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

 

Hey Folks! It is that time again, time for our yearly Games of the Year show. Last year we learned that it was far better to record two weeks in a row instead of creating a marathon three-plus hour long show and cutting it in half.  This week we dive into the second half of the show covering the final eleven games.  These are games that were important to us this year and may or may not have actually been released this calendar year.  A lot of them were, but I just wanted to set the expectations.

This year we did not have a lot of overlap, which is to be expected given that the seven of us have some wildly different tastes. It was a big year and I am sure there are a lot of games that you think might need to be on this list that we did not choose. Hopefully, you enjoy our thoughts all the same.

 

Games Discussed:

  • I Was a Teenage Exocoloist

  • Super Mario RPG Remake

  • Boltgun

  • Star Ocrean 2nd Story R

  • Jedi Survivor

  • City of Heroes

  • Everspace 2

  • Alan Wake II

  • Super Mario Wonder

  • Honkai Star Rail

  • Baldur’s Gate III

Direct download: aggrochat_episode-465.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 10:40am EDT

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

 

Hey Folks! We start off with a topic that has been bumped for time a few weeks in row as we discuss how complex video games can stick the landing with their denouement. Bel has been playing Alan Wake 2 and talks about how Remedy finally has achieved seamless integration of FMV and rendered gameplay. We talked a bit about Risk of Rain 2 and the buildcraft surrounding the game.  Kodra has officially gone further in Path of Exile than the rest of us and talks about his adventures in bossing. We wrap up the show discussing how Path of Exile does a poor job of telling its story in spite of actually having a very good one compared to other ARPGs.

 

Topics Discussed:

  • The Ending Payoffs for Complex Games

    • How to stick the landing

  • Alan Wake 2 is Great

  • Risk of Rain 2 Buildcraft

  • Kodra Kills Against the Bosses

  • ARPGs attempting to tell stories

Direct download: aggrochat_episode-457.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 10:04am EDT

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

This week we had a full house with everyone on the podcast.  With the way life has been lately this has been a rare treasure.  We start off with some talk about Grace’s experiences in Torchlight Infinite and Kaichu.  Ash talks a bit about Monster Boy and the Cursed Kingdom and how the entire Wonder Boy series is nonsense.  Thalen shares his thoughts about the launch of Marvel Snap.  Kodra talks a bit about Mario and Rabbids Spark of Hope and how wrong it is that the Rabbids can now talk.  From there we dive into the New World Re-Roll and how in spite of our best intentions we still could not get everyone on the same damned server.  Finally we wrap up with a little bit of talk about the not-MyLittlePony fighting game called Them’s Fightin Herds.

Topics Discussed

  • Torchlight Infinite
  • Kaichu
  • Monster Boy and the Cursed Kingdom
  • Marvel Snap
  • Mario and Rabbids Spark of Hope
  • New World Re-roll
    • Fatal Flaw
  • Them’s Fightin Herds
Direct download: aggrochat_episode409.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 10:25am EDT

Tonight we recorded a relatively short show since we knew Sunday we would be losing an hour of time as we “spring forward”.  Tonight we have a handful of topics that have been floating around our list for a while.  Firstly we talk about folks being shocked that Roblox is apparently valued at 38 billion dollars during the initial public offering.  We talk about the concept of invisible games, or the games that media and gamers just aren’t talking about but are massive.  From there we talk about the importance of judgement free difficulty settings.  Tam talks a bit about exploring No Man’s Sky in Virtual Reality and how the game has changed over time.  Finally as we wrap up we talk about just how phenomenal WandaVision was and how all of you should go out and watch it.

 

Topics Discussed:

  • Games that Games Media Don’t Talk About
    • Why Roblox is worth 38 billion dollars
    • Dungeon Fighter Online
    • Mobile Games
  • Games Need Difficulty Settings
    • Challenges playing with Kids
    • Judgement Free Difficulty Settings
    • Accessibility Needs
  • No Man’s Sky in VR
    • Valheim in Space?
  • Watch WandaVision
    • No spoilers just talking about it being good
Direct download: aggrochat_episode338.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 11:21am EDT

The worst part about recording a podcast is trying to come up with a title for whatever the hell it was that we did the night before. We talk a bit about Belghast and his journeys into Phantasy Star Online 2.  From there Bel talks a bit about Neverwinter and the Stronghold system. Tam talks a bit about streaming Dishonored Death of the Outsider which turns into a discussion about streaming in general. We have a group of people who have been playing Legend of Five Rings Online and we check in for an update how the game has been going.  We talk a bit about Monster Hunter World now that Thalen and Grace have met Nergigante, which weirdly leads to some talks about Battle For Azeroth, Sea of Thieves and the desire for a Collaborative Sandbox game.

Topics Discussed:

  • Phantasy Star Online 2
  • Neverwinter - Strongholds
  • Dishonored Death of the Outsider
  • L5R Update
  • Monster Hunter
  • Battle For Azeroth Concerns
  • Sea of Thieves
  • Wanting a Collaborative Sandbox
Direct download: aggrochat_episode195.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 10:06am EDT

This week we totally lied to our listeners because for various reasons we chose not to record the subnautica game of the month show.  There was a significant patch in that game this week and we wanted to give time to experience the changes.  Also we had a lot of things we wanted to talk about with Stormblood since we have now played a significant amount of it, with at least one of us having hit the level cap.  We also talk about The Secret World legends and their “launch” this past Friday.  We wrap things up with a discussion of Warhammer 40,000 and the redesign of the ruleset, in which Tam actually has some good things to say about it.  We also get into a lengthy discussion of 40k things that have disappeared…  like Zoats and Squats.

Things Discussed

  • Final Fantasy XIV - Stormblood
  • Secret World Legends
  • Steam Summer Sale
  • Warhammer 40,000 8th Edition
Direct download: aggrochat_episode162.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 9:57am EDT

This week ushers in the return of Tam who has been in world traveller mode.  We begin the show with talk about the madness that is the RoboSquid Armada… or our attempt to bring back the challenge to low level World of Warcraft by restricting ourselves to green gear and attempting dungeons at the minimum level.  From there we delve into a discussion of the Electronic Arts E3 press conference and how they are bringing roleplaying to sports games.  Also discuss the forced two player prison escape experience of A Way Out, and the huge tease that was the Anthem “reveal”.  Since Tam has been on the road he has been playing a lot of Fire Emblem so we delve into a length discussion about that franchise specifically.  Finally Ashgar and Kodra have been playing Hollow Knight so we do a bit of a dive into why they feel it is the best metroidvania out there.

Topics Discussed

  • RoboSquid Armada
  • Making Warcraft a Challenge
  • EA E3 Press Conference
    • Star Wars Battlefront II
    • A Way Out - from Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons
    • Roleplaying in Sports Games
      • NBA Live 18 - The One
      • Madden NFL 18 - Longshot
      • FIFA 18 - The Journey
    • Need for Speed Payback
    • Anthem
  • Fire Emblem
  • Hollow Knight
Direct download: aggrochat_episode160.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 9:43am EDT

AggroChat #136 - Star Wars Gone Rogue

This week we are recording a bit of a special show in that we have a bunch of gaming stuff to talk about… but also Rogue One happened.  So as a result we are dividing the show in essentially two parts.  The first part we talk about a bunch of gaming topics, and in the second part we give an intermission of sorts to let folks know we are about to delve into a spoilery discussion of the new Star Wars film…  Rogue One.  For those really cautious our spoilery discussion begins around 56 minutes into the podcast.

On the non-spoiler side of the table we talk about The Dawning event in Destiny and how awesome the Sparrow Racing League is.  This causes a brief offshoot conversation about how we actually grip our controllers.  A few of the crew have been playing Hex the digital CCG that many of us backed eons ago in kickstarter so there is some discussion about its current state.  Bel talks about the Warcraft community Icecrown Challenge charity event.  Bel also talks about his experiences playing Let it Die the Darksoulsian Rogue-Like set in a Neo Tokyo setting.  Finally wrapping up the pre Star Wars discussion is some talk about the 2nd edition of the 7th Sea Pen and Paper game.

Topics Discussed - Destiny - The Dawning - Sparrow Racing League - Controller Grips - Hex - Hearthstone - World of Warcraft - Icecrown Challenge - bit.ly/icecrown2016 - Let It Die - 7th Sea - Star Wars: Rogue One

Direct download: aggrochat_episode136.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 9:52am EDT

AggroChat #120 - Can’t Go Back Home

It feels like every week I say “something weird happened” when describing our podcast.  I might simply be that we have no real “normal” state to fall back on, and that everything is essentially new and strange.  That said I feel like this week is on an island of its own.  After last week’s podcast I had a listener pull me aside and comment that it sounded like it physically pained us to talk about Warcraft.  I personally didn’t realize this until I went back and listened a bit, and I can absolutely see how someone could have that take away.  More often than not we just have super confused feelings about the game, and  tonight we delve into this…  and it leads to a whole sequence of topics including the loss of “junk culture” and the businessification of things we love.  For some of us you definitely can’t ever truly go back home.


Topics On The Show:  Listener Comment - Conflicted Feelings About Warcraft - Why Tam Hates WoW - Loss of Junk Culture - Businessification of Comics and Games - Hobbyism and Creative Industries -Metal Gear Solid 5 - Overwatch - Last Bastion Cinematic

Direct download: aggrochat_episode120.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 9:43am EDT

This evening we had a pretty strange show as far as subjects go.  It feels like we can never just talk about how much we like this or that game without delving into deeper subjects.  First up we talk Stardew Valley and how it has seemed to take the internet by a storm... or at least most of our social circles.  Next up we talk The Division and instead of getting into a discussion about what we liked about it.... we ended up getting into a discussion about the morality of dispatching extrajudicial executions.  Eventually we do however get into a thread about the things we really enjoy about the game.  We also talk a bit about the bad news of the week relating to the cancellation of Everquest Next and the severe layoffs at Carbine for Wildstar.  This spawns a discussion about MMOs in general and their viability for the future.  Finally we talk about the new Flamestrike event going on in Infinity allowing players to participate in a larger campaign through the internet.

Topics Discussed:

  • Stardew Valley
  • The Division
  • Wildstar News
  • Everquest Next
  • Infinity Flamestrike

 

Direct download: aggrochat_episode98.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 9:27am EDT

We realized that it had been a really really long time since we've had a normal show.  With the holidays and a handful of theme shows...  it has been amazing to have all of these special guests hanging out with us, but it had been far too long since we just did a normal "games we are playing" type show.  This week also is the return of our normal lineup of Ash, Bel, Grace, Kodra, Tam and Thalen.  Tonight we talk about....

  • Magic: The Gathering - Oath of the Gatewatch
  • Diablo 3 - Season Five Launch
  • Warframe - Co-Op Space Ninjas
  • Undertale - a few more start playing
  • Victor Vran - Secrets and Objectives Diablo-like
  • Kingdom - Combat without fine control

Next week we will begin our "Games of Last Year" show where we finally get around to talking about the games we though were our favorites from 2015.

Direct download: aggrochat_episode91.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 9:39am EDT

This week we return to the whole topic driven focus, because honestly they seem to work better.  We had several topics we wanted to discuss but for the sake of time we pushed a few of them off to another episode.  Once again we have the full cast of Ashgar, Belghast, Grace, Kodra, Tamrielo, and Thalen. 

The topics we delve into...

  • Rocket League - how we are apparently late to the party, and any time a game is getting played at the same time by wildly different groups of gamers... it should be checked out.
  • Space Chem - how Kodra falls into a deep hole of trying to create the most perfect engine in this video game that plays more like a really good board game... and also at times a programming simulator.
  • Otome Games - we talk about how our podcast got mentioned recently by Pizza Maid and Suishi Geisha...  and how it would be awesome if the games we liked to play had the same level of story fidelity that Otome games do.  This spawned an entire side discussion about story drive games in general.
  • Co-Opetitive Games - the games where you are playing co-operatively but also at the same time competing with your friends....  also fertile ground for losing said friendships.
  • Sandbox Games - We talk about the wall that happens in most sandbox experiences where we as players are just "done" with the game long before we have technically completed all of it.
Direct download: aggrochat_episode86.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 12:19pm EDT

For awhile now the AggroChat crew has deliberately put off talking about the events of Final Fantasy XIV Heavensward in an attempt to allow folks to catch up on the content.  However this week the gloves are coming off and we are dipping into a full spoiler episode where we hash out the events that have occured since the 2.55 patch show.  We trace the steps of our characters from setting foot into Ishgard to the final conflict of the expansion, with as much details as we can think about in between.  This is a roughly two hour long show because of the truly large amount of content to go over.  We considered chopping this into two halves, but figured we would release it uncut.  We talk about our favorite characters, our most emotional moments and what we are looking forward to with future content patches.

Direct download: aggrochat_episode71.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 1:49am EDT

This show we were without Tam who is travelling but still have Belghast, Ashgar, Kodra, Grace and Thalen.  For the most part we have all been caught in the gravity well of Final Fantasy XIV Heavensward, and are now pushing through the games gearing process.  This is working for some of us, but others are beginning to get highly frustrated.  We talk about the positives and negatives of the way the gearing system works.  While wandering around aimlessly through the show we also managed to get caught into a nostalgic timewarp as we talk about our early experiences playing Magic the Gathering.  Everyone remembers that new pack smell, and in many ways Grace and Bel both wish they could return to that nostalgic era surrounding the game and playing it with their friends.  Kodra talks about the new expansion coming out and the changes they have made to the game in a site that could be termed as "Worst Version" of existing mechanics.  It was a fun show if a very rambly one.

Direct download: aggrochat_episode65.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 12:24am EDT

Due to the Independence Day holiday we opted to record this show a little early this week, and instead of spending Saturday night talking about games, we spent Friday night.  As a result there are several of us who were not quite to level 60 in Final Fantasy XIV but have since caught up and pushed through to the level cap.  However we spent a good deal of time not talking about FFXIV. Grace managed to finish the crazy attunement system in Wildstar and attended her very first raid.  She gives her opinion of the system and how it compares to WoW and FFXIV raiding.  Additionally we go down the rabbit hole that is the Four Job Fiesta and talk Final Fantasy V and the various group compositions fate has given us this year.  I apparently was one job off from the legendary group composition that the person who started the event go their first year:  Monk, Berserker, Beastmaster and Dancer.  Instead the gods saw fit to give me a Samurai so I could quite literally "pay to win".

We purposefully saved our discussion of Heavensward to the end of the show because I knew that was the one thing we were all playing.  It is extremely difficult to discuss this game without going into spoilers, so there are some details that might be spoiled if you have not played up through the Aery dungeon yet.  The awkwardness of this show was the fact that Ashgar is quite a ways behind the rest of us, making it extremely difficult to add to discussions... because at least one point during the show he made a conjecture that we knew the truth about, but could not really go into it for fear of spoiling key plot points.  My theory is that once we have all finished the 3.0 story arc we will do yet another big "spoil everything" show, like we did for 2.55.  The best snippet for me was when Grace decided to talk about her new loathing for Moogles after completing the Churning Mists zone.  Moogles are in fact lazy bums.

Direct download: aggrochat_episode64.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 9:29am EDT

I originally thought that when we set down to record this episode of AggroChat we would end up putting aside all pretense and simply talk about the Heavensward expansion for Final Fantasy XIV.  However what happened in reality is we ended up recording an extremely length show where we basically did that... AND a normal show as well.  While many or our weeks revolved around the launch of this new expansion...  we had to do something to bide our time until the Friday launch.  Grace has apparently been completely hooked on Marvel Super Heroes so we talked about that for awhile.  The other game she has been playing is Wildstar, so we spent a good deal of time chatting about how that game has been progressing.

In Final Fantasy XIV before the outage we managed to take down Shiva and Odin once again so we talked a bit about that.  Then myself, Tam and Kodra have been playing an awful lot of ArcheAge so we talk again about that and our progress so far.  Then finally when we start talking about Heavensward we get sidetracked on a lengthy debate about the merits of flight in MMOs and whether or not it is simply GM cheats.  Each of us brought our own perspectives to the conversation and quite honestly this could have been a show topic in itself.  Finally we talk about our experience so far with the Heavensward expansion to close out the show.  It is an extremely packed show, and clocks in just shy of two hours.

Direct download: aggrochat_episode62.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 9:04am EDT

Tonight we get the folks together to record the fourth AggroChat game club show, this time devoted to Tamrielo's pick.  Shadowrun: Dragonfall is the second game in the Shadowrun: Returns series from the wildly successful kickstarter process.  While the first game focused mostly on getting the engine correct, this game focuses more on weaving an interesting narrative in the Shadowrun setting.  In tonights show we delve deep into the game and talk about the various choices we made while playing it.  Please be warned this is a full spoiler show, and we will talk about some of the plot twists and the alternate choice paths that you can make in the game.  I highly suggest that if you intend to play this game,  that you revisit this show after doing so as not to spoil any of the content.

This title is auspicious for various reasons, primarily because it is the first title that everyone joining in the show either beat or came extremely close to beating it.  Kodra and I started recording tonight and during the course of the show actually defeated it.  Ash however is in the final stretch making him only about thirty minutes away.  The other extremely unique thing about this game is it is quite literally the first game we have played that we all were able to give a big thumbs up to.  Join us next month for Kodra's title as well called There Came an Echo, which is a voice controlled real time strategy game... that is certain to lead to some strange conversations.  Additionally if you played Shadowrun: Dragonfall along with us, please drop by AggroChat.com and leave us a message with your thoughts.

Direct download: aggrochat_episode59.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 1:36am EDT

Tonight we talk about the events that have essentially stolen our lives...  the release of the Manderville Golden Saucer and the FFXIV 2.51 patch.  The title of the episode comes from the fact that we have spent a good deal of the last week running hard mode dungeon and trial content for the slim chance of getting triple triad cards to drop.  Triple Triad has lead several of us to do all sorts of random stuff trying to obtain cards... and this week I capped Poetics almost exclusively through running trials at 5 poetics per run.  If there was ever a homewrecker of a patch... this would be the one.

So listen to us talk about all the awesome things that happened from Triple Triad, to Chocobo Racing to the insanity that is the Cactpot lottery.  However worry not... we talk about several other things in addition to all the Final Fantasy XIV gushing.  Tam and Kodra talk Elite: Dangerous.  Bel spends some time talking about the new building game Sky Saga, and Rae talks about her recent travels in Trove.  Kodra talks about his experience playing the indie game Deer God and several other points between.  It was a thoroughly fun episode to record, so we hope that translates well in the broadcast.

Direct download: aggrochat_episode46.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 1:20am EDT

This evening we delve into our very first AggroChat Game Club title, the earthbound-esc JRPG Citizens of Earth.  We talk about our experiences playing the game on PC, Vita and 3DS and discuss the positives and negatives of each platform.  We then dig into the discussion of the game, its combat, systems, and story.  Finally we give the game our own version of a rating.  It was an interesting first game experiment, and we look forward to the next title which we discuss at the end of the show.  Next week we return to our regularly scheduled AggroChat format, and with it more than likely much discussion of the upcoming Final Fantasy XIV patch that we preview towards the end of this weeks show.  

Direct download: aggrochat_episode45.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 1:09am EDT

This week was of course the week of Valentines Day, and as such we actually ended up recording a bit earlier than normal so that each of us could be free for whatever Valentines shenanigans we had planned.  At the suggestion of Kodra we opted to ditch our normal episode and attempt to record one in honor of the relationships in the games we play.  The problem is...  as we found out while recording...  video games are pretty bad at doing relationships still.  I personally think the show ended up pretty interesting, and well worth the listen.

Direct download: aggrochat_episode44.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 10:49am EDT

Join Bel, Ash, Rae and Tam in another cavalcade of wonder, known as the AggroChat podcast.  This evening we are missing the illustrious Kodra...  who was simply too sick to record but will hopefully join us again next week.  We start our evening with my mind getting absolutely blown seconds before we start recording.  Tam provides a link to the strangest hobby I have seen..  a man who cooks doll sized food.  So we take a brief intermission from the normal proceedings to talk about this strange spectacle.  Once we get under way we talk Final Fantasy XIV and defeating turn 6 of Binding Coil, and our efforts working in Turn 7.  From here we meander into a disucssion of random elements in raid encounters, comparing and contrasting World of Warcraft Blackrock Foundry to the FFXIV encounters.

From here we meander into a long session talking about Elite Dangerous.  We talk about our pie in the sky ultimate space game, and how maybe we aren't that far away from it.  Finally Rae, Tam and Ash talk about their experiences watching the League of Legends NALCS and how that experience has changed now that they are also competing in a Fantasy League.  We recorded considerably later than normal, so I think towards the end of the show we were all getting a bit drowsy and maybe a tad bit slap happy.

Direct download: aggrochat_episode43.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 11:51am EDT

This week is the first live show we have recorded in two weeks.  In the intervening time Bel, Rae and Ash went to Pax South, and Rae and Ash managed to catch the dreaded Pax Pox.  Kodra represented our podcast on the Inaugural episode of the TGEN Tribunal podcast featuring members from all of the various TGEN podcasts and then became the grand Wii Bowling champion of his cruise.  During the course of this episode my cast members try and convince me that I am a "media personality" to which I still deny.  In addition to all of this madness we talk about a lot of games.  

Kodra talks about his experiences with the 3DS port of Citizens of Earth, playing a lot of Sudoku and the punishing game 1001 Spikes.  Ash talks about a week of playing Final Fantasy XIV, and the rogue like overture.  Tam talks about time spent playing the new generation of adventure games including Dreamfall Chapters and Life is Strange.  Rae talks about some FFXIV and her frustrations with the current state of League of Legends Lag, as well as the controversy of them completely blowing off Pax South.  Finally I talk about my experience taking media appointments at Pax South, and getitng to play a lot of Gigantic and Moonrise.  We deep dive into Gigantic talkinga bout our experiences playing together, and what the various champions we played were like.  

Finally at the end I talk a little bit about my joining the staff of MMOgames.com.  It is a big episode full of lots of stuff and I hope you all enjoy it.  We are happy to be back and happy to be hanging out and recording aggrochat once more.

 

Direct download: aggrochat_episode42.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 12:00pm EDT

This weeks show is a bit of an odd one, firstly in that we pre-recorded this episode a week in advance.  This week Kodra had a conflict and Ashgar, Rae and Belghast were scheduled to be at Pax South...  leaving only Tam to solo record an episode.  As exciting as that sounds...  we figured we would let him off the hook and record a double episode.  The second strange thing about this episode is that we are introducing what we are hoping will become a new feature.  AggroChat Game Club... where we pick a title each month and play it during that month.  In this episode we deliberate on a list of titles we came up with before hand and at the end of the show reach a vague concensus as to what the title will be.

That said...  we hope you the listening public will play along and the last show in February we will be doing a deep dive into our chosen game.  Of course  this will be a full spoiler discussion as the five of us hash out what we thought about the game.

Direct download: aggrochat_episode41.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 10:55pm EDT

Tonight we once again have the full AggroChat crew as Tam figures out Seatle and learns to time zone.  As per our usual we talk about lots of different games, but end up devoting a lot of time on a recent addiction.  Hexcells is a slightly older puzzle game that Tam has apparnetly hooked Rae and Kodra on.  Unbeknownst to us it apparently makes you super mellow while playing it.  Another big thing this week was the release of the Patch 2.5 trailer for Final Fantasy XIV so we discuss the things we are most looking forward to.  Another event that happened this past week was the release of H1Z1 to steam early access.  I talk about my initial experiences wandering the zombie filled wasteland... and my general frustrations with early access games.  It was a crazy evening because with three of the five of us being at Pax South next week... we opted to record two seperate episodes.  Hopefully when we come back to live episodes in two weeks... we will have some exciting tales to tell from the trip Bel, Rae and Ash take to San Antonio.

Direct download: aggrochat_episode40.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 2:19am EDT

This week we have a shorter show than usual in many different ways.  For starters we only actually ran right at an hour.  Secondly we are short Tam and Rae.  Tam travelled across the country, and is apparently bad at time zone conversions, so until we sort out a better time to record for the growing west coast contingency we are going to be shorthanded.  This week we talk about a wide breadth of topics including Final Fantasy XIV, Pokemon Alpha Sapphire and Omega Ruby, Rogue Legacy, Valdis Story, ittle Dew, World of Warcraft, Aquasphere and Adventure of Link.  With a few other short discussions slid in here and there like we always have.  Additionally we talk about the fact that Belghast, Ashgar and Rae will all be attending Pax South in a few weeks.  We are hoping to meet some of our listeners, so drop us a line to let us know if you also will be attending.

 

Direct download: aggrochat_episode39.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 1:29am EDT

This week Belghast, Ashgar, Kodra, Rae and Tamrielo talk about what all they did over the holiday break. With the new year, starts a new season of aggrochat... where pretty much everything stays the same other than us incrementing the season number by one.  Lots of discussion of the things we have spent the last two weeks playing, and some talk about the titles slotting to arrive in the new year that we are interested in.

Direct download: aggrochat_episode38.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 2:02am EDT

This year we are starting what I hope will be a tradition for our podcast, a "Games of the Year" show.  Notice that it is plural, because there is no one "Game of the Year" when an ensemble cast is involved with fairly diverse tastes.  As such we sat down and made lists of the five games that were the most significant to us this year, and then talked about them.  The end result was this monster three hour podcast that I edited between the evening we recorded it and the morning I am posting it.  As such we ended up with two shows worth of content, and today you are going to get the second part of this experiment.

For this "Games of the Year" show we have Ashgar, Belghast, Kodra, Rae and Tam.  I hope all of you had a great Holiday, and hope you all have an excellent New Year in the coming days.  I want to thank our listeners so much for giving us your time this year, and we hope to give you an excellent Season 2.

Direct download: aggrochat_episode37.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 7:55pm EDT

This year we are starting what I hope will be a tradition for our podcast, a "Games of the Year" show.  Notice that it is plural, because there is no one "Game of the Year" when an ensemble cast is involved with fairly diverse tastes.  As such we sat down and made lists of the five games that were the most significant to us this year, and then talked about them.  The end result was this monster three hour podcast that I edited between the evening we recorded it and the morning I am posting it.  As such we ended up with two shows worth of content, and today you are going to get part one of this experiment.

For this "Games of the Year" show we have Ashgar, Belghast, Kodra, Rae and Tam.  Hope you enjoy it, and hope you have a very Happy Holiday, and we will get the second part to you before you have a Happy New Year.

Direct download: aggrochat_episode36.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 10:51am EDT

Tonight I am joined by Tam, Ashgar and Kodra as we discuss the various things we have been doing.  One of which is this really interesting raid simulation game that makes me think that the creator must have been a serious vanilla wow raider.  In fact as Tam talks about it in detail... I am pretty sure I could assign names to the various raid personalities from my own experience.  Additionally we delve into our experiences raiding in Final Fantasy XIV and my week of raiding Highmaul in World of Warcraft.  There are of course other topics that fall in between the raid discussion... but it was a very raidy episode.

Direct download: aggrochat_episode35.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 12:45am EDT

Tonight we swap things up a bit, Kodra drives the bus and does an excellent job doing it.  During the day Belghast had some pretty rough news, and just didn't feel up to being his jolly self, as such Kodra stepped in to offer support and we made it through the show in one piece.  Tonight we are joined by Belghast, Kodra, Rae, Ashgar and Raven and talk random gamey bits.  There is much discussion of Final Fantasy XIV as usual with Raven talking about completing her second Novus weapon and beginning a second Nexus grind, and several of us talking about our victory over Ultros and solid attempts on Tier 5 in Binding Coil of Bahamut.  I talk World of Warcraft raiding, and looking forward to beginning the Highmaul Raid after missing Thursday and my raids first two boss kills.

Together Bel, Rae, Kodra and Ashgar talk Heroes of the Storm, since this week they finally saw fit to give Rae an invite.  That game is exceptionally fun and better suited for a more casual gamer than League of Legends is.  Over the course of the week we have played quite a bit of it and talk about our personal hero preferences and playstyles.  Kodra runs a much tighter ship than I seem to, because we actually clocked in at just barely over an hour once editing was finished.  Extra special thanks to Kodra for steering the ship while I couldn't quite muster the oomph to do so.

Direct download: aggrochat_episode34.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 10:54am EDT

Tonight we have Belghast, Ashgar, Kodra and Tamrielo and once again we fill the evening talking about the games we have been playing.  Kodra talks about his recent experiences playing the Shadows of Mordor, and how the sandbox is actually more enjoyable than the story.  Ashgar talks about Little Big Planet 3 and the beauty of sackboy.  I talk about the rather large WoW shaped hole that I seem to have fallen into with the release of Warlords of Draenor.  Tamrielo talks about his recent experiences in Final Fantasy XIV and finally finding a set piece robe that I actually likes.  This of course is just a sketch of the topics discussed, and several games in between including Endless Legend, Civlization Beyond and Fallen London.

Direct download: aggrochat_episode32.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 1:27am EDT

Tonight I am joined by Ashgar, Kodra and Tam as we ramble ever onwards about video games and things related to those video games.  Tonight we talk the supremely interesting 4X game Endless Legend... which if nothing else seems to have an endless thing of configuration options.  We talk about Shadows of Mordor where we determine that it may in fact be a "Bel game" so long as I can suffer through the stealth places.  Finally I unload about my recent waffle and subsequent return to World of Warcraft for the Warlords of Draenor expansion.  All of which we expound upon at length in traditiona AggroChat style.

Direct download: aggrochat_episode31.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 1:12am EDT

Tonight I am joined by Ashgar, Kodra and Tam as we ramble along about various gaming tidbits.  Ashgar having moved across country, is a real team player for somehow managing to string together both internet and a machine to record from all in time to join us.  Kodra and I dig into a length conversation about his recent return to Magic the Gathering Online, and the fact that I am dipping my toes into it as well.  Tam joins us after a long day at an Infinity Minatures tournament, and talks about the experiences and  battles of the day.  Ash having spent the week moving, did not have a lot of gameplay but did talk a bit about replaying Final Fantasy X on the vita.  

Together we discuss the happenings of Blizzcon and the announcement of the first brand new IP in 17 years... Overwatch.  Kodra and I are cautiously optimistic and looking forward to it.  Tam and Ash are mostly just cautious.  All of us agree that it looks interesting.  Another happening of Blizzcon, the announcement of the Gnomes vs Goblins expansion for Hearthstone serves as a segway into our frustrations with the one dimensional nature of Gnomes in the Warcraft franchise.  Can't being short and smart also be awesome?  Do they have to always remain a running gag?  Once again we manage to spend an hour and a half delving into these topics and bringing them to you our listeners.

Direct download: aggrochat_episode30.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 1:20am EDT

This week I am joined by Ashgar, Rae and Tam as we talk about the major patch that just landed in Final Fantasy XIV.  The servers have been besieged by a rolling group of rogues... as the patch completely revives chain running FATEs in so many zones.  Tam talks about the last week spent pushing up a Ninja from level 1 and finally hitting 50 this afternoon.  We talk about the new dungeons, the changes to raiding, and the changes to the relic weapon process.  Additionally folks talk about the recent changes in the League of Legends competitive scene.

Direct download: aggrochat_episode29.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 12:37am EDT

Tonight we were joined by Ashgar, Kodra, Rae and Tam as we discuss all sorts of stuff going on.  We talk about the latest round of FFXIV announcements coming out of the London Fanfest.  Unfortunately the announcement that we got in Vegas of the Job information coming in London... was a bit of a tease.  We also talk about what we are looking forward to Tuesday when the 2.4 patch lands.  I talk about my experiences with Rift Nightmare Tide launch and the fairly catastrophic server rollback that caused me to loose essentially one entire days worth of playtime and a bunch of other stuff that came with that.  Tam and Kodra talk about their experiences playing Civilization Beyond Earth as a co-operative team.  Finally Rae fills us in on some of the craziness that is happening in the post season League.  It seems like there is a ton of "horse trading" going on as players are swapping teams left and right.

 

At the point of posting this podcast Sunday morning...  we have now completed our Extra Life marathon as part of the Alliance of Awesome team and as a group we raised almost $2000 for the charity.  Super proud of everyone that participated and tuned in to watch us go.

Direct download: aggrochat_episode28.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 12:33pm EDT

This week I am joined by Ashgar, Rae, Tam and Kodra.  We talk about the first day of the Final Fantasy XIV Fan Festival and all of the interesting bits of news related to the Heavensward expansion that will be landing spring of 2015.  We also talk about the upcoming 2.4 Dreams of Ice patch that should be landing shortly.  Kodra and Tam have spent some time playing Borderlands the Pre-Sequel and give their thoughts on the experience so far.  Finally we talk about the recent changes in League of Legends to the jungle systems, and some discussion about the Worlds Final.

Direct download: aggrochat_episode27.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 12:51am EDT

Tonight myself, Rae, Tam and Kodra talk about all manner of things.  Tam finds a hidden jar of Nutella, Kodra delivers a sermon on the benefits of Galaxy Trucker, Rae gushes about her new Dinosaur Hunter... and I try and keep things going along smoothly in the process.  We have a long ramble about Dragon Age again, this time talking about Kodra's struggle to get into the story.  He has finally "gotten off the citadel" to borrow a phrase from Mass Effect 1.  We also talk about how each of us approaches the characters we play in creating a personal story behind them.  We talk about my struggles with Destiny this week and finally hitting the point where I am starting to feel it is entirely too grindly.  Finally we talk about what Blizzard might be announcing at Blizzcon, and we go off on a speculative tour about what genres we think they might do reviving and polishing to a shine.  It was a rather packed podcast and we realistically could have probably gone on for another hour and a half.

Direct download: aggrochat_episode26.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 12:59am EDT

Tonight we help launch TGEN or The Gaming and Entertainment Network as we join this awesome new podcast network.  Check out http://tgenetwork.net for further information.  A curious thing happened this week, all of us apart from Kodra decided to start playing Dragon Age: Origins again in anticipation of Dragon Age: Inquisition launching halfway through next month.  It was as though we all realized we didn't have a clean save game file to import into that game.  So there is much talking about how amazing that game really is and our experiences, as well as talking about some of the roadblocks it sets in front of players... and specifically why Kodra stopped playing the first time.  Additionally we talk about our experiences downing Garuda Extreme mode and the odd compartmentalization of Final Fantasy XIV.  Additionally several other games get mentioned in the mix like Crypt of the Necrodancer, so take a listen and join us as we ramble our way through another episode.

Direct download: aggrochat_episode25.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 12:36am EDT

Tonight we talk about the upcoming Destiny patch and where it leaves the state of the game.  Another game we delved into this week was the Trove Beta, and as such we talk about our game experience.  Having personally been in since the first wave of Alpha, it was fun to hear what my podcasting compatriots thought of it.  Additionally we talk about our further descent into madness with Fallen London.  Finally Kodra talks about his recent streaming of Hatoful Boyfriend... and the insanity of dating birds.

Direct download: aggrochat_episode24.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 11:45pm EDT

This week I am joined by our regular cast of Ashgar, Rae, Kodra and Tam.  We talk FFXIV, Destiny, the sale of Minecraft to Microsoft, Fallen London and the Sunless Sea early access game, as well as some League Worlds discussion.  In the game Fallen London the denizens of the Brass Embassy are Demons from the pit.  I named this weeks episode an Intimate of Devils, because according to the game that is what their plural form is... and by some strange coincidence both myself and Kodra seem to have aligned ourselves to the Embassy.  We run a bit longer than normal but there is quite a bit of good discussion in between.

Direct download: aggrochat_episode23.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 12:27am EDT

This week we welcome back Tam as well as the rest of the regular cast of Ashgar, Rae and Kodra.  We talk about what we have been doing in Final Fantasy XIV, and congratulate Tam on finally reaching Soot Black with his Chocobo.  We talk in depth about Destiny, and while I thought we were going to go into this discussion giving the game generally high marks, it turns out we too have some pretty serious criticism despite just how enjoyable the game is to play.  I talk a bit about the Rift Nightmare Tides expansion and the NDA lift, and finally we talk about the odd happenings in League of Legends.  This week Poppy saw competitive play for the first time, and we discuss what happens when a feature of a game is bad for the game itself.

Direct download: aggrochat_episode22.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 10:59am EDT

This week we are back to the original show cast of myself, Ashgar, Rae and Kodra.  We talk about all sorts of things from lots of Final Fantasy XIV, some Lego Minifigures, and Kodra regales us of his adventures in a quirky game called English Country Tune.  Similarly he has been working his way through his Blaugust prize Closure another interesting puzzle platformer.  Reacting to the news of Wildstar switching to a Megaserver infrastructure, we ramble on about the importance of servers in games, and how the server we are playing on Cactuar has definitely increased our enjoyment in Final Fantasy XIV.  Finally Rae is unleashed and there is much League of Legends drama discussion as I try and grok the difference between the LCS and the Challenger scene.

Direct download: aggrochat_episode21.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 10:20am EDT

This week we bid farewell to the month of Blaugust and all the awesome experiences that the blogging community had while pulling together for it.  Additionally we talk about Trash Mobs, and why we have come to call certain encounters that.  We talk about some of our favorite experiences and how games could make compelling encounters that are more than just "trash".

Direct download: aggrochat_episode20.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 11:39pm EDT

This week we have our full cast as we welcome Kodra back from GenCon.  He talks about all of the LARPs that he played and the conclusion of his journey into the My Little Pony card game competition.  Then we talk some MMO design especially as realted to the awesome community that has flourished in Final Fantasy XIV.

Direct download: aggrochat_episode19.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 11:38pm EDT

This week the fearless Kodra is off battling ponies at GenCon, so we are holding down the fort while he is gone.  On this episode I am joined by Rae, Ashgar and Tam and we talk about a whole bunch of stuff.  This was a busy week in gaming from GamesCom to the Blizzard Warlords Announcement to the SOE Live convention.  We try and run down the things from each that stuck out in our minds.  Towards the end of the podcast we delve into playing what you love and not apologizing for it.  I think this is a new mantra we should all try to live by.

Direct download: aggrochat_episode18.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 9:56am EDT

This week is a bit different than our normal show.  One of the awesome bloggers and podcasters in the blaugust initiative has posed her own challenge.  She is trying to collect information on how World of Warcraft has effected other gamers looking for both current and former players.  So this week we skipped doing our normal podcast to do a megacast in which we answer the 10 questions she has posed.  The end result is a lot of nostalgia but some pretty good conversation about World of Warcraft and MMO gaming as a whole.  The show went a bit longer than normal, but we wanted to push through all ten questions this week since we would be without Kodra next week as he is off to GenCon.  I hope you all enjoy.

Direct download: aggrochat_episode17.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 1:10pm EDT

This week we talk about lots of things, the Blaugust initiative, whats going on with League of Legends, Shovel Knight, Rogue Legacy... but more importantly our return to Final Fantasy XIV and just how amazing charming that game is.  The game has had a large number of extremely content dense patches since we last played, but more importantly the community is really awesome.

Direct download: aggrochat_episode16.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 10:37pm EDT

It so happens this week that we are all tied up with various things.  I am helping out with the Twitter Math Camp 2014 session, and have been for the better part of this week.  Rae is off on a cruise with her family, and Ashgar is at a family reunion.  Kodra... well I am not sure what he is doing but it probably involves ponies, and as such he is out of comission as well.  As a result I am recording a quick note of apology that we are not having a proper show this week.

Direct download: aggrochat_episode15_314.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 9:48pm EDT

This week Rae is travelling, so I am joined by Kodra and Ashgar.  We talk about the recent news of the Yogventures Kickstarter failure, and the rammifications it has on kickstarters as a whole.  Additionally we talk about Destiny Beta, the Final Fantasy XIV weekend, my switch from Twitch to Hitbox, Wolfenstein New Order and lots of other things in the space inbetween.  

Direct download: aggrochat_episode15.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 11:28am EDT

We have the full cast this week as we talk about the various things we have been playing and dig into the concept of exclusionary subcultures and why they happen.  Exciting news from Kodra as we find out he is moving on to the first My Little Pony Cardgame championships at GenCon.  Additionally we hear about Rae's journey through Adventure Time Battle Party, and my attempt to get established on the new Alliance of Awesome Minecraft server.

Direct download: aggrochat_episode14.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 1:24am EDT

Join us for a very unlucky episode 13, as we realize that Kodra's new "BreadMachine" upgrade from his previous "Toaster" is apparently haunted.  Kodra, Belghast, Rae, Ashgar and Tam talk about Tomb Raider, Thomas Was Alone, Wildstar, The Divinity Series, Stanley Parable, Rob Pardo leaving Blizzard and multiple other things along the way.

Direct download: aggrochat_episode13.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 1:42am EDT

Kodra and Ashgar are not available this week so we are breaking in a brand new guest, or at least new to podcasting.  Warenwolf is a longtime friend that dates back to the early days of World of Warcraft, and has been a part of the regularly nightly group for years.  Additionally we have the return of our perineal "5th Man" Dallian and we are always happy to have him.  Tonight we talk about the madness that is the Summer Steam sale as well as our experiences with Wasteland 2, Wildstar, Saints Row IV, 7 Days to Die and a bit about my experiences with the Warlords of Draenor beta.

Direct download: aggrochat_episode12.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 12:16am EDT

This week we once again have the original cast of hosts.  Tonight we talk about a bunch of different topics including a run down of Kodras trip to Origin, and some discussion that spun out of it relating to geek on geek shaming.  At Aggrochat we don't judge and are proud to let our geek flags fly high.  Also some talk about Warlords of Draenor Alpha and Wildstar.

Direct download: aggrochat_episode11.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 1:40am EDT

This week Belghast, Rae, Tam and Dallian run down the things that made them interested in various games debuted at this years E3 conference.  A far less focused show than normal, but lots of good conversation about stuff.

Direct download: aggrochat_episode10.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 12:13pm EDT

This week we actually have the full crew back and assembled.  Kodra regales us with talk of his strategy for the My Little Pony card game, as he is planning on competing next week at Origins with a few decks.  We talk a bit about the WoW Warlords of Draenor Alpha release and the apparent absense of an NDA.  The bulk of the show however is us breaking down Wildstar and how exactly we feel about the game.  Finally in apparently a new feature Kodra, Rae and Ashgar talk about the recent LCS games while I stand around confused.  This week we are featuring Belghast, Ashgar, Rae, and Kodra.

Direct download: aggrochat_episode9.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 1:21am EDT

This is the companion piece to last weeks episode about the game Transistor.  Primarily we focus on the storyline, and as a result there are some massive spoilers.  If you have not played through this game, and more importantly beaten it, this is probably an episode you should be careful with.  We clearly identify in the podcast when we are going to start dropping spoilers.  Namely we investigate the characters and gender roles.  Additionally we talk a bit about Wildstar and our forray into the game today.  This episode features Belghast, Kodra, Ashgar and special guest Tam.

Direct download: aggrochat_episode8.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 1:22am EDT

This week there were a couple of big releases, but our show notes were highjacked with a single 72 pt word....  Transistor.  Below it was written "Things that are not Transistor", so we successful discuss both.  This week Rae is travelling again, so we have our regular crew of Kodra and Ashgar and are once again joined by Dallian.

Direct download: aggrochat_episode7.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 12:36am EDT

This week Belghast, Kodra and Ashgar discuss lots of exciting topics, including the new League of Legends Champion Braum, The Wizards of the Coast vs Hex lawsuit and what it means for that game, the fatigue backers are feeling towards Kickstarters as well as the madness we have engaged in... namely in the form of the Final Fantasy 5 draft.  Like always, lots of other meandering topics squeezed somewhere between.

Direct download: aggrochat_episode6.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 11:41am EDT

This is the podcast that almost wasn't.  We realized as we were heading towards our normal recording time that 3 of us would not be available.  We attempted to reschedule for Friday and in a pinch managed to get a good friend of ours Dallian aka @Doctor_Hannah to fill in.  As a result we have one of the more enjoyable AggroCasts to date...  so things often work out for the best.  Join us for gaming discussion and even some comic book chatter this episode.

Direct download: aggrochat_episode5.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 11:46pm EDT

We are back to our normal line up this week as myself, Ashgar, Rae and Kodra discuss the launch of Elder Scrolls Online, the current state of the game and the bugs that remain.  Additionally we dicuss the need for a good mentoring system, and that in general it improves the experience as a whole in the games that have them.  We discuss ArcheAge quite a bit, and also get into talk about the League of Legends All-Star team and post season change ups.

Direct download: aggrochat_episode4.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 12:38am EDT

This week Rae is out visiting friends and Kodra is on the road, and as a results somewhat robotty at times.  However we are joined by good friend and cohort Tam, who so graciously agreed to fill in at short notice.  We talk about a lot of things, and have a pretty epic discussion about games that allow you to create non-standard builds, as well as a long discussion about free to play and player expectations.

Direct download: aggrochat_episode3.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 11:26pm EDT

This is episode two of the Aggrochat podcast, where we delve into a discussion from twitter about what the gaming world would have been like without World of Warcraft.  So we spend most of the hour and fifteen minute podcast on this notalgic journey delving into the impact that World of Warcraft had on the MMO genre for better or worse.

Direct download: aggrochat_episode2_world_without_wow.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 11:13am EDT

This is the first episode of the Aggrochat the official podcast of the Tales of the Aggronaut blog and Stalwart Gaming community.  For a few months I've dabbled with streaming games, and while doing so hopped on mumble letting anyone who wants to join in.  Some of those streams sounded like impromptu podcasts.  As a result we got our heads together and decided to go for it.  In this first episode Belghast, Ashgar, Audrae and Kodra discuss Elder Scrolls Online and the upcoming Craglorn Adventure zone, Sony's new H1Z1 zombie MMO, Heroes of the Storm and comparing it to League of Legends, the My Little Pony Card game... and lots of other topics as we verbally faff about for an hour.

Direct download: aggrochat_episode1.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 12:04pm EDT

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