Call and Response: WOFF! Dispatch May 2023
Added 2023-05-09 20:50:02 +0000 UTCHello, traveler!
The purpose of this post is to call for your questions and prompts for the next WOFF! Dispatch. Please respond by
SUNDAY MAY 14TH
by leaving a comment on this post.
We're looking for two kinds of things:
-Suggestions for our long-form discussion prompt.
-Q&A about the shows, behind the scenes details, and miscellaneous (including off-the-wall and off-topic questions). Ask us about games or other media, life in general... You name it.
One caveat we've given in the past: If the question is too personal or gross, we may dance around it and not give a direct answer.Looking forward to hearing from you!
Comments
What are your favorite cover songs?
KL
2023-05-14 01:39:45 +0000 UTCHey guys! Discussion prompt suggestion for you: with Darkest Dungeon 2 and Tears of the Kingdom out lately, what's your take on sequels? Between mission packs (Hitman 2), elaborations (Dishonored 2) and reinventions (RE7) what do you look for in a sequel? Are there games that had the wrong kind of sequels for you, underselling what you loved in the originals? Are sequels worthwhile for you, vs “spiritual successors” or other kinds of follow ups? And when does the Bonfireside Chat extended coverage of The Surge 2 start? Thanks for all the great work!
Andrew
2023-05-13 20:34:36 +0000 UTCIn Tears of the Kingdom, Link can make a sword more powerful by using his new Goopy Gamer Glue to literally just glue two swords together. What are some of the other weirdest upgrade systems you two have come across over the years?
Chapel Collins
2023-05-13 17:05:36 +0000 UTCTurtle sauce is an even more loaded term on this network, what with the treasures.
Chapel Collins
2023-05-13 16:59:52 +0000 UTCHey fellas. Love the show and everything you guys do. This question is for Kole, regarding “Radio free mid world”, the dark tower podcast you hosted. I noticed you guys never finished the final book in the series. Just wondering the circumstances that made it so. Also, I don’t remember what podcast or episode you mentioned this on, but you were asked if you could adapt any property into a game, and your answer was the ‘Dark Tower’ series. I’ve been thinking about this, and am completely stumped in how the books would be adapted into a game. Any thoughts on how or what you would like to see in a dark tower video game? Long days and pleasant nights!
Philip Cornelius
2023-05-12 21:29:15 +0000 UTCI have a cat that loves to sit on my lap anytime I'm on the couch, which makes me truly blessed. However, it has changed how I game, holding my controller a foot above my lap to allow space for my cute lil guy. I've even taken to subconsciously holding that same position even when he doesn't want to cuddle. Do your cats affect your gaming habits at all?
Naveen Sivakumar
2023-05-12 14:58:11 +0000 UTCScooter's coffee shops have been sprouting up around here like mushrooms. One of the items they sell is a turtle frappe; turtle, as in the candy or ice cream made with fudge, caramel, and pecans. Anyway, the other day, I asked if I could have a turtle frappe with extra chocolate and caramel. When I got to the window, they were still working on it and I overheard the person in the drive-through say to their co-worker, "Don't forget: he wants it with extra turtle sauce." For me, the words "turtle sauce" (taken out of context) instantly conjured various unpleasant images and flavors. Anywho, can you guys think of any terms of art where otherwise mundane words you've overheard have formed an unholy Neapolitan in your mind?
Andrew (andyk250) Koch
2023-05-11 15:40:12 +0000 UTCHey guys! Absolutely love the show. I know that you are both very musically inclined. Music is one of the most important parts of my life so it’s hard for me to choose a favorite band or artist so I won’t make you pick favorites either. What are some of your top musical artists or bands? Thanks for all the video game humor and insight!
Quin Tutor
2023-05-11 14:19:54 +0000 UTCYou recently talked about fatigue with game based on the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, the Journey to the West and the Sengoku period of Japan. What classic work of literature, or storied period of history, would you like to see brought to life in over-the-top videogames where the characters are mad X-Men versions of themselves?
Luke Summerhayes, visionary host of the excellent Game Game Show podcast
2023-05-11 11:39:54 +0000 UTCHey Gary and Kole! In the March Dispatch episode you very kindly shouted out the imminent birth of my daughter. I’m very happy to say that Lola is now seven weeks old and doing great. Currently she’s still in the little alien stage of being a baby – she eats, she sleeps, she poops – and I find myself really looking forward to when I’ll be able to introduce her to some of my major cultural loves. Studio Ghibli, REM, second-hand bookshops, board games – it’s all on the menu for her to try in future years. I know you guys aren’t necessarily interested in having kids – but as theoretical dads (or simply very cool uncles), which things that you love would you be most excited to introduce to a young ‘un? Or what have you already introduced to the young folks in your lives?
James Lewis
2023-05-11 11:23:14 +0000 UTCYou guys have cracked wise about Dragon’s Dogma’s bonkers pawn system in some episodes before, so I was wondering what your thoughts are on the game more broadly? Are you looking forward to the sequel?
Lucas
2023-05-11 07:45:15 +0000 UTCGreetings, What are your general impressions on the Resident Evil 4 remake? How does it stack up to the original in your opinions? Something I found interesting is the depth of the gameplay in the remake feels like a refinement of the original while also nicely transitioning it to modern gameplay (i.e the knife parry to counter attacks of faster enemies). I would also love to hear some hot takes on the remake!
Dwayne Hoover
2023-05-11 04:17:02 +0000 UTCOnce or twice I've seen Gary lament that people don't bring a "GM mindset" to a narrative. (I just dug this comment up and it was the difference between hoovering up craftables or being given a quest to acquire a dragon's scale sort of deal). What do you think captures this mindset and why would you like to see more people have it? More broadly, what are your thoughts on video game narratives? Some have really spoken to me! But on my bad days I feel they are stunted and live in the a tiny valley of approved tropes and cliches.
Abrahm Simons
2023-05-11 01:13:38 +0000 UTCWhat are some examples of games you've greatly enjoyed that fall into genres you otherwise dislike or have no interest in? Have you ever reappraised a particular genre due to connecting with a specific game?
Deca
2023-05-10 18:11:42 +0000 UTCThank you for including the pronunciation! -GB
Duckfeed.tv
2023-05-10 18:06:54 +0000 UTCWhich one-of game would you most like to see get a sequel? Mine is Return of the Obra Dinn- same general mechanics, totally new scenario.
Andrew T
2023-05-10 14:59:27 +0000 UTC(May knee av) Greetings, I've been playing a little of Weird West again as they popped out a PS5 port as a free upgrade the other day. It's reminded me of two things: 1) That I would probably be real into Westerns if I put the time into watching some, and 2) the mashup of Lovecraft and witchery in an eerie desert really works for me in a way I'm surprised I hadn't looked into sooner. For either of you, are there any genres or subgenres that you think you'd really like, and just haven't taken the dive into? This can be in gaming, or any media like music or film. Thanks!
Maniadh
2023-05-10 12:52:52 +0000 UTCHello there Gary and Kole, I will start by saying I am an incredibly anxious person, one of my greatest anxieties being the existential dread of the concepts surrounding the afterlife, and the void that I am fairly certain we are consigned to. When creating art, I often inject my own anxieties and traumas as I’m sure other creatives are want to do, and this resulted in my W.I.P. Fantasy Visual novel “I Promise That You Will Live” a rumination on pursuits of immortality and lichhood and cool shit like that, I only share to ask if either of you have used your creative works or endeavors to examine and ease your fears or anxieties? Feel free to not share details or answer at all if that’s too personal as everybody is entitled to privacy when it pertains to their fears and anxieties <3 If you don’t want to answer that, consider this backup question: What is your favorite piece of “Fine Art” that being art you may find in a museum of art, modern or otherwise?
Jordan and Maya M.
2023-05-10 04:20:58 +0000 UTCI worked a Resident Evil 4 professional run on and off for about 2 years. After playing the remake, I learned the importance of not fighting everything and being more conservative. I went back and finished my original hard mode run. When I finally completed it, I felt like I leveled up as a gamer. Has there ever been a time where you finally beat something you worked so hard on and felt like you actually leveled up? XD
Steven Riddle
2023-05-10 01:09:48 +0000 UTCHave you ever mainlined a new series? I recently bought the Persona franchise on a Steam sale and ended up enjoying them so much I played Persona 3, 4, 5, and Strikers back to back in a three month period without playing anything else.
Greg Polander
2023-05-10 00:10:03 +0000 UTCI've just finished replaying Season One of Telltale's The Walking Dead. While the graphics have aged the writing still holds up, in my opinion, and I still find the story(especially the ending) pretty powerful but I do have a daughter now and didn't when I first played it so maybe that's why? Have you folks played this game and if so what did you think? Would love to see it on WOFF one day.
Chris Hales
2023-05-10 00:03:37 +0000 UTCEvery once in a while I get so into a game that it almost takes over my life. Back in the Guitar Hero craze, I played it so often that I started seeing patterns from the game all over the place. This made some extended road travel I had at the time much more enjoyable, as I imagined that the vehicles coming toward me on the opposite side of the highway were notes I had to play so we didn't crash. A perfectly safe exercise, I assure you (I wasn't driving at the time). Anyway, I'm probably not alone in this, right? Also, not video game related, but I did this same basic thing with Spider-Man, pretending to sling webs from car to car to catch up to some bad guy or something. So... yep.
Samurai Snail
2023-05-09 22:56:12 +0000 UTCHello! I missed Final Fantasy VI when it first came out, and have been playing it in the pixel remaster. And I gotta say - I love the boosted mode! Being able to go through the game with 4x EXP, AP, and money really cuts down on the grind typical to the genre without entirely obviating the combat. What games/series would you revisit if they had this kind of option? Personally, this is what we get me to go through and replay the first four Phantasy Star games. Thanks much!
Gautam Jayanthi
2023-05-09 22:53:57 +0000 UTCHi y'all! I was wondering if the two of you have ever had issues justifying your game consumption as a worthwhile way to spend your time? As someone who tries to do their best in keeping up with the art I care about, I often feel a bit of guilt about spending equal time playing games as I do going to museums, attending the opera, or reading. Intellectually, I feel the medium is just as rich and fertile for emotional and textual depth as any other - but, when pressed, I can't shrug off the little idea that I am wasting the time I could be spending on finally reading Piers Plowman or whatever. Is this a common thing amongst the critics you know, or is it just my silly stupid brain not letting me enjoy my life?
Béa(u)
2023-05-09 21:57:57 +0000 UTCThey were going to do an episode on the first one but decided not to for personal reasons. You can hear them discuss the pivot from covering Fear and Hunger to covering The Beginner's Guide in episodes around that time
Béa(u)
2023-05-09 21:44:19 +0000 UTCDo you think 'games' will eventually stop being used as a meaningful catch-all term for the medium? Norco is fucking with me. It shares so much with Disco Elysium, a role-playing game on purpose, and Kentucky Route Zero, an interactive play without any game elements. Those are two of my favourite stories but they have totally separate places in my life, and Norco sits so awkwardly between them on the non-game to game spectrum that it suddenly feels silly to refer to them all by the same blanket term. That said, we still just refer to both Satantango and The Love Guru as 'movies' so maybe it's best left to nuance and not language to determine what these stories are.
Amory
2023-05-09 21:43:26 +0000 UTCIf you'll be kind enough to let me stand on a very particular soapbox for a minute: With the new Zelda fast approaching, there has been alot of discussion on breath of the wild and what people hope for in the sequel. An opinion I hear again and again is people complaining that "there are too many korok seeds to collect! 900? What was Nintendo thinking? And you don't even get anything good when you collect them all!" In the last 6 years whenever I have heard a version of this opinion it has made me a little upset that so many people are missing what should be obvious. There are 900 because they needed to make sure no matter what path you took through that game, you found enough seeds to expand your inventory to a reasonable amount. In no world was the player expected or insentivized to collect all of them. Have poorly designed collectathons poisoned the minds of the game crit space? Is this just something wrong with gamer psychology that we must tick every box? Am I making mountains out of molehills? Probably yes to that last one but it has been a weird big bear of mine the last few years and it was very therapeutic to get this off my chest. Do you have any examples of the gamersphere not getting something that seems really obvious to you?
Matt DiTomaso
2023-05-09 21:34:10 +0000 UTCSorry if this has been asked before, but whatever happened to the skits that used to start off the WOFF episodes? The Cid ones from the Final Fantasy 7 series was stunningly funny, and I liked the Mysterious Stranger ones in the Fallout episodes.
Tamika
2023-05-09 21:20:16 +0000 UTCAre there games that you are passionate about that you push people to try ? (that arent bigger well known ones). Ive always pushed megaman battle network on everyone and never saw talk about it anywhere. With the new collection that came out i see so many "wow this unknown game is actually good" youtube videos and i have to resist not to scream yes i told you so at my computer.
Matt Laninovich
2023-05-09 21:17:11 +0000 UTCI work at a sex shop that has a surprisingly decent corporate playlist. Most of the songs are horny, or horny-adjacent, but sometimes some weird choices slip through the cracks. Recently we've started playing Man on the Moon and So. Central Rain, which got me and my coworkers thinking: which REM singles have been most and least intentionally fucked-to? Sorry if you already covered this on File Under Water!
Michelle
2023-05-09 21:11:55 +0000 UTCHas the representation of a real place in a game ever made you want to travel to that location? For example, the representation of Tokyo in Yakuza made me really want to travel to the city, a place I had never considered visiting before playing the series
Vitor Pontes
2023-05-09 21:11:50 +0000 UTCBad news! Your long-lost uncle has died. Good news! In their will, you are allotted what is effectively infinite money for you to purchase/build your dream home. You can accomplish and acquire basically anything that money could get you. For myself, I would want a cabin in the foothills of Tennessee just big enough for me and my wife with a creek within earshot. It would be far enough into the woods that it could only be found if I were to show you where it was. I would also use my vast wealth to run a high-speed internet connection out there, don't judge.
Malachi McRee
2023-05-09 21:08:31 +0000 UTCHave you guys looked into the "Fear and Hunger" games? I try to stay up to date but I am woawfuly behind on my podcast listining, I feel like they have so much berserk DNA and an interesting game play loop that they might be up your alley.
Brandon glauner
2023-05-09 21:05:07 +0000 UTCIt's about to be Summer Sweat Season in the northern hemisphere, so I need some icy content to cool off! What your favorite uses of ice and snow in videogames? I've been playing a lot of Wildfrost lately, and it does some fun things with its wintry theme.
Ethan Ryan
2023-05-09 21:04:51 +0000 UTCDo you have a favorite in-game bespoke language, written or verbal? Gibberish counts too.
Doug Lief
2023-05-09 20:55:19 +0000 UTC
