Deep Thoughts: Priorities!

Why do we chronicle our hobby on blogs, forums, websites and the internet in general? Why do we take pictures, compose articles, set deadlines and creating posting schedules for ourselves? Is it for recognition, money or personal gain? I think not – hardly any of us will ever meet in real life, few of us will ever reach a number of hits high enough to create any positive income and there is very little personal gain involved in any of this. Yet, we continue to do it. Some of us even allowing it to consume ever more of our hobby time until the actual process of building, painting and playing with our armies, which is what got us into this in the first place, becomes little more than an afterthought.

So why do we do this? Why do we spend precious hours of our time creating content that perhaps a handful of people will look at, consider and potentially comment on? Because at some point, someone did the same for us and it was the spark that started a smoldering fire. Someone posted a picture, an idea, composed a rant or shared their painting style on the internet for everyone to see, and we liked it. For whatever reason their work struck a chord with us and suddenly we wanted to somehow pass along the same thing to another person. We strive to put out ideas, commentary, news and personal experiences that will inspire someone else to create something great.

Our hobby takes time and patience to master and just when you think you have it all figured out, another new idea or thought comes along, did anyone really think about ‘Object Source Lighting’ three or four years ago? Would any of us have come up with creating viable Deathwing armies if not for the Dark Angel apologists among us who keep shaking their fists and declaring ‘we are still relevant!’ No, we probably wouldn’t have those or any of the other countless examples of great ideas that have been shared over the countless blogs, forums and websites across the internet.

Sharing of ideas, critiquing other work and offering advice for improvement are the cornerstones of the online gaming community. However, a word of caution, this is only one aspect of the hobby; somewhere after painting, modeling and gaming exists the realm of the online gaming community. Without painting, modeling and gaming there would be no content to post online and no online community. Nobody expects regular posts on any sites, we are appreciative when we see them and we are even more excited when we see authors breaking out of their comfort zone and creating something unique.

So please remember, pace yourself, nobody expects daily content from any one person; its simply too much to ask. Remember that blogs are an outlet for your hobby and not the hobby itself, blogs exist to support the hobby – the hobby does not exist to support the blogs. So sit back and relax, enjoy what others are doing and stop setting timetables for yourself and publishing content on a rigid schedule. It will all be ok; the world will keep spinning regardless of anyone reading this post or not.

Remember: painting, modeling, gaming and then blogging. You can change the order of the first three all you want, but leave blogging at the end; that’s where it belongs.

Cheers,

Tallarn