Featuring:  Ammosart, Ashgar, Belghast, Kodra, Tamrielo, and Thalen

 

Tonight we come back with a normal show after our Questions and Answer session for episode 400.  We were originally going to talk about the Path of Exile Kalandra League, but due to some technical difficulties Grace was unable to attend and we bumped that topic for another week.  We start off with a few new titles that Tam has been playing, namely Eastward and Rollerdrome.  The second of which most of us thought was going to be some new esports title, not a single player rollerderby shooter.  From there we talk about the shocking news of the PS5 price going up specifically in Japan but also in every other market that is not the United States and the ramifications that might have.  From there we pick up the Gaming Futurism topic from the 400th episode and dive into how Tam thinks the future is mobile.  Then at the very end of the show we somehow ended up talking about World of Warcraft, and I am not entirely certain I can trace that journey.

Topics Discussed

  • Eastward
  • Rollerdrome
  • Sony PS5 Price hike and Japanese market
  • Epic Exclusivity and the Black Hole of their Storefront
  • Gaming Futurism
  • Accidental World of Warcraft topic
Direct download: aggrochat_episode401.mp3
Category:gaming -- posted at: 11:06am EDT

Featuring:  Ammosart, Ashgar, Belghast, Grace, Kodra, Tamrielo, and Thalen

 

Tonight is a bit of an odd show because it is in fact our 400th episode of AggroChat.  If you had told me in April of 2015 that we would still be doing the show in 2022…  I probably would have given you some side-eye.  However here we are and for the most part, AggroChat has above all other things…  been a time that the seven of us hang out every single week both in the lead-up to the show and events that often spawn after the show.  Last week after the show we kicked around the idea of doing something special, which ended up materializing into a Question and Answer session.

Huge thanks to our listeners who gave us some questions on the spur of the moment.  The complete lack of planning…  absolutely fits the overall theme of AggroChat as a show.  We had a lot of fun answering the questions so who knows…  maybe we will do another one of these at 500 or 600.

 

Topics Discussed

  • Listener Submitted Questions
Direct download: aggrochat_episode400.mp3
Category:gaming -- posted at: 10:30am EDT

Featuring: Ammosart, Ashgar, Belghast, Grace, Kodra, Tamrielo, and Thalen

 

Sometimes a big week happens where there is a collision of events leading us to all want to talk about a game.  We welcome Kodra back from GenCon 2022 and he talks about his experiences namely the LARPs he participated in and this leads to a discussion of Warmachine 4.0.  From there we spend some time talking about the Path of Exile 3.19 Lake of Kalandra league reveal stream and the changes it is ushering in.  Bel and Ammo talk a bit about Tower of Fantasy which seems to be a universally better version of Genshin Impact set in a science fiction borderlands/wildstar-like universe.  Finally, we wrap things up with some talk about Cult of the Lamb where you sacrifice your friends for fun and profit.

 

Topics Discussed

  • GenCon 2022
    • LARPs
  • Warmachine 4.0
    • What is going on?
  • Path of Exile
    • 3.19 Lake of Kalandra Stream
  • Tower of Fantasy
  • Cult of the Lamb
Direct download: aggrochat_episode399.mp3
Category:gaming -- posted at: 10:21am EDT

Featuring: Ammosart, Ashgar, Belghast, Grace, Tamrielo, and Thalen

 

Tonight we are down a Kodra because he is off enjoying GenCon.  If you see a spot on Fred from Scooby Doo in GenCon photos, that would probably be him.  We start with a topic that was purposefully bumped from last week because the ramifications were not specific yet.  Essentially Star Citizen did a progress wipe and maybe got it wrong with a rounding error causing players to end up with way more money than they had before.  From there we talk about the Festival of the Four Winds in Guild Wars 2 and some purposefully non-spoiler Sandman discussion.  Bel talks a bit about trying out Kingdom Come Deliverance and how their attempt at a clever combat system blows but can largely be fixed with mods.  From there we dive into a weird topic against gatekeeping and the joy of seeing people discovering Kate Bush.  Then we dive into a Blizzard section as we talk about the cancellation of WoW Mobile, grouping issues in Diablo Immortal, and just general issues with Blizzard.  Finally, we wrap things up with a little discussion about Xenoblade 3.

Topics Discussed:

  • Star Citizen 3.17.2
    • Wipes
    • Stipends
    • Content Drop
    • Problems
  • Guild Wars 2 
    • Festival of the Four Winds
  • No Spoiler Sandman
  • Kingdom Come Deliverance
    • Fixing it with Mods
  • A Case Against Gatekeeping
    • The Return of Kate Bush
  • WoW Mobile Cancelled
    • Exploring the potential whys
  • Diablo Immortal Grouping Problems
    • 100k Whale can’t get a group
  • Blizzard Woes
  • Xenoblade 3 Rocks
Direct download: aggrochat_episode398.mp3
Category:gaming -- posted at: 10:16am EDT

Featuring:  Ammosart, Ashgar, Belghast, Grace, Kodra, Tamrielo, and Thalen

 

Tonight we are back and instead of Bel being sick this time we have Kodra who sounds awful.  First up we start with a discussion about Tam’s experiences with the Steam Deck and how it is a phenomenal device.  From there we talk about Tam dropping down to 1440p high framerate after spending time running at 4K and how he has been a better experience.  Ash talks about Digimon Survive finally released and his experiences with the game.  Bel gets into Dragonflight Alpha for World of Warcraft and talks about his first few weeks.  From there we talk about some of the early experiences with Multiversus and the high-quality smash bros style gameplay.  Kodra talks about the upcoming Kickstarter for Nara: Facing Fire.  Tam talks about Anno: Mutationem and its interesting take on Cyberpunk and that it is not at all connected to the Anno Series.  Finally, we wrap up with some discussion of the recent Ocarina of Time TAS play for Summer Games Done Quick.

Featured Topics

  • Steam Deck Ownership
  • Downgrading to 1440p
  • Digimon Survive Released
  • Dragonflight Alpha
  • Multiversus
  • Nara: Facing Fire
  • Anno: Mutationem
  • SGDQ Ocarina of Time TAS
Direct download: aggrochat_episode397.mp3
Category:gaming -- posted at: 10:22am EDT

Featuring: Ammosart, Ashgar, Belghast, Grace, Kodra, Tamrielo, and Thalen

 

We are back!  Bel was sick last week from an unknown illness that is very likely, not Covid and as such we did not record.  Tonight we had a wealth of topics and in the end, made it through very few of them.  We start off by talking about one of Ash’s comfort games Okami and his recent experiences playing through it on the PlayStation 4.  From there we talk about Stray and how Bel and Grace have deeply mixed feelings about it and Tam loved it.  Since it is always fun to dunk on NFT projects, we talk about Microsoft decimating NFTWorld by declaring that there will be no NFT projects associated with Minecraft.  While this is a bit of an old topic we talk about the return of E3 and how Reed Pop will be running the show in 2023.  We also talk about what this might mean for a shift in the show from being largely industry-focused to more fan service.  Finally, a number of us have reached the end game of Path of Exile and we talk about those experiences.

Topics Discussed

  • Okami
  • Stray
  • NFTWorld Burns
  • Reed Pop and E3
  • Path of Exile Endgame
Direct download: aggrochat_episode396.mp3
Category:gaming -- posted at: 10:43am EDT

Featuring: Ammosart, Ashgar, Belghast, Grace, Tamrielo, and Thalen

 

Tonight we have a show where we are mostly discovering games that have been out for a very long time.  We start off with Rimworld and Tam’s adventures in this story generation engine.  From there we talk about Wolfstride and how it is a very 90s anime representation of a video game.  From there Tam talks a bit about the Star Citizen Guide program that links someone needing help with a live person to help them, and how recent changes have made that system work strangely.  Finally, we dive into Path of Exile and how the rabbit hole has widened and captured most of us.  We talk about confronting the passive tree and the weird edge case builds it can support along with some early multiplayer experiences.  We also talk a bit about how important it is for games to support a controller and a mouse and keyboard to meet the players where they are most comfortable.  Finally, we dive a bit into the microtransactions within Path of Exile and their general acceptance.

Topics Discussed

  • Rimworld Adventures
  • Wolfstride
    • Very 90s Anime Game
  • Star Citizen’s Guide System
    • Echos of Everquest Guide System
  • Path of Exile
    • The rabbit hole widens
    • Multiplayer experiences
    • Controller Support in ARPGs
    • Acceptance of MTX
Direct download: aggrochat_episode395.mp3
Category:gaming -- posted at: 10:09am EDT

Featuring: Ammosart, Ashgar, Belghast, Kodra, Tamrielo, and Thalen

We did not record a show last week because the news of our country was a bit too fresh for most of us to talk about video games.  Now another week has passed and the wound has begun to scab over a bit.  Tonight we start down a Thalen and Grace but eventually pick up a Thalen as we go.  We talk about Summer Games Done Quick and have an aside about Wiley Wars coming to the Switch.  From there folks talk about Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge and trying to play it six-player on a console that does not support that.  From there Bel talks about falling back into Diablo III and finishing out Season 26…  while also playing a horrible ideas class that is really bad at boosting friends.  From there Bel talks about his recent experience diving down the Path of Exile rabbit hole.  Guild Wars 2 made many changes that were not well received by the most hardcore players, but we largely think they are a good thing and talk about that.  Finally, we wrap up with a quick discussion about Outriders Worldslayer and how it is still a very bleak game, but also a great mechanical experience if you can get past that.

Topics Discussed

  • Summer Games Done Quick
    • Wiley Wars on Switch
  • Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge
  • Diablo III Season 26
    • Bad Ideas Build
    • Being a Bad Carry
  • Path of Exile
    • Bel Goes Down this Rabbit Hole
  • Guild Wars 2 Massive Changes
  • Outriders Worldslayer
    • Still a Bleak Game
Direct download: aggrochat_episode394.mp3
Category:gaming -- posted at: 11:03am EDT

Featuring: Ammosart, Ashgar, Belghast, Grace, Kodra, Tamrielo, and Thalen

Tonight was a weird show.  Firstly we are recording this show on Belghast’s Birthday, which in our almost 400 episodes I am not sure we have actually recorded on one of our Birthdays before.  We set out with the mission of recording a show about the “Not E3” festivities that have been going on but get sidetracked as one does.  Instead, we go down a path of talking about Diablo Immortal once again, but from the standpoint of how exactly one should be funding game development.  Clearly, the NetEase and Blizzard team chose violence, but how exactly does one fund modern game development costs when the market has shown that if the price trickles up from $60…  folks freak out.  From there we do eventually return to talking about Sony, Microsoft, and whatever Geoff Keighly is running that now serves as the replacement for E3.

Topics Discussed

  • Bel’s Birthday
  • Diablo Immortal Again
  • Funding Games Ethically
  • Gamepass Model
  • Microsoft Show
  • Silksong
  • Valheim Cross Play between Gamepass and Steam
  • Star Citizen, Starfield, and the era of Space Games
  • Redfall
  • The Gamesir X2 controller reprised
Direct download: aggrochat_episode393.mp3
Category:gaming -- posted at: 10:15am EDT

Featuring:  Ammosart, Ashgar, Belghast, Kodra, and Thalen

Tonight’s show is a bit of a strange one.  We had a bunch of absences and at the start of the show, it was just Ammo, Bel, and Thalen.  Then as we recorded a wild Ash and Kodra appear, but this does have the effect of causing a few topics to be rehashed.  We start talking about the nonsense that Bel is doing where he attempts to fix the episode gap on YouTube and re-releases the original 73 episodes.  We dive into Guild Wars 2 and specifically the Living World Season 1 and the current Dragon Bash event.  Bel reprises the topic of Diablo Immortal this week and talks about having gotten to level 56 and all of the many monetization traps in that game.  Then Thalen talks about his experiences playing Talos Principle and Stanley Parable.  Kodra appears and we reprise the Guild Wars 2 topics a bit before Bel dives into a discussion about the universally good changes coming to New World.

Topics Discussed

  • Re-releasing Original AggroChat Episodes
  • Guild Wars 2
    • Living World Season 1 Chapter 2
    • Dragon Bash
  • Diablo Immortal
    • The Grind
    • Lootbox Bait and Switch
    • $450 Gem
  • Talos Principle
  • Stanley Parable
  • Guild Wars 2 Revisited
  • New World Upcoming Changes
Direct download: aggrochat_episode392.mp3
Category:gaming -- posted at: 10:05am EDT