Tuesday, September 30, 2008

The Few, the Proud, the EVE Blog Pack Members!


They say, be careful what you wish for; you may get it! Oh how true this is with the EVE Blog Pack.

When I started the pack in mid-June of this year, I wanted to get a group of great bloggers together, get them to post regularly, and to comment on each others sites! Just a month later the Pack had past the mid-20s in membership, and the request were still coming in - are still coming in!

The EVE blogging community's response to the EVE Blog Pack has been beyond my wildest dreams. That Blog Pack post has over 60 comments on it as of today, mostly requests to be added and some of my responses to those bloggers. That's just amazing! Thank you all!

The Privilege of Membership, comes with Responsibilities
As the popularity of the Pack grew, more and more bloggers wanted in. But as my initial goal was to foster both quality and quantity, I couldn't simply accept everyone. There are tons of great EVE blogs out there, all of whom deserve to get noticed. Which is why I've got the EVE Player Blogroll (check the side bar also) where I list every player's blog as quickly as I get requests. But for the Pack, I wanted to create this sense of belonging to an elite group of bloggers.

So I've decided to limit the members to 30 blogs for now - with a few conditions though.

Being part of the Pack comes with its responsibilities and obligations. The first and foremost is to blog regularly. Ideally a few times a week, at the very least once. And that is a no easy feat, believe me. Real Life often gets in the way - as it should since remember people, this is just a game - and missing a week is not uncommon. But going beyond the 3 week mark puts a Pack member in a situation of potentially being removed from the Pack.

This has happened to a few members already. Case in point, today I've removed two blogs for lack of activity. To fill in the empty chairs, the two newest members of the EVE Blog Pack will be Roc's Ramblings and Dawn of EVE. Welcome to the both of you!



Taking it One Step further
Now, along with the regular blogging and commenting, I want to ask a bit more of the Pack Members. This is what will make the Blog Pack different from my Players Blogroll.

Here's a list of ToDos that all members should strive to accomplish as part of their duties.
  • Blog regularly about EVE Online, a few times a week preferably.
  • Comment on Pack members blogs.
  • Make a post about the EVE Blog Pack (if you haven't done so yet). Make sure to link to it!
  • Add each member's blog to your Delicious, BlinkList, Reddit, StumbleUpon and/or Technorati accounts.
  • Digg posts that you find useful or interesting.
  • When writing a post, try to link to each other posts, bringing the community even closer together.
  • Have a blogroll listing all the Blog Pack members.
Doing all, or some, of these action items will add value to our individual blogs, and will bring the Pack to a whole new level.

Remember, we're each individually responsible for the success of the Blog Pack. It's up to us to decide what we do with it!

Now get to work people!! ...please... =)

13 comments:

Anonymous said...

It is a privilege to be part of your great initiative my friend.

CrazyKinux said...

Welcome aboard! Now if only Apple would get their act together and approve Capsuleer, we'd be set!

Carole Pivarnik said...

Couple of thoughts:

The #1 criteria for Eve Blog Pack eligibility should not simply be to blog regularly, but to blog regularly ABOUT EVE or about gaming topics that reference EVE or compare it to other MMOs. Not that blogs which give equal time to other games aren't interesting, but it IS the "EVE" Blog Pack, after all.

Re the various networking services, I've joined Digg and will evaluate the rest on a case by case basis to decide whether I wish to have accounts with them.

I'm glad you are actively managing the Pack to remove inactive bloggers and replace them with others. I hope that Shae Tiann's Sweet Little Bad Girl is getting closer to the top of the candidates list.

CrazyKinux said...

@Mynxee - Thank the Amarr Empress you're there as my copywriter with your eagle eyes! I've added the important nuance to No.1!

As for Shae she getting near the top for sure!!

Anonymous said...

Outstanding! I'll be debating making a move to a dedicated server in order to get complete utility from these new tools (and some nifty Wordpress Plugins), so if my site gets podded for a day or two bear with me!

CrazyKinux said...

@Xiphos - Looking forward to seeing the new and improved blog!

Anonymous said...

YOu mention using: Delicious, BlinkList, Reddit, StumbleUpon and/or Technorati accounts.

I don't have a clue really how to use them or even what they're for (apart from Stumble). There may well be other people like me out there who aren't that up with that side of it, may be worth summarising what they are and what they can offer us? Sorry to create more work for you :-\

CrazyKinux said...

Delicious, BlinkList, Reddit and Digg are basically all social bookmarks that you use to keep track of articles and sites and share those with friends and the rest of the world.

Technorati is a site I use to keep track of blogs I read. You add them to your Favorites.

Basically, use any of these sites to bookmark articles and blogs you like. Doing this promotes these blogs and increase the chance of other gamers to find them.

It's just a fancy way to pimp each others sites! =)

Bahamut said...

I was hoping to get on your list, and maybe in the pack if room opens up.

My blog is still new but I'll be updating everyday and my posts will be about EVE.

CrazyKinux said...

@PsycheDiver - For now, the Pack is maxed out at 30 members. Not to say that it won't expand beyond that or that new openings won't become available, but for now, I'll be adding you to the EVE Player Blogroll.

Keep blogging and writing that EVE fiction, and who knows, maybe you'll find yourself on the Blog Pack!

Perseus Kallistratos said...

Was hoping to get added to the Blog Pak myself. Been an avid reader for quite some time, and I have some good contributions to the community as a 0.0 alliance member and low sec pirate.
aggten.blogspot.com

Unknown said...

I started Lost In Space (http://nooblostinspace.wordpress.com) about a year ago, not long after I started reading the Eve Blog Pack. It's an "Eve only" blog that I've hesitated to try to get in the Pack due to my initial irregularity (posting, not digestive).

However, having gotten some Eve experience under my belt, a bit of perspective, and a "fire in the belly" for writing again, I thought I'd humbly submit it for your consideration.

Panthe Tek said...

If you're looking for new blogs try this: no meta-gaming, no 0.0 politics, just small gang PvP in Low-sec and a bit about the How-to. Post frequency seems to fit your requirements.
http://huntingforpewpew.blogspot.com/