Jason Bakker

I should really read some Alice Munro - I remember enjoying her short story "Axis" on the New Yorker Fiction Podcast; it's a subtle and complex story that's stuck in my head since I listened to it. Like many of you, I read a heap of good fiction this year thanks to the Idle Book Club, but I think my favourite was also Infinite Jest. I can't think of a book that I've read this year (or for a long time, for that matter) that has changed my world-view more than IJ.

Thanks a heap for this podcast, Steve. I'm getting a lot out of these discussions - the thing I love the most is how you get your interviewees thinking critically about their development process, often in a new light. It seems like in multiple episodes now I've heard the interviewees say "I'm realising this as I'm talking about it" or whatever; that's really cool. Also, I feel like I'm learning heaps about design, story and production with each episode. The point about internal consistency is a very salient one; it doesn't matter how wacky your world is as long as your characters treat it seriously. Thought-provoking stuff!

This podcast was really enjoyable. And there were many hot scoops! Well done, Scoops. I'm using Downcast (recommended on these very forums by one tabacco), and that is also able to grab it off the feed url.

Honestly comparing my daily experience (with particular regard to interactions with strangers and in the workplace) with my partner's was a huge wake-up call for me. I began to realise exactly how out of whack things still are equality-wise, and how important a movement feminism is.

A couple of years back I read through the Call of Cthulhu collection with the metal cover, and "The Colour Out of Space" is definitely one of my favourites. His less-great stories still work well for me (I remember enjoying "The Case of Charles Dexter Ward"), but I must admit that, especially when reading so many one after the other, there are similarities across stories that make some of them blur together, or feel a bit repetitive. Similar to how I read Cosmicomics, I found it way better to wait a while between each story. I think I put the collection down for a few months before coming back to it at one point, and that worked really well.

Linking this op-ed piece by Anna Gunn, the actress that plays Skyler White on Breaking Bad, about the vitriol she's received for playing the part. (Note: it contains mild spoilers, but not for anything recent.) The situation is depressing, but the way she has handled it is pretty inspirational. I actually stopped watching Breaking Bad early in Season 2 because I found it too dark, but this makes me want to get back into it again.

Fledgling Video Game Studio Shuts Doors After Spending All Time Creating In-Joke URLs

I finally signed up to Audible via /wizard a month ago, and grabbed this "Great Course" with my free credit - The Other Side of History - Daily Life in the Ancient World. I've been listening to it like a podcast, and it's been amazing; it has pretty incredible coverage of daily life throughout the growth of Western civilization.. I now feel like there's way more continuity in my knowledge of history than there used to be. Plus it's just an enjoyable listen - who wouldn't want to know what it was like to be an average Mycenaean? (Spoilers: It wasn't great.) I think I'm going to try out some more courses and see whether others live up to the quality of that first one.

I knew I was doing something wrong, my bad!

It's not part of the forums, but wasn't sure where else to post this: on the Dota Today page ( http://www.idlethumbs.net/dotatoday ) the bottom left area has "YOUR SEO CONTENT HERE!" (next to the "More Episodes in the Archive" link). On other Dota Today related pages in that area is the following: Which I'd guess would make sense on the base Dota Today page as well.

This fits with my partner's experience with Plants vs. Zombies 2, I must admit - she's up to the last level and has received enough keys to unlock everything without grinding or spending money. (She has looked up YouTube videos for sweet tips/tricks on a couple of particularly difficult levels, however.) It'll be interesting to hear, Jake, if you ever hit that gross point of feeling the game pushing you toward the in-app purchases.

The take-away that Twitter person has from that percentage is pretty stupid. Five percent of whatever the total App Store revenue is is still an intensely huge amount of money, and there is no doubt in my mind that it's still a viable market.

On the MUD that I used to play a heap (Discworld MUD), there was definitely at least one prominent player that was blind IRL. I think the key advantage that MUDs had over MMOs is the same advantage books have over visual media; anything that is describable could exist in the world, and easily. Roleplaying in particular was really endemic to the process of playing the game, as you could just free-write a description of yourself, including what you looked like, what clothes you wore and so forth. Then people would usually find in-world items and abilities to match their descriptions of themselves. DW MUD is still going I think; you can play it off the site here: http://discworld.starturtle.net/lpc/ .

Yeah, I just finished reading this today. It's interesting taking a step back and thinking about the themes and reasons why DFW wrote it. I read this (a transcript of his Kenyon College commencement speech "This Is Water") partway through, and I think that framed a lot of what I took away from the book - I really, really enjoyed it.

You mean a "Queen of Spain" mod? "For Castile!" "Bow to your sovereign!" "Conquistadors, ride!"

Not sure whether it's okay to start a new topic for this, but I listen (and re-listen) to The New Yorker Fiction Podcast. Every month a writer comes on and picks a short story from the New Yorker archives to read and then discuss with the host. This structure means that you're getting the cream of the crop of the New Yorker short stories that have been published over the last century, and they're being read to you by authors that have an intimate relationship with that story, read it wonderfully, and usually have some interesting insights to add after the piece. If you're interested or want to be convinced, these are a few of my favourites: T. Coraghessan Boyle reads Tobias Wolff’s “Bullet in the Brain.” Aleksandar Hemon reads Bernard Malamud’s “A Summer’s Reading.” Tobias Wolff reads Stephanie Vaughn’s “Dog Heaven.” Joshua Ferris reads George Saunders’s “Adams." Cynthia Ozick reads Steven Millhauser’s “In the Reign of Harad IV." Agh - I'd better stop there, even though there're heaps more that I'd like to recommend! If you already listen to it, or start after reading this we could potentially discuss the short stories read here. I haven't caught up to the most recent few yet, but will have done so soon.

Yeah, I think I was just applying an incorrect interpretation of what "transmedia" means that was based on combining the elements of the compound word rather than the actual definition.

I've only just started playing Dota 2, but from what I've played of LoL the surrender option definitely felt like it had its place. You did occasionally get the people who whinge on chat calling for surrender votes too early, but the combination of a delay before surrender votes could be started (10m I think?) and delays after failed votes meant that it was only marginally more annoying than them just spamming the chat. The other issue mentioned seems a bit trickier - surrendering when you might have been able to turn it around and win - but in practice if you're in with a shot (and human beings on average seem pretty optimistic about thinking that), you won't support a vote for a surrender.

While listening I kind of expected Telltale's The Walking Dead to be referenced when Chris was talking about transmedia stuff, but I've since realised that maybe it doesn't count as transmedia, as while it's set in the Walking Dead universe it may not fit into Wikipedia's description of "telling a single story or story experience across multiple platforms and formats using current digital technologies." It's set in the same universe, but isn't telling the same story as the comic or T.V. show. What do you guys think?

"This Dota Today brought to you by Potato Doritos"

You seem really on the ball!

I uh, think you might be more lucid when you're drunk. Is that possible?

From that link (another superb piece of prose), on the use of "he": Similar to many of you, I was confused for a moment at some of the uses of "he"/"him", but definitely feel that it adds to the feel of the prose. For me it made him feel more intimate, and also gave him more of a forceful personality; made him the centre of each interaction, even as he converses with a king, as (*checks previous page*, of course) The Argobot previously mentioned.

Thanks for your collective insights, I think I have a better handle on framing my thinking on the subject. Argh, that writing. She takes you firmly by the elbow and walks you through her thoughts.

Every time Nick chimes in during this podcast after the Neptune's Pride discussion, he seems slightly distracted; he seems to exist alongside the discussion, no doubt as he continues to formulate plans, theories and stratagems.