The Bad, then Good - My B8 Playthrough Topics
Over the first few years here on B8, I noticed playthrough topics from time to time. I never entered them and saw how they were structured, but I knew what they were about at the basic level. Being in college gave me a lot of free time, so I decided to put some of that toward a playthrough topic of my own. I didn’t know which game would be the most suitable, so I chose one at random, Final Fantasy III. I guess that it really didn’t matter which game I chose because my approach to it was catastrophic at so many levels.
It wasn’t called “The Most Epic String of Posts By A Single User” by users like foolmo for no reason. Each post was a gigantic wall of text full of the driest material imaginable. I would talk about every little thing I did. I gave full disclosure of each building I went into, each item I bought/collected, and each little thing that got a reaction out of me. Though my anonymity as a user certainly didn’t bring many people into my topic, my writing style and approach to the game made it nearly impossible for anyone to make any sort of comment. At one point, I had 60+ posts in a row full of text until ctes kindly broke that combo. There was even a topic scolding ctes for breaking it where that gem of a moniker (the “Epic String” one) came from. Foolmo, rightfully, brings that up sometimes to joke around.
My second attempt was Chrono Trigger. I know that people really liked the game on the board and I didn’t recall anyone else doing a playthough topic on it, so I decided this was going to be a successful one. That ended up not being the case, but it was a step in the right direction. I no longer talked about everything I did, and I added more personal thoughts and feelings, but I still didn’t draw in many people.
The third, and most recent, game that I did it on was Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors. This ended up being far different from the other two. Not only did I get plenty of people in who gave their comments and said they eagerly awaited my progress, but I had a lot of fun doing it. I was anxious to reveal what I experienced, what I felt I uncovered, and all the theories that were piling up in my head. Seeing people praise my ability to analyze the events and characters of the game led me to believe that I finally made progress in writing in a more interesting fashion.
Though I have yet to get the 999 one on the wiki, my first two are up there, so you can see them in all their “glory” if you feel like killing time.
As a result of my game moment topic, I am now slated to begin a playthrough topic for Resident Evil 4, Bully: Scholarship Edition, and Mass Effect 2 by the end of the month. I hope that it is remotely as successful as the 999 one.
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