Auto Response: Critic X, Insert Y

I haven't been in the mood to post, lately, but I'm seasoned enough at this blogging thing not to sweat it too much.  You've all seen the, "Sorry I've been away," blog posts - heck, I've written more than a few over the years - but it occurred to me this morning...

...I ain't all that sorry!  Hugs and gropings all around, though.

It's not that I don't love this medium; I do.  But sometimes real life takes a toll on hobby time.  When my hobby time gets thin, I can either cut writing or cut painting or cut playing.  With blogging, I can cut  one of the latter two - painting or playing - and still have something to write about.

But not both.  When I have to choose one outlet, the last I'll give up is playing.  

Interestingly, as I wrote that I realized I almost typed 'painting.'  I had to reconsider.  While I spend vastly more time painting than either of the other two Activities of Daily Hobbying, or ADH's, playing is the most important.  It's where I socialize with my friends and hang out at a place that's neither work nor home.  There's something about the store that relaxes me.

And my job is very, very stressful!  I'm sure you all feel that way, but Brent's job has got to be up there.  Still, the acute unit of a psyche ward has taught him a thing or two about dealing with Un-Fans and other critics, so there you go.

Jawaballs!  Where was I?  Never mind.  

Lately I've just worried about getting in the weekly Bell of Lost Souls articles.  My last one was interesting, but there was a comment by a reader that I responded to.  At first, I thought he was a bit Trollish, but then he used the word 'cogent' so he automatically doesn't qualify.  Trolls, oh Faithful Reader, are concerned with many things, but brevity and concise thought aren't among their qualities.  

Nor mine, really.  Here was my response, but it could be the auto response for any article.

So don't read them.
I'm not being hateful; I couldn't be more serious. I get that some people don't like my style - that's okay. But I write about a wide range of hobby related topics and, like it or not, the numbers don't lie. And frankly, I draw numbers.
I love comments, and they can really drive a thread count if there is good debate. But the real figure we all look at is page views and time spent per page. Meaning the number of people who read an article versus the number of people who comment is staggering.
On Bell, we write with an eye to both audiences, but there are well known blogs that have removed comments completely, for a variety of good reasons I won't go into here. Blood of Kittens comes to mind.
Which isn't to say I haven't written crap articles! After 129 on Bell alone, it happens. You go through slumps, or get scattered approaching a deadline - that kind of thing. This article, however, isn't one of those. It's fine. The point isn't even cleverly concealed! Still, I get if you don't like it, that's okay. Regardless, I appreciate comments, I always read them, and they do influence what and how I write!

What's really left to say?

Comments Come Lately: Overused and Underwhelmed

So here are the rules for Comments Come Lately... well, not so much 'rules' as a set of loose guidelines.  That can change.  As the spirit moves me.

Let's move on.  Here it is, from Tuesday's Bell post titled:

Brent: Whatcha Think About Rankings HQ?

In it, I referred to a type of Big Red article we bemoan behind the scenes; it goes something like this:

Author X spends time writing article > Big Red spends time writing article
Author X's page views and comments < Big Red's page views and comments

Comments Come Lately: Video vs Traditional Gaming

This thread pretty much sums up what would be my response to the overwhelming consensus on yesterday's Terrible Tuesday article on Video vs Traditional Gaming in wargaming.

Thoughts and comments and hugs and gropings and stuff?

Comments Come Lately: Mr. Black!

Before we begin... yes, yes, I'm alive.  And no, that's not a picture of me.  While I have the muscles to pull this off (ahem), pink is definitely not my color.

But I support me some Unicorns!  Your Strictly Average Unicorn is much, much nicer than say, your Strictly Average Master Manipulator (every store needs one) or Evil Homer.

Anyway.  Expect the two aforementioned not-so-notables to say something clever.  Just remember, the dude in this picture could totally stomp your butt.

Then poke it.  He's got natural weapons.

Hoof, hoof, horn, for the Dungeons and Dragons geeks out there.

You all disgust me.  Just not as much as Brent does.

I emailed Big Red and asked him for the week off.  Normally if I'm tired - like I was on Monday - I'll push the Terrible Tuesday back a day, but this time I figured it was best to take the whole week.

Comments Come Lately: Doh!

It's been awhile since I've done a Comments Come Lately.  As always, these are from my latest Bell of Lost Souls article.  Most recently, I extended a challenge for readers to 'write my article' for the opportunity to write one of their own on Bell.

A number of people have accepted the challenge, and there are quite a few worthy contenders.  I'm waiting a few days to give everyone who wants to participate the opportunity to do so.

Still... there were a few people who thought the article was weak gag or something.  Deuce 1984 posted something to the extent that I'm asking people to do something I didn't feel like doing.  I let the first comment slide...

...but responded to the second.  Then he responded - with a pretty funny one-liner.

I'm not sure I 'won' this round.

Comments Come Lately: Hate Mail

Here we are at another edition of Comments Come Lately, the Strictly Average production that seems to inevitably follow a Tuesday Bell of Lost Souls article.

My article this week was a hatchet job for Big Red.  What's that, you say?  Yup, you read it correctly.  Sometimes my job is to write an article designed to drive up the comment's count, and that's what Witch Hunter's Eulogy was.  Still, I wrote it, I like it, and it still strikes me as funny.

But yea, it wasn't hard to predict the Hate Mail.

Comments Come Lately: Brent's a Bigot?

This is from my Tuesday article on Bell of Lost Souls.  In it I feature a video of my 4-year old nephew painting his first model - that's what Hendarion is referring to in the opening salvo.   It gets ugly and unnecessary.

Note Scadugenga brings up the same topic, sans threat of physical violence, and we have what I believe is a rational and interesting conversation.  I only included part of it, nor did I include some other readers' contributions, but it's all available in the comment's section of the article.  Anyway, read it and weep.

Comments Come Lately: Hard to Swallow

Ah, yet another edition of Comments Come Lately, and as is usual, this one is lifted from Tuesday's Bell of Lost Soul's article: Beating a Dead Horse's Potty Mouth Off At Me, Please

I'd say it's a classic, but a class 'what' would be the question.

Vossl and I exchange pleasantries, and I'm sure I've won a new fan!

Comments Come Lately: Mr. Sensitive

The occasional 'doh-I-poked--the-sleeping-troll' article happens on Bell sometimes - there are a ton of active participants and many times that more readers, so surprises happen.  Usually they're good enough for at least one really inept personal attack.  This dude has three names, much like a serial killer.

Because mouth-breathing is also a serial crime.

Unicorns Love Positive Comments!

So often my Comments Come Lately series has focused on the negative - trolling and such.  Here's a much more positive example...

In Tuesdays article I referenced the Unicorns backstory, which many of you know came about from my conversations with Jenn from Next Jenn - not to be confused with Jenn my wife Jenn, of course!

On Unicorns and the Holidays  ...if you're interested in the full story.

It's what ianlogsdon is referencing, his concern that the comments would include bigoted trolling.  I'm happy to report that didn't happen, which doesn't surprise me.

I think our community does inclusion really well.  I'm proud of you folks for that.

Then there's Cavalier, proof that adults can work out conflict and misunderstandings; when I pointed out where I was coming from he was man enough to admit his mistake.  I have mad respect for that, because we can all of us screw up but it takes a stud to recognize it!

On the Way to a FNIF, I Wrote This. News and Daemons at 11.

Caption Contest or What?

This may be the strangest article to come out of my (divided) digital mind to date.  I was trying to write a Friday Night Internet Fight, since Dethtron has a paper that's due, but I just ended up writing a long opinion piece.  I'm back to the drawing board, but you get to suffer through the scraps.

There's a lot being said online about Daemons right now.  Some of it I can understand, even if I don't necessarily agree.  Some of it's just ignorant; here's my favorite!

I'm pretty sure I'm drawing the intended conclusion.  Namely, that the Daemon Codex (or Necrons, or Orks, or...) is so poor that any success with it automatically renders that success suspect.  That the gap between Daemons and the competitive Codexes is so great that only poor event format, poorly skilled opponents, or blind luck can account for any success, even in the hands of a skilled player.

Lordy, but that's genius ego on a whole new level!  I literally laughed 'till I cried.  Still, as much as I thought some of the comments were ignorant (and written by Yes-Men), the same can be true on any major blog or forum... except my articles, of course!  Here's the original article on Yes the Truth Hurts, which is worth a quick once over:

Comments Come Lately: Did Brent Misspeak?

Here's another episode of everyone's favorite recycled comments!  Fresh from Brent's Bell of Lost Soul's article comes this gem... did Brent misspeak?  First, Captain VonKillenstein comments and Lord Sandwich responds:

Captain VonKillenstein doesn't give up so easily!  He replies, and Brent finally gets involved.

Comments Come Lately

Here's a few fun little blurbs that were missed by the general public the first time around...