Revitalizing The RPG Bloggers Network
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Zachary Houghton
Jul 18, 2010, 12:41:17 AM7/18/10
to rpgbloggers
First off, I want to say I'm very grateful for the continued existence
of the RPGBN. It's given us a centralized place to check many of the
gaming blogs, and he keyed me in to blogs I may not have otherwise
known about.
But, for whatever reason (and I am as guilty as anyone), a lot of the
cross-blog projects and coordination we saw a year ago just aren't
there any more. This group used to have multiple, multiple posts per
week, now we see a handful. Why? There's over 150 members, and many
of the gaming blogs are going even stronger than before.
I think we all benefit when we work together for cross-promotion,
special events, or collaboration. It not only helps grow our site
networks, but it gets us exposed to new audiences and ideas, which can
make us better gamers and writers, which gets us into this whole
positive feedback cycle.
So, is anyone else interested in actively working to revitalize the
coordination and activity of the network? I'd personally like to see
something like a blogging exchange, where we do guest posts on another
blogger's site, or possibly even a RPG Blogger Award Program, where
each network blogger can nominate his favorite products, blogs, and
podcasts of the year, make the argument for each on the blog, and
generate an entire storm of cross-blog interest. One blog, one vote,
and then we announce and honor the winners. This is zero-cost or
close to it, but could also drum up some interest in and from some of
the gaming companies out there.
I'd also like to see some new blood come in. I know several bloggers
have stated they were waiting for acceptance, so if there's any way to
clear out the application queue, that'd be a positive step, I think.
Fresh faces, fresh enthusiasm, and maybe some fresh ideas.
These are just suggestions, and I guess ultimately what I'm saying is
I'd like to do a better job of working with the great blogging
community out there. Do we expressly need RPG Bloggers to do so? No,
but it'd be a great resource and pre-existing community to use towards
that end.
I want to be clear that this is not an effort to point fingers, but to
think of positive steps that can be taken for the community as a
whole.
I know many of you work very hard on your sites, and pride yourself on
sharing quality content with your readers and the gaming community.
I'm curious to see how many of you feel like really using the resource
of the RPGBN could improve that. That's really all I have. Thanks to
all of you for what you do.
-Zachary Houghton
RPG Blog 2
www.rpgblog2.com
RPG Circus Podcast
www.rpgcircus.com
of the RPGBN. It's given us a centralized place to check many of the
gaming blogs, and he keyed me in to blogs I may not have otherwise
known about.
But, for whatever reason (and I am as guilty as anyone), a lot of the
cross-blog projects and coordination we saw a year ago just aren't
there any more. This group used to have multiple, multiple posts per
week, now we see a handful. Why? There's over 150 members, and many
of the gaming blogs are going even stronger than before.
I think we all benefit when we work together for cross-promotion,
special events, or collaboration. It not only helps grow our site
networks, but it gets us exposed to new audiences and ideas, which can
make us better gamers and writers, which gets us into this whole
positive feedback cycle.
So, is anyone else interested in actively working to revitalize the
coordination and activity of the network? I'd personally like to see
something like a blogging exchange, where we do guest posts on another
blogger's site, or possibly even a RPG Blogger Award Program, where
each network blogger can nominate his favorite products, blogs, and
podcasts of the year, make the argument for each on the blog, and
generate an entire storm of cross-blog interest. One blog, one vote,
and then we announce and honor the winners. This is zero-cost or
close to it, but could also drum up some interest in and from some of
the gaming companies out there.
I'd also like to see some new blood come in. I know several bloggers
have stated they were waiting for acceptance, so if there's any way to
clear out the application queue, that'd be a positive step, I think.
Fresh faces, fresh enthusiasm, and maybe some fresh ideas.
These are just suggestions, and I guess ultimately what I'm saying is
I'd like to do a better job of working with the great blogging
community out there. Do we expressly need RPG Bloggers to do so? No,
but it'd be a great resource and pre-existing community to use towards
that end.
I want to be clear that this is not an effort to point fingers, but to
think of positive steps that can be taken for the community as a
whole.
I know many of you work very hard on your sites, and pride yourself on
sharing quality content with your readers and the gaming community.
I'm curious to see how many of you feel like really using the resource
of the RPGBN could improve that. That's really all I have. Thanks to
all of you for what you do.
-Zachary Houghton
RPG Blog 2
www.rpgblog2.com
RPG Circus Podcast
www.rpgcircus.com
metaDM
Jul 18, 2010, 2:21:49 AM7/18/10
to rpgbl...@googlegroups.com
I think this is a great idea. Sign me up. People have often griped that no one but other rpgbloggers read their sites. I think the only people we have to blame are ourselves. Rpgbloggers.com is a brand and as members we all have to make some sort of commitment to strengthen it.
I like all of your ideas and I'd like to throw out a few of mine. I think there are things that could be done on the rpgbloggers.com site to increase its appeal to the average gamer. First off, the front page needs to be edited/moderated in some fashion and needs a facelift. Once you drill down to one of the categories it should be unmoderated but the front page of the site needs something to compel readers to return every day.
I have a few ideas for front page material. One is to have a featured blog every week. The featured blog article has a short interview with the blogger and a few links to their favorite posts. Another idea is to get people to volunteer to be the lead moderator for each category (4e, fluff/advice, etc). Each category gets a featured box on front page. Each category talks on a new topic each week, kind of like what the RPGCircus does. The moderator coordinates getting a new piece of featured content updated everyday. Categories with the highest hits get bumped up the order on page.
The idea of moderation might ruffle some feathers but I don't know any other way to improve the user experience on the front page. Moderators for each category could be voted for by people who regularly post in that category or maybe some other rating system could be used.
Here's one idea for an automated rating system. We implement a renown points system. Bloggers get points for certain things that can be tracked in an automated way. You get a certain number of hits on rpgbloggers.com, you get a post retweeted by @Wizards_DnD, you participate in RPGCircus or a featured category weekly topic, you post a link to another RPBN blogger in a post you make. Basically, we make getting onto the front page a game and encourage the right behavior. In this case, I think the right behavior is getting bloggers actively participating in the network and driving more traffic to the front page.
I think some of these suggestions could drive down the signal to noise ratio on the landing page, causing more return readers to the site which will eventually drive more traffic to all of our sites.
Jobe
PS - I do perl, php, python, shell scripting and know my way around an sql statement.
I like all of your ideas and I'd like to throw out a few of mine. I think there are things that could be done on the rpgbloggers.com site to increase its appeal to the average gamer. First off, the front page needs to be edited/moderated in some fashion and needs a facelift. Once you drill down to one of the categories it should be unmoderated but the front page of the site needs something to compel readers to return every day.
I have a few ideas for front page material. One is to have a featured blog every week. The featured blog article has a short interview with the blogger and a few links to their favorite posts. Another idea is to get people to volunteer to be the lead moderator for each category (4e, fluff/advice, etc). Each category gets a featured box on front page. Each category talks on a new topic each week, kind of like what the RPGCircus does. The moderator coordinates getting a new piece of featured content updated everyday. Categories with the highest hits get bumped up the order on page.
The idea of moderation might ruffle some feathers but I don't know any other way to improve the user experience on the front page. Moderators for each category could be voted for by people who regularly post in that category or maybe some other rating system could be used.
Here's one idea for an automated rating system. We implement a renown points system. Bloggers get points for certain things that can be tracked in an automated way. You get a certain number of hits on rpgbloggers.com, you get a post retweeted by @Wizards_DnD, you participate in RPGCircus or a featured category weekly topic, you post a link to another RPBN blogger in a post you make. Basically, we make getting onto the front page a game and encourage the right behavior. In this case, I think the right behavior is getting bloggers actively participating in the network and driving more traffic to the front page.
I think some of these suggestions could drive down the signal to noise ratio on the landing page, causing more return readers to the site which will eventually drive more traffic to all of our sites.
Jobe
PS - I do perl, php, python, shell scripting and know my way around an sql statement.
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A Terrible Idea
Jul 18, 2010, 2:26:13 AM7/18/10
to rpgbloggers
On Jul 17, 9:41 pm, Zachary Houghton <mail.rpgb...@gmail.com> wrote:
> So, is anyone else interested in actively working to revitalize the
> coordination and activity of the network? I'd personally like to see
> something like a blogging exchange, where we do guest posts on another
> blogger's site, or possibly even a RPG Blogger Award Program, where
> each network blogger can nominate his favorite products, blogs, and
> podcasts of the year, make the argument for each on the blog, and
> generate an entire storm of cross-blog interest. One blog, one vote,
> and then we announce and honor the winners. This is zero-cost or
> close to it, but could also drum up some interest in and from some of
> the gaming companies out there.
other people think.
> I'd also like to see some new blood come in. I know several bloggers
> have stated they were waiting for acceptance, so if there's any way to
> clear out the application queue, that'd be a positive step, I think.
> Fresh faces, fresh enthusiasm, and maybe some fresh ideas.
few applications set to be processed on 7/28, and a few more with
outstanding queries to the blog owners. The application process is
slated to open back up on 7/22
-D
A Terrible Idea
Jul 18, 2010, 2:47:41 AM7/18/10
to rpgbloggers
On Jul 17, 11:21 pm, metaDM <met...@metagamemastery.com> wrote:
> I like all of your ideas and I'd like to throw out a few of mine. I think
> there are things that could be done on the rpgbloggers.com site to increase
> its appeal to the average gamer. First off, the front page needs to be
> edited/moderated in some fashion and needs a facelift. Once you drill down
> to one of the categories it should be unmoderated but the front page of the
> site needs something to compel readers to return every day.
come up with a solution that I find acceptable. A lot of posts come
through the front page, and when I first took over I had some ideas
about how to deal with the signal-to-noise. None of those ideas have
proved to be satisfactory to me after digging into them further. I
continue to think about this problem regularly.
> I have a few ideas for front page material. One is to have a featured blog
> every week. The featured blog article has a short interview with the blogger
> and a few links to their favorite posts. Another idea is to get people to
> volunteer to be the lead moderator for each category (4e, fluff/advice,
> etc). Each category gets a featured box on front page. Each category talks
> on a new topic each week, kind of like what the RPGCircus does. The
> moderator coordinates getting a new piece of featured content updated
> everyday. Categories with the highest hits get bumped up the order on page.
be. That said, I do like the idea of having a few people nominate
featured posts, and having featured blogs.
> Here's one idea for an automated rating system. We implement a renown points
> system. Bloggers get points for certain things that can be tracked in an
> automated way. You get a certain number of hits on rpgbloggers.com, you get
> a post retweeted by @Wizards_DnD, you participate in RPGCircus or a featured
> category weekly topic, you post a link to another RPBN blogger in a post you
> make. Basically, we make getting onto the front page a game and encourage
> the right behavior. In this case, I think the right behavior is getting
> bloggers actively participating in the network and driving more traffic to
> the front page.
literally, months. I'll sum up my position thusly:
When you make it a game, people will cheat. That's not something I'm
interested in dealing with.
I also looked at doing things like voting up posts and such, along the
lines of what Reddit does. I've not come up with anything yet that
doesn't turn things into a straight-up popularity contest. I don't
believe that's the right way to go. I could get philosophical about
why, but it's a bit lengthy.
> I think some of these suggestions could drive down the signal to noise ratio
> on the landing page, causing more return readers to the site which will
> eventually drive more traffic to all of our sites.
>
> Jobe
> PS - I do perl, php, python, shell scripting and know my way around an sql
> statement.
>
> > .
Stuart Robertson
Jul 18, 2010, 7:36:44 AM7/18/10
to rpgbl...@googlegroups.com, rpgbloggers
Try using the thumbnails from the RSS feeds instead of the icon for each site. That's what I'm doing at http:// rpgbloggers.blogspot.com and I find the relevant pics make the page more visually interesting.
Also consider limiting it to only the most recent entry per blog. I've noticed some blogs update frequently with expanded tweet style content, while others update less often with much longer posts. You don't want the longer posts lost amidst the chatty blogs.
Stuart
Sent from my iPhone
> To unsubscribe from this group, send email to rpgbloggers...@googlegroups.com.
The Tome - Jeff Greiner
Jul 18, 2010, 8:03:06 AM7/18/10
to rpgbl...@googlegroups.com
Yeah, I think I have some pretty serious philosophical problems with
some of the suggestions in here and it comes down to, what is the
network for?
It is, after all, a network intended to give exposure to all it's members. It's not a newspaper or magazine intended to give the best and brightest articles to it's audience. If it were one of the latter then I'd say that moderated (by users or by a few dedicated people) would be fine, but it's not and I'd personally be bothered to be considered part of the "noise". No one who blogs or joins the network ought to think of any of their posts as noise (and if they do, please stop blogging).
If someone wants to create the RPG Bloggers Magazine, then do that. I'll join. But that's not what a network is or does.
As for a featured blog post...I think there is value there, but it's also tricky. It does give exposure and is well within the mission of being a network. We did this with the podcaster community a while back when we were trying to revitalize GBN (the Goblin Broadcast Network). The only problem with it is that it relied on an "anyone who wants to do one, do one and we'll post it". Well, we're podcastsers not writers, so about 4-5 shows got featured leaving a whole bunch of shows in the lurch. So if it's to be done it there should be a good effort to be as inclusive as possible.
As to the previous discussion of higher collaborative efforts, I've made a habit of reaching out to the blogging community for guests on The Tome Show, although I haven't mentioned it here lately. If you're interested in coming on let me know and I'll keep you in mind (although I don't know that I need much for a while since this month is covered and next month will likely be dominated by GenCon material.
Alternately, I have a new blog, www.TemporaryHitPoints.com for 4e D&D players. I regularly use guests for my content, although it is not technically a member of the network yet since there has not been a period open for applying to join since the site was launched.
It is, after all, a network intended to give exposure to all it's members. It's not a newspaper or magazine intended to give the best and brightest articles to it's audience. If it were one of the latter then I'd say that moderated (by users or by a few dedicated people) would be fine, but it's not and I'd personally be bothered to be considered part of the "noise". No one who blogs or joins the network ought to think of any of their posts as noise (and if they do, please stop blogging).
If someone wants to create the RPG Bloggers Magazine, then do that. I'll join. But that's not what a network is or does.
As for a featured blog post...I think there is value there, but it's also tricky. It does give exposure and is well within the mission of being a network. We did this with the podcaster community a while back when we were trying to revitalize GBN (the Goblin Broadcast Network). The only problem with it is that it relied on an "anyone who wants to do one, do one and we'll post it". Well, we're podcastsers not writers, so about 4-5 shows got featured leaving a whole bunch of shows in the lurch. So if it's to be done it there should be a good effort to be as inclusive as possible.
As to the previous discussion of higher collaborative efforts, I've made a habit of reaching out to the blogging community for guests on The Tome Show, although I haven't mentioned it here lately. If you're interested in coming on let me know and I'll keep you in mind (although I don't know that I need much for a while since this month is covered and next month will likely be dominated by GenCon material.
Alternately, I have a new blog, www.TemporaryHitPoints.com for 4e D&D players. I regularly use guests for my content, although it is not technically a member of the network yet since there has not been a period open for applying to join since the site was launched.
Jeff Greiner The Tome Host! The Tome is a D&D Show http://www.thetomeshow.com
Zachary Houghton
Jul 18, 2010, 8:54:58 AM7/18/10
to rpgbloggers
Thanks for the reply, ATI. It looks like this thread is getting some
responses, so I'll sit back for a sec and see what people think, too.
Thanks for the update on the new approvals!
-Zack
responses, so I'll sit back for a sec and see what people think, too.
Thanks for the update on the new approvals!
-Zack
Micah (from Obsidian Portal)
Jul 18, 2010, 10:02:21 AM7/18/10
to rpgbloggers
One thing that struck me about Zachary's original post was how non-
technical it was. The most involved suggestion was for voting, which
could be handled by 3rd parties (like surveymonkey, or something
similar). Everything else was just good old fashioned blogging and
communication. Believe me, the non-technical solution is almost always
the best way to go, at least at first. Changing the mechanics of the
homepage, adding a points system, or pretty much any technical change
will usually have a negligible effect compared to just putting more
work into collaborating with your fellow bloggers.
Plus, it's important to remember that a feature is never "done". Once
implemented, someone won't like it and will constantly be requesting
this or that little tweak. This will especially be true if the change
reduces how often someone's posts show up on the homepage, and the
corresponding drop in traffic.
Finally, I see that a lot of people are taking the opportunity to toss
out suggestions. Rather than a free-form brainstorm, it might be a
good idea to either stick to Zachary's original ideas, or perhaps step
back and try to assess the overall goal. Is it more readers? More
collaboration between bloggers? A more inviting home page? Those are 3
very different goals, and each has been discussed in this thread. I'd
suggest picking one goal and creating/executing a specific plan for
that goal. Evaluate it after a set period (like a few weeks), then
tweak the plan, or pick another goal and make a new plan.
Micah
http://www.obsidianportal.com
technical it was. The most involved suggestion was for voting, which
could be handled by 3rd parties (like surveymonkey, or something
similar). Everything else was just good old fashioned blogging and
communication. Believe me, the non-technical solution is almost always
the best way to go, at least at first. Changing the mechanics of the
homepage, adding a points system, or pretty much any technical change
will usually have a negligible effect compared to just putting more
work into collaborating with your fellow bloggers.
Plus, it's important to remember that a feature is never "done". Once
implemented, someone won't like it and will constantly be requesting
this or that little tweak. This will especially be true if the change
reduces how often someone's posts show up on the homepage, and the
corresponding drop in traffic.
Finally, I see that a lot of people are taking the opportunity to toss
out suggestions. Rather than a free-form brainstorm, it might be a
good idea to either stick to Zachary's original ideas, or perhaps step
back and try to assess the overall goal. Is it more readers? More
collaboration between bloggers? A more inviting home page? Those are 3
very different goals, and each has been discussed in this thread. I'd
suggest picking one goal and creating/executing a specific plan for
that goal. Evaluate it after a set period (like a few weeks), then
tweak the plan, or pick another goal and make a new plan.
Micah
http://www.obsidianportal.com
Wyatt Salazar
Jul 18, 2010, 10:49:54 AM7/18/10
to rpgbloggers
I'd be up for some of this stuff, my problem is that I can't really
guest post because I have nothing to say other than the topics I
usually cover which are very centric to my blog (my campaign setting,
my homebrew system, my campaigns, etc). But I would like to do some
cross-promo and inter-blog stuff again.
guest post because I have nothing to say other than the topics I
usually cover which are very centric to my blog (my campaign setting,
my homebrew system, my campaigns, etc). But I would like to do some
cross-promo and inter-blog stuff again.
Alex Schroeder
Jul 18, 2010, 10:59:57 AM7/18/10
to rpgbloggers
I agree. I'd start non-technical. That also has the benefit of
enabling people. Just post here asking for a guest blogger and you're
set. Helping the network in small incremental steps.
As for me personally, I probably won't be doing much. I'm happyto
surfthe front page and getting an essentially random selection of
teasers whenever I have nothing left in my 'Gaming' category on Google
Reader. That is why I'd prefer a non-technical, opt-in solution for
those who like this sort of thing. Stuff like the blog circus. Is that
still going on?
On Jul 18, 4:02 pm, "Micah (from Obsidian Portal)" <fanm...@micah-
enabling people. Just post here asking for a guest blogger and you're
set. Helping the network in small incremental steps.
As for me personally, I probably won't be doing much. I'm happyto
surfthe front page and getting an essentially random selection of
teasers whenever I have nothing left in my 'Gaming' category on Google
Reader. That is why I'd prefer a non-technical, opt-in solution for
those who like this sort of thing. Stuff like the blog circus. Is that
still going on?
On Jul 18, 4:02 pm, "Micah (from Obsidian Portal)" <fanm...@micah-
Stuart Robertson
Jul 18, 2010, 11:18:52 AM7/18/10
to rpgbl...@googlegroups.com
If non-technical means "non-complicated" then yes. If it means eschewing adding some easy plugin in favor of stuff that requires a lot of people's time and effort (bureaucracy) I'm not so sure.
My 2.5 cents ;)
Stuart
Sent from my iPhone
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Brian Fitzpatrick
Jul 18, 2010, 1:30:11 PM7/18/10
to rpgbl...@googlegroups.com
I'd love to help, but I'm guessing that like many members I don't know
where to begin.
where to begin.
My little blog garners a bit of interest here and there, but it's not
bringing in a zillion visitors and that's fine by me. Part of that is
due to the fact that my posting frequency is irregular due to a lack
of things to write about most of the time.
That said, might I suggest more of the Blog Carnival sort of efforts?
Though I hesitate to mention them - memes are pretty non-technical and
can be broad based if done right. But these sorts of effort might
offer more opportunities for cross-pollination of ideas.
Also, it might be nice to have a more structured way to ask for guest
posts on particular topics for particular blogs - though similar to
the carnival idea, it might encourage blogs to work together in
different ways. Having somewhere to post that sort of request might
offer some additional coordinated efforts across blogs, involving more
members of the network...
Just my $0.005. (The economy has affected even the price of my
thoughts these days...)
--Fitz (http://blog2.moebiusadventures.com)
--
Brian Fitzpatrick (aka "Fitz")
Lair of the Green Knight (Blog) - http://writer.fitzhome.com
Moebius Adventures Games (Blog) - http://blog.moebiusadventures.com
BlogCritics.org - http://blogcritics.org/writers/fitz/
Chuck
Jul 18, 2010, 2:01:20 PM7/18/10
to rpgbloggers
Just a couple more thoughts and ideas.
Promote the network beyond just the badges on our blogs. This can be
something simple, voluntary and informal. Just little things like
adding a link to your signature for various forums, chatting up folks
at your FLGS or cons or even printing up some simple fliers or
business cards and leave them at your FLGS or cons. Just get the word
out there about the network.
More cross pollination between members is great idea. I know I've been
guilty about not doing that. Adding it to my to do list. Some of you
maybe hearing from me in the future :)
On the technical side, one simple suggestion and a couple not so
simple. First, add a search function to the page primarily for first
time visitors. If they land on rpgbloggers.com and are looking for
something about Game A then just make it easier for them to find the
information.
More advanced feature, not only have links to the member blogs like we
do now but add a section for with small profiles for each blog.
An even more advanced and probably not likely option. A blog referral
system. If someone likes blog A then they might like Blog B.
The whole idea is to make it easier for visitors to find out about
blogs that they might be interested in and not just pull the RSS feed
and move on.
Promote the network beyond just the badges on our blogs. This can be
something simple, voluntary and informal. Just little things like
adding a link to your signature for various forums, chatting up folks
at your FLGS or cons or even printing up some simple fliers or
business cards and leave them at your FLGS or cons. Just get the word
out there about the network.
More cross pollination between members is great idea. I know I've been
guilty about not doing that. Adding it to my to do list. Some of you
maybe hearing from me in the future :)
On the technical side, one simple suggestion and a couple not so
simple. First, add a search function to the page primarily for first
time visitors. If they land on rpgbloggers.com and are looking for
something about Game A then just make it easier for them to find the
information.
More advanced feature, not only have links to the member blogs like we
do now but add a section for with small profiles for each blog.
An even more advanced and probably not likely option. A blog referral
system. If someone likes blog A then they might like Blog B.
The whole idea is to make it easier for visitors to find out about
blogs that they might be interested in and not just pull the RSS feed
and move on.
Anthony Laffan
Jul 18, 2010, 8:35:05 AM7/18/10
to rpgbl...@googlegroups.com
I'm new here, but I'm also in for cross blogging and promotion. I've been debating throwing up a link for my 5s of readers in case any of them want to do a guest post anyhow.
I'd love for their to be featured blog posts, but I have the same issues Jeff has with fully moderating the front page. New members without higher reader counts would get shoved off into the noise unless people went really looking for it, at which point what is the point of joining the network if you're just going to be cut off with the noise?
Featured posts however could help drum up more interest. If someone has a particularly good interest, it could be voted and end up in a box on the front page as a "Featured Post". You could probably do the same thing with up voting, make it separate and it can still work while the site still shows the most recent posts done by all members in case something catches the eye.
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Graham Poole
Jul 18, 2010, 5:27:53 PM7/18/10
to rpgbl...@googlegroups.com
I was staying out of the discussion, and will continue to do so, but will note:
We considered featured posts in the past. There are some major difficulties.
1) We can go by reader count or click through count, potentially, with a lot of coding work, but this cause the trend to lean towards the bigger blogs. There was also no satisfactory way that we had found to do this. Reader nominations were also considered, but would also trend towards the big name blogs.
2) It has to be done by someone who reads every post/blog on the network. If not, there will be the appearance of bias, and, in fact, it will be true. This is a lot of time spent on such a thing, for no pay.
3) It needs to be done by a fair-sized group of people, or personal bias will show through. I'd never recommend many old-school blogs or game theory blogs, for instance, as neither interest me.
There are a number of other hurdles to overcome, as well, but it is a massive amount of work to require volunteers to do.
We eventually decided that the only feasible way we saw to keep everyone on a fair and equal footing was to not do featured posts.
That may change, I don't know. But this was our view back when we had considered it.
Graham
We considered featured posts in the past. There are some major difficulties.
1) We can go by reader count or click through count, potentially, with a lot of coding work, but this cause the trend to lean towards the bigger blogs. There was also no satisfactory way that we had found to do this. Reader nominations were also considered, but would also trend towards the big name blogs.
2) It has to be done by someone who reads every post/blog on the network. If not, there will be the appearance of bias, and, in fact, it will be true. This is a lot of time spent on such a thing, for no pay.
3) It needs to be done by a fair-sized group of people, or personal bias will show through. I'd never recommend many old-school blogs or game theory blogs, for instance, as neither interest me.
There are a number of other hurdles to overcome, as well, but it is a massive amount of work to require volunteers to do.
We eventually decided that the only feasible way we saw to keep everyone on a fair and equal footing was to not do featured posts.
That may change, I don't know. But this was our view back when we had considered it.
Graham
From: Anthony Laffan <deliri...@gmail.com>
Sender: rpgbl...@googlegroups.com
Date: Sun, 18 Jul 2010 08:35:05 -0400
ReplyTo: rpgbl...@googlegroups.com
Subject: Re: Revitalizing The RPG Bloggers Network
Nick Miller
Jul 19, 2010, 8:21:09 AM7/19/10
to rpgbl...@googlegroups.com
An idea about featured posts:
We are, in essence, a community where even us low hit-count guys can at least rub shoulders with the big hit-count guys. Instead of making "featured post" a prize to be won, make it a shared resource. Each member can designate their own posts as "featured" for the network. To keep things fair, a member may only designate their posts at a fixed interval (for example, once every two weeks, although someone who has the data about member count should probably set this interval.) In this way everyone gets a chance to be featured every so often. There might be some additional regulations required, like only five posts can be featured in one day (and those are relegated on a first-come, first-serve basis.)
Another simple thing we could do: make an official RPGBN t-shirt! We could use a print on demand service like cafepress.com. A t-shirt is basically free advertising, especially if members wear it to conventions and game stores. It would be fun to schedule a day for each big con where every attending member wears their t-shirt.
The Tome - Jeff Greiner
Jul 19, 2010, 8:42:56 AM7/19/10
to rpgbl...@googlegroups.com
Personally, I'd be a bigger fan of a featured member system. Wherein
members write articles about other members blogs, perhaps with links to
some posts they really like. Keep it all positive (if you don't like
the site let someone else write the article about that one) and check
it off the list. Publish one a week. Once a site has been featured then
they can't be featured again to encourage coverage. Big guys can use it
as a chance lend a hand to the small sites...after all, we've all been
the small guy at some point. Personally, I love to have chances to help
others get exposure, I'm sure I'm not alone.
Danny Rupp
Jul 19, 2010, 9:03:10 AM7/19/10
to rpgbl...@googlegroups.com
Just to add: We made t-shirts last year at GenCon and a fair number of people there got them. I believe some other people ordered them from Dave, I forget how many we made but they exist and there's definitely a picture of me wearing one out there somewhere.
Danny
--
http://www.Critical-Hits.com/
Danny
--
http://www.Critical-Hits.com/
A Terrible Idea
Jul 19, 2010, 12:57:02 PM7/19/10
to rpgbloggers
I wanted to chime in briefly to say that I'm following along, and
there has been a lot of good discussion. I don't want to get in the
way of that. But neither do I want it to look like I'm not following
along.
there has been a lot of good discussion. I don't want to get in the
way of that. But neither do I want it to look like I'm not following
along.
Jonathan Jacobs
Jul 19, 2010, 1:08:13 PM7/19/10
to rpgbl...@googlegroups.com
As far as featured posts are concerned -- a relatively simple approach would be use one or more of the following approaching:
1. Use a PostRank.com feed that targets each blog's RSS individually. I've used PostRank.com for a long while on my own blog to generate a "featured blog" list; and I've been very satisfied with the results.
2. An alternative, slightly more proactive approach would be to create a custom REDDIT group for RPG Bloggers. People could copy/paste the code into their posts to submit and vote on the posts; and the REDDIT/rpgbloggers widget could be used to dynamicaly display current featured posts that are popular (lots of thumbs up), contriversial (up and down), or new (recently submited). Admins can use the REDDIT api to control the submission rate to the group from individual blogs (to prevent abuse) and to bury posts submitted from websites that are not RPG blogs per se, etc. I've reserved the page in case this is what the RPGN decides to do (http://www.reddit.com/r/rpgbloggers/); just let me know and I'll give whoever needs admin access the keys.
just a couple of ideas. The blog carnival, and participating in it, is probably one of the easier ways to do this though. The carnival round ups could be made part of RPGbloggers.com website as well - to have a central page/feed with them all included (as opposed to how it is now with them all spread out; which is also good - but for different reasons).
nice to see such a lively discussion in this group though. Reminds me of the heyday of 2008-09...
my 2 cents.
Jonathan Jacobs
The Core Mechanic - www.thecoremechanic.com
Nevermet Press - www.nevermetpress.com
Join me on LinkedIn.com
http://www.linkedin.com/in/jonathanjacobs
http://www.linkedin.com/in/jonathanjacobs
Graham Poole
Jul 19, 2010, 1:28:47 PM7/19/10
to rpgbl...@googlegroups.com
Just as another FYI - back when we had started the carnivals, the then-board of the RPGBN decided that we would approve of and support, but not own in any way, the blog carnivals.
This was for a variety of reasons, not the least of which was that such carnivals are a community initiative by and for the community, and we felt that RPGBN was meant to be a repository for your creative endeavours, not the source of them.
Of course, Duane may feel differently. Again, this is just a retrospective on the thought processes at the time.
(Note, none of these thoughts were ever private. Most were discussed right here on this mailing list, just almost 2 years ago.)
Graham
This was for a variety of reasons, not the least of which was that such carnivals are a community initiative by and for the community, and we felt that RPGBN was meant to be a repository for your creative endeavours, not the source of them.
Of course, Duane may feel differently. Again, this is just a retrospective on the thought processes at the time.
(Note, none of these thoughts were ever private. Most were discussed right here on this mailing list, just almost 2 years ago.)
Graham
From: Jonathan Jacobs <jonatha...@gmail.com>
Sender: rpgbl...@googlegroups.com
Date: Mon, 19 Jul 2010 13:08:13 -0400
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