TL has a history of people making enormous pronouncements without waiting for any evidence to bear a theory out, so now is the perfect opportunity for me to stand up and make an effort to make some incisive observation before anyone can refute/repudiate with fancy things like "evidence" or "common sense."
Look to your left; look back immediately afterwards though, I don't want to lose you guys.
Alright, tell me what you see in the featured blogs section. Do you see a list of blog posts of significantly higher quality than those below? Are they the must-read blogs you'd hope to see in a Featured Blogs section? Are these the blogs you'd have in your RSS, if RSS weren’t so arcane and incomprehensible?
The Current Competition in Blogsports is a Farce
There are ways to understand this. There are analogues. As Plexa has suggested, there are certain approaches to the construction of a competitive scene that stand to stunt the development of the competition itself. Look down the list of featured bloggers, look at all the names you recognise, even us washed up probloggers who've been languishing for months (please, this isn't about me).
There is a rising tide, new bloggers swelling up to crush the old. Gheed is prime among them, but for every Gheed there are a hundred potential greats who haven't caught your eye yet. Beautiful minds with beautiful girl blogs, waiting for their chance, their shot at the featured blogs section. You haven't seen them because they're not being sponsored. They're not on the problogging teams.
In the early days of competitive SC2, the speculation was that that the presence of so many Brood War players (whose skill would clearly be sufficient to immediately dominate SC2 competition as soon as they took it into their pretty little heads to switch games) rendered all games in a poor light. The summation of that post was that there was a shadow cast across every game of SC2 and, with so many games ending with flaky rushes, it was hard to argue. A spectre was haunting esports - the spectre of Brood War.
Now, a shadow has been cast across blogsports. We find ourselves in a world of stagnant ideas, devoid of romance. Where have all the girl blogs gone? The future is bright though, the future is beautiful. The blogging metagame is so deep... think about what we've been given.
Gentlemen, we have our league. All you need do is reach out and take it.
I have a dream, a dream of a world in which metaphors mix freely and clichéd quotes clutter the bottom of a blog post. The Blog Ladder has been expanded; we have our Grandmasters. Nothing is perfect from the outset, but you can fix it.
Blog harder, blog better. Depose them. They deserve it.
Don't look to the featured blogs for content.
Look to them for targets.
1. Massive thanks to FuseFuse for whipping up the Blog League medal/icon :D
i skip over the featured blogs (unless i see a capitalized Elephant) because the best blogs are the ones by people who dont take it seriously. the girl blogs, the help me blogs, the rage blogs.... also, i have wondered why blogs are getting featured and i heard that its based on rankings, but when you look at rankings you'll see very few people actually vote on blogs. but whatever....
I think featured blogs should be the same as featured threads instead of sorted by ratings. Some users get high ratings regardless of their content just because they're long time TeamLiquid veterans.
Personally i think tl should find a group of people who are willing to read as many blogs as possible and discuss amongst themselves what blogs should be featured, rather than featuring every blog from some of the better bloggers on tl.
On April 26 2012 08:26 neoghaleon55 wrote: I think featured blogs should be the same as featured threads instead of sorted by ratings. Some users get high ratings regardless of their content just because they're long time TeamLiquid veterans.
Rating Inflation is a problem.
I'll rate your blog a 5 if you rate mine a 5.
Actually, I just realized I don't have a blog. Need to get on that. Hopefully I can go straight from bronze to GM with my first entry.
On April 26 2012 08:26 neoghaleon55 wrote: I think featured blogs should be the same as featured threads instead of sorted by ratings. Some users get high ratings regardless of their content just because they're long time TeamLiquid veterans.
Rating Inflation is a problem.
I'll rate your blog a 5 if you rate mine a 5.
Actually, I just realized I don't have a blog. Need to get on that. Hopefully I can go straight from bronze to GM with my first entry.
MATCHFIXING IN PRO BLOGGING SCANDAL READ MORE ON RAKAKA
On April 26 2012 08:26 neoghaleon55 wrote: I think featured blogs should be the same as featured threads instead of sorted by ratings. Some users get high ratings regardless of their content just because they're long time TeamLiquid veterans.
Rating Inflation is a problem.
I'll rate your blog a 5 if you rate mine a 5.
Actually, I just realized I don't have a blog. Need to get on that. Hopefully I can go straight from bronze to GM with my first entry.
I really liked this post. Anyone who has read my blog knows what I bring, and I will RELENTLESSLY work to receive a spot in the featured section. I am determined, and I hope I can make some people laugh in the process.
On April 26 2012 08:26 neoghaleon55 wrote: I think featured blogs should be the same as featured threads instead of sorted by ratings. Some users get high ratings regardless of their content just because they're long time TeamLiquid veterans.
Rating Inflation is a problem.
I'll rate your blog a 5 if you rate mine a 5.
Actually, I just realized I don't have a blog. Need to get on that. Hopefully I can go straight from bronze to GM with my first entry.
MATCHFIXING IN PRO BLOGGING SCANDAL READ MORE ON RAKAKA
Translated from a Korean article: "Mr. B" told "Mr. J" to make an intentionally controversial blog post to amass 1's, all while betting against "Mr. J"'s ratings on a popular problogbetting site.
On April 26 2012 08:57 FuDDx wrote: I'm still reeling from my last blog rating fail hahaha.
This just in: Also implicated in the scandal is a "Mr. F", whose last blog was clearly thrown.