Quick Hits: WoW Insider Show

There's been a lot of talk recently about synergy. Jim gets all hot when an IRC works in synergy with a live podcast. Stompalina has been doing a great job of linking up Rawrcast with other podcasts, even running dual-sponsored contests which is a very cool idea. Alachia has recently explored in-depth the interconnectedness of the meta-verse and how fulfilling our lives can be when considering the meaningful shared experiences with others that we all go through in-game. Mike Schramm and the Turpster have both been on How I WoW and both Patrick Beja and Shawn Coons have been on the WoW Insider Show. Patrick of course also appears on The Instance doing a mods segment and in his own podcasts, including a French-language WoW podcast.

There's just something so intrinsically "good" about this level of collaboration. And since Turpster couldn't be there for last Wednesday's episode of the WoW Insider Show his shoes were ably filled by Mr. Beja who was thanked several times by Mike for being a last-minute replacement. And filling out the third chair this time around was Chase Christian who writes the Rogue column Encrypted Text over at WoW Insider.

I was pleased to get this "different" lineup for WoW Insider. While we've pretty much been holding off on reviewing shows until their "regular" hosts are all there WoW Insider is always pretty much the same thing. You might get Michael Sacco hating on Blood Elves or BRK spouting off 10,000-words-per-minute (a typical audio book is 150-160 words per minute) on the new spirit beast or Turpster talking about all the women he's had, but Schramm drives this train and he's a very capable conductor.

What I like about Mike is his cool demeanor. He does seem to have a good time during the show (even if I sometimes think it is becoming old hat to him). When I say that I realize there's certainly a difference between what I hear and the intent so... it sounds like it's very easy for Mike to host and he's very comfortable moving the conversation along to where it needs to be for the show's sake. A criticism that comes up here is that I think he's sometimes a little too quick to put a halt to silliness because you never really can tell where some of those conversations will go but that's a reach on my part.

About 14-15 minutes into the show Mike touched on a topic that has been getting a lot of podcast speculation and blog inches as of late - how much longer is everyone going to care about WoW? It's weird that this topic is coming up so much at this time. Maybe cabin fever? Spring is almost here but winter won't let go just yet? It's almost as if everyone wants to move on from WoW and are just waiting for the mass exodus so they don't end up like those folks who left for Warhammer and have subsequently come crawling back to WoW.

The show overall was well-done. I like how the emails were casually brought up during the first half hour of the show to sort of direct the flow of the conversation rather than a dedicated email segment. For a multi-host show this is a nice way to do it and it seemed fairly unique when you listen to as many podcasts as we do.

There was some nice interplay between Patrick and Chase, with Patrick saying he hates rogues at one point and accusing them of ninja'ing loot in PUGs and then switching servers. Here is where Mike is at his best when he then deadpans back "Chase, are you in favor of ninja'ing loot and running from server to server?" After that setup Chase's answer made me laugh out loud (especially since my main is a hunter): "I'm not sure if Patrick knows I don't play a hunter, so..."

I don't think the WoW Insider Show is ever going to get very heavily into deeply controversial or adult-themed topics because they know their audience is the typical WoW/WI superfan. There are consequences to saying or writing the wrong thing at WoW Insider and so they can't be overly brash or cuss or get away with comments that other podcasts can get away with. So while it's interesting to hear them operate with some restrictions it does take some "weight" out of the podcast for me as an experienced gamer who can handle hearing adult language and content without my head exploding.

Summary: It's a great resource for WoW information in a non-offensive environment, just like the site. This podcast was the first WoW-related I listened to and helped bring me from casual to "medium-core" to steal from the Proudmoore Pansies guys.

Quick Hits: BRK Buries the Lead

BRK PODCAST: FOURTEEN
20th February, 2009

It was with great sadness that many of us read about the staff changes at WoW Insider, particularly the news that BigRedKitty had wandered from the pack. In the comments for that announcement I thought it was interesting that Sar thought Mike Schramm was pissed at BRK. I have noticed recently that there was definitely what I'll call an "audible change in attitude" from Mike time to time when it came to things BRK during the WoW Insider Show. But rather than jealousy or anything silly like that I always figured it was just impatience. Like Mike almost resents BRK's "gimmick" because Mike doesn't need a gimmick. This is just all speculative nonsense you see, but I at least felt validated when I saw that comment that I wasn't "hearing too much into things" on this issue (as Melissa likes to say about me).

In a classic case of burying the lead, BRK gives you in Episode Fourteen of the BRK Podcast a classic one-sentence half-hour that rationalizes taking lower DPS because you have a love of pets. Actually he does slow things down a bit and waxes philosophical but at the 33:20 point he coyly lets slip:

"As you may have heard, we are no longer writing for WoW Insider, that is correct. "

Apparently BRK will be doing his thing over at Project Lore so we'll be sure to check that out and keep our eyes open about what's going on there. But really BRK, tacking that on as a quick addendum at the end of the podcast? Here's why I love pets so much and by the way, I won't be podcasting about hunters anymore? A sad day indeed. Jim even texted me a sad faced smiley because he rolled a Beastmaster hunter just because BRK told him to (not personally, of course), and Jim is not one prone to emotion.

What is it going to mean for the WoW Insider Show? It's going to be a big hole. But they've had fine shows without BRK in the past and they'll have fine shows again I'm sure. In my opinion BRK only ever added to the dialogue, especially his repeated characterization of Paladins as "cockroaches" which I've wholly adopted and use quite frequently in my normal WoW vocabulary.

Here's hoping for the best for both parties involved.

Summary: Burying the lead bad, BRK good!