State of Livingdice in 2011

The holidays are both a boon and a curse; boon for the fun things we do during them and a curse because of the endless demands on our time.  Now that we are back to a normal schedule it is time for an update about Livingdice.com in 2011.

We, that is myself and my collaborators, plan on attending Gen Con and the GAMA Trade Show this year and providing reports on both events. GTS especially promises some very exciting releases and that is coming up in March. Expect the same level of detail as last year. This year we hope to use liveblogging software more extensively and make the show more accessible to the masses. More on this project next week.

Technically, the site is in a good place. I implemented several changes to increase readability and speed. It cut Livingdice’s load time from 6-7 second to 2-3 seconds. Besides making it easier for my readers, it makes Google happier. Speed is now one of the factors that Google uses in determining your pages search value and this raises my ranking in the search engines. I do my search engine optimization efforts to drive more visitors to a site that is actually run by a human being for his own satisfaction and not some machine generated blog,  email harvesting site or other digital smog that chokes the Internet.

Re-dedication is a cliché, but I think it applies here. Blogs come and go with alarming frequency, often with little fanfare.  Primarily due to blogger burnout and time constraints. Happily,  I have yet to succumb to this vile disease and feel invigorated by my upcoming Nightbane campaign as a source for blogging fodder. That said, I am focusing more on quality and less on quantity this year. There is a literal ocean of game bloggers out there, many covering the same ground…repeatedly.  I have no real interest in specific game mechanics, tweaking character builds or edition wars.  Games are art as much as science and I think that is often lost in the mechanics. I hope to elevate the discourse of gaming to a slightly higher level. Tell me in 2012 if I succeeded.

The Internet is all about niches and I like to think I found mine.  Combining reviews with some sane commentary about the state of gaming, the occasional rant and all the while trying to see games as more than just a mathematical model to decide victory.  That said, there are some things I will not do.  I could easily triple my readership by talking exclusively about the two or three most popular game systems. I do not see the point in this because there are some many other great sites doing the same thing.  No, for me all game companies are equal. From the mightiest international corporation to the guy designing on his kitchen table, I believe they all deserve the same respect and attention.  That is one of the reasons I covered every vendor at GTS. Too many other sites focused on the large publishers and missed some interesting games.

I will never forget that games are not a substitute for life and base my ego’s health on winning a gaming argument.  They are GAMES! They do not matter in the greater scheme of things and are merely a pleasurable pass time. Please flame me if I ever forget this one.

That is enough for a Sunday night. If you have any suggestions for post topics, want to talk about your new game or just want to complain about my opinion, drop me a line. My digital inbox is always open.

Trask, The Last Tyromancer

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trask

Trask is a long-time gamer, world traveler and history buff. He hopes that his scribblings will both inform and advance gaming as a hobby.