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Chris

Idle Thumbs 3: Field of Dreams

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We're still at it!

"Did you hear BioWare is working on a Star Wars MMO set in the KOTOR universe? Oh, you did? Nick and Chris talk about their day at the Old Republic reveal event, Thumbs alum and BioShock 2 designer Steve Gaynor of 2K Marin joins us as a special guest, Jake turns into an old man, and more. Listen in!"

Games discussed: Star Wars: The Old Republic, Fable II, Far Cry 2, BioShock 2, Yakuza 2, Diablo II, Oblivion

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http://www.idlethumbs.net/

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Oh man, where can I buy German Boardgame Xbox Live Arcade Port Churros? My local supermarket doesn't carry them.

----

And add me to the list of idle thumbs users that had their names mispronounced:

(X) Toblix

(X) Nowak

Edited by n0wak

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I enjoyed the first streamcast, and - would you know it - it gets better and better! Awesome!

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Just got out of bed and it was awesome. In the spirit of uncovering hidden patterns in a seemingly random series of events, I predict that the next podcast will last for approximately 1 hour and twenty-one minutes.

Also, what the fuck was up with talking about Fable 2 for minutes on end with no hilarious Molyneux impressions?

Also, what's up with the reverse ordering of the podcasts on the front page? What are you, Chinese?

Anyway, as I said: awesome. Have you gotten an impression (or precised figure) of how many people are downloading the podcast every week?

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Just got out of bed and it was awesome. In the spirit of uncovering hidden patterns in a seemingly random series of events, I predict that the next podcast will last for approximately 1 hour and twenty-one minutes.

Also, what the fuck was up with talking about Fable 2 for minutes on end with no hilarious Molyneux impressions?

I totally forgot to do a Molyneux impression. I actually want to talk about Fable II one more time next week because there was some cool real estate stuff I wanted to mention, so maybe I'll remember then.

Also, what's up with the reverse ordering of the podcasts on the front page? What are you, Chinese?

The newest one is first!

Anyway, as I said: awesome. Have you gotten an impression (or precised figure) of how many people are downloading the podcast every week?

It's hard to say, but it looks like a few hundred people. It's still pretty small. Does anyone know a way to reliably track how many times a file has been downloaded from a server, regardless of how it got there?

Right now we're (roughly) tracking RSS subscriptions (through iTunes or otherwise) and (roughly) tracking direct download clicks via the front page, but it's hard to get a conclusive figure.

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It's hard to say, but it looks like a few hundred people. It's still pretty small. Does anyone know a way to reliably track how many times a file has been downloaded from a server, regardless of how it got there?

You can parse that data out of your raw access logs.

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Dammit! It's not showing up in iTunes. To the direct download I go!

Are you sure? Try telling it to update the podcast from your "Podcast" category. Are you subscribed?

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Yeah, I am. I've got the first two on there no problem, but it's not showing up when I update...

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I know I had to refresh a bunch of times on the UK store.

Entertaining podcast this week, was particularly funny towards the end.

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Finally! The long-awaited return of the sirens! :tup:

Another quality podcast, guys. Having Steve Gaynor with you, couldn't you have used the opportunity to ask him about the wild rumours going about recently on Ken Levine's apparent impossibility to work with? Did the whole team really collective say: 'no more!' ?

Get that man on the show again!

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Finally! The long-awaited return of the sirens! :tup:

Another quality podcast, guys. Having Steve Gaynor with you, couldn't you have used the opportunity to ask him about the wild rumours going about recently on Ken Levine's apparent impossibility to work with? Did the whole team really collective say: 'no more!' ?

Get that man on the show again!

What? I don't want to speak for Steve here, but I don't think that Steve came on the podcast to air dirty laundry. That's obviously an issue that both the employees and the company have decided is a private matter. And, Steve didn't work for Irrational, so he would not just be airing dirty laundry, but it would be second-hand gossip? That seems like a suspicious request!

That said, glad you're liking the show! And Steve will definitely be back, (unless he hates us now for not asking him to tell the public The Truth :) ).

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I would say a response in this case would be better than letting rumours like that fly wild. I didn't consider it being dirty laundry though, so it might indeed be inappropriate. However, if it's a topic of relevance in the community, surely it would cross a journalist's (or podcaster's) mind to approach it in some form? Especially if you've got a source sitting right next to you.

I'm not asking you to grill the man :grin: I'm just surprised it didn't come up since it was so hot a few days ago here.

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I personally wouldn't consider it an appropriate topic of conversation for the podcast. And if we had asked it, what would Steve have said about it? It wouldn't be appropriate for him, as an employee of 2K and a friend of a lot of ex-Irrational folks, to say anything in public beyond a PR-approved response. Again, I can't speak for Steve, but if I were in his place and my friends awkwardly asked me that question while recording a podcast, I wouldn't know what to do but to give a polite non-answer, completely regardless of my feelings towards Ken Levine. This particular hot scoop (if it is one at all) has a zero percent chance of being dropped in the context you're hoping for.

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Fair enough, I hadn't considered it from that angle. And anyway, I take it Steve was there more because of general cameraderie between you guys rather than being a special Industry Insider to play hardball with.

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Fair enough, I hadn't considered it from that angle. And anyway, I take it Steve was there more because of general cameraderie between you guys rather than being a special Industry Insider to play hardball with.

Yes, and also while Steve is our friend generally speaking, I don't think we're going to be inviting anyone on to play hardball. Despite the mentions of Hot Scoops, we're not so much interesting in sussing out juicy details of upcoming games or internal team strife as much as we are having interesting guests who have interesting things to say about games, from an informed perspective that might be different to ours.

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Yes, and also while Steve is our friend generally speaking, I don't think we're going to be inviting anyone on to play hardball. Despite the mentions of Hot Scoops, we're not so much interesting in sussing out juicy details of upcoming games or internal team strife as much as we are having interesting guests who have interesting things to say about games, from an informed perspective that might be different to ours.

Oh, my mentioning 'hardball' and 'industry insider' should be taken with huge quantities of irony since your current methodology is exactly why the podcast is so great to listen to. You almost feel part of the great atmosphere going on there, so please, go for people that are fun and interesting and have good chemistry in the group. Woohey!

I mean Wuxtry!

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Great listen guys,

Maybe the new KOTOR will be similar to Guild Wars where it has the start of the game entirely instanced - that way they can give you a good story whilst teaching you the game before letting you out into the big wild world afterwards.

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Age of Conan also has an interesting approach to story - up to level 20 you can switch back and forth to "night time mode" which is a single player story campaign.

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Great listen guys,

Maybe the new KOTOR will be similar to Guild Wars where it has the start of the game entirely instanced - that way they can give you a good story whilst teaching you the game before letting you out into the big wild world afterwards.

Yeah, that's definitely a potential avenue. I didn't get the sense from the presentation that was the route they're taking, but who knows at this point? (I suspect they may not know yet themselves. :shifty: )

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Nice work. As you may have guessed from my response to the Old Republic thread, the idea of a KOTOR MMO doesn't exactly get me excited. Your discussion of the focus on story has at least got me interested, and I'll follow it more closely than I would have.

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