It was a very weird moment the other day, as I sat there in front of my computer doing the Twisted Gamer Radio podcast for the final time. I made a point to talk about all of the many great things that happened on our little slice of the internet called Loot-Ninja.com, but I also let people into the amount of shock and sadness that overcame me when I found out the news that the website is going away.
Being the writer that I am, I immediately started typing. This was a great way for me to slowly deal with what was happening around me, as well as get my thoughts out there in written form. After it was all said and done, I had over 1,900 words. Now I know I’m long winded (looks over at Jen), but 1,900 words in 20 minutes? This obviously affected me greatly.
I think if and when I move on to another video game blog or website, that I will never treat it the same way as I did with Loot Ninja - my first real writing gig. The circumstances and way in which I came into Loot Ninja and the events that followed, I don't think there will be another blog I care about like it. I didn't want to be yet another person to leave. I didn't want to tarnish my reputation that was put upon me to help out with writing. Part of the reason I think I stayed around so long was to not let Matt and Steve down again, even though I only met Matt in person once and only talked to them both once or twice on the Loot Ninja podcast.
To give a back story on this, I started writing for Loot Ninja in 2008 around July. I sent in a "resume paragraph" about the Gears of War 2 double XP weekend, and made sure to put as much humor and sarcastic comments in there as I could. It was dripping with comedy, going even so far as to ask the readers to salute the American way during the weekend by playing Gears 2, standing up, dropping trough, and saluting the flag. Needless to say, out of a group of candidates, I got the job.
For the next 2 years or so, I pounded away on the keyboard, slaved away looking at countless video game blogs, and scoured YouTube for any sort of game themed video I could find to post.
During the heyday of the site and numerous writers signed on, we had the Loot Ninja podcast. After about 3 months or so of doing the podcast, work, busy lives, and other things got in the way of doing and editing the podcast, so it was time to hang up the mics.
Cut to four months later.
I’ve always wanted to do a podcast. I've always wanted to talk to fellow gamers, and I've always wanted to get my voice out there on iTunes and the internet. It also didn’t help the fact that I already had enough content to fill two podcasts, partly in fact that I had these amazing conversations in the break room at work during lunch with my good buddy Dalyn – who is perfectly suited for my comedic stylings. When you talk to your buddy on IM and during lunch for 3 years, this happens. You slowly start to realize their speech pattern, get into a cadence with each other, and notice where there are spaces to interject and de-rail the conversation if you want to.
I’ve always wanted to do a podcast. I've always wanted to talk to fellow gamers, and I've always wanted to get my voice out there on iTunes and the internet. It also didn’t help the fact that I already had enough content to fill two podcasts, partly in fact that I had these amazing conversations in the break room at work during lunch with my good buddy Dalyn – who is perfectly suited for my comedic stylings. When you talk to your buddy on IM and during lunch for 3 years, this happens. You slowly start to realize their speech pattern, get into a cadence with each other, and notice where there are spaces to interject and de-rail the conversation if you want to.
There were a lot of great conversations and funny bits in that podcast, and some of my fondest, funnest moments can forever be found in an audio file on my computer.
Both of these ventures - Loot Ninja and Twisted Gamer Radio - were passions of mine and parts of my daily life that I will struggle with to fill. The writing articles at work, uploading videos to springboard, and doing the podcast every week took up a significant amount of time out of my daily life. These are hours now that will need to be filled with something; I'm not so sure my regular job is capable of doing this. After I settled into my new job and got the hang of it, I made time in my day to write an article or two for Loot Ninja, as well as scour the internet for news, ideas, and articles.
I will not however, say "goodbye" to Loot Ninja or it's crew. That's why this is a "parting ways" post. Because I feel maybe one day later on down the road we'll be able to come back and make the proper time for Loot Ninja. We always said that when we weren't able to do the site to it's fullest, that we would stop, and that time has come sadly, but it might not last forever.
Both of these ventures - Loot Ninja and Twisted Gamer Radio - were passions of mine and parts of my daily life that I will struggle with to fill. The writing articles at work, uploading videos to springboard, and doing the podcast every week took up a significant amount of time out of my daily life. These are hours now that will need to be filled with something; I'm not so sure my regular job is capable of doing this. After I settled into my new job and got the hang of it, I made time in my day to write an article or two for Loot Ninja, as well as scour the internet for news, ideas, and articles.
I will not however, say "goodbye" to Loot Ninja or it's crew. That's why this is a "parting ways" post. Because I feel maybe one day later on down the road we'll be able to come back and make the proper time for Loot Ninja. We always said that when we weren't able to do the site to it's fullest, that we would stop, and that time has come sadly, but it might not last forever.
I hope to transfer some of that time now to this blog here. You might have already noticed I updated the design here and re-arranged a lot of the widgets on it. This should suffice for what I need it for - a way to write and get certain ideas out of my head. It should actually be better for you - the reader - because it will allow me to talk about all sorts of things in the world - not just video game themed posts. I do plan on bringing back the Twisted Gamer Radio podcast. It will sound very similar mind you, but like the blog here, it will not be so much video game themed as it once was. Stay tuned kiddies. It's gonna get real.
Justin M.
