Always Go Right

Well, I have a special announcement to make in this very post. After all these years, I can finally admit it. I'm Ceciliantas.

Okay, no - I'm just kidding, but if you got that I'm impressed by your memory. My actual announcement is that I'm here to tell you about a brand spanking new website: Always Go Right.

What is this new website, you ask? Well, about 14 months ago I started my own gold-farming and power-leveling company in Peru. I felt that the public would be quite interested in the ins-and-outs of this new venture. This new website will take you inside my world and tell you about the day to day life of farming for gold and items and about the wacky bunch of employees I've come to love. Okay, you got me - I'm just kidding again.

But the new website, Always Go Right, is for real and actually covers all manner of geeky topics. And don't worry, it's not just me, there is a group of writers including myself, Karnatos and Anskiere, with Bandit joining us soon. And even though today is the official launch, there are 37 posts already published for you to check out, as we've been "warming up" over the last month or so.

We've all been very connected to the geek community at some point or another but have also stepped away from it for a time. This is our journey to reclaim our geekhood and to learn about all the fascinating interests and subcultures that exist in this wonderful world. We will discuss the things we are passionate about: technology, fantasy and sci-fi novels or movies, comics and anime, and, of course, games. But that's just a thumbnail - you'll have to follow along to see what else happens!

We are officially launching today, Sunday, July 27, in honor of Gary Gygax's birthday. As a geek icon and the co-creator of a game that has touched our lives in tremendous fashion, both directly and indirectly, we salute him. So for the next ten days, we'll be focusing on the topic of Gygax and D&D. But we will be mixing in a variety of other items during that time, before embarking on our wide-ranging quest. And you can get a taste for the normal content of the site in the archives.

But I promise you, we're just getting started. So I urge you to bookmark the site and add it to your feed-reader. And please comment on whatever interests you or contact us with your ideas. We rely on your input and contribution and know the community is the most important thing. Well, go head over there already!

If you're curious about the details, I'll explain how this came about. I took a break from playing MMO's and from writing for quite a while. The urge to write came back more quickly than the urge to play MMO's. So whenever I read a great fantasy novel or saw a horrible sci-fi movie or played a cool board game, I thought, "This would make a great post!" But I love this blog and want to keep it the way it is. I've been posting more and following MMO news carefully. I'm definitely getting tempted to start playing again. I'm going to give in very soon and then I can get back to my more detailed analyses and jokes. But for the other topics, I thought a fresh start was the way to go.

If there's one thing I've learned with this blog, it's that it is best to find a very small niche you are knowledgeable about and stick with it. So of course, I've completely ignored that lesson by opening Always Go Right to a wide variety of topics. But it will be fun.

I have long wanted to do something as a community effort. The best part of this website was always the community: the comments, the forums, the wild roleplaying game, the collaborative pieces, the guild that sprung up. So I wanted to do something that was truly a team project, that would allow the different points of views and divergent interests to make us stronger than we would be alone. If you've been reading this blog from the beginning you'll certainly recognize the names of the other people involved. They've been supporters and contributors to this site for a long time and I think we're a great team.

Finally, this new site allowed me to learn about WordPress from the ground up. It may not seem like it, but Karn and I have spent months on Skype for hours each night debating and tweaking every detail.

Many changes from this site are obvious: the artwork, WordPress, the design. But there are a few items I wanted to specifically address.

Advertising: You know I've never advertised anything at all on this site, never even put up a single referral link. I honestly never even thought about it - it's just about passion for the subject. And we're doing AGR with the same exact passion, all of us. But we've included some advertising since we have big goals for the website and some of those cost money. I'm happy to finance the initial outlay but no one is going to be comfortable with me endlessly pouring money into the site. We're not in this for the money. In fact, we've all agreed to put whatever small amounts we earn directly back into the website.

But I am very aware of the ethical dangers and issues that come with advertising, even if it's for the right reasons. I get way too annoyed all the time at things I see in the mainstream media and even some blogs. I am very committed to giving you the most honest, transparent experience possible. No advertising will ever affect content and it will always be disclosed. I could go on about this forever, and, actually, I already have. If you visit the About tab on the new site you can read in much greater detail about our policies and about the specifics of the advertising used. If anything changes, I will be sure to update you.

If you ever do see a gold-farming ad, let me know so I can block it (I've already put several filters in place). Or if that becomes a problem, we'll switch to a different type of ad entirely. We're still learning.

Language: This blog has always been completely work-safe both in terms of images and in terms of the actual language. But with a team of writers and guest writers to come there is no way I would censor anyone's writing or tell them they can't curse if that's the way they do their best work. So, while the website will always be worksafe, some of the language may be strong. It hasn't worked out that way yet, but I'm being upfront about things.

If you've read all this - thank you! I hope you'll not only visit Always Go Right but keep checking back there and become part of the community. As for this blog, nothing will change from the norm here. I'll take a week to focus on the new website but I think things here will only get better as I get sucked back into MMO-land.

So join our quest for the Fountain of Geek and remember to always go right! I look forward to hearing from you. And I look forward to this new adventure.