What I've Been Listening To: March 1 - 7

Today is Sunday, the day I look back on the podcasts I listened to over the past week. Some of my favorites didn’t post new podcasts, so my list has a bit more of a Warhammer Online flavor than usual. This post may be a bit goofy because I was up late last night getting my epic weapon for my ranger in EQ2 and losing an hour of sleep to daylight savings time didn’t help.

Van Hemlock #40 – I wrote last week that I was saving this episode to listen to for a massive crafting session I planned to have. The show was so good I’m listening to the podcast from the land of our former British overlords again as I write this post.

In this episode, we find out what game won an award for its music, another way to kill kittens, how WoW can help stop global warming, and piracy is not just off the Horn of Africa anymore. Beware of Europe, especially Italy! Among the topics discussed are the upcoming changes in character creation in Eve, should the term free-to-play be banished, and Darkfall. A little bit of Van Hemlock’s and Jon’s Eve paranoia creeps into the discussion of Darkfall. We also learn that tea bags are not just for throwing into Boston Harbor anymore.

The Instance #137 – In this episode Scott Johnson and RandyDelux were joined by CNet’s Tom Merritt. The three discuss the contest to create a Blizzard-themed amusement park and Tom went into a nice little rant about the terms of the contest. The guys also gave an update on the open Arena Tournament.

The important discussion on the show concerned WoWMatrix. How has WoWMatrix affected not only players and the modding community? Is WoWMatrix truly the cause of all problems in the world? And is there a solution?

Finally, I’m still trying to figure out the relationship between proto-drakes and women’s restrooms.

Channell Massive #80 – The M team’s rather unique and often funny view of the news made the week pass just a little faster this week. The “What We’re Playing” and “Blog-O-Steria” segments were particularly good this week.

The M team examines several very important questions. Is the statement that parents should be the ones who determine what games their kids play just propaganda? Does shooting scantily clad female zombies in games leads to shooting them in real life? How can you tell whether a blogger is truly British or just an American trying to sound cool?

I do need to give two warnings. First, this is the first podcast Jason edited. I think he did a pretty good job, but if you don’t like the sound quality, you know who to blame. The second is that hot fanboi on fanboi action is discussed. Parental discretion is advised.

No Prisoners, No Mercy #25 – Sister Julie and Sister Fran started out the podcast poorly by talking about criticism of the podcast. Once the sisters got the mad out of their systems, the show picks up to the enjoyable level of quality that keeps me coming back for more. The statement that if all they talked about was Warhammer Online that the podcast would be very short is a bit unfair to WAR, but some of their sentiments about the game are shared by other fans of the game (see the reviews below).

The highlight of the show is an interview with R.W. Harper, a Senior Producer with Gorilla Systems. A view from one of the smaller game companies is always good.

Stonetroll Certified Warhammer Online Podcast #20 - Brilen and Ziss are healthy again and podcast #20 is better than the last episode I listened to. Sarc’s Fort Report was a little short because the fort battle aggregator didn’t work due to the Realm War server not working properly. From the reports he did received, Destruction is dominating Order everywhere.

Ziss had a discussion with Heike, a player in Norway, about patch 1.2. The question that really intrigued me was “Will patch 1.2 turn WAR into World of Warhammer?”

Warhammer Alliance Podcast #5 – Before Mythic decided to host an official forum, there was Warhammer Alliance. The fan site has expanded to include a podcast. The hosts of the podcast are Frank “PhoenixRed” Sanchez, Assistant Site Manager of Warhammer Alliance, Martin (aka “Avian”) from Germany, and forum moderator Kirsten (aka “Amriel”). This episode the three regular hosts were joined by Kelly (aka “Ariwyn”), a content lead at Warhammer Alliance.

The four discuss the 1.2 patch notes, first impressions of the public test server, the good and bad that occurred in the game community over the past week, and the Phoenix Gate scenario. People expecting any discussion of the forums on Warhammer Alliance are doomed to disappointment.

I really like the podcast and I think WAR players will like the podcast also.