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Five hundred blog posts. Wow. Time flies.

It’s been almost a year and a half since I wrote my Four Hundred blog post. Obviously, my output has slipped. I’m going to have to think about that, and see if there’s something I want to be writing about but am not. I know that this summer, I was really slacking on the posting, and then there was some downtime as I reworked the site. Since then, I’ve been posting a little more regularly, and I want that to continue.

Anyway.

Over the past hundred posts, by far the majority of what I’ve been posting has been play reports from my campaigns. Maybe not the most interesting stuff in the world, but I try to spice them up with thoughts about what’s working and what’s not. They get some solid traffic, so I’m assuming that someone out there ((Beyond my players.)) is enjoying them.

Of my new posts, the biggest draws seem to be reviews – this makes sense to me, as word of the review usually gets broadcast further than my normal reach allows, thanks to the publishers, authors, fans, etc. People are obviously interested in my reviews of games and books ((So much so that I’ve posted my review policy here.)), so I’m going to try and do more of those, I think.

The biggest draws on the site are still – and I think this is a testament to how good the game is – my articles about The Dresden Files RPG. It’s gotten so that I can tell when a new group is starting a game, because of the spike in page views on campaign creation and character creation posts. I’m pretty pleased that the game is going strong, and glad that I’m able to contribute to people’s enjoyment of it in my own way ((If you were around when this all started, or if you look back into the misty past as represented by the blog’s archives, you will recall (or discover) that without DFRPG and the cool folks at Evil Hat, this blog would not exist, so the game will always have a special place in my heart. Thanks again, Fred, for your brilliant Disclosure Policy during the playtest!)).

So. Five hundred posts in five and a half years ((Five years, ten months to be a little more precise.)). Daily traffic that averages around 300 page views per day. Nine different campaigns I’ve wonked on at length about, four of which are recorded from start to finish in the play reports on this site. And a number of good friends made through the blog.

Thanks to everyone who reads the blog. Extra special thanks to everyone who comments, or who comes up in person to talk to me because of the blog – it’s nice to know I’m not shouting into a void.

Thanks to the publishers who have said nice things about the blog, and who always treat me so well whenever we interact. Special mention goes to Evil Hat Productions, Margaret Weis Productions, Atlas Games, and Pelgrane Press. These folks all treat their fans with great respect, care, and friendliness. And the make great games ((I don’t have sponsors or advertisers on this blog, and I never plan to. When I recommend something, it’s because I think it’s good, and no other reason. So, take me seriously when I say these folks deserve your dollars.)).

Most of all, though, thanks to my friends – my fellow gamers – who let me use their game sessions as blogfodder. They are good people ((Except for Erik, who is a great big freak. And Chris, who is my nemesis.)), and I appreciate their tolerance and indulgence, especially when I go into one of my weird, experimental phases.

Now. Something I don’t normally do. I’m going to open the floor to suggestions. Is there anything that you folks out there would like to see a blog post on? Can’t guarantee I’ll do it, but I am curious to see what people are interested in. Toss your suggestion up in the comments.

And I hope you’ll stick around for another hundred posts, at least.

Welcome to my 400th blog post.

It took me almost exactly 15 months to do the last hundred posts, so we’re looking at about a post every five days. Obviously, the schedule hasn’t been as regular as that; indeed, there have been a couple of floods and a couple of droughts, but still. I’m averaging slightly better than a post a week ((That’s not counting my Ireland trip posts over on my other blog, of course.)), which I consider not too bad.

I’ve been looking over the kinds of things that I’ve been writing about these last hundred posts. I’ve done a lot of play reports, a lot of articles on DFRPG ((And there’s some crossover there, obviously.)), a few on gaming in general, and a couple on general nerdy stuff. Obviously, it’s been a moderately successful mix – daily hits have almost doubled over the last hundred posts.

The big attractions here still seem to be my articles on how to play DFRPG; even the very earliest ones are consistently in my top-visited page stats. It’s nice to see that they’re a useful resource to so many folks, and nice to see so many people playing the game! There probably aren’t going to be any new articles in this category, because I’ve said pretty much all I can think of to say on the subject, but you never know.

One of the other big hits on the site is the series I’m working on finishing on emergent campaign storylines. They seem to have a wider initial appeal, but don’t become such return destinations. I’ve got one more article in the series ((Well, maybe two. I’m trying to think if the other one is actually worth writing, or if it’s just rephrasing too much of what the other articles say.)), and then it’s done. I’ll probably come up with a new series of articles after that, but I don’t know what they’ll be.

Anyway.

This is the point where I say thank you to everyone who comes by to read something I’ve written here. It’s always nice to see that people are reading the blog. And an extra special thank you to those of you who care enough to leave a comment. Sometimes, writing a blog feels like shouting into the wilderness. It’s especially gratifying to hear that there are real people out there.

The most profound, humble thanks I reserve for two different groups of people. First, my friends, who let me talk about them ((And their characters.)) online. They are a great group of people to game with, and I’m immensely glad to know them all.

Second, to those of you who I’ve met personally. You’ve all had very nice things to say about my little narcissistic ramblings here, and it’s wonderful to meet so many different people who like games as much as I do ((Weird little aside, here. Many years ago, I wrote a bunch of RPG stuff in the industry, mainly for D&D 3E and Unknown Armies. At the height of my… well, I can’t honestly call it “fame,” but at the height of my presence in the gaming world, very few people recognized my name or my work. This past year, I have had more people ask me if I’m THE Rick Neal because of this blog than ever approached me because of my actual payed writing. It’s gratifying, and humbling, and a little puzzling all at the same time.)). It’s allowed me to meet some people in the industry that I’ve long admired, and to chat with them semi-regularly. It’s also allowed me to meet some fascinating people who AREN’T in the industry, and chat with them.

So, thanks to everyone for feeding my ego, whether it’s as an anonymous reader, a friendly commenter, or a brave in-person approacher. Thanks for indulging me.

The next hundred posts should start tomorrow or the next day, with a report about this past weekend’s Marvel Heroic Roleplaying Launch Party down in Minneapolis ((Teaser review: The game is awesome.)).

Stick around.