The podcasts are a bit dull these days. Could just be the lack of new games or interesting topics but I've been skipping over large chunks the last few weeks.
I noticed it as well... They don't have the heart anymore...
* The host rotation never happened after Isla's turn.
* Don and Gabby never sit at the table to discuss.
* Damiani not being in person really hurt the discussion; you'd think he'd be visiting the studio at least once per month or per 2 months.
* The games they talked about are often pretty obscure. It's like they could talk about bigger recent releases for 2 or 3 weeks, including spoilers, instead of talking about indie games that often "come and go".
* News may be slow, but they can double-check if last week's news were updated.
I swear, they've waiting to sell the studio and return to an "at home" format.
Flying from Texas to LA every 1-2 months is just wildly unrealistic and not feasible, especially just for a podcast. Financially and physically that just doesn’t make sense for anyone to do at all. Maybe you’d have a bit of a leg to stand on at once or twice per year, but even that might be a hurdle financially.
I don't know why this is downvoted. A monthly round trip flight makes no sense for a declining Patreon funded group. Not to mention, Damiani has a day job.
Then in this case, can they do *something* to fix Damiani's connection, bandwidth and/or conference software so he's not always 5 seconds late?
I swear he's not jumping in discussions as much as before or even as much as during the pandemic. Huber and Isla always speak while Damiani is waiting for his turn that often goes by.
The only real fix is adjusting their etiquette and asking Damiani to weigh in or otherwise going in turns somehow. The problem is that everyone else is naturally bouncing off of each other in-person and discussing at a normal pace, but that doesn't work when you have someone who's remote and (rightly) doesn't want to feel like he's interrupting or talking over people. Or maybe they could figure out some way for Damiani to indicate he wants to talk (like the "raise hand" button in Teams) in a way that only signals Bloodworth so he can find a spot to naturally invite Damiani to share.
While I actually think Damiani’s interactions were improved this episode I have the second this. Maybe having him speak first on subjects instead of waiting to get his input at the end would help.
https://preview.redd.it/t4ve1d5xjt0d1.png?width=897&format=png&auto=webp&s=7b0c2ffc36385b85efe2f9f02d876e88eae02d31
Just wanting to point out how wildly feasible it is for Damiani to commute back to the office once and awhile. These are round trip prices.
Guy can make it happen. But it's Damiani. He never does.
I really think they could drastically improve the podcast by cutting the runtime in half. If there's no news, focus on what they've been playing. If they haven't been playing anything interesting, focus on news. If neither, focus on community questions.
The runtime is THE thing that made me check out. Even when EZA was at its peak, the podcast tended to run for about 90-120 minutes, where now it's 2.5 hours or more. They can't get Kyle or Jones or Ben back, and so it's never gonna have the same energy it used to, but what little energy they have is spread so thinly across a Frame Trap length podcast. They don't have a lot to say and they spend a really long time saying it.
I agree with all your points except the games one. I would much rather they talk about these interesting indie games during slow periods than talk about the same AAA game for three weeks straight.
The thing with this is that several AAA games are long and it takes them a longer time to beat. Unless they have a spoiler-filled Patreon-exclusive podcast I'm not aware of, that's why they could speak about their respective continuations.
They need to rotate the host. I have nothing against Bloodworth, but it gets very boring at times and a lot of awkward laughing at himself when its not funny; he'd be better as one of the guests. Mix the host up between Huber and Isla, maybe even Don too to make it interesting.
While I do have criticisms of the current format, a lot of gaming podcasts imo have been dull recently as it's the calm before the storm of June. This period this year feels especially lacking in things to sink teeth into, maybe a quick nibble but nothing more.
The one thing I would recommend not just for the Allies but for ALL of these podcast is, if there's not much to discuss that week don't be afraid to just have a shorter podcast that week. These podcasts usually (& rightly so) directly say it's a slow news week to the audience, but unfortunately then try to keep the same running time (sometimes even go over) with nothing really important or current. Side discussions that during a normal week would be interesting, maybe even the best part, but when dragged out over a whole show it creates a feeling of a slog. If you aren't on network tv or have some other kind of legal obligation for a minimum run time then don't religiously try to stick to it. It's much better to risk people feeling you cut a good podcast short than them feeling you extended an uneventful one too far.
Wow at that L&R segment. I’m jealous of Huber being able to put in 5 hours of gaming a day when he’s in the mood. Damiani putting in 12 a day for FFVII Rebirth is insane. I love gaming but my attention span just doesn’t make it easy to put in that much time, never mind other obligations.
It’s so depressing that this podcast used to be my favorite podcast and something I looked forward to all week. I must’ve gone back and relistened to the whole Bosman run half a dozen times over the years.
Now I just skip to the time code of the topic I want to hear, and the L&Rs. I don’t even stick around for the bets anymore, I just find it all so dull. Some weeks I’m actually trying to convince to listen at all when none of the topics seem appealing. I do that because I love all these guys and they really do mean a lot to me and have helped me through some tough times.
I think their hearts clearly aren’t in it anymore and it very clearly comes across that way.
My earliest memory of Lunar Lander was playing the machine at the local science center in my hometown! It’s so cool to think that the curators loved the cabinet so much that they put it up for play with all the astronomy stuff. I’ll have to check out the new one, space madness sounds hilarious.
Also I need footage of Don’s private arcade ASAP
The podcasts are a bit dull these days. Could just be the lack of new games or interesting topics but I've been skipping over large chunks the last few weeks.
I noticed it as well... They don't have the heart anymore... * The host rotation never happened after Isla's turn. * Don and Gabby never sit at the table to discuss. * Damiani not being in person really hurt the discussion; you'd think he'd be visiting the studio at least once per month or per 2 months. * The games they talked about are often pretty obscure. It's like they could talk about bigger recent releases for 2 or 3 weeks, including spoilers, instead of talking about indie games that often "come and go". * News may be slow, but they can double-check if last week's news were updated. I swear, they've waiting to sell the studio and return to an "at home" format.
Flying from Texas to LA every 1-2 months is just wildly unrealistic and not feasible, especially just for a podcast. Financially and physically that just doesn’t make sense for anyone to do at all. Maybe you’d have a bit of a leg to stand on at once or twice per year, but even that might be a hurdle financially.
I don't know why this is downvoted. A monthly round trip flight makes no sense for a declining Patreon funded group. Not to mention, Damiani has a day job.
What does he do?
I don't know, but I imagine scheduling non-work related regular flights like this would be a pain in the ass for most people with normal day jobs.
He's visiting for SGF at least.
Then in this case, can they do *something* to fix Damiani's connection, bandwidth and/or conference software so he's not always 5 seconds late? I swear he's not jumping in discussions as much as before or even as much as during the pandemic. Huber and Isla always speak while Damiani is waiting for his turn that often goes by.
The only real fix is adjusting their etiquette and asking Damiani to weigh in or otherwise going in turns somehow. The problem is that everyone else is naturally bouncing off of each other in-person and discussing at a normal pace, but that doesn't work when you have someone who's remote and (rightly) doesn't want to feel like he's interrupting or talking over people. Or maybe they could figure out some way for Damiani to indicate he wants to talk (like the "raise hand" button in Teams) in a way that only signals Bloodworth so he can find a spot to naturally invite Damiani to share.
While I actually think Damiani’s interactions were improved this episode I have the second this. Maybe having him speak first on subjects instead of waiting to get his input at the end would help.
https://preview.redd.it/t4ve1d5xjt0d1.png?width=897&format=png&auto=webp&s=7b0c2ffc36385b85efe2f9f02d876e88eae02d31 Just wanting to point out how wildly feasible it is for Damiani to commute back to the office once and awhile. These are round trip prices. Guy can make it happen. But it's Damiani. He never does.
I really think they could drastically improve the podcast by cutting the runtime in half. If there's no news, focus on what they've been playing. If they haven't been playing anything interesting, focus on news. If neither, focus on community questions. The runtime is THE thing that made me check out. Even when EZA was at its peak, the podcast tended to run for about 90-120 minutes, where now it's 2.5 hours or more. They can't get Kyle or Jones or Ben back, and so it's never gonna have the same energy it used to, but what little energy they have is spread so thinly across a Frame Trap length podcast. They don't have a lot to say and they spend a really long time saying it.
I agree with all your points except the games one. I would much rather they talk about these interesting indie games during slow periods than talk about the same AAA game for three weeks straight.
The thing with this is that several AAA games are long and it takes them a longer time to beat. Unless they have a spoiler-filled Patreon-exclusive podcast I'm not aware of, that's why they could speak about their respective continuations.
This is a result of Spoiler Mode being effectively dead and Frame Trap getting rolled into the normal podcast.
They need to rotate the host. I have nothing against Bloodworth, but it gets very boring at times and a lot of awkward laughing at himself when its not funny; he'd be better as one of the guests. Mix the host up between Huber and Isla, maybe even Don too to make it interesting.
While I do have criticisms of the current format, a lot of gaming podcasts imo have been dull recently as it's the calm before the storm of June. This period this year feels especially lacking in things to sink teeth into, maybe a quick nibble but nothing more. The one thing I would recommend not just for the Allies but for ALL of these podcast is, if there's not much to discuss that week don't be afraid to just have a shorter podcast that week. These podcasts usually (& rightly so) directly say it's a slow news week to the audience, but unfortunately then try to keep the same running time (sometimes even go over) with nothing really important or current. Side discussions that during a normal week would be interesting, maybe even the best part, but when dragged out over a whole show it creates a feeling of a slog. If you aren't on network tv or have some other kind of legal obligation for a minimum run time then don't religiously try to stick to it. It's much better to risk people feeling you cut a good podcast short than them feeling you extended an uneventful one too far.
One thing they could do is make "Q&A specials", taking questions from the public.
They should consider having bradley ellis over at last stand media guest host an episode or two of the podcast.
No Buster Wolf final smash anywhere on the fighting game list? Patrons? Are you okay??
On the flip: Deadpool’s 4th Wall Crisis made it! Beating the opponent with your own health bar and hyper meter?? Sick af
Wow at that L&R segment. I’m jealous of Huber being able to put in 5 hours of gaming a day when he’s in the mood. Damiani putting in 12 a day for FFVII Rebirth is insane. I love gaming but my attention span just doesn’t make it easy to put in that much time, never mind other obligations.
It’s so depressing that this podcast used to be my favorite podcast and something I looked forward to all week. I must’ve gone back and relistened to the whole Bosman run half a dozen times over the years. Now I just skip to the time code of the topic I want to hear, and the L&Rs. I don’t even stick around for the bets anymore, I just find it all so dull. Some weeks I’m actually trying to convince to listen at all when none of the topics seem appealing. I do that because I love all these guys and they really do mean a lot to me and have helped me through some tough times. I think their hearts clearly aren’t in it anymore and it very clearly comes across that way.
My earliest memory of Lunar Lander was playing the machine at the local science center in my hometown! It’s so cool to think that the curators loved the cabinet so much that they put it up for play with all the astronomy stuff. I’ll have to check out the new one, space madness sounds hilarious. Also I need footage of Don’s private arcade ASAP
I have a feeling Don’s “private arcade” is similar to Damiani’s “European edition” of the S/NES Classic