I started Eyes of the Beast just 10 months ago, but it feels much longer! It all started when WoW Insider cut their class columns (I was the current writer of Scattered Shots), and I decided that I wanted to continue writing about my favorite class. In my attempt to come up with a clever name, I began entering hunter spells into domain name searches until I saw that EyesOfTheBeast.com was available. I think I bought it 30 seconds later.
At the time, the WHU and Hunting Party Podcast had both just shut down (both resurrected now!) and I felt like the hunter community could use another regularly updated site to compliment the few that were left, notably The Brew Hall. Everyone was very welcoming and supportive. I was shocked to have more than a handful of people reading my site, and that was because of everyone who linked to me or retweeted me. Thanks. 
Stats for 2014
- 191 published posts
- 2,039 comments
- 1,480,000 page views
- Most popular post: How to tame Gara with just over 300,000 views
- Most popular day: September 9, 2014 with 34,105 views
- Most active commenter: Garfurion with 58 comments
- Top 3 referrers (besides Google): Petopia, Wowhead, Reddit
- 465,000 outbound clicks to Wowhead
- Visitors from 193 different countries
- Top 5 countries (in order) were the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Germany, and Australia
Alpha and Beta
I went out of my way to cover this stuff and it seemed like people enjoyed it. Getting into alpha so early (with a little help from a reader) was exciting and I had a blast doing the coverage.
The biggest “event” of course was Gara. It was a mystery that persisted for over a month during beta, and the whole process of solving it was a pretty cool experience. We tried some pretty silly things. My only claim to fame in the whole Gara thing was that I was the first person to link the Void Lantern as a possible clue in the Petopia forums thread, though I was not the one to discover its use! Everything else about Gara was discovered through a massive community effort.
Another big one for me was being the first hunter to tame Chimaeron… ever! It was still the alpha if I recall correctly. Not many people were in at that point, and I am reasonably sure I was the first. Definitely no one else reported it before then, so I am claiming it!
Obviously I will try to make the same effort in next expansion’s beta if I am able to get in, but I don’t think that will be in 2015.
Regular Features
The biggest regular features here are the Pet of the Week and Hunter Transmogs. Those will definitely continue. I have a few reader submitted transmogs I still need to post. I try to post any one I get, unless I feel it is too similar to one I already posted, or simply just a tier set.
Pet of the Week hasn’t exactly been “of the week” for a while now. That’s mostly because I covered a lot of my favorite WoD pets back in beta, and well… there’s only so many pets. Maybe it should have been “Pet of the Every Once In A While.” I still plan on doing more soon though. Maybe 6.1 will bring us some new ones on the PTR I can feature? I’m always up for suggestions too. If you have a pet you feel is under-used or under-appreciated, let me know!
Hunting Party Podcast
Doing the HPP has been a lot of fun. Sundays are usually busy days for me, but so far I’ve managed to make the majority of the podcasts. The good thing about the HPP is we have 5 hosts, so it doesn’t matter if a couple of people can’t make it. There’s always plenty of hunters available. I predict 2015 will be a great year for the HPP!
Screenshot Contest and Giveaway
The first contest I held was a big success, and one of my highlights of the year. I definitely plan on running a second one this year. A total of 75 hunters submitted screenshots and the end result was an awesome gallery. You should check it out if you missed it.
2015
No idea what’s in store for 2015. Buffs? Nerfs? New pets? Making Exotic Munitions not suck? We’ll see!
Happy New Year!
IMO…
Pet Of The Week does NOT have to be renamed. If there is no Pet Of The Week for a particular week, there is simply no Pet Of The Week that week. (It’s just, like, a “Pet-Of-The-Week”-less week.) Any week that is privileged to have a Pet Of The Week is… thusly privileged. Any that isn’t? Isn’t. For those who love Pet Of The Week, any week that has a Pet Of The Week is a good week. 🙂
(Yes, I am a complete dork.)
In all seriousness, I’m so glad you created this site. It’s super-high quality, and one of the few sites I look to even during unbelievably busy-life times (like the holiday retail season – my IRL gig – that is just now ending). When time is at a premium, my go-to WoW-reading list constricts to Bendak, Darkbrew, and Delirium – and everything else waits till some other time.
I appreciate all that you’ve done in 2014 (and previously with Scattered Shots). No elaboration… just,
Thank you!
Love the site. I’m so glad you continued writing after the demise of Scatttered Shots. Keep up the great work. Looking forward to what you have in store for 2015.
Thank you so much for this blog! After WHU shut down, and then Scattered Shots, there was definitely a void in the hunter community. Thank you for helping to fill it with great hunter content! <3
Visitors from 193 different countries… That implies that, quite literally, hunters are everywhere on earth.
power shooting, power taming, power trapping, power jumping, power hunting, toooo many hunters, 400 HUNTERS!!!
Happy New Year and thanks for your good work. I’m so very glad that you are writing on hunters and hope you continue to do so. This comment can’t be about my wish list for future articles, instead I’ll say a big thank you and keep writing!
Great site, thanks for looking out for the Hunters!
Not sure if I should comment on this 😉
Thanks for giving the hunter community a new gathering spot after the WHU stopped.
I think you’ve done a great job with your blog! I’m only a hobby hunter as my full time job is healing, but I love the class, and this blog really filled the void that WHU left behind. And your screenshots are excellent!
I have no idea if you have an interest in this (lore and story), but if you are looking for column ideas, profiling famous hunters on Azeroth, Draenor, Outland and the like, would be a really cool addition to your blog.