Other podcasts

[Apple Cider]

I think our GOTY cast was good because we absolutely had no interest in consensus, hah! We know we have too different of taste. 

[thefncrow]

Hey, but the Justice Points goty (justice awards) 'cast taught me that you can play as a woman in Shadows of Mordor, something I had no idea about. So not all goty casts are terrible.

You can, with a caveat. The cutscenes are just videos, I guess, and therefore don't take character skins into account. So you can select the skin to play as a woman, but every time you hit a cutscene, it still shows male Talion.

[Apple Cider]

We actually talked about that particular issue this week, since Tzufit wrote a piece about it. Pretty fascinating.

[CollegeBaby]

I love Brianna Wu and what she does, but listening to her on Isometric's game of the year podcast is going to drive me insane.

 

Her two watchwords are "innovation" and "fun," both of which she applies so stubbornly that it's impossible for the games she likes not to make her sound inconsistent. Some games get faulted on lack of mechanical innovation (like Super Smash Bros. for the WiiU and Pokemon Alpha Sapphire/Omega Ruby) and some for lack of graphical innovation (like Desert Golfing and Fantasy Life), but most for both. Brianna's own GOTY, the visual novel Danganronpa, doesn't get criticism for either despite being an excellent example from an entirely ossified genre.

 

Even then, Brianna discounting This War of Mine from indie GOTY because it's not fun to play and GOTYs have to be fun to qualify really wouldn't be a problem, except that she's louder, more charismatic, and more opinionated than the other three hosts. What makes her hilarious and charming during a regular episode of the podcast becomes painful when she's trying to reach a consensus with other people. Listening to her walk all over Steve Lubitz when he tried to explain why Desert Golfing is his mobile GOTY left me feeling some serious secondhand embarrassment, and hearing her dismiss Monument Valley for nothing more than an overly muted color palette did, too.

 

Listen to Isometric! It's my favorite podcast after the Thumbs. Just don't start with their 2014 GOTY podcast, maybe.

 

That annoyed me as well. Innovation is great... there isn't enough of it in AAA dev... but she uses it as if games are not valuable unless they have innovation. It feels all too much like the old argument that games are basically tech products that should have a paradigm shift with every iteration.

 

I don't understand this need for there to be a codified GOTY on behalf of everyone. Isometeric isn't running a faceless publication. Just let everyone talk about their favourite games and let it be that. Isn't that what we've been fighting for? "Gaming from a different perspective" must entail that all perspectives are valid.

[Gormongous]

I don't understand this need for there to be a codified GOTY on behalf of everyone. Isometeric isn't running a faceless publication. Just let everyone talk about their favourite games and let it be that. Isn't that what we've been fighting for? "Gaming from a different perspective" must entail that all perspectives are valid.

 

Yeah, to hear them talk in previous episodes, it seems like the GOTY thing was somewhat prompted by the response from their community. I expected them each to create their own lists and go through them with a quick spiel for each game and commentary from the rest of the hosts. Instead, they decided to make it a battle royale and I repeatedly heard all the hosts (but especially Maddy and Steve) say, "This is my personal GOTY for this category, but the rest of you haven't played it, so it has no chance of winning. Let's just take it off the table." That's so heartbreaking! I couldn't give a shit what the "consensus" GOTYs from Isometric are, especially if that means we don't get to hear everyone's personal picks and their reasons for them.

[osmosisch]

I love Brianna Wu and what she does, but listening to her on Isometric's game of the year podcast is going to drive me insane.

 

Her two watchwords are "innovation" and "fun," both of which she applies so stubbornly that it's impossible for the games she likes not to make her sound inconsistent. Some games get faulted on lack of mechanical innovation (like Super Smash Bros. for the WiiU and Pokemon Alpha Sapphire/Omega Ruby) and some for lack of graphical innovation (like Desert Golfing and Fantasy Life), but most for both. Brianna's own GOTY, the visual novel Danganronpa, doesn't get criticism for either despite being an excellent example from an entirely ossified genre.

 

Even then, Brianna discounting This War of Mine from indie GOTY because it's not fun to play and GOTYs have to be fun to qualify really wouldn't be a problem, except that she's louder, more charismatic, and more opinionated than the other three hosts. What makes her hilarious and charming during a regular episode of the podcast becomes painful when she's trying to reach a consensus with other people. Listening to her walk all over Steve Lubitz when he tried to explain why Desert Golfing is his mobile GOTY left me feeling some serious secondhand embarrassment, and hearing her dismiss Monument Valley for nothing more than an overly muted color palette did, too.

 

Listen to Isometric! It's my favorite podcast after the Thumbs. Just don't start with their 2014 GOTY podcast, maybe.

I completely agree. It was driving me crazy, which was sad because all the ingredients were there for a great 'cast (and it largely was when things lined up - I'm really interested in playing Dangon Ronpa now, for example). But yeah, she's a textbook example of how we tend to form an opinion first and only afterwards try to justify it.

[clyde]

@Apple Cider

Your podcast sound-quality seems fine to me. 

 

Also I really enjoyed the tactical combat on hard in Dragon Age: Orgins and Dragon Age 2. It was really fun to position my party and time their efforts to optimize their effectiveness. The indoor combat was especially fun because I enjoyed sending my rogue ahead to lay traps and then ambushing them. In retrospect, I can understand why others would feel that it was tedious, but for me it was the first game where I could control an entire party (I don't play many rpgs) and I could go between turn-based and real-time with ease. The reason I stopped playing Dragon Age: Inquisition was because the tactical combat was broken on the 360.

[Apple Cider]

I might actually read that on the show because both of us didn't even know people were really into DA combat!

[clyde]

I might actually read that on the show because both of us didn't even know people were really into DA combat!

That's why I figured I should testify. I actually played Dragon Age: Origins on normal though. DA:0(normal difficulty)=DA2(hard difficulty).

I think we all have different introductions to the game-mechanics of various genres and it's often because a particular mixture gets us over a hurdle. The instantaeous pause/play part of DA:O combat was what I needed to enjoy controlling a party composed of various classes with cool-down timers. Also the ability to dodge attacks and use cover by moving the characters was something I needed in order to enjoy it. And I don't think I could play a game long enough to master the subtley of the combat (including a customization of character abilities that complement the abilities of the party as a whole) without interesting characters, romance, and political drama.

[Reyturner]

If you do end up listening to the Isometric GOTY, you will get some cask strength Danielle RoadIslandeau.

[shammack]

If you do end up listening to the Isometric GOTY, you will get some cask strength Danielle RoadIslandeau.

 

I wish she would just entirely abandon the phony California accent (or whatever it's supposed to be) already. I find her real accent much easier to listen to.

[clyde]

I wish she would just entirely abandon the phony California accent (or whatever it's supposed to be) already. I find her real accent much easier to listen to.

I'm sure she has her reasons, but the thing that drives me crazy is that when she uses the R.I. accent, I hear a whole spectrum of subtle connotative phrases, words, noises, and intonations that are not apparent in the radio-voice. So I'm stuck wondering "I wonder how R.I. accent feels about the thing that radio-voice said the other day."

But I'm sure she has her reasons. I'm lucky to get to hear her opinion on games however that is made possible.

[CollegeBaby]

Linguicism is a real thing. People may be assumed to be less intelligent or from a lower social class when their language deviates from what people view as the "proper language" in a country that is spoken among the mass media. It is especially troubling for African Americans - no less because of the relationship to racism - who are often expect to "speak white" if they want to be accepted in job interviews that require higher education.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8CF-UgkBk9E

[Christopher]

Yeah, to hear them talk in previous episodes, it seems like the GOTY thing was somewhat prompted by the response from their community.

 

My experience as a listener of previous episodes was that it was not the audience/community, but Brianna Wu herself who kept pushing for an official Isometric GOTY. Brianna just thought they had an obligation to have a consensus for some reason, and she wouldn't listen to (didn't even notice?) the other three trying to subtly talk her down. The buildup to the GOTY cast contained the same awkwardness as the GOTY cast itself, played out in slow motion. I also like Brianna Wu's advocacy for women in tech, but her role in whole buildup to the GOTY episode and the GOTY episode itself has soured me a bit on Isometric. I wish the hosts were Maddy, George, Steve, and Gita Jackson (their non-Danielle guest for the GOTY cast). Brianna was just so dismissive of everyone else's opinions and experiences. Very frustrating.

 

In a weird way, I think Brianna Wu is a good advocate for women in tech/games because she shares a lot of the same entrenched attitudes that Idle Thumbs mocks ("games are all about fun fun fun" "games need the highest graphics" "consumer is always right"), so she comes across as a fairly typical "gamer" who is also advocate for women. (As opposed to someone who might come across like an outsider for being too pretentious or whatever other bullshit excuse would be used to dismiss someone like maybe Jenn Frank or Samantha Allen.) But unquestioned assumptions like this aren't what I want to hear on a podcast.

 

On the other hand: I really wish Maddy Meyers lived on in the bay area and could become a Thumb. She would be a great fit. (I know this is deeply selfish and unrealistic. She has her own life on the east coast and no reason to move somewhere even more expensive. And if she read this she would probably not like my criticism of Brianna here, because they're friends. I'm just creating an unworkable fantasy podcast lineup, that's all...)

[Gormongous]

Linguicism is a real thing. People may be assumed to be less intelligent or from a lower social class when their language deviates from what people view as the "proper language" in a country that is spoken among the mass media. It is especially troubling for African Americans - no less because of the relationship to racism - who are often expect to "speak white" if they want to be accepted in job interviews that require higher education.

 

Yeah, I feel for Danielle completely, being that I have a Texas accent I bring out very rarely. I have had longtime friends and colleagues tell me in the course of the same conversation that they find my accent charming and honest, but that if they heard me talk in it without knowing me, they would assume that I was an ignorant hick. At least two famous and respected professors from the South have put it this way: accents are for when you've made it. I'm just glad Danielle's made it, in her own way.

 

My experience as a listener of previous episodes was that it was not the audience/community, but Brianna Wu herself who kept pushing for an official Isometric GOTY. Brianna just thought they had an obligation to have a consensus for some reason, and she wouldn't listen to (didn't even notice?) the other three trying to subtly talk her down. The buildup to the GOTY cast contained the same awkwardness as the GOTY cast itself, played out in slow motion. I also like Brianna Wu's advocacy for women in tech, but her role in whole buildup to the GOTY episode and the GOTY episode itself has soured me a bit on Isometric. I wish the hosts were Maddy, George, Steve, and Gita Jackson (their non-Danielle guest for the GOTY cast). Brianna was just so dismissive of everyone else's opinions and experiences. Very frustrating.

 

In a weird way, I think Brianna Wu is a good advocate for women in tech/games because she shares a lot of the same entrenched attitudes that Idle Thumbs mocks ("games are all about fun fun fun" "games need the highest graphics" "consumer is always right"), so she comes across as a fairly typical "gamer" who is also advocate for women. (As opposed to someone who might come across like an outsider for being too pretentious or whatever other bullshit excuse would be used to dismiss someone like maybe Jenn Frank or Samantha Allen.) But unquestioned assumptions like this aren't what I want to hear on a podcast.

 

On the other hand: I really wish Maddy Meyers lived on in the bay area and could become a Thumb. She would be a great fit. (I know this is deeply selfish and unrealistic. She has her own life on the east coast and no reason to move somewhere even more expensive. And if she read this she would probably not like my criticism of Brianna here, because they're friends. I'm just creating an unworkable fantasy podcast lineup, that's all...)

 

This is a much better version of what I wrote, thanks for posting it! I actually enjoy Brianna's disruptive role on regular episodes of the Isometric podcast for the dynamic it produces, but you're totally right that it made a GOTY episode inevitable and inevitably miserable.

 

Really, what bothers me most about Brianna, besides the difficulty she has not framing her criticisms as dismissals, is that her professional expertise informs so much of her appreciation of games, even during noncritical conversation about play. If I were as picky about depictions of medieval history in media as she is about rendering technology in video games, I would be enjoying In the Name of the Rose, Marketa Lazarova, Wolf Hall, and... yeah, that's it. Upon achieving a certain level of professional or techincal specialization, you have to reinvent how you consume and discuss things related to that specialization, at least so that you can use your knowledge to recognize and champion the good in works with ostensible flaws in light of your specialization. Otherwise, you become the kind of person who stops themselves from calling Middle-Earth: Shadows of Mordor "graphically gorgeous" because some of the landscape textures look like they might be filler from a library. It's interesting, in an abstract kind of way, but it destroys discussion.

[Mangela Lansbury]

After listening to an incredibly racist discussion about muslims on the Slate Political Gabfest this morning, I think I'm just done with it. Are there any good alternatives to it?

[Bjorn]

I've yet to be impressed by the couple of Slate podcasts I've tried out. The first time I listened the Gist was the last time, as it was appallingly ignorant.

[Badfinger]

I might actually read that on the show because both of us didn't even know people were really into DA combat!

 

 

Figured I should chime in, but DA combat is wonderful (at least Origins). I played it with the same glee I played Baldur's Gate, which makes complete sense to me because that's what they were trying to hit. I actually feel some buyer's remorse from getting Inquisition, because what I really want is the DA world and characters with Divinity's combat.

 

(What I really want is Baldur's Gate: Inquisition let's be real)

 

 

Regarding Danielle's accent, wasn't she the impetus of her own change? I don't mean to imply there aren't outward social connotations to accents and dialect, but I thought I recalled her saying she inwardly wanted to change the way she spoke.

[Argobot]

After listening to an incredibly racist discussion about muslims on the Slate Political Gabfest this morning, I think I'm just done with it. Are there any good alternatives to it?

 

That's a bummer. The Slate Political Gabfest has become a regular source of interesting discussion that pushes a lot of the preconceived ideas I have about politics as a young progressive. I often disagree with what is said on the podcast (especially by David Plotz), but I always enjoy the conversation. It forces me to step outside this bubble of my own understanding how politics do or should work, and I always come away with what I hope is a more nuanced understanding of the issues. It's so easy and tempting to remain in the progressive echochamber that often crops up on Twitter, and I am really happy that something exists to pull me out of that space for at least one hour a week.

[malkav11]

Figured I should chime in, but DA combat is wonderful (at least Origins). I played it with the same glee I played Baldur's Gate, which makes complete sense to me because that's what they were trying to hit. I actually feel some buyer's remorse from getting Inquisition, because what I really want is the DA world and characters with Divinity's combat.

 

It's not really accurate to describe it as Dragon Age combat being wonderful, because the only game in the series with good combat is Origins and it's now outnumbered by the ones with shitty combat. (Although, to be fair, Inquisition's combat is at least markedly less shitty than II's because they no longer spawn enemies out of thin air for two or three additional waves in every single combat.)

[Mangela Lansbury]

That's a bummer. The Slate Political Gabfest has become a regular source of interesting discussion that pushes a lot of the preconceived ideas I have about politics as a young progressive. I often disagree with what is said on the podcast (especially by David Plotz), but I always enjoy the conversation. It forces me to step outside this bubble of my own understanding how politics do or should work, and I always come away with what I hope is a more nuanced understanding of the issues. It's so easy and tempting to remain in the progressive echochamber that often crops up on Twitter, and I am really happy that something exists to pull me out of that space for at least one hour a week.

I really enjoy their discussions of domestic issues. They're eye opening and insightful and offer new perspective. When they talk about anything foreign policy related, or about politics elsewhere in the world, it's just an infuriatingly uninformed discussion. I might keep listening and just zone out when they get into foreign things.

[Reyturner]

I think the end of Video Games Hot Dog ep 181 might actually be Frog Fractions 2

[Apple Cider]

Okay I know this has been my unofficial audio quality feedback thread but does anyone know how to cut back on audio bleed? Now that I'm doing separate track mixing, what I'm running into is having to cut three tracks worth of bleed (where someone's mic picks up the audio in their headphones) and having to silence all of that manually. I have no idea how to either cut it out entirely (whether it is fixing the gain or buying sound sealed headphones) or how to automate cutting it out. It's tripling my production time and I am a woman with limited free time and now I am doing this with two podcasts.

[JonCole]

If the recording software has a noise gate feature, you can try to hit the sweet spot so it automatically cuts out the feedback but still picks up voices. But yeah, ultimately I ended up buying closed headphones and turning down my headphones to the lowest tolerable levels.

[Apple Cider]

I use Audacity, I would presume it has a noise gate feature?