Tonight we talk about a bunch of stuff… starting off with our most recent trip into Guild Wars 2. Since the launch of this game a few of us have been searching trying to figure out exactly why people were so engaged with this game.  Finally after seeing Fractals and the updated version of dungeons we get it.  Additionally we talk about the Rise of Iron changes to Iron Banner, and a general sense of getting much better rewards in game.  Then we talk about the games we left on good terms including a bunch of blasts from the past.

Things Discussed - Guild Wars 2 - Busy Books - Dungeons and Dragons Online - Fractals of the Mists - Exploration Mode - Dungeons - World Events - Destiny Rise of Iron - Iron Banner - Faction Packages - The Taken King - Leaving Games on Good Terms - Final Fantasy XIV - City of Heroes - The Secret World - World of Warcraft - Star Wars the Old Republic - Fallen Empire - Eternal Throne trailer

It is time once again for the AggroChat Game Club and during the month of September the pick fell on Ashgar.  He wanted to choose a classic rogue-like game, but wanted to try and choose one of the more accessible ones.  As a result we are playing Tales of Maj’Eyal or Tales of Middle Earth as it was originally known.  The game is an open source title that runs on the T-Engine, however I believe most of us played through on the Steam release.  What makes the game unique is that it has a number of variable difficulty settings that make it more or less rogue-like.  So join us as we delve into a fairly nostalgic trip into the re-imagined past.

This week we kick off the show with a bizarre dream Belghast had about an AggroChat road trip, and it sort of just devolves from there.  We discuss a lot of things, including a lengthy discussion about how whales subsidizing other players… is absolutely not just a thing for free to play games and is in fact evidence in Magic the Gathering as well.  Other topics range from board games as video games, to the Rise of Iron Destiny expansion.  We also talk about the madness that was Mythic+ mode in World of Warcraft and our recent experiences with that game.  Was a fun show to record that meandered like mad, so if that is your thing…  this is the recording for you.

Topics Discussed - Kodra Child Prodigy - Commander Keen - Rad Rogers - 20XX - Armello - Broken Board Games - Talisman - Adventure Games - Fantasy Flight Games - Living Card Games - Magic the Gathering - Rise of Iron Expansion - Mythic+ - WoW Things

This week we finally get around to discussing the August AggroChat Game Club title, The Witness.  The game has been called a bunch of things, but the most common assessment has related it to Myst.  We discuss why this is probably a bad comparison among other things.  This absolutely clicked with some of our team, and others bounced super hard off of the title.  Much discussion is had however and that was the entire point of doing a Game Club so it feels like this title was an absolute success.  Join us as we delve into the game in a spoilery journey into The Witness.

This week we have a bizarre show that somehow covers a lot of content without us actually realizing it.  Since Tam and Kodra attended Pax West last week we went into a discussion about all of the stuff they saw there.  From there we branch out into a discussion about Guild Wars 2 and Tam recently picking the game up after talking to a friend about it.  We largely discuss how the game has improved since launch and that Tam, Ash and Kodra are enjoying in it.  Finally we wrap up the evening talking about World of Warcraft Legion and some of the experiences Grace and Belghast have after hitting the new level cap and experiencing World Quests.

Things We Discussed - Pax West 2016 - Dishonored 2 - Prey - 20XX - Open Sorcery - Thornwatch - Star Wars Destiny CCG - Hacknet - Elder Scrolls: Legends - Raging River Card - Elder Scrolls as MTG Colors - Duelyst - Speedrunners - Ultimate Chicken Horse - Pax Dev - Pax Panels - Guild Wars 2 - Heart of Thorns - World of Warcraft - Legion - World Quests

Tonight we are down a Tam thanks to Pax West Shennanigans, and in theory at least we will be talking soon about those experiences.  However for the time being…  we talk a bunch of stuff but mostly World of Warcraft Legion.  Right now Ashgar, Belghast and Grace are playing… and talk about their experiences with the launch, and the revisions to the game.  The long story short is that we all seem to be enjoying ourselves.  The main story is still frustrating, but the sub stories are amazing.  We also talk a little bit about the game of the month Tales of Maj’Eyal, largely related to a few tips for getting started and things that players should really avoid getting bogged down in.  Finally Kodra talks about his experiences with Dues Ex and Necropolis in recent play sessions for both.

Things Discussed - World of Warcraft - Legion - Class Halls - Spec Fantasy - Leveling Content - Tales of Maj’Eyal - Deus Ex: Mankind Divided - Necropolis

This evening we were originally planning on recording the AggroChat Game Club show for The Witness.  However as we got close to recording events happened, and we will be rescheduling that later this month.  That said the September game is announced in this show, and from that point onwards we charted a destination through madness.  This is one of those super meandering shows, that covered a bunch of only semi-related topics.

Things We Talked about: Tales of Maj'eyal - September Game of Month - Nethack - Vampire the Masquerade/Requiem - Shadowrun: Dragonfall - Final Fantasy XIV - The Rising Year 3 - Deus Ex: Mankind Divided - Deus Ex Go - Sweetness and Lightning Anime - New Game Anime - Game Development Industry - Orange Anime - Breaking Events - WoW Legion Launch - The Sleeper - Raiding in Everquest - Fires of Heaven - Green Dragons of WoW

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

This week we inadvertently have a show about things that are not quite prepared in one way or another.  First up we talk about our frustrations with the Broke Shore cinematics for both the Alliance and Horde in World of Warcraft.  We also talk about the positive things that this event is bringing, but mostly frustrations about the turn in the story.  We talk about the fraught PC launch of No Man’s Sky and how Belghast is the only member of our crew able to actually get it running on his machine.  However since he could we talk at length about his experiences.  All of the NMS talk got Kodra amped to play some Starbound on our private server.  We talk a little bit of Diablo Season 7 and how we were not quite prepared for it with everything else going on… so we ended up rolling an army of demon hunters for speed clearing.  Finally we talk about how Final Fantasy XV seems to be delayed once more, as details have been leaked on how to update the date on the big retail standees.  So much not preparedness to go around, caused us to record an extremely long show.

Things we discussed:  Frustrations with Broken Shore Cinematics - WoW Legion Event - Legion expansion in general - Starbound Launch - No Man’s Sky PC Frustrations - First Several Hours with the Game - Diablo Season 7 Launch - Final Fantasy XV and VIII

After putting it off a week due to folks travelling, this week we record the July AggroChat Game Club show for our title of the month Cities: Skylines.  In this episode we talk about just how deep the rabbit hole of simulation goes with this would be king of city and mayor simulators.  In many ways this show is the tail of many failed cities and a handful of successful ones.  It is also when we learn just how bad of a mayor Belghast would be.  This title is the heir to the Sim City lineage, so we ask the question how it stacks up.  We also ask the question if city simulation is really that fun?  Additionally we get into a side tangent about wastewater management.