Saturday, July 14, 2012

One Lost Road - Happy First Anniversary!


Even Vader recognizes the occasion.

That's right - as of today, July 14, 2012, One Lost Road is one year old. As a member of the Keystone Gaming Society, I was first inspired to write this blog because of the success we had with our podcasts. Since then, 1LR has grown to surpass our inspirational source.

Let's take some time to see what we've accomplished in the past year.

But first, what HAVEN'T we accomplished? We still haven't found that lost brown road to my Settlers of Catan game. Grrr. Someday. Someday.

But we have been down many "roads" in the last year. In total, 685 posts have been published (including this one). That's about two a day. I'd say that's fairly impressive considering I run this blog by myself. Over the course of the year our readership has done nothing but go up and up. We're at around 36,000 pageviews and every month we're receiving more hits than the previous month. Currently we have 12 people following the blog. One goal for next year is to increase 1LR's connectivity with other geek blogs and to increase the number of followers.
I'm obviously still jealous of this complete set...

Several reoccurring "columns" have become regulars on 1LR. The first is "Geek Gear." From Deadpool Kool-Aid T-Shirts to Star Trek Enterprise Pizza Cutters, if I see it and think it's cool geek swag, I report on it.

Next is "The Great Debate." I've written several of these columns this past year, often sparked by discussions I have with fellow geeks.

Another reoccurring "column" is Gaming Notes. I play a LOT of games and I share some of the more interesting sessions. I hope you enjoy reading. Perhaps you've gotten a few good ideas for an RPG game or heard about a board or card game that sounded like fun that you'd want to try.

A Maxi-Series of reviews I'm doing is called Marvel Media Mania. Basically, I'm reviewing every single Marvel live-action television show, cartoon, movie, made-for-TV movie, direct-to-DVD, or internet release EVER. It's quite an undertaking. So far, I've reviewed every property under the Midnight Sons banner (Blade, Dr. Strange, Ghost Rider, Man Thing), the Men in Black movies and show, Avengers-related properties (Iron Man, Thor, Captain America, Nick Fury, etc.), Spider-Man related properties (Spidey himself and Spider-Woman), and now I'm on to the X-Men with an eye on the Fantastic Four and solo heroes in the near future. I've tried to be thoroughly exhaustive but if I've missed something please call it to my attention and I'll add it! Some of my reviews have stirred some controversy. Overall, I feel that the experience has been an interesting journey, causing me to watch some comic book properties that I would not have otherwise watched and giving some movies a second chance.

Another series I am in the middle of is How to Use 1,989 Valiant Comics. It's quite a challenge to use that many comics in truly useful ways. But 1LR is up to the challenge! I've taken a slight break from this series but trust me, I'll come back to finish it.

I also did a short series entitled, "What Do Your Dice Say About You?" I had fun psycho-analyzing the gaming personalities of gamers just from a picture of their dice. 

The Lost Road?
I also reviewed every single Lone Wolf RPG book available this past year. I'm a huge fan of the system and I hope LW fans don't think I'm a hater. Part of my job as an reviewer is to point out the good and the bad... and let's face it, Mongoose has put out some bad product for the Lone Wolf RPGs. I still hope that Mongoose continues to publish the books in the future, though. It's been over a year since we've seen a Lone Wolf RPG book out...

I'm just starting a series of reactions to each issue of Before Watchmen. I'm a big fan of the original trade. So far it seems that the creators are giving much reverence to the original which is good. I've been particularly impressed with the Silk Spectre series.

A few other "Tags" that have come up time and time again include Star Wars, Marvel, Super Hero Squad, RPGs, and movies.

What will the future bring for 1LR? You can expect more of the same... I'll try to deliver geeky opinions in the manner you've come to expect. More reviews. More gaming notes. More geek gear.

If you've got an idea of something you'd like to see on 1LR, let me know! YOU can help shape the direction of the 1LR empire!

Thank you for being a reader... because of you it makes it all worthwhile.

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