Thursday, January 21, 2010

Bloggers: what differentiates us?

Let’s take a look at a conversation I had with Jess a while back:

K: Do you think because we both blog, we analyze and dissect things that happen in game more than others?
Jess: No, I think we were that way before we started blogging.
K: So maybe because we tend to analyze and think about things more, is that why we happen to be bloggers?
Jess: Hmmm, maybe.

So this got me thinking. What qualities did Jess and I have prior to us starting our blogs that made us more likely to become bloggers? What differentiates us bloggers from other players?

Skill?

Well, I think its clearly obvious that there are tons of top players who do not blog. And from my personal experience, I've played with folks who know how to play their toons incredibly well, who do not blog.

But how about a WOW blogger compared to an average player? Well, I would guess that a WOW blogger who takes the time and effort to blog about this game would do the same about maximizing knowledge of their class, and perhaps yes, thus be better skilled than average.

Humor?

Mmmm, I think most bloggers have some sense of humor or entertainment value so as to entertain readers, but I wouldn’t go so far as to say that bloggers are any funnier than non-blogging WOW players. I know a ton of hilarious folks who don’t blog, but really probably should.

Arrogance?

One of the anonymous commenters on a post here a while back said that I must be arrogant to be a blogger, saying "I'm getting the impression that you seem to think very highly of yourself - after all, you do blog for everyone else to see your thoughts". Really? Hmmm.

Well, from the standpoint of being arrogant in terms of skill, I’m come across a bunch of arrogant folks who cannot play worth a damn. So hmmm, are bloggers more arrogant about skill? On a whole, I would probably say no... bloggers are not any more arrogant than the average player.

However, I can sort of understand what this troll comment was referring to. What makes us bloggers think we have something that is of enough value or entertainment factor for others to read? Is this arrogance? Or maybe more appropriately, could it be called confidence? Is it arrogance to feel that we have something to say, something to contribute to the WOW blogosphere?

Analytical? Neurotic?

By analytical, I'm referring to the tendency to analyze, dissect, think about things more than the average WOW player. You know, if Jess and I serve as examples, I think we definitely analyze and think about stuff more than the average WOW player. I know this because we talk about this to each other. Our chat logs are pretty interesting.

So as Jess mentioned, I think it may be true that we are not more analytical and neurotic because we blog. We were that way before we started blogging. Thus, we were more likely to blog about this game so that we had some place for these random thoughts to go as opposed to getting our heads all muddled up.

If I had to say any one thing differentiates us bloggers, I would say it is most likely this quality. We are blogging as a survival mechanism so our brains don't explode. :)

12 comments:

  1. Totally! I started blogging so I'd quit filling my guild's forums with random crap about the game.

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  2. Ok crankyhealer, I just have to say: BEST NAME EVAR! I totally love it. :)

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  3. I started blogging because I wanted to express opinions and ideas. I didn't like the forums much since decent topics and ideas tend to get buried under trolls and hysteria. My expectation wasn't that I'd get many readers, just that my posts wouldn't get buried in five minutes.

    Maybe it is some arrogance or confidence, thinking that what we say and think is important enough to put it in a special place for all to see.

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  4. A little background about me, I blogged about my personal life before dedicating some blogging time to my hobby. I didn't want to clutter my personal blogging site with all the gaming stuff. I started with a very specific videogame blog for Warhammer Online, then moved myself into a more general gaming blog.

    Skill - I feel I am average, maybe a tosh above cause I do some research on stuff.

    Humor - Again maybe a little above average here, I think people like me.

    Arrogance - As a mage I come off Arrogant, but it's me kind of roleplaying a tosh. I truly am not a douchebag...ok maybe I am a little.

    Analytical? Neurotic? - No not really, I'm just the garden variety crazy.

    I tell you what I am though, I'm a bit of an Attention whore.

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  5. I would say what differentiates bloggers from non-bloggers is simple. The blogger has the discipline to actually sit down and semi-regularly write down their thoughts. I don't think it's any particular personality trait or traits. I often have great ideas and think to myself...."I should blog this" (no really, i do)...but I lack the discipline to start the blog site and write down those thoughts. Even more so I lack the discipline to do that again and again on a semi regular basis. Of course the attention whore thing is always possible!

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  6. I'd say that every blogger has different, personal reasons why they started blogging. maybe some do think that they are so wowtastic that everyone else must worship their words, but most I know, and certainly myself, started writing a blog because our friends told us to stop writing long analytical and chatty crap on our forums/yahoo groups/coffee shops. Never expected anyone else to read it, just wanted a place that was very, very easy to write in.

    Nobody starts with readers. There are people out there that may simply be bored and looking for some wow stuff to read about, browse through search engines, and read stuff at random.

    If they like it, they keep coming back.

    Doesn't that reinforce the idea that, in some way, something you're writing has some amusement value?

    Even if you're such a train wreck nobody can look away in case they miss the horrible crash!

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  7. I've been blogging for 6 years or so, and it's always been about communication. I blogged about myself (and met people I'm still friends with), I blogged about books (and even got a job out of it), now I started blogging about WoW because I like talking about and my boyfriend is tired of me babbling. I don't know if anyone will read the blog or not, but in my experience readers tends to gather slowly but surely. Even if I only get one reader, then it's one more person I can bounce ideas around with => win!

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  8. For me personally, it was the desire to share my thoughts in a medium in which folks would actually listen and respond - my guild is an odd mix of casual/hardcore in that we have about 10 players that actually semi-regularly participate in our forums, but 15-20 that will go read tankspot and we generally fill up 2 10-mans or 1 25-man on our raiding nights. But nobody really cares enough to debate things, especially about individual classes, on our internal forums. So I started a blog in the hopes that folks would come and comment, and it would encourage me to go read other blogs and sites and learn even more about my class.

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  9. @Crankyhealer: Totally. I think us bloggers tend to be opinionated and wordy too. :)

    @Klep: Yeah, at first I was a little offended by the troll comment, but I can see a bit of where they were coming from.

    @River: Oh River, River, River. You are the craziest attention whore of us all!

    @Eversor: Yes, I do agree that there is some amount of disciplined involved in starting and even harder, maintaining a blog.

    @B^3: Yep, I think bloggers do tend to be more chatty and analytical and long winded. This is our medium so we don't drive our guildies crazy!

    @Jen: Hmmm so us bloggers want to communicate? We want to share? My we're such selfless givers, us bloggers. Haha. No but seriously, the desire to communicate with others... hmmm.

    @Kaethir: I think you're right that bloggers probably have an interest in the game at a slightly different level than those who don't blog. We're the crazy ones that want to talk about everything in game, read other blogs and improve how we play.

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  10. "You know, if Jess and I serve as examples, I think we definitely analyze and think about stuff more than the average WOW player."

    So very true. To excess sometimes. Sometimes I think we should just play the damn game.

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  11. So, out of curiosity....I decided to start a blog. I don't entirely consider myself the type who would blog. I certainly enjoy reading others musings, but never really felt the need or desire to write down my own. Guess I'll see how long i stick with it...lol!

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