and their now more frequent videocasts, or as Beau calls them, “Vodcasts” (I admit, it does sound catchy.)
On the other end of the fence of not really doing a whole lot, we have Tobold. Tobold is probably the most reclusive of the bloggers that I’m aware of, but countless people recognize this name. From what I know, he declines to podcast, doesn’t really advertise, and keeps almost entirely to himself, he doesn’t need to cross post his blogs to get attention. Why this that? His writing seems to match the personality that he shows; No nonsense. There is very little catching up on his personal life or discussion, and what he presents, is typically presented as fact. Unlike myself, there is no round-about speech or beating around the bush, it’s always to the point and has a seemingly deliberate confidence without any emotions leaking out, and he’s had plenty of time to hone it. For nine years he has been an automatic machine pushing out food for thought. Being around that long makes it very hard to disregard what he says entirely. Again, with his no-nonsense approach, he does not have any flashy site tools or an impressive domain, it’s just a straight up blogger domain with his internet alias as the web address.
It’s not often that there’s a third side to the fence. Physically speaking, there’s actually four sides, but they are far too narrow for people to bother considering them. For the sake of maintaining the analogy where we stick to the important sides of the fence, let’s assume that in this imaginary blogger town, Tobold is in the middle, with Beau Turkey on the left, and the third blogger on the right. So it’s the other side of the other fence…Don’t spend too long trying to make it work in your head though, it’s kind of silly.
The more important question that should be on your mind (Unless of course you already know, in which case, congratulations!) is, “Who could the third blogger be?” For those who know me, the obvious answer is Syncaine! Because I can not say one without saying the other, very much like Yin and Yang, day and night, etc, etc… Now, it’s very possible that what I say can be taken the wrong way, especially for the analogy that I’m using to compare these two, which could very easily be interpreted as offensive. As such, I will clarify at the moment I mean absolutely no harm, and that exaggeration is used to help demonstrate differences between the two. That said, let’s move along.
Do what it says!
Syncaine refers to himself as the Hardcore Casual blogger, and it seems to fit what he wants. He does not take an absurdly outrageous opinion on things like the stereotypical Hardcore Gamer who wants everything to go back to the days of EQ where you have to force a conversation with NPCs and wait for a couple hours to get on a boat. However from what I have seen, he expresses a stronger degree of passion towards concepts and interests akin to that of “Hardcore” individuals (I mean, really. He likes DarkFall). While this isn’t to say he doesn’t use facts or is reckless, his passion (at least, to me) is his truth, as opposed to Tobold’s truth, which is conveyed by a serious lack thereof. Hammering point after point, Syncaine is fueled by a brilliantly burning fire of a veteran attitude. It resonates well with the jaded concepts of many a blogger or podcaster who have emerged onto the scene to express their thoughts. His time spent is a fair two years of experience, equivalently a third of Tobolds. Of the web design, his approach is the medium of Beau’s and Tobold’s, as he utilizes his WordPress account with a small ad with a blog roll and some other useful, but simple, features.
So, there’s three of the greats (If I didn’t list you, and you think you should be up there, sorry. This post is long-winded as it is,) whom I think are good representatives of the three archetypes that I see as the pinnacles of MMO blogging. With all that said, what’s your style? Do you intend to try and follow the foot-steps of one of these three, a hybrid, or are you some strange new blogger of your own, who blogs entirely in Sanskrit and Iambic Pentameter?
Try it.
((This archive post has been edited to better reflect the current times of blogging))
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