"Let's start by introducing myself.
I'm VT2. Warseer and Dakka hate me about as much as they hate Stelek.
You know how most people get all freaked out and weird when they're tallking on the phone? I feel like that everytime I send an email, or post on blogs. I'm also kinda shy.
Now, with that out of the way....
Discussion, yes.
There's not enough of it. The one that ends up taking place dies down rather quickly.
If possible, invite more discussion in your blogposts, and encourage your crew to help out with army-requests more often.
That's about it.
I'm sure you've noticed the inactivity of most the other cowriters.
That one kinda needs some fixing up, too.
And those are all my tips for tonight.
You're doing a mostly good job, and I appreciate it - I funnel lost children from warseer to it everyday - but it could be beyond good, Kirby. It could be great.
Hope I haven't offended anyone with this message.
See you on your blog, Kirbs."
I decided to post this publicy to a) say thanks for sending people our way and appreciating the work we do b) publicly say I don't ever force my guest authors to post (except BroLo)...though I do send irrate e-mails when they don't post at the right intervals!!!1!!one!!!ONE11!! and c) to tell all the lurkers to post :P. I shall delve into this now...
I know turning on permissions has decreased the comment count slightly but I've also seen lately a lot of new names pop up and I'm happy to have to not police trolling. However, this is primarily a blog and not a forum. Whilst I encourage discussion and receive it well (note: discussion not trolling) I can't force people to comment (nor do I wish to). 3++ is getting a huge number of hits & visits (we breached over 900 visitors and 3000+ hits yesterday) with good number of pageviews & time spent here but if people don't want to contribute, not much I can do. Whilst some of my posts like the current Tau Codex review encourage more discussion through experimental rules, posts like How To's, analysis and army lists aren't going to generate a lot of discussion outside of clarifications, disagreement or confusion. Since this blog is primarily aimed at these sorts of topics, not much I can do there I'm afraid.
So, does anyone have any ideas for increasing comment numbers/discussion? Or do you think the level will rise as awareness of this blog does? Do you want more 'experimental' type posts or keep them limited in between the more in-depth tactical and analytical articles that are more common-place on 3++. I know you all want more bat-reps (and you'll get 5 this weekend!) but there's only so much time I can play + take pics.
The floor is open. Let's hear your suggestions, thoughts, criticisms (the pink isn't going. Don't ask.), etc. and see if we can't make 3++ better! Thanks VT2 for your input!
P.S. what gets the most comments btw is Drama and you can go to YTTH for that. It might crop up here on a rare occasion but I don't like it so will not endorse it on an even semi-regular basis. Also me spending money seems to attract comments like flies to honey.
19 pinkments:
Open discussion about stuff like Fantasy or army builds generates plenty of responses, yes?
Well the High Elf post has generated 700 hits in 3.5 days work. Seriously people lol. But ya I hope explaining my thought processes as I delve into Fantasy generates some discussion and also provides an insight into how I look at these sort of games which should help people set their frame of mind for when they do it themselves.
I should do another post on HE actually...main problem atm is I've got what's internally good down but not externally :P and sites like Warseer don't really provide a good base of operations to compare to. Which means a lot of codex reading...
I'll try considering requests by anyone?
Sorry guys, in a rut of what to cover.
Wiriting "discussion" articles (i.e. ones that are explicitly up for comment by folks, as opposed to teaching articles that are intended to be read.) I've been tossing the idea around a bit because I think Stelek has had a good idea in certain respects where he posts articles looking for community contribution before later posting a followup with his own thoughts. Learning to assess things on one's own is a big part of learning to be a good player.
AbusePuppy has a good idea. Create scenarios like target priority or deployment. Encourage players to explain how they would deal with the scenario using their army. Sort of like a snap shot of first turn on vassal.
Messanger
I think quality will bring response.
"if you build it, they will come" lol
I like the fact that there is no drama here.
If you're gonna do HE I'd like to see something about the guys that come in the starter kit and if its worth trading the Skaven away with someone to get double the HE guys.
As I'm new to Warhammer the starter kit would be my first purchase so I'd need extensive explanations..
I'd like to comment more myself, but try to avoid it where I don't feel I familiar enough with the codex/build to do so. I do discuss a lot of the posts with Kirby elsewhere, so maybe we should have those discussions here.
I need a push to post more, I admit, and will try to push myself a little more, especially for my next 2 weeks of freedom. Hopefully some new subjects (Fantasy and Warmachine) will bring some more new faces that will also contribute elsewhere.
I think it's important to grow the blog slowly and it seems to be doing very well. It'd be nice to have a familiar 'bunch' (a la ZombYes) but maintain a chilled and open atmosphere, so people feel free to ask questions. I love YTTH, but sometimes the responses (not necessarily from Stellie Stel) can be very blunt. Also, discussion is great but if you don't visit for the weekend, you don't want to come back to a dozen threads and a few hundred responses. That will just put people off IMO.
I would love to see more tactics discussions and I think that this could be done by showing scenarios on vassal, requesting that commenters say what they would do, and then you providing your thoughts a few hours later
I for one wished to start posting here as I thought I would strike a chored with other newer players while also reaching an already established large audience. I think discussion is important, but the more open you become the more chance there is for drama to erupt, thus it is a double edged sword. We already got duders like AbusePuppy writing articles of awesomeness (that I wish I knew enough to write) and other duders like me who can't do simple tasks like post posts on time/correctly convert time to Australian time lol.
What Stelek is doing is pretty awesome, and overall good for the hobby (all badmouthing considered...) but I personally think this blog does just as much good for all kinds of gamers (well mostly competitive, we raise the bar high so casuals can gleam stuff as well).
I believe in the pink! Believe!
First off: Stelek's site is boring, (no pink!) though it is "informative". I do like the idea of hosting classes of sorts. Give us senarios, and find out how the masses would interpret and react. I for one don't play many games (except in my head) and would love to have a better idea to react to a move versus "take this unitz cuz it's teh uber sh-nike!!1!"
And fantasy...but I'm biased to that right now...
I just wanted to comment as I find myself to be one of the "lurkers" around here and feel that I should contribute as I have gained a lot of knowledge from this blog. I discovered the blog through a user at B&C a few months back and read for a few weeks before emailing in an army list I was considering and was very pleased with the feedback I received. The content on this site is of great quality in my opinion!
I do visit Stelek's site almost as often as I do 3++ but have little interest in participating due to his site's layout, theme, and general feel to his blog. It has some great content and helps many people with "terrible" lists and I do believe he is making more competitive players, I just prefer to stay outta that drama there.
Also, keep in mind you are going to have a lot of new players reading your blog (like me!) that are still purchasing/building/painting their first army. What I'm always searching for is some examples of play so I can try to understand what to expect from a game and have some experience with how other armies play. I'm definitely waiting to see these bat-reps! I'd expect a good amount of new people commenting on those.
Thanks to Kirby and all the "guest authors" who make the blog what it is. Another thanks to those that contribute ideas and thoughts via comments.
I thought I'd chime in, as I'm another one of the lurkers that reads pretty much everything on this blog but hasn't posted anything yet.
This is currently my favorite Warhammer blog, and all of the authors post really helpful articles. Kirby's articles on the new Blood Angels codex have been particularly helpful to me as I adapted my Blood Angels to the new rules.
I'm looking forward to reading about how Kirby plans out his new High Elves, and I like the idea of more interactive articles, like presenting scenarios and army lists for group review before the authors weigh in.
Anyway, I just want to say thanks for the effort that Kirby and all of the guest authors put into this blog. It really is appreciated.
Counter intuitively, I would stick to 40k or atleast the gamesworkshop universes instead of discussing alternative universes such as warmachine aswell.
Personally I like 3++ for not having to dig through tons of unhelpful or untrue information. Experimental posts are fine aslong as the very stable information you supply us with continues aswell. I feel however that adding game systems will only dilute your content.
Nice to see some new faces :) and thanks for the positive support. So the general consensus seems to continue with the mainstream articles (of 40k) I provide but create 'classroom' style articles where the readers can apply what I discuss on 3++ and then provide what I would of done later? Sort of like tests *shifty eyes* (ah if only we had sponsors, we could give prizes!).
I will continue with Fantasy (unless finances de-rail it) but other gaming systems (such as Warmachine) will only be covered by guest authors and unlikely to be significant in post count (though if it does may have to re-visit that idea, i.e. spin-off blog for it).
I got my email posted =O
But yes, it's true.
Hey, guys, even if you don't feel totally familiar with something, don't be afraid to butt in anyway.
Knowledge of how to properly move around and engage enemies with eldar jetbikes are very handy for tau players, because crisis suits and stealth suits operate in much the same way.
Understanding why sternguard are good means you'll get the draw behind imperial guard veterans.
Just two examples.
Since I'm a lurker myself, I figure I should comment and say the site's great (cause it is)
I think it'd be a great idea to stick with the main theme of 40k, especially the list review/tutorial-type posts that keep cropping up, since they're the reason I'm dusting off my Tau.
It'd be great to see some Warmachine stuff on the site, but it should be left to the guest authors if you're not currently playing it yourself. That's my 2c tho
Teach us more about deployment and tactics and how to properly use units.
List building should also be about how to get less efficient units into a list but still make the list decent.
What Brent said.
Im the lurkiest lurker here btw cause... i ve been lurking since the start of the blog... well almost. Gimme the lurking award!
Pics or it didn't happen kanjinbu! lol
@brent; I'll only do less efficient units in army lists if asked otherwise it's counter productive. If I did a review on said units or was asked specifically (like the Banhsee post) or was pointing out why said units were less effective, different cup of tea. Deployment is a hard concept to cover which I've done a couple of times but the best way for me to answer that is you provide Bat Reps or pics of terrain + an army list and opponent and I can give advice then.
To reiterate, 40k will still be the focus of this blog with 1 in every 5? 10? posts being around Fantasy as I delve into it. The usual random posts about sports I watch and other things but will leave other gaming systems to guest authors if they wish to. Never fear, this is still a 40k blog! (of pink).
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