I hadn't been thinkin' quite enough to put figurative pen to paper about it, but the natives were restless over at the Fudge List so I guess I better think faster. What I've been thinking about is a group blog, or maybe a blogzine (I haven't thought enough about exactly how it'd work). I haven't quite decided if we'd have just a regular magazine (picking up and extending the late lamented Fudge Factor (http://www.fudgefactor.org)), or a rotating stable of "columnist" type entries, or just a more bloggish collection of pointers to external content. Thoughts? Comments? Flames? -- Karen J. Cravens silver@phoenyx.net
On Sat, 13 May 2006, Karen J. Cravens wrote:
> What I've been thinking about is a group blog, or maybe a blogzine (I
> haven't thought enough about exactly how it'd work). I haven't quite
Just what kind of content are you thinking about? You've basically
sort of said, "Let's start a magazine," but you didn't say anything of
the type of content it would have.
--
Carl D Cravens (raven@phoenyx.net) Gamers List Owner
[ The Fudge List -- http://fudge.phoenyx.net/ ]
I *wish* I could remember where I parked my hard disk.
On Sat, 13 May 2006, Carl D Cravens wrote: CDC>Just what kind of content are you thinking about? You've basically CDC>sort of said, "Let's start a magazine," but you didn't say anything of CDC>the type of content it would have. Such orphaned Fudge Factor content as there might be, perhaps. Or maybe questions-to-make-you-think sort of stuff like I post here (when Gamehawk and other things aren't consuming all my time, like lately). And there are a number of Phoenyx folks with their own independent blogs, that I'd like to either borg into a Phoenyx blog wholesale, or get them to be guest columnists or what-have-you. -- Karen J. Cravens silver@phoenyx.net
Okay, I've swiped the name back from Carl's defunct discussion list, and (tentatively, anyway) dubbed the thing TAORP. It's here: http://www.phoenyx.net/twiki/bin/view/TAORP but there's no there, there. It just points back to this discussion. Well, and spells out the acronym.
On Sat, May 13, 2006 at 05:52:32PM -0500, Karen J. Cravens wrote: > What I've been thinking about is a group blog, or maybe a blogzine (I > haven't thought enough about exactly how it'd work). I haven't quite > decided if we'd have just a regular magazine (picking up and extending > the late lamented Fudge Factor (http://www.fudgefactor.org)), or a > rotating stable of "columnist" type entries, or just a more bloggish > collection of pointers to external content. > > Thoughts? Comments? Flames? Here's a thought: group blog. Pick six or seven people (the core of the Phoenyx Regulars, people you think are worth it). The general topic will be "gaming" and "Fudge", much as cosmicvariance.com has the general topic of "theoretical physics," but the people who post will be allowed to post on whatever they want. The people who post *should* post gaming and Fudge relevant things sometimes, just to make it all worth it. But as a blog, even musings become appropriate. Don't require there to be editors, or schedules, or even standards (beyond choosing people whose posts will be worth reading). And set it loose. That's how most group blogs work. The neat thing is, if you have several people with occasionally something to say, there's little set-up and overhead in running the thing. Use Wordpress, or some such, and the software's pretty straightforward. Assign a few moderators to keep track of comment spam (but use whatever the plugin is that outsources the spam blocking, 'cause comment spam *will* be a huge problem-- I know from my own blog, http://brahms.phy.vanderbilt.edu/~rknop/blog/ ). And set the posters loose. See what happens. -Rob -- --Prof. Robert Knop Department of Physics & Astronomy, Vanderbilt University robert.a.knop@vanderbilt.edu
On Tue, 23 May 2006, Robert A. Knop Jr. wrote: RAKJ>Here's a thought: group blog. Pick six or seven people (the core of the RAKJ>Phoenyx Regulars, people you think are worth it). The general topic will be RAKJ>"gaming" and "Fudge", much as cosmicvariance.com has the general topic of RAKJ>"theoretical physics," but the people who post will be allowed to post on RAKJ>whatever they want. That's sort of what I was thinking, though probably "roleplaying" and "rules-light" or "play by email/post/other-online-asynch-method" vs something like "Fudge." RAKJ>The people who post *should* post gaming and Fudge relevant things RAKJ>sometimes, just to make it all worth it. But as a blog, even musings become RAKJ>appropriate. Right. It just collects things in one place. RAKJ>Don't require there to be editors, or schedules, or even standards (beyond RAKJ>choosing people whose posts will be worth reading). I wasn't thinking editors until Fudge Factor folded (alright, hiatusized) and I sort of threw that into the mix to let it stew too. It might be adequate to let those who will, publish in the Fudge Guide and have the group bloggers do mini-review pointer-ish things to draw them out. Along with any other sources like that that seem appropriate. RAKJ>That's how most group blogs work. The neat thing is, if you have several RAKJ>people with occasionally something to say, there's little set-up and RAKJ>overhead in running the thing. Use Wordpress, or some such, and the RAKJ>software's pretty straightforward. Assign a few moderators to keep track of RAKJ>comment spam (but use whatever the plugin is that outsources the spam RAKJ>blocking, 'cause comment spam *will* be a huge problem-- I know from my own RAKJ>blog, http://brahms.phy.vanderbilt.edu/~rknop/blog/ ). And set the posters RAKJ>loose. Errm, if I did it I'd just use Gamehawk. Slap a blog template on it, say "only moderators can post, others can reply," and it's a blog. "Others" can be defined as "any idjit that comes along," down to "only members, and memberhsip is moderated," and comment spam will not be an issue, any more than you regularly see spam on Phoenyx mailing lists (maybe one a year gets through, all lists put together). -- Karen J. Cravens silver@phoenyx.net
Karen J. Cravens wrote: > I hadn't been thinkin' quite enough to put figurative pen to paper about > it, but the natives were restless over at the Fudge List so I guess I > better think faster. > > What I've been thinking about is a group blog, or maybe a blogzine (I > haven't thought enough about exactly how it'd work). I haven't quite > decided if we'd have just a regular magazine (picking up and extending > the late lamented Fudge Factor (http://www.fudgefactor.org)), or a > rotating stable of "columnist" type entries, or just a more bloggish > collection of pointers to external content. > > Thoughts? Comments? Flames? Are you thinking of a Phoenyx group blog along the lines of the 20x20 Room, or a gaming version of Blogcritics (only without the politics)? Or something else entirely? Blogcritics was originally a music/books/culture site, and most of the entries were crossposted to both the blogcritics site and the authors' own blogs. Or is it really to test the Gamehawk Blog/Webforum/Mailinglist/Dessertwax/Floortopping functionality?
On Sun May 14 17:27:22 2006, TimHall wrote: That was weird. I didn't see this come through from Firehawk. > Are you thinking of a Phoenyx group blog along the lines of the > 20x20 Room, or a gaming version of Blogcritics (only without the > politics)? Or something else entirely? I'm not quite sure yet. I'm sort of thinking Treasure Tables, only a group, though 20x20 is pretty close too. Only, I wasn't quite sure if I wanted it to be pure blog, or more magazine-style... some columns (blog entries, essentially), but also some Fudge Factor-type articles, with editing and all that stuff. > Or is it really to test the Gamehawk > Blog/Webforum/Mailinglist/Dessertwax/Floortopping functionality? A little bit. Some of it also came from looking at the thread index here and going "geez, this is like my own private gaming blog, hardly anybody else posts non-replies," and wondering if that was a good thing or not. Some of it came from the whineage over Fudge Factor closing (or going on indefinite hiatus, or whatever), and some of it came from "Geez, the Phoenyx News is kind of boring."
