Guess who’s 10? Happy (belated) Birthday of Dice and Dragons!
Wow, 10 years, has it been that long?
Yes, it really has. To be honest we’re nearly two months into our tenth year here at of Dice and Dragons and while we missed the “big one” with an end of the year post it seems only fitting that the day passed quietly with reflection.
Ten years ago on December 23, 2005, the very first post went live with just a ‘The beginning‘ as the title. It was a quiet affair and to be honest, as stats weren’t that important at the time, I don’t think there were more than ten hits that day. There was no way of knowing that despite the various ups and downs that the blog would still be here and being viewed by an ever growing audience. Over the years there have been posts about all manner of things from using multicolored dice, to index cards, and of course the now annual tradition of hosting the RPGBA Blog Carnival in October.
Yes, it has been an interesting ten years and over the last few months I’ve given some thought to where we are now and the direction things are going to go in the future.
First and foremost, the blog isn’t going anywhere. With that said, it’s not going to be the same either. One of the things that I’ve come to realize is that while I enjoy gaming and writing the occasional piece, the online community that we are all a part of needs a hole filled and I’m hoping to help with that.
As many are aware I’ve been a proponent of the RPGBA and what I always felt the mission was, to help promote gaming blogs and discover resources, or “hidden gems,” online. Over the last year I, with the help of others, have kept a spark of that mission alive. There’s a Google+ Community devoted to it, those that follow the twitter feed here get a taste of what was as I try to fill it with posts from around the web, and the Blog Carnival carries on thanks to the work of Johnn Four over at RoleplayingTips.com.
Yes, we’ve kept the spark alive but I think it’s now time for this site to step up and move things to the next level.
What does this mean exactly?
First, there will be at least one dedicated page to the RPGBA. While the Google+ Community is definitely a great sounding board for those involved it is, unfortunately, like singing to the choir. In order for us to grow as a group and extend our reach we need something that can be readily found and used as a springboard for other Alliance resources.
Second, there will be posts here highlighting what others are writing. Yes, I will still be writing the occasional piece but let’s face it, not everyone has the same reach for their material and if I can help, even just a little bit, I feel I should. Fair warning on this one, what I may post may not be the latest and greatest from a site but it will be something that I feel is worthy of sharing. Now, I’m not sure if this will mean a single post a week, multiple posts a day, or something in between, it’s something that natural rhythm (and time) will find.
Third, and this is by far one of the largest shifts for the site, I’ve dropped the advertisements (you may have noticed this already). I’ve been running them for a long time and to be honest they never really lived up to the hype and even I’m beginning to find them annoying. Unfortunately I still have to pay for everything (and I keep being asked if the site is paying for itself) so I will be looking at what many others have done, a Patreon campaign. I haven’t decided on the particulars yet but will be passing them on as soon as I figure it all out. I’m only hoping with the changes that are being made here you’ll find it worthy.
Fourth, the site needs some cleaning up. A lot of what you see now has been around since the dawn of time or added on in the hopes that it would address a perceived need. So, in addition to the cleaning up of posts, the whole site will be given a once over, including some new graphics (I hope).
Finally, I want to say a HUGE THANK YOU to all of you, my readers, the ones that keep coming back, the ones that drop the occasional comment, retweet something, and even, on occasion, drop an email. YOU are the reason I’m still here trying to make sense of it all and I’m hopeful that we’ll be enjoying the next ten years together.
May your dice roll well.