So I’ve been plugging away for almost four months now on this blog.  I’ve really had a blast doing it and have enjoyed the interactions with other bloggers.  All in all, it’s been a worthwhile endeavor and a fun experiment of sorts.  However, along the way I’ve faced challenges with blogging and I thought that, in itself, might merit a post.  So without further ado, here are some of the challenges, issues and questions I’ve had while blogging the last few months.

Finding Time to Blog:  At first, this really wasn’t an issue.  I wasn’t actively playing an MMO when I started this blog, so in the evenings I had a fair amount of free time to read everyone else’s blog, comment, read the news sites, and still formulate one or two postings per evening.  However, now that I’m back into playing an MMO on a regular basis, I’m finding evening blogging to be a real challenge.  Unfortunately, it’s my best option.  I can’t blog from work, and getting up at 6 a.m. to do so isn’t viable either.  What I’m finding is that I’ve had to cut down on the number of other blogs I read (in detail), and I just skim and scan more.  I also have cut down on the number of news sites in my RSS feed, and tend to scan news items much more quickly.  Essentially, I’ve had to try and do in one hour what I used to take an entire evening to do at a more leisurely pace, just to ensure that I can game for a couple of hours afterward.  I know others have a more flexible schedule and can blog at various times during the day.  But for those who must blog at night, how do you juggle it with other things? 

Staying Consistent:  When I first started, I heard that if you could make it to the three month mark you were probably on a good track to continue in your blogging.  So off I went, posting one or two things per day for six days out of the week.  My main goal was to get something up every day just to stay consistent and not fall off the wagon.  It didn’t have to be earth shattering, but it did need to be something I felt was important or interesting.  I’m glad to say that I really haven’t had a huge problem staying consistent.  My normal routine now is to blog M-F and generally take the weekends off (unless something really interesting strikes my fancy).  I have noticed that, due to the time constraints noted above, that I’ve had to miss a day or two here and there this past month.  I like to think I have a sight where people can look forward to one or two new things every morning with their coffee and RSS feed going.  I certainly appreciate sites that update regularly with new content, and I’m striving to do that as well. 

Writer’s Block:  At times it’s not hard to find things to blog about.  It might be a pet topic, a soapbox, or something you suddenly find yourself passionate about.  Often times I’ll also have my interest sparked by interviews, news articles, and other blog entries or comments.  But at other times I’ve found it exceedinly difficult to maintain consistency and have anything to really write about.  Maybe it’s a quiet news week.  Maybe every blog out there already seems to be saying the same things about the same stories.  Maybe I just need a new soapbox heh.  At times I’ve found it hard to say something unique or different that you feel you haven’t read 100 times in the last few months.  So one of the things I’ll continue to experiment with is what I want to write about regarding MMOs, and I’m still very much trying to find my own particular voice I think. 

Fighting the Tsunami:  This relates to my first point about finding time to blog.  A feed reader is a wonderful thing, but trying to keep up with everything that’s out there can be overwhelming.  Some days it feels like I’m trying to keep up with too many other blogs, read them all, read 20 different news site feeds, etc.  It can eat up a ton of time and can leave you with little time to actually get your own content written.  So I’m still finding that balance between making sure I’m connected enough to what’s going on without it consuming all of my time.  I have actually deleted a few sites off my reader in the last week or so in an attempt to focus and consolidate.  Oftentimes the news sites will contain the same stories over and over, so there’s room to downsize there.  With blogs it’s much harder as there are so many good and interesting blogs out there.  I really want to see what people are writing about.  So I’ll continue to surf the information wave here and try and make it manageable. 

As I’ve said before, it’s been a lot of fun to blog but it’s not been without its challenges.  I’m continually amazed by how other writers are able to post up 2-3 things per day, or even do a podcast in addition to their site, and still have time to game or do anything else.  I continue to learn and look to others for advice and examples.  I’d be interested in hearing if these are some of the same struggles and challenges you have faced in your own blogging, or if you have different mountains you’ve had to climb.

Here’s wishing everyone in the U.S. a safe and enjoyable Thanksgiving Day!  I know I will be spending the majority of day with my family, eating great food, catching up on old family stories, and watching my favorite pro football team hopefully blast the NY Jets.  With a cold front just having moved in yesterday, we’ll have a crisp, cold, clear day to enjoy the holiday.  Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

The Red Sox win the World Series.  The Patriots look to be on course to dominate the entire NFL and win another SuperBowl.  And now Boston gets this as well?! 

Boston Game Exhibition To Focus On Industry Roots

 The Federal Reserve Bank of Boston’s Economic Adventure Gallery is to host a new interactive exhibit on the history of video games this autumn, entitled “Video Games Evolve: A Brief History from Spacewar! to MMORPGs”. According to organisers the exhibition will examine the video game industry’s roots, which it claims are closely associated with New England.

Part of the exhibition focuses on Spacewar! , whose creation in 1962 at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is considered to be one of the first non-commercial video games. The first video games console, the Magnavox Odyssey, was also created by New England resident Ralph Baer.

The exhibition will include a simulation of Spacewar! and an Odyssey console. Also featured will be several classic arcade machines, from Computer Space to Space Invaders and Donkey Kong. A time line for modern home console gaming will also be included as well as a focus on massively multiplayer online (MMO) games such as Star Wars Galaxies, Second Life and World of WarCraft.

The exhibit is part of the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston’s Economic Adventure, an interactive educational designed to teach middle and high-school students how New England’s improved living standards are reliant upon innovation. The exhibit is open from Monday through Friday, entry is free and runs through January.

“This is a wonderful exhibit not only for video game lovers, but for anyone who wants to know how science, technology, and art come together to form an industry,” said Dr. Peter Raad, executive director of The Guildhall at SMU (Southern Methodist University), which helped provide content for the exhibition.

One of my buddies I play EQ2 with is from Massachusetts, so I’ll probably never hear the end of this.  But when it rains it pours I guess.  I just had to highlight this exhibit as I’m a big fan of video game/computer game history.  If anyone lives in Boston or close and can go, I’d love to read a report of what you thought of the actual exhibit.  I’m just wondering how detailed they’ll be in tracing things from Spacewars to MMOs.  I just think it’s great that places like this are highlighting gaming in this light, and helping to preserve that history.  Hopefully this kind of exhibit will educate people about gaming, and for those who already love it, be a nice walk down memory lane.