Last week, instead of jumping right into the topic, I instead took a moment to reflect on the fact that ten years really is a long time. Most of, perhaps even all, our blogging peers from 2013 have moved onto other things by now, but we’re still chugging right along somehow. Why is that?

If you’d asked me back in 2013 how that could possibly be, I’d probably assume that the site had grown into something large enough to be a job. I’d think that it’d be on the same level as GameRant or something. Of course, that’s not what’s happened: we’ve more or less stayed put in our happy little nook, and, oddly enough, that might be part of it. Aside from that though, honestly, I think the biggest reason we’re still around is that Virtual Bastion is and has always been a team effort.

I doubt anyone besides myself and probably Duck and Cary remembers anymore, but I used to run my own solo blog back in the days before Virtual Bastion. It was called “My Two Caps” and was basically just a wall upon which to post and share my gaming thoughts. It was also something that I grew rather bored with very quickly. Since it was just me, it was easy to justify not making posts, and it became all to easy to just not put much effort into them. Honestly, I was kind of glad to close that site and put my time into Virtual Bastion (then United We Game) instead.

Right from the beginning, working on Virtual Bastion felt completely different from working on My Two Caps. It was (and still is) fun making plans and bouncing ideas off of Cary and the Duck of Indeed, and it was important to always put my best effort forward with my writing. Working as part of a team and setting a defined content schedule also helped to integrate blogging into my weekly routine.

Really, having people you’re accountable to makes all the difference when it comes to extracurricular projects like this, I think. Back then, and even now, I don’t think I could just let my posting days go by without content since I need to do my part. (It also helps that writing for Virtal Bastion is still interesting of course, but, if we’re being real here, having the obligation really helps one to make the time, you know?)

There’s also the size of the site and our occupying just a small nook of the internet rather than growing into a larger content platform. My life has undergone several shake-ups over the past decade, enough that I don’t know if I could realistically have kept up with the site if it were any bigger. For better or worse though, Virtual Bastion has largely remained just that: a cozy spot away from daily life to just talk about gaming things.

Most importabtly though, I’d say Cary and the Duck are the biggest reason for Virtual Bastion’s long and continuing life span. Working with them, planning our events and seeing the things they come up with is a big part of what makes the blog fun to do, I think. It also helps that they always bring a real and infectious enthusiasm to our projects, so even if I’m otherwise not too happy with what’s going on outside of Virtual Bastion, doing stuff for the site never feels like a chore.

Finally though, I don’t think we’d have lasted this long without you, dear reader. Comments from you are always exciting to see, and I’ve rather enjoyed some of the conversations we’ve gotten to have. I think it really helps us to know that your’re still out there after all this time, and that perhaps you’re enjoying our events and content as much as we are. Seriously, whether you’ve been reading since the very beginning or only just found us, thank you so much for being here with us now.

For those who have been here for a large portion of our run (or even from the start), all I can say is “thank you so very much!” It’s awesome that we’ve managed to build something here that people have liked enough to keep coming back to even after all these years! I don’t know exactly what the future holds for Virtual Bastion, but here’s hoping that we’ll all be back here again in another ten years!

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I usually have some questions to ask here, but honestly can’t think of anything at the moment. Thanks again for sticking with us and be sure to let us know what kinds of content you’d like to see in the future! For now though, the anniversary celebration continues, so be sure to check back for more really soon!

Image by Hatmonster