Call and Response: WOFF Dispatch April 2023
Added 2023-04-11 14:01:00 +0000 UTCHey there, pilgrim!
This post is to here, I reckon, to call for your questions and prompts for WOFF! Dispatch. Please respond by end of day, Sunday April 16th 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
Kole, you have mentioned that Rimworld is a favorite of yours. The AI storytellers can have a habit of hitting you while you are down. What is the worst chain of events you have had thrown at you? A recent playthrough of mine was in the span of 5 in-game days, one colonist ODed on morphine TWICE, killing them, a child was killed by a manhunter bear, and my dog got killed in a raid. The compounding stress from each event caused all of my remaining colonists to have mental breaks during a raid, killing them and ending the run. Short side question for Gary: what would it take for Kole to convince you to try Rimworld?
Malachi McRee
2023-04-17 04:14:52 +0000 UTCNot sure if I'm too late here, but here goes: So, the new Zelda is coming out. I thought I should try to go back to Breath of the Wild again to prep. When I went into the game, I saw that I have several abandoned attempts to get back into the game over the past years after my first (and only) completion of it. It got me thinking...I've never, ever, replayed a Zelda game, and I've generally loved every one I've played except Skyward Sword. There is something about these games that truly hooks me on first playthrough, but that magic is totally lifted the second I win the game. Even a game like Breath of the Wild, which I think is one of the better games in the last 10 years, has this issue. I won the game and I can't muster any drive to touch it again. This stands in stark contrast to, say, Elden Ring, which I'm currently about to beat for the fourth time -- a second 100% run, this time with no summons and a pure dex character (something I've never done before in any souls game). Question then: Are there any games that have this same effect to you two? Something you ostensibly like (maybe even love) but you cannot bring yourself to ever play again?
Douglas
2023-04-16 15:42:26 +0000 UTCIn a recent episode, y’all mentioned the idea of food companies engineering food products to be addictive and such. I think this gives them way too much credit. My wife has worked for a bunch of the big brands and I work in food marketing. The reality is that most of the folks in lab coats are too busy trying to make the food cheaper or longer-lasting, meanwhile the executives really only care if the revenue is getting bigger faster than costs. Notions like “craveability” come from the advertising side, where we mostly sell the 2nd-best ideas that come from teams of (drunk) 25-year-olds who have been locked in a conference room for 10 hours. Even food sensory studies are based on a single serving size, not repeat consumption (I have a textbook on it). Does it matter that the reality doesn’t match the narrative if the outcome is the same? And how do we make similarly inaccurate attributions to video game companies as sinister entities?
Kyle Church
2023-04-16 11:05:42 +0000 UTCOh man, I remember playing DA:O for the first time as a teenager and just going through the entirety of Morrigan's romance on the bridge to Lothering thanks to those damn gifts. Puberty, man
Lucas
2023-04-16 01:13:38 +0000 UTCWith the release of RE4make, it’s officially Resident Evil Spring, and I’ve been playing watching and listening to all things Resident Evil. I recently picked up the audiobook of “Itchy, Tasty: the unofficial history of Resident Evil” by Alex Aniel (cvxfreak) and was wondering if either of you have read this.
Eli Leslie
2023-04-15 16:19:08 +0000 UTCDo you guys have games for WOFF that you hesitate to cover brlevausevonly one major aspect of it is interesting/worth discussing? That's a bit abstract. An example might be FF15. All the stuff about that game's development is interesting/comedy gold (at one point Nomura wanted it to be a musical because he just saw the Hugh Jackman Le Mis movie. I shit you not), so a lot of hay could be made...but the game sucks to play and the story gets in the way of any good character moments. Sorry for the oddball question, and thanks for the hours of great content!
Jonathan Scratch
2023-04-15 00:47:21 +0000 UTCthank u (pronounced 'ooo'), for some reason i assumed it was a venture bros ref
Sean Riley
2023-04-14 21:51:46 +0000 UTChttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EShUeudtaFg&ab_channel=J.T.Sexkik
Duckfeed.tv
2023-04-14 21:30:24 +0000 UTCweird question: yall frequently reference "PREGANTE!" or something similar, and i cannot for the life of me recall what it is from (it is also uniquely un-googlable)
Sean Riley
2023-04-14 20:14:17 +0000 UTCThe world has finally rejected Myers-Briggs' scores as a short-hand way of describing someone's core beliefs. The system that has replaced MBTI inexplicably uses 1st and 2nd Edition Advanced Dungeons & Dragons campaign settings as the vectors for describing someone's personality. So, Gary: If Kole were a 1st or 2nd Edition campaign setting -- or a combination of several -- which would he be? Kole, same question about Gary if you feel confident answering. I've included various settings below for your convenience: Greyhawk Mystara Ravenloft Dragonlance The Hyborian World (Conan/Red Sonja) Lankhmar Kara-Tur ("Asian" Adventures) Forgotten Realms Maztica Mystara Spelljammer Dark Sun Al-Qadim Birthright Planescape Red Steel
Andrew (andyk250) Koch
2023-04-14 17:16:44 +0000 UTCHey guys! Wondering if there have been any games that you thought had standout sound effects design? I've been playing Oxygen Not Included lately and anytime you drag select multiple things, it plays a musical scale on a xylophone type instrument. It's a delightful sound that contributes to the cute and fun aesthetic.
Wesley Rich
2023-04-14 16:07:59 +0000 UTCHey guys, thanks for another wonderful month of content. I've got a specific question related to the larger issue of environmental/non-verbal storytelling. I'm playing through Tunic right now and despite the fact that there is very little readable text, the game world feels deep and built up. I just understand how things "work." A lot of this seems to be done with very vivid energy signatures. Magic has a very distinct look, so does the tech, and each of these motifs characterizes different areas of the game in simple ways that helps me understand the lore (or: it serves as a rich foundation to make up lore in my head). I felt this way through hollowknight, where colors were so important to characterizing different areas and abilities, but also seemed to play into lore. I was curious if either you of you have thoughts about this or other non-verbal ways that games effectivly tell stories or build their world. Knowing that Gary has differences with how he sees color, are energy signatures a less effective technique for you than (for example) ambient noise?
Phil K
2023-04-14 15:17:53 +0000 UTCI attended MGC 3 years in a row leading up to COVID, but haven't been back since. Pandemic aside, the draw to attend started to wane as I felt like I was seeing the same things over and over, and the charm of the convention was wearing off. (IMHO the old hotel site was more fun and felt less sprawling). Having just attended MGC, do you have any ideas for shows of that sort to keep repeat attendees interested and coming back?
Jonathan Fridberg
2023-04-14 15:08:03 +0000 UTCHowdy! Achievements in games are a manipulative system that rewards obsessive behavior and makes a fortune for the developer by capitalizing on our engagement and securing as much of our free time as possible. Nevertheless, they seem integral to the structure of games and being rewarded, in some way, for completing goals is almost the point of playing. Even if you don't care about achievements they are impossible to ignore and the *plink* sound you hear when you've just completed a level is chemically satisfying. Do y'all ever feel compelled by the Gamescore or Trophy level system? How do y'all think the current achievement system has contributed to your own gaming experiences? Thank you!
Fermented-Sorcerer
2023-04-13 23:14:05 +0000 UTCHello! I was wanting to know what are the dumbest DLCs you’ve ever purchased and/or the dumbest reason for buying a DLC? For me, the DLC that answers both those questions has to be the Feast Day Gifts and Pranks Pack from Dragon Age Origins. I ran into an unfortunate bug where a party members personal quest wouldn’t trigger. Turns out, in some cases, the quest would only become available when approval was sitting at exactly 65, which I had long passed. I couldn’t lower approval through quests and loading a previous save would have meant losing hours of progress. But I had an out, for only $3 the Feast Day Gifts and Prank Pack would let me buy coal and cake so I could manually alter companion approval! As I gifted lumps of coal one by one until this companion’s approval was at 65, I was able to reflect on the artificiality of Dragon Ages gift giving system. Not the best three dollars I ever spent, but at least I finished that quest.
Ethan Ward
2023-04-13 20:25:22 +0000 UTCIt’s been interesting to listen to the Sexy Brutale episode and hear your thoughts on how overly simplistic it is. I have no opinion on it myself (haven’t played it) but is there a space for low impact games? Often after completing a fairly large game I’ll want something breezy as a palate cleanser. Maybe Sexy Brutale isn’t a good one, but is there a space for games like that and how does that affect your evaluation of them?
Doug Lief
2023-04-13 18:24:52 +0000 UTCHello dear boys! Just wondered how you square your general attitudes about accessibility in terms of difficulty (which i gather are let the player decided if they would like an easy ride) with your love of all things soulish. I have only ever tried to play one soulish game Bloodbourne and I had to watch a tutorial to equip a weapon after the game failed to inform me how to do it. I gave it a good couple of hours but just couldn't get past the initial part of the game. (Cue general derision from the world of 'serious gamers') A bit of help from the game and i dare say an "easy mode" (Cue further derision and cries of "Heresy" from the crowd) would have been much appreciated. As a result I've pretty much written off playing any other souls game which is a shame as i love the iconography of the games. Just interested in your perspective..apologies if this has been asked before. Keep up the fastidious work...
Michael Ridley-Dash
2023-04-13 16:36:53 +0000 UTCI'm going on a long trip over the summer/fall, and I'm looking to download a bunch of WOFF episodes to listen to while I don't have access to my computer for games. What would you recommend for solid 'service' episodes, which don't really require playing the game (or you shouldn't play it) but are interesting to discuss just the same? I'm thinking of the Pathologic and the Sexy Brutale episodes. As a follow-up: what makes a game interesting to discuss in this 'as a service' way? There are always games we can gush about, but I'm not thinking of praise so much as mechanics, failures, or paradigms. What have you found that makes a game particularly meaty to dive into, regardless of quality? What gets ya going?
Dylan Kilby
2023-04-13 13:46:24 +0000 UTCDo y’all ever think about game sales in the digital marketplace? Sometimes when I’m poking around the PSN store I find myself thinking- “I wonder if anyone in the world bought Fallout 4 today?” Do you think ever a day passes where a big release doesn’t get a single online sale? What about a Dying Light? Is there a steady new handful of people purchasing a game like that every dang day? Just curious about your brain number estimations, thanks for all the great shows!
Ben Bruker
2023-04-12 22:29:07 +0000 UTChi guys, as someone who likes to watch fighting game special move complialtions when im drunk i have a simple question: one thousand slashes or one huge punch?
Monty Megiddo
2023-04-12 21:49:42 +0000 UTCThe CEO of a game studio is a fan of WOFF and respects your critique and insights on game design. Would you ever be interested in being brought on board a project to help shape its development? A decent salary would be provided and contracts would be part time so Duckfeed could continue as is. Do you accept? Would it depend on factors such as genre and theme etc. or would it not be something that would even interest you? All hypothetical of course!
Andy Donnachie
2023-04-12 14:48:24 +0000 UTCHey Gary and Kole, being from a different generation than you two has made your insights in the the gaming community very informative. I love hearing about your experiences with consoles and tabletop games that I’ve only heard about. I also know you two have a bit of an age gap. How often do either of you bring up something that the other isn’t familiar with because of that age difference? Do you have any stories or memories of a particular instance of this?
Quin Tutor
2023-04-12 12:08:07 +0000 UTC(this may have been asked before in some form, I've listened to way too much DF over the years to remember!) I'm curious if you guys have a game that you find to be excellent, but never recommend to people because it doesn't seem to resonate, or has a component that serves as a roadblock? To clarify, NOT a game that you know is shit but love regardless. One of these for me has always been Mischief Makers. The game just comes off as kind of a slog until you get the hang of utilizing the various dashing methods to blast through levels.
RollThatBeanFootage
2023-04-12 04:39:48 +0000 UTCWhat are your grocery staples? The thing you either buy every trip or keep stocked in your house at all times? Our big ones are onions, peppers and garlic, they go in pretty much anything.
Matt Bixler! Hello!
2023-04-12 04:39:25 +0000 UTCWhat's your favorite level editor/level builder in a game? Full-on building games don't count (Sims, Rollercoaster Tycoon, etc), just modes in an otherwise non-building title (Doom, Tony Hawk 2, etc).
Holland Hume
2023-04-12 02:30:51 +0000 UTCHey guys, What’s each of your opinions on the remake/remaster trend in gaming? Do you like seeing your favorite games from the past being redone with modern graphics and mechanics or are you frustrated because there seem to be fewer and fewer interesting new IPs coming to the AAA market? I personally love a good remake and especially its ability to potential revive a long dormant franchise, like the upcoming Silent Hill 2 remake (damn, I hope it’s good). What old game from your past would you love to see remade and how? My pick would actually be a remake of the RE1 Remake, but first person and VR compatible like RE7/8. PS: Thanks for all the quality content over the years! This is the only Patreon I subscribe to and I don’t plan on stopping any time soon!
0ne_leaf_left
2023-04-12 02:00:39 +0000 UTCI'm a british dude and I've just booked flights to portland and the oregon coast with my girlfriend and her kids to see where she grew up and meet her parents this summer, can Gary recommend any good spots? Either family friendly or adult orientated if the kids stop with their grandparents for a night? Do either of you have any advice (comedic or serious) for a brit visiting the US over the 4th of July?
Tom Healey
2023-04-11 23:33:17 +0000 UTCHiya Gary and Kole! Being an enthusiast about language, including speaking one fluently (English) I sometimes get certain phrases or delivery’s stuck in my head. The perennial example of this for me is thinking the phrase “it’s toilet time for tiny town” almost hourly since seeing the Genesis Tub treehouse of horror segment. Do either of y’all get certain phrases stuck in your head that you cannot purge, despite your best efforts? BONUS Q: are there any songs which you have misheard the lyrics to and cannot simply hear the true lyrics when you listen (Will Hughes would be happy to point out that this is called a Mondegreene and I’m sure he would happily entail why it’s called that as well, at least I assume so because Will is a trivia parasite, jk we love will 😌)
Jordan and Maya M.
2023-04-11 23:02:25 +0000 UTCTop 3 favorite national/ethnic cuisines, GO!
Andrew T
2023-04-11 22:47:34 +0000 UTCWhat kind of go-to games do you have for when you visit/have a visit from old friends? If you don't get to do many visits, what game would you like to get some old friends around to play? My best friend and I always get in a round of Mario Golf: Toadstool Tour. P.S. Sorry to hear about the Kia Boys, hope everything worked out alright.
Autumn M
2023-04-11 21:44:27 +0000 UTCHow do you two think the gaming landscape since 2011 will affect Elder Scrolls 6? Since Skyrim has come out, Dark Souls has taken the world by storm, Ubisoft has squeezed the open-world formula dry, and survival-crafting games have occupied a huge portion of the indie market. Its been 12 years since Skyrim and 8 since Fallout 4, and open world games have changed a lot. Bethesda has always had a very specific approach to the open world genre, and when Skyrim came out, they were really the only name in town. Do you guys have any theories for how/if they will modernize their formula for Elder Scrolls 6?
Chapel Collins
2023-04-11 21:32:23 +0000 UTCSomething?
Limowreck
2023-04-11 20:39:52 +0000 UTCJust a small piece of praise for Gwen. It's your pod anyways so feel free not to read but a small compliment by way of an anecdote. When Best Quality Vacuum was new I'd have it in my podcast playlist to listen to while working and this awesome guitar riff would start up and I'd think "what the heck is this? What podcast has this cool guitar", then I'd realize and think oh yeah BQV.. I should look up who did the music for this and see if they have other music. Then heard you mention offhandedly on another cast it was Gwen, "oh, the new producer we saw on the latest duckstream. Awesome, go multitalented Gwen. (So does Gwen also have more music like a soundcloud page or t
Limowreck
2023-04-11 20:39:32 +0000 UTCIf you could send a game back in time to your childhood self, what game would it be?
Lucky McChancey
2023-04-11 17:57:09 +0000 UTCI wanted to start by saying that I really love all of your shows. I could listen to the two of you talk about anything. I came to WOFF via Bonfireside Chat as I'm kind of Souls obsessed, so my question is in that direction. Do you enjoy Soulsborne challenge runs, either as a viewer or a participant? If so, what are some of your favorites? I'm a fan of randomizers as well as weird weapon restrictions, especially by Ymfah and The Backlogs, and am about to start a Bloodborne guns-only run that I assume will go very poorly as that's probably the game that I'm the least skilled at in the franchise. - Kerry
KerooSeta
2023-04-11 15:55:53 +0000 UTCIn honor of the discussion of Ravenholm from the last dispatch, what are your thoughts on horror levels and segments in non-horror games? Any particularly good (*cough*shalebridgecradle*cough*) or bad ones?
MisterMundus
2023-04-11 15:03:08 +0000 UTCUh-oh you've touched the magic and it has drained you of all your musical skill at any instrument you've ever played. In exchange, you are now a master at an instrument you have NEVER tried before. What would you pick?
Nich Phillips
2023-04-11 14:51:27 +0000 UTCI have picked up certain bits of useful and evocative terminology while listening to this network, such as the business claw/pleasure claw dichotomy and the sliding scale of human bisection from easy way to hard way. Do you have a favorite "Duckfeedism" of which you are particularly proud?
Geoffrey Gray Fredrick
2023-04-11 14:37:20 +0000 UTCKole - I think I speak for the entire world when I say that we need more Whale's Shamrock content. What do the continued adventures of those rapscallions look like? Are they getting the band back together for one last score? Or just trying to stay one step ahead of their Moriarty-esque nemesis William Hughes? It's 2023 and prime time to flesh out the Duckfeed Extended Cinematic Universe. P.S. Kathleen and I loved meeting y'all at the Midwest Gaming Classic. You're always welcome in the Badger State!
Gautam Jayanthi
2023-04-11 14:16:40 +0000 UTCWhat kind of rules did you have around playing video games as a kid? When I was young, I could play whenever so long as I kept my grades up and did whatever I was supposed to do around the house, but my SO wasn't allowed to even touch them and my best friend had very limited time and he had to sneak out controllers when his parents weren't home. Gary famously does not plan to have children, but if either of you did have any, what would your household rules be?
Daniel Mesa
2023-04-11 14:11:02 +0000 UTC
