Two Year Blogoversary!

Photo (c) Rosemarie Gearhart

Or, as my now almost 17-year-old daughter once put it, two candles.

I was not nearly as prolific this second year as I was the first, writing barely more than half the posts I did in 2010. Gratifyingly, as I became more consistent in posting this fall, more people visited my page, with an all time peak month in December, 2011, with 4,686 pageviews (according to Google). I got over 10,000 hits in 2011, over 2,000 were return visits.

To those of you that have come back to read my stuff over and over, I thank you from the bottom of my heart. I especially want to thank my fellow bloggers Scarybooster for being so entertaining and supportive, and MMOGamerChick, who introduced me to the larger game-blogging community, and who is as lovely a person in RL as she is online (and who just reached her two year mark, as well).

In terms of gaming, I played a couple new ones and continued to play some old ones, but I am still subbed to only two. Rift was huge in my gaming as I played to 50 with Sctrz (DGF). We joined a small group of RL friends and ran dungeons in World of Warcraft for about half the year. It was fun, but I had to make room for SWTOR and I felt I had played all I wanted to of WoW, so I unsubbed in late November, without fanfare.

Because WoW and Rift took up so much of my gaming time, I unsubscribed from Star Trek Online in May. With STO going free-to-play, I may pick it up again. I loved the space combat, and I loved the story potential of my Captains and their crews. It is still the game I have discussed the most on this blog, with 63 tags including this post.

I am still subbed to Rift because of a 6-month plan, but I have not played in a couple months other than to peek around. Trion did great job with the launch, and frequent updates and events. It's a gorgeous game. But I am an altoholic, and there is very little replayability in the game. Perhaps in the future I may return.

Of course, Star Wars: The Old Republic has loomed large in the past couple months. A flawed, but fun game, I am seeing a lot of replayability through alts, though there are plenty of people who disagree. I promise I won't turn this into a SWTOR only blog. It is a gaming blog, and SWTOR is my focus right now. :)

A lot changed in my real life, as well. My job description changed a bit, with more training materials development, and less travel and time on the podium. Sctrz is no longer my Dear Girlfriend, she is my Lovely Bride. We are adjusting to married life, with all the bumps along the way. She is the best thing that has happened to me. I am surprised she puts up with all my shit. I love her dearly, and I am grateful she is as into games as I am.