Firstly, thank you.
I never say this sort of thing enough. And most of you are strangers–some of you have sent me very kind e-mails (and every single one has been deeply appreciated), some of you have gone on to become social media buddies, online friends, and even close offline friends–but it’s so heartening to see how a shared childhood/young-adult memory from 15-20 years ago has inspired and encouraged people’s imaginations, and I’m really honored and grateful that your comments and energy and support have continued to feed this website along.
This, on the other hand, is something I say repeatedly, and I do mean it–this website is a culmination of the efforts of a lot of friendly, nostalgic fans (as well as former Hanna-Barbera employees!). It isn’t just me–it never has been and it never will be. You guys send in the awesomeness (whether that’s actual info/media/merchandise/etc., or even cheerful reminiscing), or post it here and there online, and it all finds it way here. (Eventually, anyway.)
Why am I waxing nostalgic like this?
This is why.
(click to enlarge.)
This is the breakdown of visitors to Always The Quest over the last three years, when I installed Google Analytics. I just viewed it in full for the first time tonight.
Over 70,000 visits.
Over 150 countries and territories. There are PoDW fans on every continent!
And this is in just the last 3 years. (This site has been online since the summer of 1996–almost 17 years! I was 15 then, and I’m 31 now. Holy moly.)
(The color is the relative number of visitors from each country. The US was the source of over 40,000 of those visitors, hence how dark the shading is. BUT STILL!)
These days the site averages 40-50 visits a day. Not bad, considering the obscurity of the material. Definitely lower than its peak average of 100+ a day, during my undergrad days. I’m not desperate for thousands of views, but I would like to improve the searchability of the site. Nearly 40,000 of the visits were via searches. There were only a handful of searches that didn’t relate to the show, but I still see where I can improve from skimming people’s search terms. (Among the more interesting: “action poses” and “poop deck.” Ha! Also, there were 4 searches for “pirates of dark water tickling.” I don’t think I want to know what that’s about…)
ANYWAY.
This is still pretty tremendous. At least, it is to me. Though our community isn’t nearly as cohesive as those that have more content to talk about, I’m so glad it’s still around. And I’m especially excited to see where it goes next.
Thank you all, from the bottom of my heart.
* * * * *
Holy fitting segues, Batman. 😉
Next up: I would love to make some big changes to the site this year. (Possibly by gutting it and then rebuilding it piece by piece. Tempting…) And this is where you all come in.
I want to give you a heads-up about this: would you be willing to take a survey for me? About the site, what you value and don’t value, what you’d like to see that isn’t here and what you’d like to have removed or modified/updated, that sort of thing. I still need to put it together. But this site is for you all–it’s a repository of info, but it can be so much more than that.
For example, people (not me, but others) have described this site’s function/purpose in a number of different ways:
– source of plentiful info
– campaigning to finish the show
– community for the fans
– a shrine/time capsule
– digging up the behind-the-scenes view of the show
And more. And some of these were actually quite a surprise to me. What do you all think? I don’t want to put stuff up that many of you really don’t care about.
Do start thinking about it. 🙂
* * * * *
And, last but not least!
Etsy seller DanielleMeetsWorld is selling two handmade PoDW wallets. They’re upcycled, using pages from PoDW comic #4, “Break-Up” (episode #3, yes, but comic #4, as episode #1 was spread out over 2 comics), and intentionally DIY. Even better: part of the price goes to benefit worthy charities. One, two.
If you’re interested in your own copy of the comics (or even the action figures), they are always, always available on eBay. 🙂
And that’s all for now! As always, thank you for reading, and for showing your support just through your visit. Much love to you all!
Hey. Your facebook isn’t linked anymore. A while ago I messaged you on your facebook and I asked you about the pirates of darkwater rpg. I mentioned that I was going to do a video review of the show. I finally did it and I thought I would pass the link on to you. Here you go http://blip.tv/the-npc-reviews/the-npc-reviews-pirates-of-darkwater-6545598
Great article! This whole show is still one of my all-time favorite memories as a kid watching it on tv on Saturday mornings. I hope some day you do get a forum back up and running! This is one of my favorite sites to visit and browse. It’s amazing there are so many fans in so many countries. Thanks for keeping the dream alive!
I was up and it crossed my mind to see if this site was still around. Really excited to see that it is and is still being updated and frequented! I used to come here back in the early-mid 00’s, but I definitely haven’t been in awhile cause I did NOT know about the DVD release! I need to put in an order ASAP. Thanks for all the hard work over the years, I hope this message finds you well! God bless.
Definitely willing to help on many agendas, just let me know how I can be of assistance. I’ve got a group of friends that have been playing the PoDW rpg with me, just basing it on a different system. I can always write up some of the random hijinxs that have occured within the alien World of Mer. This is my third attempt at playing through this campaign, everyone always has a blast, they love the world and the maps, and I’m always being begged to run it when I have free time.
This recent playthrough has also lasted the longest. Let’s just say pirates don’t mix well with saving the world. But there’s always an interesting story after a gaming session, that much is always true.
well as part of the few of my country to have te privilege of visiting your site im very thankful that u with all of the other fans have kept this story alive, i love your site !!!