Heya guys!!
So as a lot of you have noticed my posts have dropped off. Some of you may question why, while other will perhaps remember my posts regarding burnout on WoW in general. But in essence, that hardly sums up the issue. There have been several things which have detracted from my site recently (in my eyes as well), and I felt now would be a good time to discuss them with all of you.
Some would say that as a writer for a personal blog, you owe nothing to your readers. That as a free service done as a hobby, you should do it because it’s fun and not worry about anything else. But I disagree. In a lot of ways your readers become a community. And what you have to realize is that you, the writer, are the glue that holds that community together. I’ve noticed readers in post comments recognize each other, and even request each other’s e-mails to continue conversations elsewhere.
And then there is the fact that your readers, if you’ve done a good job, come to like you. I’ve gotten tons of e-mails, site comments, and in game messages from various players that consisted of nothing more than well wishes, compliments, or positive feedback. Which I appreciate greatly. It’s nice to feel appreciated by others. And while I have no tangible evidence per se to say that a writer owes his readers anything, I still feel that a writer does. Ever read a series by an author, and then in later books he just did some crappy weak work that left you feeling betrayed? That is what I’m trying to get at.
Coming Soon Posts
Generally speaking I’ve tried to reduce these. I realized that at times they were nothing more than a belated play for time, padding the post count as it were. Which is a shame, because originally these posts were not padding, but a way to organize in my head what would be next on the list of things to do while telling you guys at the same time. I will never get rid of these entirely because I like them. They help me focus, and they make me feel obligated (prodding myself) to get certain things done within a set timeframe. But I will do my best to keep these to relevant information and get back to their roots. When they were meant to be informative, and not a teaser.
Some recently “fluffy” posts
Now, I like some fluffy posts. So you’re going to have to learn to live with that one, sorry guys. I like writing for no other reason than to just say some stupid !@#$ sometimes, and goof off. I’m just like that in rl. 
And that means sometimes you will have to see a post all about my kitten, my guild, some crazy run I did, or just about some friends of mine. If you don’t like it, they have plenty of other online resources out there for WoW. I am Skeleton Jack. I am not a drone or a computer. I am a living person with wants, desires, and needs. And sometimes I just wanna be goofy and stupid. 
A recent lack of Hardcore Information
Something some people fail to understand at times is that detailed posts breaking stuff down is not just a matter of sitting down and writing it. I’m not this amazing guru with massive amounts of information bottled in my head waiting to be poured out, lol. I have to sit down and do my research, break down the info, sift through it, and then present something meaningful and easily understood. Sometimes one detailed post on a spec and the rotation could have taken a solid 10+ hours of work making sure it’s 100% accurate. So those are not something undertaken lightly.
Also please realize that once I understood that 3.1 was basically going to be a revamp on Death Knights, I backed off of a lot of the work I had intended on doing. While any game is always in a state of flux, there is always a point where you realize any work you do on something will be wasted since everything will change within 1-2 months. Get what I mean?
Burnout
I’ve been burned out on WoW now for some time, and I’ve been trying to figure out why exactly. And this is a significant question and more important to me than you may realize. So I’ve spent a lot of time trying to answer it. I’ve basically narrowed down the reasons to these simple points:
- There are a small number of people in my guild I don’t like to such an extreme that even playing with them makes me not have as much fun. Which in turn makes me less likely to want to play since I will be forced to play with them.
- The content in WoW is far too easy. I no longer feel like I have to practice, study, do runs, or keep up on my game in order to clear all of the available content. There are no speed runs available, and the Ulduar content on PTR as to date been a massive dissapointment as far as the difficulty.
- PvP has left nothing but a bad taste in my mouth as the entire thing is still broken atm due to massive class imbalances. Burst dps can destroy too many other opponents making the entire structure lopsided and not enjoyable anymore.
- Blizzard promised us that DPS spec’d toons would be roughly within 5% of each other for maximum potential dps and has utterly failed to deliver on such a promise by such a staggering degree to leave me wondering if they even understand the game they have designed. When I see some specs struggle to break 5k dps, and others do over 8k dps in the same encounter, it really makes me want to walk away and not even play. It’s simply ridiculous for such inconsistencies to be allowed to exist.
- 25man content awards have trivialized all Heroic and 10man awards available in game, and appear to follow the same trend in 3.1 PTR. Blizzard has designed a game where if you can get everything you want from 25man content, you will never have a reason to participate in any “lesser” content unless you just do it for fun. For a few times it’ll be fun, but after so long it becomes boring. And without any rewards being feasible, Heroic and 10man content eventually becomes something you avoid.
This is by no means a whine fest. It is a logical explanation on why I’ve become disenfranchised with WoW recently. Again, it’s an insight into my mind and how I’m thinking. Because the fact is that if I’m burnt out on WoW and not having as much fun playing, that in turn does affect my posts.
Yeah SJ, Blogging is real work!!
Ever head of a guy named the Inspired Ogre? LMAO, this dude took a crack at me recently and he cracked me up (see what I did there?!?! 
). Don’t bother getting your hackles up, because honestly I got a damn good laugh reading this guys post. Click on it, it made me giggle!!
Blogging is a lot of work, and I honestly did not realize how much it could entail when I started down this path. You could go so far as to say that Inspired Ogre “inspired” me to make this entire post. Heh. 
Something Wise
“Hobbies getting in the way of your work is a good thing. Hobbies getting in the way of your hobbies is a bad thing.”
Not sure who said it, but they were wise if you ask me. Recently this has been my biggest problem. I’ve attained too many hobbies. Working out, running, gaming twice a week, raiding, working on my blog, talking to friends, playing with my cat Shadow, and then just making some time for me. And that’s outside of sleep and work. Maybe it’s time to sit down and prioritize some things, but for now part of my problem with posts in general is just that I have so little time for anything else…
What happened to that site construction?!?
The fact is that I looked into a lot of it, and the current Word Press format I am using will not support what I want to do. I am also not wealthy so I cannot just pay some dude to do this stuff for me. Nor am I a web guru. Now one or two people sent an e-mail offering to help, but the fact is that I need more than a “I can do it!!” from someone. Credentials of some kind, talk to me about it, or something. I’m not just turning my site over to “Random Fan X” and crossing my fingers, lol. I really need to get some ads up on the site actually. I’ve got a friend who said he would help, but basically would like some compensation. If I get the ads running I can just offer to let him have money from that and he’ll help me out.
Health
The fact is, I have some health issues. I’m not like the average joe in that regard and can get sick easily. On top of some other complications. And this does pull me away from the site more often than you guys realize. If I say I’m sick, I’m probably a lot worse off than I’m letting on to. And generally speaking I don’t even tell you guys about all the times that I am.
For example I’m on Hydrocodone atm for pain because I never got my Wisdom teeth out and my jaw is shifting, literally. I have not been able to get an appointment yet to take care of it. And the pain’s been so bad where I’ve not even been able to get sleep some nights. Needless to say, when that is going on sitting in front of the comp and typing is quite far from my mind.
So what was the point exactly here?
You guys, my readers, deserve to have a grasp on why I post and what factors are affecting my posts. So here it is. Well, a decent portion anyways. It’s at the very least a glimpse through the “window” so to speak.
But it’s more than that. I don’t want to go any where. I want to continue writing. I love writing to be honest with you. I like creating stories. I enjoy teaching. And I enjoy helping you guys out. I’d like to say I’ll never slip again. That there won’t be some crappy posts from time to time. But I am only human. But by the same token I will be trying to make my posts useful and informative, or at least funny failing that. I can’t always promise tons of posts, but I will always try to bring you guys top end advice and content to help you out.
Content Writers for SJ
You guys ever heard of the site World of Matticus? I don’t really read it, but I go peek at it from time to time. And I was amazed at the concept that he has managed to pull off very well, which is bringing in 2 content writers for his site for additional information. I’ve had a few people ask me about this already. But I’ve got no way of really knowing what someone is capable of.
While I may have slacked off some, I like to think that my standards overall have been pretty high. And were I to let someone write for me, I’d hold them to similar standards. This would be on a “supplemental” position as well if implemented. I will not be giving up writing or passing off the reins. But if you’ve got an interest in writing here on SJ…I guess show me what you’ve got. WoW ME!!! As it were… For now come up with something on your own. But later on I’ll post more about that if the interest is still there.
Let me be frank, this is not me opening up a floodgate and inviting tons of people to write here. This is me saying I’d be open to the idea of letting 1 person start writing here as well, and that they’d have to impress me. That doesn’t mean you need my knowledge of WoW or my crazy posts like BISI. Even a lowbie person new to WoW can be totally solid. It’s about the ability to write and capture an audience while talking about DK’s.
-Suffer Well Brothers and Sisters.
Tags: /rl, Website
