We aren't really sure what will be revealed at the SDCC panel on the 24th of July, but if it does turn out to be some epic new pony project, the news is probably going to start flowing again here. I figured I'd get a little update on what the plans are on EQD for all of this.
Head on down below for a breakdown!
First off, I already announced earlier in the year that I'll be retiring at some point. EQD has been low enough workload lately that I can still get the basics done, but if things get hectic I want to temper expectations a bit.
I have another project that has become my primary income, so this is essentially a side gig. The days of rushing to post things and sitting at the computer all day waiting for news to arrive probably aren't going to be a thing. I'll still get it all up, but there might be many more times it's just... late. I can't really help that. I used to check twitter, 4chan, reddit, Discord, and a host of other sources multiple times a day, but I can't do that anymore. I've completely ditched Reddit, barely check 4chan outside of OPG and a few other generals, and at this point I only really open Twitter once every few days to grab plushies/comics and delete any of my scheduled ponyposts that randomly got flagged as adult. It's kinda funny how often that happens.
The best thing you can do to help is submit news you see. [email protected] is the box. I probably won't find it on my own. Luckily people still send stuff in, but the more the merrier!
I could recruit people, but I'll be honest guys, there's never been a time in the history of EQD where recruiting people for the writing and posting side of this site has ever been faster than just doing the work myself. It would be faster, I don't doubt that... but the time requirement ramps way up. Managing a volunteer team is a lot of work. A lot of training and fixing mistakes. A lot of people needing constant attention. A lot of drama since working with an army of neurodivergent bronies tends to be a little chaotic. I loved doing it early on, but I don't really have the hours to put into it these days. If you submit it, I'll get it up. It takes me only a few minutes to write up a quick summary and post something. EQD's workload has always been behind the scenes, digging through content, managing writing staff, managing review teams for fan content, dealing with my own personal email box where people send complaints or requests. The actual posting of anything here is quick.
On top of this, I'm training to hike a bunch of pacific northwest volcanoes I've dreamed of climbing forever, so I have been putting a lot of gym time in. Hiking has always been my internet escape hobby, and I've gotten in good enough shape the last year to start planning for some real stuff. I've already done pretty much every mountain in the cascades at this point, and I really want to finish it off with Baker, Rainier, etc.
ADS EXPLODED
Apparently at some point in the last few months ads on the site exploded and started creating giant walls of blank space, appearing embedded as links in posts, and popping up as full screen nightmare fuel.
Last year I ditched our ad management company and switched to Google's auto ads because that company was getting way too aggressive on the annoying ads. Little did I know, Google Adsense is actually WAY WORSE. Google has you block your own ads to avoid illegal clicks, so I had no idea it got that broken with their system in place. I deleted all of that, and just set it to a few regular good ol' banners. I doubt this place will make much money at all from it, but as long as it pays yearly server costs it's whatever. EQD still has the patreon too which supplements it all.
Kirin and Bats
If whatever they have cooking doesn't have kirin and bats I'll rebel. Also Luna. I need my moon pony. Nnaly is delivering, but my life has felt a little empty without official Luna content. Magnaluna flooding my feed with adorable smol Luna with cute cat ears kept me going past G4, but I demand a return.
And everyone likes bats. We almost had them in G5. How could they take that from us? I mean sure, it wouldn't be in that iconic G4 style, but bats! And Kirin too! G6 better have kirin!
Anyway, thanks everyone for still coming here and reading my rambling. It has been a long time hasn't it? I feel old. Sometimes I think I'm chasing mountains just to stave off old age. I'll keep this place going as long as I can if it's still valuable for people. Or find a group that can really give it the TLC it needs in the future. Hopefully whatever they have cookin' over at Hasbro is even better than G4. I'll raise a water bottle to whatever it is at the top of Rainier.
