Almost three years ago to the day I launched this silly little blog, unaware that it would go on for as long as it has. When I launched the blog itself, it was mostly a way to just get some consistent content up on the main page to supplement the glut of videos we made. Oh how hard the pendulum has swung in the other direction however, with several different features and articles existing in stark contrast to the zero amount of videos we make. While having to write something every week for the past 3 years might sound like a burden, it’s actually been exactly what I needed to keep me going creatively.

The blog really has been this cathartic hobby of mine that I sometimes wish I didn’t have to do. You might say, “but you don’t have to do it,” to which I’d reply, “If I don’t do this I’ll die.” Maybe that’s a bit dramatic, but at this point I really can’t imagine not writing a blog post every week. It’s become such a staple of my routine and such an important hobby of mine that even when I’m at my laziest and don’t feel like doing it, I know that I’d hate myself if I skipped a week.

I’ve gone through long stretches of time where my motivation to do anything creative was basically nonexistent, but having the self-imposed dead-line and sense of necessity with the blog has always kept me from just spiraling out of control. Especially during the pandemic it’s been incredibly easy to lose track of the days and time in general, but having that weekly goal where I have to write something has kept me from just losing weeks of my life to nothingness.

The blog is very special to me, but even I can see that I’ve kind of reduced its relevance thanks to other features I’ve introduced on this site. Talking about a game on a blog might seem like a wasted opportunity for a Gut Check, or talking about D&D should probably be confined to a The Master of Disaster feature. It’s become increasingly difficult to delineate what makes for a blog versus one of those features, but that just means the blog gets to be about wider topics that aren’t just about video games and TTRPGs or whatever.

The important thing to remember is that I love doing all of this, not just the blog but The Bonus World in general. The blog has been the most enduring creative thing I’ve ever done, easily outlasting any other written feature and probably and video thing in my past, and I don’t see it ending anytime soon. I truly appreciate your continued support and engagement with the blog and The Bonus World at large, and I hope you continue to enjoy it as time goes on. Thank you.

Has it really been two years since I launched the blog on this website?  No, it hasn’t been actually.  We reached that milestone over a month ago, specifically on March 13th, but only really remembered it just now thanks to the whirlwind nightmare that’s been 2020 thus far.  But let’s not dwell on that for a moment, because I want to thank you all for sticking with me for this long.

Sure this is only the anniversary of a particular feature on this website, but the blog is actually wildly important to The Bonus World, because it was the first reoccurring feature I launched on the site.  It made me write a few paragraphs a week which was monumentally impactful on where I’d end up going with my writing.

Because of the blog, my love and passion for writing was reignited and it paved the way for every other written feature you see on the site.  I’m extraordinarily proud of the blog as well as The Bonus World as a whole, and it’s largely because of how well it’s all been received by you guys.  So thank you.

I don’t know what’s next for the blog itself, let alone the entire site, but I know that I’m having a fantastic time writing these features and articles for you all to enjoy.  I also believe it’s been the one year or so anniversary of me saying that video content is in the works?  Yeah… coming up with video ideas worth executing on has been challenging to say the least.  So maybe don’t hold your breath on that stuff just yet.

Regardless, thank you for reading the blog along with everything else on the site.  Your support means more to me than you could ever know.  I know things suck right now and we’re all looking for an outlet from the nightmare that is our everyday lives, and I’m happy that I can help distract you all, at least momentarily.  Thank you again.

– Ari

Holy moly you guys, it’s been a year of The Bonus World blog!  I wish I had something special prepared for the occasion, but these things just kind of sneak up on you when you least expect it.

I can’t thank you all enough for your support over this past year, and I hope that I can continue to write interesting or at the very least, entertaining things for you to read in the future.

Like I said, I didn’t have anything prepared for this eventuality, so I guess while we’re here I’ll highlight some of my favorite blogs from the past year.

THE FIRST ONE

The first blog I did is probably worth mentioning, right?  It was just a rundown of some of the games I was playing at the time.  Kind of on-the-nose, but a good starting point to say the least.

THE ONE ABOUT THAT PODCAST I LIKE

So I wrote a post about a D&D podcast I love, and I think it’s more relevant to me now than ever before, considering I’m currently DMing my first campaign ever.  This podcast was my inspiration for getting deep into D&D and even attempting being a DM.  For that alone, I think it’s worth highlighting.

THE ONE WITH THE BEST TITLE

Yeah, like, I don’t even remember what I wrote about, but the title is something I’m immensely proud of.  YeeHalloween should be an official holiday.

THE GENUINE ONE

The holidays are rough.  I went through it, and I know plenty of others did too.  I normally like to keep it fairly lighthearted around here, but I felt it was worth talking about.  So yeah, check it out.

You can look at those if you like, I won’t tell you what to do, but the real message here is that I’m eternally grateful for your support.  Thank you for everything, and we’ll be back with another blog at the same time, next week.