Funny Feeling

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After the departure (physical, if not spiritual) of chev and Uri from the boards, and the loss of our other news posters, plus the disappearance of the new guy that I had high hopes for (ha!), I've been posting the regular gaming news on my own for the last couple of weeks or so. And... it's a funny feeling.

It takes me back to the early stages of SP when I was alone for everything, from the content to the news to the moderation. Over the years this has changed in all respects and this is the first time in many years that I have no one else to rely on for the news. In a way, it's a good thing, because it feels like reliving a fading memory, but there's also this nagging thought that I can't shake that site visitors today simply aren't interested in helping out like they were in the past. Part of this is certainly due to the declining traffic (BioWare/Obsidian are doing a great job at killing off fan communities for their games with their own forums) but I get the feeling that an equally important part is the fact that unlike 8 years ago, when these boards opened, not everyone was as focused on the Internet being solely an entertainment venue as they seem to be today. Thank you, MMOs! This isn't to say that we don't get volunteers every now and then, but unfortunately it usually turns out that their hearts don't really go into news posting (it can be a chore, there's no denying it) despite there being tangible perks to it. And honestly, short of paying people to do it, there's not much else that I can offer. If you don't do this primarily because it interests you or because you feel like you're making a worthwhile contribution, chances are you won't be doing it for long.

One problem with the news posters on our end is the fact that training more or less all of them to the point that they can independently gather/post news without a senior editor's intervention takes a lot of time. Compound this with the fact that most of them don't last long, it becomes a rather futile, taxing task. I've been lucky that over the years I've had a few great editors on the team that have soldiered on for many years (chev certainly stands out here), but all good things come to an end at some point, and his particular one seems to be permanent employment. We all know how badly the world needs more practising lawyers.

At this point, I'm also quite wary of taking on any existing members that volunteer (with the best intentions or otherwise) because quite a few of them in the past tended to be regular posters, but once getting bored with the news posting, they usually disappeared completely, never to be heard from again. And frankly, having the news done for a short bit in exchange for losing a member is just not worth it in my book. I don't know if it's guilt or something else that keeps them away afterwards, but it's completely unnecessary as I really bear no grudges. It's impossible to know in advance how anyone will turn out, so I'm always ready for every possible outcome.

Anyway, to get back to the original point of this post, it's an unfamiliar feeling but an issue only as far as it steals my time from various other parts of SP that need my attention - and there are quite a few at this point. I'm working on a number of site-related projects and distractions that all require my undivided attention, and there are only so many hours in a day that can I spare on them. It's odd, because you'd think that after 8 years things would be more or less done or that I'd get bored with them. Nothing could be further from the truth - a true webmaster's job is never done. Don't tell anyone, but some of us love it.