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.
Showing posts with label WoW Insider. Show all posts
Showing posts with label WoW Insider. Show all posts
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
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.
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
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!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)