One Million Hits!
As of today, Ultima Aiera has officially logged its millionth tracked hit.
That is a pretty number, right there.
I’ve been tracking stats on the site since 2008, but the site is of course rather older than that. As such, it’s likely that the site actually received its millionth hit some months ago, if not even earlier than that. But lacking information about the volume of traffic that Aiera incurred in its previous incarnation, how can I say for sure?
So today is the day, officially and as far as I’m concerned.
Site hits are tracked by StatCounter in units called page loads. These are, in essence, the completed loading of a page or post on the site by a (probably) non-bot visitor (new or returning). As you can see, I track stats on a handful of sites, including The Codex; they’re doing pretty darn well, also.
Really, the number is a testament to the size and passion of the Ultima fanbase. The series itself is 30 years old (its youngest single-player incarnation over a dozen years old), and yet news about it — and the people who made it happen — still attracts attention…as do the works and efforts of the more technically savvy fans to update, improve, or remake the Ultima games.
And if, in 2012, things which are presently the subject of rumours make the jump into reality and the public eye, the scale of that attention is only going to increase, as will the number of people looking for both information about Ultima and a community of Ultima fans. Here’s hoping that we’re all ready for that when and if it happens.
Because really, I just run this thing. It’s you Dragons and Dragonettes that make the site…well…more than just a handful of words and hyperlinks in a little corner of the Internet. What I maintain, you populate and transform into a community. So thank you for that, for making the site what it is and helping form and shape its purpose…and mine.
Oh, by the way: If you’re curious about who that millionth hit was, the page load went to someone in Rome (Lazio), Italy, who arrived here after looking up information on The Codex about Shamino. So, if that’s you, good Dragon or Dragonette, why not introduce yourself in the comments?
That’s a milestone indeed! A testament to how popular a franchise Ultima is! In celebration we should all meet up at the local pub, get completely wasted and play pokemon all night long!
Woot! Congrats!
As a side note, the numbers posted for The Codex are from when statcounter started recording hits there in March 2011. We’re at about 1.3 million hits now since our move from Wikia. I’m also expecting things to start picking up in the future, although we usually hum along at about 2,000 hits per day.
You’ve dished out well over 2 million hits worth of Ultima goodness Ken, that’s something to be proud of!
I imagine you get more unique visitors than us though, since the average user who comes to your site probably just scopes out the main page to get the latest news, while people tend to get lost over at the Codex for quite awhile.
The unique visitors data is easy to look up — today, for example, I’ve had 734 whereas the Codex has had 594. But the Codex certainly carries the day in terms of raw page loads. Which makes sense given both the architecture of a typical wiki and the tendency of visitors thereto to just browse page after page after page in a virtual smorgasbord of link clickage.
Congrats: youtube.com/watch?v=fz_7zvdJQnE&hd=1
“Because really, I just run this thing. It’s you Dragons and Dragonettes that make the site…well…more than just a handful of words and hyperlinks in a little corner of the Internet. What I maintain, you populate and transform into a community. So thank you for that, for making the site what it is and helping form and shape its purpose…and mine.”
And well spoken. You have provided a lens through which one may view the codex. A point at which to focus and view knowledge of Ultima. All your Ultima are belong to us. 🙂
Well done Ken!
I check in here most days, there’s usually something interesting to read.
Roll on the next million!
Congratulations. I think this site has really become the focal point of the Ultima community thanks to your extensive and continued efforts at keeping things up to date.
Thanks. I try, sometimes to the point of exhaustion. But it is cool to see the site has come this far. And I suspect that very soon, things will begin to accelerate.
Which reminds me…I have to start looking at another initiative that Browncoat Jayson suggested launching. But first, I think I’ll need to find a couple of people to take over content posting at same. Or I’ll just launch the thing and see of anyone volunteers…that might be the better way to approa…
…oh, wait, I have two ideas i need to look into. Okay, then. Back to my dungeon I go!
Feel free to email me about the ideas.
I’m interested!
Congrats! 🙂
Thanks, Tibby!