Monday, October 11, 2004
How I've killed some time
While I awaited the publishing function to be fixed for my blogs, I had to find something to do with my time. Though still busy with school and the wedding, I was used to spending 4+ hours a day blogging for my sites. Without that to occupy me, I turned to an online game I slowly became addicted to this summer.
Some of you already know about BlogShares. If you don't, let me give you a bit of a run down. BlogShares is a fantasy stock game based on blogs. Shares of blogs (most of yours are already listed) can be bought and sold, with value based on incoming links. Its a really neat concept of social networking, but done within a context of an investment game. If it sounds dry and boring, don't underestimate it. The game has tons of intricacies that take months to fully understand.
Better yet, the community of BlogShares has become my second family. I was hooked by the kindness of many of the senior veteran players, something extremely uncommon in online gaming. Once I hit IRC with the crew, there was no turning back. I've been playing steadily for several months now, and am in the top 30 players in the game. Now, new players call me a "veteran". HAH! If anyone is interested, pop into the BlogShares IRC channel. The network is WyldRyde (irc.wyldryde.net), channel is #blogshares. No password needed. I'm almost always on unless I'm out or sleeping, so pop in for a minute if BlogShares interests you.
Early on, I made it a point to buy shares in as many of the blogs that I link to as possible. Over time, I've lost a few (part of game play), but still have stock in many of my linked blogs. Plus, the blog index is a constantly evolving categorization of blogs based on categories termed "Industries". Science, Politics, Law, ....you get the idea. Players vote blogs into industries, and the index lets you browse industries for new blogs. I've found many great blogs this way.
Anyway, I can't really offer much more without you playing a bit to understand the terms and thrills. I'm currently running a blogging contest via the BlogShares forum and awarding Premium Memberships (currently $15 per year, a real steal) to contest winners. Who know, if you get on the site, find you might like it, check out the contest guidelines here, you might just take a top prize! This second BlogShares Blogging Contest ends November 2.
Some of you already know about BlogShares. If you don't, let me give you a bit of a run down. BlogShares is a fantasy stock game based on blogs. Shares of blogs (most of yours are already listed) can be bought and sold, with value based on incoming links. Its a really neat concept of social networking, but done within a context of an investment game. If it sounds dry and boring, don't underestimate it. The game has tons of intricacies that take months to fully understand.
Better yet, the community of BlogShares has become my second family. I was hooked by the kindness of many of the senior veteran players, something extremely uncommon in online gaming. Once I hit IRC with the crew, there was no turning back. I've been playing steadily for several months now, and am in the top 30 players in the game. Now, new players call me a "veteran". HAH! If anyone is interested, pop into the BlogShares IRC channel. The network is WyldRyde (irc.wyldryde.net), channel is #blogshares. No password needed. I'm almost always on unless I'm out or sleeping, so pop in for a minute if BlogShares interests you.
Early on, I made it a point to buy shares in as many of the blogs that I link to as possible. Over time, I've lost a few (part of game play), but still have stock in many of my linked blogs. Plus, the blog index is a constantly evolving categorization of blogs based on categories termed "Industries". Science, Politics, Law, ....you get the idea. Players vote blogs into industries, and the index lets you browse industries for new blogs. I've found many great blogs this way.
Anyway, I can't really offer much more without you playing a bit to understand the terms and thrills. I'm currently running a blogging contest via the BlogShares forum and awarding Premium Memberships (currently $15 per year, a real steal) to contest winners. Who know, if you get on the site, find you might like it, check out the contest guidelines here, you might just take a top prize! This second BlogShares Blogging Contest ends November 2.
