Who takes the time to read GG community blogs?

#1 I skim most of them -- I tend to read them more thoroughly if they are written by certain developers, Phil Carlisle for instance. I also enjoy posts that include demos, movies or screenshots. I pretty much never read them if they are "hi I'd like to introduce myself". I also rarely read them if they are all plain text with no pics, or anything. If you have a lot of text, at the least, break it up with bold tags and

Quote:quote tags

. I'm also not a big fan of posts that just detail out a person's to-do list or schedule. Why would anyone want to read that?

That said, I enjoy them, for the most part. Working at home alone can be lonely so its nice to know you are part of a thriving community.

#2 I tend to ignore anything that isnt related to my areas of interest (.net, tools, or t2d)

#3 I read most of the .plans when I get a chance, it's interesting to see what others are working on. Of course, a lot of the plans aren't that interesting, especially those without screenshots, and in my opinion, some people spam the .plans too much. One plan a week should be sufficient for most folks, but then that's just me. ;)

But then again, some plans are fantastic, and if someone really has some new info, then more than one plan a week can be OK.

I haven't submitted a plan in a while, I've got tons of new content, so I need to get off my ass and do it.

#4 People who have time.

#5 I skim thru most to find pictures :)

#6 I think most busy people would ignore them unless it was a name they recognised as being a person doing interesting things.

Otherwise people who are not busy, bored, looking for inspiration etc will/might go through a few and read/filter them per criteria mentioned in above posts in this thread.

#7 I usually spend time on one if there is at least a picture, formatted text (as explained by Andy), and text that's readable, not sloppy and piled into one gigantic paragraph that seems to never ends. The complete opposite of that is if it is just one sentence that says nothing important.

#8 I read them. Sometimes if it's a T2D I just skim through. I usually read up what's going on from work. I like to read the "Hey this is me, and this is what I'm expecting to do", and see what develops. While pictures are nice, they shouldn't be a requirement for an interesting blog. I do like when blogs are written for an audience.

#9 I read them all, and find it interesting what people are up to. Occasionally if it gets a bit dry I might skim a little.

#10 I read all of the .plans and most of the forums (I skip a few of the game specific ones and the T2D forums...simply don't have time to track it).

#11 I read them all. Some in much more depth than others. Our traffic logs indicate that a LOT of people read them.

-Jeff Tunnell, GG

#12 I read them all and comment on those i find interesting. Not nearly enough people comment imo

#13 I skim them, unless i see something interisting, then i fully read it.

#14 I browse them all since there are usualy not more than 5-8 a day. I usualy find the time :)

#15 I read them all if they are structurally and gramatically correct. I try to comment when needed.

#16 Every day...

Member Since: May 30, 2001 and Torque owner a couple years later after reading the forums and plans. I think it is great to watch what people are doing in Indie game development and the best microcosm is taking place right here at Garagegames. I remember when there was a glimmer in someone's eye about taking Torque and making a 2D engine. I think we all know who that is now. (Melv by the way) And look how awesome T2D is.

Anyways, I have dabbled in Torque but the plans are in a way watching other people live out my dreams. (Making games...)

I don't know if I will ever get the time, money, motivation, etc. to do what they are doing, but the plans remind me what I wish I was doing and I live through them. I look at the Plans as a celebration. Standing on top of a mountain, telling everyone what you are doing and sometimes hoping someone is listening. Sometimes shouting for help and feeling proud, wanting to show everyone how proud you are of your work. I still remember programming in my basement with my C64 and now 23 years later I am still dabbling, just now with Torque.

Keep the plans coming and never think nobody reads them, we do.

#17 I tend to only read one or two a week in off moments. Usually associates and authors I know. Also If I get in a forum convo with someone or somone says somthing particularly insightfull, inspiring or otherwise helpful I will usually read their profile AND plan.

I find some people's are too long for their content. If your someone like Ben and you have lots of intersting info thats great. However I see some that cover far less ground than this one but use 3x as many words. If it looks to intimidating to finish, I might not begin it at all.

Not saying they have to be as exceptionally-short as my current one, but be to the point. My time is valuable. Pictures are good too! :-)

I can also attest to the high traffic. My last(uh.. first) plan only got 1 comment, but the link i posted got hit a hundred times in less than a week. So even if your nobody, and say nothing, a plan will get hit at least that many times!

Thats just my thoughts,
Raven

ps. I like .plan better than blog. It conveys a sense of purpose. If they were called blog's, I probably wouldn't read them at all, but thats just me...

#18 Every day : )

It helps get a feel for what direction Torque and the community are going in.
There's a lot of work in progress out there, and sometimes, as Bryan previously mentioned, you can get a heads up as to what's in the wings.

Like most other people, I simply skim the ones with no format, bad grammar, or anything with with words(?) like l33t : )

#19 Me too...every day I spend more then a hour to read through plans, development snapshot comments and of course forums.

Also prefer to read plans of the people I know/find interesting.

#20 I read every single one.