Hey Duders! I just noticed that this week marks a year since I dedicated myself to creating weekly content here on Giantbomb. I’ve been putting out either a written blog or a video or both every week for the last year and I just can’t believe it. That’s 80 blog posts in total (though it’s probably closer to 77 due to some accidental double posts). In this last year I’ve learned a ton about game writing and video creation and I would like to take this post to look back at some of my favorite posts and some of the lessons I’ve learned.

I’ve found out that TLDR is crushingly prevalent when it comes to game blogs on Giantbomb and on gaming articles in general. The shorter and less critical my blogs were the more comments they received and the more views they got as a result. The more my post fell in line with previously established gaming feuds or narratives, the more response they would receive. It turns out that a hastily written blog post about Kingdom Hearts or a blog about which Final Fantasy is the best inspires more reader engagement than just about any original idea I can come up with. It is hard to express how disheartening this is to see as someone who loves to analyze games and think about them critically. I can only imagine how disillusioning this must be to people who have been at this longer than I have. You can spend weeks on a thought-provoking piece, but a short piece on why Cloud is the worst FF protagonist will likely drive more readership.

My most commented on and most read piece was a blog post on why game critics should be worried about their jobs and my experience writing about games for this last year has only strengthened those views. Traditional reviews and basic gameplay discussions still pull in community participation like no one’s business and articles that come at games from a more literary angle do not. If anything the violent backlash to critical reviews that mention anything like social commentary makes me even more scared for where game sites are going. It seems like a very vocal part of the core gaming audience really does not want games writing to expand beyond how games are currently examined. That audience also seems to not want to pay anything for access to coverage. No growth + no money is a bad recipe for long term health and I don’t see youtubers filling the void as a good solution either. At any rate, if the audience for long features like the ones I like to write is super teensy, then that’s a real bummer for me.

On the bright side I have found that the people who do read my stuff are generally super knowledgeable and engaging to talk to! I have had more deep and rewarding discussions about games in the last year than ever before. The people who consistently follow my work have been the inspiration that has kept me going. I recently had someone commented on one of my old blog posts on FF8’s combat system (that really showed me how far I've come since I first started writing about games) and in their reply I saw some fresh readings and thoughts on a game I’ve played over 10 times. That is what I write this stuff for. I think my post on lenticular design and Nintendo game design (which is on the front page of GB right now) and my post on FFX and Titus’s relationship with his dad are some of my strongest TLDR work from the last year. When it comes to shorter stuff, I’m proud of my piece on sports talk radio in FFX and my piece on Ken Levine leaving Irrational Games.

I’m also happy with the acknowledgement that my work has received on GB at large. I’m a weekly fixture on ZombiePie’s Community Spotlight. I’ve had 4 posts featured on the Community Showcase in the last year as well as a shout-out or two in Patrick’s old Worth Reading columns. I can’t thank everyone enough for all of the support. It’s easy to feel like you’re throwing hours of work into the void when you post things online, but things like the Community Spotlight let you know that someone appreciates your hard work. I can’t say thanks enough!

I also really like how my Deep Look videos have been going. I’ve come a long way from a production standpoint since my first video over 6 months ago (oh man was my audio setup terrible early on) and I’m happy with where my series has gone. I’ve covered a bunch of different games in a way that I really enjoy. I think I’m getting closer and closer to a voice and a tone that is informative and fun, without veering into the type of pandering that I dislike in Let’s Play videos. I don’t know where my videos will take me, but I’m excited to find out. My personal favorite is definitely my look at Vivi in FF9 so if you’ve finished FF9 and want to hear some more about what makes Vivi so great, then maybe check that video out.

Now that I have a year of steady work under my belt I think I’m going to try to get some of this stuff published somewhere. I already have some feelers out on a piece and I couldn’t be more excited about it. I hope that some of the work I’ve put in over the course of the last year gets me somewhere in the games industry. I don’t necessarily want a full time games writing job (outside of working for GB itself) since my day job is really sweet and I still have some games I want to make, but I would like to write a column with my name on a byline somewhere.

GB is the best online community that I’ve ever been a part of and the support you all have shown me is more than I ever expected. Thanks to all of the readers and commenters that have made this year so memorable for me. I look forward to many more.