Author Topic: Rolemaster blogs  (Read 11398 times)

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Offline Peter R

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Re: Rolemaster blogs
« Reply #40 on: November 07, 2014, 06:52:39 AM »
I have had a bit of waiting around to do today so I have registered the domain, set up wordpress and installed most my core plugins.

I am just putting a bit of initial content up.

Please may I use an ICE logo from your pinterest page just to give the blog a bit of ICE-iness, I will work on a decent theme later?
Rolemasterblog http://www.rolemasterblog.com
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Offline Jaeru

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Re: Rolemaster blogs
« Reply #41 on: November 07, 2014, 06:53:44 AM »
What is the domain name? Or isn't it active yet?

Offline Peter R

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Re: Rolemaster blogs
« Reply #42 on: November 07, 2014, 07:04:30 AM »
Give me a minute. I would like to use an ICE logo but do not want to publish anything without permission.
Rolemasterblog http://www.rolemasterblog.com
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Offline Peter R

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Re: Rolemaster blogs
« Reply #43 on: November 07, 2014, 07:19:39 AM »
Here you go!

http://www.rolemasterblog.com/

the graphic design element may need a little work!
Rolemasterblog http://www.rolemasterblog.com
Twitter https://twitter.com/RolemasterBlog
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/rolemasterblog/

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Offline Jaeru

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Re: Rolemaster blogs
« Reply #44 on: November 07, 2014, 07:22:07 AM »
Hahaha...nice...I like the handdrawn crown  :D

Offline markc

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Re: Rolemaster blogs
« Reply #45 on: November 07, 2014, 07:36:39 AM »
I would submit a request to Thom @ ICE or Colin (contact info is on the main web page for ICE) for the permission to use the ICE Logo.
MDC
Bacon Law: A book so good all PC's need to be recreated.
Rule #0: A GM has the right to change any rule in a book to fit their game.
Role Play not Roll Play.
Use a System to tell the story do not let the system play you.

Offline Peter R

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Re: Rolemaster blogs
« Reply #46 on: November 07, 2014, 07:38:26 AM »
I mostly work from home but I do four mornings a week at a local charity just to get me out of the house. I am there right now and there is a limit to how much I can do sat at my desk.

There is a really nice crown on the ICE pinterest page that I would like to use reduced down to thumbnail size as an icon and in the header.

http://www.pinterest.com/ironcrown/iron-crown-enterprises/


It is the crown on the right.
Rolemasterblog http://www.rolemasterblog.com
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Offline Peter R

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Re: Rolemaster blogs
« Reply #47 on: November 07, 2014, 07:48:22 AM »
I would submit a request to Thom @ ICE or Colin (contact info is on the main web page for ICE) for the permission to use the ICE Logo.
MDC

I have submitted a request. It took a minute as I had to configure the new domain on the mail server before I could send any emails.
Rolemasterblog http://www.rolemasterblog.com
Twitter https://twitter.com/RolemasterBlog
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/rolemasterblog/

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Offline Thom @ ICE

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Re: Rolemaster blogs
« Reply #48 on: November 07, 2014, 10:28:28 AM »
That crown is the current active logo (though we've got a slightly different version for product markings just for clean look).  For details regarding their use - see the website page on trademarks
http://ironcrown.com/trademarks/



Email -    Thom@ironcrown.com

Offline Jaeru

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Re: Rolemaster blogs
« Reply #49 on: November 07, 2014, 10:30:44 AM »
Ok, so as long as you linkback and post the copyright notice...you're good to go...the logo's are also there

Offline Peter R

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Re: Rolemaster blogs
« Reply #50 on: November 07, 2014, 10:47:06 AM »
Cool,

I have grabbed an image and the copyright notice is right there on the homepage. I chose the short copyright notice and the long one was a bit wordy.

There is a link back to here on the home page too.

I have also posted my first piece of rolemaster related content. I am going to have to give it a rest now and do some proper work.
Rolemasterblog http://www.rolemasterblog.com
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Facebook https://www.facebook.com/rolemasterblog/

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Offline Peter R

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Re: Rolemaster blogs
« Reply #51 on: November 08, 2014, 05:47:27 PM »
We were debating this internally in spurts, and I have a basic question - why a blog?  Why not the forums? just start a topic when you do have a creative idea and get the juices flowing there.  Look, we don't have a large user base, so I would be worried we are sending people to multiple sites when it can all be hosted here in a "one-stop-shop".   we have the ability to post any fan generated material and social media it so people know it exists as long as we are notified.  Hence I am very reluctant to go to a blog much beyond the one Colin runs for news-like notifications and the occasional musing.  But...

What do you all think? ???
Why a blog?

A blog is a continuum of ideas, it has a theme. It is more like reading a regular column in a favourite newspaper. A blog has a reognisable author but it also invites comment directly on the page where ideas can be either challenged or applauded. A post is a visually rich format where media can be placed directly within the content. A blog is a connected medium being able to communicate directly to social media and search engines to announce new content. Blogs are more timely and more often reflect the authors state at that time whereas forums are timeless and it is not uncommon on the forum for a new question being met with a suggestion to search the forum as the question has already been answered.

In the specific case of these forums. You have facebook pages for shadowworld which is one community and you have us here but there is very little crossover. My shadowworld GM follows the facebook pages but never comes here, I visit here daily but do not use facebook. Content is published in the guild companion but then is discussed here. Surely it would be better to have the discussion in the same place so both can be seen in the same context?

You aready have an official blog but you have turned off the option to comment. This post http://ironcrown.com/blog/2014/10/15/memories-of-minas-tirith/, if you had allowed people to comment probably would have recieved a flood of comments about how wonderful all of those products were, how people are still enjoying them and so forth. The same comments put on Amazon about a current product you would be pleased as punch about. You have Terry actively soliciting positive reviews for RPGNow in one place whilst ignoring a free opportunity to get the same goodwill in print and indexed by the major search engines.

The blog I set up has been live for little more than 24hrs. I have attached a screenshot of the Google Analytics and it has already had 2 organic visits. People who have searched the Google index, seen a site called rolemasterblog.com and wanted to know what was on it. Those two may or may not have been new potential customers, they may or may not go on to become active members of this forum. The point is that the there are thousands of rolemaster sites out there but they were looking for a blog.

Some media channels are all about broadcasting a message, that is what email marketing is all about, some channels are about discussion and that is where an active forum is excelent but some channels are about connecting with people and if you have complex ideas you want to get across such as the directors briefing or TGC articles then in the first quarter of the 21st century a blog is the best tool for the job. It is not the only tool for the job admittedly but then I could bang in nails with a rock but I choose not to.

I think having a section on these forums for fan blogs is a good idea and getting someone to scan them for negative content is a must. I am suggesting that a blog is a good idea and I am prepared to test my assertion by doing it and sharing the findings. It is good that you are discussing it. There is no strong reason for you to leap right in, setting it up for TGC would involve an expense with no proven increase in revenue. Any revenue you are missing out on you have been missing out on for the past 5-10 years so is effectively moot. Let the blog mature, let me publish more content and we will see if it has legs. I will happily give one of the guys from ICE shared access to the analytics account so you can see over time which articles are gathering the best responses, which are ranking the best and the visitor demographics.
Rolemasterblog http://www.rolemasterblog.com
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Facebook https://www.facebook.com/rolemasterblog/

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Offline Inez Hull

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Re: Rolemaster blogs
« Reply #52 on: November 14, 2014, 03:34:57 AM »
Peter R your quick whipping up of a blog inspired me to get cracking. I've set up a blogger site and am working on some initial material to post.  Nothing Rolemaster related at first by I have some ideas I'm working on. Cheers for the motivation

Offline Peter R

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Re: Rolemaster blogs
« Reply #53 on: November 14, 2014, 04:50:44 AM »
I am extremely lucking in that I happen to have many webservers sat there humming away there that I can use for that sort of thing.

For most of the week I am my own boss, working from home and managing my own time. There is no direct connection between the work I do and the money I earn by which I mean I can spend an hour here or there doing other stuff and i will not lose out as long as the work gets done before the any deadline. For the most part I also get to set the deadlines.

If I want to take an afternoon out to write an article because I am feeling inspired then I just can.

If anyone doesn't want to commit to writing a blog and having to constantly share new content from now and for ever then you can always write one off articles and send them to the Guild Companion.
Rolemasterblog http://www.rolemasterblog.com
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Offline Peter R

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Re: Rolemaster blogs
« Reply #54 on: November 15, 2014, 09:04:41 AM »
My blog is now 1 week old.

In the analytics you can see a big spike in the first 48hrs and that is all the referrals from this thread while I was talking about it. The referred traffic only looked at one or two pages each as that was all that was there.

The organic traffic that has been trickling in is far more interesting. Over this week I have posted six articles just to stuff the blog a bit and give visitors something unique and interesting (hopefully) to read. The organic traffic has an average of nearly 4 pages each. Obviously as the week went on there were more pages for them to actually read. I am hoping to settle down to one or two posts per week.

I have written one article for the guild companion that I have submitted and written half of a second article that I want to submit at the beginning of next week.

The blog now has its own Facebook page and Twitter account and yesterday I got around to linking the accounts so new posts on the blog are automatically pushed to the social media accounts.

I will update this again when the blog is a month old.
Rolemasterblog http://www.rolemasterblog.com
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Facebook https://www.facebook.com/rolemasterblog/

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Offline Peter R

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Re: Rolemaster blogs
« Reply #55 on: December 08, 2014, 05:19:11 AM »
OK, the blog is now one month old. I have attached a screenshot of the analytics. the biggest chunk is still the directer referrals from this forum and while most are from this thread early on now the url in my signature is giving me a steady stream of visitors from all over the RM2/RMC threads.

The organic traffic now respresents nearly a third of all traffic. 57.65% of all those visits are repeat visitors.

All in all I am quite happy with the way that the blog is progressing. I have settled down to two regular posts each week. One is bang on the topic of my blog being using RM in the forgotten realms setting and the other is more generic RM/RPG and GMing.

I will give another update in another month.
Rolemasterblog http://www.rolemasterblog.com
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Offline Jaeru

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Re: Rolemaster blogs
« Reply #56 on: December 08, 2014, 05:56:04 AM »
Cool.  8)

I see you also added some ads to the site. The one on the right is fine, but the one on top is not good for the look of the site IMHO. Also the green first letters of paragraphs are centred vertically in the middle of the paragraph. My guess is this has some compatability problems with Internet Explorer. I love the reading time estimate of the rest of the article. That's very witty and helpful.

Good stuff...

Offline Peter R

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Re: Rolemaster blogs
« Reply #57 on: December 08, 2014, 06:18:10 AM »
That is interesting about the ads.

I added the ads because someone messaged me about could you make your living just writing about rolemaster and playing. I was curious how much income it would generate and about the volumes required. I do not have enough data yet to draw any conclusions and I would expect to have to build up a much more significant following before anything like that became viable. At present the blog is making about £0.02 a week based on what I estimate to be about 80 real human beings. It is a nice idea though.

I hope I have fixed the dropcaps issue in IE for you. Could you have a look and see if there is any improvement? You may have to refresh to see it of course.

The attachment shows the drop caps in firefox.

I have stripped out the top ad. Over time I intend to play around with the ad formats and positioning. As everything stands at the moment I would need something like 4million readers each month which is unlikey to say the least to make a monthly income of £2,000 per month or £24,000/pa or about $36,000/pa.

Nice idea though.
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Offline Jaeru

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Re: Rolemaster blogs
« Reply #58 on: December 08, 2014, 06:43:17 AM »
There's an improvement in the dropcaps. The top of the dropcap is now aligned with the centre of the first sentence of the paragraph. Unfortunately I can't send you an attachment due to firewall restrictions.

Offline Peter R

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Re: Rolemaster blogs
« Reply #59 on: December 08, 2014, 07:19:17 AM »
No worries, thanks for bringing it to my attention.

I have tried to fiddle it a bit more but too far and it looks really odd in Firefox and Chrome.
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