In celebration of 15 years of blogging here in Eveoganda I had my crack admin team pull the data on the top ten posts from the last 15 years. These are the most popular posts ever in these pages, not the most important - just the ones with the most reads, visits and views. In true blogging fashion I'll start with the bottom and work my way up to the most popular, share links, and any thoughts I have about each one. I'll even share the numbers with you.
#10 - In Extremis (2017) - 6,570 readers
This post was written when my frustration with the state of the Eve Store was highest. I had finally had enough of beating my head against that seemingly immovable wall. This was two years after CCP had started selling my posters and a change in management (In fact, several changes in management) had left things confused and challenging as far as communication went. Sadly it forced needless conflict between myself and someone I didn't want to have conflict with at CCP. Luckily we got all that settled between us later on in person at Fanfest. Everything is fine now. Most problems begin with a lack of communication and this one was a textbook example.
#9 - My God, What Is That Thing!!??! - (2013) - 6,857 readers
This was the 46th Blog Banter subject back in April 2013 and one of my favorite from that series. If you don't know, the Blog Banters was a series created by CrazyKinux in which bloggers would all react to the same topic once a month or so. Y'know, back when we had more bloggers. This one is worth a read. My basic intention here was to encourage CCP to keep creating mystery in New Eden and drive content by sometimes creating events that have no meaning beyond being events. Mysterious giant octopus creatures being one example. Which was intended to be a silky idea to get the creative juices flowing.
#8 - Learn to Fly: Fed Navy Comet (2013) - 8,200 readers
This was 12 years ago, so pay no attention to the advice given in this post from a fitting perspective.
#7 - Deathrace is Coming! (2013) - 8,578 readers
The last DeathRace I would host was held just a few months before I was kicked from the Tuskers for using the wrong ammo and flying a Sacrilege in a way that brought shame to the corporation. So I guess from a historical perspective this post is significant in some way. But it really is just an announcement post.
#6 - Tusker Code Has Been Sullied (2013) - 18,600 readers
Speaking of which, this is the post I wrote the day I was kicked from The Tuskers. I wasn't actually mad about this and had seen it coming for months. What I was angry about is how it was handled and the small group of Tuskers that wanted me to over-throw the CEO and take over. All of that became a true mess that left a lot of unintended bad blood. All of which we got settled later at Fanfest in person. And I'm still glad we had that chance.
#5 - The Tusker DeathRace (2013) - 20,800 readers
Wow 2013 was a popular year! This is the post announcing the rules, dates, and information about the DeathRace. Which was an awesome event btw.
#4 - Fit of the Week: Garmur (2014) - 21,545 readers
Can you believe The Garmur is 11 years old!?? Also, pay no attention to the fit here. A lot has changed.
#3 - Wild Banshee Indians (2014) - 22,012 readers
Y'know to be honest I have a feeling this one and number one have a lot to do with the titles and google analytics more than anything. But this post is about Stay Frosty's playstyle and how people run away.
#2 - Eve Memorial: Ring of Fire (2012) - 24,675 readers
Don't tell CCP Falcon but I did try to bring more attention to the idea of an in-game memorial and never once did I try to take sole credit for the concept. This was just another of many posts I wrote over the years about this subject. I also created videos and constantly brought the idea up at Fanfest. And I'm proud that it finally happened. Due credit to everyone. Including me.
#1 - My Morning Cup of Coffee (2014) - 77,183 readers
I love this short story about Rixx waking up in the morning, but let's be honest - it isn't my best work or anything. This is another one that I believe has more to do with the googles than anything else. But it is far and away the most popular post I've ever written.
So there you have it. On average my posts tend to get around 1,200 readers. Some more, some less. And yes there has certainly been an overall drop in readership over the past 16 years, as you would expect. Blogging was never sexy, but it is ancient technology these days.
If you'd like to see what that looks like, here it is:
Each peak is a month. The highest is May 2013 when I left The Tuskers and 112,495 thousand readers visited the blog. And the lowest was May 2019 when I was working full-time and not blogging or playing Eve all that much, and 6,099 readers visited the blog. View numbers are higher, but I only count visitors. Although someone could visit more than once a day. I don't bother with unique visitors or analytics, the blog is free and I don't sell advertising or make money from it. So why bother?
Until next time.