Alright, so this happened: I'll be doing this for 10 years come November 7th. For me, that's huge. It's something that had helped me countless times with all kinds of stuff, be it discussions about games and game design (being able to point out that I had done a post about a subject is priceless) or even getting a job (it shows dedication, if nothing else, but people can also get an idea what you are about, if they are willing to take the time). I'd say I got at least one date out of it, too :) So while The Disoriented Ranger never was among the really popular blogs out there, it was useful and has been read and interacted with. I'll take this month to look back a bit (and maybe even forward).
Partytime, excellent ...
This will be a short little post about what I'm planning to get done this month and what else is in store. Looking back I found that while it short-term never helped the blog to stay clear from day-to-day blog-politics (click-bait and controversy drive a lot of traffic, I've seen it happen elsewhere ...) and keep it long-form instead of, say, posting little things daily, the material gathered that way is still very much readable regardless of when it was written. Most of it, anyway. And one thing I always wanted to have (you know, for my own book-shelf) was a nice little compilation of the blog.
I've spent most of last month going through all that, collecting and sorting what I think would make me happy. It's not done yet, but I have a cover to show you and I aim to get at least the pdf out there on the 7th. Not for free, but dirt cheap (as I learned a lesson there: free/PWYW just don't track with OBS ... it needs to cost at least a buck to be useful on the site). I'm thinking 1.99 USD for a pdf that will amount to round about 300 pages A5. Behold a cover:
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| I'm happy with that cover. Thoughts? |
One thing I'll really miss in the book will be all the great memes I used on the blog over the years, so I think I'll do at least one post about those. And I guess I have to talk about unfinished project, since that was a big thing here as well ... It's not the "disoriented ranger" for nothing.
So expect a more lively blog here this month!
While we are at it ...
To mark the occasion, I've put a heavy discount on that dystopian/cyberpunk role-playing game I wrote with the very obscure name Ø2\\'3|| (hint: it's leetspeak ... the whole game is all sorts of innuendos and easter eggs, very much in the spirit of the setting). I'll keep that discount up for the whole month.
Not sure what I can tell you about it that you might not already know. It's an original system and, if I may say so, solid design. With a huge theoretical part for the aspiring gamemaster as well. It wouldn't exist without the work done here on the blog.
If you already checked it out, I'd be happy to hear about it!
Let the festivities commence!
10 years, friends and neighbors! It's been a ride. If you joined the blog at some point and stayed, I appreciate you. This has been a hobby endeavor, unedited at that, rambling at times, opiniated about game design, but unheard. Ha! I really love the opportunity to put down my thoughts about playing role-playing games and get an audience for it, too.
Google meanwhile shanked exposure at least two times in the last 10 years and who knows how long blogger will last. The OSR (which was what got me to blogging to begin with) didn't ... as such. Ruins left to explore, as another blogger said the other day in an interview. I like that. True too, if somewhat sad.
Met lots of people, have seen people disappear, die even (Dreams of Mythical Fantasy is still dreaming, people ... James is dearly missed and yet I get traffic from his blog every now and then as if nothing significant had changed). Some ended up being 'internet friends' for the blink of a screen just to be gone again, others stayed friends.
The beauty of insignificance is that the trolls seem to stay away. Mostly. Either way, I had some great interactions here on the blog, basically from the beginning. Not sure where I'm headed right now or where that spark is that carried so much of it up until a couple of years ago, but I'm glad I made it up to this point and I'm sure something will come up in the future ...
Anyway, I'm rambling. Love you all. Stay tuned for more (maybe even more substance)!
