Six years in blogging terms feels like a long time to me. And at the same time, I remember the first days of Time to Loot like they were only yesterday.
Looking back at the first post on Time to Loot, I can’t help but laugh. I had such high hopes for Anthem, and, well, that didn’t turn out so great. Asmiroth happened to write about Anthem recently, and as I said in the comments there, I’m still saddened to this day by the fact that Anthem Next/2.0 was never given a chance.
Surely there is a universe in which another decision was made and we’re still able to enjoy a much healthier version of that game today.
Anywho, it wasn’t all bad.
Anthem was, after all, what brought me back to blogging after a roughly 10-year hiatus.
The sixth year was also a bit of a slow one again. I think the fire for posting every other day (or so) I had during the first couple of years has passed. I’d like to raise my activity a bit more than I presently display, for sure, but I don’t think the aspiration to get back to Year One/Two levels is there, nor even necessarily a healthy one for me.
By The Numbers
| Year | Total posts | Total comments | Avg comments/post | Total likes | Avg likes/post | Total words | Avg words/post |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | 201 | 682 | 3.4 | 848 | 4.2 | 162,240 | 807 |
| 2020 | 152 | 704 | 4.6 | 1,260 | 8.3 | 143,049 | 941 |
| 2021 | 158 | 599 | 3.8 | 1,037 | 6.6 | 141,991 | 899 |
| 2022 | 93 | 241 | 2.6 | 700 | 7.5 | 92,808 | 998 |
| 2023 | 68 | 148 | 2.2 | 405 | 6.0 | 58,162 | 855 |
| 2024 | 64 | 183 | 2.9 | 347 | 5.4 | 51,868 | 810 |
| 2025 | 3 | 8 | 2.7 | 21 | 7.0 | 2,878 | 959 |
The big surge in view numbers in September came from a rather unexpected place. I did a brief post on the music from the first episode of Kaos.
While not quite on the same scale, the Core Keeper vs. Necesse post from September has also done quite well and is amongst my favourite posts of the year.
Plans and Hopes for 2025?
Well, Monster Hunter Wilds (next month!!!) being great is certainly a big hope of mine.
But it isn’t quite what I meant, either.
I meant, what are my plans and hopes for Time to Loot in 2025?
I said above that I don’t necessarily aspire to get back to the posting frequency of the first two years. I thought for a moment that perhaps getting 100 posts this year might be a good target to go for… But almost a full half of my posts from the past two years have been for Blaugust.
But if I hold to my plan set upon the completion of 2024’s Blaugust, I won’t be going for the full 31 posts goal this time around.
Breaking the series of Blaugust completions to that level is going to be painful, but at least for now, I still intend to go ahead with it.
So maybe the better-amended goal is… Just maintain a similar number of posts (in the 60-70ish range) even with that Blaugust reduction in mind.
But more than the number of posts, I’d like to try tackle the quality of said posts.
I’ve never been much of an editor when it comes to these things. My process goes: Post first, edit after. I don’t expect to change that. I like it, even.
And yet, there is a difference between doing a dry run down in a formulaic monthly journal entry and relaying a game experience I had fun with. Or discussion of an idea that others have already expressed viewpoints on that I may not completely agree with or otherwise feel another view might be interesting.
The trick, though, is that I find I naturally do better with this when posting quite frequently. Is that the cause? Probably not. I think that’s the correlation. I think the cause is more likely to be because when I’m posting more regularly like that, there is a passion for it.
So my goal for 2025?
Try find that again.
Without passion, blogging is a chore. I think we share a similar approach of using it as an outlet, a cathartic way to get our ideas out. Going to be an interesting year.
And yes, MH:Wilds is giving me similar vibes to what World achieved. Going to be many a late night on that one!
Agree! On both parts. Wilds comes out on a Friday in NZ, so fairly well tempted to book it as a day off and make a long weekend of it. Hah.
On being a cathartic outlet… That is definitely some of the hope, and goal. I think when I reduce my posting to (largely) the monthly journal posts, that gets lost almost entirely in the face of the ‘logging of history’ part, which is all good and well to a point. That is one of my goals too. But it becomes quite dry.
Hoping to shake that up again somehow!
I feel like your blog has been around longer… but then again, 2019 was the before times and so much has happened since.
Congrats on another year!
Yeah, those years with their weird time-dilation effects have certainly added to the perception of how long TTL has been around.
Still kinda shocked each year it’s still going — I didn’t think would make it to ‘two’. None of the previous blogging attempts did!!
Congratulations on six years!
I have had “kgadams.net” and “Kelly’s World” as my blog since 2003, so… a lot of years. I have never been consistent in terms of posting frequency, so I’m not sure whether I have any real advice.
The main thing, I think, is to keep writing- I enjoy many of your posts. The world needs more voices of reason now. And to write when and how you feel: most blogs primarily exist as a creative and emotional outlet for the poster, and that is an important thing to keep alive.
I don’t think there is a ‘right’ frequency although more often definitely seems better for the audience. I have found personally that posting fairly regularly like once or twice a week keeps me in the ‘mood’ to post. Too frequently like daily and it becomes too much like work for me, too rarely and I lose the motivation entirely.
If you ever find a good ‘pattern’ to stay motivated and consistent, please share it!
The too many / too few post commentary as the poster is spot on, or at least, that has absolutely been my experience. My prior blogging efforts typically died off when I let the gap between posts get too big, too regularly, and is something I’ve done my best to avoid here.
Not only is it sort of a self-motivating cycle to keep going above a certain threshold (for me, I’d put that at no less than 2-3 posts per month at the rock bottom minimum to ensure survival), but the more over that I go, the better I go with the feeling and style of it all… At least until hitting that upper maximum where the burn out risk could rear it’s head. Long term daily could definitely do that for me. And I think even every other day. But more than that, unsure where that line sits just yet!
Congratulations on 6! I gave up counting on my blog as I have largely abandoned it, but I still go to it to link to the people I have enjoyed reading. I have also put little effort in the posts I have written (and have had fun using what newly built in AI tools come with WordPress, to poor effect, but fun to play with).
Most blogs don’t make it this far, so good work and as long as you are enjoying it, people will enjoy reading you.
Also, RIP Anthem. That makes me sad for so many reasons.
I still enjoy seeing the odd post pop up from your direction, so definitely glad you’re still holding onto the site. And who knows, perhaps the bug will one day bite anew. :)
Certainly the hope I’m going with at the moment, hah!
Well done on six years and for keeping up the continuity and determination! Hopefully there are many positive years ahead :D
Thanks, Will! And likewise to the future of yours! :D