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

On this episode we have a special guest on AggroChat that may turn into a more permanent addition.  Raven is a friend that I initially met through Twitter but we all have become close to through our time spent in Final Fantasy XIV.  She has been awesome with offering to fill in with her characters whenever we happen to need them for our guilds semi-regular shenanigans.  With Rae’s recent absence from the show I had been kicking around the idea of bringing on another person, and thankfully Raven showed some interest in doing it.  Hopefully she had as much fun as the rest of us did, and she brought some interesting takes on the topics we discussed.

 

This was a massive meandering show where we talked about some of our favorite puzzle games at length even dredging things up like Tetris Attack.  We talked about the Road Not Taken, which is quite possibly the most depressing puzzle rpg ever.  We talk Super Smash brothers, and do a horrible job at trying to guess Ashgar’s favorite character.  We talk about Kodra’s experience playing Dragon Age Origins and how he is ultimately playing a completely different game than I ever managed to play.  We fall into a giant Final Fantasy XIV crafting discussion, since Raven is the pocket expert on the topic.  Finally I discuss my frustrations with Molten Core 40 man LFR from this past Tuesday and how it really does make players not ever want to do 40 man again.

Direct download: aggrochat_episode33.mp3
Category:gaming -- posted at: 10:09am 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

1