CASUALLY HARDCORE - Your mission, should you choose to accept it...
15th March, 2009
Okay... starts up with an original song/jingle for the show and WC Radio. Good, self-branding is always a positive. Then comes the disclaimer bit about the WoW Radio network, and each of the four co-hosts takes a line while reading. I think it's supposed to show some sort of common agreement like an equal among peers thing but it sounds lame. Would be better done quickly rather than a big production for my tastes. I don't actually want to listen to that sort of audio spam so if it was non-intrusive I probabaly wouldn't even have mentioned it.
Then comes the absurd intro song "Who Needs Sleep" by Barenaked Ladies which apparently was a hit in the U.S. when I was 7 years old back in 1998. Hopefully there's some personal significance to the song and not that it's the best WoW tie-in song they could find these last 11 years - you know, playing a lot of WoW you might miss some sleep. Get it? Get it??
This is the sort of podcast where if someone says anything close to funny or interesting they all go "Wow... hey, hey, hey, family show," and laugh like that's supposed to be funny in itself just like people who laugh when they say "tell us how you really feel," after their friend has expressed frustration or negativity about something. I then sit there wondering if I'm the lame for not getting the hysterical joke or if it's them for thinking what they said was funny... and after that confusion I realize I've stuck in and listened for and hour and half so the answer could only be me.
They do have a nice rhythm to the show and I think Casually Hardcore makes the best use of "drops" in the WoW podcast community (which is saying a lot). As I've been advised by my older colleagues any podcast throwing in an Animal House drop can almost make up for using an 11-year old theme song.
For my tastes, the dynamic of the show has been a little weird since Gwenora has come back despite their best efforts to accomodate. It seems like Grail has become the Gwen B.S. detector and is quick to jump in when Gwen is talking out his buttocks although that didn't happen much on this particular show. It was very funny though on this episode if you're a long time listener like me that Gwen was the first one to say "I love you, you're pretty," to Iolyte rather than Gnomewise.
After 10 minutes though everything pretty much settled down. Grail had an extremely interesting comment that tanking has become the easiest aspect of the game since Wrath hit and that was around the 17-minute mark. He also said he ran into a Naxx PUG that said if you're under 1,500 DPS you can still join but you can't roll on loot which is awesome to me as someone who now considers himself a casual.
Half hour point, first music break. They then went into a long discussion about something Totalbiscuit brought up a couple of weeks ago and that is whether or not casuals still exist. The way the CH crew brought up the subject was wondering aloud if they should change their mission statement considering they are now raiding. Listen closely around the 55 minute mark for what sounds like completely faked and almost mocking laughter from Gnomewise after Grail tells a story.
But I'm telling you this show is worth it! Around the 1:02:45 mark Gnomewise lets known that an item is coming in Patch 3.1 that you can put down and use to destroy someone else's toy train when they are annoying you in Auction Houses (or other enclosed areas where you are prisoner to the annoyance of "chugga-chugga-chugga-chugga-woo-hoo"). Excellent news and certainly the first any of us have heard of it anywhere.
The last part of the show was listener feedback/email and this is always hit or miss of course depending on the submissions. When they aren't shout outs the gang does a better job than most about branching the questions off into other directions so you'll probably glean something no matter your experience level.
Summary: Solid show all the way through, complete with high and low points. Don't like infighting but don't know if I'm reading too much into things on that front. They have a good time with their own in-jokes and their own loyal audience but it's not for everyone. I could see younger casual listeners going for Outlandish or even Yet Another World of Warcraft Podcast before Casually Hardcore.
Showing posts with label Quick Hits. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Quick Hits. Show all posts
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
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.
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.
Thursday, March 5, 2009
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.
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.
Friday, February 27, 2009
Quick Hits: World of Warcast #78
WORLD OF WARCAST #78
25th February, 2009
As has been mentioned on this blog we're all burned out listening to Love is in the Air talk and I was hoping I'd be able to avoid it here since the event had ended but no dice. After just two minutes Renata said Love is in the Air has caused a lot of bellyaching and then Starman basically went off on the Random Number Generator for about 15 minutes. I tried to zone out during this time. The inclusion of Cryler on the show was a little disorienting for me; I've heard World of Warcast in the past and think I prefer it when Renata speaks of Cryler and he takes on this sort of mythical presence in my mind. He seemed a little too humble for me.
Disliked the three of them then giggling during Starman's story of playing "who's the noob" during the first corner in Ramparts. Just dislike that attitude in general I'm the sort to clue the new player in so everyone can improve. And then he's like "and I try not to be a jerk" in this whiny exasperated tone that sort of sounds like what a jerk might say. He went on to say later when speaking about being frustrated by sensible and suspicious PUG'ers daring to question his credentials as a player that he wasn't being obnoxious because other obnoxious people had cried about it on the WoW forums and everyone else was just ignorant. Sounds a little harsher when I type that then it sounded though, keep in mind.
That whole time from about 20 minutes until 40 minutes I would have cut as they're just ragging on new or unskilled players or how overpowered Death Knights are. Renata defined "noob" as someone "who was ignorant and preferred to stay that way." I doubt it's always quite so simple. What if you're in Jim's boat and all your friends are horrible in the game and you can't find a proper mentor? He's a level 80 noob then, despite his best honest effort.
Starman makes a decent point about Death Knight professions though and how silly it is that you have to start from 0, "a hero that apparently did nothing" is I believe how he put it which put a smile on my face.
Renata did a nice bit on Borean Tundra which is a new server that opened within the last three months although I was a bit disappointed about the ending, which was just that the economy eventually normalized just like every other realm and people started to twink alts with their 80s. Not sure what the shock there was.
Had to shake my head. An hour still left on the podcast. I wasn't feeling it.
Summary: Didn't make it past 45 minutes. I got depressed for some reason when Renata said "I did every trick I could think of and some that I didn't even know that I had" when bragging about healing Scarlet Monestary on a Shadow-specced priest. Will try again at a later date; maybe it was the rain today.
25th February, 2009
As has been mentioned on this blog we're all burned out listening to Love is in the Air talk and I was hoping I'd be able to avoid it here since the event had ended but no dice. After just two minutes Renata said Love is in the Air has caused a lot of bellyaching and then Starman basically went off on the Random Number Generator for about 15 minutes. I tried to zone out during this time. The inclusion of Cryler on the show was a little disorienting for me; I've heard World of Warcast in the past and think I prefer it when Renata speaks of Cryler and he takes on this sort of mythical presence in my mind. He seemed a little too humble for me.
Disliked the three of them then giggling during Starman's story of playing "who's the noob" during the first corner in Ramparts. Just dislike that attitude in general I'm the sort to clue the new player in so everyone can improve. And then he's like "and I try not to be a jerk" in this whiny exasperated tone that sort of sounds like what a jerk might say. He went on to say later when speaking about being frustrated by sensible and suspicious PUG'ers daring to question his credentials as a player that he wasn't being obnoxious because other obnoxious people had cried about it on the WoW forums and everyone else was just ignorant. Sounds a little harsher when I type that then it sounded though, keep in mind.
That whole time from about 20 minutes until 40 minutes I would have cut as they're just ragging on new or unskilled players or how overpowered Death Knights are. Renata defined "noob" as someone "who was ignorant and preferred to stay that way." I doubt it's always quite so simple. What if you're in Jim's boat and all your friends are horrible in the game and you can't find a proper mentor? He's a level 80 noob then, despite his best honest effort.
Starman makes a decent point about Death Knight professions though and how silly it is that you have to start from 0, "a hero that apparently did nothing" is I believe how he put it which put a smile on my face.
Renata did a nice bit on Borean Tundra which is a new server that opened within the last three months although I was a bit disappointed about the ending, which was just that the economy eventually normalized just like every other realm and people started to twink alts with their 80s. Not sure what the shock there was.
Had to shake my head. An hour still left on the podcast. I wasn't feeling it.
Summary: Didn't make it past 45 minutes. I got depressed for some reason when Renata said "I did every trick I could think of and some that I didn't even know that I had" when bragging about healing Scarlet Monestary on a Shadow-specced priest. Will try again at a later date; maybe it was the rain today.
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Quick Hits: Epic Dolls Welcomes Katerina
EPIC DOLLS: EPISODE 60.1
15th February, 2009
Bad timing for me to be looking to review Epic Dolls as Leala was away and new co-host Katerina had to debut all on her own. I have only ever heard bits and pieces of previous Epic Dolls episodes and without them having their full team together I felt it would be a bit unfair to do a full-out review of the podcast right now so here's a "Quick Hit."
What I did hear from Salty Kat sounded great. She seemed very comfortable behind the microphone and you could certainly hear her natural enthusiasm for World of Warcraft in her voice. She didn't seem nervous to me and despite her saying that it was the first time she had ever podcasted she actually sounded like she had been there plenty of times before. I thought it was really classy that in the opening three minutes she recounted listening to a bit from The Grind as they were speaking about Rae, the person that Kat is replacing on Epic Dolls, and what big shoes Kat has to fill. Kat was highly complimentary of Rae and disclosed that Rae is the only podcaster that Kat has ever sent a fan email to! Now that's the proper way to introduce yourself!
Nice to hear that Kat is into fishing. While I know many people seem to think fishing is the deadliest snooze-fest in the game, duller than, say, grinding 20 slow-respawning mobs for a quest turn-in, I have been doing a lot of fishing on my Blood Elves lately so maybe some tips from Kat will rub off. I think it would be nice if she did a little fishing corner of the show even though I might be in the minority on that. I think the thing I really like the most about fishing right now is that you always have this little hint of excitement in the knowledge that at any given time you could get the rarest of the rare catch! Keep hope alive!
Is there a podcast out there dedicated to fishing in WoW? Does that Eli's Extreme Anglin' guy do a show? Please let me know if so.
Otherwise an Epic Dolls with a solo Kat doing her first show went by like a breeze. Some of the same information/speculation we heard on dual specs from other places was also present here but anytime the game is patched or the PTR goes up information is always immediately outdated. So there's a little of that going on in this episode if you're wondering about repeat-ability but part of that is my fault for listening 10 days after release.
Summary: Kat's introduction is worth the listen. Extra points for use of the word "spoonerism."
15th February, 2009
Bad timing for me to be looking to review Epic Dolls as Leala was away and new co-host Katerina had to debut all on her own. I have only ever heard bits and pieces of previous Epic Dolls episodes and without them having their full team together I felt it would be a bit unfair to do a full-out review of the podcast right now so here's a "Quick Hit."
What I did hear from Salty Kat sounded great. She seemed very comfortable behind the microphone and you could certainly hear her natural enthusiasm for World of Warcraft in her voice. She didn't seem nervous to me and despite her saying that it was the first time she had ever podcasted she actually sounded like she had been there plenty of times before. I thought it was really classy that in the opening three minutes she recounted listening to a bit from The Grind as they were speaking about Rae, the person that Kat is replacing on Epic Dolls, and what big shoes Kat has to fill. Kat was highly complimentary of Rae and disclosed that Rae is the only podcaster that Kat has ever sent a fan email to! Now that's the proper way to introduce yourself!
Nice to hear that Kat is into fishing. While I know many people seem to think fishing is the deadliest snooze-fest in the game, duller than, say, grinding 20 slow-respawning mobs for a quest turn-in, I have been doing a lot of fishing on my Blood Elves lately so maybe some tips from Kat will rub off. I think it would be nice if she did a little fishing corner of the show even though I might be in the minority on that. I think the thing I really like the most about fishing right now is that you always have this little hint of excitement in the knowledge that at any given time you could get the rarest of the rare catch! Keep hope alive!
Is there a podcast out there dedicated to fishing in WoW? Does that Eli's Extreme Anglin' guy do a show? Please let me know if so.
Otherwise an Epic Dolls with a solo Kat doing her first show went by like a breeze. Some of the same information/speculation we heard on dual specs from other places was also present here but anytime the game is patched or the PTR goes up information is always immediately outdated. So there's a little of that going on in this episode if you're wondering about repeat-ability but part of that is my fault for listening 10 days after release.
Summary: Kat's introduction is worth the listen. Extra points for use of the word "spoonerism."
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:
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!
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!
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