Comments for Kaliope's WoW Crafting Blog

Comment on We are Moving! by Mikros

Mikros — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 17:27:30 +0000

Since it seems to be just bloggers left here, I thought I’d chime in on the technical side of our decision to move to Blogger.

As Kaliope mentioned, there were several things we were looking for that the WordPress.com setup did not allow for:

* Full control of the site template
* The use of JavaScript
* Google Analytics (which we use on our other sites)
* FeedBurner for our RSS traffic
* The freedom to run AdSense or other ads

As Kestrel pointed out, we could have gained these things by moving to a self-hosted WordPress. That’s actually the first option that we explored. I’ve run servers for years, so it’s definitely something we’re comfortable with. However, when you move to a self-hosted setup, you give up a huge asset — scalability.

If you get an inexpensive shared hosting setup, your site goes from running across a massive server farm (WordPress.com or Google) to just a slice of a single server. Granted, Kaliope’s blog isn’t regularly taking *massive* traffic, but I like to know that it can handle it if one of her posts gets picked up on a major site.

So, we had two solutions available that gave us everything we were looking for: self-hosted WordPress or Blogger. Blogger did so without compromising scalability, with no additional costs, and without the added maintenance of managing another server. In our eyes, it was the clear winner.

So far, I have nothing but good things to say about Blogger. It’s extremely flexible and easy to work with. They have a good selection of widgets, and their open-ended HTML/Javascript widget lets us add anything else we want. We were also able to adapt our Crafter’s Tome template with minor effort. It’s been a big win.

I understand that in some situations, the comment system isn’t quite as smooth as the WordPress one. Honestly though, we did try it out first, and neither of us even noticed. I see your point though, Kestrel, and if it proves to be an ongoing annoyance for Kaliope’s readers, there are a number of things we can do to address it.

Comment on We are Moving! by Kestrel

Kestrel — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 15:10:07 +0000

Kal, it’s not that I’m having problems with the commenting system there; it’s just that here, I can scroll to the comment box, type my comment (AND NOTHING ELSE) and hit submit.

If you read my blog, you know how strong an advocate I am for putting nothing between the blogger and the reader with respect to interaction. In my opinion, Blogspot severely constrains that interaction with its comment system.

With respect to stats and analytics: Check out Woopra.com (but quickly! — their slots are filling up and they will be closing the beta soon from what I understand).

Finally: It sounds to me like your blog is a serious candidate for self-hosting, and probably with a premium theme, in order to get all the things you’re looking for, with none of the restrictions of shared hosting.

Regards,

Kes

Comment on We are Moving! by Solidstate

Solidstate — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 08:03:56 +0000

> so we could use WoWHead mouse-over data like everyone else.

If I’m not mistaken, mmo-champion provide (and use) similar JavaScript tool-tip code which uses their own database – I’m not recommending it, just letting you know wowhead isn’t the only game in town :)

> so that’s our code that’s messing up.

Ah no my bad, it’s a local problem here. @work blocks various gaming sites including crafterstome.com :( Since the new site includes some CSS files which are pulled directly from there, they get blocked and the blog design seems broken. If you copy the CSS files to be local to blogspot (and update the HTML links of course) people like me will be able to continue to enjoy reading your blog during the day, otherwise I’ll have to settle for an evening update.

Comment on We are Moving! by kaliope

kaliope — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 07:47:49 +0000

Kestrel: Sorry to hear that the new comment system is causing problems, I’m sure Mikros will do everything he can to make that painless for everyone. But we’ve been frustrated for a while with the awful stats that WordPress provides. We also wanted something with JavaScript support so we could use WoWHead mouse-over data like everyone else. We felt like the WordPress system was holding us back from doing more interesting things with the blog, so we decided to move it. We’ll keep tweaking if we need to, we have no desire to drive readers away!

Solid: If you’re having a problem with the site design, that’s not BlogSpot. It’s using our Crafter’s Tome CSS, so that’s our code that’s messing up. You may want to drop an email to Mikros at Crafterstome and fill him in so he can find the problem :)

Comment on We are Moving! by Solidstate

Solidstate — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 06:36:36 +0000

While I haven’t had Kestrel’s experience I have read several other bloggers who always told the same story – moved from blogspot to wordpress in order to “have better control over the layout and content of our site.”

So I hope you’ve investigated this carefully, in any case GL with the move!

BTW as of this writing the http://crafterstome.blogspot.com/ site design seems broken, I can see the content but no style seems to have been applied (CSS files weren’t found maybe?)

Comment on Aion: A Crafting Review by Hagu

Hagu — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 05:22:31 +0000

My first toon was the only one I did anything besides two gathering professions before max level. Anything else just doesn’t make any economic sense in WoW atm; Although now I guess alchemy or JC @ 65 for the dailies. ( I don’t understand how you could spend 12.5k (net) on leveling a profession though, they are really quite cheap/quick to get 1-450 (excluding inscription.))

I have really been enjoying EVE Online; the crafting and economy is so much more intricate – no character levels, no BoP, virtually all gear is player crafted, and when you die your gear is destroyed so there will always be some demand.

Although in both games, I suspect that careful work at the auction house would tend to be more profitable/hour than actually crafting something.

Comment on We are Moving! by Kestrel

Kestrel — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 02:44:23 +0000

I must say, this is a rather disappointing turn of events. If nothing else, Blogspot makes it a lot harder for your readers to interact with you: The commenting system there is archaic, to say the least.

And as for better control over layout and content: For as little as $3/month, you could have unlimited control with a self-hosted blog. Even at WordPress.com, I have to believe there are more options available to you there than at Blogspot.

(Having started my own blog at Blogspot, then having moved to WordPress.com before self-hosting, I do believe I’m qualified to make these assessments.)

In any event, I do wish you continued success with the site: It’s a valuable resource for me and, I’m certain, hundreds of others!

Comment on Aion: A Crafting Review by Scrübby

Scrübby — Sat, 19 Sep 2009 01:17:34 +0000

Oddly enough I did feel like I was reading a crafting overview of Final Fantasy XI. Rein has it dead on. The moon phasing bit was extremely annoying to level a craft. And it didn’t award you levels, but rather 0.1 or if you’re lucky 0.2 of a whole point at a time. That wasn’t guaranteed either. Crafting really had no real reward in the game either in my own opinion. But that may depend on the craft you choose. I love the WoW crafting system and the risk vs. reward concept is much more favorable. I’ve actually been curious about Aion so this was very good information for me. As always Ms K, thanks a lot.

Comment on Yet More on Archaeology by Angel

Angel — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 14:59:25 +0000

From what I understand, it is going to be like Fishing and First Aid. It isn’t required to play the game, just an option that people can take. Very early models show it as a way to make money while leveling from 1 to 450, turning in artifacts for gold or tokens, or selling them on the AH like selling fish. Once you hit the cap, you learn how to excavate Titan Relics, which are used to slowly progress your character AFTER you hit the level cap. The purpose of the Path of the Titans is so that as you play at Lv.85, you still get to “level up” every week or two, gaining more stats, and unlocking abilities that are similar to Inscription Glyphs or Talents.

Comment on Aion: A Crafting Review by chris

chris — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 07:23:58 +0000

I was wondering have you tried Perfect World and is it in anyway comparable to Aion………Thankyou Chris