On Returning

Coming Around Again

As you may or may not know, I first became noticed in the universe of EverQuest when some friends and I started a site called Mobhunter. Our goal was to build the be-all, end-all of EverQuest sites and to become the most popular, most visited website in the universe. We were going to have item databases, message boards, maps, quest info, and more features than you could shake a journeyman’s walking stick at.

Fortunately, my friends and I are lazy. Kohath and Csenicier built the basic structure of the site that would become Mobhunter, which amounted to an article engine and the ability to post feedback, and then kind of stopped. Why is that fortunate? Because there were already a jillion great EQ item database sites out there, and the world didn’t need one more. This accidental limitation allowed Mobhunter (still going strong thanks to my successor, Loral) to evolve into something that was sort of unique: an EQ-centric opinion site where I could discuss changes to the game along with other random observations that amused pretty much nobody but myself and a handful of readers who understood my obscure song, movie, and TV references. Oh, and it also attracted a bunch of people who liked to yell at me and complain that we had a Planes of Power link posted for about three years. But I digress.

My point? Laziness has value.

Anyway, my writing on Mobhunter drew the attention of people at SOE, I was eventually brought to San Diego for a fansite event, and I was ultimately interviewed for the community manager position on EQ2. Since then it has been a constant wild ride at 100 mph, sailing through various ups and downs at a blinding pace. Time really has flown by, and I’ve loved the experience.

At the same time, I get nostalgic for the old days. I don’t get to talk about random junk in front of an online audience anymore, poking fun at myself and various sacred cows that meander through our society. Hey, somebody has to write about proper bathroom etiquette, right?

So this little board, aptly tucked away beneath the grandeur of the Glass House, will serve as a place where I can talk about random topics in my copious amounts of spare time (*giggle*). It won’t be a recreation of Mobhunter, because after all, I don’t need to complain about armor dyes anymore. While I will pretty much invariably have to refer to aspects of my job and the people I work with at some point, don’t come here looking for secrets about the game or what the future holds. This board is for entertainment purposes only, and is bound to have limited entertainment value at that. But what it will do is allow me to dust off the old English degree once again and throw in those obscure pop-culture references that Loral is so fond of.

Before we go any further, let’s make something clear.

This Is Not a Blog

I’ve been wandering around the Internet for a long time, since reading the Star Trek message boards on GEnie seemed like a cool thing to do. I’ve scoured the farthest reaches of the World Wide Web, reading about various freaks and strange goings-on. But I gotta admit, this one kind of snuck up on me.

Where did this whole “blog” thing come from?

I know, I know. Web logs. Then some coffee-drinking HTML coder thought it would be trendy to make up a new word, and suddenly everybody and their cousin felt the need to create a blog. Blog, blog, blog.

Well, I’ve got news for you. Nobody is that interested in what you ate for breakfast or how many fire hydrants your poodle visited on this morning’s walk. And it’s just a web page, dude–there was no need to make up a whole new word just so the people at Newsweek could do a story on it.

Mobhunter wasn’t a blog, and neither is this board. Even if I write about something that happens during the course of my day, I’m not blogging. I’m writing. Because, as someone once said, writers write. Thanks to ye olde web, of course, so does everybody else.

Does Fort Worth Ever Cross Your Mind

Okay, that’s about the extent of what has popped into my head today. I have no schedule for the next one of these things, but that is the nature of randomness after all. I’ll see you when I see you.