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Sunday, May 31, 2009

What I've Been Listening To: May 24-30, 2009

This week can only be summed up by saying: too much work, not enough podcasts! I really need to get myself an iPod for those occasions when I'm called to jury duty, like happened this week. I actually missed Van Hemlock #52 and went straight to #53. And I'm way behind listening to Channel Massive. Aargh! Well, hopefully I don't get called into work today and I can make up for lost time.

Here's what I listened to last week:

First Time Listen

Inside Azeroth #2 (Hosts: Steve Hamner & David Sanna) - The Grind podcast is dead, long live Inside Azeroth! Okay, I'm being just a touch melodramatic, epecially since I had never heard of The Grind until I heard Leala Turkey plug the World of Warcraft podcast Inside Azeroth on Epic Dolls #66. The Grind's last podcast was May 10th, with two of the hosts, Steve Hamner & David Sanna, continuing on with this new podcast on May 17th.

From listening to the hosts talk about the podcast, the language will be more explicit than that on The Grind. No bleeping out of bad words, that is. That is probably a wise decision, since the hosts have some strong opinions and not censoring the language will help shorten the editing process. Not that the podcast is laced with expletives, but Steve and David are not Blizzard fanbois and sometimes their frustration with some of the things they see occurring comes through.

Content wise, Inside Azeroth is following the very familiar format of talking about WoW news and changes occurring in the game. For those who appreciate good show notes, the show's website contains a pretty well put together set of show notes for each show.

I'm always hesitant about passing judgement on a podcast that has put out less than 5 shows, even if they are experienced podcasters like Steve and David. So at this point I will say that I liked the podcast and that I expect that listening to the show grow should be an enjoyable experience. Unless, of course, you are a WoW fanboi. Then I don't think this podcast is for you.

Old Friends

Van Hemlock #53 (Hosts: Tim Dale and Jon Shute) - This episode's guest was Matt from the Limited Edition podcast. Yes, another blogger/podcaster who's playing Eve! And Matt was more than willing to join Jon in the weekly Sony bashing. I don't play console games, so I'm not sure why the PS3 brings out such feelings. Maybe it's a British thing? I know that Jon's idea of sending the fleet back to Iceland to take CCP and Eve away surely was. Takes game piracy to a new level.

The three wander through the week's news and ask listeners "What would you bring to the post of community manager of Hello Kitty Online?" Matt fit into the mix fairly well, but even Tim is wondering about the use of guests. I'd say don't do it all the time. But then again, I always want more Van Hemlock.

Epic Dolls #66 (Hosts: Leala Turkey and Katerina) - The hosts talk about patches 3.1.2 and the upcoming 3.2 as well as starting a new series on in-game relationships. I've found that the Dolls' previous series were good and I believe this series got off to a good start.

Massively Speaking #54 (Host: Shawn Schuster) - Shawn conducted an interview with Funcom's Glen "Famine" Swan and Craig Morrison to talk about Age of Conan. Shawn admitted on the Virgin World site that he was trying something new when conducting the interview. He says he won't make the same mistake again. Maybe I'd feel differently if I played AoC, but if you haven't listened to this episode yet, don't waste your time.

Massively Speaking #55 (Host: Shawn Schuster) - Shawn got the podcast back on track with episode #55 and his guest host, Massively.com blogger Lesley Smith. I liked the interplay between the two as they discussed WoW, LotRO, Guild Wars, Jumpgate Evolution and Fallen Earth. We need more Lesley!

Through the Aftermath #11 (Hosts: Shawn Schuster & Jonathan Morris) - The hosts bring in Jonathan's friend Rob to explore what to do when the zombie apocolyps hits. Many "practical" examples are provided, most of them humorous.

Star Wars Galaxies with Yivvits and MrBubble (Hosts: Yivvits & MrBubble) - I like the humor on the show, and given the announcement of SOE shutting down The Matrix Online this week, I really wanted to listen to a podcast based on one of the weaker games on the Sony Station Access pass. The talk about server merges also brought to mind EQ2's upcoming merger of the PvP servers.

And Last But Not Least

EQ2's-Day Show from April 28, 2009 (Hosts: Dellmon & Zanadi) - I almost forgot that Dellmon finally posted the show from April 28th. Among other subjects, find out what happens when 2 ratonga choose to pickpocket a God's avatar.

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