Change is good

I find it funny that even in the "new media" people can still seem to have their "fifteen minutes" of fame and then essentially disappear into the world wide web. However, sometimes it's not that simple. What they did to bring them to the forefront of one community stopped but, they came to the forefront of another community later on. It just seems that in this large world of the internet, people can be so closed in, thinking of only their own communities and not realizing there are massive amounts of others out there. It is hard to wrap your head around, I will admit.

One specific person I am talking about is my friend Cranius. Anyone who is a fan of World of Warcraft machinima will remember the song "Big Blue Dress" that seemed to sweep the WoW community back in 2005. After awhile, Cranius seemed to just disappear. Not too many people heard from him ever again. They just didn't know where to look.

Cranius is still very much "alive" as it were. He has a website http://www.cranius.com where he writes interesting commentary and news on different video games that come out. He has also written some very good pieces on machinima and the community as a whole. He has made a couple of more videos, one of them showing off the use of model viewer. He also has some links to the other machinima artists out there showing his support for the community.

Still, so many people wonder where he's gone. He hasn't gone anywhere. He has just taken a new approach to what he is doing. It almost seems like he dropped a bit behind the scenes, letting life itself take priority. His blog has taken a turn towards gaming in general but still includes the machinima community. He has a guild in World of Warcraft and has gotten some very high PVP ranks on his server.

Yeah, the guy hasn't made another "Big Blue Dress" but he certainly is doing something very good. I just find it amusing that Cranius isn't the only one people think this about. They are "known" for one project or one specific thing they have done. If they don't deliver the same thing over again people forget about them. They may just want to try something new. The beauty of the internet is it allows you to try something new without worry.

I've had a similar thing happen to me. So many people still want to hear me time and time again "do the Draenei impression". Yes, I still do it for kicks and I enjoy it still. Many others want me to talk about World of Warcraft all the time like I used to. I think what some people don't understand is World of Warcraft isn't my only interest. I have many interests and many games I enjoy playing. WoW is one of them.

Yes, I used to have TheX on a World of Warcraft station so, it was much more WoW-oriented. But, as I began to talk about WoW less and less, I began to belong there less and less. Once I pretty much quit playing the game all together, the show didn't belong there anymore. I had gone from a very heavy World of Warcraft show to general gaming and general geek talk. So, I moved on to a new network and the show now has a panel of rotating guest hosts.

I am enjoying every minute of this. I couldn't be happier with TheX and the new interaction I get every couple of weeks with new guest hosts. I love the vast array of topics I get to talk about and, never quite knowing how my guest host and I will interact. Still, I get so many people e-mail me saying "I wondered where you went. I thought you stopped doing your show. Why don't you talk about WoW anymore? Why don't you talk about _ anymore? Why don't you do this like you did with Alris or Speedy?" For the record, Alris and Speedyf40 were both the hosts of a show I co-hosted called User Interface.

Where did I go? Nowhere, I just moved elsewhere and changed it up a bit. Why don't I talk about WoW anymore? Because I have so many other interests and topics that are more/just as interesting. Why don't I talk about _ anymore? The same reason as just mentioned. Doing a regular segment with a regular host is one thing. That's why it worked with Alris and Speedy. I don't do that now because the guests hosts rotate and, part of the fun is we are always up in arms on topics. We just talk about common interests and go from there.

I enjoyed doing User Interface very much. It taught me a lot and, Alris and Speedy were both awesome hosts. I also enjoy doing TheX very much as well and, I enjoy where it's gone. I've gained a lot of new listeners who tell me how much they enjoy the show and, I love hearing from old friends who have found me again. Just remember, if you are one of those old friends that things do change and people can change around a little bit. Normally, this change is for the better.