It’s nearly the weekend again, and once more we get to say to work ‘not today, work, not today‘, and we get to say to our fantabulous game-playing machines ‘yes today, fantabulous game-playing machines, yes today‘. Whole virtual worlds lay open at our feet, ready for some quality time to be invested in them, calling out our names; a siren-song of untold beauty and irresistible power. “Come to me….” she sings, her voice hauntingly drifting on the very edge of the wind, “….and let us fuck some shit up!“.
That last bit might just be me (I’m finally starting Just Cause 3, and there seems to be a degree of emphasis on ‘fucking shit up’) but whatever she’s calling to you, it’s likely to be a sweet, sweet song regardless. And – what with this being the 3rd Weekend Gaming Doodah – this is your opportunity to share any thoughts, experiences, issues you may be having with your current gaming worlds. Is there anything you’re currently loving, not loving, finding a bit “meh”? Is there anything that’s caught your eye, but you’d like to know if anybody else would recommend it before you spend, like, real-life money on it? Have you discovered a largely unknown gaming gem that you’d like to sing the praises of? If you’re a fellow blogger, is there anything you’d like to run by your potential audience, anything you’d like some help or feedback with?
If the answer to any of that’s a yes, please feel free to comment, join in, ask away. The floor is yours. We’re all Gamers here, and there’s a fairly substantial cumulative knowledge pool just waiting for you to jump right into, so, in the words of Van Halen, you might as well jump…..
QTX 
February 19, 2016 at 1:34 pm
OK, so my gaming weekend looks like it’ll be Just Cause flavoured. I finally finished the Uncharted Collection (and wrote a piece on it), and I did actually start Resident Evil but, although I’m not not enjoying it, it’s only really holding my attention for brief periods before I start to get a bit fractious – hence me balancing it out with some Just Cause frivolity.
What I really would like some help with though, is blogging related, and I’d very much like any advice or tips anybody’s willing to give me. See, I’m basically dying on my arse here, and I’m running out of ideas. A really good day for me is double-figure views, and it’s starting to feel pretty grim spending two, three, four hours writing something only for a handful of people to read it (and probably at least half of those by accident). Is it just a time and patience thing – do I just need to ride it out until I reach a tipping point, or is there anything I can proactively be doing to speed stuff along (other than tagging and hashtagging, which I’m doing)? Should I just accept I’m not very good at this, make my peace with the situation, and then consider it a bonus if it ever changes?
To be clear, I’m not whining, and I’m not feeling sorry for myself, but being relatively new to this blogging malarkey, I wondered if there were any tips or tricks the more established amongst you might’ve picked up over the years!? If there’s anything you’d be willing to share with me (and perhaps anybody else reading having similar issues) I’d be eternally grateful. (Similarly, if you’re a blogger and you’re having your own issues, or want any advice about the field, feel free to ask about them too).
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February 19, 2016 at 5:02 pm
We’ve all had those days where we feel as if we’re getting nowhere with our blogs. But it does get better; it just takes a little patience, and sometimes a little help from the community! Feel free to get in touch direct – contact details are on the site. 🙂
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February 19, 2016 at 5:39 pm
Cheers – that’s very kind of you, and thanks for the advice. In general, I’ve found the community aspects of blogging to be really rewarding, and helpful, and it’s definitely something that’s particularly awesome about Gaming blogs – and it makes up for the days when I feel like I’m getting nowhere. 😉
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February 20, 2016 at 2:29 am
Have you already begun Just Cause? Actually, our discussion last week made me go back to it a few nights ago. I’ll probably play it a little bit this weekend.
W.r.t. growing an audience, my own blog is also fairly modest, and my page views have always been garbage. But the likes and comments left on my posts have fortunately been on a steadily (but slowly) growing trajectory. I think the most effective way I’ve found of attracting new readers is to be very proactive in finding new gaming blogs to reach out to in the WordPress reader. And by reaching out, I mean leaving comments and likes. Most people might not spend a lot of time searching through the reader, but if they see your avatar on their blog, they will definitely at least click through out of curiosity and appreciation. And hopefully, some of them will become long-term connections on WordPress.
But again….my blog is also nothing impressive…..so if there’s a magic trick to it all, please share it with me!
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February 20, 2016 at 11:02 am
Yeah, I’ve put a few hours into JC3 already. I’m still in that initial ‘figuring it all out’ phase at the moment, but it looks like it’ll be a lot of fun once I have. So far, I seem to have spent a fair amount of time face-planting mountains and stuff in my wingsuit and/or accidentally driving off the side of ravines, but hopefully that won’t be a regular thing.
And on blogging, I agree with you entirely. I’m quite a fan of following rabbit holes from blogs etc anyway, and I’ve been going through the “community” bits of other blogs, and trying to find other places to read and like and whatnot. I’m sometimes a bit reluctant to comment, but I should probably work on that, particularly because everybody seems to agree it’s pretty nice when people comment on stuff they’ve written (I’d mostly not done so because I didn’t want to be a nuisance – you can take the man out of Britain, but not the Britain out of the man, etc, etc). And actually, one of the cool things (of the coolest thing) is that, often, you’re already amongst people you “know”, precisely because the community is quite engaged, so I’ll often find a place, and see some friendly faces (avatars) there already. Again – and without wanting to bang on about it – it’s genuinely pretty impressive how involved and mutually supportive the community can be.
I guess in the absence of one single magic trick, that’s a pretty decent consolation prize, right there!
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February 19, 2016 at 5:04 pm
Fair warning I am new at blogging as well so I would not take this as advice but just as it being my perspective.
I think we all get hung up on the numbers. Truthfully, It is hard not to as they seem to be a direct measurement of how good the content is. I believe the key thing to be able to do this long-term is to not focus on the numbers but instead focus on the content itself. Getting enjoyment and a sense of fullfillment from the creation of the content regardless of the views, likes, comments, etc. enables you to keep going and keep creating because you are doing this for you and not for everyone else. As you continue this road you will naturally get better and better at your writing and content so in my mind eventually the numbers will grow too! At least this is what I have convinced myself 🙂
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February 19, 2016 at 5:52 pm
Yeah – I totally agree with you, and long-story-short, I started writing about games precisely so that I had a productive outlet, and Gaming was the obvious choice (not least because it added a degree of purpose to what was, essentially, me just being sat on my arse in front of the TV). 😉
And I do enjoy the writing – and like I just said in reply to Kim 1001Up, I think I like the community/conversational aspects even more, so it’s not like having a handful of views is a problem in itself, especially if those handful of views also come with comments/interaction from other Gamers who know their onions and such.
I think you’re right about the rest coming eventually, and I won’t get hung up on numbers – at least not initially – but it can just be pretty confusing (and disheartening sometimes) when you’re quite happy with something you’ve written – yet there’s just a big old tumbleweed where your page hits should be! 😉
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February 19, 2016 at 6:24 pm
Just have to keep fighting the good fight ☺. I love the interactions as well, easily the best part.
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February 22, 2016 at 12:39 am
Little late this time, but thats because I have been alot of Banished. I just got in the mood to finally try it out and play a simulator. After a few failed villages I’ve got one humming along and really enjoy the game.
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February 22, 2016 at 12:47 am
It’s always pretty cool when you find a game that sucks you in like that!
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