I have found myself at a bit of an impasse, you might say. No one reads blogs anymore (the irony of this post has not escaped me), and listenership on our podcasts is steadily dropping. Social media and video content is King, leaving websites like this struggling to survive. After literal decades of content creation on Scormey.com and multiple other sites (Pthppt.com, Starry-Wisdom.com, etc), I have to wonder if it is really worth continuing to throw myself into such projects, when I could just sit back and play video and tabletop games, instead?
Or I could just Troll…
As many of you may already know, I used to run a website and a Youtube channel called “The MMO Troll”, which was a podcast (of sorts) and blog, focused on criticizing Massively Multiplayer Online Roleplaying Games though humor. For a while, it went pretty well, but after I left “World of Warcraft” the steam kind of ran out of the site and show, and eventually I just moved on. Over the years I have intermittently considered bringing at least the blog series back, but as no one reads blogs anymore, what exactly would be the point?
But then again, maybe now is exactly the right time to bring back the ol’ Troll! Why? STOP ASKING QUESTIONS, AND JUST APPLAUD, DAMNIT!
… or don’t, I’m not your Dad.
Anyway, we’ve had only limited content available on Wednesdays for this website for some time, and I’m not really liking that situation. As no one reads blogs, evidenced by the utter failure of my previous posts to catch any activity, it makes me wonder if now would be the right time to go back to (shudder) Youtube, and start doing “The MMO Troll” video podcast again? I could post them there, and maybe show them early here on the website, to try to draw in eyeballs.
Or, and hear me out on this, I could just not do that?
Video content is hard, and I’m already busy with two podcasts, a full-time job, family life, and worsening health on top of it all. The last thing I need to try doing again is Youtube, especially when it has never been a rewarding experience in the past. Even before the first Adpocalypse, when Google stripped monetization away from all of my channels because I had the temerity to have only a few hundred subscribers, there was no monetary reward to all the time and effort I put into my shows.
But I could blog in the style of The Troll.
Yes, yes, I know… Didn’t I just say that no one reads blogs anymore? I did, and it is true… after a fashion. People don’t read normal blogs, but they are just gullible enough to read clickbait-laden trash like “The MMO Troll” was, especially if the content is focused on popular games.
Am I just that much of a desperate loser to resort to trashy, clickbait Trolling on this website?
Yes. I am that much of a loser. The only question is, will I be able to maintain any real momentum on this, to make it worthwhile? Well, I guess we’ll see.
I think the reason the MMO Troll worked so well is because it was the right response to MMO culture at the right time. If you bring it back you need to pick the right adversary. Rather than pick on the pomposity of certain games, which now seems to have diminished with time, maybe go after some of the big MMO commentators? Like Josh Strife Hayes.
Good point. Also, I have to ask myself if this is something I’m really passionate about anymore?