Friday, June 20, 2008

When Is a Bear Not a Bear . . . Part Deux

I post today in hopes of soliciting the opinions of those that read my blog.

As you know by now (unless you're just reading my blog for the first time), I have been grappling with a general loss of interest as far as my main character, Surania, is concerned. I won't bore you all with a rehash of what I've already said, as I think I covered everything in my first post by this name. Today, instead, I want to hold a sort of informal survey regarding the future of this blog.




The fact of the matter is, this blog has veered from its original focus, and probably wont be coming back to it. I'm 90% sure that my warlock, Kirari, will be becoming my new official main once WotLK comes out (if not much sooner). I've only been raiding on Surania when there is a definite need for another geared tank, with Kirari coming the rest of the time. And doing pretty damn well at it too, I was #3 on damage on Leotheras last night, not bad for a slightly undergeared affliction 'lock on a fight with constant aggro resets! But I digress . . .

On top of that, one of the other intended themes of this blog, Guild Leadership, has fallen by the wayside. The truth of the matter is, when you come online at a time when only the other guild leaders (all night owls) are on, there isn't much to do in terms of leadership. I don't even get to go to half of the officer meetings, because I never go to the raids (Technically we don't have officer meetings, they're "Post Raid Wrapup" meetings). Things are picking up for me a bit right now in terms of being Loot Officer, but that's because I'm starting to look into re-designing our DKP system for the upcoming expansion.

What I'm getting at here is that I'm no longer really blogging as a feral druid, nor as a guild leadership. Instead, I've mostly been focused on random alts as of late, and will probably have more to say about warlocks than anything once Wrath hits the stores (and you'd be insane to think I WONT be at Wal*Mart at midnight again this time around, being one of the first people in Outland was awesome!).

So, finally I get to my question for you all. Should I essentially "re-brand" myself? New name (Either a Warlock-themed one, or one that emphasizes my possession of far too many alts) and new banner, with perhaps a new color scheme to go with it? Should I keep my current name and theme? Or should I do both, by starting a new blog, but keeping the current one as well? All three of these options are possible, each disagreeing with a different side of me; Practical, Sentimental, and Lazy

First off, my sentimental side says to stick with The Rambling Bear. Surania was my first character, and I've played her for over 2.5 years now. She is a part of who I am, at least in a gaming sense, and that's hard to give up. Heck, I doubt my guildmates will ever stop calling me SuraBear and Papa Bear, that sort of nickname just sticks with you. Keeping TRB the way it is also appeals to my Lazy side, but from a practical standpoint, I just can't seem to justify it.

In terms of being practical, re branding makes sense. If I'm going to write primarily about a warlock, it doesn't make sense to be called "The Rambling Bear". I should revamp the site, get a new banner, and make it official. A warlock/alts site with the TRB name is just likely to get ignored and forgotten about by those who would be most likely to read it (Warlocks and 'lock aficionados). But deep down, I just don't want to stop being TRB.

The third option appeals to both the sentimental and the practical. I could simply start up a second blog, and use that for my warlock-themed posting. Though I have two problems with the final option: First of all, I'm lazy, and getting a new blog up and running sounds like a lot of effort. And second, I barely post enough these days to warrant ONE blog, let alone two. But, I put the option out there anyhow.

So, what do you guys think? Would the Rambling Bear sound silly talking about Warlocks and alts all the time? Or does it not really matter what the name is, only the content? Will Snidely Whiplash succeed this time? Tune in next time!

6 comments:

Unknown said...

I have been reading your blog for awhile now (I silently lurk around), so I would have to say I would miss the rambling bear, but I would have to agree that it would not make sense for a lock blog. I would also say that a lock blog would be warmly welcomed by myself (I can't seem to find to many of them) as I am sure others would as well.

Also seeing that you just are not enjoying playing your drood, I would bet it is safe to say that you would not enjoy blogging about them either. So definatly do what you enjoy.

With saying that I would vote that you change the blog (banner, name, and whatnot)and rehash yourself a Warlock blog.

K said...

Given that I write a primarily "warlock themed blog", yet write quite often about my alts, particularly my priest healer and my bear tank, I feel your pain.

You can do a simple name change on TRB, without necessarily changing much else.

The Rambling Bearlock! I jest. But it popped into my head and if you've ever read my blog, there is little in the way of brain-mouth filter when I blog. :)

Seriously, I'd just alter your page around a little bit. Maybe The Rambling Warlock? The Warlock Rambler? ... Something that ties to what you've DONE with TRB, but leads towards what you plan on doing.

(As for going warlock, HUZZAH! Warlocks = <3... well, not really, because warlocks are technically evil ... but ... meh. I digress.)

Anonymous said...

You've still got a lot of good druid content in the archives. Why not just keep the blog but change the look and description to be about warlocks now. Maybe include a sentence or two about your furry history.

As for the name, it doesn't really make sense, but who cares. I read frostbolt.com (about druids, if you don't read it).

Anonymous said...

Just keep posting here.

Anonymous said...

Agree with the above posts about great archived content. I send noob bears here all the time (pre-kara list, tanking strategies, pulling, multi-mob tanking, consumables, enchants, etc.).

Though as soon as WotLK is released most of it will no longer be of value. So maybe start a new blog and leave this one alone. Once WotLK has been released you can remove it all together. Though if you switch back to bear tanking, revive it.

Anonymous said...

I've also been lurking around your blog for a long while now, so I'll give you my opinion: don't change a thing.

Your sentimental connection with Surania is, as you say, something that gives life to your writing, so don't lose that. Your history is powerful.

And I wouldn't be concerned about the misnomer. In fact, misnomer's appeal to me, especially ones with interesting backstories. Maybe that's just me, I don't know.

Perhaps change the site's visual theme and style if you feel you want to mark a line in the sand.

My opinions :)

I'm looking forward to keeping track of what happens here with you. I've done things topsy turvy in relation to you: I'm a warlock main myself, and levelled up a druid a few months ago during a raiding lull. I went bear due to the good material available on blogs such as this. Did heroics, into karazhan, and then raiding opportunities picked up again for me on my warlock, and I went back to him, and am still enjoying being a lock. So I'm sticking with my original main, and I'd appreciate a quality blog on that class come lich king.

 
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