Newbie Blogger Initiative

MMO Fallout’s Tips For Newbie Bloggers

The Newbie Blogger Initiative, of which I consider myself to be a loyal follower and mentor, is nearly halfway through the month of inspiration, and I have to apologize for the lack of usual tips for newbie bloggers. You see, I’ve been way too busy sailing the Mediterranean with Richard Garriot, waxing poetic while sipping wine and wondering how many secret tunnels he installed in his yacht, all while he detailed the free housing I’d be getting in Shroud of the Avatar for being so awesome at my job of writing about games.

Actually no, I’ve been busy dealing with my present day job going bankrupt and the inevitable unemployment from the job that funds this website. In fact that brings me to my first tip for newbie bloggers:

1. Write Because You Want To, And Not Because You Want Things

When I started MMO Fallout, I came off of a previous website that I ran where I talked about news and absolutely hated every aspect of it. I tried to convince myself that I was adding in snide comments to make it interesting for the reader when really I was just trying to keep myself engaged. The only thing that kept me coming back was the chance to talk about video games, and that’s when I decided to spin out and start talking about MMOs exclusively.

Treat your blog like it’s an extension of your hobby, in this case that hobby being video games. Talk about stuff that interests you and maybe have a point while you do it. Show your passion for the subject and people will take notice. Most importantly, find something that you can write about that won’t feel like a job, because when a hobby becomes work, it’s no longer a hobby. It’s just a job that you’re not getting paid for, and that’s infuriating.

But don’t write because you want free stuff, because if anyone can see through faux-passion in bloggers, it’s the marketing folks handing out beta keys and review copies. Trust me, setting up a fake Call of Duty blog because you want free copies of Call of Duty won’t get you free copies of Call of Duty, it’ll just get you ridiculed for online panhandling. I didn’t do this and there’s certainly no need for you to check Google.

2. Don’t Make It A Job, And It Won’t Be A Job

I made MMO Fallout a job, but that’s only because I went to college for this sort of thing and some of the stuff I’ve accomplished here (interviews, columns, etc) actually looks good on a resume. That being said, there are multiple times I’ve made it publicly known that I was on the verge of packing my stuff and leaving, whether it be that one guy from Japan a couple of years back who hit our servers for five days straight before ultimately corrupting my entire database (thank you backups), or perhaps the time I drew the verbal abuse and death threats from a certain game community who blamed my negativity for the death of a $100 million company.

Like I said in the previous tip, you should never come home and say to yourself “ugh, I have to update the blog again.” Don’t write because you feel obligated to, do it because you have something to say. Trying to force content to keep up with an arbitrary schedule that you set for yourself, again crosses the line from hobby to unpaid job, where the unfair boss is you.

3. Expect To Burn Bridges

Assuming your blog isn’t all about brown nosing executives, you’re going to burn a few bridges. I hesitate to use the term “blacklist” because that would probably give MMO Fallout more credit than it deserves, but I will say that a couple of developers will not talk to me and their silence conveniently came after I said something negative about their game/company.

With a few exceptions, most game companies are actually pretty good about receiving criticism providing it is fair and has a point. And I do stress the difference between fact, opinion, and hyperbole. You might get some jeering from the peanut gallery by calling Blizzard a bunch of scam artists who’ve ruined the industry and punch puppies in the face for fun, and at best that’s all you’ll get for an audience: Jerks. At worst, you’ll be on the receiving end of a libel lawsuit.

And I know this because I’ve been threatened with more lawsuits than I can count, all of which I’ve been protected from because I deal in the truth and the truth can never be libelous. Most developers are good with criticism, there are others that are just as bad as their biggest fans. You’ll find this out when, after ninety nine positive articles about a game, your negative piece spurs an email from a company account asking why you’re on a crusade of hate.

4. Feel Free To Advertise

The internet is a massive void of white noise, so you can expect that if you don’t do any proactive advertising, your views are going to remain a consistent 0-5 daily. You don’t even have to go all out. Add a link or image to your forum signatures, create a Twitter account and link there, comment and link to other blogs and they’ll do the same for you. You’re part of a community of other bloggers now, whether you like it or not.

Socialize with your readers, socialize with other bloggers, socialize with society. People will like you a whole lot more if you engage with them on a personal level, and you’ll have a lot more fun given the chance to talk even more about something you enjoy with other people who also enjoy it.

I’m running out of words, so I’ll leave it on this: This is a hobby. If you’re not having fun or realize that it isn’t for you, there isn’t anything requiring you to keep going. Think of your blog as a forum where you’re the one posting lengthy OP’s, if you prefer you can always engage in conversation by chatting in someone else’s threads.

NBI 2014: Conducting Interviews? Just Ask

With the Newbie Blogger Initiative fully underway, I want to talk about something that has been on my mind ever since I started MMO Fallout nearly five years ago. In the time that I have been running this show, I have had the fantastic opportunity to interview Derek Smart (multiple times), Mark Hill, Stephen Calender, and even Brian “Psychochild” Green himself, to name a few. That list doesn’t even come close to the number of developers that I have had the chance to talk to behind the scenes in a more informal manner. One of the biggest questions, one that I consider to be amongst the top most important for new writers, is how I manage to get these interviews. The answer is going to make you mad.

I asked. Seriously.

When I did my first interview back in 2010, I had a lot to be nervous about. Here I was, from an unknown website less than a year old, asking to take up some important person’s time to answer my petty questions. I certainly wasn’t important enough to demand answers, not that I am now five years later, but I hadn’t even considered directly emailing developers at this point. Eventually it took my dad asking the simple question that I still hold as one of my fundamental driving forces: What do you have to lose? What is the worst outcome that could come of asking for an interview? The person says no? They don’t respond? That’s it? What are you afraid of?

I realized that there wasn’t anything to be afraid of, and I sent the email. Around a week passed but I got a response back, not only did the developers know who I was, but expressed that they were fans of MMO Fallout and would be more than happy to do an interview. That is the lesson I want to impart on new bloggers: Ask and ye shall receive, or you won’t, but you won’t come out any worse off than when you started. You have to accept that, barring your sudden rise to stardom, you are going to receive nos or be ignored. A lot. When you ask, you either wind up one step ahead or where you started off.

Secondly, the best advice I can give is to not allow yourself to be intimidated or star-struck. These are very talented and professional people, yes, and some might even wear suits to work. But at the end of the day they are normal people who live lives just like you or me. The easiest method to reduce the intimidation factor is to watch a lot of behind the scenes videos or dev diaries, once you’re used to seeing desks covered in toys and developers goofing off and having a good time, the whole interview process becomes less like sitting in an office and more like a casual chat.

Oh and conduct an interview because you want to, not because you think it will get you hits. One of the factors that I get a lot of criticism for is that my interviews are often seen as unorganized because the questions don’t always follow a pattern. I request interviews because there is something very specific that I want to talk about with a person that I consider best qualified to answer, and that list of questions doesn’t always follow a traditional pattern. I personally prefer this method, and the people I interview find the style to be relaxed, more like a casual chat than a rigid interview.

Feel free to contact me at contact@mmofallout.com if you have any comments or questions, or drop a comment in the link below.

The Newbie Blogger Initiative Is On

May has arrived, and that means another year and another Newbie Blogger Initiative. For those of you who don’t know, NBI is an annual event that hopes to bring more people into the big blogosphere that is the internet. In my case, it means hopefully populating the internet with writers who in all likelihood will far surpass my own abilities and leave me unemployed and homeless. The goal of the Newbie Blogger Initiative is promote new and upcoming game bloggers as well as for veteran bloggers to offer advice and mentor those who aren’t entirely sure what they are doing. I will also be present.

I wish there was an NBI when I started blogging…twelve years ago on Tripod websites. Over the course of May, I will be talking about various aspects of MMO Fallout’s creation and maintenance, as well as answering some of the more popular questions I have received over time. We’ll share some laughs, learn more about each other, and hopefully learn some lessons along the way. I will also likely be promoting some new blogs on the main page and sidebar from time to time, so check them out. These are good people.

If you have any questions or comments of your own for NBI, drop a comment in the box below or email me.

May Marks The Newbie Blogger Initiative

It is May, and you know what that means! Or perhaps you don’t, in which case continue reading.

May marks the one-month Newbie Blogger Initiative, and MMO Fallout is proud to be sponsoring the event. NBI is a month where established bloggers like myself and others come together to encourage new writers to start up their own blog in exchange for some support. The theme, of course, will be MMOs in general or a specific title. Everyone benefits, from the sponsors who are able to enrich the community to the new bloggers who receive encouragement, advice, not to mention the nice boost of traffic.

So if you are an established (read: established does not mean famous) blogger looking to sponsor or a new writer looking for a helping hand, head over to the Newbie Blogger Initiative forums and sign up. I will have more to discuss on this topic as the month goes on.