Tonight we have a bunch of stuff on the docket.  We lead off with a discussion about Pax West 2017 that Tam, Kodra and Ashgar attended last weekend.  From there we dive into some discussion about the Destiny 2 PS4 launch and how it has been consuming every moment of Bel’s game time.  Another big accomplishment is that our Guild in Guild Wars 2 successfully captured the Guild Hall…  and have unlocked a completely engrossing minigame in the form of upgrading it.  We delve a bit into the mobile game Legendary Game of Heroes, and then veer off the deep end into some discussion about Sonic Mania and the Sonic Archie Comics.  The insanity that follows continued long after the podcast… and ultimately had a bunch of us leaving the channel to avoid it.  Lastly we talk a bit about Magic the Gathering Arena, their attempt to capture that Hearthstone goodness with actual magic cards.

Topics Discussed

  • Pax West 2017
  • Destiny 2 PS4
  • Guild Wars 2 Guild Hall
  • Legendary Game of Heroes
  • Sonic Mania
  • Sonic Comics
  • Magic the Gathering Arena
Direct download: aggrochat_episode172.mp3
Category:gaming -- posted at: 10:15am EDT

This weekend we talk about a whole slew of topics that have gathered over the past week.  We talk about Pax West and Gamescom and how the hype and announcements surrounding them seem to not be keeping up with past years.  We talk about Thalen’s descent into Guild Wars 2 and a whole slew of topics related to it.  We talk about arriving on Argus in the 7.3 World of Warcraft patch.  We talk about the recent Destiny 2 PC Beta experience and how it cemented the decision to play on the PC for most of us.  We talk about the Kung Fu MMO of a sort Absolver.  We talk about the Ashes Rise of the Phoenixborn card game, which leads to some discussion about Magic the Gathering Commander and Star Wars Destiny.  Finally we wrap up with a discussion on mobile gaming and some more talk about Legendary Game of Heroes… and a little bit of pining for Glitch.

Topics Discussed

  • Games Cons: Lack of Hype
  • Guild Wars 2 Things
  • WoW patch 7.3
  • Destiny 2 PC
  • Absolver
  • Ashes Rise of the Phoenixborn
  • Magic the Gathering Commander
  • Star Wars Destiny
  • Mobile Games
  • Legendary: Game of Heroes
  • Glitch
Direct download: aggrochat_episode171.mp3
Category:gaming -- posted at: 10:25am EDT

Tonight we record the August AggroChat Game Club title… Full Throttle.  This was picked by Thalen for a bunch of reasons but at least in part because we had yet to play a classic point and click adventure game.  With Full Throttle being relatively recently remastered, it made it an excellent candidate since it was more or less going to run well on any system.  Unfortunately one of our show members opted to try playing it on a mobile platform where the experience was less than desireable.  We talk about our thoughts on Full Throttle and adventure games in general as the show goes way off the rails towards the end with many wild trips into nostalgia land.

Direct download: aggrochat_episode170.mp3
Category:gaming -- posted at: 8:04am EDT

This is another one of those nights when we thought we had nothing to talk about…  but ended up having stuff to talk about.  We start off the night talking some more about our recent experiences in Guild Wars 2.  From there we get into some Robo Squid fun… and talk about how Gnomeregan is still horrible.  From there Thalen and I talk about how West of Loathing has suddenly caused us to start playing Kingdom of Loathing again.  Kodra talks about finally grasping why Tam loves Agricola so much.  There is a brief offshoot conversation that leads us down the path of Magic the Gathering Commander and the game in general.  We finally wrap things up with a talk that starts with painting miniatures and ventures forth into creativity in general.

Featured Topics

  • Guild Wars 2
  • Gnomeregan Is Horrible
  • Kingdom of Loathing
  • West of Loathing
  • Agricola
  • Magic the Gathering Commander
  • Painting Miniatures
  • Creativity
Direct download: aggrochat_episode169.mp3
Category:gaming -- posted at: 10:19am EDT

Tonight we return to the normal course of our show after last weeks unintended break.  We start the show off with a brief explanation of what happened then dig straight into some talk about Guild Wars 2 and the impending Path of Fire expansion.  From there we talk about West of Loathing, the pseudo sequel to Kingdom of Loathing one of the longest running web games than I know of.  Grace has been spending some time in the mobile world and talks about two games..  Legendary: Game of Heroes and Rabbit Evolution.  Ash talks a bit about the Monster Hunter Stories demo and gameplay in general.  Kodra dives into a few board games he has been playing…  Macao, Potion Explosion and Scythe.  From there we talk a bit about Magic the Gathering and how folks have been playing a bit of Commander.  Finally we close things out with a discussion of just how well Orcs have clicked with Kodra in Warhammer 40k.

Topics Discussed

  • Guild Wars 2
  • Path of Fire
  • West of Loathing
  • Mobile Games
  • Legendary: Game of Heroes
  • Rabbit Evolution
  • Monster Hunter Stories
  • Board Games
  • Macao
  • Potion Explosion
  • Scythe
  • Magic Commander
  • Warhammer 40k Orcs

 

Direct download: aggrochat_episode168.mp3
Category:gaming -- posted at: 9:34am EDT

This week it is finally time to record the show for the AggroChat July Game Club Final Fantasy XIV Stormblood.  This is one of the smarter picks we have made thusfar as far as club titles, because we knew we would all be playing Stormblood when the expansion launched.  As a result we have held back when we talked about the game prior to this show a bit, thinking that we would unleash everything during this show.  We talk for almost two hours about what might be some of the best of Final Fantasy XIV.  This is a spoilery show so if you have not completed Stormblood I highly suggest you file this away for a later date.

Direct download: aggrochat_episode167.mp3
Category:gaming -- posted at: 10:27am EDT

This week we have a bit of an odd show, namely because there is far less gaming talk than other stuff talk.  We start off with me botching the intro… then roll straight into a discussion that got dropped from last weeks show due to the already two hour runtime.  Kodra, Ashgar and Tam have been watching a whole lot of anime namely with the new season of content showing up on Crunchyroll.  As a result they run down some of the more memorable shows.  From there we talk a bit about the Destiny 2 beta and the season 11 open in Diablo 3…  or that time everyone played necros.  We wrap things up with some talk about the Final Fantasy XIV escape room experience.

Topics Discussed

  • Anime Roundup
    • Your Name
    • Restaurant to Another World
    • Kinka Bancho Otome
    • Knights and Magic
    • My Hero Academia
    • Gamers
    • Ikemen Sengoku
    • In Another World With My Smartphone
    • New Game!!
  • Destiny 2 Beta
  • Bone Spikes For Days
  • FFXIV Escape Room
Direct download: aggrochat_episode166.mp3
Category:gaming -- posted at: 9:19am EDT

This is one of the weirder shows we have recorded in a while in part because we went into it somewhat tentative as to whether or not we really had a full show.  Instead we wound up recording for over two hours.  We go through a lengthy discussion of Magic the Gathering in both the paper and online varieties.  This includes some talk about the new expansion Hour of Devastation, but also some general discussion about the history of Magic as a whole.  We get into another long discussion about Warframe and the upcoming “open world” area.  Ashgar has been playing some Final Fantasy XII and we talk a bit about our experiences with the game.  From there we travel into Final Fantasy XIV and talk about how we are experiencing this early drop off from Stormblood.  Finally we wrap things up with a discussion about Warhammer 40,000 and how they seem to have finally decided to move the story forward.

Topics Discussed

  • Sealed Hour of Devastation
  • Magic the Gathering
  • Open World Warframe
  • Final Fantasy XII
  • Final Fantasy XIV
  • 40k Moving the Story Forward
Direct download: aggrochat_episode165.mp3
Category:gaming -- posted at: 10:15am EDT

Tonight we talk about a bunch of assorted topics.  Firstly we talk about the issues with leveling second jobs in Final Fantasy XIV Stormblood.  We reprise our discussion about how they should have introduced a new tank this expansion.  We talk a bit about the new raid Omega and why we generally think it's better than Alexander was.  From there we get into a discussion about phones and mobile gaming, and the game Grace is currently playing where you collect interesting fish with hats.  We venture forth into a discussion about the Diablo 3 Necromancer and the upcoming Season 11.  Thalen and Ashgar have been hanging out with space ninjas and we get into a discussion about Warframe.  Finally we go into a lengthy discussion about Warhammer 40,000 and how much the game has improved.

Topics Discussed:

  • FFXIV:  Leveling DPS is Butts
  • Omega Raid
  • Mobile Gaming
  • Diablo 3:  Fun with your dead friends
  • Space Ninjas
  • 40k gets good
  • Amonkhet - Nicol Bolas
Direct download: aggrochat_episode164.mp3
Category:gaming -- posted at: 9:26am EDT

SubNautica was the June AggroChat Game Club game and this one happened to be Grace’s pick.  It is an extremely unique member of the survival / builder genre of games and ends up doing a lot more than simply focusing on combat with crappy weapons.  Join us as we talk about the things we liked and the things that frustrated us.  We had a smattering of different opinions which generally leads to good discussion.

Direct download: aggrochat_episode163.mp3
Category:gaming -- posted at: 10:14am EDT

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

Things Discussed

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

This week we talk about our early experiences with the Final Fantasy XIV Stormblood head start and the numerous technical difficulties.  We talk about our feelings regarding the Red Mage and Samurai so far.  We also delve into the E3 2017 conferences:  Microsoft, Devolver Digital, Bethesda, Sony, Nintendo and UbiSoft.  We highlight a whole bunch of games, too many to list in a blurb.  Of these one of the more important ones was the discussion around Beyond Good and Evil 2 and how Ubisoft had claimed they would not be showing it.  Finally Ashgar talks about his experiences playing Disgaea 5 on the Nintendo Switch.

Topics Discussed

  • Final Fantasy XIV Stormblood
  • E3 2017 Conferences
  • Microsoft
  • Devolver
  • Bethesda
  • Sony
  • Nintendo
  • UbiSoft
  • Games, Comic Books and Continuity
  • Disgaea 5
Direct download: aggrochat_episode161.mp3
Category:gaming -- posted at: 1:25am EDT

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

Topics Discussed

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

This week we once again have Grace as a medical issue has kept her away a few weeks.  Tonight we have a relatively short show, at least as far as AggroChat shows go.  Thalen has reached the point where he is doing The Taken King and talks about the shock that happened when suddenly Cayde-6 developed a personality…  and is in fact Robot Mal.  We get on a tagent talking about the changings coming soon in Final Fantasy XIV Stormblood, and our thoughts about what might be tweaked during the expansion.  Grace and Bel talk a bit about their recent alt madness in World of Warcraft, and specifically how Bel has leveled and geared a character in a single week.  Kodra talks a bit about Elder Scrolls Legends and why he likes it much better than Hearthstone.  Finally we talk a little bit about the recent phone game craze that is Magikarp Jump.

 

Topics Discussed:

  • Destiny: Personality Changes in Taken King
  • Stormblood Changes
  • World of Warcraft
  • Deathknight Madness
  • Elder Scrolls Legends
  • Magikarp Jump
Direct download: aggrochat_episode159.mp3
Category:gaming -- posted at: 9:52am EDT

Tonight we sit down to talk about our May game of the month…  Wolfenstein Enemy Territory.  This was Kodra’s pick but in truth Belghast also has been a huge fan of this game since playing through it at release.  We talk about how this game operates on two different levels for two slightly different audiences.  We also attempt to dive into some of the symbolism and subtleties lying just beneath the surface.

Direct download: aggrochat_episode158.mp3
Category:gaming -- posted at: 9:49am EDT

Last week we screwed up a bit in that we completely missed a topic.  Kodra has been drafting an awful lot of Amonkhet via Magic Online, so this week we talk at length about that.  We also talk at length about Destiny and the Destiny 2 gameplay reveal information.  Belghast talks about his feels and how much he loves the game, and Tamrielo provides the dissenting view of how hard he bounced off of it and how he wanted more than gunplay and occasional space magic.  Regardless we all seem to have a certain measure of hope about the Destiny 2 launch.  We talk a bit about Mario Kart 8 Deluxe and the slightly increased availability of the Nintendo Switch.  Finally we discuss Fire Emblem and Disgaea and the weird world that they are.

Topics Discussed: Magic the Gathering, Magic Online, Drafting Amonkhet, The Game Room, Destiny, Destiny 2, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, Nintendo Switch, Fire Emblem, Disgaea

Direct download: aggrochat_episode157.mp3
Category:gaming -- posted at: 9:24am EDT

Since this will be releasing on Mother's Day, the crew wants to wish all of the mothers that listen to the podcast a very happy one.  After a few slim weeks we once again had the full crew, which is always something to be celebrated.  I find it funny how when we have what feels like a limited amount of things to talk about, it also seems like we delve into some of the more interesting discussions.  The shows title this time comes from a game breaking bug that was introduced recently in Stellaris.  We talk a bit about Bel’s experiences starting Knights of the Fallen Empire, and this leads into an interesting talk about our thoughts regarding sequels and whether or not we want the previous cast of characters to continue.  We also talk about concerns regarding the Diablo 3 Necromancer expansion, and that ultimately leads to some discussion about Destiny 2 and the currently lack of a PC pre-order option.

Topics Discussed:  Stellaris - Knights of the Fallen Empire - Star Wars Galaxies - Sequels and Continuing with Characters - Replayability - Fallen London - Infinity - Diablo 3 - Playing Catch up in WoW - Diablo 3 Necromancer Expansion - Destiny 2

Direct download: aggrochat_episode156.mp3
Category:gaming -- posted at: 7:33am EDT

This week we dig more into Horizon Zero Dawn… or as it was called early in the show Aloy’s Adventures in Men Are Terrible Land.  Tam is nearing the end of the game, and Belghast and Kodra have made it a bit further… or at least enough to be able to talk about some of the things going on in the game.  Bel has fallen into a rather large Star Wars the Old Republic shaped hole and talks about his experiences with the new systems… and insane experience boost.  Grace has been playing a lot of World of Warcraft and we talk about how playing that game when you really don’t care about progression can be an extremely relaxing time.  Bel talks a little bit about Prey, or the game where you bash things with a wrench just in case they are a mimic.  Kodra has been doing some drafting of the new Amonkhet set in Magic the Gathering Online.  Finally we get into a discussion about our recent foray into Heroes of the Storm, and Overwatch.

Direct download: aggrochat_episode155.mp3
Category:gaming -- posted at: 9:37am EDT

Tonight we talk about our April AggroChat Game Club Game…  Moon Hunters.  This was an Ashgar pick, and bills itself as a Co-Op Personality Test.  We talk about whether or not this title actually is fitting as well as our experiences playing a game designed to be replayed over and over.  We discuss the storytelling, artwork and music of the game and our general thoughts and feelings about the experience.  Additionally we announce the May AggroChat Game Club Game that is definitely going to provide some interesting discussion.

Direct download: aggrochat_episode154.mp3
Category:gaming -- posted at: 9:16am EDT

One of the things that gets edited down before you get your hands on the podcast is any long gaps between topics.  This week we were seemingly a little bit out of it, and the pauses were significant.  When I sat down to start editing I had 2 hours and 15 minutes worth of recorded audio, and after doing my normal compression pass…  we are down to just a little over 1 hour and 30 minutes.  The result was a pretty wide gamut of topics that we discussed, and between the pauses some of the more interesting conversation about a few things that we had never quite delved into.  Among the topics a lengthy discussion about what is wrong with Warhammer games as a whole, and our fears regarding what is absolutely going to be a crushing tank shortage with Stormblood.

Topics Discussed:  

  • Star Wars the Old Republic
  • Skyforge PC
  • Bomberman Creepy Characters
  • Wonder Boy: The Dragon’s Trap
  • Hollow Knight
  • Eternal Crusade
  • Warhammer 40,000
  • Games Workshop
  • Pips are Important
  • People Don’t Understand NDAs
  • Final Fantasy XIV Stormblood
  • Tank Shortage
  • Dark Souls III
  • Variable Difficulty in Games
  • Persona 5
Direct download: aggrochat_episode153.mp3
Category:gaming -- posted at: 10:21am EDT

Tonight we talk about a whole list of topics in probably one of our more packed shows in a very long time.  Tam talks some more about how Persona 5 it is a serious contender for his game of the year… and his current soundtrack addiction.  Kodra shares his final thoughts about Legend of Zelda Breath of the Wild and how he enjoyed it… but not nearly as  much as he had hoped.  Belghast talks about Mass Effect Andromeda and his thoughts upon completing it in as non-spoilery as he possibly can.  We talk about the cancelling of the NES Classic, and how Nintendo sometimes seems like it doesn’t like money.  We talk about the Skyforge and the release on consoles and how they have improved the game since launch.  We talk about what we know about The Secret World Legends… and our hopes that it makes that game into one that we want to return to in A Realm Reborn style.  Kodra talks about the new Magic the Gathering Amonkhet card set release, and finally Thalen talks about the brand new Netflix Mystery Science Theater 3000 series.

Topics Discussed: Persona 5 - Zelda Breath of the Wild Final Thoughts - Skyward Sword - Mass Effect Andromeda Final Thoughts - Nintendo Doesn’t Like Money - Skyforge on Console - The Secret World Legends - Magic the Gathering Amonkhet - Mystery Science Theater 3000

Direct download: aggrochat_episode152.mp3
Category:gaming -- posted at: 10:56am EDT

Tonight a very sleepy Belghast leads our cast through a discussion of the things that have been sitting waiting to be discussed due to last week being a Game of the Month show.  The year of amazing video game releases continues and Tam especially is extremely amped to talk about Persona 5.  In a weird turn of events Kodra discovers Castlevania Symphony of the Night in looking for things to play on his PSTV and we dive into a length discussion about that game.  We continue on our discussion about Zelda Breath of the Wild and how Tam is just struggling with it.  Belghast and Tam gush a bit about the Nintendo Switch given that Bel just recently joined the Cult by getting one from Amazon during their extremely brief window of availability.  We talk about Specter of Torment the latest addon pack to Shovel Knight, and how it is doing a bunch of different things than either the Shovel or Plague Knight content.  Grace and Bel talk a bit about the Diablo 3 10th Season and how they are desperate for new content… but still finding a lot of fun in the game.  Finally there is some discussion about the World of Warcraft 7.2 patch and how both Grace and Belghast have largely bounced off of it so far.

Topics Discussed: Persona 5 - Castlevania: Symphony of the Night - Legend of Zelda Breath of the Wild - Nintendo Switch - Specter of Torment - Diablo 3 Season - World of Warcraft 7.2 Patch

Direct download: aggrochat_episode151.mp3
Category:gaming -- posted at: 10:40am EDT

Tonight we record the show our March AggroChat Game Club game Tyranny.  For those uninitiated to the game, it is a deeply story driven RPG in the proud PC tradition of Baldur’s Gate or more truthfully Planescape Torment.  Six of us played the game… and six of us played a vastly different game experience. Tyranny after all was one of our games we talked about during the Games of the Year show, and for several of our cast they chose to do a second play-through for the show.  Join us as we hash out our thoughts about this truly interesting game.

Direct download: aggrochat_episode150.mp3
Category:gaming -- posted at: 10:13am EDT

Sometimes we go into a show not really having a clue what to talk about.  This was one of those shows because over the last week the combined six member cast of AggroChat was not really playing that much game wise.  However as is usually the case when we have no fixed topic… a whole bunch of them come out of the woodwork.  Join us as we go through a bit of a topical whirlwind as we have the same exact sort of conversations we have when we are not recording.  Side Note:  At the request of the rest of the staff and several listeners... Bel has re-recorded the intro with less potato quality sound.  It only took 149 episodes to actually do this.

Direct download: aggrochat_episode149.mp3
Category:gaming -- posted at: 10:28am EDT

We hurt the ones we love.  This week we realize while talking about Zelda that when we talk about games on AggroChat we tend to often times dwell on the negative aspects.  This has been true with FFXIV and World of Warcraft, and apparently also extremely true with Zelda.  Last week I was the only one who had spent any time in Hyrule and this week both Kodra and Tam have as well.  We get off on some odd tangents during the night, like a discussion at the start of the show about Gas Station Food.  Largely however we talk Zelda, the Switch, and Amiibos.  We also have some final thoughts discussion about Horizon Zero Dawn and Final Fantasy XV in a non-spoilery manner.  We talk a bit about the upcoming Mass Effect Andromeda and our experiences with the limited time trial version of the game.

Topics Discussed: Gas Station Food - Zelda Breath of the Wild - Nintendo Switch - Nintendo Wii U - Amiibos - Horizon Zero Dawn Final Thoughts - Mass Effect Andromeda - Final Fantasy XV Thoughts

Direct download: aggrochat_episode148.mp3
Category:gaming -- posted at: 10:27am EDT

It always feels like we have a bunch of stuff to talk about the week after we record a game club show.  This time is no difference given that a bunch of games released in the meantime…  namely Horizon Zero Dawn and Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild.  Grace has fallen into a deep Horizon shaped hole and various others have been playing it off and on as well.  We talk about how the game is really good at making you feel competent.  Similarly Belghast has been playing Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild… and talks about how that game is coming from a vastly different philosophy and is in turn good at making you feel weak and insignificant.  We talk about our recent indoctrination into the world of Gundam building, and finish off the show with some Mario Maker discussion and namely Kaizo style level design.

Topics Discussed: Mass Effect: Andromeda - Horizon Zero Dawn - Zelda Breath of the Wild - Competing Philosophy of Both Games - Building Gundams - Mario Maker - Kaizo Mario

Direct download: aggrochat_episode147.mp3
Category:gaming -- posted at: 11:04am EDT

Tonight we record probably our most odd AggroChat Game Club show.  Namely because essentially we divided the show into two part.  The first part is general impressions about the game and the second half is full spoiler discussion of the story.  The reason why we drew this line in the sand… is because while Ashgar, Kodra and Tam finished the game, Belghast, Grace and Thalen are still very much enjoying the game at their own pace.  In the end this was a game that was very different for each person playing it.  So join us as we hash out our thoughts.

Direct download: aggrochat_episode146.mp3
Category:gaming -- posted at: 10:13am EDT

Tonight we have another big rambly show where we start out having zero clue what we are going to talk about… and then wind up recording for a couple hours.  Edited down the show ends up being roughly another hour and a half experience.  Tonight we talk at length about our addiction to Final Fantasy XIV and the Palace of the Dead.  Grace and I talk a bit about the blah feeling this latest patch cycle has given us in World of Warcraft.  Bel talk about getting into the Crowfall pre-alpha and how it is in fact a piece of software that he installed on his system and does in fact launch.  We talk a bit a bit about the weird City of Heroes nostalgia game wave and how there really is only room for one of those titles in the market.  We also talk about the drought of MMOs on the horizon and how instead it seems to be the Golden Age of expansions for existing games.  Bel gives an update on the gaming at work thing, and his first steps into God Eater.  Finally we have a weird offshoot into talking about building Gundams before wrapping things up.

Topics Discussed: Final Fantasy XIV - World of Warcraft Blahs - Crowfall Disappointment - City of Heroes nostalgia - Drought of New MMOs - Golden Age of Expansions - Elder Scrolls Online - Work Gaming Space - God Eater - Gundam Kits

Direct download: aggrochat_episode145.mp3
Category:gaming -- posted at: 9:20am EDT

AggroChat #144 - Why Doma Fell

Tonight we assembled and thought we had nothing to talk about… but apparently we were super wrong.  As is usually the case with us when we think we have nothing… we wind up recording a two hour show.  While it doesn’t weigh in quite that long this week, it still is a pretty lengthy discussion about stuff and things… and sometimes gaming.  We apparently have an awful lot to say about Final Fantasy XIV and the fact that Stormblood brings no new tanks into the fold.  We also talk a bit about how tank design seems to always fit within the same small box and how they might benefit from branching out a bit.  After this bulk of the discussion we weave through a whole bunch of other topics.


Topics: Final Fantasy XIV Alexander Raid, Fanfest Announcements, The Tank Shortage, Darkness Myth: Cthulhu Otome, Work Console, Shantae, Humble Freedom Bundle, Vampire Campaign

Direct download: aggrochat_episode144.mp3
Category:gaming -- posted at: 11:26am EDT

AggroChat #143 - Samurai Souls

We are back to normal… at least for a little while.  This is the first traditional show we have recorded in three weeks and it felt a little odd to get back in the swing of things.  Tonight we talk about Pax South and the games that Ashgar and Belghast played while there.  We talk about our recent flare up of Final Fantasy XIV and getting back in the swing of things.  Tam and Kodra talk about Samurai Souls…  or Nioh on the PS4 and see how well Team Ninja did at the concept.  Finally we talk a bit about Titanfall 2 and how it improves on the concept of the original.

Topics Discussed:  Pax South 2017, Rime, Dauntless, Dice Throne, Wicked Apples, Mages of Mystralia, Think of the Children, Tower 57, Final Fantasy XIV, Nioh, Titanfall 2

Direct download: aggrochat_episode143.mp3
Category:gaming -- posted at: 9:38am EDT

AggroChat #142 - The Danganronpa Show

Tonight we talk about the January AggroChat Game Club game Danganronpa.  This game was Thalen's pick and we delve into what exactly we think of truth bullets and the sadistic bear.  Of note like most of our Game Club shows there are massive spoilers.  Also of note...  we have massively mixed emotions about this title.  However if you yourself are a huge fan, we would love to hear from you.

Direct download: aggrochat_episode142.mp3
Category:gaming -- posted at: 9:09am EDT

AggroChat #141 - Games of the Year 2016 - Part Two

It is that time again.  Time for the AggroChat crew to attempt to narrow down a list of games for our Games of the Year show.  We have never actually been able to reach a consensus so instead we gather up a big ole list of games and talk about it each year as in a two part show. So six hosts… 3 picks per host… 18 games in total, or at least in theory that is the goal.  This time around it seems to have mostly worked out as we have 9 games per episode.

During this second episode we visit our roman numeral friends talk about…

  • Pokemon Go
  • Dark Souls III
  • Overwatch
  • Stardew Valley
  • Stellaris
  • Tyranny
  • Final Fantasy XV
  • The Witness
  • Skyrim Special Edition
Direct download: aggrochat_episode141.mp3
Category:gaming -- posted at: 6:00am EDT

AggroChat #140 - Games of the Year 2016 - Part One

It is that time again.  Time for the AggroChat crew to attempt to narrow down a list of games for our Games of the Year show.  We have never actually been able to reach a consensus so instead we gather up a big ole list of games and talk about it each year as in a two part show. So six hosts… 3 picks per host… 18 games in total, or at least in theory that is the goal.  This time around it seems to have mostly worked out as we have 9 games per episode.

During this first episode we use up our quota of colons and talk about…

  • Pokemon Sun and Moon
  • Dishonored 2
  • Guild Wars 2: Heart of Thorns
  • Digimon Story: Cyber Sleuth
  • Destiny: Rise of Iron
  • World of Warcraft: Legion
  • Deus Ex: Mankind Divided
  • Ratchet and Clank
  • 80 Days
Direct download: aggrochat_episode140.mp3
Category:gaming -- posted at: 12:07pm EDT

AggroChat #139 - It’s Raining Bears

Tonight we talk about our general feelings about the Nintendo Switch and how for most of us it is not in the realm of the day one purchase.  We talk about our track records with Nintendo Consoles in general as well.  Belghast talks about the game formerly known as “Game 4” and now called Pit People from The Behmoth.  Tam talks about Event[0] an alternate history game as told through the terminal screen of a Trash 80.  Bel talks a bit about his experiences with the Wrath of the Machine raid and the Outbreak Prime quest.  Finally we all get wrapped up in a sequence of discussions about MMO games…  namely how they are bad at directing new players to new content.  This then spawns a conversation about the trend of open world games also for some reason forcing open world pvp.  Lastly we get into a discussion about our general desires for MMO housing systems.

Topics: Nintendo Switch, Nintendo Consoles, Pit People, Event[0], Destiny Wrath of the Machine Raid, MMOs are Bad at Returning Players, Forcing PVP in otherwise PVE games, MMO Housing Systems

Direct download: aggrochat_episode139.mp3
Category:gaming -- posted at: 9:12am EDT

AggroChat #138 - The Hipster Mushroom

Welcome to the beginning of AggroChat Season 4!  This evening we are back to recording normal shows…  and man does it feel weird.  At first we thought we would be short a Kodra, but got an 11th hour message from him stating “I NEEDS TO PODCAST”.  Of note he is on unfamiliar internets and a machine that he does not regularly record on… so the sound quality is a little iffy at times.  Tonight we delve into a huge list of topics that hit all around the map of the things folks have been playing.

Some of the things discussed: Diablo Anniversary Events, Diablo 3 Season 9 Start, Wildstar, Elder Scrolls Online Housing, Death of Landmark, Fears for Lord of the Rings Online, MMO Maintenance Mode, Inside, Owlboy, Ducktales, Super Mario Brothers Games, Shadow Tactics, Dark Souls 3, Bloodborne, Superhot, Glittermitten Grove, Frog Fractions 2

Direct download: aggrochat_episode138.mp3
Category:gaming -- posted at: 12:17pm EDT

AggroChat #137 - The Diablo 2 Game Show

Tonight we wrap up season 3 of AggroChat with the November/December AggroChat Game Club Title Diablo 2.  This pick was made by Grace and is largely an attempt at seeing just how well this game still holds up as compared to the titles we are used to.  Join us as we talk about reconciling our memories of the game with the reality of playing it again.  Additionally we get into a bunch of slantwise connected discussions during the process.  

Direct download: aggrochat_episode137.mp3
Category:gaming -- posted at: 11:34am EDT

AggroChat #136 - Star Wars Gone Rogue

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

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

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

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

AggroChat #135 - Looks Like A Kahuna

Tonight we got a bit of late start, but once things got rolling we recorded a proper show.  Last week we had pushed off the topic of Pokemon Sun and Moon because we literally ran out of time.  We start recording around 9 pm CST and when it is past midnight…  we know we are in trouble.  So we talk a bit about the game and things that folks have noticed about it.  Several of us are not terribly far along… others have beaten the game.  Grace talks about her addiction to Justice Monsters Five and how no other games really matter at all.  

Bel goes on a discussion about his feelings about various streaming options and why he is moving towards Beam.  Bel talks about how this is the year that he stopped browsing steam, because there is just too much random stuff out there.  This spawns a conversation about games that get lost in the mix…  like Obsidian’s recent release of Tyranny.  This oddly spawns another contorted shift as Bel talks about that he figures out why he doesn’t really enjoy Halo games.  We shift gears and talk a bit about Final Fantasy XIV and the Alexander Turn 11 fight.  Finally we wrap things up with some talk about the new Star Wars Destiny Collectible Card Game.
Discussion points: Pokemon Sun and Moon - Justice Monsters Five - Twitch vs Hitbox vs Beam - Browsing Steam - Tyranny - Bel and Halo - Final Fantasy XIV - Alexander Turn 11 - Star Wars Destiny
Direct download: aggrochat_episode135.mp3
Category:gaming -- posted at: 10:52am EDT

AggroChat #134 - Bivouacking Boy Band

Belghast laments the feeling of not exactly knowing what day it is… as we return from our Thanksgiving break to start the show once more.  This week there really is only one game we could be talking about that that is Final Fantasy XV which has all of us playing it…  in completely different styles.  We try our best to talk about non spoilery elements of the game, and mostly talk about the look and feel and play style.  Additionally we talk a bit about The Game Awards and some of the announcements and games footage that was shown there.  Similarly we talk a bit about the Playstation Experience and a few of the games that were shown there as well.  Finally we wrap up with some discussion about Moebius Final Fantasy and how it has become Tam’s new sleepytime game.

Final Fantasy XV - The Game Awards - Death Stranding - Metal Gear Solid - Silent Hill - Hideo Kojima - Mass Effect Andromeda - Shovel Knight: Specter of Torment - Playstation Experience - Marvel vs Capcom 3 - Marvel vs Capcom Infinite - Licensing Difficulties - Last of Us 2 - Uncharted The Lost Legacy - Moebius Final Fantasy
Direct download: aggrochat_episode134.mp3
Category:gaming -- posted at: 10:17am EDT

AggroChat #133 - Leadership and Games

This week we have a bit of a strange cold open as we talk about our recent system building experiences and the fact that next week we are actually going to need to record a proper sound check.  From there we delve into World of Warcraft and talk about our experiences with the new Karazhan Raid and Trials of Valor, as well as experiences with progression and wrapping up the Emerald Nightmare.  Belghast talks about his experiences in Starfall Prophecy the new Rift raid, and Tam discusses his experiences in Dishonored 2.  Finally we get around to the discussion that named this show as Tam talks about a recent class project.

Things Discussed - Impromptu Building New Systems - WoW - New Karazhan Raid - Trial of Valor Raid - Rift - Starfall Prophecy Expansion - Dishonored 2 -Tam’s Class Project
Direct download: aggrochat_episode133.mp3
Category:gaming -- posted at: 10:46am EDT

AggroChat #132 - The Cthulhu Game Show

Tonight is the tale of a game that we put off recording the show for weeks in the hopes of clearing up some technical difficulties.  So while we do talk about Cthulhu, the show morphs into a general discussion about the preservation of video games, and what happens to these older titles that don’t quite function as intended on modern platforms.  Additionally we talk a bit about emulation and how it might be the saving grace for especially the early cd based systems.  We talk about this weird time in early FPS games where folks were willing to take chances and make something not entirely in the Call of Duty model.  Given that this is the second of those games we have made a game club title…  it seems like there was something interesting happening that it would be awesome to see again.

Topics Discussed - Technical Difficulties - Call of Cthulhu: Dark Corners of the Earth - Early FPS Titles - Early CD Rom games - Games Preservation - Emulation - December Game - Diablo II
Direct download: aggrochat_episode132.mp3
Category:gaming -- posted at: 9:49am EDT

AggroChat #131 - Blizzcon Boop

Tonight we wind up delaying the Cthulhu show another week because of continued technical difficulties with that game, which is probably a good idea since we had a lot of other stuff to talk about anyways.  We start off with Bel getting griefed by the rest of the cast as he tries to do the intro, and it just sorta flows from there.  This week was Blizzcon and we talk about some of the exciting stuff to come out of it.  Then we get into a length discussion about our changing attitudes towards Guild Wars 2, and finally wrap things up with some discussion about the new Volo’s Guide to Monsters release.

Topics Discussed: Blizzcon - Overwatch - Sombra - ARG - Diablo 3 - Anniversary Event - Necromancer - World of Warcraft -  Micro Holidays - Argus - Nighthold raid - Tomb of Sargeras raid - Starcraft 2 - Deepmind integration - This is how we make Skynet - Hearthstone - Mean Streets of Gadgetzan - Heroes of the Storm - Varian - Ragnaros - Guild Wars 2 - Fractals - World Events - Mad King’s Labyrinth - Dungeons and Dragons - Volos Guide

Direct download: aggrochat_episode131.mp3
Category:gaming -- posted at: 10:12am EDT

AggroChat #130 - Ra Ra Rasputin

This week we have a significantly smaller crew because Tam and Kodra actually enjoy going out into the real world sometimes.  They got invited to a Halloween party, and we are left holding down the fort.  The show is dedicated to the Ra Ra Rasputin video that Tam infected us with this week, and our inability to get it out of our heads.  As far as actual commentary we talk Stellaris, the disappointment of Festival of the Lost, the insanity that is the retribution artifact hidden appearance, and some discussion of the Nintendo Switch among other topics that pop into the stream of consciousness that is our podcast.

Topics Discussed - Ra Ra Rasputin - https://youtu.be/WhPvJOnHotE - Stellaris Leviathans - Expansion - Destiny - Festival of the Lost - World of Final Fantasy - World of Warcraft Hidden - Artifacts - Emerald Nighmare - Karazhan Attunements - Nintendo Switch
Direct download: aggrochat_episode130.mp3
Category:gaming -- posted at: 10:16am EDT

AggroChat #129 - Deckbuilding MMO Design

Tonight we have another in a long line of shows where we go into it not really having a clue what we are going to talk about… then wind up discussing topics for a couple hours.  This week we start off talking about Diablo… the largely forgotten Blizzard game and the beginning of Season 8.  We then veer off into tinfoil hat territory as we talk about some of the popular rumors surrounding Diablo 4.  We talk about how much we are enjoying the new Co-Op PVE mode in Overwatch, and how we wish it was a permanent addition.  We also shift course into a discussion about how games seem to have an obligatory e-sports friendly design these days.  We also discuss our recent progress in the World of Warcraft Emerald Nightmare raid, and now much we are looking forward to Karazhan landing this coming week.  Finally we get into a lengthy discussion about the deckbuilding style of MMO design, namely with Guild Wars, Guild Wars 2, Secret World and to some extent Rift.

Topics Discussed - Diablo 3 Season 8 - Diablo 4 Tinfoil Hat Theories - David Brevik - Bill Roper - Co-Op Overwatch - Designing For E-Sports - Co-Op Gameplay - Pokemon Sun and Moon Demo - World of Final Fantasy Demo - WoW Emerald Nightmare Raid - Guild Wars 1 Ability System - Deck Building MMOs

Direct download: aggrochat_episode129.mp3
Category:gaming -- posted at: 10:28am EDT

AggroChat #128 - Warrior of Moderation

Tonight we were down Thalen and Grace, but continued on… all the while typhoon rains battered Tam and Kodra.  The core goal of this week’s show was to discuss the Final Fantasy XIV 3.4 Soul Surrender patch, and the changes to the game and world that were hinted by it.  Additionally we talk about some of the changes coming to FFXIV in 4.0 that were announced at Fanfest.  However in addition to this big topic we landed on some discussion about the awesome Geek Girl Con that took Kodra away from us last weekend, as well as Tam venturing into Destiny this week and talking about some of his experience.  Squeezed somewhere in the middle is a discussion about why Legion feels different and what Bel calls the “Kunark Effect”.  Finally one last note… Bel is on a brand new computer and with it a different editing environment.  If you hear anything bizarre please let us know.


Topics Discussed - Geek Girl Con 2016 - Destiny Taken King and Rise of Iron - Legion and the Kunark Effect - Final Fantasy XIV patch 3.4 and Fanfest

Direct download: aggrochat_episode128.mp3
Category:gaming -- posted at: 11:51am EDT

AggroChat #127 - Gaming Summer Flings

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

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

Direct download: aggrochat_episode127.mp3
Category:gaming -- posted at: 10:22am EDT

AggroChat #126 - The Tales of Maj'Eyal Show

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

Direct download: aggrochat_episode126.mp3
Category:gaming -- posted at: 9:50am EDT

AggroChat #125 - Recycled Assets

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


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

Direct download: aggrochat_episode125.mp3
Category:gaming -- posted at: 10:39am EDT

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

Direct download: aggrochat_episode124.mp3
Category:gaming -- posted at: 9:49am EDT

AggroChat #123 - Purposeful Piddling

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


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

Direct download: aggrochat_episode123.mp3
Category:gaming -- posted at: 11:17am EDT

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

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

Direct download: aggrochat_episode122.mp3
Category:gaming -- posted at: 9:40am EDT

AggroChat #121 - Fizzylock’s Telekinetics

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

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

Direct download: aggrochat_episode121.mp3
Category:gaming -- posted at: 9:47am EDT

AggroChat #120 - Can’t Go Back Home

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


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

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

AggroChat #119 - Still Not Prepared

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


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

Direct download: aggrochat_episode119.mp3
Category:gaming -- posted at: 9:49am EDT

AggroChat #118 - The Cities: Skylines Show

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

Direct download: aggrochat_episode118.mp3
Category:gaming -- posted at: 9:45am EDT

This week we are down both Ashgar and Kodra, and in part as a result… and part because we just adore her we talked our friend Neph into joining us.  Before we start recording a podcast we generally try and scribble down a rough list of topics to use as an outline of where to leave the conversation next.  After fifteen minutes of dead air… we finally start coming up with a few things and this weeks show is a result.  We talk about the concept of “Peak Pokemon” and the glee that the media seems to have at heralding the downfall of the game.  With Grace on my side we revisit the discussion about the Legion class changes, and our happiness to completely bury the concept of the Garrison and get out into the world and see it again.  We do a deeper dive into the deepest dungeon in Final Fantasy XIV and Tam and Neph’s experiences leveling alts this week there.  We talk a little bit about Dragon Age Inquisition, and my discovery of how Damage over Time classes work.  So for a show where we didn’t think we had much to say… we certainly said a whole lot of it.

TOPICSPeak Pokemon - World of Warcraft - Class Changes - Death to Garrisons - Disappointment in Game - Final Fantasy XIV Deep Dungeon - Yokai Watch - Dragon Age Inquisition - DoT Classes

Direct download: aggrochat_episode117.mp3
Category:gaming -- posted at: 9:41am EDT

AggroChat #116 - Legion and the Deep Dungeon

This week we had a really strange sequence of events that lead to quite literally half of our crew being out for one reason or another.  Of all of them I think we happen to be the most jealous of Grace who managed to score tickets to the Final Fantasy Symphony tour thing that is roaming the country.  This was the week of big patches with both the 3.35 patch in Final Fantasy XIV bringing us the Palace of the Dead, and World of Warcraft getting 7.0.3 containing all of the Legion class changes and new Transmog system.  Additionally we saw the actual launch of Starbound and with it something unusual in the early access community…  significant changes being patched into the final version.  So this week we have a whole slew of topics related to all of those points.

Final Fantasy XIV 3.35 - Palace of the Dead - World of Warcraft 7.0.3 - Legion Class Changes - Survival Hunter - Outlaw Rogue - Starbound Launch - Pre-Launch is Launch - Overwatch Healing Sniper

 

Direct download: aggrochat_episode116.mp3
Category:gaming -- posted at: 9:50am EDT

AggroChat #115 - Murder Hobo: The Video Game

This marks the second week of the majority of our cast being completely enthralled by the apparent phenomenon that is Pokemon Go.  So as you would expect this weeks episode is a hefty bit of our hosts recounting their recent experiences.  Pokemon Go is a story engine, and we have many stories to tell as a result.  Additionally we talk a bit about Augmented Reality gaming in general, and whether or not Pokemon Go is the "Everquest" or the "World of Warcraft" of this genre.  This week also saw us "getting the band back together" as it were and raiding for the first time in months in Final Fantasy XIV.  We discuss our feeling about raiding again and the hopes of what we might accomplish in the coming months.

Grace and Bel made their way into the Legion Beta finally for World of Warcraft so we discuss a bit in the way of the set up for that expansion.  Bel talks at length about his experiences playing a Demon Hunter and why he thinks this might be a class Tam would actually like.  Tam deftly deflects and turns the discussion back around to the story of Final Fantasy XIV and our feelings about what seems to be the wrapping of this expansion.  In other news we discuss two similar gaming experiences in Necropolis and the brand new chapter of the Monster Hunter saga.  Finally we get into a length discussion about the ramifications of Pokemon Go and what it might mean for Nintendo and accepting that the mobile platform is actually viable.

Topics:  Pokemon Go, Augmented Reality Gaming, Everquest or World of Warcraft, Final Fantasy XIV Raiding, Legion Beta, Demon Hunter, Final Fantasy Story, Necropolis, Monster Hunter, Nintendo Mobile Gaming, Pokemon Red/Blue/Yellow.

Direct download: aggrochat_episode115.mp3
Category:gaming -- posted at: 8:59am EDT

This week the world has caught a horrible case of pokemonitis… and our stalwart AggroChat crew have not been immune.  Instead of hanging out at home… we seem to have all been roaming our respective neighborhoods looking for invisible critters.  So as a result we recorded a show that is almost entirely Pokemon Go talk.  Towards the end we discuss our return to Final Fantasy XIV this week and our attempt to “get the band back together”.  My Pokemans…  Let me show you them!

Show Topics

  • Pokemon Go
  • Final Fantasy XIV
Direct download: aggrochat_episode114.mp3
Category:gaming -- posted at: 10:10am EDT

To say we went off the rails while recording this show is to put it mildly.  Not sure what was going on.. If it was just the general slap happy nature of being a long holiday weekend for all of us… or if something was in the water.  It starts with me almost botching the introduction… and winds through a long series of tangents that I have no way of really properly mapping without thoroughly relistening to the show and documenting all the topic changes.  We talk Harry Potter, and the new American Houses.  However we also talk a whole bunch about where we ourselves fit into the Pottermore sorting hat quiz.  I am apparently the only one that was surprised I sorted Gryffindor.

 

From there we get into a lengthy discussion about the Steam Discovery Queue and how sometimes it just gives the equivalent of a shrug emote.  We also talk about how Steam is starting to feel like the various mobile app stores, with a slew of clone games for pretty much any genre.  We delve into a topic about how MMOs actually make you less of a well rounded player.  Namely that when you are playing an MMO… it becomes extremely hard to pull yourself away for those single player experiences.  This devolves into brief discussions of Riders of Icarus, ArcheAge and Final Fantasy XIV.  We talk about how cool it would be to get the band back together of sorts in that game.  Finally we go into a long discussion about LARPing… or more so the kind of LARPing Kodra is used to that doesn’t quite sync with a bunch of the experiences we had with it.

 

Loose List of Topics

  • Harry Potter Stuff
  • Ilvermorny
  • The Sorting Hat
  • Steam Sale
  • The Discover Queue
  • MMOs are bad for the well rounded gamer
  • Riders of Icarus
  • ArcheAge
  • Final Fantasy XIV
  • What Kodra Means by LARPing
  • What the rest of us have experienced in LARPing
Direct download: aggrochat_episode113.mp3
Category:gaming -- posted at: 11:22am EDT

Tonight we talk about the only game legally obligated to say that it is inspired by Saban's Power Rangers...  Chroma Squad!  This was the June 2016 AggroChat Game of the Month and Thalen's latest Game Club pick.  At some point we got completely out of order on the whole round robin rotation and we are now just going with it.  Do you have a fond memory of the Power Rangers and other Sentai shows from the 90s?  Do you hate the Power Rangers and have a love of Tactical Combat games that make fun of them?  In both cases this might be a game for you, so tune in as we talk about the finer points of this game and film season after season of cardboard mech suit combat!

Direct download: aggrochat_episode112.mp3
Category:gaming -- posted at: 9:44am EDT

It is not really often that things work out just perfectly and AggroChat lands on one of the hosts birthdays.  This evening it happened to coincide perfectly with that of Belghast turning 40… so there was some discussion of that happening.  Also we dove into E3 and all of the stuff that we could remember about the show.  Below is an extremely partial list of the topics we discussed, because quite frankly we were whipping through games so fast… and I was exhausted…  so I failed miserably to try and log our discussion.  Additionally we talk Blade and Soul, Gundam Breaker 3, Ronin and some talk of the Four Job Fiesta.

 

Incomplete List of Topics

  • E3
  • Death Stranding
  • Madness of Hideo Kojima
  • Horizon: Zero Dawn
  • Virtual Reality
  • Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
  • Majoras Mask
  • Skyward Sword
  • Link Between Worlds
  • For Honor
  • Death of XBox One Exclusives
  • State of Decay 2
  • Dishonored 2
  • Skyrim Remastered
  • Blade and Soul
  • Gundam Breaker 3
  • Ronin
  • Final Fantasy V
Direct download: aggrochat_episode111.mp3
Category:gaming -- posted at: 10:13am EDT

This week we are down quite a few people, since it seems like everyone is travelling over the summer. This week we have Bel and Tam in their correct places, and Kodra and Thalen have been travelling as well but were able to sort out how to join the podcast.  This is another one of those weeks where we thought we had nothing to talk about… then wound up podcasting for two hours withou stop.  Tam is super excited about the new Mirror’s Edge, and it continues his trend of trying to do ninja things….  Without actually playing a ninja.  We talk about how the ninja genre really never quite made a fully successful transition to three dimensional.  From there we talk about how Tom Clancy games have gotten more and more paranoid over the years.

 

Kodra and Tam discuss a new to them miniature game they have been playing called Bushido that sounds suspiciously like the Legend of Five Rings setting.  Which spawns a brief conversation about Magic the Gathering and spoiler season.  Which leads its way into a discussion about Warhammer and how they went from completely fearing licensing games… to seemingly giving anyone with a heartbeat the right to make Warhammer 40k games.  I spend some time returning to Rift and talk about how well they are messaging fights these days.  Which leads to a discussion about Final Fantasy XIV in a not great light.  I also talk about my experience watching the Warcraft movie and finally we wrap things up with a discussion about he start of the Final Fantasy V Four Job Fiesta.

 

Topics Discussed

  • Mirror’s Edge
  • Ninja Games
  • Tom Clancy
  • Bushido
  • Magic the Gathering
  • Warhammer Licensing
  • Total War Warhammer
  • Rift
  • Final Fantasy XIV
  • Warcraft Movie
  • Four Job Fiesta
Direct download: aggrochat110.mp3
Category:gaming -- posted at: 8:46am EDT

After taking a break for the Memorial Day weekend, AggroChat is back with the slightly belated May Game Club show for Dishonored.  This was a Belghast pick and in part due to a conversation between he and Tam about stealth mechanics in games.  This is the only stealthy game that Belghast has managed to complete, and in truth the game is really even more amazing on a second play.  This is as usual a complete spoilers show where we talk about the various endings and choices that the game gives you for both high and low chaos modes.

Direct download: aggrochat_episode109.mp3
Category:gaming -- posted at: 9:50am EDT

This week we are down to a much smaller core for the AggroChat podcast with Thalen off exploring Japan and making us all jealous, and Grace needing to deal with some family stuff.  The irony is there was a time when three members of the podcast was the norm but it is funny how much smaller the group feels when we are down a few now.  For years I wondered if we would ever get used to recording with as big of a group as we often do... and I guess the answer to that is a resounding yes.  As far as the show... this is yet another one of those "do we have anything to talk about?" episodes that ends up developing a life of its own.

Topics Discussed

  • Tanking in WoW and FFXIV
  • Mark of the Ninja
  • Ronin
  • Tenchu
  • Ninja Gaiden
  • Nintendo Articles of Incorporation
  • Rom Hacks
  • Overwatch
  • Fan Fiction
  • Harry Potter
  • Idol Master Xenoglossia
  • BabyMetal
  • LadyBaby
  • Cleveland
  • Infinity Showdown
  • Uncharted
  • Goldeneye

 

 

Direct download: aggrochat108.mp3
Category:gaming -- posted at: 9:10am EDT

This week we welcome back our sometimes host Inky... and I apparently get her confused with one of the other Pacman ghosts.  The title of this episode doesn't really relate to the discussion other than it was a hilarious line that slipped out there somewhere along the way.  This week folks played a lot of Stellaris in both single and multiplayer configurations.  We delve into this game and its relation to other 4X games, and why this one clicks for some better than the normal fare.  We take a whirlwind trip through Fallout 4 and The Sims, before discussing Twitch Streaming.  I talk for a bit about my revised experiences with the new Doom reboot, and why I consider it far better than my early multiplayer experiences.  Grace talks about her return to Final Fantasy XIV and how much she loves healing butts.  This kicks off a conversation about MMOs and Raiding and winds up with Inky and I pining for Hellgate London again.  Finally we wrap things up with a discussion about Uncharted and the whole "cinematic game" trend of the 2000s.

Topics Discussed

  • Adorable Birbs
  • Stellaris
  • Fallout 4
  • Master of Orion
  • Crusader Kings
  • The Sims 4
  • Stardew Valley
  • Animal Crossing
  • Twitch and Streaming
  • Doom
  • Final Fantasy XIV
  • Destiny
  • World of Warcraft
  • Raiding
  • Hellgate London
  • Uncharted

 

 

Direct download: aggrochat107.mp3
Category:gaming -- posted at: 9:58am EDT

This evening Ash, Bel, Grace, Kodra, Tam and Thalen talked about a whole bunch of topics... but the largest amount of that time was devoted to Overwatch.  Over the last week a bunch of us have played the game and we had commentary on it.  Mostly several of us enjoy the game that is... but mourn the game that could have been with Titan.  We also talk about looter shooters in general and the problems The Division has been having with both rampant cheating, and bad loot design.  We spend quite a bit of time talking about Diablo 3 Season 6 and the rush that Grace and Belghast have been participating in.  Tam spent some time playing Always Sometimes Monsters, which lead into a conversation about the Steam Suggestion Queue.  Kodra has been playing Elite Dangerous again, which brings up a discussion of Eve Online.  Thalen has recently started the Stick of Truth, and we get into a discussion about the arrival of Ryzom on Steam.  This spawns a lengthy conversation about dead MMOs and the sequence in which we played various games.  Somewhere in there we also had a bit of a conversation about the Marvel Comics Universe.  This is one of the most rambling episodes we have recorded... but also the most true to our real life conversations.

 

Topics Discussed

  • Overwatch
  • Destiny
  • The Division
  • Looter Shooters
  • Diablo 3 Season 6
  • Always Sometimes Monsters
  • Steam Suggestion Queue
  • Elite Dangerous
  • Eve Online
  • Stick of Truth
  • Ryzom
  • Dead MMOs
  • Hellgate London
  • City of Heroes
  • Everquest
  • Final Fantasy XI
  • Mobile MMOs
  • Marvel Comic Universe
Direct download: aggrochat106.mp3
Category:gaming -- posted at: 9:06am EDT

This week we discuss the April 2016 AggroChat Game of the Month title... Gone Home.  This was a pick by Grace, and honestly one that probably a handful of us would have never played.  However it also holds the special designation as being one of the few Game Club titles that we all universally liked.  We talk about the design of the game, and the narrative, as well as the context.  This game is the quintessential 90s game.  It is set in 1994, the year Belghast graduated from High School and with Grace and Thalen not being far behind that also.  For us it was this trip down memory lane that added so much to the experience.  In any case, as is always the case if you have not played Gone Home and intend to... spoilers are plentiful.

Direct download: aggrochat105.mp3
Category:gaming -- posted at: 11:12am EDT

Tonight we had a bit of a strange show, that traversed a wide number of topics.  First Ashgar talks about a game that he and Belghast played at Pax South called Stories: The Path of Destinies and how it is a good game in spite of largely being overlooked because of the horrible title.  Belghast goes into a discussion of the “Sherpa” culture in Destiny and how it shapes player's actions in random groups. Kodra talks about Eterna the logical successor to Folding, which strives to solve the medical problem of properly sequencing RNA… and at the same time being a good puzzle game.  We get into a length discussion about level design constructs and what makes a universally good design.  Finally we delve into the topic mentioned last week, as we try and decide if there are more good Star Wars games than bad ones.  We also get into a discussion about what the best Star Wars story was.

 

Topics Discussed:

  • Stories: Path of Destinies
  • Sherpa Culture in Destny
  • Eterna
  • Level Design Constructs
  • Good Star Wars Games
  • Best Star Wars Story
Direct download: aggrochat104.mp3
Category:gaming -- posted at: 9:51am EDT

This past week marked the second anniversary of the AggroChat podcast.  For two years we have been coming together every week to discuss whatever we happened to be playing.  So this is a great time to thank you our listeners for putting up with our rambling.  We still very much feel like we don’t know what we are doing, but keep doing it anyway.  This week we discuss the Overwatch Beta weekend that finally some of us managed to get into.  Belghast contrasts his experiences in Overwatch with the Doom multiplayer weekend as well.  Grace talks about the Wildstar Faction changes and how they are essentially the worst of both worlds.  Ash and Bel talk about the Ratchet and Clank reboot, and how this is the way that all reboots should work.  Kodra has continued to dig further into the world of Dark Souls and has some thoughts about it as it relates to learning Raid Boss encounters.  We all get sidetracked on a discussion about good movie ports, and how we probably need to have an entire show about good Star Wars video games versus bad ones.  Finally we wrap things up more or less with a lengthy discussion about how important it is to like the way your character looks in a game.

Show Topics

  • Overwatch Beta Weekend
  • Doom Multiplayer
  • Wildstar Cross Faction Letdown
  • Ratchet and Clank Reboot
  • Good Movie Ports
  • Dark Souls
  • Importance of Looking Good in Games
Direct download: aggrochat103.mp3
Category:gaming -- posted at: 9:24am EDT

Tonight we welcome back to the show Inky, and talk a bunch of topics.  Tam discusses his experiences playing the latest XCom and how each of the AggroChat facsimiles fared throughout the missions.  Inky talks about playing the beta of the upcoming Fallout 4 survival mode.  We delve into a discussion about Funko Pops, Disney Infinity and Amiibo.  Belghast talks about the upcoming patches for The Division and Destiny and the positive and negative of each.  We all share the love of the new Rogue One trailer, and how it makes is happy to be Star Wars fans.  Finally Inky talks about a game has has been playing Submerged, which is something in the “walking simulator” genre.

 

This Weeks Topics

  • XCOM
  • Fallout 4 Survival Mode
  • Funko Toys
  • Disney Infinity
  • Amiibo
  • Division / Destiny Patches
  • Rogue One Trailer
  • Submerged
Direct download: aggrochat102.mp3
Category:gaming -- posted at: 10:12am EDT

AggroChat #101 - Unicorns and Predictability

This week we seem to have worked out the technical difficulties we had last week, and I regret to inform you that Chipmunk Belghast has left the building.  Episodes 99 and 100 both had their issues and I believe those are finally behind us.  Tonight we talk about both the esoteric and the tangible and lead off with a discussion about Randomized Loot versus Predictable loot... and apparently Belghast really enjoys chasing unicorns.  From there we dive into a conversation about the insane grind at was getting the extra bank tab in Diablo 3 Season 5.  We press forward into a discussion about Belghast aparently deciding he really likes good PVP and Grace talking about the divisiveness of the latest Wildstar world event.  Kodra restarts Dark Souls and with Tam they contrast it with Bloodbourne.  We talk about the latest craze that seems to be Nintendo discovering there is an internet and mobile gaming with Miitomo.  Finally we talk about Adeptcon and the new Infinity Rule Book, and the Shadows Over Innistrad Magic the Gathering Expansion.

All the Topics!

  • Unicorns
  • Random Loot Drops
  • Predictable Loot Drops
  • Diablo 3 Season 5 Grind
  • Destny Crucible and Iron Banner
  • Wildstar Arcterra World Event
  • Dark Souls
  • Bloodbourne
  • Miitomo
  • New Infinity Rules Book
  • Shadows Over Innistrad
  • Magic the Gathering
  • Pauper Format

 

Direct download: aggrochat101.mp3
Category:gaming -- posted at: 9:37am EDT

Last night we recorded episode 100 of the AggroChat podcast, and also wrapped up our Undertale AggroChat game club show.  It signified our switch to a new way of recording the show... and is often the case with trying something new.  Things wen't horribly wrong.  Essentially every voice by my own was recorded sounding great... and when I spoke it sounded like a voice scrambler.  At first I thought the show was a complete loss however this morning after copious amounts of edits I managed to get the show at least in a listenable state.... albeit my voice sounds like a hilarious chipmunk voice modulator.

So join us for a slightly screwed up show as we talk about UnderTale.  Several fans on twitter urged us to release this show in "as is" condition.  I posted a snippet of what it originally sounded like on twitter and I think it is a slight miracle that we managed to get it that listenable.  Thanks again for sticking with us through 100 shows, and especially being willing to deal with bizarro issues when they arise.

Direct download: aggrochat100.mp3
Category:gaming -- posted at: 11:46am EDT

This week we suffered some setbacks.  Firstly we were late getting started by about an hour, and then once we started...  we kinda mostly sounded like robots.  We muscled through for this week but hopefully by next week we will have acquired a new infrastructure for recording the show that sounds better.  The worst part is however.... the conversation this week was really interesting.  We dug int the whole Faction Wall question currently happening in Wildstar and how we generally as a group feel like games are better without them.  We also delved into everyones continued addiction to Stardew Valley.  Ended up being a fairly short show as far as AggroChat episodes goes, but a pretty content dense one.

Direct download: aggrochat99.mp3
Category:gaming -- posted at: 10:10am EDT

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

Topics Discussed:

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

 

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

Tonight we ended up recording a pretty strange episode as far as our normal AggroChat episodes go.  We talked about the weirdness that happens when you play a game that requires a very special controller, and that manufacturers future is up in the air.  We delve into the feeling of rehashing old content, and when exactly that stops being fun.  That leads into a lengthy discussion about the pitfalls of Early Access... and gives us the title of this episode.  Belghast talks a bit about his experiences with the Master of Orion reboot early access, and Kodra talks about the newish trend of persistent board games as he and some friends start Kingdom Death.

Topics

  • Master of Orion Reboot
  • Warframe Patch
  • Custom Controllers in Games
  • Rehashing Old Content
  • Pitfalls of Early Access
  • Persistent Board Games
  • Kingdom Death
Direct download: aggrochat_episode97.mp3
Category:gaming -- posted at: 9:16am EDT

Tonight we welcome back Grace to the fold as she has returned safely from her trips out into the hinterlands.  Additionally it was a little close but we actually got Tam this week who finished his Infinity Tournament in crazy record time.  As a result we talk a little bit about the new Infinity Tournament scoring system and his experiences.  Then we delve into a length discussion about crafting systems.... but more importantly the way Warframe seems to make a mad amount of grinding seem completely reasonable.  Then I finally manage to understand why people are so enthralled with Dragon Age Inquisition.... because I absolutely hit my click point.  We also get into a long discussion about when grinds feel bad, talking about Limited Time Chase items in MMOs that stop dropping after a period of time.  Finally we get into a discussion about Sleeping Dogs as Tam revisits it on his backlog list.

Topics

  • Infinity Tournament Scoring Rules
  • Warframe Crafting and Grinds
  • Warframe Sorties
  • Dragon Age Inquisition
  • Limited Time Chase Item Grinds
  • Sleeping Dogs

 

Direct download: aggrochat_episode96.mp3
Category:gaming -- posted at: 9:16am EDT

And just like that… we are back!  Belghast once again has a voice, and without really intending to we have recorded what is almost a double episode.  The whole November/December Fallout 4 extravaganza has caused us to get woefully off schedule when it comes to the AggroChat Game Club.  We didn’t end up recording the Fallout 4 show until mid January… and then Aquaria was technically the January game but we didn’t actually record the show until now.  What happened in the meantime is there was another game that sprung up and has become a bit of an unofficial “Game of the Month”, namely Warframe.  As a result we record a contorted show that doesn’t really follow the traditional GameClub show format.

Join us as we talk about…

  • Aquaria
  • The Division Beta
  • Warframe - Heavy Spoilers
Direct download: aggrochat_episode95.mp3
Category:gaming -- posted at: 11:30am EDT

Tonight was a bit of a struggle to record.  Going to leave this as a disclaimer that Belghast is pretty sick, and somehow managed to come home with the Pax Pox from Pax South.  As a result there are several points during the show where his voice kinda falls apart.  Additionally we are down a handful of people this week, with Grace being busy and Ashgar being worked to death on call this weekend.  In any case Belghast, Kodra, Tamrielo and Thalen talk about a bunch of stuff, namely Pax South,  the Vancouver Magic Grand Prix, and MMOFPS Progression contrasting Destiny and Warframe.

 

Topics Discussed

  • Pax South 2016
    • Pax Pox
    • Ultimate Chicken Horse
    • Code Names
    • Pushfight
  • Grand Prix Vancouver
    • Magic the Gathering
    • Oath of the Gateswatch
    • My Little Pony Card Game
    • Hearthstone Format Changes
  • MMO FPS Progression
    • Destiny
    • Warframe
    • Defiance
    • Third Person Point of View
  • Final Fantasy Explorers
  • Elder Scrolls Online Revisited

 

Direct download: aggrochat_episode94.mp3
Category:gaming -- posted at: 9:57am EDT

Once again it is time for us to record our “Games of the Year” show, and this time around we did it slightly differently.  Last year we tried to come up with some title that represented the podcast as a whole, but it ended up being pure madness to get us all to agree on something.  This time we instead each picked three games to add to the list and now we are recording a show about all of those games.  Of note… this is not necessarily show about games that were released in 2015, but instead a show about games that were important to us during the calendar year.

This is being divided into two parts to cover the gap as myself and several others will be attending Pax South.  In this second part we talk about:

  • Tales of Zestiria
  • Witcher 3
  • Destiny - The Taken King
  • Diablo 3 Seasonal Play
  • Infinity Updated Ruleset
  • Fallout 4
  • Ori and the Blind Forest
  • Final Fantasy XIV: Heavensward
  • Various Honorable Mentions
Direct download: aggrochat_episode93.mp3
Category:gaming -- posted at: 12:00pm EDT

Once again it is time for us to record our “Games of the Year” show, and this time around we did it slightly differently.  Last year we tried to come up with some title that represented the podcast as a whole, but it ended up being pure madness to get us all to agree on something.  This time we instead each picked three games to add to the list and now we are recording a show about all of those games.  Of note… this is not necessarily show about games that were released in 2015, but instead a show about games that were important to us during the calendar year.

 

This is being divided into two parts to cover the gap as myself and several others will be attending Pax South.  In this first part we talk about:

 

  • Hand of Fate
  • SubNautica
  • Secrets of Grindea
  • There Came an Echo
  • Binding of Isaac: Rebirth
  • Beginners Guide
  • Assassin's Creed Syndicate
  • Hatoful Boyfriend
  • Xenoblade Chronicles X
  • Undertale
Direct download: aggrochat_episode92.mp3
Category:gaming -- posted at: 11:28am EDT

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

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

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

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

Firstly let me lead off this post with a quick note...  I screwed up.  We had a discussion last week about potentially switching to the Season/Episode format for our show numbers.  After the discussion we decided to go with continuing the bigger numbers is better format.  Before the show I go out and double check to make sure what episode we are on... and apparently I look at the wrong episode.  As a result I absolutely announced this week as 89 when it should have been 90.  I feel strange about edits... largely because the format of our show is intended to be like listening in on an existing conversation.  So for the time being I've decided to let my screw up stand...  feel free to mock me.

On the week of Star Wars the Force Awakens release we actually had planned on recording a show on our feelings about the movie.  The thing is... that we all for the most part loved the movie so much that we did not want to add to the spoilers on the internet.  As a result we put off the show until a point where we felt it was "fair game".  Upon coming back to work after New Years it seems like the internet has declared Star Wars spoilers open season, so as a result we decided to go ahead and record the show.  What ended up happening is a show really unlike what I expected.  It was far more critical than the hour and a half gush fest that I expected...  but still from the point of fans talking about fandom.

Tonight we also welcome back Dallian and Neph for yet another "big show" which are starting to seem far more common this year.

Direct download: aggrochat_episode90.mp3
Category:gaming -- posted at: 10:50am EDT

In November AggroChat decided to try a new experiment.  There was a game coming out that month that all of us wanted to play, so when Tam went to make his choice he opted to go with Fallout 4.  That said we all agreed that we would need more than a month to play the game, and ultimately we spend a little over two months with the game.  Any Bethesda game is massive, and simply takes a sheer volume of hours to sift through the content… and even then there is pretty much no chance you will ever experience all of it.

For this show we once again pulled in Inkybrushes who we had on the recent Villians show, and called back a regular host from our early days Dallian.  The majority of the cast had beaten the game with at least one ending, and a few managed to get multiple endings.  The funny thing is… for a game that we all universally liked, we all had a bunch of negative comments as well.  I guess that is the nature of our podcast, that we end up focused on the things that frustrated us and often miss some of the things we really enjoyed.  This is a full spoiler deep dive into the storyline and various game elements, so if you have not played the game and intend to, I highly suggest you skip this show until a later date.

Direct download: aggrochat_episode89.mp3
Category:gaming -- posted at: 10:26am EDT

Tonight we have a smaller crew as both Grace and Thalen were unavailable, but we still manage to record a full show.  For weeks ahead of the launch of Star Wars Episode VII - Force Awakens we talked about this show being our discussion of Star Wars.  However...  since there are already so many spoilers floating around the internet, we did not want to add to the volume.  We still absolutely talk Star Wars but we do so in a way where we discuss our feelings and impressions... and not any details of the plot.  So you can listen to the show and feel confident that you won't get anything spoiled.

We also delve into this mission that Tam has been on lately, where he is trying to come up with a definitive list of the most influential game titles.  He has created a rubric with which to judge games, and has been delving into every game that has essentially ever been reviewed.  This is in fact a path to madness, but it is one I will cheerfully wave at Tam while he goes down.  This ends up being an interesting discussion about what makes a game influential.

On the show we discussed...

  • Star Wars - Force Awakens
  • Star Wars Battlefront
  • Destiny - Sparrow Racing League
  • Most Influential Games
  • Tetris
  • Super Mario 64
  • Sega Saturn
  • Sony Playstation
  • Nintendo 64
  • Infinity Minatures
  • Minature Gaming
  • Teaching Gaming Skills
  • Not Ready for Games of the Year Show

 

Direct download: aggrochat_episode88.mp3
Category:gaming -- posted at: 11:09am EDT

In the grand scheme of things we have performed a number of experiments over the last few months.  Shifting the format from roundtable to a largely topic based format seems to have largely been appreciated.  Tonight we perform yet another experiment and create what I think will ultimately end up being dubbed the “Super Show”.  The fact that we record every single week with six people… is a bit of a crazy thing in itself, but this evening we are recording with eight… and had everyone been here it would have been a show of ten.  Now juggling that many people in our normal format would end up with an insanely long show.

Instead we decided to shift focus a bit and pick a single large topic.  So for this week we are doing the “Villians” show that we talked about in the last episode.  Since this is a huge topic, and  ends up getting split off in a bunch of different directions we left the floor completely open.  We talked about favorite villians, favorite kind of fights, personalities that we love to hate and some of the problems currently plaguing video games.  Ashgar unfortunately had a really bad week and was unable to attend, but we managed to bring back the always awesome Nephsys, as well as including a couple of first time AggroChatters…  InkyBrushes and Pizzamaid.  It is my hope that we will do more of these in the future as we come up with sufficiently “big topics” and end up recording another super sized show.

Direct download: aggrochat_episode87.mp3
Category:gaming -- posted at: 10:04am EDT

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

The topics we delve into...

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

This week was originally going to be our Fallout 4 halfway point show, however we realized that neither Ashgar nor Belghast have even touched the main storyline.  While Ashgar has the excuse of travel...  Bel is nearly level 20 and still has yet to go to Diamond City.  So instead we opted to do an old fashioned roundtable show, where we talk about what everyone has been playing.

The games we talk about this week...

  • Super Mario 3D Land
  • Downwell
  • Fallout 4
  • Final Fantasy VI
  • Mini Metro
  • Final Fantasy XIV
  • Pokemon Super Mystery Dungeon
  • Wildstar
  • World of Warcraft
  • Final Fantasy Pet Battles
  • Cybele
  • Cradle
  • EVE

 

Direct download: aggrochat_episode85.mp3
Category:gaming -- posted at: 9:36am EDT

This week we have a bit of a change in the show.  When we started compiling the list of what we wanted to talk about, it turned out that for the most part they were broader subjects rather than individual game specific ones.  As a result we ended up pushing aside talking about specific games because in those four topics we felt like we had more than a shows worth.  The end result was us talking about "things" for an hour and a half and I think one of the more interesting shows we have recorded to date.

The topics we discussed

  • Stealth as a game mechanic...  particularly forced stealth versus optional stealth
  • The role of Luck in Boardgames and why it is often times frustrating
  • Video Games as a Common Ground when meeting new peopole
  • Cheating in Video Games to improve your enjoyment

Each of the topics ends up being a pretty lengthy discussion.  Next week we will likely return to the standard way of talking about individual games, but this week...  we were topic focused!

Direct download: aggrochat_episode84.mp3
Category:gaming -- posted at: 10:30am EDT

We talk about raiding, and get nostalgic about point and click adventure games.  Additionally there has been one game that all of us have been playing this week... and even though it is the game of the month there is no way we could stop from talking about it as well.  That's right we start digging into Fallout 4 and all of the different ways we have been playing it.  We are keeping it largely spoiler free and talking more about the mechanics and exploration of the game.

Subjects we talked about...

  • Wildstar Raiding
  • General MMO Raiding
  • Wildstar Runes
  • Time Travelling Games
  • EvoLand
  • Day of the Tentacle
  • Point and Click Adventure Games
  • Sam and Max
  • Full Throttle
  • King's Quest
  • Quest for Glory
  • Grim Fandango
  • Fallout
  • Baldur’s Gate
  • Fallout 4

 

Direct download: aggrochat_episode83.mp3
Category:gaming -- posted at: 9:35am EDT

This week we have Ashgar, Belghast, Grace, Kodra and Tamrielo with Thalen once again travelling.  Over the course of the week we had a discussion about an Extra Credits video calling Destiny the Law and Order of gaming.  This spawned a further discussion about what ended up getting termed as "Junk Food Gaming", aka those gaming experiences that you play because they are enjoyable but also don't require much thought for you to consume.  This week we spawn a continuance of this discussion, and we find out why Tam is not on board with this concept.  Additionally we have a lengthy discussion about all of the latest announcements from BlizzCon and several other subjects.  Things we talked about...

  • Junk Food Gaming
  • Destiny
  • Diablo 3
  • BlizzCon
  • Heroes of the Storm
  • Overwatch
  • Warcraft Movie
  • World of Warcraft
  • Downwell
  • Progress to 100
  • Evoland 1 and 2
  • Tales of Zestiria

 

Direct download: aggrochat_episode82.mp3
Category:gaming -- posted at: 9:20am EDT

This month marks our ninth AggroChat game club title, and we have officially gone full circle looping back around to Belghast.  He chose a deeply nostalgic title that draws in the feelings of Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past and Secrets of Mana and wraps them up in a modern package.  Secrets of Grindea is a charming early access title, and it marks quite possibly one of the more positively reviewed games we have done in this time.  The only real complaints that we had... was that there wasn't more of it yet.  So join us as we talk through out thoughts about the game, and also queue up the November/December game of the month...  Fallout 4.

Direct download: aggrochat_episode81.mp3
Category:gaming -- posted at: 9:17am EDT

This week we continue our adventure into this new topic focused format, this time with the full AggroChat crew.  The big topic of the night we take on which is not specifically a single game... is limited game events like holidays or other expiring content.  We dig into the things we like about them and dislike about them, as well as provide some ideas in how to make the concept work better.

On this show we talk about...

  • Seasonal Events
  • Limited Game Events
  • Wildstar
  • Everquest 2
  • World of Warcraft
  • World Ends with You
  • Star Wars the Old Republic
  • Final Fantasy XIV
  • Tales of Zestiria
  • Destiny
  • Marvel Heroes
  • Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes
  • Space Team
  • Magic: the Gathering

 

Direct download: aggrochat_episode80.mp3
Category:gaming -- posted at: 10:42am EDT

This week we are down quite a few from our normal group, but still manage to push on with Ashgar, Belghast, Kodra and Thalen.  Since we had a smaller group we decided to use it as a good opportunity to "break the meta" as it were and mix things up a bit.  For awhile I have questioned our "what folks are doing" construct because essentially it is just a way for us to get around to talking about some games.  This time we jotted down a list of what folks wanted to talk about before the show and loosely followed that.  Our listeners will have to let us know which style they like better.

This week we talk about...

  • AntiChamber
  • Risk of Rain
  • Spelunky
  • 1001 Spikes
  • Minecraft
  • Creativerse
  • Star Wars the Old Republic
  • Star Wars Rebels
  • Destiny
  • Rockband
  • Forced 2 Kickstarter
  • Gauntlet
  • Hammerwatch

Please drop us a line to let us know what you think of the format shift and if it is worth keeping.

Direct download: aggrochat_episode79.mp3
Category:gaming -- posted at: 9:21am EDT

This week we once again have the full AggroChat crew, and a long list of things to discuss.  The challenge with every episode however is always coming up with a title, and this weeks honor goes to a lengthy discussion we happened to have about the new rune system in Wildstar.  We could however just as easily given this a Star Wars title because we spent a huge chunk of the game discussing various pieces of that universe as well between Star Wars the Old Republic, Battlefront, X-Wing Minatures and our upcoming Star Wars pen and paper game.  The show ran a little long, but we had what felt like a bunch of interesting conversations about lots of different games.

  • Star Realms
  • Star Wars Battlefront
  • The Beginner's Guide
  • Undertale
  • Eighty Days
  • Wildstar
  • Secrets of Grindea
  • Star Wars the Old Republic
  • X-Wing Miniatures Game
  • Fallout New Vegas
  • Marvel Heroes
  • FTL
  • Mega Man Battle Network
  • Star Wars Pen and Paper
  • Destiny
  • Rockband 4
  • Playstation 4
Direct download: aggrochat_episode78.mp3
Category:gaming -- posted at: 10:04am EDT

This week we talk about some strange stuff, but I guess in the grand scheme that is par for the course.  This was the birthday week of our very own Tam, and we wish him a happy belated birthday.  Grace on the other hand had a week full of travel, and while she showed up to give it the good college try.... sounded like just about the tiredest human being I have ever heard.  As such we shuffled her off to bed and said we would be ready to talk about Wildstar next week.  As far as what we actually did talk about this week...

  • Tommy Westphall Universe Theory
  • Star Wars the Old Republic
  • Star Wars X-Wing Minatures
  • Undertale
  • Bringing out Emotions While Playing Games
  • Fallout New Vegas
  • Star Wars the Old Republic
  • Wildstar
  • Star Wars Galaxies
  • Megaman Battle Network
  • Steredenn
  • Magic the Gathering - Battle for Zendikar
  • Destiny
Direct download: aggrochat_episode77.mp3
Category:gaming -- posted at: 10:31am EDT

Tonight we celebrate our Eighth Aggrochat Game Club game, Tron 2.0.  What makes this week so interesting is the fact that this is a game from 2003.  For a point of reference this is the year that the original Call of Duty was released, as well as the PC port of Knights of the Old Republic.  This is an era when the Quake 3 engine still reigned as the king of all shooters, and people were branching out to do some interesting things with the FPS model.  The results of this week are a bit mixed, and represents the first time we had a few people reach rage quit moments.  Listen into the show to see how our group fared and some of the commentary we have about this interesting title.

Direct download: aggrochat_episode76.mp3
Category:gaming -- posted at: 12:43am EDT

This week we had Ashgar, Belghast, Grace, Kodra and Thalen.  Tam was jet setting around the country but should be back next week.  It seems pretty insane that this is already our 75th show.  Being our Diamond Jubilee of a sort I am swapping up our introduction a bit in an effort to make it easier to see precisely what games we happen to talk about on a given show.  Without further delay here are the games we discussed this week on AggroChat.

  • Jigoku Kisetsukan
  • Final Fantasy Record Keeper
  • Final Fantasy XIV 3.1 Delay
  • Fallout New Vegas
  • Mario Maker
  • Volume
  • Magic the Gathering: Battle For Zendikar
  • Wildstar
  • Diablo 3
  • Subnautica
  • LBX
  • Disney Infinity 3.0
  • The Force Awakens Hype
  • Mass Effect 2
  • Star Wars the Old Republic
  • Black Mirror

 

Direct download: aggrochat_episode75.mp3
Category:gaming -- posted at: 12:24am EDT

We start of this weeks show by talking about our continued adventures in Diablo 3, and while a some of us have slowed down our progress Grace talks about falling back into the familiar rhythm of chilling out in solo play.  With the upcoming September 29th release of Wildstar Free to Play she also talks about spending a lot of time on the test server, and the recent hoverboard racing event testing.  Thalen this week spent time venturing into some single player games that had never got around to playing.  First we revive our discussion of Wolfenstein New Order and why you should play it for so many different reasons.  In a shocker we find out that Thalen never actually played Fallout New Vegas, which spawns a discussion about our appreciation of the game.

Kodra on the other hand spent his week mostly playing a bunch of indie titles and talks about Circa Infinity and The Magic Circle.  Magic Circle being the game that he spent a significant amount of time at Pax talking to the Dev about.  Additionally we are all jealous of him as he talks about his experience playing Mario Maker, which is essentially Infinite Mario.  This spawns a discussion about each of our early attempts at creating content for our friends to play like Excitebike, Wolfenstein, Doom and Descent.  Related to Magic Circle, a seperate discussion breaks out about the Stanley Parable and what it says about gamers themselves.

Ashgar is still heavily involved in LBX: Little Battlers Experience and has even gotten in his model kits from last week putting at least one of them together.  He helped to clear up some of my confusion that there is in fact a Roleplaying game there, and it is very similar to the style of game that Pokemon is.  We also get into a length discussion about Pokemon Go and how the Ingress type game is likely going to change what we are playing next year.  There is really no way this is not going to be a huge title, and for the most part we agree that Ingress has been a tech demo leading up to this.

Finally several of us have spontaneously gotten sucked back into Star Wars the Old Republic.  Right now it is impossible to go anywhere in the world without being bombarded by Force Awakens merchandise, and after a point I simply could not resist the pull of nostalgia.  The best thing about coming back to a game after years of being away is the huge backlog of content available to be played.  The current twelve times experience bonus for subscribers helps as well, because you quite literally only have to focus on your class story to get leveled which was always the best part of the game.  Ash, Bel and Tam are all caught in the gravity well of this game for the moment, and it sounds like some of our other hosts might have gotten the bug as well.  We will have to see next week if we are still talking out it, or if we have gotten it out of our systems.

Direct download: aggrochat_episode74.mp3
Category:gaming -- posted at: 10:36am EDT

Tonight we are recovering a bit from recording two mega episodes, and end up crafting a relatively short one.  Since the last episode three of our hosts have been to Pax Prime and as you might expect have an awful lot of things to talk about.  Ashgar, Tam and Kodra share their experiences, and some of the interesting games that they got to see.  Additionally there was a pretty awesome meet up of folks from the blogosphere in Seattle and there is some discussion of that.  In the meantime many of us have also managed to get sucked into Diablo 3 for Season 4.  So we have been spending quite a bit of time stalking the Prime Evil, and grouping together to tackle the content.  

Direct download: aggrochat_episode73.mp3
Category:gaming -- posted at: 12:14am EDT