Five Things From Friday 3 : I'm a Massive Man and I need a Massive Game

1. Getting to Know Boat
   
   Rick over at /random asked in a post why this blog was called Boathammer. I was busy doing something and never responded, and if I did now it would be ten posts down and nobody would ever read it, so here goes:
   
   I really go by "Boat" in games, so "Boathammer" was the first thing that came to mind when trying to come up with a WAR-related blog name. Exciting stuff, huh? :)
   
   I go by boatorious on this site (among others) because it tends to be much more available. Like, as far as I know there are no other Boatorious's on the web, but there are "boat"s erupting from every e-orifice the internet has to offer. Surprisingly, there are other "Boathammers". I didn't even search the name because I figured it would be unique. Google reveals, however, that there are real people with the last name "Boathammer".
   
   What did "boat" come from? One of my friends loves quirky names for characters, and other things -- he had a cat he named "Bucket", for example. Anyway, one day I saw the word, "boat", and it occurred to me that my friend would love that as a name, so I decided to adopt it.
   
   Later I told him about the name and he hated it.
   
   First time I used the name was in a game of Natural Selection (Half-Life mod). The server owner told me I had to change my name from "Player" or I would get kicked. I changed my name to boat and asked him if that was any better, and he said "barely".
   
   
2. Site News
   
   I had ads for the past two weeks. Nobody ever clicked them so I killed them off. I came to the realization that I have neither the traffic to make money nor the kind of traffic that clicks ads nor does either seem likely or desirable. Farewell, sweet Adsense!
   
   While I ran the ads I got to ban about 10 gold-sellers, which was painful in a way but awesome in another. I also tended to get really weird ads. Like if this post had ads, they would all be about (literal) boats, instead of about, you know, Warhammer: Age of Reckoning.
   
   
3. Boathammer Week(s) in Review
   
   Some day I'll get motivated and list other people's stuff that I liked that week. Until I quit being lazy, here's what I've posted recently ...
   
   The War Blogger And Friend Guild
   
   
   • Proposed Here
   
   Shameless Enumeration
   
   
   • I reacted to the E3 News Ten Times, which is nine times better than reacting only once
     
   
   Attempted Thoughtfulness And Game Design
   
   
   • Why Mark Jacobs is a Real Man
   • It's a good thing I like losing or I'd be a very unhappy man
   • I blog once about another game in "Hellgate: Failure". This single non-WAR post killed the entire site for like a week.
   • I think about the head start and then write about it. This is probably the worst thing I've ever written, it's so bloody boring. This is my second worst post ever just for linking to it.
   • Why I think Public Quests will not benefit AFK'ers.
   • Why I have all those Gear Advancement Posters on the wall
     
   
   Totally True
   
   
   • The Perils of Banking Content (note to adsense : not about banks)
   • I meant this one to be the Definitive NDA Waiting Post
   • my guide to the White Lion
     
   
   
4. WAR Blogger and WAR Blog Reader Beta Guild
   
   Looks like there's some interest in a blogger beta guild after all, my little story had ten posts (a new record yaay). I think I'll just start running a regular semi-weekly reminder to keep people on their toes.
   
   
5. I am Stat-Obsessed
   
   In case you can't tell already this post, I am so obsessed with stats. That's actually why I blogged for eleven days straight -- I gotta have the visits. Unfortunately most of the stuff in that eleven days did not seem to go over too well. I'm sure after that day off on Tuesday that everything will be gangbusters from here on out.
   
   On top of that I set a visit record on the day I had no new blog. Kick a guy while he's down, why don't ya?
   
   
6. If you're a WAR blogger in the beta : you suck
   
   No beta invite yet but I did get another welcome email -- my 360 has already been fixed, about a week and a half after I shipped it. I never would have guessed when I bought it, but I'm really in it for the XBLA games. They're such a nice distraction when you're done with what you're doing but still have 15 minutes until bedtime (like right now, can you tell?)
   
   
7. How did I know arbitrary and spinks were in the beta
   
   I did notice, as they themselves blogged, that their posts had become a little less ... contenty.
   
   But mostly I noticed my sad little blog posts, sitting around alone and commentless.