I believe my RPG Reading List has the Blogger portion of the OSR pretty well covered. Recently I've noticed some trends that point towards us having reached "Peak Old School". And that it's maybe downhill from here. Several bloggers have quit, others taking breaks/burning out, and several more withholding content so they can commercially publish it. Seems only about a third of my enormous blog roll updates regularly 1/week. I'm assuming some of the remainder have quit/burntout/are on haitus without notice.
Also seems like larger percentage of posts are rehashing meta junk. "What is Old School", "My idea of Old School", "Edition War", "Old Artists are Great", "Why I like Old School", "It's Neo-Classical!", "Clerics/Thieves/Accending AC sux/are great."
Is the bubble bursting? Have you said all that's worth saying this time around? Do we have to wait till 5e for another spurt of new blood/creativity/posting?
On the other hand during this same time I've added 5-10 new blogs to my blog roll. So maybe like Peak Oil Peak Old School will never be reached because we keep finding new sources to plunder.
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The bubble has burst in my opinion. It's just an illusion.
ReplyDeleteI for one have:
ReplyDelete1) more work
2) more gaming
Two good things that mean less blogging.
I also see more stuff being published. That's better than just blogging! :)
ReplyDeleteHey, some of us are doing our best to keep on keeping on ~ ;3
ReplyDeleteCycle of blogging: Get excited, start a blog, have lots of things to say. Continue blogging, even though the number of things to say lessens; make it an obligation for yourself. Get burned out. Stop blogging or maybe return or maybe slow down.
ReplyDeleteI found great liberty in not even trying to blog with anything resembling a schedule. It doesn't really matter that much in the age of RSS and email notifications.
In no way am I faulting anyone for not blogging. I do it. It's a HUGE chore. Even though you love it there's much effort involved.
ReplyDeleteWondered if anyone else saw the "decline"? What they thought? If as Santiago commented people thought publishing > blogging? If anyone else was concerned with the "meta to meat" ratio?
Thanks for the comments everyone!
@Santiago
I don't know about 1. But I heartily endorse more gaming. Gaming reports are some of the posts that are still fresh and exciting to me.
@thanuir
Words of wisdom I shall attempt to remember. Right now I got more to say than time to say it in (or sense enough to know what's not worth saying) So, pacing it out is my goal.
But the echo chamber, as I alluded to, gets tedious fast. And probably is fueled primarily by bloggers feeling they are obligated to Post. Personally I felt/feel I had to post everyday. It's hard to let go.
I agree with you though it's hard to know what to say about it since it is a free, take it or leave form of communication.
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure about 'losing steam' since even if individuals are burning out all the time they are being replaced. The rate of attrition of those who find even the pillars of OSR blogland repetitive has been equaled by the rate of slackjawed new arrivals, [as I was once].
What I don't like is a feeling that some are abusing their centrality to charge for mediocre products rather than to encourage new people to do it for themselves and show them how. That amateur ethos would fit well with the OSR but the lust for publishing 'professional' material is not promising.
Certainly, some blogs that have been around for a while have "peaked" individually, and others seem to beslowing a bit (no telling whether they'll get back up to speed), but I don't know if that's any reflection on the OSR blogosphere in general. Like yourself, I've added many newer blogs to my reading list - and seem to be regularly doing so. I believe it's just normal blogger attrition - individual blogs come and go, but what needs to be monitored is the overall rate of growth and recession in the community.
ReplyDeletePersonally, I feel I'm just hitting my stride. How long that will last, I don't know. But even if I stopped today, I think current trends indicate there will be someone there to take my place before too long.
It's just the summer holiday effect mate. The long cold winter nights so eminently suited for blogging are not upon us right now.
ReplyDeleteSome people are just more interested in summer stuff right now. Things like BBQs, holidays, minding the kids (when did we turn into the grown-ups?), DIY, job-hunting, moving, and whatnot eat gaming/blogging time alive. :(
I can't speak for everyone but my own posting schedule suffered a sever hit with all the graduation activities for my oldest.
ReplyDeleteMy own recent articles on Edition Wars are not so much a re-hash but rather my own attempt to understand why the hate for various editions exists.
I've got over a hundred blogs in my 'roll, and I get stuff showing up almost hourly, so I think there's a lot of good stuff out there. Of course, my blog roll isn't limited to "Old School Gaming Blogs", so that helps.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Chris - it's the summer and we're all finding other things to do. My work has actually picked up, I've been painting a metric crap-ton of minis for 40K these last few weeks, and I've been working on my own RPG. I've noticed that the bulk of my latest postings have had to do with the last, and since only a tiny fraction of the people who might be coming by my blog are actually interested, I don't want to be spewing out too many posts.
In the end, I don't think it's any "Movement" that's going to keep people blogging - it's going to be positive reinforcement from fellow bloggers and readers offering good comments and everyone sharing a communial
Thanks for the feedback everyone.
ReplyDeleteNot having kids, mate, friends or a life the summer thing is not something I considered.
@kent re: lust for publishing 'professional' material
I'm right there with ya. Although, lot people see publishing as a goal or "success".