Quick Hits: rawrcast #8

RAWRCAST #8 - YUMMY PTR COOKIES
1st March, 2009

First time for me listening to The Rawrcast Show by the rawrbitchrawr folks Stompalina and her husband Hafrot. This is a new-ish podcast on the rise that began posting episodes to iTunes back in January. Chef Stompalina has been getting lots of positive exposure in the WoW community lately, from guest co-hosting All Things Azeroth to having WoW Insider's Mike Schramm blog about and show up at her live ustream PTR broadcast.

All of the ingredients are there for me as a disaffected, know-it-all teenager to be jealously predisposed to dislike this podcast: likable host on the rise with a cool voice in Stompalina, interesting and actually informative commentary on their sleek-looking blog, co-host Hafrot who obviously knows what he's doing and has some in-game standards. In other words, all of the buzz has been good. Very good. I can't possibly become yet another mindless zombie joining the chorus by liking this show, could I? I want to bash this show, don't I? Will I still have "review cred" if I like this show?

Sigh. I really liked the show.

Stompalina's experiences and insights about the PTR have not only been fun to follow but they have been educational (for Jim, who is pants at WoW). While I've heard plenty of changes read from a sheet on other shows she and Hafrot were able to give some good descriptions of how they've experienced some of the changes as they've encountered them on the PTR. Now that's good stuff.

She also mentions something that we didn't hear elsewhere until we heard from Stomp - about the color-coded appearance of group member dots on the mini-map according to class, and also different icons for raid leader, tank, etc.. For me, I would have liked her to have put that "exclusive" content up closer to the front of the show or at least tease that she has some juicy tidbits to keep me listening rather than stumbling onto it half an hour into the show.

Speaking of juicy tidbits, Stomp wondering if she has an "e-vag" made me laugh out loud and that's always a great thing. And the fact that the rawrcast folks have a thing for big sacks is also very funny. They're creating their own set of in-jokes and I imagine that will attract a very colorful, varied audience who will appreciate that attitude and approach.

I have to strain for criticisms and will make them brief: the editing needs a little work and sometimes sounds too abrupt. The drop-ins are also a little... off. Those are just a couple of technical issues that I'm sure will iron themselves out with time and experience.

Well, this Quick Hit is getting long so I'll hit the Wrap It Up Box and get to the end. Ah-hem, in conclusion, a very solid podcast. I don't know about you Americans but as an Englishman there's simply nothing better than a Texas (okay, maybe Georgia or Alabama, maybe [hi Kate!]) accent. I enjoyed Hafrot's story about knowing your class, knowing your gear, and knowing your role in a raid. It was good stuff all around from both hosts (and Haf sounds like the sort of mentor Jim needs so he can learn how to play his hunter)! :)

Summary: Tried to hate it but ended up liking it so much I'll be back for more episodes. Loved Hafrot's story and Stompalina's enthusiasm.