romdo romdo

Overall topic this episode is MMOs, their evolution, and our experiences with them. (Recorded on August 12th, 2015)

Panel:

- Alex Reis (https://twitter.com/alexmreis)
- Eric Hartin (https://twitter.com/fraeon)
- Jim Myhrberg (https://twitter.com/jimeh)
- George Antoniadis (https://twitter.com/geoah)

Topics:

- Introductions (00:30)
- What we have been playing (summer 2015) (01:36)
- (Old) news (12:45)
- Humble beginnings of the MMO (20:25)
- Ultima Online (23:15)
- Everquest (31:30)
- Dark Age of Camelot (39:15)
- World of Warcraft (42:30)
- Guild Wars (59:40)
- Guild Wars 2 (1:04:45)
- EVE Online (1:11:30)
- The Black Hole of Korean MMOs (1:14:00)
- Failed MMOs (1:27:15)
- Future MMOs (1:30:45)
- Jim can't stop talking about Sword Art Online (1:38:40)
- More speculation (1:39:30)
- Good byes (1:50:30)

Notes:

P.S. Our publishing schedule seriously sucks. This episode was recorded 8 months ago and was a major editing task. That's why we have started doing Sidequests a few months which need nearly no editing compared to regular episodes. The plan is to try and get the editing work needed for episodes down to about as little as sidequests. Time will tell if we succeed or not :)

This time our sidequest adventure of discussions and rants takes us to the world of Ori and the Blind Forest.

Panel:

- Alex Reis (https://twitter.com/alexmreis)
- Eric Hartin (https://twitter.com/fraeon)
- Jim Myhrberg (https://twitter.com/jimeh)

Music Attribution:

- Ori and the Blind Forest (Original Soundtrack): https://store.steampowered.com/app/378950/

Our first Sidequest is an adventure (discussion/rant) into the world of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt.

Panel:

- Eric Hartin (https://twitter.com/fraeon)
- Jim Myhrberg (https://twitter.com/jimeh)

Notes:

P.S. Sidequests is a new concept we're trying out where we focus on a single topic. It's a kind of spin-off of the "What are we playing?" segment from our regular episodes. The idea is to do very little editing to Sidequests to keep publish time to a minimum. So if you find the editing/audio quality lower than usual, there's a reason for it. If you have any thoughts and/or complaints, we'd love to hear it :)

Overall topic this episode is VR and why it's coming back. (Recorded on August 5th, 2015)

Panel:

- Alex Reis (https://twitter.com/alexmreis)
- Eric Hartin (https://twitter.com/fraeon)
- Jim Myhrberg (https://twitter.com/jimeh)

Topics:

- What are we playing? (2:06)
- News:
- Tomb Raider Xbox One exclusive details. [Correction: PC release "early 2016", PS4 relase "holiday 2016"] (10:30)
- Various EA Gamescom related annoucements/rants. Mostly about Unravel, indie developers, and Kickstarted games. (12:30)
- Blizzcon accouncements. (22:49)
- The death of Dinklebot in Destiny. Nolan North replaces Peter Dinklage as the voice of Ghost. (24:27)
- The (new) Doom multiplayer looks awesome. (26:05)
- Virtual Reality:
- Why is VR important now compared to the 90s? (28:20)
- VR input schemes and systems that work and don't work for shooters. (33:36)
- Killer apps: Horror, cockpit/racing-based, shooters. (36:57)
- Why are people interested in VR again now? (40:32)
- VR in Sci-fi. Our discussion almost plays out as a list of anime and book suggestions rather than being on topic :P (45:23)
- Reality is broken. (57:49)
- VR Hardare faceoff. (1:00:01)
- Is our reality a virtual reality already? (1:06:13)

Notes:

P.S. Due to summer holiday trips, and otherwise heat-induced chaos, this episode is published just over a month after it we recorded it. With summer heat strokes and obligatory "zomg its hot must have holiday kthxbye" craziness out of the way, new episodes should come on a more regular basis in the future :)

Overall topics this week are lots of FAIL in the news, and the transition from last to current gen consoles. (Recorded on July 12th, 2015)

Panel:

- Alex Reis (https://twitter.com/alexmreis)
- Eric Hartin (https://twitter.com/fraeon)
- Jim Myhrberg (https://twitter.com/jimeh)

Topics:

- Episode 1 Corrections
- What we’ve been playing
- News:
- Final Fantasy XIV for Mac recalled due to performance issues.
- Batman: Arkham Knight for PC recalled due to performance issues.
- Destiny: The Taken King exclusive content fiasco.
- From last to current gen consoles:
- No mention of last gen games at E3 2015.
- Larger, more detailed and more alive open worlds.
- Improved AI, and new systems like Shadow of Mordor's Nemesis System.
- 900 vs 1080p, 30 vs 60 FPS.
- Games best showcasing the new technology of current gen consoles.
- What are current gen games doing that was not possible on last gen?
- Realistic vs cartoon-ish 3D art styles.
- Social features of current gen consoles.
- Consoles vs PCs?
- Will last gen consoles hold any retro and/or collectors value in the future?
- The evils of digital-only releases which are no longer available for
purchase.

Links:

- Driveclub vs Project Cars on PS4: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YZggnfolreA&t=2m33s
- Jim's Witcher 3 Playthough playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLzK3IINzkz2Zu6Zx20OwHjETc2uCamy2n

## Notes

P.S. Our original recording for this episode was just under 2 hours long. So in an effort spare our listeners from extended brain damage, a lot of rambling (mostly by Jim) was cut short, or cut out completely to get a more concise and on-topic episode. And in the spirit of embracing FAIL, we've left remarks about recording length that don't make sense as a lot of rambling was cut out.

Music Attribution:

- Milkshake by Aaron Spencer (https://machinimasound.com/music/milkshake/), Licensed under CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)
- Neuro Rhythm by Aaron Spencer (https://machinimasound.com/music/neuro-rhythm/), Licensed under CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)
- Shadows of the Mind by Per Kiilstofte (https://machinimasound.com/music/shadows-of-the-mind/), Licensed under CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)
- Ephemeral Reign by Per Kiilstofte (https://machinimasound.com/music/ephemeral-reign/), Licensed under CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)
- Gold Coast by Jens Kiilstofte (https://machinimasound.com/music/gold-coast/), Licensed under CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)
- Electroids by Jens Kiilstofte (https://machinimasound.com/music/electroids/), Licensed under CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)

Overall topic this week is E3 and gaming in general.

Panel:

- Alex Reis (https://twitter.com/alexmreis)
- Eric Hartin (https://twitter.com/fraeon)
- Jim Myhrberg (https://twitter.com/jimeh)

Topics:

- Introductions!
- Nintendo World Champs
- Sony's E3 Press Conferences:
- The Last Guardian
- Final Fantasy 7 Remake
- Shenmue III
- Horizon: Zero Dawn
- Uncharted 4: A Thief's End
- Microsoft's E3 Press Conference:
- Rare Replay
- Sea of Thieves
- Xbox 360 backwards compatibility on Xbox One
- HoloLens Minecraft
- Square Enix’s E3 Press Conference:
- Kingdom Hearts 3
- EA’s E3 Press Conference:
- Unravel
- Bethesda’s E3 Press Conference:
- Fallout 4
- Doom 4
- Ubisoft’s E3 Press Conference:
- The Division
- Nintendo's E3 Press Conference:
- Star Fox
- Lack of WiiU Zelda
- Eric gushes about Street Fighter V
- Old E3 vaporware:
- Commander Keen (pre e3)
- The Last Guardian (already listed above)
- Eyedentify
- Our return to Final Fantasy XIV