Behind the Scenes- 100K Views and Shadow's Thoughts

This really isn't a new TOC feature so much as it is kind of an inside look behind some of the things going on with Titan Owners Club.  Though, it may be something Drake and I look at in the future.  

The truth is, there is a lot that goes on in TOC that you guys don't get to see or hear about. It's not that anyone is being secretive or that we don't care to share but that, quite honestly, it's statistics and usually something that most people consider boring.  However, I did want to share a few really nice statistics with all of you, including a milestone for the blog.

Titan Owners Club hit 100,000 views yesterday!  The TOC first post was on 24/7/15 when Drake first founded it, and in under a year, we have cracked 100,000 views.  This means that we amass over 9,000 page views per month!

I had the joy of sharing this news with Drake yesterday when I was uploading some data for a Titan , a labor of love that sees me log into the admin panel almost every day.  As such, I watch our page views climb, our daily page view count to see what draws attention (such as Warhammer Fest day where we grabbed around 1,000 views in a single day) ,and of course watching our number of blog followers increase.  We hit the magic number around 3 PM CST (Central Standard Time, United States) or 9 PM British Summer Time yesterday and there was a lot of cheering from Drake and myself.  We are both very proud of what this blog has accomplished in such a short amount of time.

I can also tell you that when I started with the TOC that we weren't at the 100 post mark, yet.  Drake and I quickly ramped things up to that point and we made our 100th post special with the progress of Bone Garland taking center place.  This is post 179, meaning the 200th post is coming up.

Another really nice statistic is that we are getting close to the 100 Titan mark.  That's right, we almost have our "First Company of Titans."  The best place to check our progress is always the Resources tab.  But as of the time of this article, we have:

• 20 Warlord Titans  (22% of membership)
• 27 Reaver Titans  (30% of membership)
• 44 Warhound Titans  (48% of membership)

That's an astounding 91 Titans on the blog.  And I know that more are already lined up.  I can say that Drake and I have already discussed what will happen when we hit the century mark, and it will be a special effort that will pay homage to every Titan that we have.  Again, Drake and I are every proud of what this blog has become.

It is to that point that I wish to add some of my own thoughts and even a glimpse into the inner workings that you ladies and gentlemen (who am I kidding, Princeps) don't get to see or hear about.  Drake and I love putting in the time to the TOC.  It's very much a labor of love that means quite a lot to us.  We love doing this for all of you, and we love seeing your progress and growth as Titans owners just as much as we love seeing the engines that you have.  Your God-Machines are ALWAYS impressive to us, and we love how much you get into them.  

You are like minded hobbyists, and I know that for me, it really fires up my own creative streaks and desires.  I often hear from other TOC members that you enjoy what we put up here for you and that you are grateful for what we do.  I can speak for myself, and I know Drake would probably echo this as well, when I say that I am grateful to all of YOU for being a part of this with us.  For me, what started as my day of having Venator Lupus being registered turned into an amazing journey as a Titan owner.  I went from knowing Drake as the admin to him ultimately becoming a friend of mine.  We talk often about the hobby, the Titans, stories, and of course the other things that come with friendship.  I've made other friends via this blog.  So an unspoken truth to this blog is that it builds a community of people who have never met face to face before, but have actually become friends.  I am immensely proud of the fact that this blog builds such wonderful things beyond resin kits and ideas.  

It was once told to me that the hobby of 40k is a chance to build a community and family of gamers, that it is a brotherhood.  Truer words about this hobby have rarely been spoken.  You, Titan owners, exemplify this brotherhood of gamers.  Thank you for being the champions among Titan owners.

Another behind the scenes moment is that Drake and I talk about TOC often and that while I may do a lot of our posts and a decent chunk of the new content, that man is sitting there in the background making this run smoothly.  We work on a lot of projects for TOC, and we enjoy every minute of it.  Drake handles a lot of our day to day affairs and a lot of our more subtle operations at TOC.  He handles all of our emails (except the rare occasions I'll email one of you directly) and funnels the Titan updates to me.  Much like General Patton was held back in WWII with fuel rations because he liked to storm too quickly, Drake has to throttle back the content he sends me each week so I don't storm off and kill our backlog.  Yep, fun tidbit, I'll admit that I'm the impatient one of the group.  He also maintains our Global Battlefield initiative as well and he's the creative genius behind some of our new content and many of the designs and formats we use.

So, there you go.  A little bit of what goes on behind the scenes and how we approach the TOC.  You are all amazing and we look towards the bright future of the blog and of course the tales and deeds you are to weave with your God-Engines.

Shadow, 
Proud TOC Member and Fellow Princeps