It’s been 12 years since I last updated my blog with a New Year’s post. Where did the time go? The last time I looked back at the year that was, I expressed my gratitude for online partnerships and friendships, and called some specific thoughts about my website and growing my social media profile, including working on a new channel on Google+! Of course, Google+ and my website are long gone. (My old domain name of magisterrex dot com is now held by a predatory company trying to sell it for thousands of dollars – not worth buying back at that price no matter how much value their little greedy minds think it has…but I digress.) My, how things have changed since the end of 2012 over the decade that followed!
Reflecting on this year, things started out a bit bleak. Back in November, 2023, I was unceremoniously put out to pasture as part of a cost-savings restructuring by the company for which I had not only shed blood, sweat and tears, but from a role that I truly loved. Just in time for the Christmas Holidays! It was a HUGE blow, and took me a long time to be able to talk about it, never mind move on from it. Consequently, I spent MONTHS on the job market looking for the right fit.
In the meantime, I dabbled in eBay again to pass the time, selling off more of my overflowing collection of retrogaming items and retro tech. I did try to work a little on this blog, but truthfully, I just didn’t have much to share that didn’t sound negative and whiney.
But eventually I was able to get off the dole and on to the path of gainful employment during the summer of 2024, sending my career in an entirely new direction and working in a field of which I had no previous experience nor even knowledge. For those who know me well, learning and mastering new concepts is one of my joys in life!
So now I feel I have regained a healthier mindset, and consequently what I say won’t sound whiny or negative. And I am slowly returning to updating this blog, maybe with more regularity than one post every four months!
Starting up again feels a bit like starting all over, not simply picking up where I left off. So a great starting point for a New Year is to see what’s been going on around here since the last time I updated everyone in a New Year’s post. In other words, it’s time to share some stats on what has been going on with this blog for the past many years!
Let’s start with the most popular pages and posts (not including the landing page). Here are the Top 5 posts and pages since January 1, 2013, until now:
- FREE Board Game Rules
- What’s in That Game Box? – DUNGEON Fantasy Boardgame
- What’s in That Game Box? – The Game of Life (1977)
- The Best Classic Board Games – Careers (1955-2009)
- What’s in That Game Box? Masterpiece (1970)
The top search words for my blog since January of 2013 were:
- maniac mansion
- free board game instructions
- batman arkham city
- game of life
- masterpiece board game
Clearly, Maniac Mansion still resonates with the retrogaming crowd! And I think the Game of Life and Masterpiece still have a lot of love with the board game crew!
As I have plenty of downloadable media that I offer for FREE on this site, here are the Top 5 downloads since January, 2013:
- mastermindrules.pdf
- gameoflife1977rules.pdf
- payday1974rules.pdf
- friendstriviarules.pdf
- crosscribbrules.pdf
Fascinating to see that the one about the Friends Trivia game had a lot of people searching for how to play it!
Next, here are the top five countries with most visits to magisterrex.com from 2013 onwards (in order):
- United States
- Canada
- United Kingdom
- Germany
- Australia
No real surprises here, considering the retrogaming and classic board game markets.
Finally, it’s been a long time since the last time I gave out New Years best wishes…so it’s high time that I wish everyone a coming year filled with joy, health and prosperity for you and all you hold dear! Happy New Year!!!
Filed under: Rants and Miscellany | Tagged: 2011, 2012, 2024, 2025, books, happy new year, new-year, writing | 1 Comment »
Recycled Thoughts from a Retro Gamer