Road Map for the Year

Hey everyone, Ivan here.

I've been experimenting with some things some of which I've asked for feedback on and some of which I've just been doing. I figured it was time to go ahead and lay out a post with some goals and such in it so that you guys will know what's coming, I'll have a schedule/timeline, and you can keep me on track etc. Most people/companies/armadas/etc. would do something like this in January, but this is TTP so it doesn't come until the end of Winter (aka February) or when the Anniversary Episode is out. Anyway let's dive in:


1. Creep Roundtables

• It's that time again, The plan this time is to go in alphabetical order with one Roundtable an episode for the next three months. You can still send an email, leave a comment, send a PM or tell in-game to let me know if you want to be part of this. But keep in mind that once a Roundtable has been recorded that class is finished until next year. The Rough Schedule will be:
• Blackarrows - Early March
• Defilers - Late March
• Reavers - Early April
• Stalkers - Late April
• Warleaders - Early May
• Weavers - Late May

2. Blog Update

• The Blog Update has two phases, both of which should be in effect at/by the start of March. The first is that I will go through our links, host pages, etc. and clean them up and get them up to date. The second phase is an expansion of activity for the Blog. This blog will finally see use as more than an Episode Archive. But rather than try for the CstM approach (aka a LOTRO blog) Through the Palantir as a blog will chronicle random gaming and other activity for your enjoyment (hopefully). I brought this up in Episode 39 and 40 and I have decided to go forward with it. Some Specifcs for the blog update are:
• Create Browsing Categories to allow you to find what your looking for (Podcast Episodes, specific genre/game, etc.)
• Update out of date links and pages
• Beginning posting about more than just the podcast.
• Get on Middle Earth Network See if I get Emails about Middle Earth Network and respond accordingly.

3. Additional Roundtables

• Currently I have some vaugue plans for one more roundtable this time around that (if I get it done) will be released, probably as a standalone, sometime in March. But if additional ideas/suggestions come in I would certainly be willing to look into getting more of these done. Planned Additional Roundtables:
• Raid Leader (PvMP) Roundtable
• Raid Leader (PvE) Roundtable(?)

4. Integrate! Integrate! Integrate!

• As you probably know, I have a YouTube channel where I put videos of my Warleader (and sometimes other characters) in action, and I've picked up a decent following. What you probably don't know is that the podcast audience and the YouTube audience do not have a lot of crossover, and it's almost all in one direction: From the podcast, to YouTube with no one finding the podcast from YouTube. To help work on this, I will be taking steps to do more podcast plugging in my videos, but I also want to bring my video work to the blog since I'm expanding its scope. hopefully this will help increase traffic there as I start getting more content to come out.

5. Connect with the Listeners

• I'll be honest, TTPalantir is pretty lousy about getting feedback from our listeners. We put the podcast out, I sometimes ask for feedback in the form of Emails, comments, etc. and that's pretty much the end of it. The onus is on the listener if they want to contribute some feedback and talk about the show at all. The real kicker is this: I get more feedback about the show in-game than anywhere else. This is a podcast about LOTRO, we should be metting people in LOTRO, getting feedback in LOTRO, and hosting some events in LOTRO! This year I will see work on addressing this oversight.
• Create more ways to interact with the audience:
• I would like to explore using the Games I Play platform to connect with more of the blog base especially once the blog gets properly diversified.
• Look into other ways to allow people to "connect" via networking or other tools (X-Fire, Steam, ME-N, a VOIP server, etc.)
• Have in-game events to meet with listeners, play the game, get to know each other, and talk about the podcast and game. *Roundtables will limit my ability to do this, so don't expect anything until June/July.
• Episode 2 (where I introduced myself) is terribly out of date. I will look into creating a "Meet Your Host" video to rectify this.

6. Additional Goals

• Finish writing character backstory.
• This is a sideproject I started working on over a year ago. I finished writing a backstory for my LOTRO characters and got Matthrim to do an editorial look at it, took his suggestions, and then let dust gather on the text while I failed to correct the flaws he saw in it. This year I hope to get it finished, have him look at it again, and get the thing uploaded somewhere for you guys to find. Also, writing just about anything as a story is a good way to sharpen your communication skills and improve your WPM if you do it on a computer.
• Get CstM on TV Tropes
• Honestly, LOTRO is underrepresented on this wonderful little wiki, and CstM would be a great thing to add on to the site. It'll probably give them more traffic, but more importantly it'll distinguish LOTRO from the other MMOs on there which means more potential new players for us.
• Do some collaborative work with LOTRO Reporter.
• I have no idea what it'll be, or how I'll do it. But after listening to the Reporter Segment collab and the way the TTP hosts broke Chris in ~5 minutes. I think it may be time to appear on the show proper and show Sparthir, Layanore, Chris, and their whole audience who the kings of derailment are. I'll be sure to pack the manatees.
• Lead Singing Raid in Ettenmoors.
• Acquire waffles,  plan downfall of an empire, or at least figure out how where I'm going to get the time to do all this stuff . . .

That's all for now, I'll try to keep this thing updated as the year goes on.

-Ivaneus