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Whom Do I Write?

By deactivated-604f556fb6bf7 3 Comments

Damnit! It's supposed to be titled Whom Do I Write For. 
 
I was looking at the disappointing traffic for my blog, which sort of peaked late September/early October(possibly due to my Civ 5 review) and has moved kinda low right now. Made me think if what I was writing connected to any audience at all. Or maybe it's just too early to expect any decent traffic yet. I started blogging actively again the beginning of this month. So yeah, I think it's too early to look at traffic. But anyway, the question is whom am I writing for? The blog's called Malaysian Gamer and if I were to write stuff for Malaysians, what should I write(to attract a Malaysian audience) about? Well here's a few things I could write: 
  
 

For Malaysians:

 
  1. Write about DOTA. Tips, tricks, guides, patch notes, and generally pondering if icefrog is a douchebag(which PS, I don't fucking care).
  2. Write tips, tricks, guides on free to play MMO's or certain really popular MMORPG's
  3. Write about StarCraft 2
 
I hate DOTA, so writing about that is a waste of time. I don't like MMO's and hardly play them, writing about that seems counter intuitive. SC2? well I have my issues with that game. So i stay away from it. It's clear that my interests are not what the general public(or what I perceive as a lot of people in Malaysia) wants.  
 
 

For Gamers/Gaming Audience In General 

 
  1. Write news updates...lots of it
  2. Write reviews of new games
  3. Post pretty pictures and videos
  4. Say something stupid, like why console X is better than console Y
  5. Post fucking press release....all the fucking time! 
 
As a one man blogger, I can't be a Kotaku. I can't post 5000 posts per day. I can't get every new game as I don't get games sent to me. I don't have the time to publish well edited video previews/reviews and my voice sucks( I have experimented with this using sub titles).  Why should I say something stupid? To manufacture a controversy and get traffic? Yes I would like my blog to be popular, and successful but I'd prefer to build a good reputation rather than a stinky one. Point 5 seems to be what most video game bloggers do. You copy and paste word for word that press release email you get. I think some press releases are comment worthy(like the one Microsoft sent out for Games For Windows Live, yeah right MS, good luck trying to get that mess right). But definitely add your own take on it, comment about it, how do you think it is relevant(or irrelevant in the case of GFWlive). 
 
 

For PC Gamers

 
  1. See for gamers/gaming audience(most of those still apply)
  2. Cover mods
  3. Cover some free games stuff like flash/indie stuff
  4. Write the Why PC Gaming is Awesome article(the opposite of this is of course the Why PC gaming is dead for the console audience)
  5. Bash GFWlive
  6. The praise Valve/Steam/ Team Fortress 2 article/news report at least once a week
  7. Write the insider report on social gaming(Facebook games), are these REALLY games? article
  8. Round up of digital distribution discounts of the week
 
My point is, Why should I just be another Rock, Paper, Shotgun? They do this well and recreating another blog that does the same is wasting effort on something that is already done extremely well. Granted there aren't that many PC gaming exclusive blogs(compared to console games), but I'd like to find my own voice.
 

For Strategy Gamers

 
  1. Reviews/previews of strategy games
  2. News on strategy games
  3. Write why strategy games aren't dying(refer to starcraft 2 and BLizz)
  4. Cover indie strategy games(these are even more nichey than indie games)
 
The sad thing is, writing a review of Solium Infernum ain't going to get you that many hits. Hey I'm sure you took a lot of effort to write the review(I sure did), and it may be the best and most difficult review to write, but you aren't going to find people flocking to read that review. That's just the truth. Instead, your top ten games that...or your game of the year list would probably be the most popular articles you write. 
 
Figuring out who to write for is a complicated affair. I think most bloggers(myself included) start out blogging for themselves. Hey everyone wants to blog about what they feel like writing (that is the most ideal thing really). But reality is, if you want to be successful, you'd have to know what your audience wants, instead of just writing what you want to write about. I think you can balance out between writing for your audience and for yourself(you need the audience articles to keep them there) and for yourself, to keep yourself motivated. Point being, the Rolling Stones don't just write only about Pink Floyds early days records(which were sometimes pretty weird and just plain noise. Just youtube Syncopated Pandemonium). 
 
I'm currently doing a little of PC gaming blogging and strategy gaming blogging. With many features lined up. Perhaps that's the  problem. There is no point writing lots of features if you don't have the crowd puller article. Sadly... I wonder if I'm doing too many things(have reduced the news articles quite a bit) and if I should find a more specific gaming niche. Rant for the day done.
3 Comments

Adventures of A Noob Video Game Blogger

By deactivated-604f556fb6bf7 7 Comments

 For those that think this is TLDR....Just skip to the final part of this post.
 

A short intro on my blogging project here 

I've decided to use the giantbomb blog platform to blog about my experience of being a noob video game blogger. I really like the community here and the editing tool. Heck there is even a page for Solium Infernum(even if it was just 2 or 3 person who played that game here) and that to me is a huge win. To be honest, I'm not really a noob. I've had my blog for about 2 years(it will be 2 years in November). But it's died down a bit since the updates got less frequent last year. I've decided to revive my blog last week when I bought a proper domain name for it(after years on blogspot). I think it would be more exciting if I shared my experience with the rest of you guys on the whole blogging thing here. 
 

What The Heck Is A Malaysian Gamer Anyway?

 To be honest, I didn't really think much about the blog title. I kinda admit it sounds lame and generic. I'm Malaysian(there is a country called Malaysia). It's situated in South East Asia, just above Singapore. And yes, I'm a gamer. It doesn't quite explain what my blog will be about so a little intro into the whole demographics of gaming in Malaysia and myself... 
 

Intro About Myself & Whats Going On In Malaysia

 Well if you know anything about Malaysia, its probably about piracy over here(the digital kind not the piracy on high seas). Yes you can find people peddling pirated stuff around here. But there is also a growing number of people who buy genuine copies of games. With Digital Distribution growing at the rate that it is, more people are buying games now.  I think its looking a lot better here now. That being said, Malaysia is PC land. Computers are pretty cheap here(with manufacturers generally from Korea etc) and consoles are a bit more pricey. Games for consoles are about 20% more expensive compared to PC games(thats a lot higher than what you guys have to pay...erm...unless you're from Australia). There is a lot of people playing DOTA and Counter Strike in Cyber Cafes(these are outlets that have PC's on a LAN with internet access similar to Korean PC Bangs). And there is the school kids that play free to play MMOs and run to their mum for money for micro transactions. These groups hardly buy games. Then there are those that buy games like me.
 
I grew up playing western games(as opposed to Japanese games which have very different design approach to them) such as those tycoon games back in the 90's, Baldur's Gate 2, Dune 2, Dungeon Keeper(GOG needs to get this), Red Alert, wolfenstein, doom and that sort. Mostly lots of strategy games. Which generally will be the focus for my blog. To give you an idea, I've got plans for writing features on Rise of Nations, Planescape Torment and a review for Solium Infernum on the way. Yeap, I'm an old school PC Gamer. 
 

My Objective For Malaysian gamer

 I want the blog to eventually be self sustaining. I will be completely honest with you. No bullshit. I aim to write stuff about games I'm interesting in and meaningful articles. No lists bullshit. No echo chamber. I'm not a journalist or writer by profession and I know my writing perhaps is not as good as the pros but I'm willing to learn and improve myself. I want to build a real community of gamers who share the same interests in games like I do. I don't post stuff for the sake of updating the blog. I only post if I find something interesting. Something I'm interested in. It's not going to be another Kotaku. Which goes against what most people with blogs do... Oh look I'm popular! Now whore your site with ads!(I'm not saying Kotaku does this).

 My milestone previously was 150 page views and 100 visitors per day. Today my page views seem to have gone double that. Its currently at 300 page views today. No freaking idea whats generating these page views(a huge flow of traffic from US). There are links from Facebook! Who the hell is linking my blog on facebook? I don't use facebook. :s Which gets me to my rant for the day... 
 

I HATE CHEAP BLOGS THAT FUCKIN LIE!

 So I was browsing the web today and lo and behold this german site linked to a blog that posted a rumour about a new game in an extremely popular series. HINT: It's an RTS and it's from the biggest video game company on the planet. And guess what, It's coming out on the consoles and 3DS. Oh and gems like this; 'Episodic campaign is considering'. I kid you not, thats what's written there.  I'm not going to link this blog and give them anymore hits but you can try to google it. But this story is an absolute fabrication! It's bullshit. Why did they do it? Probably to get hits. I don't fucking understand this obsession for getting traffic even at the expense of reputation! And people say blogs are untrustworthy. It's because of piece of shit blogs like this! Are there no longer any honest people in this fucking planet? And all these german sites that ran this story and linked to this blog  gave exactly  what this blog wanted. It really spoilt my mood today. I expected better from the blogosphere. 
 
Well back to playing Solium Infernum...
7 Comments

New Domain And GoDaddy Ultimate Suckage!

By deactivated-604f556fb6bf7 3 Comments

So yeah been a while since I updated this blog here. But finally got a proper domain for my blog. 
 
http://www.malaysiangamer.com/     
 
The problem? After a day after purchase, I get an email stating my godaddy account has been locked for fraud prevention and in 48 hours the domain name will be cancelled. WTF! Seriously can't these people just check the domain name was used for a legitimate purpose? I had to send a photo of my ID and they still haven't responded yet. After redirecting everything to the new domain and updating my feed. Now this?! 
 
Yeah I'm a web newbie. This is my first domain name purchase, and this is how GoDaddy treats new customers.sigh...I hope this ends soon...

3 Comments

I need your help with this Video Game Affect survey

By deactivated-604f556fb6bf7 1 Comments

Please help me out. It's a short 10 question survey that I created as a preliminary study into  affects of video game. Your identity is safe and anonymous. I need as much data as possible from a wide range of demographic(but they still have to be considered gamers). 
 
 http://www.eSurveysPro.com/Survey.aspx?id=6a797262-f980-4abc-b0ca-d63331530d15  

1 Comments

Kosong Sen - Closure(free flash game)

By deactivated-604f556fb6bf7 1 Comments

No Caption Provided
Kosong Sen - Closure


For this weeks Kosong Sen, I’ll try something different that I don’t normally cover. A Flash game. But it’s no ordinary Flash game. This one’s called Closure. Created by Tyler Glaiel and animation/art by Jon Schubbe. Closure is a challenging puzzle game that will require good observation and timing skills.

Read the entire entry here
1 Comments

Kosong Sen - Night of The Cephalopods!(free indie game)

By deactivated-604f556fb6bf7 2 Comments

This weeks featured game is developed by Miguel Sternberg I know, I know it's a little old, but I think it's worth checking out. This is another short write up.

This one's called "Night of The Cephalopod" and is a top down game. It isn't so much of an action game rather more like an adventure horror game. The game(like last weeks game) is quite short and as the protagonist, your goal is just to survive that night, till the sun rises. It can only be described as a narrative experience.

Read the enitire entry here

No Caption Provided
2 Comments

Kosong Sen(free Indie game) - Gravity Bone

By deactivated-604f556fb6bf7 2 Comments

Gravity Bone is a first person adventure game that is based on the trusty old Quake 2 engine. First off, the game is really short. It feels more like a demo rather than a full game. 30 minutes tops. Don't let that discourage you though. Developed by Brendon Chung, Gravity Bone is offbeat, funny, odd, fascinating, stylish, and memorable.

My Write Up














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