Twice a year I go through the podcasts I listen to and make the decision on whether to unsubscribe or not – with the ever growing # out there, sticking with stuff that I consider mediocre is not longer necessary. I’ve found this necessary because the quality of shows isn’t always consistent and sometimes the content begins to suffer as the show ages – like many TV shows, many podcasts run out of steam after a few seasons and rather than ending on a high note, many either drag things on forever or simply pod fade without any warning.
I thought I’d share my mini-reviews of the various RPGs podcasts I’ve been listening to and what’s going to hit the trashcan.
- Story Shtick - I really liked the Penny for My Thoughts AP; earlier episodes were kind of dull though but that might have been the system.
- Verdict: Stay subscribed.
- Theory from the Closet – I really like Clyde’s show when he sticks to interviews, except his refusal to edit sometimes leads to long pauses or odd stuff in the middle of the show. A while back he was talking about trying to “make podcasts for a living” but my guess is that the lack of polish on the show probably killed his ability to get others to pay him to do it. All that said, he’s got a very good interviewing style and most shows are well-worth the listen.
- Verdict: Remain subscribed.
- The Tome Show – I think I liked this show more when it covered primarily D&D 3.5 material, despite the fact that I hated 3rd edition. Over the last year the show’s main focus has been reviewing the WotC 4E releases which would be fine except that they seem to emphasize the parts of the game I don’t like: Every review typically involves working through the “best” powers to select or talking about optimal character builds. Yuck. The production quality of the show has also suffered greatly as the host as begun doing round-table style shows with people calling in over Skype – the noise and sound artifact levels on some of the guest hosts is HORRIBLE to the point where I’ve had to stop listening.
- Verdict – Unsub. The show isn’t interesting at all anymore and I’ve found myself not even interested in the last few episodes.
- Canon Puncture – Nowadays it’s one of my favorite gaming podcasts.
- Verdict: This is a no-brainer in staying subscribed.
- Master Plan – I really like the show, despite the fact that I hate the canned clapping as well as the intro bit. Ryan’s production quality is excellent and whether he’s interviewing someone or just talking about game design, it’s always interesting.
- Verdict: Stay subscribed.
- The Independent Insurgency – Wouldn’t miss it though I think Rob has been running out of people to interview and that’s causing the show’s frequency to drop some. An excellent show though.
- Verdict: Stays in the queue.
- The Durham 3 – After very long hiatus they’re back! I really like the show since it’s short, to the point, and blends theory/advice with AP-feedback.
- Verdict: Definitely staying on the list.
- Fear the Boot – the show has gone down hill as each of the more entertaining hosts has departed and the last 6-months episodes have largely become the audio equivalent of watching paint dry for me.
- Verdict: Unsub. I’ve never really been a big fan of the show (their “we know everything, despite not playing anything but Star Trek, D&D, and Battletech” attitude grated on me early) and now it’s just painful to listen to.
- Virtual Play - Pretty irregular releases but excellent quality AP and analysis.
- Verdict: Staying in my queue.
- Ninja vs. Pirate – they’ve had a few good interviews with RPG designers but most of the discussion is about computer games and at times it really drones on.
- Verdict: Stay subscribed but I’ll only be listening to the stuff that’s directly related to RPGs.
- Narrative Control - the release schedule has slowed a bit but it continues to be an excellent podcast.
- Verdict: Definitely staying subscribed.
- That’s how we roll - I’m glad to see this podcast has been resurrected.
- Verdict: I’ll be sticking around for this one.
- This Modern Death – the show’s content quality is very uneven. Some of the stuff is interesting, some of it is boring. It also now has a much more erratic release schedule which is usually the first sign of pod fade.
- Verdict: Stay subscribed, for now. There aren’t a lot of shows and they’ve been playing Burning Wheel so I might pick up a few ideas…
- 2D6 in a Random Direction – I really enjoy it. ’nuff said.
- Verdict: It stays.
- The Ogre Cave - I’m not sure what to make of the podcast. It takes months for a new episode to come out and typically it was recorded a month or two before which means almost all the news on it is completely dated. Me thinks this one is destined for pod fade.
- Verdict: No reason to unsub at the moment since they put out so few episodes but it’ll likely hit the bin if things don’t improve.
- Brilliant Gameologists – I think of this show as the Howard Stern of gaming podcasts. I’m really not sure how to interpret the show’s hosts because either they’re trying to be a sarcastic parody of the “know-it-all” RPG podcasts out there -OR- they’re completely delusional because there is almost nothing brilliant nor even informed about the advice, opinions, and reviews on the show. If they are really going for the parody, “shock jock” show they do it brilliantly though. As I mentioned before, the hosts main forte is promoting themselves and the show. I also think the raunchy humor and sexual innuendo (and even blatant content) is the main reason a lot of people listen to the show. The production values of the show are top-notch.
- Verdict – Remain subscribed. I’m not sure where the show is going but it’s entertaining and sort of a “back-up” show to listen to when I’m in the mood for a podcast but my main rotation hasn’t released a show yet.
- Stabbing Contest - I really liked this show early on. The hosts interviewed people in a very casual, conversational way and they emphasized a lot of the indie games that interest me. Unfortunately the quality of the content has gone WAY down over the past year – some of the recordings sound like they were either drunk or bored and simply recorded whatever they were talking about and uploaded it to avoid looking like they were going through pod fade.
- Verdict: Unsub. It’s no longer useful or even interesting.
- All Games Considered – Usually has excellent content and the hosts are usually good. The production quality of the show is not particularly high though. In particular, interviews done via Skype or with whatever mobile recording equipment they’re using are often very noisy. Their editing is also pretty poor – it appears at times that they’re editing noise out between words (either manually or with a plug-in) too aggressively, leading to the recording sounding very choppy. I’ve had to skip certain interviews because they editing artifacts are too annoying to listen to.
- Verdict: Remain subscribed.
- HGWT: For a Few Games More - still enjoy virtually every episode and wouldn’t miss them in the future.
- Verdict – Stay subscribed.
- The Game’s the thing - it’s gotten better over the last couple years, though the Savage Worlds fanboi bit still sometimes comes through. Overall it’s a quality ‘cast though.
- Verdict: I’ll be staying subscribed.
- The Podge Cast – sometimes a bit erratic in terms of the content but usually pretty good and their love of Burning Wheel is a plus. I really liked the AP debrief sessions from their BW campaign.
- Verdict: Remaining subscribed.
That’s my round-up. Most of the stuff is staying in my download queue. Any good podcasts I’m missing? Any I’m subscribing to that you think I’m nuts to listen to? Let me hear what you think.
GD Star Rating
loading...
loading...
Whew! I made the cut. Thanks coach!
Scott Dunphy´s last blog ..In A Wicked Age…part 1
loading...
@ Scott – The Penny AP was great although I think I would have gone nuts with the one woman because she was so into character that I started wondering if she was just trying to be obstructionist. I think you handled the situation really well. I’m looking forward to the With Great Power shows. My only problem with AP podcasts is that I can’t really listen to them continuously because they start to get boring in long stretches.
@ Mick – Really? Huh. I’ve been trying to convince myself that they were just amazingly good at being sarcastic. Oh well, they have devoted listeners and there’s nothing wrong with that – different strokes for different folks.
loading...
That’s a good reference list, much of it quite closely matches my own. I dropped Fear the Boot a while ago, but it sounds like Brilliant Gameologists might fill that morning radio show type vibe that while I hate on the real radio, kind of enjoy from time to time in my gaming podcasts. 2d6 and That’s How We Roll generally rule. The latter, in particular, is like a frikkin’ seminar series on the industry.
Might I pimp my own The RPG Haven Podcast. I think we occupy a niche, emphasising independent and small press games that fall between the indie scene (though we certainly don’t exclude those) and succesful second-tier games. I’d be curious how someone with your fairly rigorous criteria would find it.
loading...
Woo! We made the cut!
David´s last blog ..A Boarding Party 002: Neuroshima Hex
loading...
@ David – I loved the Burning Wheel AP. I also think you guys have a pretty good blend of styles which means it’s not a bunch of clones pontificating about the “one game” or “one right way” to play.
@ Walkerp – Pimping podcasts is fine… in fact part of the point of this whole exercise was to see if people could supply me with some more suggestions to try out.
loading...
I really don’t like Clyve’s (Theory from the Closet) or Ryan’s (Master Plan) interviews. I think there episodes where they talk about game theory are much more interesting.
Rob from the Independent Insurgency does seem to be running out of guests. I saw a post on his blog calling for volunteers. His tragic flaw is his insistence on in person interviews. He lives in western MA. I guess there just aren’t a lot of indie RPG designers in driving distance.
loading...
Thanks for showing us such love, M.J. We hope to keep going on with more and more.
Also, just as a side note – no, in my opinion the BGs are not doing a parody. They seem to actually believe in what they’re trying to do. For better or for worse.
loading...
Cool idea! I ended up writing up a commented list myself.
Alex Schroeder´s last blog ..Podcast Update
loading...
Yes, “Silvia” was just a general pain in the ass during APFMT; I cut out some of the really annoying parts. After the game she told me that the “scenario” was stupid and that as the GM I should’ve changed it :-0. Rather bewildering.
Scott Dunphy´s last blog ..In A Wicked Age…part 1
loading...
Nope. Sometimes I’m stupid. The money thing was me just wishing aloud, I am the wrong person to try to monetize a podcast, it’s so out of my nature I had no clue where to start. Then nevermind the conditions I would want. My audience is of a size that someone would be willing to pay for traffic, I imagine, but I’ve really stopped caring.
I’d love to hear what you think of my next solo show, I’ve been doing a lot of thinking on how to improve them… I may just be stuck with being boring though.
loading...
@Scott – Whew…yeah, you were really gracious on the podcast but I was pretty sure she was actively trying to torpedo the game based on a lot of her behavior.
@Clyde – I’ll give a listen and let you know what I think. Your strength (for me) has always been the interview though – I tend of think of you as the James Lipton of RPG podcasts. The long pregnant pauses or even dead air space do distract a bit. I think Fred Hicks did a fabulous job filling in the incident during his interview, especially the “initializing auto-destruct sequence” bit.
loading...
Fred has mentioned on a previous interview that he’s a full service guest. That wasn’t lip service. See what I just did, entendre, pun, and something else? Three jokes in one. I’m a full service commenter.
Anyway, thanks. I appreciate the feedback.
loading...
I’m sorry you don’t think our production quality is very high, and respectfully disagree, but I’m glad you’re still listening.
I do work to edit ums and uhs and such (as I’m usually the one editing) and will try to back off some, but as to editing myself… I stutter, and it tends to get bad when we record for some reason, and I guarantee you’d drop us if we left it in.
I’ve also started experimenting with a new Skype recording method (as I agree, our prior attempts have tended to have an annoying background hum). The last few interviews, from J.C. Hutchins to Rogue Trader, are examples of this new method.
Thanks again, though, and as I said, I’ll consider this.
loading...
“Virtual Play – Pretty irregular releases but excellent quality AP and analysis.”
Are you nuts?
Their AP is the worst I’ve heard on any podcast. Let’s not be subjective or emotional here. On ANY measure – those APs are HORRID. Have you seriously listened to them? 20 minutes of them bickering over the late Pizza? Really? You can’t edit that out?? Or the other episode with 30 minutes of listening to them place orders for Chinese food?? Seriously? You think I wanna waste my drive to work listening to that?
No offense, but let’s call a spade a spade. If you’re gonna bother blogging – do it honestly. Their AP of DiTV was horrendous. Not only did they screw up the tone and the rules but at the end of it, they’d missed the point so badly that they all had a bad time and proclaimed it a sucky game during which everyone’s supposed to die. what??? lol.
Their AP approach is to turn on the mic and start reading from the book (half outloud, half murmurs to themselves) as they try to figure out the game. I don’t need to hear that! lol. I want to know how the game runs – not how to miff it up. I don’t wanna hear them spend 10 minutes trying to sift through the book looking for rules clarifications.
And my gawd – the one guy with the lispy stammering problem? The guy who was GM during DiTV. Again – no offense, but SOMEONE tell him to calmmmmm downnnnn. He speaks in sputters and spurts that are faster than The Chipmunks. I have to turn my audio up and rewind over & over, trying to figure out what he says.
If you wanna name a quality ‘cast, list Canon Puncture and the old Sons of Kryos.
The best that Virtual Play has to offer is when he brings up a topic and then bothers to explain his points by editing in snippets from Actual Play. Now THAT is quality – and educational and worthwhile. And it takes effort. But their routine AP? Puleeeeez. I literally had to tell my players to stay AWAY from that podcast so they wouldn’t get the wrong ideas about the games I was pitching them.
You can be politically correct and defend it all you want, but you’re just being “nice.” The truth is the truth.
loading...
Thanks for the feedback but did you even bother to read the article accompanying the blurbs? I provided capsule reviews of the podcasts I’ve been listening to for the past 6 months, based largely on the episodes that took place during that time: The DitV episode you so vehemently dislike was recorded 2 years ago. Judging a podcast’s current quality based on episodes that took place 2 seasons back is hardly a way of providing a “truthful” opinion. If you look at the past 6 months episodes, they’ve been nothing but what you describe as “explain his points by editing in snippets from Actual Play” as well as samples from con games. Most AP podcasts are dreadful (The D&D Penny Arcade stuff that so many people like makes me shudder) and with few exceptions I can’t listen to more than short snippets of it without getting bored or frustrated – that’s why I’ve liked what Virtual Play as been doing.
As for naming quality podcasts…. I guess you missed the mention of the Canon Puncture. Once again, did you read the actual list? Canon Puncture, early on, was pretty dull to listen to and were I judging it on the first year’s episodes, it certainly wouldn’t rate anywhere near as highly as it does now.
SoK is one of my podcasts but it is no-longer in production and thus wasn’t mentioned since I was reviewing what I’ve been listening to over the last half year. If you go back to previous round-ups, you’ll find them mentioned. Incidentally, their early production values were terrible (lots of warbling audio, uneven levels, and background noise) so if I were to judge that podcast based on the first dozen episodes, it wouldn’t have rated very highly either. Content-wise though it was pure gold and the production values got better with time (until the video cast which was novel but rather stiff).
In addition, you accuse me of being politically correct in my critiques but if that were the case why didn’t I do it with all of the mini-reviews? I gave my honest opinion, good or bad, of all the podcasts I listened to over the past 6 months. If you had read the whole list rather than simply skipping to one that you didn’t agree with you would have seen that there are few I have nothing but positive things to say about (& have heard back from many of their hosts).
Finally, I love the use of “no offense” surrounded by phrases like “Are you nuts?” and “If you’re going to bother blogging – do it honestly.” I appreciate your opinion, but, no offense, you sound like a dick.
P.S. (because sarcasm doesn’t translate to the written medium well) – I was being sarcastic in that last sentence to make my point: Using “no offense” doesn’t make what follows any less offensive.
loading...
yes I did read the article and the list.
you are correct in that the AP I heard may have been more than 6 months ago.
I honestly don’t know. I don’t read the dates of the casts. I just look at the game names.
Yes, I noted that you included Canon Puncture. I was saying that the two big, quality casts were Canon and Kryos (which I understand is now defunct).
Yes, I’m a dick. And you’re nuts.
We go well together.
loading...
ROFL. You indeed are good at calling a spade a spade.
As for the SoK podcast…I wish it was still going since of all the RPG podcasts out there, it’s the one I liked the best.
loading...
SoK was the most functional.
It served a purpose.
It was beyond theory – they actually said, “here’s the checklist of what to do.”
So every time you listened, you walked away with practical advice you could use in your next game.
Not many casts do that.
Friggin’ Voice of the Revolution is just a long ad.
loading...
[...] Bi-annual RPG Podcast Round-up from Gaming Brouhaha [...]