Blogs

[namastaii]

So I started a blog... I'm not really sure if I'm turning it into like.. a 'development' blog or just a blog that talks about my game in general or other things related to visual novels/date sims etc. What I'm wondering is .. how worth it is it keeping a blog? Does anyone have one and does it get read? lol I haven't released any pictures or anything because I am currently redesigning every element in the game so I know that is a huge factor in whether the blog would get any attention or not.

What are some things you blog about?

[Ark]

So I keep a development blog just as a way to post updates/keep track of things for anyone who is interested. It's great if you have followers but unless you get a lot of attention it won't get read.

It all depends on where you send the link out - since the traffic will be what makes the attention grow.

[namastaii]

I haven't really been too serious about it yet so the only place the link is available right now is on my signature.

[MoonByte]

Well, I do it for fun (if someone reads it, then I'd even question how they found it ), mostly because I try to improve my development blog writing skills since I need to have a blog for my university related projects and I am only mediocre at them xD
In theory, it might be worth it, but it depends on what you see worth IN.
Do you want advertisment? Attention? Do you want to get players or other developers interested?
If you know what you aim for, you can modify your posts for it.

A player will not be interested in things that might spoil the game (you putting up sketches of late-game characters or showing script from any scene that isn't just little flavour text) or is "boring" (30 sketch variations of a vase in search for the right design for that apartement background). They want to be teased, feel special by seeing some things first or in development, but the things need to be cool (for example, if you make a shooter, then teasing one of the possible weapons is a good choice, but only images of good quality will interest them, not a low-poly model without any textures).
Of course, if you make episodic things, then you can always "spoil" things for the previous episode. Development Tumblrs like those from Steven Universe, Gumball or Over The Garden Wall are good examples.

If you want to use the blog for a serious career in gaming/media, then you need to do it totally different though. There is NO such thing as spoilers. They want to see your process of working, the better you document and present it, the better. Don't just show the main character, show them from all sides, close-ups, details, various expressions. Show all the sketches that lead to that one design of them. You have a background image? Show how you set the perspective up, how it looked without the decoration obejects, go full on from sketch over lineart to finished piece with moodlighting and whatnot.
Your aim isn't to advertise the game, but to advertise yourself. You want to impress people and make them interested in hiring you.

A blog in and of itself is ok, in fact it can be a very good idea.
But it depends on why you want it, what you plan to do with it. Once you know that, everything else (content, presentation) has to be made and uploaded to properly represent that. Simply putting pictures on it without considering your target audience will not make any difference (unless you have a solid fanbase, they usually are happy whenever their idol gives them something, but I assume, you're not that far [yet]).

[somestrangecircus]

My blog is for both development updates on my projects and game reviews, mostly for visual novels and interactive fiction but occasionally dabbling in such fun games as HuniePop. I want to branch out into articles a bit more, too.