Scrolling through my daily blogroll the other day made me realize i’ve come back just in time for this years Blaugust event. I’ve not participated in that since 2015, which was also my first time taking up the challenge. Hmm, i did sort of stop blogging shortly after that didn’t i? Coincidence? Hehe, no but really i’m excited for this years challenge as i think it’ll help me get back into the full swing of things on a much more consistent basis.

While i was contemplating whether to sign up as a mentor or as a participant, i also realized my blog just recently turned 10 years old! Now i know i lost 2 years towards the end there due to my time off, it doesn’t change the fact that i began this journey back in 2008 with my very first post. Yes it was a terrible post consisting of a few sentences and a single picture but it got the ball rolling on something i could have never imagined would last for a decade.

I decided to sign up as a participant because, in all honesty, i’d never consider myself a mentor for any blogger. Simply keeping a record of my online adventures going for 10 years doesn’t make me any sort of expert. There are so many better examples on my blogroll that influence and motivate me to keep going even when i feel like i have nothing worth sharing. Those are the real mentors and i’m just happy to be a passenger on this ride. What a ride it’s been.

The original iteration of this blog actually started on Livejournal. That was the place to be back then as far as i was concerned because all my favorite bloggers were using it to share their experiences. I was a pretty hardcore FFXI player back then and i couldn’t get enough of Rukenshin’s blog full of guides and number crunching. He was doing some pretty amazing stuff in game that i wasn’t even close to attempting. That was and still is the type of content i like reading about. That one blog inspired me to make my own and thus my first blog was born.

Shortly after that i migrated over to Blogger for the better part of my decade blogging. The aspect i loved the most about it was the ability to directly edit the html on any theme to my liking. I spent so many hours tweaking every little aspect from the color of everything down to the padding on images and borders. Sometimes i think i enjoyed tinkering with my themes more than actually writing something. Anyone that has actually followed me all these years probably knows i can’t seem to stick with any one theme for too long before i start looking for something i find more pleasant or more my style. I don’t think i’ll ever be satisfied in that regard. It may be my biggest flaw to some but i think changing things up is fun.

My migration over to WordPress self hosted a few years ago was a mixed bag for me. I liked the control and knowing i owned everything but i hated dealing with all the back end stuff as well as shoddy performance from my web host. This was around the time i stopped blogging and gaming in general for the better part of 2 years. Upon my return i decided to just go with a wordpress hosted option and i think i found my happy balance. Onward to another decade perhaps? Or another flameout? Challenge accepted.

I’m back to playing MMORPG’s again which should be a huge boost to my blogging. The actual quantity of said games that i’ll be playing will be reduced tremendously. There was a time when i’d jump on every new MMORPG in development as well as obscure free to play ones. Those days are over for me i believe as the genre certainly has slowed down this last half decade or so. The next batch on games on the horizon are all indie or crowd funded and much more focused on certain game modes. The only one i’ve made a commitment to financially is Pantheon but i’m sure i’ll check out as much as i can. Hell, i might even blog about them. What a crazy idea.

My names Ald and i love MMORPG’s. I occasionally blog about my adventures.