This is the week I figured out that if I'm going to play a computer-role playing game, the game really needs to have the "MMO" in front of "RPG". Maybe from the outside looking in that's obvious. After all, my favorite game is EverQuest 2 and I write a weekly post on the MMORPG-based podcasts I listen to every week. What really brought this to my attention is when I started to try to analyze the economic system in Fallout 3. The game play, while quite good, just doesn't engage me like the game play in EQ2 does and I think the difference lies in economics.
I think I am at a point where combat is not the primary thing driving my play. In EQ2, I have a small army of crafting alts that are almost all involved with tier 8 tradeskilling. Eve Online is so appealing from the outside because a player can concentrate on industry instead of combat. If I play another game outside of the MMORPG genre, I think it will be a game like Europa Universalis III. Not only is it a game conducted at the grand strategic level, but it would allow me to play Sweden's Vasa dynasty, a subject I've become interested in after reading Eric Flint's 1632 universe novels.
Enough about why I'm giving up on Fallout 3 while so many of the podcasters I listen to love the game. Here is what I listened to last week.
Goodbye!
Epic Dolls #69 (Hosts: Leala Turkey and Katerina) - Leala and Kat were joined by Stardancer as this episode marks the end of the Epic Dolls podcast. I basically only listened to 2 World of Warcraft podcasts, The Instance and Epic Dolls. While I'll still get to listen to Leala on Spouse Aggro, the passing of the Epic Dolls podcast leaves me a bit sad. I'll just wish good luck to everyone involved with the Epic Dolls podcast and hope that we'll see everyone involved with future projects. Length: 44 minutes.
Sticking Around
Massively Speaking #59 (Host: Shawn Schuster) - In episode 59 Shawn was joined by Massively.com bloggers Colin Brennan and Kyle Horner. The news covered included government actions by the People's Republic of China and Australia as it related to MMO's, beta information concerning Global Agenda and Champions Online, SOE's Community Address at Fan Faire and Mark Jacobs departure from Mythic. Length: 64 minutes.
Van Hemlock #59 (Hosts: Tim Dale and Jon Shute) - Tim and Jon, Massively.com bloggers themselves, present the news with Jon remembering to watch his language when talking about Sony. This episode was a "what are we playing" show with the hosts opening up Twitter to allow listeners to ask questions. A very brave decision by Tim. Length: 83 minutes.
Free To Play Podcast #21 (Hosts: Riknas and Andras) - The hosts are joined by Jonathan Morris of Through the Aftermath as they look at the F2P news and review Anarchy Online. Length: 73 minutes.
No Prisoners, No Mercy #37 (Hosts: Sister Julie and Sister Fran) - In this episode the sisters were joined by Tipa from West Karana and Saylah from Mystic Worlds for a far ranging discussion from everything from games to what they choose to write about on their blogs.
Add in the discussion on Warhammer Online's Land of the Dead and the fact that with all the numbers the sisters threw out about which episode this was, they never mentioned "37" once, and the podcast was an enjoyable listen to on my train ride to and from work. Length: 86 minutes.
The Instance #152 (Hosts: Scott Johnson and Randy Delux) - Scott and Randy discuss Blizzard's announcement that World of Warcraft players may get to change faction between Alliance and Horde as well as races. Other topice included what Cataclysm may be, 2-toon arena teams making a comeback and changes in Engineering. And as always, don't forget to listen to all the contributors like Mean Gene, Patrick and Buxley who help make The Instance a special broadcast. Length: 91 minutes.
Evolving?
Spouse Aggro #82 (Hosts: Beau and Leala Turkey) - The Turkeys experimented with a live audience and a web cam in this episode in which they looked back at 10 years of gaming. The story about their wedding was nice too. The technical difficulties were left in, making this a podcast not unlike the ones I listen to from Online Gaming Radio.
Beau also announced that he is going to start a Free Realms podcast while keeping Spouse Aggro up and running. That I have to hear. Length: 44 minutes.
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