Starting something new...

This diagram is yet another reason to hate 'web 2.0'

... and hopefully exciting. It's something I've been talking about now for quite some time, long before I started this here blog. A few people initially wanted me to get my ass on the internet and partake in some web 2.0 shenanigans. Yeah, I too hate the phrase web 2.0 (I quite like the word Shenanigans), but as Lauby said in my interview with him for the HoP Idol contest, people do at least know what you're going on about when you use it. No matter how irksome you might find it as a phrase. If you don't know what I'm on about, well basically it's all about user created content. Things created by the great unwashed, you and me providing the content rather than the normal channels, sources, media etc. producing it and us all just consuming it passively. It's about getting involved and doing it for yourselves, a bit like 'sisters'! Encouraging a state where we all have a voice, no matter how annoying.

I'm going to be blunt here. I hated the idea of web 2.0, the idea that idiots like me could add our own voice to the already bewildering vortex of static and noise, and add yet more confusion to the message being transmitted, it just seemed like a bad idea. I found most wargaming forums pretty damn frustrating experiences, full of people who were convinced they were right. Rather than accept the fact that they were just somebody with an opinion, oh no, they believed they were right. Yeah, sure we all think our opinions are right, otherwise we wouldn't hold them, but when we call them opinions we accept the possibility that some new information could come along that could change our opinions somehow, and we might learn something new. If we start believing our opinions are fact, as is so often the case with forum dwellers, we preclude the possibility that they might change, and in short accept that we are living in a state of general ignorance, and for me this is where web 2.0 was heading. Jake Thornton has had problems with this intransigent attitude.

So it was with some trepidation, I have to admit, that I started the Frontline Gamer blog. I wasn't convinced that people would A) want to listen to what I had to say, B) that even if they did, that there wouldn't be enough sensible voices out there to make it worth my while doing it and C) that because of my opinions the blog would just revert to the base form of human nature we see on internet forums, as my thoughts are hardly 'mainstream' and 'popular'. Or so I thought. Also I'm still not convinced what I have to say is worthwhile, or even interesting to most people, and fundamentally I wasn't sure I wanted all the hassle and work, just for people to turn round and tell me what I do is rubbish. I'm male, and our ego's bruise very easily! I was wrong on all counts though, and I'm more than happy to admit it. You lot, the people who read my blog have proved that there are sensible wargamers out there, capable of holding their own opinions and beliefs, while respecting those of others. Thank you, for restoring some of my faith in humanity. You've also proved that actually there are people out there who want to hear what I've got to say about the hobby, even if they don't agree with it. And some of you find it interesting, entertaining and worthwhile.

Right now I feel like Charlie Sheen, except without the hookers

So although my blog isn't quite yet 5 months old, and in many ways is still growing and evolving, I'm calling my initial tentative steps into web 2.0 interactions a success. Now that might come back to bite me on my huge hairy ass in the future (no doubt it will). However, I'm told by those who have experience in these things that for a new blogger, never before having started a blog or been involved in a blog, to have started a blog under 5 months ago, and to have sailed past 100,000 hits in that time frame is quite an impressive feat. I personally have no yard stick to measure that performance against. It could be distinctly average performance, and those telling me it's good going, could quite frankly not realise their own performance is poor (sorry guys). But quite honestly, I just have to take people's word for it that for an out of the way wargaming blog it's not half bad performance. For that I guess I have to thank all you lot for reading my articles and sticking with me; for giving me advice and pointing me in the right direction. So where next for my web 2.0 career?

This blog was the start of the experiment, as I said, not the experiment itself. I'm a researcher and we test things slowly and surely, we collect data and refine our hypotheses. But now, with phase 1 out of the way I think I understand a little bit better what people would like to see in terms of content, and indeed, that there are people out there willing to consume it. So onto phase 2 of my web 2.0 experiment, podcasting. Yeah, I've decided to start doing some podcasts with a few friends of mine. To be precise the Cursed, Mr Chaos Space Marine and Sorrowshard from the blog Rant in E Minor. Right now we're all in that wonderful experimental phase, where we're trying to work out what it is we're doing, and whether or not we have enough stuff to say. However, more importantly whether it's interesting, informative, engaging or funny enough for people to want to listen to us prattle on. We have lots of ideas and we want to run with them, but we also want to remain focused and with our feet firmly on the ground. There is no point in running before we've even learned to crawl.

Long and short of it is this, we're fumbling around trying to find a formula that works. When we do we'll let you know, possibly via this here blog or Sorrowshards Rant in E Minor. But, for now just stay tuned. Why am I telling you lot this? Well I'd love to hear from you, which podcasts do you like and why? Also, which podcasts do you hate and why? We'd also all love to hear from you in terms of what you'd want to hear from podcasts, gaps you think need filling, topics covering... anything really. So get jotting your thoughts down below. Because we really do want to hear from as many people as possible, because although we want to do this for our own reasons, we do want people to tune in and listen to what we have to say, and find it useful or entertaining. Do you listen to podcasts? If so when and how do you listen to them? All of this information is useful to us, and will help us shape the sort of podcast you want to listen to. As for this blog, does phase 2 of my web 2.0 experiment mean the death of the Frontline Gamer blog? Hell no! I enjoy writing my blog, and as long as that remains the case, and there are people who enjoy reading it I'll be here as usual, sprouting my own unique brand of web 2.0 nonsense. Peace out!