Sun, 18 October 2020
Sometimes a show happens without us really realizing it. That was absolutely the case for this evening's show because we had what felt like a very limited number of topics that filled up the full hour. We start off the show with some further discussion of Genshin Impact. Last week we thought we had been pushed up against a wall, but it turns out that was just the foothills leading up to the sheer cliff that is being resin locked on progress. From there we talk about random video game cravings and the games that we either return to periodically or consider comfort gaming. We wrap things up with a discussion of the games that we are looking forward to on the horizon be it literally like with Horizon Zero Dawn Forbidden West or the release of the new console generation. Whatever the case it seems like we have a very packed November ahead of us. Topics Discussed
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Sun, 11 October 2020
Earlier this afternoon a large chunk of the AggroChat crew spent a few hours playing Among Us, a two year old game that is now suddenly the most popular thing on the planet. So of course we lead off the show talking a bit about that experience and how we are making tentative plans to do this as a regular thing. Maybe at some point we should even offer it up as a stream. From there Bel talks about a bumped topic from last week and the delay of the World of Warcraft Shadowlands expansion to an undetermined time in the future. The pre-patch starts this coming week which means the expansion likely lands in November. However we discuss some of the core problems this expansion cycle has had and the frustrations the players have brought up. This leads to a further discussion of Genshin Impact and how much Bel has been playing it. This time Thalen also was able to chime in as he recently started and had some general thoughts to share. Finally we wrap things up with a discussion about how Games Workshop once again should really stop being afraid of the internet and how their actions are just going to lead folks to pirate copies of their products. Topics Discussed
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Sun, 4 October 2020
Tonight we have an extra long show, because we tried to limit it down to three topics… but still had too much to say to fit within the normal allotted hour. This week we also have bonus friend Nephsys as we talk about Genshin Impact and how it came seemingly out of nowhere and conquered many of our lives. From there we talk about Star Wars Squadrons and how it seems to be the Star Wars Starfighter game that Tam had been waiting for. Finally we wrap up with some more discussion of Hades as many escape attempts have been made. This time around we talk about more specific strategy and player experiences. Topics Discussed:
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Sun, 27 September 2020
Tonight we have a show that basically is Bel carpet bombing the trello with current events topics. First up we talk about the acquisition of Zenimax by Microsoft and our thoughts about that. From there we discuss the wildly tinfoil hat theory that Microsoft is going to acquire Sega next. We also talk about how poorly the Xbox One performed in Japan and how it seems Microsoft is attempting to fix that with their TGS 2020 showing. Kodra talks about playing Pokken with his son and how it is a fighting game that allows you to look awesome without frustrations. We end up spinning off a side discussion about Fighting games in general and how they expect you to learn the characters. Ashgar talks about Monster Hunter Rise and how the main line Monster Hunter series seems to be borrowing heavily from Monster Hunter World… also Doggos. Finally we talk briefly about the flaws in the RTX 3080 design, at least in some of the add-in board partner cards attempts to save money. Topics Discussed:
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Sun, 20 September 2020
Ring Fit Adventure released just shy of a year ago at this point, and it is only now finally reliably available in stores. As a result of several of us finally getting our hands on it we talk a little bit about the experience of using it. From there we talk about the PS5 Price Reveal and pre-order debacle. This moves into discussing the RTX 3080 launch as well and the application of bots from Bounce Alerts snagging most of the stock in both cases. Hades from Supergiant games has finally officially released and and we talking about the game that was described by Tam as an “Escape Room”. From there Tam talks about finding gold in the Steam suggestion queue in Swords n Magic n Stuff. Finally we talk a bit more about Final Fantasy XVI and speculate on when we might actually get to see it. Topics Discussed:
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Sun, 13 September 2020
Tonight we had some technical difficulties and as a result got to a bit of a late start… which caused us to lose track of the timing. As a result we recorded a pretty long show, but I think it was one of our better discussions. We start with Kodra explaining why he is the fiercest four year old you know and talking about Crusader Kings III some more. From there Bel talks about effectively being done with Avengers and why it has driven him to deep dive into the Ms Marvel comic series. From there we discuss the Sportscardification of Magic the Gathering and the crashes of Comic Books and Sports Cards and why it feels real similar to the state of premium collector focused products. Thalen talks about breaking down ships for fun and profit in Hardspace: Shipbreaker. We talk about when Quick Time Events feel good rather than something to be avoided, and then dive into the cognitive overhead of trying to return to a game after a long absence. Finally we talk about the Games as a Subscription model and how it may or may not change the game industry. Specifically we talk about the dueling business models of the Xbox Series S/X and the PlayStation 5. Topics Discussed
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Sun, 6 September 2020
Tonight we start the show off with a bit of a retraction. Bel has found out that a lot of the weird mouse and camera interactions seem to have been caused by running RTX Voice while playing Avengers. As a result Bel talks about his experiences playing Avengers and how the story really shines but the gameplay is adequate but not as smooth as it could be. From there we talk about using things for alternate purposes, primarily how good cosmetic items work for hobbies. We talk a little bit about the phenomena that is Fall Guys and both how charming it is and how bizarrely it has lit the streaming world on fire. Finally we wrap up with a long discussion about Crusader Kings III and the story generator that it is.
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Sun, 30 August 2020
Tonight we are back after having a week off due to scheduling. Bel is super excited to talk about Amazon’s New World, which finally leaves NDA. He goes into a deep dive of his experiences so far with the assorted systems of the game. From there we have a reasonable segue into a discussion about Guild Wars 2 and getting used to the WvW pvp system. We also talk a bit about other games like Final Fantasy XIV and how it handles PVP. We have a random aside where Bel talks about how he tends to avoid using mounts in Open World games, and finally Ash talks about how he has come to peace with the Blue Mage in FFXIV.
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Sun, 16 August 2020
Bel spent a few hours playing the Avengers Beta and has some things to say about it. There are what he feels to be fundamental problems with the game that are not likely fixable before the September 4th launch. Kodra gives some recommendations for a few Sudoku games that allow you to play some of those interesting edge case games. We pick up a conversation from last week and talked about Warhammer 40,000 9th Edition and more directly the update cycle for physical games and how it doesn’t exactly work. Warframe announced a major change at Virtual TennoCon and we talk about the Helminth and how it is going to shake up the meta. Finally Bel talks quickly about the Tony Hawk Pro Skater Warehouse Demo and how the game feels exceptionally good.
Topics Discussed
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Sun, 9 August 2020
Due to improper planning and the fact that last week was Belghast’s wedding anniversary so we called it for the evening. Tonight we are back and with a proper show chock full of goodness. Actually just prior to the show Tam carpet bombed the trello with like two dozen topics, so we will probably be in business for several weeks. Kodra participated in the very first GenCon Online and has lots of things to talk about regarding it. During the middle of this discussion we break into a side tangent about how we feel like Shadowrun would work well using the World of Darkness Storyteller system. Grace and Bel revisit Horizon Zero Dawn on the PC and talk about how much better the game feels with a mouse and keyboard. Ash talks about playing Gundam EX vs Maxiboost ON and this leads to a side discussion about Gundam Breaker. Bel talks about finishing Death Stranding and how emotionally connected he was to the characters in the game. Finally we dive into a discussion about games and companion apps and how a lot of tabletop gaming and the company fear of the internet shoots them in the foot.
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Sun, 26 July 2020
Bel starts the show off with a discussion about the challenges of playing classic games on modern televisions and how his journey has led him down a rabbit hole that ended up with the Retro Freak. From there we talk about what happens when the expectations of gamers leads to toxic expectations. Namely this came into scope over the last few weeks with the reaction to two recent Nintendo Directs. From there we drive into a discussion about making your own goals in a game and how Tam has found that effective in Guild Wars 2. This leads to a discussion about when games bribe you to behave a certain way. Finally we close the show out with Kodra talking about making meta events happen, and oftentimes folks are willing to flock to a zone if you manage to do all the early phases. Topics Discussed
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Sun, 19 July 2020
This evening we record an entire show where we basically talk about three games. The first of these is Ooblets which came out this week in early access and how it is a blending of Animal Crossing, Stardew Valley, Pokemon and a Card Battler. From there we talk about Ghosts of Tsushima and how it presents Samurai gameplay in a new high fidelity light. Additionally we talk a bit about Kurosawa mode which offers you a unique black and white/film grain way of playing the game. Finally Bel talks about his adventures being a post apocalyptic fedex driver in a world seemingly run on twitter likes… aka Death Stranding. He talks a bit about the odd social aspect of the game where other players can only have a possible positive impact without ever causing any negatives.
Topics Discussed
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Sun, 12 July 2020
Tonight Belghast completely botches the intro to the show and has to record a second one, and it is absolutely not like the rest of the crew let this slide calmly. We start the show talking about Cross Code and how it is now available on consoles, and was quite possibly the best roleplaying game of 2018. Bel dives into a discussion about how connection based matchmaking is destroying any joy that can be found in crucible. This leads into a whole discussion about the best sorts of matchmaking we have played under and also a long discussion about how peer to peer connections are problematic. We talk about the concept of what if we could choose the length of a game before starting it. This also leads to a discussion of how more games need clearly identified difficulty settings and allow players to understand the ramifications of that choice. From there we dive into a discussion about how it is oftentimes hard to find information that is more or less considered to be common knowledge in a given community. Topics Discussed
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Sun, 5 July 2020
This is one of those shows when we had a long list of things to talk about, but we just sorta started on one topic and it developed a mind of its own. First up we talk about Bel and his insane grinding nature when it comes to the Four Job Fiesta. From there we reprise a topic that got bumped last night and talk about the unique nature of Guild Wars 1 almost trading card game like skill based system. From there we dive into a discussion about the changes that were made with Guild Wars 2, and how they may have taken some wrong advice from the data at the time. This dives into a discussion of what makes up a role in a game and how exactly games tend to message that. We go through a whole series of leaps and wind up in a discussion about how freedom to change your build feels really good in games like Guild Wars 2 and Diablo 3. It even descends into a discussion about what exactly makes up the nature of a “Character” in a game, and if it should just be a cosmetic choice and everything of importance be account bound. Topics Discussed
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Sun, 28 June 2020
Tonight we have an assorted topic type show, but the main discussion ends up centering around games and game value. What makes one game feel like a valuable experience and another game just seems like a waste of time. We talk a bit about the Phantasy Star Online 2 America Day holiday and how they have a really strange impression of our country. Kodra talks about his adventures in the deeply edge case Sudoku. We also have a discussion about when the right time to group is in a game versus largely solo play. In the middle of all of this there are several references to Guild Wars 2 and Destiny 2 for reasons.
Topics Discussed
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Sun, 21 June 2020
Tonight we start off with a discussion about Destiny and unintentionally the storyline a bit as Darkness has finally arrived. Bel talks about the degenerate gameplay of the AFK Forge and how it more or less brought the game to a halt. We also talk about the gear sunset as Bungie tries to do MTG Standard but for Destiny. From there we talk about Guild Wars 2 and how Tam thinks it is the best mount system. Bel and Grace disagree, but we continue from there about some general discussion about the game and more specifically the Dragon mount grind. Lastly we wrap up with a quick discussion of the EA Play 2020 event, Star Wars Squadrons, Cross Play for All Platforms and that EA is probably still evil in spite of them really wanting us not to think that.
Topics Discussed
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Sun, 14 June 2020
This show has a wide variety of topics that don’t really connect up. Bel starts with talking about how easy it was to reinstall steam after losing a hard drive, and how impossible it has been to install either Origin or Epic Game Store as they appear to be in a state of limbo, both installed and not uninstallable at the same time. Grace talks about her recent adventures in figuring out what she wants to play on her brand new Switch without peer pressure of playing a specific title. This goes into a side topic about Pinball games and also a side topic about a missing style of Arcade Racing games. We dive into a topic of virtual tabletops and iTabletop specifically as well as a run down of the various options we have tried over the years. Finally we land on some discussion of Not-E3 and the wide variety of shows surrounding it the biggest being the PS5 reveal. Topics Discussed
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Sun, 7 June 2020
Tonight we start off with a discussion of Dungeon Defenders Awakened and how it is a less complete version of the original game. We talk about whether or not this is going to be a good idea for the long run. From there Bel talks about his experiences with Minecraft Dungeons and how it generally feels like an unfinished and unbalanced mess. From there we talk about how PSO2 has a lot of interesting systems and some decent tutorials, but does not do a great job of leading players to them. Lastly we have a discussion about a return to Guild Wars 2 and experiencing how much better they are at telling its story. Topics Discussed
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Sun, 31 May 2020
Tonight we welcome our good friend Nephsys along for this ride because she more or less got kidnapped into the podcasting channel. We start the show with some discussion about being back in Final Fantasy XIV and the current event where they bribe us to do unpopular content. One of those content types is Rival Wings, and Bel talks about how it is PVP that he actually enjoys. From there we break into a discussion inspired by a conversation that happened while watching the cutscenes of Praetorium, which is what games would you like to forget so you could experience them fresh again for the very first time? We talk for a bit about the afterglow of watching your friends get into something that you really liked. Finally we nestle into the main topic of the week which is the somewhat awkward North American PC launch of Phantasy Star Online 2.
Topics Discussed
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Sun, 24 May 2020
Tonight we sit down to record our three hundredth episode, and more or less are doing it the old fashioned way. We had no notes and ownly a loose outline in Bel’s head and what ends up happening is one of the most enjoyable shows we have ever recorded. We for the most part explain the long and contorted origins of AggroChat and how we wound up recording a podcast. We’ve told bits and pieces of this tale before, but never in one entire sequence also talking about when various cast members joined the crew. There are several points where we get derailed along the way, but I guess that is also par for the course. Topics Discussed
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Sun, 17 May 2020
Tonight we start off with what has become a regular side topic of us talking about our lives dealing with the pandemic. From there we dive into Cloudpunk a game about a digital dog and delivering packages in a blade runner landscape. Bel dives into a discussion about how Modern Consoles are effectively turning into Gaming PCs and the weirdness of cross generational purchases for Microsoft games. Bel also waxes nostalgic about Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater and how he is greatly looking forward to the upcoming remaster of 1+2 coming this September. We end up getting off on a side jaunt into Elder Scrolls games, and then transition into a talk about Sodoku. Finally we talk some about the announcement of a brand new Paper Mario game and the new footage available for Ghosts of Tsushima. Featured Topics
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Sun, 10 May 2020
We start the show with what has disturbingly become a tradition for us as we talk about what life is like in this weird time we happen to be living. For some of us I believe it is week eleven and for others week nine, but really what exactly is the passage of time anyway. The first topic is a bump from last week as Tam talks about discovering Rampage the Board Game, otherwise known as Terror in Meeple City in its most modern incarnation. This leads down a rabbit hole of talking about classic monster movies and many agreeing that the correct place to start is with the OG Godzilla from 1954. From there Bel dives into a topic from the Aggronaut blog, of if grinding is actually fun. This leads to a whole other discussion of how each of us appear to have a vastly different description of what that even means. For Kodra it means grinding his face off over and over against hard content, but for Grace and Bel it largely means repetition of largely mindless content. Tam on the other hand has to have a purpose and his brain has to be engaged. Finally we talk about the integration of PVP into otherwise PVE games and why developers seem to be stuck on that concept. This leads to some discussion of a recent outing in Sea of Thieves when Tam finally gets people interested enough to try it, but they get griefed over and over by some jerk ruining an otherwise enjoyable experience. Topics Discussed
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Sun, 3 May 2020
Tonight we start off the show with a special announcement. Cat Context was effectively the podcast that inspired Bel to go out and try and do the same thing with some of his friends. After a three year absence, this week we get a brand new Cat Context episode that can be found hosted on Aggronaut.com. Today Kodra is going to be playing some Hollow Knight randomizer since there are a bunch of new updates and he has been given an entire day for gaming. From there we get into a topic that has been skipped a few times due to the potential length regarding easing into a learning curve and how Infinity is trying this with Code Zero. Bel segues into a discussion about what happens when the servers go offline and a game goes dark and the concern that there will be an entire generation of games that are eternally lost. Finally we wrap things up with some talk about the Mario Maker 2 Final Update and the interesting things that level builders are doing with it. Topics Discussed:
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Sun, 26 April 2020
We welcome Grace back after a few weeks away and talk a bit about life in pandemia. Bel talks about the introduction of RTX Voice and its nonsense ability to filter out background noise from your microphone. Kodra and Thalen talk a bit about gaming with youngsters focusing on Mario Kart and Katamari or “The Ball Game”. Ash talks a bit about how bad the storytelling is in Phantasy Star Online 2. We shift over to some talk about flying in Eorzea and some general talk about alting in Final Fantasy XIV. Finally we wrap up with Sea of Thieves as Tam has been recently exploring this title and how PVP apparently doesn’t matter as much as it once did.
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Sun, 19 April 2020
This is the first show of our seventh year of AggroChat, because we are apparently bad at tracking time and said nothing about our anniversary last week. We start off with another “Bel was dumb” story as he ventured forth to battle the boxpocalpyse. From there we wind around a bit through a few topics and land on another exploration of levels in video games as a concept being a bad idea. We talk about a bunch of ways that games do this and how some have figured out meaningful horizontal progression. Next up we talk about the effective death of Kotaku with the departure of Jason Schreier and this leads to a larger discussion about the odd place that “video game journalism” finds itself in and the rigors of trying to fill content for the 24 hour news cycle. We go down the rabbit hole that is Star Wars Galaxies crafting system and contrast it against a few other approaches like that of the original Everquest II system. Finally some brief discussion as Tam finds Beat Saber and the shockingly good work out it ends up being. Topics Discussed
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Sun, 12 April 2020
Tonight we are back, and we start off with an apology that logistics did not work out last week to get the band together. We start off with some discussion of the Stellaris group that has been playing as a weekly game night thing. From there Bel talks about his sojourn back into World of Warcraft Retail and his new practice of naming his Hunter pets after people. Ashgar talks about his recent experiences with Phantasy Star Online 2 and how both him and Tam bought a SADBox to play it. From there we dig into the meat of the show as we give a global spoiler warning that we are going to be talking about plot points in Final Fantasy VII. We tried to stay away from any specific plot points from the Remake, but the original is discussed an awful lot. Finally we wrap things up with some brief talk about the new PS5 Controller design and how we all generally like it. Topics Discussed:
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Sun, 29 March 2020
Tonight we have special guest Nephsys who was hanging out with us on voice chat before the show and we didn’t want to lock her out in the cold when we all popped into the podcasting channel. This week was one of those weeks when we did not think we had much to talk about, but ultimately filled a show anyways. Up first is some discussion of Stellaris and the weekly pick up game that appears to be happening in lieu of in person board game night. There is much discussion about the vast changes that happened over the course of the games lifespan. From there we talk a bit about a love letter to Mega Man Battle Network that is called One Step from Eden. Then after that discussion Bel completely loses his place in the list of topics and goes off into an impromptu discussion of Animal Crossing thinking he needs to fill air time. Finally he sorts things out again and returns to some talk about Dragalia Lost and its recent updates before closing out the show. |
Sun, 22 March 2020
Just a heads up, Bel had a bit of technical difficulty and the humm that he has been trying to isolate and get rid of is way worse than normal. He has however ordered some expensive usb power isolation nonsense that is hopefully going to help with this in the coming weeks. Tonight we are still living in Pandemia so we talk a brief bit about that. From there Bel talks a bit about Doom Eternal and the tweaks it has made to the formula of Doom 2016. Kodra has now beaten Ori and the Will of the Wisps and is now sad as a result. We talk about the Final Fantasy 7 Remake Demo and how we are generally excited for the upcoming game. While on the topic of demos we talk about the newly released Trials of Mana demo and how Ash and Bel are really looking forward to this game. We finish out the show with a discussion about Animal Crossing New Horizon and how apparently it is a cultural phenomenon already and we are mostly on board with doing nonsense for Tom Nook. Topics Discussed
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Sun, 15 March 2020
This evening we thought we would start the show with a discussion of what life has been like for each of us in the time of Covid19. We’ve all sorta been juggling trying to maintain a relatively normal life while still remaining safe and sound. As part of this discussion we talk about the various things getting cancelled, like E3 and wondering if this is the end of that show as a whole. Kodra and Ash talk about their adventures in Ori and the Will of the Wisps and how maybe it is on par with Hollow Knight. Bel talks a bit about his problem with Destiny Seasons and how expiring content keeps him from wanting to engage. Kodra discusses his recent journey into Pokemon Mystery Dungeon and Dicey Dungeons. Finally Bel talks about how he has reached an end with his sojourn into Spiders games with Bound by Flame being the one that he just can’t bring himself to play. Topics Discussed
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Sun, 8 March 2020
Another week of sick Bel trying to get through a show without going into a coughing fit and more or less succeeding. Tonight we talk about The Touryst a wonderful but misspelled visual puzzle exploration game for the Nintendo Switch. From there Bel talks about a poorly named game called Atom RPG that he stumbled across which plays like you remember Fallout 1 and 2 playing. Ash talks about playing Pokemon Mystery Dungeon DX and his enjoyment of the game in spite of the poor reviews. Tam talks about a project that he is taking on to convert the Star Wars roleplaying systems to Pathfinder 2.0. Bel talks a bit about the Halo Combat Evolved shadow drop and a really brief discussion about Final Fantasy 7 Remake Demo. Topics Discussed:
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Sun, 1 March 2020
Tonight we are down a bunch of people and Bel is sick so we have a bit of a chill show with a handful of topics. First up Bel talks a bit about his recent experience with the various Everquest Emulator server options. First he explores Project 1999 or the most old school and legit of projects allowing you to see just how brutal the game used to be. Realizing that was not for him he however explores EZ Everquest a server that takes a complete opposite approach and in theory turns the game into a Raiding RTS. From there we talk a bit about the impending localized release of Phantasy Star Online 2. Kodra experiences Sayonara Wild Hearts which we have talked a bit about before in the past. We get into a length discussion about the Pathfinder Game Mastery Guide which is effectively Dungeon Master School, teaching you the elements other than what it is like to follow a predescribed module. Bel gets into a discussion of the various streaming options and how GeForce Now differs from them, and the frustrations about Bethesda and Blizzard pulling out. This leads into a discussion about who is going to be the next Bioware, Bethesda or Blizzard… and we talk a bit about Larian and CD Project Red. Topics Discussed
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Sun, 23 February 2020
First off big thanks to @devoradordeflan for letting me use their artwork to illustrate the first topic on today's show card. We kick off with a discussion about something that is bringing me life, aka the Doom Eternal community and the Animal Crossing community creating artwork highlighting the apparent friendship between Doom Guy and Isabelle. From there we go into a topic about Learning vs Memorization in games and we discuss Rogue-Likes, Bullet Hell Shooters and Platformers as some examples. We talk a bit about the pacing of Fire Emblem and how Kodra keeps comparing it to Persona 5. Kodra also has played a lot of Bloodstained and doesn’t really get the hype and as such we talk about the bad port that is the Switch version and how maybe he just likes Hollow Knight better. Ash starts a topic about 504 the Board Game Generator and Kodra talks about how it is effectively a career worth of ideas left on the cutting room floor. Finally we talk a bit about how great the server emulator communities are with Bel talking about his recent journey back into City of Heroes and talk with his similar sojourn into Star Wars Galaxies. Topics Discussed
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Sun, 16 February 2020
After having to miss last week we had more topics than realistically could fit into a show and only actually made it through three of them. The first is the launch of Wolcen: Lords of Mayhem and how maybe early access isn’t actually a game launch in certain circumstances. We talk about the myriad problems with the online components of the game and the struggles with an indie trying to buy server capacity for high volume bursty connections. Thankfully there is an offline mode which allows us to talk a bit about why the game is worth the struggle. From there we talk about the impending Final Fantasy XIV 5.2 patch and the most recent live letter previewing features coming up for the game. Lastly we talk about returning to an alternate future where the NGE didn’t kill Star Wars Galaxies as Tam convinces Belghast to play Star Wars Legends. Topics Discussed:
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Sun, 2 February 2020
Tonight we talk a bit about some technical difficulties that almost prevented us from recording the show. As a result if anything sounds weird we are on a different server, and will likely be on yet another different server next week. Grace was able to join us so we finally get to talk about Paper Diablo aka Book of Demons. Throughout the weekend I saw the strangest comments over our staff slack channel about a game called What the Golf and Tamrielo finally explains what the hell is up with that. Kodra and Tam talk a bit about the close of Kentucky Route Zero. Bel talks about diving further into Spiders games and playing Technomancer and how once again their ambition outstrips their technical prowess. Ash talks about CrossCode and we wrap things up with a random topic about the perils of opening a Game Store. Topics Discussed
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Sun, 26 January 2020
Tonight we start the show by letting you off the hook and explaining a reference that originally I was just going to make the show title without explaining. Bel has been playing an obsessive amount of Greedfall and it is the sort of experience that the deeper he gets into the game the more his opinion of it improves. Tam has been playing Elsinore a game where you recast Hamlet with the goal of trying to get Ophelia to survive. In many ways he says this is the game that he wished Return of the Obra Dinn had been. Bel talks about TemTem the not-Pokemon MMORPG which will likely give the storied franchise a run for its money because it is really well done. Kodra takes our advice and explores Into the Breach and has an “Oh Crap It’s 2 am, how did that happen” moment. Finally Bel is astonished that Theros Beyond Death brings back Underworld Dreams at Uncommon rarity. Topics Discussed:
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Sun, 19 January 2020
Tonight we start off with a discussion about Awesome Games Done Quick 2020 which just concluded and raised a little over 3 million dollars for the Prevent Cancer Foundation. From there we talk about Pax South 2020 and the interesting things Ashgar has encountered while being there. Bel goes into a diatribe about the Witcher games not doing a great job of explaining the cast of characters. 2020 is a year of game delays so far and we talk about a few of them and why we are mostly okay with them. We then close out with a long discussion about Fire Emblem: Three Houses which leads its way into a discussion about Tactics versus Strategy. Featured Topics
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Sun, 12 January 2020
As we work on our “Games of the Decade” show, one of the things that kept coming up was whether or not to put tabletop games on the list. After some back and forth we decided that really the tabletop show was a show of its own, because this decade changed the status quo significantly. There is a certain amount of hyperbole in the show title, but in truth this is the decade when D&D and Settlers of Catan started being sold at Walmart and Target, and you can’t get much more mainstream than that. We talk about the meteoric explosion of tabletop gaming and some of the factors we feel potentially triggered it. It was a wildly meandering show and we found it impossible to come up with a bullet point list of what we discussed. We almost completely missed miniature wargaming, which may end up being its own show at some point. Topics Discussed
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Sun, 5 January 2020
It is that time again, time for another games of the year show. As is usually the case we fire up a google form and have each member of the AggroChat cast pick their top 5 picks for the year. This then gets collated into the final list that we talked about during the show. This time around we had thirteen different titles to talk about, with the highest voted title getting 5 different votes from staff members. Since we have talked at length about most of these games, the resulting discussion ends up being more a trip down memory lane than a deep dive. Topics Discussed:
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Sun, 29 December 2019
Bel is back but still sick and hoping his voice holds! Tonight we have a short reprise of the Star Wars Rise of the Skywalker discussion from last week since Bel didn’t get to participate. This tiptoes around being spoiler so your mileage may vary. From there we talk about A Short Hike a charming game about meeting animal friends while trying to get mobile phone reception. Tam talks about his experience with the Battlefront 2 campaign mode and a bit of him replaying SWTOR campaigns. Bel talks about Video Games being ported to the small screen and how they are more “inspired by” than accurate. The Witcher however has a shot for shot recreation of a battle from the first game and we dive into that. Bel also has been playing a ton of Witcher 3 and is completely enthralled with the game now. Kodra talks about his experience with Slay the Spire and then we talk some more Pokemon Sword and Shield. Topics Discussed
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Sun, 22 December 2019
Tonight we are down several folks including Belghast, so as a result Tamrielo is filling in with the role of leading the festivities. There is some confusion and this show is announced as 281 only to realize after recording that it is in fact 280. Tonight the AggroChat crew talks about their feelings regarding the final movie in the Star Wars Skywalker Saga. The opinions run the gambit from enjoyed it quite a bit to absolutely hated the experience and this leads to a pretty balanced discussion about the movie that the future of Star Wars. Topics Discussed:
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Sun, 15 December 2019
Tonight we kick off the show talking about the first week of Destiny 2 Season of Dawn and all of the new content that appeared. From there we talk about the big shadow drop of Warframe Empyrean and the ability to crew giant spaceships. We spend the rest of the show talking about various things that were announced during the fifth Game Awards. It was a two hour long commercial that confirmed that once again Microsoft is terrible at naming things. Topics Discussed:
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Sun, 8 December 2019
Tonight we start the show with Bel talking about Darksiders Genesis and how it doesn’t really fit into the Diablo mold. Bel also talks about his recent experience with the vastly different Wolcen as it nears entering early access. We talk about the large free update to Mario Maker 2 that among other things introduces the Master Sword powerup. We discuss the Turn Based mod for Pathfinder Kingmaker which leads into a discussion about Turn Based and the Pause/Action RPGs. Tam talks about his recent journey into Star Trek Online and Ash talks about One Step from Eden. Finally Bel and Thalen talk a bit about the upcoming Season of Dawn in Destiny 2 and the end of the Season of Undying. Topics Discussed
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Sun, 24 November 2019
Tonight we have a show with a running theme about launches of varying degrees of success. We get the memes out of our system about the Cybertruck and how Bel would absolutely drive one. We talk about the concerning launch of the Google Stadia and the challenges of cloud gaming in general. We talk about the announcement of Half Life Alyx… and how we all became way less interesting when we heard it was VR. We talk about the launch of Pokemon Sword and Shield and how Ash is frustrated about the lack of the eternal PokeDex, but otherwise it is a solid game. Grace and Bel talk about the rocky start to Diablo 3 Season 19 and the various bugs that they are encountering. Bel and Thalen talk about the Vex Offensive entering the Final Assault in Destiny 2, and how players were expecting it to be something different. Finally Bel talks a little bit about returning to and playing a bit of the Anthem Cataclysm events. Topics Discussed
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Sun, 17 November 2019
Tonight we talk about the new Hollow Knight randomizer and also some discussion of games that have randomizers in general. From there Kodra talks about the return of the DoubleClicks at Geek Girl Con and how chill and awesome of a convention that is each year. We dive into a discussion about a game we swore was vaporware but actually is freaking awesome… Jedi Fallen Order. We dive a little bit into some talk of the importance of space in games, but it mostly just ends up looping back around to some more Jedi Fallen Order discussion. Topics Discussed:
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Sun, 10 November 2019
Tonight we talk about the epic conclusion of a two year long D&D campaign and the setting changing ramifications that come about in this Final Fantasy inspired setting because of it. From there we dive into the recent Warframe Patch and all of the changes brought about by it. We talk about the Blizzard Shadiness and provide a bit of an update in that department before diving into a discussion of the things that came out of BlizzCon 2019. We talk Diablo IV, Overwatch 2, and that time when the Lich Queen broke Azeroth and sent us all to the Shadowlands. Topics Discussed
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Sun, 27 October 2019
We start things up with some discussion of the end of Untitled Goose Game going fully spoiler and also discussing the meta narrative. Ash talks about PDXCon, specifically Crusader Kings and Stellaris. We talk a bit about Fallout First subscription and how it doesn’t deliver on Private Servers at all in a manner we expected it to. Lastly we spend the remainder of the show talking about The Outer Worlds the new Fallout-like RPG from Obsidian the crafters of Fallout New Vegas. In closing we are going to be down several folks next week so as a result we are skipping it and picking back up on the 9th. Topics Discussed
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Sun, 20 October 2019
Tonight once again we are naming the show off of probably the shortest topic. Before that however we talk about Blizzard and their continued shadiness with cancelling the NYC Nintendo Overwatch launch party and protests organizing for BlizzCon. Riot also apparently decides to make one of every game genre with League characters. Ash tries to start something by claiming Ori and the Blind Forest is better than Hollow Knight. Kodra says he is looking for a new game to replace the fun grind of WoW Classic. He has been playing some ESO with controller and liking it a lot. Bel throws out Lord of the Rings Online and the Deed system as a similarly meaningful grind. Bel also throws out Destiny 2 and Thalen backs him up in that there is just an insane amount of stuff to do. Finally we wrap up with the titular topic about Billy Mitchell and getting all of his high scores invalidated. Topics Discussed:
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Sun, 13 October 2019
Tonight we are down a bunch of folks because it is in fact starting to be that time of the year. We have a bit of a roll over topic largely talking about the potential effects that World of Warcraft Classic has had on other projects. This was spurred by a new game from Raph Koster that got initial funding, and continues through a series of discussions about what MMORPGs have lost from the classic era. We also talk about why none of us are currently playing WoW Classic and the Boycott of Blizzard. Finally we wrap up with some discussion about Supergiant’s game Hades.
Topics Discussed
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Sun, 6 October 2019
Tonight we start off talking about the Dragalia Lost Anniversary event and how it has been the time to get Five Stars with a daily free 10 Summon. From there Bel gushes about Destiny 2 Shadowkeep and it playing towards his particular game style. He also talks about getting caught up in the race for world's first on the new raid. From there we talk a little bit about Overwatch before diving into a discussion about Sayonara Wild Hearts. Finally some discussion about the Cities of Sigmar book and the changes to Warhammer it brings. Topics Discussed:
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Sun, 29 September 2019
Tonight we talk Untitled Goose Game, Link’s Awakening, some more WoW Classic Discussion and Bel makes a heartfelt plea to get folks to watch a 4 hour long video.
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Sun, 22 September 2019
HONK!!!!! So tonight we have some topics that have bumped around a bit. Namely talking about Accessibility versus Friction in Game Design concepts. This is very much on our minds now as a lot of things we thought we didn’t like, end up being what is providing the cohesion needed to keep moving forward in World of Warcraft classic. This however ends up creating a bunch of problems namely it is a real challenge to stay up to date with your friends so that you can keep doing content together. We talk about some systems that work and Tams disdain for mentoring systems. Finally we dig into Magic the Gathering and talk about Kodras most recent dive into Standard and some of the upcoming mechanics that will be arriving soon with Throne of Eldraine. Topics Discussed:
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Sun, 15 September 2019
Tonight we have a handful of things to talk about that are not World of Warcraft Classic and were smart enough to start with those. First up Ash has been playing a lot of Fire Emblem: Three Houses and seemingly Tam and Ammo are stuck at the same point before things get interesting. From there we talk about Greedfall and confronting the legacy of colonialism in a fantasy Action RPG. Tam talks a bit about Kind Words, something that is not exactly a game but is most definitely a joyful experience that has conspired to make me late getting the podcast out this morning. Finally we talk at length about World of Warcraft Classic and some of the design differences we are noticing between it and Retail. Topics Discussed
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Sun, 8 September 2019
Last week we recorded our second half of the Shadowbringers spoiler show, but as a result it pushed a few topics off to this week. First we talk about Pax West and the experiences of Ash, Kodra and Tam as they roamed the show floor. After that we talk about the most recent Nintendo Direct and some of the titles that stood out. Lastly we go over our normal time talking about our most recent obsession World of Warcraft Classic. I am sure this will be a topic spread across many weeks but we at least start the discussion of our feelings about returning to a game that seemingly we still enjoy playing.
Topics Discussed
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Sun, 1 September 2019
Last week we recorded the first part of our deep dive and heavy spoilery show on the Final Fantasy XIV Shadowbringers Expansion. We realized that it was going to take more than a single night and opted to break it up into two shows. This week we record the second part of the show and finish our discussion. So we sit down and talk our way up to and including the latest raid.
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Sun, 25 August 2019
Every so often something affects the entire crew of the show enough to make us want to do an all hands deep dive into it. We had been waiting for the last few stragglers to finish up the Final Fantasy XIV Shadowbringers content before recording our big spoiler show, and over the last few weeks that happened. Tongiht we have the full normal cast as well as a friend of the show Shiana for a sit down as we crawl through the story of this expansion. Unfortunately, we realized there was no way to cram it into a single episode so we will continue next week with the second part.
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Sun, 18 August 2019
Tonight we talk briefly about Destiny 2 and the upcoming armor 2.0 and cross save changes. From there Ash talks about diving into Fire Emblem Warriors and why he thinks it is the best of the Warriors games. Bel talks a little bit about his new favorite Switch controller the 8Bitdo Pro+. Then Grace and Bel engage the rest of the group in some discussion about World of Warcraft and the Nazjatar and Mechagon areas. This leads into some talk about Classic and how some accessibility features have lowered the social aspect of the game. Topics Discussed
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Sun, 11 August 2019
Tonight we have a show where we clean up the trello card and run through a bunch of stuff that has largely rolled over from other shows. First up we discuss Games Workshop finally putting the pre-Age of Sigmar world to bed and cleaning up the factions. From there we discuss Kodra’s experiences with the very early access Gloomhaven Computer Game. Kodra talks a bit about Gencon 2019 more specifically the Stellaris Board Game and True Dungeon. We discuss Pathfinder 2nd Edition, and a very brief discussion about Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3. Bel really wishes someone else was reading House of X and Powers of X so he could discuss it. Lastly Thalen talks a bit about the Gundam Mobile game and how it is still better than New Gundam Breaker. Topics Discussed:
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Sun, 4 August 2019
We were once again down a large number of folks because life happens and we were clearly on a streak of shows including all members that had to be broken. Unlike last week however we have some topics! Bel talks a bit about playing Final Fantasy V for the first time without using the Four Job Fiesta rules, which we all know is backwards. We talk a bit about Final Fantasy XIV including Eden Savage being released. From there we talk a bit about Fire Emblem Three Houses and the comparison to Persona as far as social links go. Bel also gets informed of the casual no-perma-death mode which was the feature that kept him away from the series. Bel talks about the Destiny 2 Solstice of Heroes event and returning to the game after a bunch of content had been released. Finally we wrap up with some talk about the Warframe summer event and Super Soaker combat. Topics Discussed:
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Sun, 21 July 2019
Tonight we talk about more Shadowbringers, which I am sure is a massive shock to our readers. First off we talk about the thirst that the internet seems to have for several of the characters and why Urianger is always the wrong choice for that sort of thing. From there we talk about the Eden raid fights and why we are apparently misremembering all of these fights. From there we talk comic con announcements namely She-Ra and Steven Universe stuff with a side jaunt into the announcement of the next Magic the Gathering set bringing us back to Lorwyn. Finally we wrap things up with some talk about Kodra delving into some harder Mario Maker 2 levels. Topics Discussed
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Sun, 14 July 2019
Tonight we talk about the Switch Lite announcement and how it may not be for all of us, but is absolutely the use case for at least one of our numbers. We also wonder how long before we get an announcement of the console only Switch Pro, since we now have a handheld only version. We dive into the Magic 2020 set and some of the interesting metas that it does a good job of breaking up. From there we talk about Battle Passes and the one MTG Arena has landed upon specifically. Lastly we talk a whole lot of nonsense about Final Fantasy XIV Shadowbringers I believe with minimal spoilers. Topics Discussed
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Sun, 7 July 2019
This is a bit of a challenging week, and we largely went into it not knowing if we actually had a show or not. If you look at our trello there is mostly just a bunch of comments about how we played nothing but Shadowbringers this week. Kodra played a few things and we talk about Tametsi and Mario Maker 2 some more… and then there is a brief interlude about the TennoCon Stream. However the majority of this show is us talking about Shadowbringers and we have limited ourselves to only talking spoilers up until the first Trial. This is of course because we are progressed to various points in the story… and my god does the story matter this time. Topics Discussed:
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Sun, 30 June 2019
Tonight we have a show made up in part of some roll over topics. The first of these is World Next Door an action puzzler which leads to general discussion about action puzzle games and the challenges with them. From there we talk about Wizards Unite and some of the problems with it. Continuing on we take brief stops at Vermintide and Mario Maker 2 on our way to some Shadowbringers discussion. We make an attempt to do some spoiler free commentary about the Final Fantasy XIV expansion so far.
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Sun, 23 June 2019
Tonight we have a few new things to discuss and a few topics that bumped from last week. However first off we talk about Four Job Fiesta the charity event where you run Final Fantasy V with a randomly assigned set of jobs. Next up we talk about the sheer blasphemy that is how well the Games Workshop Contrast paints work. From there we go into how damned good Bloodstained Ritual of the Night is and how it is exactly the game we wanted it to be. Kodra geeks out about the Silksong Nintendo Treehouse demo and who much he is looking forward to that game. Tam talks about his recent run through of Baldur’s Gate Enhanced Edition on Tablet, and we end the show with some talk about SGDQ or Summer Games Done Quick starting on Sunday. Topics Discussed:
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Sun, 16 June 2019
Tonight we actually record episode 256 and we believe the first time have all seven active members of the show on at the same time. We start the show with a bumped topic about Lapis X Labyrinth and then dive into a lengthy stream of consciousness ramble about the various things we saw from E3. As a result we talk about over thirty games… during which I probably lost count of a few in my running list.
Topics Discussed
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Sun, 9 June 2019
Tonight I completely butcher the intro because my co-hosts decided to get clever with it. Tonight we talk about a lot of stuff that is coming out ahead of E3… which in truth is the only time that matters given that the only people who care about the actual show are the ones attending in person. We talk about the Google Stadia presser and Destiny 2 and Baldur’s Gate 3 news that came out of it. We talk about the only thing from EA that matters… the progressively less vaporware Jedi Fallen Order. We talk the weird case of the Magic the Gathering Animated Series and then on to Pokemon Goodest Boy Edition. Lastly a brief topic about how Ubisoft is dumb. Topics Discussed:
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Sun, 2 June 2019
We start the show off with an explanation of what exactly happened to the end of Episode 253 and why Tam had to build a brand new server for us to record on. From there we dig into the Shadowbringers class design tweaks and how they tend to land on the side of making things less janky and more accessible to players. Bel also has another revelation that the expansion is right around the corner. Bel talks briefly about the weird decisions Nintendo is making surrounding Super Mario Maker 2 and stopping us from playing with our friends. This is a continued version of a long topic that is Nintendo Still Does Not Understand the Internet. They do however understand product promotion which is part of a whole discussion about the fact that E3 is starting next week. Lastly we wrap up with a discussion about Modern Horizons and how Magic seems to be making some really interesting decisions that are paying off for them. Topics Discussed
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Sun, 26 May 2019
So just a heads up we had some technical difficulty while recording the show. Apparently the server that we use to record on was slowly dying throughout the night and culminated in a grand crescendo at the end with us all getting disconnected. As a result we cut off abruptly. In between these issues however we talk about Final Fantasy XIV Live Letter and the upcoming class changes. Bel talks about how Crowfall is turning into a game and feels like less of a tech demo than it did. Tam talks about Total War Three Kingdoms. We discuss the madness that happened after last weeks show and lots more people signing on to the World of Warcraft Classic madness. We wrap up with a topic about some of the cool stuff Games Workshop is doing. Topics Discussed:
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Sun, 19 May 2019
Tonight we are down an Ammo and start off with a discussion about hosting providers and the process of moving the 77,000 files that make up AggroChat.com. From there we talk about MMO Housing and the madness that is camping an opening in Final Fantasy XIV. Bel got into the WoW Classic Beta and talks about his experiences of relearning the game and plans to start a dungeon and raiding guild called Decades Behind once things go live. Kodra talks about how Server Transfers started the process of destroying Server Communities which leads to some hopes of static servers in Classic. We talk for a bit about the PC RPG Pathfinder: Kingmaker and how it is close to the campaign. Finally Bel talks a bit about getting a new tablet and venturing forth into Tablet gaming.
Topics Discussed
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Sun, 12 May 2019
After a week off you can effectively blame Belghast for filling the Trello full of partial topics, and the rest of the show for not replacing them with something meaningful. As a result we have a fairly fragmented show. In importance news however Ammo is joining the team permanently. The most important thing discussed however is the fact that Tam gave us a new term… that of the noble Melon-Snake. Here is a quick rundown of the varied topics discussed: Final Fantasy 7 Remake Trailer, Xur coming to Fallout 76, Monster Hunter World Iceborne and Bloodstained Ritual of the Night release dates, Unplayable Magic Decks, The madness of Arcade emulation, The sad state of Anthem. Topics Discussed:
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Sun, 28 April 2019
Tonight we are down a Grace and a Thalen but have picked up a special guest. Ammo is the official unofficial AggroChat Artist given that she has done most of the artwork that you have seen over the last few years associated with both AggroChat and the Aggronaut blog. First up we talk about when breaking the rules of a game makes for a better experience. From there Bel talks about Marvel Heroes notalgia and quelling it with the Mobile game Marvel Future Fight. From there Bel talks about his new Mayflash f500 fight stick and some discussion about Mortal Kombat 11. We talk a bit about the release of War of the Spark on Magic the Gathering Arena. Ash talks about the Lancer pen and paper RPG system, and finally some discussion about Persona 5 Royal. Topics Discussed
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Sun, 21 April 2019
Last week we failed to announce the 5th anniversary of our show so we start off talking a bit about that. From there Bel goes into a discussion about the BlizzCon Spirit and how he seemingly has caught the Star Wars version and returned to SWTOR after the Star Wars Celebration announcements. We talk about the game quite a bit and then get into a discussion of Jedi Fallen Order which we missed from last week. From there we talk Magic the Gathering Arena and how Kodra is finally playing Standard. We also talk about doing some direct Duels and the current Magnificent Momir format. Finally a discussion about Pagan Online that devolves into a discussion about upcoming ARPGs in general. Topics Discussed:
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Sun, 14 April 2019
Going into the show we had what seemed like a pretty slim set of show notes… but somehow we actually ended up bumping topics. We start off with a discussion of Grim Dawn since Bel and Grace have been playing it. This leads into a talk about loot generosity spawned by the loot filters in both Grim Dawn and Path of Exile and that ends up going off in its own direction. We talk a bit about the Star Wars Episode IX trailer which spawns a discussion about the Star Wars Cinematic Universe… which winds its way to the Marvel Comic Universe… which winds its way to a general discussion about Comic books. Finally a brief topic about a Warframe learning from its mistakes and trying a do-over on the Hildryn event. Topics Discussed
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Sun, 7 April 2019
Tonight we delve into the esoteric talking more about concepts than concrete things. Bel leads off with a discussion of a game he has been playing lately Outward, and how it feels like we remember Everquest feeling even though it is not entirely certain if that was the purpose. From there we delve into a topic that has been sitting on our list for awhile but kept getting bumped due to time… namely Focus-Consuming Games as in the games that as a lot out of the player. This starts a discussion about the constraints on our time and how occasionally a game is just expecting you to be playing it as a hobby. From there we delve into a topic spawned from a YouTube video linked below… discussing how a lot of Games as a Service titles are manufacturing discontent among the players to spur them into making purchases. We discuss that there are a lot of lessons to be learned in how to do this well from the Mobile Gaming space and how in many cases Genres don’t matter the way they used to. Topics Discussed
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Sun, 31 March 2019
Tonight we are down a Tam and also down having a constructed list of topics to go from. The only roll forward topic left on the list is decidedly a “Tam” topic so we end up more or less winging it. There is a decidedly Pax East flair to the show given that a number of topics we discussed circle things announced at or going on during Pax. However none of the crew actually attended this year. Related to this we talk about The Outer Worlds, Magic the Gathering Mythic Invitational, Wolfenstein Youngblood Trailer, Borderlands 3 Trailer. There is a brief interlude about returning to Final Fantasy XIV which Grace has done this week, and another oddball topic as Bel discusses getting Cemu the Wii U Emulator up and running and playing Breath of the Wild rendered in native 4k. Topics Discussed
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Sun, 24 March 2019
Tonight we talk about Baba Is You, a game that has sort of come from out of nowhere but dominated large chunks of our time recently. From there Bel talks about how Division 2 has improved upon the original, which leads is way to a discussion about the political ramifications of the game and how UbiSoft claims there are not any. From there we discuss Sekiro and how it is in many ways a brand new Tenchu game. Finally we discuss the Final Fantasy XIV Fanfest Tokyo reveals. Topics Discussed:
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Sun, 17 March 2019
Tonight signals the triumphant return of Doctor Grace! I cannot adequately express how happy we are to have her back among our number. As far as topics go… we once again punt forward the only topic that we had planned and replace them with a few discussions gathered up moments before we started recording. Tonight we talk about Anthem and get Grace’s impressions so far… as well as dig into some of the frustrations around high end loot and weird item scaling. Thalen tells us how to learn to love Eureka in Final Fantasy XIV and get past the fact that it is so grindy. Finally we wrap things up with a discussion about the Super Mario World Rom Hack scene and the differences between Vanilla and Chocolate. Topics Discussed
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Sun, 10 March 2019
Tonight we start the show with a heartfelt congratulations for our very own now Doctor Grace, for passing the gauntlet and defending her thesis. While I am certain we will revisit this point when she officially returns to the show, we thought it was worth noting tonight. After derailing completely on a discussion about the origin of the Garter snake… we dive into Pokemon Scotland aka Sword and Shield and the little bit of information we know about it at this point. From there Bel talks a bit about the Magic the Gathering Deck Builder's Toolkit league that he is starting at work and why he went down that path. Kodra breaks off from this into a discussion about the game Gruff, which leads to further talk about how balanced asymmetrical play is really hard to design. We then dig into some of the large patches that happened this past week… namely Anthem that occured mere hours before recording the show and Warframe that occurred earlier in the week. Bel and Tam talk a bit about their impressions so far about the tweaks made that make the characters feel significantly more powerful in Anthem. The rest of the crew that plays Warframe… which is basically everyone but Bel… dive into a discussion about the changes that were made to the melee combat system and some of the things that are soon to come as well. Topics Discussed
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Sun, 3 March 2019
This week we talk about the topic that has spent the most time so far rolling from show to show because we didn’t feel like we had enough time to properly address it. We have a Trello board where we stub out future topics, and before Christmas Tam put the topic of Silent versus Voiced protagonists on that board… and we are finally getting around to talking about it. Not surprisingly we spent almost the entire episode on this one topic as there is a lot of stuff to unpack here about characters and whether or not we are meant to place ourselves into them. We also talk briefly about the Warframe Nightwave alert system that just went into that game. Topics Discussed:
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Sun, 24 February 2019
This week we are still down a Grace but also down a Tamrielo because work travel happens. Tonight we start the show with a discussion of Civilization VI and its new Gathering Storm expansion. This introduces the fearful Hockey Rink building and Mountie fielding Canadian Army… and also natural disasters. Then we get into a discussion about Anthem and our feelings about the release. I think as a whole we are largely enjoying it, but even at that we talk a bit about the problems the game is having. Topics Discussed:
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Sun, 17 February 2019
This evening we discuss the Anthem “Launch” and the spreadsheet that is required to understand it. We give a quick summary of our experiences and how it is turning out to be really freaking good. From there we dive into Silksong the Hornet DLC that has turned into its own larger than the original Hollow Knight game. We also talk about the first Nintendo Direct of the new year and all of the games that got announced. Bel tortures Kodra with some brief discussion about Keen Dreams showing up on the Switch. Finally we dive into a topic about playing games for what they are actually good at rather than trying to bend them to our will.
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Sun, 10 February 2019
Tonight we have a bunch of not entirely related topics, but there is at least a minor theme of how you end something is extremely important. Bel talks a bit about his experiences with the latest brand name beta in the form of Division 2. From there he also shares some frustrations with the way Assassin’s Creed Origins is ending which leads its way into a larger discussion about what makes a satisfying game ending. We talk about what this means for passive media and how it might be different for interactive media. We then get into a discussion about progression systems and why fixed ones often times feel better than completely random ones. Finally we have some assorted digression about us looking forward to Anthem as a non-PVP mmo that somehow leads its way to FFXIV housing?
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Sun, 3 February 2019
Tonight we talk about a bunch of things that have been sitting in our list as well as a quick revisit of Anthem and how much difference a week can make. We all for the most part struggled last weekend but things have gone extremely smoothly this weekend. From there we talk about the revelations from Fanfest Paris… and the new Gunbreaker class giving us Gunblade Tanks! We talk a bit about the various titles coming out for the Switch in the near future and close up with a postmortem of Octopath Traveller.
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Sun, 27 January 2019
Tonight we talk mostly about the Anthem Demo and our thoughts about it. Having played it or at least repeatedly attempted to play it... we have things to discuss from our feelings about various Javelin types to the general feel of the gameplay. Additionally we talk a bit about Ravnica Allegiances which officially came out this week. Kodra and Bel have been drafting some on MTG Arena and talk a bit about the mechanics that they are enjoying. Topics Discussed
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Sun, 20 January 2019
Tonight we have a fairly packed show as Ashgar is recording from Pax South 2019. As such we start off with a rundown of some of the games he played. From there Bel talks a bit about TemTem or a game he backed but forgot to fill out the survey for that is actually a Not-Pokemon MMORPG. We dive into some talk about games that have massively overhauled themselves specifically discussing Stellaris and Warframe. Then we get into a discussion about normal and mundane things happening in games and how it sometimes enriches the experience in ways you don’t at first expect. Finally a quick discussion about Elder Scrolls Online and the Necromancer before we realize we have gone well over time.
Topics Discussed
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Sun, 13 January 2019
There is an auditory warning, but we figured we would throw one out here as well. During about the last 15 minutes of the podcast something went wrong with Bel’s audio where the last bit of every statement got clipped. So you essentially lost the last word he was saying. This weeks show starts with a discussion about Kickstarter projects, which leads into talk of some of the things we have backed and how Bel is that guy that fails to fill out surveys. From there we jump into a discussion about Far Cry 5 and how it is a game where the forced story gets in the way of everything else. This leads into a discussion about Destiny 2, the Bungie divorce from Activision, and even to some discussions about how important publishers actually are now. This also includes a bit about the bidding war for Gamestop between the folks behind Hot Topic and the folks behind Redbox. Topics Discussed
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Sun, 6 January 2019
This week we set out a plan of some dozen different topics… but only actually made it through two of them. Last we recorded the Games of the Year show and this week we started things off with some discussion of a few of the honorable mentions that didn’t quite make the list. From there we had a discussion about what games interest us for the upcoming year… and the list we gathered up is sorta nonsense. I have no clue what order we actually tackled them in so just sorta going to make an attempt at listing everything out. Topics Discussed
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Sun, 30 December 2018
This evening we do our traditional Games of the Year show, and apparently we are way less verbose than we used to be. These shows used to get chopped into two roughly hour and a half long shows… but this year we managed to do it in pretty much two hours straight. What makes this even more interesting is the fact that we churned through nineteen games in the process. Ultimately we each pick roughly five games that were important to us during the calendar year, and some overlap always occurs. This year less overlap happened than is normal.
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Sun, 23 December 2018
Tonight we are down a few people and have a fairly scattered show where we cover a bunch of topics… but none of them super deeply? You can tell we were all somewhat out of it because while editing the podcast there were a bunch of really lengthy pauses. Tonight Bel rails in the Elder Scrolls Patcher apparently being blocked by various ISPs including his. He also talks a bit about the Destiny 2 Dawning Event and making questionable baked goods. Thalen talks a bit about the FFXIV Starlight Celebration event. Bel spins up a topic from his blog about the seeming return to NDA restricted games testing. Thalen talks about Return of the Obra Dinn, and Kodra a bit about Gris. We discuss the topic that has bounced around a bit on the significance of going Left in video games. There is some brief discussion about Artifact and how it is trying to right the ship… and some of the MTG Finance speculation that came into that market quickly that is super angry about the price crash. Finally we talk a bit about Starfinder and Pathfinder in general and the lack of really good ready made third party modules. Topics Discussed
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Sun, 9 December 2018
Tonight we had more topics than we had time to talk about them, but we managed to hit the majority of them. First up Bel talks about his frustrations with Black Armory the latest content drop in Destiny 2 and their overarching plan of content releases going forward. He also talks a bit about the Last Wish raid that he got drug through this week. From there we talk a bit about the Game Awards and how weird it is that they are actually relevant. We discuss how it is turning into E3 part two as major shows give big release information… and occasionally they give an award for things between the commercials. Grace talks about Hades the new title from Supergiant Games and how it jumps right into her wheelhouse of the Action RPG blended with a Rogue Lite. This also starts a discussion about how Epic Games is vying for serious competition with Steam by discounting their cut of sales. Finally we talk about the new Smash Bros game and the World of Light adventure mode. Featured Topics
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Sun, 2 December 2018
Tonight we talk a bit about Monster Hunter World Winter Star Event and how maddening the Tempered Kirin is. From there we talk about the closing of MMOs and specifically the loss of Wildstar. Several of us have returned to Final Fantasy XIV as is often the case at the end of an expansion. We briefly talk about some frustrations with World of Warcraft and then go into a discussion about puzzle games you can zone out while playing specifically Tetris Effect in VR and the amazing Lumines. Topics Discussed
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Sun, 25 November 2018
Tonight we talk about a bunch of differing topics… that sorta blend together into a mix of ideas. We start off with some discussion of Thanksgiving Leftover abominations. From here Belghast talks a bit about his experiences with extremely Hardcore players on mobile phone games. This sorta leads its way into discussions of MMO Design problems, which itself leads to talking about the FFXIV Shadowbringers expansion announcement. We discuss the problems with the Blue Mage and how the Limited Class construct is probably not the right way to do it. This leads eventually into a discussion of the shenanigans that Tam and Kodra and crew have been up to in Fallout 76. Topics Discussed:
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Sun, 18 November 2018
Tonight we talk about a bunch of things starting off with the interesting and also sort of weird experience of watching a movie, and having a live orchestra play the soundtrack. Ash talks about his experiences with the new Spyro the dragon and the practice of modernizing games without really changing the original gameplay. From there we talk about the insanely charming Pokemon Let’s Go game and how it is seemingly way more sticky for a few of us than core Pokemon games. Tam and Kodra talk about how with Diablo 3 on the Switch they finally understand what Grace and Bel see in this game. Grace talks a bit about the new Netflix She-Ra. Bel talks about his disappointment in the newest Hellgate: London steam release. Finally we end up in a lengthy conversation about Fallout 76 multiplayer and how this game does not deserve the grief reviewers have been heaping on it. Topics Discussed:
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Sun, 11 November 2018
Tonight we are down a few people but pick up with a topic that sorta got skipped from the previous week which is Deltarune the new Toby Fox Game. From there Kodra talks about his experiences with The Messenger and then the game Getting Over It. At which point we discuss how much Kodra apparently loves meat grinder games. Bel talks about the purchase of Obsidian and inExile and how it is probably good for the longevity of those studios. From there we discuss the conflict between investors and game players…. Fighting for the soul of a game beginning with the news that Destiny 2 is “Under Performing” and sorta going off in different directions from there. Bel talks about his experiences trying a bunch of new Mobile games and encounters the weird trend of mobile games that literally play themselves. Finally we move into a discussion about how much Ashgar would like us all to try Cross Code. Topics Discussed
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Sun, 4 November 2018
Tonight we have a packed show full of topics to discuss because as we hurdle towards the holiday season… a bunch of stuff is happening. First up we talk about Super Smash Bros Ultimate and the inclusion of the World of Light single player system. From there with similar Nintendo topics we talk a bit about the Diablo 3 Switch release and just how good it feels. Chaining off that we get into a discussion about Blizzcon 2018 and the announcement that the community was not prepared for… Diablo Immortal. We try and break this down a little bit, talk about the positives of it, and explain why the community as a whole freaked the hell out in a very toxic and dangerous manner. Admittedly somewhere along in here we jump around through a bunch of topics but eventually settle into a discussion of World of Warcraft Classic and all of the things Bel quite honestly didn’t remember from playing on a retro client. Saturday afternoon Bel, Tam and Kodra spent a few hours roaming around in Fallout 76, so there is some talk about how much they are now looking forward to the release. Finally we wrap up with a brief discussion of Deltarune, which honestly happened in a few places during the show… but will likely be reprised next week.
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Sun, 28 October 2018
This week we welcome Thalen back from his Japanese sojourn, and with that we have a brief reprisal of the monetization topic from a few weeks back. From there he talks a bit about his own experiences in Japan and how watching Tam experience it for the first time brought back all the feelings of his own first memories. We talk a bit about slow game starts, primarily Xenoblade Chronicles 2 and then some talk of Persona games. From there Bel talks a bit about digging into Destiny 2 Forsaken and all of the quality of life tweaks that have been made. From there we discuss Starlink and how the Nintendo Switch Digital Deluxe version is the correct way to purchase this game. Finally at the very end there is some talk of League of Legends Worlds. Topics Discussed
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Sun, 21 October 2018
Tonight we lead off the show with a brief explanation of why there was no show last week. Namely Bel was at a wedding, Grace still in DC, Tam and Thalen in Japan… and Kodra and Ash probably wisely decided not to record a duo show. No offense to any of the bajillion podcasts out there that are always a duo show… but that isn’t our schtick. Since Tam is in fact back from his vacation we talk a bit about his experiences on his first trip to Japan. This leads into a discussion about the Pokemon Go culture and how popular the game is there. From there Bel talks briefly about his nonsense “Wireless Ethernet” set up and playing the latest God of War game over it. From there we delve into a discussion about the Hollow Knight Randomizer and Steel Soul mode. Finally we briefly touch on The Messenger and Gris. Topics Discussed:
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Sun, 7 October 2018
This week we are down half of our show, but weirdly enough ended up very close to our original line up from the first few AggroChat shows… only missing Rae. We were concerned we might not have enough material for a show, but wound up only about 10 minutes short of our average which seems pretty good. Tonight we talk about Monetization in Free to Play games and in part why some games it feels good to spend money on, and others it feels exploitative. This explores mobile games and mmorpgs as well. From there Bel talks a bit about his experiences restarting with Monster Hunter World PC and how weirdly most of the progress was raising his skill and not necessarily his gearing. Kodra talks about his experiences with Mega Man 11 which leads to a discussion of this golden age of modern 2D side scrollers. Finally we wrap things up with some discussion about Guilds of Ravnica and how it feels in a constructed and sealed environment on MTG Arena.
Topics Discussed
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Sun, 30 September 2018
Tonight my stalwart friends managed to make me completely fail at getting through the intro once more. The truth is I never know what Ash is going to say when I call upon him… tonight was not a thing I was expecting. The first game discussed was Spiderman for PS4 which had rolled over from a few shows. Next up the start of the MTG Arena Open Beta and the end of wipes… so that everything from this point in theory carried forward indefinitely. Kodra talks about his experiences playing Celeste and its interesting variable difficulty settings. We talk about Dragalia Lost and how it is once again taking the world by storm… as most Nintendo mobile releases seem to. Finally we talk a bit about Battle for Azeroth and why some of the systems and the grind involved with them feels bad and often times pointless. Topics Discussed:
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Sun, 23 September 2018
Tonight we have another show largely made up of topics that have rolled over from previous shows when we ran out of time. We start the show with some reasonable methadone for Justice Monsters Five… in the form of a little early access Android game called Zombie Rollers. From there we talk a bit about Dragon Quest XI which leads to a discussion about Dragon Warrior and Quest titles in North America. Tam talks about his experiences with Hyperlight Drifter on the switch which leads its way to a discussion about Hollow Knight. This time said discussion is a spoiler filled dive and I highly suggest playing the game before checking out this segment. Finally at the very end we talk about Diablo 3 Season 15… the upcoming switch release, our hopes for Blizzcon and some of the rumors circulating. Topics Discussed
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Sun, 16 September 2018
Tonight we record a show that has almost nothing to do with Gorb… but you are going to get that as a name anyways because reasons. This is another one of those shows that has a bunch of topics that kept rolling over from other shows until we managed to align enough of them that sorta made sense together. Tonight we talk about MMOs an awful lot covering the life cycle of the new player experience, returning player experience and the completely and total nonsense that happens at end game with power creep. Rough Approximation of Topics
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