Day 3 of the RPGbloggers network and already things have been, shall we say, dynamic.
Since I self-appointed myself the community voice of this little project, I thought I’d give you an update.
This nerd project, an initial idea by the Critical-Hits guys and backed by a handful of eager bloggers, was met with such astounding success that it grew past our expectations in mere hours. From 7 blogs at opening it grew to 30 until Dave collapsed on his bed and had to recuperate and focus on actual paying work.
Then, after a few hiccups with website feeds and humongous graphics exploding on the site’s front page, the site inexplicably crashed for many hours. Was it traffic, a badly parsed feed, or some CSS loop gone mad? We don’t know yet and we’re investigating.
All this around a fan-based unfinanced project whose philosophy and vision is probably ahead of our technical readiness to pull it off (although I must give Graham and Dave all the credit here to have hacked things to this level in such a short time).
As with all rapidly growing projects, some opportunities for improvement showed up fast . We’re all painfully aware of the limited usability of having a gazzillion feed over a far wider range of subject than the average RPG reader cares about.
People have voiced concern over the filtration of RPG content, the sheer number of posts appearing on a daily basis, the possible drowning of one’s post in the page’s rapidly updating content and a perceived dilution of quality vs quantity.
We (I mean the little core group of people supporting/leading this initiative) tend to share similar concerns and have been discussing solutions.
Here’s a rundown of the short/mid term solutions we are entertaining to make the network easier to use.
First, let me be absolutely crystal clear that there is no plan to cull the current number of blog members (and we plan to start adding new blogs as soon as we master some technical issues). I don’t think we have a quality issue so much as an organization of feeds challenge.
Secondly, we plan to implement a stronger categorization of incoming feeds (with the help of member bloggers) so that posts will appear in subject-specific sub feeds. Readers will be able to use tabs (or a similar mechanism) to see (and subscribe to) feeds on subjects they care about.
Third, we plan to have some site-exclusive featured posts that will, among other things, present periodic ‘best of’ from the site’s feeds, a sort of digest of what’s going on in the RPG blogshere.
Fourth, we’ll draft a ‘Good neighbors’ quality charter for the members to adhere to in terms of proper tagging/categorizing of posts, that suggest workarounds for the unavoidable Echo Chamber effects (i,e. all bloggers talking about the same thing at the same time) and foster community building behavior.
Finally, we’ll create a style guide to help bloggers building cool titles and great excerpts to look their best on the site’s page.
That’s about it for the near-term stuf. It’s going to be a lot of work, but we all want this to be a site that people will enjoy using.
That being said, I’ve been surfing on many of the network’s sites and I must say that comments have picked up on many of them. The intended cross-pollination of readership has worked beyond our expectations! People have discovered new blogs and are commenting on them.
This is what the network is all about. Later, it will probably be more, but for now I see it as a mixer party where people from different communities mingle and get to know each other.
Then we’ll take out the spiked Punchbowl and get this party really started.
On a last note, some potential members have raised concerns over loss of RSS subscribers and possible impact in advertising revenues of individual blogs. While I still find the possibility of making significant amounts of money in the RPG blog niche debatable, this is a genuine concern.
Please note that the following is my personal opinion and does not necessarily reflect the views of rest of the network’s members.
There currently is one good ‘ad campaign’ going around, The Wizards of the Coast Banner ads, and I predict more will come. While this campaign seems to be focused on RSS feeds (i.e you need to have reached a certain RSS subscription point, and know the appropriate people to get it), I Intend to lobby hard for advertisers to explore different ways of gauging a website’s worth for advertisement. RSS feeds subscription can be easily manipulated (i.e. having multiple subs per reader) once a blog reaches a certain point and I’m starting to think that’s not such a good idea.
I’ll keep you posted.
For now, enjoy the network and know that keep on getting better and better…
…then some mega corporation will buy us off for eleventy gazzilion dollars.
Yeah right.
Well done and congrats to all. The fact that it’s exploded so wonderfully just shows that there’s a need for this, and that you’ve got the HOW spot on. Aggregated feeds are teh future 🙂
Gotta admit though, my heart dies a little when people start to talk about “ad revenue”, “banners”, “blogging for profit” and the like. Lined up and shot, the lot of ’em 🙂 Why the heck you gotta corporatize the fun? That’s what’s killin’ the internet in the first place. Anyhow. Anti-capitalist rant over.
Back to RPG Bloggers Network. Way to go guys!
Do note, greywulf, that this would not be “blogging for profit”, or anything of the sort.
Any ads would be used to cover costs and upgrades, including any professional design services we might decide to purchase.
Beyond that, it’s just not feasible to profit from this anyways, as there are too many members.
So my vote will go towards further revenue being used to fund contests and prizes. Maybe sending a rep to GenCon.
As much as I love writing Greywulf and giving out my ideas to the community, a very clinical part of me tells me that it would be nice to get some payment for the work done without begging the readers for it. Plus I sunk a couple of hundred bucks in this so far.
So I understand the honest push to monetize that some bloggers pursue. (I also understand the less than honest ones but I’m willing to coexist in the same world)
Plus some companies have all this extra cash to give out, why not negotiate a part of it to re-invest in this online hobby of mine.
However, I just think that it would probably be more lucrative to edit my writings and start a RPG imprint, however I have to be brutally honest that my numbers are nearing the point where I could be a player in those lucrative ads.
Pro-capitalist counter argument over!
Please note that my comment covers individual blog financing (and the worries of some potential members loosing out because they joined), not the network’s.
As Graham says, we talked about covering our expenses and paying for professional help somewhere down the line but we’re not there yet.
Don’t forget the “Feed the starving Geeks” paypal donation button. I’d be willing to toss a little in the kitty to help out. Time is not free.
Hell, Maybe this should become a community “hosted” project. Just some thoughts.
Oh! And Chatty, Is it Your Highness, or your eminence? 😛
Donny_the_DMs last blog post..Assault on the Lightless depths: Part 1 – Notes
It’s “Yo! Frenchie!”
The momentum of this community is impressive. I’m hooked into the feed and love having a spot where, daily, I can expect to read something to make me think.
DocBadwrenchs last blog post..Portraying Generations in a Campaign
“…and humongous graphics exploding on the site’s front page…”
No Comment! [looks over his shoulder] I don’t know _anything_ about it.
/wink
I think what you all are doing is great. And, honestly, if MegaCorp offers you a gazillion dollars for your efforts: Gods Bless You! Anyone who blogs in the RPG market for money (or in any market for that matter) is either 1) a celebrity, or 2) deluded they are a celebrity. The rest of us just have a few ads up on our sites to help offset costs (time) and to chuckle occasionally and say “Hey, i made 3¢ last week!” For example: I have 4 blogs (yes, I <3 blogging) and my “All Time” data from google Adsense is 143,615 page impressions – a whopping .20¢ eCPM.
Trust me – we are NOT in this for the money. Its all about the fun, the community, and the game. So.. again, I’ll say
WOHOO! and GREAT JOB Chatty and the Rest of the RPGBloggers.com group!
Jonathans last blog post..Miss DRAGON? Grab a copy of Fight On!
Hi!
I was reading your article and a thing crossed my mind. Why do you want to avoid the Echo Chamber effect? I like it! Everybody talking spontaneously about the same argument has a lot of creative potential.
We can even think of organize themed PDF’s where is useful to collect works about the same argument. Or make some audio recording of us discussing some common arguments (like action points, for instance). Something like a rpg conference podcast.
For the record, as one of the “parents” of this whole thing, I’m very opposed to the idea of selling something like a blog / website to a corporation. I’ve seen it happen several times, with several people’s sites, and pretty much every time it has lost quality, lost much of its original purpose, and lost a fair number of readers.
As for Greywulf: “Why the heck you gotta corporatize the fun? That’s what’s killin’ the internet in the first place. Anyhow. Anti-capitalist rant over.”
It should make perfect sense that some people enjoy doing these things SO much that they naturally start thinking they’d love making a living doing them.
@Gomez: My comment on the Echo Chamber is that I,d like to suggest that people feel free to explore the same subjects (or hot topics, like Action points in D&D) by adding thier own thoughts and spin on it…
Personally I hope we’ll avoid people copy pasting the same news release all over the blogsphere with no editorial comments.
But that’s just me.
@Danny: I too object to the idea of selling out… I was making a Google/Facebook joke.
But eleventy gazillions? Think of all the bacon sandwiches we could share!
Talking about ads and making money is a touchy subject in the geek field, that’s obvious, it is still a relevant concern to some (however impractical it may be)… on either side of the fence.
Back when I wrote Treasure Tables, I joined the 9rules Network. One of the things that I always wished they would have done for their members that never materialized was cross-network advertising.
When you have a lot of sites in one place, all with some mechanism for reporting their stats, and you can publicize those stats, why not use that aggregate number to pitch cross network ads to potential advertisers?
There’s some delicate ground to tread there, since you’ll have a mix of folks who would love to profit from their work, folks who don’t care one way or the other and folks (like greywulf) who are vehemently anti-advertising. So perhaps you poll the membership and then draw stats for potential advertisers only from those member blogs who are interested in being part of the business side of the network.
It’s not my project, but I see that as one of the biggest potential benefits of joining a blog network and I wanted to bring that POV into the discussion.
On the broader topic of blogging for profit, I strongly disagree that that’s a bad thing in any way. Sure, you can take it too far, grinding out crappy posts just for the pageviews, running pop-ups, drowning your content in ads — but as long as sensible, readers-come-first moderation is observed, I absolutely think knowing you can make some money from the hard work you put into blogging — and then actually making that money — will improve your work.
Sorry I commented too quickly and so harshly. I didn’t mean I’m against the wonderful RPG Bloggers Network making money – in fact, I’m all for that; I want it to succeed, and that is going to take cold, hard cash in the medium to long term. As they say though, build it, and they will come.
What I don’t like is folks who put up a blog and expect to make money from banner ads – it stemmed from Phil’s comment about people worrying about “possible impact in advertising revenues of individual blogs.”. If they’re worrying about ad revenues, they’re in the wrong business 🙂
I’ll shut up now. Sorry and all that.
Don’t ever shut up Greywulf. Your views are as legitimate as anyone else’s.
If your flareups, if I can call them that, are what passes for a flamewar here, I’m a happy blogger.
@ChattyDM: Yeah. I understand what you are saying and totally agree with you.
About the selling out, my humble opinion is that if you can make up some money to pay server expenses an such, part thanks to the things I publish for free, I’ll be happy to contribute.
If the money you raise is enough to offer to all of you a slice of pizza and a beer from time to time I’ll be happier.
@greywulf: Sorry, my reply may have come off harsher than I meant it! You shutting up is not what I want, just some good old fashioned arguing. 😀
Bartoneuss last blog post..Critical Hits Prepares for GenCon
@Bartoneus No harm no foul 🙂
Arguing is good for the soul.
Ummmm…. do we kiss now?
😀
Woot some Brit on Yankee bromance!
…just think of all the great writing they could do if they all could quit their jobs and write about RPGs full time.
As long as I didn’t have to pay to get into the site, THEN i would yell & scream about “selling out.”
Good site guys, glad to see many of the sites I like all in one place rather than half in bookmarks at work, half at home and the third half on Delicious.
Thanks for the info and update.
Looking forward to the style guide. I could certainly use some style to pimp my crib.
Questing GMs last blog post..Wizard’s Employee Shoots Wife and Kills Self
Just a FYI, but I’ve noticed my readership jump up an average of 110% in the last three days, and a significant part of that has come from being part of the RPGBloggers network.
While the concept may not have been quite ready for prime time, I can honestly say that I’m ecstatic with what it’s done for my blog so far and hope that it continues. It’s pushing me to create better content in hopes of getting those looking at the snippet on rpgbloggers.com to click and come check out what I’ve got to say.
FWIW, it’s a great thing for me and for The Geek Emporium 😀
Toms last blog post..The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
Tom: great to hear a success story 🙂 I’m hearing that from a few other people too.
Dave T. Games last blog post..D&DI Updates: Charging Before Ready
@Dave
I’m not surprised in the least. A lot of people are hitting the hub and checking out blogs they never even heard of. It’s good for the readers, good for the bloggers, in short…everyone wins!
How often does THAT happen on the net? 😉
Toms last blog post..The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly