"Why blog?" Topic

Our esteemed editor mentioned Mk 4 may have a blogging function: news that was met with a range of responses.

I hate to sound like a dinosaur but what's the advantage in having your own blog here at TMP or anywhere else for that matter?

From my observations, most blogs start out blood & thunder & then dwindle to the odd update & then fizzle.

Is this being too harsh? I'd sincerely like to hear committed bloggers explain the advantages.

Hi, ochoin.

Your general observations on blogs starting up and then disappearing is true of most activities I would suggest, just look at the number of people who go to the gym in January full of gusto then give up a month later.

The best blogs in the most cases have been going for years now and personally I have got loads of ideas / scenarios / painting tips / modelling ideas and that to me is the major advantage to both me and the gaming community in general.

Why do I blog ?

1) To keep a easily accessible record of my gaming, like a paper diary if you will, after 30 plus years of gaming I have a large collection of periods and scales, it might be 2 or 3 years between games for some periods and I will have a permanent record of how and what colours I used to paint stuff.

2) To share my painting / campaigns / scenarios with other members of the gaming community, in the hope that someone will find my musings useful as I have found others of use to me.

3) Getting feedback on your stuff is good, gamers often work in isolation, or in small groups, you mostly cant talk about this stuff with your work mates.

4) To get and give unbiased reviews on new stuff.

5) To read back over old write ups of games and see the pictures of games I have played with friends preserves my memories of those games and keeps me enthusiastic when it comes to painting and gaming.

6) I admit I get a kick out of other people reading and hopefully liking my stuff, I find it amazing that someone in Ecuador wants to read about my Spanish Civil War gaming activities, I have had about 17,000 page reads to date, less than others but still astounding to me.

7) I have been able to get in contact with old friends and stalwarts of the gaming community through my blog.

I have been blogging for just short of a year now, I'm still enjoying it hopefully I wont dwindle and fizzle !

Hope that helps, Regards Ken

yarkshiregamer.blogspot.co.uk

Actually many of the bloggers I know including myself have been doing it for many years(since 2009 myself) with some months have more or less activity depending on time and mood. For my blog I enjoy feedback and a way of keeping track of my projects which helps motivate me to do more. I follow other blogs to get inspiration and enjoy viewing what others are doing in the hobby. Another big reason for blogging is it gives a feeling of being part of a community of fellow enthusiasts greater then your immediate surroundings.

My blog:link

Christopher

For me

1) Helps with motivation

2) A gallery of my work. Lots of collections I have sold of given away, live through the blog

3) A place to post my rules and army lists

4) I take so much from the gaming community, this is my small way of giving something back.

Because I can and because I enjoy doing it.

What other reason do I need?

Tony
dampfpanzerwagon.blogspot.co.uk

I use my blog to keep track of my gaming activity and to share – and to look back and remember in years to come.

link

I can't be bothered with a blog. I don't feel that I'm that interesting to do a blog on myself, and even on my hobby. Frankly I don't want to do the work to bother keeping it up. I publish a newsletter, Saxe N' Violets, the bulletin of the Society of Daisy, a group dedicated to humor, satire, whimsy and Imagination in war gaming. It's print, not electronic.

Like others have said, I use my blog as my wargames diary. It's just icing on the cake if other people find something of value on it.

I've been blogging since 2004. I don't post every day and occasionally a few weeks go by before I feel the muse. Then I'll post five things in a row, so you never know. Why blog? That's up to you. I do it for the sheer enjoyment of discussing an opinion on any given topic. Blogs do get some feedback and comments, that's about all the validation I require from the pastime. I consider it another hobby that complements the wargaming stuff.

Walt O'Hara

It is a motivational tool for me. I have had a slow time in the past few months but had a lot of non-hobby stuff happening in my life. Getting back to it now.

The idea of a blog function in TMP is a bit redundant to me considering the range of free and excellent blog providers there are out there. Even paying for premium blog features at places like Wordpress and Blogspot isn't that painful.

woolshedwargamer.com

I think I'm part of the motivational crowd. Mine has been going pretty strong for three years and it helps me stay more focused on projects than I might normally be. While there are fewer AARs than I thought there would be I ended up with a lot more reviews or this is what I'm working on kind of things than I expected. I also set a goal of 12 posts a month. I don't sweat about it and I don't always make it but I found that just by having that goal set I tend to make more posts.

You can find mine here:
link

It's a good way to keep you focused and to avoid running out of steam.

In my case, I'm simply trying to put a piece of wargaming history online by showing old figures and catalogues, plus giving myself a wargaming interest as Garrison runs down.

OK, it hasn't been running long, so once immediate objectives have been achieved I don't know how long it will continue – after 2 weeks the total number of page views is still only about a fifth of Garrison's average daily number, so another reason for stopping may be lack of interest.

And mine is here: easterngarrison.blogspot.co.uk

Win: win.

I got some illuminating answers & some links to great blogs.

Thanks all round.

Because we no longer have easy access to mimeograph machines and bunches of folks to contribute to 'Zines. ^,^

Over the years I've posted lots of photos of various projects on different forums, all of which slide away scattered into the archives. The blog helps me keep a central reference.

goblinhall.com

I've been blogging for about a year and a half with over 50,000 hits.

brooklynwargaming.com

Reasons:

1. I like writing, photographing and researching, and my job is mostly looking at spreadsheets. It's become a creative outlet unto itself.

2. I've enjoyed connecting with people worldwide who read my blog, send me notes and share the common love of gaming. I've had a filmmaker, museums, game designers, the press and dealers all reach out to me or repost my articles or even say 'thanks' with some free stuff or discounts.

3. I write a lot about what we're up to at our club NY Metropolitan Wargamers, and it's become a way to publicize the club and attract visitors and members.

4. Like people above, it's a motivator. Sometimes I'll intentionally start a project, buy a game or play something new just to keep the blog going and expand my gaming experience.

5.it's a good way to answer questions on a game, suppliers or techniques. Lots of questions that come up in Facebook or forums I can often answer with a link to an article on my site.

Mostly, I just enjoy it as one more part of the hobby.

Kimber

I am not a great blogger, but having lost zillions of notes on different things in the past I do find that having a blog record is great for me if I want to review my previous thinking on a topic. If other folks can have fun reading it that is fine and dandy but not the most important thing. This is something I learned over time; I started trying to blog for other people and realized that was not where I got benefit.

YMMV of course. Who would expect everyone to feel the same about something like this?

bunkermeister.blogspot.com

I have three blogs, one on hobby stuff, one on law enforcement and one political. I blog every day on all three and have for six years. I post an average of five hobby related photos every day. If I miss a day, I go back and make it up.

My hobby and the other two subjects are important to me and I know a lot about them. Information not shared is lost. So I blog about it.

Others here and other places have helped me and it's a way to help others.

Mike Bunkermeister Creek
SGT Says & Bunker Talk blogs

I bow to the superior explanations of the previous posters.

After having two kids, two dogs, two cats, and a wife harangue you all day, it's nice to hide away in a pleasurable pursuit that doesn't involve illegal use of alcohol, tobacco, or firearms. The blog keeps me out of jail.

link

thepennywhistle.blogspot.com

Blogging replaces MWAN for me. The reading list function alone makes it worth having a blog. The blogs I follow are updated in my dashboard and most of the time I just sign in to read four to forty articles…

Blogging supports the TMP experience as well.

One rule I set for myself was to never begin a blog post with, "well it's been some time since I have updated this blog so here I go…"

Blog page + keyboard + internet connection = Narcissistic Personality Disorder. :-)

Hi Folks been riunning my Shed Wars blog for almost three years

shedwars.blogspot.com

280+ followers
220,000 hits (although half of these have come in last 12 months)

I blog for most of the reasons given above plus…

Its become a whole new hobby, helped to improve my creative skills & photography skills.

I now have a better appreciation of the Social Media – great for my work

You have to be disciplined running a blog. My best approach is to write articles in advance so there is a ready source to post every so often.

I get a kick out of watching the numbers and based on feedback received I believe that my terrain builds /ideas have put something back into the community.

Finally the blog has helped to introduce me to a load of new players…

cheers

My best guess is that having a blog on TMP will:

* have the advantage of giving you a built-in audience of TMP members
* promote your blog better than posting on the TMP forums
* make it easier for TMP members to give feedback, publicly or privately

I blog so that I can bask in the glory of my meager accomplishments. If anyone else even notices, that's great, too. Sometimes it's nice for me to remember where I left off with my projects, and the things that I actually managed (or at least intended) to do. Photos help.

I also use it as a Pinterest/flickr/photobucket, to keep a pile of inspiring art (by other people) all in one spot. Ditto links, other blogs, etc.

Cheers.