Chris

Idle Thumbs on Three Moves Ahead

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This isn't an episode of Idle Thumbs, but we talk too much on it, so it might as well be.

http://flashofsteel.com/index.php/2012/03/31/three-moves-ahead-episode-162-guess-whos-coming-to-podcast/

This week we stopped into the Three Moves Ahead podcast with Rob Zacny and Troy Goodfellow to discuss what our upcoming partnership means. Since we don't yet entirely know what it means, the conversation was as much an exploration of possibilities and tone than it was a clear roadmap. We're excited about our two podcasts hitching their wagons, and we hope you are too!

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Hearing both parties talk about the direction you guys want to take this in makes me unbelievably excited. You and Sean talking about budgeting the money and how you hope to use it should be listened to by anyone in the "derp podcasts don't need that money" group.

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I am super excited to see how all this is going to work out. Great, informative cast guys!

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Downloading right now, but I had to show my appreciation for the title of the episode. So good.:tup:

By the way I did listen to the 'Religion' episode that was linked over in the TMA announcement thread, and it pretty much wasn't what I was expecting in a good way. :yep:

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The title of this episode of 3MA totally reads like the title of a Thumbs episode. The beginning of your tyrannical rule?

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The title of this episode of 3MA totally reads like the title of a Thumbs episode. The beginning of your tyrannical rule?

This title is too related to the actual overall topic of the podcast to be one of ours.

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You and Sean talking about budgeting the money and how you hope to use it should be listened to by anyone in the "derp podcasts don't need that money" group.
I've never really understood this attitude. It's not about people needing x money for a podcast. It's about people willing to give y money for the podcast (and the rewards).

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I'm going to use this opportunity to announce that my favorite episode title is "Don't Look at Me, I'm Hideo."

I've never really understood this attitude. It's not about people needing x money for a podcast. It's about people willing to give y money for the podcast (and the rewards).

Me neither, but I noticed it in a few places when the Kickstarter was initially announced (such as the NeoGAF thread).

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This title is too related to the actual overall topic of the podcast to be one of ours.

I found the hidden Idle Thumbs title for this episode.

'What's your bed-wetting game?'

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Me neither, but I noticed it in a few places when the Kickstarter was initially announced (such as the NeoGAF thread).

NeoGAF is... questionable at times. No offense not-insane NeoGAF people!

I hope I'm not the only one that might express a want for additional podcast cross-over on occasion.

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I found the hidden Idle Thumbs title for this episode.

'What's your bed-wetting game?'

Close. I think "Your Bed-Wetting Game" would be more appropriate.

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After listening to this episode I have a question and a statement.

First the question: Regarding the forum community thing, when you say that TMA will have a separate community still, do you mean it'll be like another section of the forum or an actual different site still? What I imagine in my head is the former, like how there's an Episodes section for Idle Thumbs there will be a section for TMA content (or possibly whatever other needs they have).

As for my statement, horf, this is gonna be sorta weird but stay with me here. So I pretty much outed myself already as a Howard Stern listener and people can think of that what they will, but something that I admire about the guy is that he has a lot of personal investment in what he does. Moreso than what most people are aware of. In his career he's been very careful about how his name gets marketed and has turned down offers for money / cross-promotions because it otherwise would've damaged the brand he was building up (and there's been instances where staff on his show have screwed him over in that regard). And he doesn't set any sort of standard, his success is a freak rare occurrence because usually show hosts don't get to call the shots regarding sponsorship, marketing, etc. To use probably a closer-to-video-games example, Penny Arcade also has the rare occurrence of getting to pick their advertisers rather than having it pushed on them. The bottom line is, in both cases, the people behind the product care about the integrity of the product. So during this podcast episode, Sean (representing Chris and Jake, and since they didn't object to anything he said I'm taking it as being accurate) and Troy talked about the personal investments behind Idle Thumbs and TMA. And hearing it really filled me with a lot of confidence in being a fan of Idle Thumbs (and so far so good with TMA, I like what I've heard so far). It's really reassuring to know that you guys care about what you're doing, beyond the idea of fame or recognition. The key word used was sustainability. I really admire all you guys for this, not that the opinion of one guy could have any weight. But just putting it out there.

Edit - Now with less poor writing skill.

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After listening to this episode I have a question and a statement.

First the question: Regarding the forum community thing, when you say that TMA will have a separate community still, do you mean it'll be like another section of the forum or an actual different site still? What I imagine in my head is the former, like how there's an Episodes section for Idle Thumbs there will be a section for TMA content (or possibly whatever other needs they have).

As for my statement, horf, this is gonna be sorta weird but stay with me here. So I pretty much outed myself already as a Howard Stern listener and people can think of that what they will, but something that I admire about the guy is that he has a lot of personal investment in what he does. Moreso than what most people are aware of. In his career he's been very careful about how his name gets marketed and has turned down offers for money / cross-promotions because it otherwise would've damaged the brand he was building up (and there's been instances where staff on his show have screwed him over in that regard). And he doesn't set any sort of standard, his success is a freak rare occurrence because usually show hosts don't get to call the shots regarding sponsorship, marketing, etc. To use probably a closer-to-video-games example, Penny Arcade also has the rare occurrence of getting to pick their advertisers rather than having it pushed on them. The bottom line is, in both cases, the people behind the product care about the integrity of the product. So during this podcast episode, Sean (representing Chris and Jake, and since they didn't object to anything he said I'm taking it as being accurate) and Troy talked about the personal investments behind Idle Thumbs and TMA. And hearing it really filled me with a lot of confidence in being a fan of Idle Thumbs (and so far so good with TMA, I like what I've heard so far). It's really reassuring to know that you guys care about what you're doing, beyond the idea of fame or recognition. The key word used was sustainability. I really admire all you guys for this, not that the opinion of one guy could have any weight. But just putting it out there.

Edit - Now with less poor writing skill.

As to your question, yes, the former. As to your statement, we agree!

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Will you be updating the forums in any way? Does this mean we'll lose the amazing banner on top? Will we ever get rid of the table based layout so I can make awesome custom stylesheets?

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idleBrand.png

I think the Idle brand can comfortably be turned into an umbrella. The header art stays and we get The Idle Thumbs Video Game Podcast and The Idle Thumbs Book Podcast and The Idle Thumbs Three Moves Ahead Podcast...

In the sequel you still have The Prince :kd: as the protagonist, only there are also all these cousins with wacky-shaped heads participating in the spotlight without quite fitting in the story—yet everyone's having too much fun to care.

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Will you be updating the forums in any way? Does this mean we'll lose the amazing banner on top? Will we ever get rid of the table based layout so I can make awesome custom stylesheets?

Yeah we'll be updating the forums from this sad old version of vBulletin. I'm reasonably confident the banner won't be going away though :)

(And yeah, new forum software is properly modern, HTML-wise)

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Yeah we'll be updating the forums from this sad old version of vBulletin. I'm reasonably confident the banner won't be going away though :)

(And yeah, new forum software is properly modern, HTML-wise)

:tup::tup:

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(And yeah, new forum software is properly modern, HTML-wise)

excellent news :tup: I don't suppose you guys need a hand with some CSS code monkeying? Because I would love to help!

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excellent news :tup: I don't suppose you guys need a hand with some CSS code monkeying? Because I would love to help!

That is likely a question for Mike who actually does our CSS. I always need CSS help because I'm terrible at it :)

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The first change Idle Thumbs should dictate to 3MA is that the iTunes feed should have a graphic!

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I would totally buy a 3MA shirt. Those guys need merch!

I'm glad that 3MA is partnering with IT. I hope it can help Rob and Troy get the exposure that 3MA deserves.

Also, I really want a 3MA episode on SC2 now that the pro scene is well developed and the game is better understood. I'd love to see Chris and Rob tackling it.

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Might I say I'm also pretty excited about the idea of high quality Idle Thumbs apparel? Something I might wear in the office? Penny Arcade has the 'first party' line of polo's which is a good thought, but I think it errs a little on the subtle side. I don't mind being a little more explicitly a fan, as long as the quality is high enough :tup:

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Something about being referred to as "readers" outside the Idle Thumbs podcast suddenly made me identify very strongly as part of a community (that I am barely part of in any active way). It was the first time I realized how familial and nick-namey the term is.

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