About the Author

I’m a 30-something nobody who has his own corner of the Internet in which he can write whatever strikes his fancy.

I think of myself as a socially-acceptable nerd™. What I mean is I have some nerdy tendencies/hobbies, but I am not socially awkward. If I’m not gaming or watching something, I’m socializing at the bar or hanging out with friends. I’m heavily tattooed. I curse. I’m not religious. I’m not political (though I try to stay up on current events). I just finished up my Associates degree and am now starting towards my Bachelors in Web Development. I also work full time. I don’t read as often as I would like, but I enjoy Stephen King novels and the occasional comic book. I’m into horror movies (especially zombies), Sci-Fi and stuff like that. Most of what I watch TV-wise I catch on Netflix or DVR. I’m a metal-head, but also listen to punk and a few other genres.

Why do I write this blog?
Half of the time I can’t answer that question, and the other half of the time I think it’s because I want to be a part of a larger picture. Really it started as a hobby when I was in high school in the late 90s, when a group of my friends and I started creating content on the web. I, and the Internet have changed greatly in the time between. I no longer have anything that I created or was a part of before 2005, and it’s probably for the best — there isn’t much I can remember being pride-worthy.  In 2005 I started this iteration of my blog, though I can’t say that it has followed any sort of theme nor adhered to any scheduling of posts.  There are gaps of time where I let it stagnate and then picked it back up again, I just can’t bring myself to let it die.

About this Site

2005-07: Infancy
In 2005 this site was called “The Lost Souls.” I had adjusted to my new computer after having gone a few years without one (hence the lack of anything from the 90s to that point), and decided it was time to get back into my old hobby of blogging. The name was plural because I had a couple of friends that were going to write with me, but outside of a few guest posts it didn’t pan out. In those early years I didn’t want to write about gaming. I wrote journal entries about my life, and if I did mention gaming it was only to say that I played this game or that one. My writing style was far more casual and personal, and I probably mentioned names I shouldn’t have or wrote about situations better left unsaid. But, people change and they grow, and I only keep those posts around for posterity. I’ve come a long way through the years. I should also note that I had a different web host and hand coded the site until one day I found a better alternative.

2007-11: The MMO Years
In mid-2007 I made the switch to WordPress. It was a huge pain in the ass to manually transfer all of my archives, but I was happy with the performance of the site and its tools gave me everything I needed plus ease of use. Though I had been playing MMOs for quite some time at this point, I finally decided that I wanted to write some commentary on the games, as I felt I had enough experience to help out some newbies and/or share strategies with veterans. I also simply enjoyed chronicling my adventures — and it turned out there was a large chunk of the web dedicated to this alone. I finally had a sense of community, and gained a bit of a reader base, exchanging links and commentary. My crowning achievement was being featured on the EQ2 Players website several times in their “Community Crier” column. My love affair with MMOs ended however, they ended up getting old, and it was time for me to move on. I would still play them from time to time or have commentary about the industry, but I was no longer an addict.

2012-2013: Not so Massive
I had a period of inactivity, with bits of real life sprinkled here and there before I retooled and found a new direction. I decided that I would blog about anything that interested me, though most of the time I would still talk about games — it’s my main hobby after all. Sticking to games that were “not so massive”, I split my time amongst my laptop and PS3. Commentary typically revolved around my opinions of these games, the changes that are occurring, or observations about the community/industry in general.

2014-Present: The NBI and beyond
In early 2014 I became involved with the Newbie Blogger Initiative and my activities crossed beyond just this blog. I made a Twitter account and have connecting with my fellow bloggers via Steam and other outlets. The future of blogging is bright and the community is growing strong. I’m still running a primarily gaming-oriented blog, but the social aspect of this community has taken it to places I didn’t think it would go (more social commentary and stuff). My involvement with the NBI went from sponsor (veteran) status to being a member of the #nbi2014 committee fairly quickly, and as a result at the end of its run I was awarded this:

 

This was awarded to those of us who filled leadership roles. I ended up running the League of Legends event and was also the curator for the NBI website, which means I archived important stuff, did spot editing and also wrote the weekly round-up blog posts. One piece of advice that I wrote saw me learning how to livestream, so add Amateur Streamer to this list of my new accomplishments. During the course of the main event, I was invited to the Contains Moderate Peril podcast, and as a result wanted to do my own. I have since started the Couch Podtatoes Podcast with my good friend J3w3l whom I wouldn’t have even met had it not been for this event. I will definitely be carrying the torch for this group for a long time to come, as it has expanded my horizons.