There are quite a number of charismatic voices in the OSR (old school renaissance) corner of the broader role-playing community and one, as distinctive as his name, is Venger Satanis of Venger's Old School Gaming Blog. Author and publisher of gonzo, weierd science/fantasy scenarios, you're unlikely to mistake Venger's work for that of anyone else.
(1) How long have you been blogging, and how’d you get into it in the first place?
I had no idea about when I started, so I cheated by going to my blog and searching for the very first entry, which was March 14, 2013.
Everyone has probably forgotten about this, but I actually created a blog a couple of weeks before that. See, back then I didn't realize you could blog for free. I assumed creating a decent looking blog that got even a small amount of traffic was going to cost me money every month.
I wanted to write about RPG stuff, but didn't want this to be another internet expense that wouldn't pay for itself. I got suckered into this pyramid scheme type "business" called The Empowerment Network. That was me believing I could make a little money while also talking about gaming, working on some game design stuff on the side, etc. That blog was pretty much a black hole of spam... and shame.
It didn't take me long to realize I had made a horrible mistake and shut that blog down and created my current one, Venger's Old School Gaming Blog.
(2) What do you blog about, and how frequently do you post?
A big news item in the RPG industry, my review of some RPG product, news about my own RPG company Kort'thalis Publishing, session reports, what it's like being a Game Master, the nature of roleplaying, and occasionally I'll talk about the movies I like.
My frequency is about 10 blog posts a month, on average.
(3) How does your blog stand out from all the rest?
Everything I blog about is extremely subjective and opinionated. It's all my perspective, from sessions I've Game Mastered to what I believe is the essence of OSR.
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| Alpha Blue: Venger's parody of '70s and '80s sci-fi, a self-contained game and a campaign guide set around an alien bordello in space |
(4) What’s the best (and worst) thing about blogging?
The best thing is communicating my passion for RPGs to the online world. Many individuals comment with feedback or just to tell me they enjoyed reading my posts. That communication can snowball into really great stuff, like publishing another RPG book or discovering something about roleplaying that I never realized until my understanding evolved organically... through just talking it out.
The worst? I don't mind the time it takes, though that sometimes leaves less time for other pursuits. There's a certain pressure to maintain the blog in terms of quality and quantity, but that's also not too bad. Occasional negative reactions to something I've written might be the worst, although, that's hardly a reason to stop.
(5) Do you have any self-imposed rules (or guidelines) for your blog?
I never post multiple times per day. I just think that shortchanges the blog post that came before and makes the site look like it's pooping out hastily written content that doesn't hold up on its own. A few bloggers can do that sort of thing well, without their blog suffering. I cannot.
But then I also feel bad if I haven't posted in over a week, feeling more or less duty-bound to write at least every seven to 10 days, unless I'm on vacation or something. And it's a crying shame to click on a favourite blog that hasn't been updated in several weeks. I know all our lives are busy, but come on! Just set a couple hours aside each month.
I also make sure my posts are well written. Errors and whatnot still creep in, but I do go back, revising and editing the post several times before sharing it with others.
(6) Name one blog everyone should be reading (other than your own).
Just one? Haha, there are quite a few blogs that I hate-read, others that I hope-read, and some I click on because of an interesting title or picture or TL;DR blurb.
For sheer enthusiasm and support, I'll go ahead and nominate Eric Fabiaschi's blog: Swords & Stitchery.
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| The Islands Of Purple-Haunted Putrescence: A bonkers sandbox hexcrawl in a lost world of Snake-Men, dinosaurs, and mutant sorcerers |
Nice! I remember VS back in the days when we were both active on RPG.Net.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Tim. These interviews are both fun and inspirational for me, it's good to hear that someone else is enjoying them as well ;-)
DeleteSweet! Thanks for the Q&A, Tim. It was fun and, I hope, informative. ;)
ReplyDeleteCheers, Venger, your enthusiasm was much appreciated.
DeleteGreat interview and thanks for the shout out gentlemen. Great blog and I follow all of the time.
DeleteCheers Venger and Tim Knight
Thanks for dropping by, Eric!
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