What I've Been Listening To: May 31 - June 6, 2009

I think I finally caught up with my podcast listening last week. I'm now encountering another problem. How do I keep everything straight? My memory is slipping and I'm not sure I captured everything correctly. I'm going to have to start carrying around a notebook in order to make sure I don't miss any of the highlights.

Here is what I listened to last week.

First Time Listen

PODDED Podcast Season 2 Episode 3 and Episode 4 (Hosts: Dillon Arklight and War Childe) - I heard that the Eve Online-based PODDED Podcast was back up and running after a long hiatus, so I headed over to the site to check it out. The lastest episode of the PODDED Podcast is episode 5, but I was intrigued by the show notes for episode 3. Five motherships destroyed in a single fleet action? I don't play Eve myself, but I've heard enough to know that is a lot of motherships.

I think the hosts are aiming for what I think of as the BBC-style of news presentation. I think that style works well when talking about game updates and dev blogs, but I don't like that style when talking about fleet actions. I liked the excitement that crept in when Dillon described the fleet action in which a first-time fleet commander made the decisions that led to the destruction of 5 enemy motherships and a carrier.

I liked episode 3 enough that I downloaded episode 4. In episode 4 the hosts talked about a major capital ship battle between the Northern Coalition vs. WTF involving up to 1000 pilots and a battle between corporations who just recently had been alliance mates.

I've been looking for a good Eve podcast to listen to and I think I've finally found it. The major difference between this podcast and others I've listened to is how the hosts describe the space combat. I think PODDED is geared toward a more general audience while a podcast like Fly Reckless is more geared toward Eve players.

Old Friends

Shut Up We're Talking #48 (Hosts: Darrin & Karen) - This episode came out a bit late, but that's about all I have bad to say about it. The guests were Jonathan from Through the Aftermath and Randolph from Grinding to Valhalla. The topics discussed were the demise of The Matrix Online and what it means for the Sony Station Access concept and a revisit of the avatar discussion from episode #47.

The show ended with Randolph asking questions of Darrin, Karen, and Jonathan somewhat similar to what he asks on his blog. After listening to Randolph's segment, I think podcasters should not only take part in the Valhalla project but invite him as a guest if it doesn't break the format of a podcast.

Van Hemlock #52 (Hosts: Tim Dale and Jon Shute) - My favorite podcasters from across the pond produced another news/what we've played podcast, with the twitter question being "L44 in CoH and the end is in sight! Which MMOs, if any, have you level capped in and what happened next?" For Van Hemlock's take on the show, click here.

Van Hemlock #54 (Hosts: Tim Dale and Jon Shute) - The show begins with Tim proclaiming that the closing of The Matrix Online is not his fault since he never played the game. From there the hosts run through both console and MMO news, with an amusing detour to Goonswarm research in Eve Online. Episode #54 was a topic show, and the topic was SecureROM and other anti-piracy software that makes playing games harder for the honest gamer. The twitter question was "Which new MMOs are you waiting for and how patient are you?" For Van Hemlock's take on the show, click here.

The Instance #147 (Hosts: Scott Johnson and Randy Jordan) - More news and entertainment from Scott & Randy. I just have to say I liked Scott and Randy's response to the listener who wrote in about wanting to use a power leveling service because leveling in World of Warcraft is too hard.

Spouse Aggro #77 (Hosts: Beau and Leala Turkey) - In episode 77 the Turkeys discuss Beau's return to Vanguard to play the free trial area. At the end, the discussion shifts to Leala's guild engaging in a little role play.

Channel Massive #88 (Hosts: Noah, Jason & Mark) - I hope the M Team doesn't take offense, but I haven't really noticed a difference in the format since the big format change introduced in episode #86. In other words, the show is amusing to downright funny with some adult language included. And of course, Blog-O-Steria remained! The M Team took aim at statements made by a forum moderator for Star Wars: The Old Republic stating that homosexuality does not exist in the Star Wars universe.

Channel Massive #89 (Hosts: Noah, Jason & Mark) - The M Team + Richard Garriott equals humor. Throw in a discussion of the Darkfall/EuroGamer fight and Tipa's associated rant and I had a podcast I enjoyed listening to.

EQ2's-day Show from May 19, 2009 (Hosts: Dellmon and Zanadai) - Dellmon returned from a work-induced absence to hear Zan tell him about her adventures while he was away. Also find out which character class in Free Realms is based on Dellmon.