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Tobold@GMail.com
A blog with my thoughts regarding games I am playing and other stuff in life. Please read my Terms of Service
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Wednesday, December 31, 2008
Blog 2008 in review
This isn't a post about games, at least not directly. I'll not review the games of 2008, and I'll sure not make any predictions for 2009. We live in a difficult economic period, and while there are some interesting games in the pipeline, there might well be delays and cancellations out of purely financial reasons. So in this post I'll just talk about the development of this blog in 2008. So as that probably doesn't interest you, you can stop reading at this point.
This was an extremely interesting year for me as blogger. I got 1 million visits, resulting in 1.3 million page views; as all the new content is on the main page, few people read more than that. The number of site visitors was pretty much constant over the year, but I gained in RSS feed readers. Besides the 3,000 daily visitors, I get over 2,000 RSS feed readers. There is probably some overlap, but as you can read the complete content on the feed, lots of people prefer to read my blog via their newsreader and only visit the site if they want to leave a comment. For a blog about a relatively narrow subject, that is quite a lot of traffic, although of course commercial gaming sites get a lot more.
So as result of that traffic, the major change in 2008 was that I got a lot more official recognition of my work. And that makes me very proud. Which is important, because this blog runs on vanity, and isn't creating any sort of income for me. At least that business model is pretty much recession proof. The official recognition allowed me to interview people like Blizzard's J. Allen Brack or Mythic's Paul Barnett. I even got interviewed myself on WoWInsider. And it got me various goodies, like a press pass to the Blizzard Worldwide Invitational 2008, and free subscriptions to Warhammer Online and Puzzle Pirates. The only downside of this was that sometimes I had to fight to get people to realize that this is still just a personal blog, and not a professional site.
So for me and the blog it was a very good year. And it wouldn't have been possible without *your* support: your visits, your comments, and the high level of maturity and intelligence you've been keeping up in the discussions. I want to thank you for all this, and wish you a happy new year, and a glorious 2009.
- posted by Tobold @ 8:00 AM Permanent Link
Comments:
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I'd like to thank you Tobold for writing this blog. I don't always see eye-to-eye with you on many issues but I find your writing to be very clear, interesting and thought provoking. You usually manage to not just find interesting subjects to write about but you cover them in a way which makes is a pleasure to read, think and comment about. If comments on your blog are mature and intelligent it is in large part thanks for the fact that your writing is of such a nature.
Keep up the good job and happy New Years :)
Keep up the good job and happy New Years :)
I wonder how they track time spent per page. If you only read one page I don't think there's any connection when shutting it down. I might be wrong though.
Happy New Year Tobold. :)
Happy New Year Tobold. :)
I second SolidState's comments. I came to this site originally searching for a WoW Blog to be honest, but I came when you were starting LotRO. I stayed, however, for your insightful commentary and general intelligence. Hell, you have even got me to try out a few games I wouldn't have tried without your commentary and even skip one I would have had it not been for your commentary. Now don't go and think that you have some sort of special place as a super-reviewer, I have just found that your opinions usually go the same direction as mine when I know one subject so I extrapolate that they remain the same on subjects I don't personally know. It's more like trusting my own opinion if you think about it...
Anyway, it has been a real pleasure to read your blog this last year. Have a great new year man and lets hope for many more good ones at Tobold's MMORPG Blog.
Anyway, it has been a real pleasure to read your blog this last year. Have a great new year man and lets hope for many more good ones at Tobold's MMORPG Blog.
There isn't much to add to what SolidState stated above: your blog seems to be the beacon of reason among the MMO blogosphere. I found you through my searches for WoW Blog, and stuck. My interest has had it's ups and downs, but I've always returned. Your blog, in its simple way, has been an inspiration for me to start my own, though I doubt mine will ever be popular.
But then again, like you stated: "...blog runs on vanity...". Anyone blogging could say the same, and who am I to disagree.
Cheers and hopefully you have a great New Years celebration with your friends and family!
Copra
But then again, like you stated: "...blog runs on vanity...". Anyone blogging could say the same, and who am I to disagree.
Cheers and hopefully you have a great New Years celebration with your friends and family!
Copra
Congratulations on a terrific year of great blogging. I started reading your blog about 6 months ago and most certainly think you bring a great deal of insight to the MMO vertical. Good luck to you in 2009.
John
The WoW Economist
John
The WoW Economist
# posted by 
: 31/12/08 14:24
: 31/12/08 14:24
Happy New Year, Tobold. You beat the guys at massively.com, tentonhammer.com and everybody else who are trying to say something meaningful about the wonderful world of MMO time and time again. What I am trying to say here is that whatever you write about it is always a interesting av fascinating read. Best of wishes to U and yr family. See U in 2009.
# posted by : 31/12/08 16:38
: 31/12/08 16:38
Holy crow... that's a lot of traffic. It must be your insanely accurate depiction of a Charlie Brown-like mage in the upper right corner that keeps people coming back, Tobold.
Congrats on a year well-blogged.
Congrats on a year well-blogged.
# posted by : 31/12/08 16:59
: 31/12/08 16:59
Happy New Year Tobold!
@JoBildo: Random trivia, Tobold's avatar is Meddling Mage (http://store.tcgplayer.com/item.asp?id=7829) with the face replaced =)
@JoBildo: Random trivia, Tobold's avatar is Meddling Mage (http://store.tcgplayer.com/item.asp?id=7829) with the face replaced =)
Congrats, Tobold, as others have said - a year well-blogged. You're an inspiration to other would-be MMO bloggers and your honesty and bluntness is to be commended. I've been reading your blog since I played WoW, and although I don't always agree with your opinions, I'm still here 3 games later. :)
Cheers, and best wishes to you and yours for 2009!
Cheers, and best wishes to you and yours for 2009!
# posted by : 1/1/09 11:53
: 1/1/09 11:53
To be more precise, the Meddling Mage with the face replaced by the face of the hobbit avatar I was using on the MtGO forums.
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