Creative Twilight - Latest Comments

Re: Far Beyond Driven – The Secluded and Lonely Ambitious Blogger

Thor — Thu, 15 Nov 2018 08:38:55 -0000

I'm pretty jaded about social media. It's not that I don't understand how it works, why it works, or that it works. It's that I don't care for any of it for reasons you've said.

I can't help but feel like that old man yelling at kids to get off his lawn here, but I think it's more about the intellectual (like you said) and less about my lack of interest or understanding.

Re: Far Beyond Driven – The Secluded and Lonely Ambitious Blogger

Thor — Thu, 15 Nov 2018 08:35:37 -0000

Much like you no doubt, I see the traffic coming in. Google is (rightfully so), my biggest referrer by a very large margin. I've done the work required and my articles get read, no doubt about it.

I suppose by a dying breed I'm more referring to the perceived value we have to others. We aren't a source of news any longer. Often we aren't where people go find pictures of the models we've painted, or even read battle reports, get list advice, etc. So much of that is found on social media now, so why leave it to search for it?

Blogs were once thriving communities. I remember the old days with House of Paincakes (not sure you know it?), where an article would go up and there would be 100 comments on there within the day. It was insane and it was awesome. I guess I just miss that - that blogs were once hosts of conversations.

Re: Far Beyond Driven – The Secluded and Lonely Ambitious Blogger

Thor — Thu, 15 Nov 2018 08:28:31 -0000

Absolutely. Social media is perfect for "Here's a pretty picture!" I'm rarely that guy though. I try, and I go through spells where I'm routinely doing it, but it's not me. I'd rather write something with depth and value than post superficial garbage on social media.

Re: Thorns of the Briar Queen Painted for Warhammer Underworlds

Thor — Thu, 15 Nov 2018 07:15:48 -0000

Thanks, and not all warbands. I mean, maybe someday I may own them all for the sake of having them, and the extra cards, but for now I'm only buying those I'm interested in.

In fact, I currently have no painting projects/warbands to paint. However, I'm going to use that painting time to work out a couple of tutorials I've been meaning to do.

Re: Thorns of the Briar Queen Painted for Warhammer Underworlds

Thor — Thu, 15 Nov 2018 07:14:06 -0000

I appreciate it!

How are things going settle back into the country?

Re: Far Beyond Driven – The Secluded and Lonely Ambitious Blogger

Thor — Thu, 15 Nov 2018 07:13:10 -0000

You're absolutely right, and I've done articles in the past about just that - commenting on other blogs. It's one of the oldest and most useful ways to establish yourself. The people here, commenting above, are all fellow bloggers and I comment on their blogs :)

Social media will often drive traffic, no argument there, but the problem is is very arely drives engagement. See, I blog to create a discussion, to see what people think, and if people aren't commenting then I'm not accomplishing my goal. I don't care about getting 10,000 people to see a blog post if nobody cares enough to chat about it.

See, this blog post has done its job and created a discussion; it's awesome. This is why I blog :)

Re: Far Beyond Driven – The Secluded and Lonely Ambitious Blogger

Thor — Thu, 15 Nov 2018 07:08:11 -0000

Oh, I agree about your analogy of social media. It has its merits and uses, but being the primary source of general information is certainly not one of them.

Re: Far Beyond Driven – The Secluded and Lonely Ambitious Blogger

Swordmaster — Thu, 15 Nov 2018 05:34:16 -0000

Hello!

Thanks for the article, it is indeed a very interesting topic. I would like to share a bit of my experience and I hope I can add something positive to the discussion!

I started interacting with people who shared similar interest through forums. They seemed to be quite active, people talked about a lot of things. However, you didn't quite control what happened to your posts in time. They had to fade away eventually.

Then I discovered blogging and I thought I would start one simply to have an archive or depository where I can organize my posts in the way I see the best. However, I quickly noticed that people do not comment as often and as much as they did on the forums. Even when I posted links to the blog on the very same forums I used to post on.

And then it occurred to me that if I want more active interaction (and I am sure all of us want that) then I need to comment on other people's blogs first. It is exactly the same mechanism as on the forum. You build the relationships with other users by commenting on their posts before they start returning the favor.

I am still guilty of not doing that often enough. Perhaps this is the main thing to improve for many bloggers. It is easy to focus on your own post that you do not leave enough time to appreciate the posts of others.

As to the other types of social media, I do not necessarily consider them as reasons for less activity on the blogs. They are simply different, parallel ways of communication. I use them to inform people about my blog entries. They may not comment on my posts much but I can see that there are more visitors thanks to that.

The only constant in the universe is change :) What I am trying to do myself is to adapt and see how I can use new tools to reach to new people. I have not yet fully succeeded in establishing these new relationships with fellow bloggers so that we can have regular discussions on posts and topics on our respective blogs. But I think it is not too bad and I am positive that if I can be more active and supportive to others then we can still have quality, regular discussions.

Thanks!

Re: Thorns of the Briar Queen Painted for Warhammer Underworlds

Mac an tSagart — Thu, 15 Nov 2018 03:58:19 -0000

Extar points for giving the paint schene breakdown. I think they look well and sill have a great presence on the board. Are you working your way through all the warbands?

Re: Thorns of the Briar Queen Painted for Warhammer Underworlds

JD Brink — Thu, 15 Nov 2018 02:07:36 -0000

Amazing! The models and the blog! It's evolved as much as your painting skills since last i checked. I've been so damned busy I haven't been able to stop and smell the paint fumes. Great work, sir!

Re: Far Beyond Driven – The Secluded and Lonely Ambitious Blogger

Dave G — Wed, 14 Nov 2018 22:07:29 -0000

Pretty sure you know we already relate. The article definitely resonates with me.

I agree that Blogging is a dying breed. I feel like social media has caused knowledge to take a step back in many regards. And y'know, I just thought of an interesting analogy.

In the past, knowledge was held by individuals and shared by word of mouth. As things progressed, those individuals instead put their knowledge into writing. This progressed into website form.

I feel like social media is causing us to devolve our intellectual practices. There's much to be said for person to person interaction and sharing thoughtful conversations, but that's not what social media is. Social media is someone standing on a soap box, addressing a crowd with a question, who then shout various and repeated answers back.

Now, with infinite libraries worth of information at their finger tips, people seem to prefer to step up on the nearest soap box and ask their question.

Maybe I'm being cynical?

Re: Far Beyond Driven – The Secluded and Lonely Ambitious Blogger

Mac an tSagart — Wed, 14 Nov 2018 17:37:24 -0000

Part of the reason I blog is to create a record for myself, I doubt they will change but I can see the lure of social media for folks. It doesn't need as much time or investment put into it.

Re: Far Beyond Driven – The Secluded and Lonely Ambitious Blogger

Jake (cadianshock) — Wed, 14 Nov 2018 17:25:29 -0000

Sorry about that, life called...

We could well be a dying breed amongst the weight of other social media platforms. But as you say, there is permanence to blogging. The content written, checked, re-checked and re-re-checked for blogs is worth a thousand 40K memes.

Articles will stay around for a long time, be found for a long time and be relevant for a long time. The same cannot be said for any other platform's content. Having said that, that doesn't mean it is any easier to gain traffic and pull that traffic away from other platforms.

I am the same @T Town Hobby - wife, 2 kids, full time job; yet the blog is always there. Like a Chaos God at the back of your mind.

Re: Far Beyond Driven – The Secluded and Lonely Ambitious Blogger

Thor — Wed, 14 Nov 2018 14:58:30 -0000

There is nothing quite like that feeling when blogging is new - seriously. You've got so many ideas that it's hard to keep up with them. Everything is new and shiny, and it's just an amazing time.

You've got the right idea if you're going back and continually improving earlier material. Keep at it and the traffic and responses will come.

Have I not commented on your blog yet? I remember adding you, but I must have gotten sidetracked that I didn't go through your blog more thoroughly and comment on an article or two.

Anyway, social media has really overtaken the blogosphere. When I got into blogging, you had to rely on other blogs for news, rumors, strategy & tactics, etc. It was a very self-sustaining environment and it was awesome.

Now, between Facebook Groups, Twitter, and other avenues, it's hard to pull someone away from there to view what you've done on your own blog. People are reluctant to leave those safe spaces. Everyone has become so accustomed to a self-contained environment where you've got everything you need. Reading blogs takes time and effort (comparatively), so it's often neglected.

Overall, I just feel that most people don't realize how much work many of us put into writing an article, and so they don't realize how much it means to the author to say something. It's not meant to be a guilt trip to anyone, just some honesty.

Re: Far Beyond Driven – The Secluded and Lonely Ambitious Blogger

T Town Hobby — Wed, 14 Nov 2018 14:42:31 -0000

As a person who only recently started blogging (thank you for adding my little blog to your blog roll) and is slowly trying to improve and figure things out, I really appreciate this post. I celebrated when I got my first follower after three months of weekly posts. I imagine that first comment will put a big, stupid grin on my face. I feel like I put in a lot and that little bit of interaction does make a difference.

I have a wife, a kid, and a full-time job that is pretty demanding; but I think about my blog all week long. I go back and update posts to make them better in case someone stumbles upon it for the first time. I am still trying to figure out my blog's layout, how to get widgets to work properly, and I try to squeeze in articles to make my site look somewhat descent.

I don't know if we are a dying breed, but maybe we have moved into a niche within a niche, by which I mean blogging about miniatures (even if board gaming is seeing an upswing, I think miniatures are still a bit in the shadow). I kind of like feeling like I am part of something that a few folks are doing and maybe the community just needs to focus and support each other through comments. I think people are often afraid to be the only one (the only reader who felt like commenting). To that point, I almost did not comment on this until I saw the posts below and said, "You know what? I'm going to toss in my two cents too."

So, thank you for posting this and to those who commented. You at least inspired one person to be more interactive in this corner of the internet.

Re: Far Beyond Driven – The Secluded and Lonely Ambitious Blogger

Thor — Wed, 14 Nov 2018 12:21:54 -0000

I often feel that we're a dying breed, bloggers. I get the appeal of social media, but it has no permanence. I'd rather create something lasting than something hot for a minute and gone.

That's the thing, most of my comments these days are from fellow bloggers, those who understand. There was a day when most of my comments were strangers, or people who didn't blog themselves. Again, we're a dying breed I fear.

Re: Far Beyond Driven – The Secluded and Lonely Ambitious Blogger

Thor — Wed, 14 Nov 2018 12:18:05 -0000

Being that we share a similar background, I can't say I'm too surprised you can relate.

Re: Far Beyond Driven – The Secluded and Lonely Ambitious Blogger

Mac an tSagart — Wed, 14 Nov 2018 11:59:39 -0000

This sums up a lot of my feelings on blogging, but it is something I don't think I could stop at this stage. I have a goal in mind for traffic and comments, it may be impossible for me to ever meet but I keep pushing for it.

You can guarantee when I find a blogpost with no comments on it I will say something, as I know the effort that goes into making such posts.

Re: Far Beyond Driven – The Secluded and Lonely Ambitious Blogger

Jake (cadianshock) — Wed, 14 Nov 2018 11:42:23 -0000

Yes I relate to all this. Right now I have to dash... I’ll reply more later!

Re: Thorns of the Briar Queen Painted for Warhammer Underworlds

Thor — Mon, 12 Nov 2018 07:37:33 -0000

Thank you.

I've mostly been seeing purple roses, and red is too typical, so I settled on yellow. I like it too. Adds some visual "pop" without being too much.

Re: Thorns of the Briar Queen Painted for Warhammer Underworlds

Westrider — Sun, 11 Nov 2018 20:13:08 -0000

They look really cool! That green from the Hexwraith Flame really stands out nicely. I also like that you went with yellow roses for the Briar Queen. Don't see those too often.

Re: Dreadtober 2018 – Part #5: The Aftermath

Kenneth Raymond — Thu, 01 Nov 2018 09:58:17 -0000

Thanks Thor.
(I painted 12 models total in October but the other two {blood angel captain with jump pack and thunder hammer and a void jackal} were small models so I did not include them as part of dreadtober)

The variation in the models colour palettes helped massively when it came to pushing to paint them. (From the organic focus of the tyranids to the mechanical metal scheme of the mechanicum and everything in between.)

I may have to give Scoria's base a second look after I next restock my stash of paints then. (I think maybe some black ink over the stone colour will work well enough but I need to experiment.)

Re: Dreadtober 2018 – Part #5: The Aftermath

Thor — Thu, 01 Nov 2018 09:34:14 -0000

Excellent work and glad to see you kept up the motivation. 10 Models painted? Damn impressive actually.

I do feel that Magos' base needs a wash though, give it a bit of depth, but still a great job.

Re: Chronicles of Thor – Ghosts and a Tutorial, Oh My!

Westrider — Wed, 31 Oct 2018 15:34:15 -0000

That is a good point. It's difficult to keep up when *everything* is cool!

Re: Chronicles of Thor – Ghosts and a Tutorial, Oh My!

Thor — Wed, 31 Oct 2018 14:50:59 -0000

Oh, I'm sure they're a blast to play and they'll no doubt go on my list of warbands I still need to buy but probably will never get around to it because there's too damn many I like...