100: A Review of the First 100 Posts

My last article was post number 100 of this blog.  100 posts in 8 months.  An average of 2.4 days between posts. Nice round numbers are a great time to look back on what went well, what went poorly, and – of course, generate lots of wonderful lists and summaries.

Committing to write a blog that provides new content every couple days takes a lot of work.  While we all have plenty to talk about in corp chat or on TS while we play, recalling the small revelations and lessons for a broad audience takes a little getting used to.  At times, it’s easy to feel completely tapped out, particularly since I don’t fall back on relinking fits I find on the Internet or rehashing losses of the day.

Going into this blog, I knew what I was in for.  Eve players can be a brutal bunch with little tolerance for poor suggestions (I admit, I do it too).  Plus, Internet readers as a whole tend to insult content generators’ writing ability, intelligence, species-affiliation, and even families simply because their opinion differs.  But I was a writer long before I was a blogger, so I know how to take nuggets of gold from a shitpost.  I actually expected it to be far worse than I’ve found it to be. 

What has surprised me is how many people wrote to engage me in a conversation or debate, either to flesh out an idea or correct bad thinking on my part.  In many cases, I’ve improved my knowledge of the game.  They’re treasures, and have provided exactly the education I was hoping for.

After all, if you blog, you do it for knowledge, both the share it and to solicit it.  I’ve learned a lot from you, from reviewing my battles, and from thinking about topics through the lens of “Am I damn sure this is how I feel, since thousands of people are going to read it?”  That thought alone really makes you think carefully before hitting “publish”.

It hasn’t all been roses.  I’ve tossed out some steaming turds, along with excellent posts.  So let’s get to the lists!  Feel free to share your comments about my selections..

Most Views

·       Should You Teach Your Wife to Play Eve?

·       We Don’t Want You Here

·       Razor Alliance Welcomes You to Null-Sec

·       Losing Track of Time

·       What Are You Trying to Do?

Least Views (excluding very early posts never promoted)

·       Interdictions ≠ Ice

·       Lessons: A Kiting Camp

·       What Kills a Culture?

·       e-Honor

·       Alliance of the Willing

Most Popular (as defined by overall response and engagement)

·       Lessons: Roaming With Your Wife

·       Vending Machines

·       How to Fly a Curse

·       Null-sec 101: Surviving Bubbles

·       Lessons: Know Your Engagement Range

·       Lessons: I Welcome Our New Afterburner Overlords

Least Popular (as defined by hatemail, downvotes, and disapproving comments)

·       Enough With the Updates, Already!

·       It’s Time to Let Carriers Jump Gates

·       The Annoying Thing About Eve

·       What is the Purpose of the Warp Changes?

·       Lessons: Decloak Before You Approach

Suprisingly Well-Received Posts (ones I didn’t expect to be hits)

·       The Raven Navy Issue Thing…

·       Elo Knight and Class

·       Constantine. Can’t Be Trusted

·       What Are You Trying to Do?

·       Lessons: I Welcome Our New Afterburner Overlords

Surprisingly Poorly Received Posts (ones I thought would be universally loved)

·       KW-I6T Disappointments and CCP Marketing

·       What I’m Thankful For

·       Lessons: Is There a Downside

·       How to Fly a Cynabal

·       Pandemic Cohort

My Favorite Posts (written out of love)

·       War and Peace

·       The Fall of Titans – Three Takes

·       The Moment After Engagement

·       Should You Teach Your Wife to Play Eve?

·       Lessons: The Road Not Taken

Posts I Regretted Publishing

·       Faction Warfare Represents All That’s Wrong with Eve

·       Post-Patch: Check Your Charges

·       The Next Domino To Fall

So that’s the first hundred.  My wife informs me I must continue to write this blog at least until next year’s Fanfest, so we can look forward to at least 150-200 more.