Raise your hand if you have you been paying attention to the interwebz lately, regarding the rumored upcoming releases for 2012 from Games Workshop. Yup, me too.
Now those of you who didn't raise your hands, we'll just pretend that we didn't see your shoulder twitch before you stopped yourself from raising your hand. Next to hobby-related articles and forum posts, rumors are the next most prolific reading material on my daily list of subjects to hit.
But why don't I ever post any rumors?
The answer is fairly simple...it's just not a subject I choose to focus on in my blog. When I started blogging again this year, I decided that I was going to do it right, or at least as "right" as I could. Ron at From the Warp has written articles that I've read on how to write and run a successful blog, and I not only read them multiple times, but I have them bookmarked as well so that I can go back to them when and if I feel I need to.
One of the tenants in those articles is to pick the topic(s) you want to center the focus of your blog on, and focus on them. That doesn't mean you need to have such a narrow focus that you begin to run out of material a dozen articles into the life of your blog. It does mean that you need to focus your energies into what you do and write about well. I model, convert and paint well, and I tend to write well about those topics, or at least I enjoy thinking so. Even though there are many more topics that involve our hobby, rumors and tactics being the two largest, I choose to focus on what I'm best at.
"But Tim, you just said that the next largest topic you enjoy to read about in the hobby, are rumors! Why not then write about and keep up on them in your blog?"
Again, the answer is fairly simple. The are people out there who do a far better, more up to date, and well organized job at it than I even want to try to. The only tang I haven't done is give credit where credit is due concerning this topic. Let's resolve that right now.
Faeit 212: Warhammer 40k News and Rumors
http://natfka.blogspot.com/
This is my first and foremost source for rumors. Natfka runs a great blog, whose topics are primarily News and Rumors, and does it very well. He also runs the Faeit 212 Blog Exchange on his site, which is a great boon to its members and those who aren't for a central source of blogs, not unlike the FTW Blogroll...I still need to contact him to get in on that Exchange.
Warseer Forums
http://www.warseer.com/forums/
If you read Faeit 212, you'll notice that Natfka gives credit where credit is due and always sites his sources. One such source are the Warseer Forums. The reason I choose to go to Faeit 212 first is because I don't have to do any searching, surface or in-depth, to get a compilation of rumors. While folks at Warseer do try and post rumor compilations and organize them as they can, let's be honest, it's still a forum open to posters. Occasionally you need to dig though pages of posts to find the most up-to-date rumors. However, when Natfka posts a rumor that he's found and kept up on at Warseer, he found and kept up on it at Warseer.
Bell of Lost Souls
http://www.belloflostsouls.net/
http://www.lounge.belloflostsouls.net/
BoLS, and their forums also linked above, are my third go-to source for rumors. I've enjoyed the site for years, and they do a good job of posting rumors on their main site, while relying on their forums, the Lounge, to carry the majority of the weight for rumors and people posting said rumors. They are a good mix of Faeit 212 and Warseer, but make no mistake, they also repost rumors that were first posted on Warseer forums to begin with. Again though, they give credit where credit is due to the sources when they are able to.
So there you have it folks, both the reasons why I don't dive into the rumor mill myself, as well as my top sources for my own guilty pleasure of reading and keeping up on said rumor mill. Pay them all a visit if you haven't already and let me know what topics you do and don't cover on your own blog, and why!
And pass along a juicy rumor or three if you've got one...
- Tim
The very reason for my foray into blogging was as a way to drive myself to work on terrain for my own board at home! I am notorious for having the attention span of a goldfish... easily distracted by the next new idea! In that sense, I try to stay as close to that as I can. Of course, my recent focus on painting my IG tanks also made it's way online...
ReplyDeleteI'd have to agree, I get access to myriad of rumours with varying degrees of accuracy but to be perfectly frank, it's not really something that sparks my hobby interest! Yea, I like to read about it from others... but even then I prefer to simply wait and see. the problem is that rumours are almost always accompanied by comments... usually negative, which only serve to have judgement passed... usually without full information!
As a result, my blog is a rumour free zone. It might not help to draw visitors... but it keeps things the way I like them!
To that end, I like to think that, whilst the focus is sometimes drifted away from... the reason d'etre is still true. My blog is a way for me to stay enthused and determined on a project.
To help with this though, I like to read people comments on my own blog... It makes me realise that other people are enjoying what I'm putting out (otherwise I might as well not bother!) It is also the reason why I like to comment on others blogs, particularly if they ask directly!
At this point, I think I ought to stop typing!
Good Lord, oink :) I think you should repost your commnent here as a full on post to your blog ;)
ReplyDeleteSeriously though, I agree with everything you've said. And there is nothing wrong with your painting projects making their way online at all. Brings us back tot he reality that you dont' just have buckets of terrain in your game room and no figures ;)