To Podcast or not to Podcast...
It’s my birthday!
Gimme stuff!
Oh, like you’ve never wanted to yell that out on your birthday.
At least I didn’t go and kill anyone over a shiny gold ring.
Um, anyway, the more I listen to podcasts, the more and less I want to do one for our group.
There are several really good ones out there and there are some that I just can’t get into.
I like the Dragon’s Landing Inn. They do a lot of work to make their podcast the best one I’ve heard so far. They have their good and bad aspects (good: they are experienced and intelligent gamers who have their “stuff” together, bad: they like Eberron and have an odd fascination with chupacabras). And all-in-all I enjoy listening to them.
Then there is the House of the Harping Monkey, which has two podcasts. One of which I like, the other is something I can do without.
The Round Table is a bunch of gamers chatting about geek-related culture. It’s a good premise, but I get my fill of that at my own gaming table and can easily be overloaded with it at the game store.
But the Misfit Brew I definitely like. It’s 30-45 minute podcast that is a collection of essays written by gamers. And honestly, I’m surprised I like this podcast as it didn’t look interesting to me prior as I checked out the webpage.
The Dragon’s Hearth is a small collection of podcasts from none other than Traci Hickman and friends (the co-author of the original Dragonlance modules and novels). It was very well done but I couldn’t take it. I think it is just too artsy for my tastes.
But if you are someone who likes gaming-related stories, songs, and similar such things, this would be perfect for you. I’m a numbers guy, not an art guy.
The World of Skell is done by a group that has been together for several years and they started recording their sessions in early 2005.
So far I’ve only listened to half of one of their sessions, and I don’t think I’ll listen to much more.
It’s not that I don’t like the quality of their podcast, or their gaming style. I just can’t listen to other people’s gaming sessions.
The same thing occurred when I listened to the people running through the WLD at RPGMP3. I listened to four sessions before I decided it wasn’t for me.
And this is what makes me wonder whether or not anyone will listen beyond a few episodes.
But not everyone is like me because RPGMP3 was quite popular the last time I checked their website out.
I’ve been talking to a guy through MSN Messenger and he asked me if he could listen to one of our episodes. After a two-hour download for session 15 of Dale’s game, he had what he wanted.
And he liked it, which came as a surprise to me because when I listen to our sessions (for notes for blog entries) I can easily zone out on it.
Last night I sent him nearly 200MB of the last 2 sessions of our WLD game (47 & 48, 12.5 hours). He wanted it, and I was happy to oblige.
(I also had him swear that anything offensive he heard would not be held against us. Especially anything Justin said.)
So I’m making a list of reasons to do, and to not do, a podcast.
If you have anything to add, I want to hear it.
Pro: No more long-winded blog entries for gaming sessions. Currently I listen to our session at work and jot down notes of things I’ve forgotten. When I get home I make an entry.
Con: I’ll have to edit the sessions to reduce file size and remove anything that we feel shouldn’t be included.
Con: The amount of time required to edit a podcast will take longer than entering a session into the blog. This may or may not be true, but as I learn how to edit, I’m sure I’ll get speedier at it. I could also spread the work around, but that is iffy.
Pro: There are a lot of people out there who want to play D&D but can’t because there is not a group near enough to where they live or they don’t have the time. This includes some previous members of our group who moved away (Drew & Craig). Listening to a podcast of others playing may temporarily alleviate this for them.
Con: A Lybsin account can cost upwards of $30 a month. This argument and the time argument are pretty big ones. I could beg for money in the podcast, but I don’t I like that. I could get Yottaquest to be a sponsor to offset the costs if Matt were willing to do some sales through mail.
Pro: It would be cool to at least try. Right now it seems to be the “hot thing” for everyone to own a portable player. And if everyone is like me, you get sick of the music you love pretty quickly because you listen to it over and over. Something has to fill the void and books on tape aren’t cheap.
Con: Everyone will see that I am a big jerk. Oh wait. This should be listed as a pro.
Con: We (the Cincinnati D&D Group) might be a little apprehensive about being our usual selves for fear of offending someone. We often talk about our socio-political-religious views and I’m not sure how I can go about dealing with that. Possibly once everyone gets used to it, that won’t matter. The only one of use who should censor themselves more than me would be Justin. And he really doesn’t care what people think of him.
Pro: The gaming podcast is still new and growing with a lot of niches that need to be filled.
Pro & Con: Some people would listen to our sessions and possibly get some new ideas and other such positive things. Others would listen to us and scoff at how we play or how we screwed up a rules call.
Con: The starting requirements may be expensive. Better equipment means better sound quality. One thing I want to get rid of is that icky static & droning sound that I hear a lot of when I record things with my MP3 player.
Pro: We might be able to attract new players without having to do as much work - though we may have to do some better screening.
Con: We need someone who knows how to set up a website much better. I have the bare minimum skills needed to set up a very simple website and mildly modify the blog template. I could probably learn to do that, but I don’t think I’m up for it.
Pro: I could rant on the MP3 player rather than the blog. Eh, maybe that should be listed as a con.
Pro: I want to. I’m on an obsessive binge right now on doing a pod-cast. In case you haven’t noticed...
Gimme stuff!
Oh, like you’ve never wanted to yell that out on your birthday.
At least I didn’t go and kill anyone over a shiny gold ring.
Um, anyway, the more I listen to podcasts, the more and less I want to do one for our group.
There are several really good ones out there and there are some that I just can’t get into.
I like the Dragon’s Landing Inn. They do a lot of work to make their podcast the best one I’ve heard so far. They have their good and bad aspects (good: they are experienced and intelligent gamers who have their “stuff” together, bad: they like Eberron and have an odd fascination with chupacabras). And all-in-all I enjoy listening to them.
Then there is the House of the Harping Monkey, which has two podcasts. One of which I like, the other is something I can do without.
The Round Table is a bunch of gamers chatting about geek-related culture. It’s a good premise, but I get my fill of that at my own gaming table and can easily be overloaded with it at the game store.
But the Misfit Brew I definitely like. It’s 30-45 minute podcast that is a collection of essays written by gamers. And honestly, I’m surprised I like this podcast as it didn’t look interesting to me prior as I checked out the webpage.
The Dragon’s Hearth is a small collection of podcasts from none other than Traci Hickman and friends (the co-author of the original Dragonlance modules and novels). It was very well done but I couldn’t take it. I think it is just too artsy for my tastes.
But if you are someone who likes gaming-related stories, songs, and similar such things, this would be perfect for you. I’m a numbers guy, not an art guy.
The World of Skell is done by a group that has been together for several years and they started recording their sessions in early 2005.
So far I’ve only listened to half of one of their sessions, and I don’t think I’ll listen to much more.
It’s not that I don’t like the quality of their podcast, or their gaming style. I just can’t listen to other people’s gaming sessions.
The same thing occurred when I listened to the people running through the WLD at RPGMP3. I listened to four sessions before I decided it wasn’t for me.
And this is what makes me wonder whether or not anyone will listen beyond a few episodes.
But not everyone is like me because RPGMP3 was quite popular the last time I checked their website out.
I’ve been talking to a guy through MSN Messenger and he asked me if he could listen to one of our episodes. After a two-hour download for session 15 of Dale’s game, he had what he wanted.
And he liked it, which came as a surprise to me because when I listen to our sessions (for notes for blog entries) I can easily zone out on it.
Last night I sent him nearly 200MB of the last 2 sessions of our WLD game (47 & 48, 12.5 hours). He wanted it, and I was happy to oblige.
(I also had him swear that anything offensive he heard would not be held against us. Especially anything Justin said.)
So I’m making a list of reasons to do, and to not do, a podcast.
If you have anything to add, I want to hear it.
Pro: No more long-winded blog entries for gaming sessions. Currently I listen to our session at work and jot down notes of things I’ve forgotten. When I get home I make an entry.
Con: I’ll have to edit the sessions to reduce file size and remove anything that we feel shouldn’t be included.
Con: The amount of time required to edit a podcast will take longer than entering a session into the blog. This may or may not be true, but as I learn how to edit, I’m sure I’ll get speedier at it. I could also spread the work around, but that is iffy.
Pro: There are a lot of people out there who want to play D&D but can’t because there is not a group near enough to where they live or they don’t have the time. This includes some previous members of our group who moved away (Drew & Craig). Listening to a podcast of others playing may temporarily alleviate this for them.
Con: A Lybsin account can cost upwards of $30 a month. This argument and the time argument are pretty big ones. I could beg for money in the podcast, but I don’t I like that. I could get Yottaquest to be a sponsor to offset the costs if Matt were willing to do some sales through mail.
Pro: It would be cool to at least try. Right now it seems to be the “hot thing” for everyone to own a portable player. And if everyone is like me, you get sick of the music you love pretty quickly because you listen to it over and over. Something has to fill the void and books on tape aren’t cheap.
Con: Everyone will see that I am a big jerk. Oh wait. This should be listed as a pro.
Con: We (the Cincinnati D&D Group) might be a little apprehensive about being our usual selves for fear of offending someone. We often talk about our socio-political-religious views and I’m not sure how I can go about dealing with that. Possibly once everyone gets used to it, that won’t matter. The only one of use who should censor themselves more than me would be Justin. And he really doesn’t care what people think of him.
Pro: The gaming podcast is still new and growing with a lot of niches that need to be filled.
Pro & Con: Some people would listen to our sessions and possibly get some new ideas and other such positive things. Others would listen to us and scoff at how we play or how we screwed up a rules call.
Con: The starting requirements may be expensive. Better equipment means better sound quality. One thing I want to get rid of is that icky static & droning sound that I hear a lot of when I record things with my MP3 player.
Pro: We might be able to attract new players without having to do as much work - though we may have to do some better screening.
Con: We need someone who knows how to set up a website much better. I have the bare minimum skills needed to set up a very simple website and mildly modify the blog template. I could probably learn to do that, but I don’t think I’m up for it.
Pro: I could rant on the MP3 player rather than the blog. Eh, maybe that should be listed as a con.
Pro: I want to. I’m on an obsessive binge right now on doing a pod-cast. In case you haven’t noticed...
posted by BlueBlackRed at 12:17 PM
5 Comments:
Do it. A well done podcast is better than nothing. I've recorded some game sessions. Everyone one eventualy forgets the laptop and mic. Infact they swear more so I have more editing.
Well so far the guys in the group have given the all clear.
My wife isn't so sure as she's afraid it might take away more time than the blog.
The con is that deaf folks (like me) won't be able to enjoy reading about your adventures anymore. :(
Oh...I'm not sure how to respond to that one...
hmm...
I can understand it's not your typical expected reaction. ;) But, yeah, that's where podcasts can be a bummer. I would have loved to listen to the adventures of the other WLD podcast group, but that's a no go, obviously.
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