How does the community feel about an OHR blog?

So the retirement and subsequent demise of Hamster Speak brought me back to the OHR community as a lurker...and I'm really sad that Hamster Speak is gone. Like, unspeakably sad. I totally understand why the decision was made to shut it down, but I'm still sad.

Mostly, I'm sad because I feel like it was the best (and only) place for insightful articles, reviews, and previews to get any real attention. The forums are great for discussion, but I'm just such a big fan of authored pieces (call me old school) that I think there needs to be an outlet for this.

Now, in reading Wobbler's/Surlaw's reminiscence on actually RUNNING Hamster Speak, I realize that there are many more difficulties than I at first thought. Being the editor and curator of all of the content is not a small job at all, and not one I'm up to if I'm being honest. I'd like to get away from the monthly format while still keeping the idea of a curated journal with amazing content.

My thoughts go to something that requires a little less upkeep: a blog. This would allow multiple members of the community to be the gatekeepers of excellent content and would get rid of the "monthly rush" problem with running an amateur zine. It would also be a space where the features that Hamster Speak had could be collected and organized in a better way than a forum.

That's my initial idea, but obviously it would be a failure if it didn't have the support of the community. I'm also concerned that I'm over-simplifying the idea.

All this said, I'm obviously not a regular of the forums, and I haven't finished any games. What I am is a huge supporter of OHR as a punk, DIY RPG tool and a tight-knit community. I would love for this to be my contribution to the community and tool that I love.

What are your thoughts on this? Do you think that this is just redundant or would it be a good supplement to the forums/game hosting sites we have now? Would you contribute articles, resources, or reviews? What ideas do you have for making this amazing?

I'd probably help as time and feeling would allow it.
I actually had started on an article I was planning on submitting for the Hamster Speak when it was SUPPOSED to return, but it didn't return, so....

But yes, an occasional article from me would probably get submitted, I suppose.

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dOn'T MiNd mE! i'M jUsT CoNtAgIoUs!!!
Play Orbs CCG: http://orbsccg.com/r/4r6x

I say this sounds pretty good. Gives everyone a chance to pipe things in.

The thing Hamsterspeak did that I really appreciated was present OHr games and other community things to a newer audience and presented it in a casual user friendly way. The most important thing would really be how many people you could get to read the blog. So a big advertisement effort or social media play would really be required to make this more relevant than this community's user's personal blogs.

Ideally, this new blog you're brainstorming could become the front door to the community for a huge amount of people.

Anyways, I wish you well on this, and hope it stays entertaining and true to the community.

Oh yes, I didn't mention this. Hamster Speak is how I got acquainted with OHR, so yeah, agreed. I have a (small) following on Twitter, and I of course plan to propagate there as much as possible. There's a few well known indie developers who follow me (Terry Cavanagh, uhm that might be it actually) so a choice retweet could bring a few new people into the fold. Which would be very very nice indeed.

To be honest, HamsterSpeak also helped coax me into joining the OHR community as well.

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dOn'T MiNd mE! i'M jUsT CoNtAgIoUs!!!
Play Orbs CCG: http://orbsccg.com/r/4r6x

I'd be happy to contribute the occasional plotscripting stuff, and to answer PS-related questions.

I'd definitely support a blOHRg. (See what I did there. See.)

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I... I still exist... somewhere.

Come join us on irc.esper.net in channel #slimesalad for help, chat, and general fun! We love company.

I would help with (decent) articles and such

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Happy RPG Makin

Oh, now you've done it....check back shortly.....

edit: I hope you're happy with yourself, I couldn't resist drawing this:

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dOn'T MiNd mE! i'M jUsT CoNtAgIoUs!!!
Play Orbs CCG: http://orbsccg.com/r/4r6x

This sounds like a brilliant idea. It would indeed relieve pressure of getting monthly issues out. And I love "blOHRg", hehe.

The big question remains though, who'll take the helm on this? Don't get me wrong though, I support this idea and think it's great, but I think it'll need some strong leadership to really get it going.

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Being from the third world, I reserve the right to speak in the third person.

Using Editor version wip 20170527 gfx_sdl+fb music_sdl

Agreed. I'd love to take a shot at this, and I've run my personal blog for a while, but it would be a new kind project for me. It would obviously be a bit of a trial and error process as I figure out how it would work. If somebody else has more experience running a community blog, I'd love to hear what they think too.

BlOHRg is awesome! It looks like it's available on wordpress too.

PS I'm glad this generated some interest pretty quickly! Shows me that it's a worthwhile idea.

Enough talk!

Let's start this puppy up!
TheCube is in charge. Everyone else either start spreading the word or writing articles!

Go Team blOHRg!

Go team blOHRg!


One last question though, will a site hosted on WordPress work well? I use WordPress myself, but I've never tried using the free hosting space provided at wordpress.com

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Being from the third world, I reserve the right to speak in the third person.

Using Editor version wip 20170527 gfx_sdl+fb music_sdl

Consider this the first thing to be submitted: a mascot!


Who couldn't love this little guy?
And also, that's the only thing that I can think of anytime I hear "blOHRg".

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dOn'T MiNd mE! i'M jUsT CoNtAgIoUs!!!
Play Orbs CCG: http://orbsccg.com/r/4r6x

I think this is a great idea, if people are willing to work for it. We had a community Livejournal but it never went anywhere. I ran an OHR news Twitter feed during HamsterSpeak, but no one was interested in it.

I also really, really think we need a full wiki style database of games for anyone to edit. Yes I know there's one that's part of the official OHR site but it's not really used.

Advice: Do not use the blog to broadcast community drama. This was a part of the LJ at times and it was a major part of pre-HamsterSpeak OHR magazines. Keep it about the games, not about the forums.

Don't let it turn into this. Or this. Be very willing to revoke someone's posting privileges if they're horrible.

Not to brag but part of the reason HamsterSpeak worked well was because of strict moderation. Rejecting completely unreadable reviews, or working with their writers until something good came out of it, was important. Rejecting MS-Paint porn of an OHR character was a good idea. Honestly, I fully believe refusing to acknowledge the Porn Game Contest was a good idea, even if it was part of a chain of events that led to me shutting down from the community. Whoever runs this is going to make enemies over really, really petty things, and you should know that going in. It's rewarding to see a community flourish, but there is a huge amount of crap you have to take with the good.

I think having it moderated by someone who ISN'T a huge part of the community is honestly the best idea. Someone without and biases or grudges held by or against them will have a much easier time. Just know that if you work with someone that someone else doesn't like, they'll make sure you know it.

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Super Walrus Land: Mouth Words Edition