Belghast kicked off Blaugust prep week with a discussion of what makes a good blog name. He talked about some regrets he had choosing his name and gave some advice to help folks choose a good one. I want to use this as an excuse to talk about my blog name too.
Bel’s advice boiled down to choosing a short, catchy name that vaguely connects to the blog theme, but isn’t so specific that you can’t change your direction later without changing the name. I’m not really sure whether I succeeded or failed.
Did you think I was kidding about the moonshine?
I created this blog just prior to the launch of WildStar. My goal was to talk about the game in general, and also emphasize the housing system, which I still enjoy the most of any MMO I have ever played. Fans of the game might remember that one of the default housing “plugs” you could place on your land gave you a mini-game that let you make moonshine. I thought the contrast between a fabulous hand-built plot with tons of decor and the moonshine still out back was amusing, so I tapped it for my name. Moonshine Mansion was born.
Over the years I’ve drifted away from WildStar and turned this into a more general gaming blog. The name Moonshine Mansion wasn’t explicitly tied to WildStar, so it survived the transition just fine. On the one hand, I sometimes wish I had chosen a name that had more to do with gaming. On the other hand, this way I feel free to talk about other geeky things I love when I feel the urge. At this point I think of Moonshine Mansion as my digital home. It’s a welcoming place where I keep all my stuff and can invite my friends over to talk about games and things. If someone offered me the chance to go back in time and pick a different name, I would decline. There’s way cooler things to do with a time machine anyway.