Four Hundred

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.