So things have really changed drastically for me in the last few weeks. I mentioned the Massively gig, and some upcoming projects, but I thought I’d take some time out and give my personal blog some much-needed love.

When I started writing at Massively, and even before that, I’d had my eyes set on making that a full-time gig eventually. I thought it’s certainly doable in a few months, or maybe a year, right? Well after I’d been hired, I learned of the potential to write even more for more money. They’re always looking for more feature articles or news stories. Plus, I discovered they have “sister” sites with various topics. The one that caught my eye was GreenDaily.com, because, as you may know, I’m way into green living. So I emailed the lead at GreenDaily and I’m happy to say that I’m now writing for them as well.

With all of this potential for more work looming overhead, and my day job getting more and more stressfully busy, I finally took the plunge and left my day job for good. I didn’t work out a notice. I didn’t tell them anything. At the end of the day (or what was supposed to be the end of the day, but with that job, you never knew when the end of the day really was) I told my manager that I’m going home, and not coming back.

He laughed at first, then when he saw me walking towards the door, not laughing, he asked me if I’m serious. I told him I was, and walked out. They called me as I was driving home, to let me know what a terrible mistake I was making, and how badly I was screwing them over, but I figured it was par for the course.

I’ve only quit one other job ever in my life, so this isn’t exactly a regular practice of mine, but I knew it had to be done. In order for me to better myself and live the life that would make me the happiest, I just went for it.

So currently I write for Massively and Green Daily, plus I am the editor and co-host for the Massively Speaking podcast and soon-to-be editor for the MMOG Nation Broadcast.

I’m finally getting paid to do what I most enjoy, and I don’t regret anything.

Yes, I’m still alive. And I’m only now realizing what busy really means. Remember back when I bumped GuildCast down to every 2 weeks, because I was having time issues? Yeeaaaahhh… I’d love to have those “time issues” again.

A few weeks ago I got hired by Massively.com as a blogger. This means I actually get paid to blog about MMOs. I mean, seriously, they pay people to do that? Apparently they do. But the drawback to this is that it’s not exactly enough to quit my day job over, so I’m doing both jobs still, just as we’re entering the busy season for my day job (i.e. 12-16 hour days ftl). Plus 2 other podcasts. Plus a weekly audiobook. Yes, I know, QQ moar noob, but I’m not really complaining. Well, I am, but in that special Shawn way of complaining where I’m so extremely happy and grateful that I’m at this point in my life, but it’s not easy.

I’m enjoying the Massively gig more than anything, and I am so enthralled with how all of this works. I won’t give out any trade secrets, but I feel like Charlie in the Chocolate Factory, to use an over-used analogy.

We have some projects we’re working on, and I’ll be very excited to officially announce those, but until then I will continue to shoot for the sky and hopefully one day make this gaming journalism thing a full-time gig.

When I started podcasting over 2.5 years ago, there were maybe a dozen gaming podcasts. Maybe. And that includes general gaming podcasts and only 2 WoW podcasts at the time. Now there are thousands and thousands of game-related podcasts. It’s really quite incredible, and it makes me so proud that I was able to get into that whole scene early.

BUT.

Yes, there’s always a but. Lately, podcasting has taken an ugly turn. It’s an inevitable turn, but ugly nonetheless. I’m talking about the corporate influx of podcasts. Now, I don’t care if Ford has a podcast about their upcoming cars and trucks, or Nestle makes a podcast about their newest line of dark chocolate truffles or whatever, I’m speaking of major game developing companies doing their own versions of what the average-Joe gamer has been doing for years.

Here’s what gets me the most about this, it’s the progression of events that led up to this.

Step 1. Enthusiastic Gamer starts podcast about their favorite MMO.

Step 2. Enthusiastic Gamer (now Enthusiastic Podcaster) contacts the developer team of his favorite game for interviews and any exclusive breaking news regarding said game.

Step 3. Game developers pat Enthusiastic Podcaster on the head and comments on how cute it is that some random guy with a microphone is talking about their game.

Step 4. Enthusiastic Podcaster continues to be ignored for interviews, and generally seen as not real media or journalism.

Step 5. Enthusiatic Podcaster reaches a unique download count of nearly 10,000 for each episode.

Step 6. Game Developers notice that this new-fangled podcasting thing on the interwebs might actually be something afterall.

Step 7. Game Developer’s publisher gets the ball rolling on their own podcast, featuring inside reports from the devs themselves, top quality audio with top quality equipment and an automatic listener-base of hundreds of thousands from the start. Who cares how enthusiastic they are.

Step 8. Enthusiastic Podcaster loses most of their listeners, resulting in the dreaded podfade.

Sony did it. Blizzard did it, and now NC Soft is doing it. We all knew it was coming, and quite honestly, I’m surprised it took them so long. But it’s here.

Does this mean the end of grassroots podcasting? No, of course not. There will still be people who enjoy the real opinion from the real gamer. And to be quite honest, I think in a sick twisted way, this might be a good thing for podcasters. It gets the word out that podcasting isn’t some strange cult fad, and it’s growing.

All I ask of the devs is… don’t forget who started it.

Wow, what a crazy week it’s been. GuildCast is ending next week, so I’ve been making some preparations for that. The final episode is written and now it’s all up to recording, editing and releasing. Plus, this last weekend was the GuildCast Grand Finale Event ™ held during ConNooga in Chattanooga, TN.

The convention itself wasn’t much to gawk at right away. We got there like RIGHT WHEN THEY OPENED at noon on Friday and it was D to the EAD. But to be fair, this was the first day of the first year of this con. I’m sure it will only get better.

We walked around a bit, mainly looking for other people, but also to get a feel for the event’s layout in case a mad rush of people suddenly stormed in, throwing off our equilibrium completely.

Well, that never happened, but it was at least making fun of the fact that it was not an amazing time.

The next day, on Saturday, we got in around noon as well and there were considerably more people there. Still not to the level of PAX or E3, but it was a nice-sized turnout. Saturday made it all worth it, definitely.

I placed my assortment of podcast stickers and flyers out on our “Fan group table” and we were off to see the rest of the con. To me, anywhere where there’s live music that’s halfway decent is an automatic good time. Extra points if they play 80’s music and dress in silly costumes. So when we saw Radio Cult I was thoroughly entertained. Sarah thinks it’s because of the bubbly (i.e. completely insane) lead singer chick, but they were all very talented. I did make a suggestion (to Sarah) that they change the name of their group to Attention Whore. What? Seriously, that’d be an awesome band name.

Afterwards, a few of us got together at the hotel bar and drank the evening away. It’s always fun to be the sober one in a group of drunk people while they tell you how they REALLY feel about you and your podcast, including what other people have told them. Yes. Fun.

On Sunday we had to get to the convention center at 10 because apparently I was speaking at a Podcasting Panel. Boy am I sure glad I got there with about 5 hours of sleep under my belt, because it would have been a shame for those 2 people to miss my infinite wisdom on podcasting. Pedantics aside, if those guys actually make a podcast and were inspired by something I (or the other podcasters on the panel) said, then it was seriously worth it. I wish them the best of luck.

The weekend wound down and we all decided it wasn’t so bad afterall. Granted, the most fun we had was outside of the con, with just a few of us hanging out together doing the hokey Chattanooga touristy stuff, but it was worth it.

Now, I have my sites set on PAX 08. If it’s even half as fun as it was last year, I’ll be there in a heartbeat, but the way that event has been growing each year, I imagine it will be even larger and more fun this year than last.

For the remainder of the week, I’ve spent every day so far doing an interview with someone new from the Tabula Rasa Community. Last night John and I interviewed Tia, the European Community Coordinator for NCSoft. That was really a blast and I’m so glad she agreed to do that with us. All day at work today I’m thinking about how much I want to go home and edit that thing. Stupid work getting in the way of the important stuff!

Last night I released the first teaser trailer for my new podcast novel due out this March 1st. Strangely enough, I haven’t announced the release of the trailer on any of my podcasts yet. Heck, I haven’t announced this blog on any of my podcasts yet, either. In due time though, I will.

I’m especially excited about what the future has in store for my first podcast novel. I’m excited about the feedback I may get (good or bad) and generally how people like it. Since I have several ideas for more podcast novels, or even traditional print novels, I’m eager to discover the potential for a fanbase.

Head on over to the book’s website to listen to the first teaser trailer. Plus, stay tuned for another teaser trailer coming soon, and the first real installment of Eve of Adam to be released on March 1st.

As a podcaster myself, I guess it’s no big surprise that I also enjoy listening to other podcasts. I usually try to avoid the ones within the same topics as mine, because I don’t even want to know what they’re doing. I know that might sound like the opposite of what I should do, but I do what I want. I run with 12 gangs, I do what I want. Whateva.

One of the podcasts that I’ve been faithful to throughout my limited attention span interest level is the PC Gamer podcast. I’ve always enjoyed roundtable podcasts where people who actually know what they’re talking about, talk about the stuff they know about. Plus, I once had the pleasure of interviewing Kristen Salvatore (the now-Editor-In-Chief of the magazine) and we’ve corresponded a few times since then. BUT… yeah, you knew there was going to be a but, right? I need to go on a Dan Stapleton rant.

Dan Stapleton, I must admit was one of the guys on the show who I liked early on. He has an opinion, isn’t afraid to share it, and he is a huge Fallout fan. So we share that, right off the bat. But lately, I’ve found myself just wincing every time he opens his mouth. Not only does he repeat every single word he says two two times.. uh, times before before, he uh, says says uhhh it it.. uh…. but he also cuts everyone off all the time, which drives me up the effing wall. The worst is when someone is trying to talk (usually Norm) and Dan has to TALK LOUDER AND LOUDER SO HE CAN BE HEARD FIRST AND WIN…. then the point that he was so insistent on making…. just sucks because he’s stammering all over the place.

Dan Stapleton aside, I still listen to the show for many many reasons that equal out his annoyingocity. Of course there’s Kristen, who even if I didn’t kindof know, I still like her because she has this wicked sense of humor, and you just know somewhere deep down, behind the scenes, she’s probably the one with all the fart jokes.

Gary Witta, I LOVE. He is absolutely hilarious, very witty and extremely knowledgable about gaming in general. He is also the only one on the panel who gives MMOs any kind of nod. But, that said, I find his cry-baby approach to the show to be disappointing at times. The worst was a recent one where Dan said something about him, in that Dan-Stapleton-way of half-kidding, and Gary decided he was going to pout the rest of the show and not say anything. Very unprofessional, but I admit, entertaining nonetheless.

Everyone else on the show does a decent job and keeps professional, especially Jeremy Williams who seems to act as the anchor on occasion. That might stem from the fact that he’s the one who has to edit the show afterwards, and I know how that goes when your mind is focused on “I wish these guys would get back on track, this is going to be a b**** to edit”, but he does a great job. Sometimes though, I wish he would take the nerf bat to Dan Stapleton, but that would increase post-production time ten-fold, I’m sure. Maybe he could develop a macro that deleted every second word automatically. Then Dan would sound as coherent as the rest of the crew.

Well, I’ve saved the best for last because this person makes the show for me, and when they host, I actually save those episodes on my harddrive. I am, of course speaking of Senior Editor Logan Decker. His completely left-field sense of humor SLAYS ME. His Cat Fantastic episodes, and his love for squirrels, and those game-show themes he does…. wow. I actually find myself getting mildly aroused when I discover that he’s hosting an episode. If he had his own podcast, just about what goes on in that fascinating mind of his, I’d subscribe and buy the t-shirt.

So anyway, before I start telling you all my plans to name my pets and my next Tabula Rasa character after Mr Decker, I’ll stop here. In all, I really enjoy the podcast. I still listen every week and I hope they never stop. It’s the only “corporate” podcast that I listen to and can stand, because even though they’re all paid to do it, it’s still just them BSing about games and ripping on each other and having fun.