Call and Response: WOFF Dispatch May 2022
Added 2022-05-13 23:54:19 +0000 UTCHello! The purpose of this post is to call for your questions and prompts for WOFF! Dispatch. Please respond by Monday, May 16 by leaving a comment on this post.
We're looking for two kinds of things:
1. Suggestions for our long-form discussion prompt.
2. 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.
We look forward to making this new kind of WOFF! episode together with you.
Comments
Don't know if anyone will read this, but I listened to "the Way I Mate" after your response in the dispatch episode. And wow, yeah it's pretty bad. Although weirdly I'm still more into it musically speaking than cotton-eyed Joe? Am I crazy?
Luna
2022-05-30 19:45:40 +0000 UTCOn a recent episode, you guys talked about fans sometimes being overly familiar. There was a time early on in my listening where I @'d one of you on Twitter and said something that, in retrospect, I regret, so I just wanted to apologize for hiding a pointy, emotional LEGO in the carpet that day. On a less serious note, with the announcement of the new Willow television series, what is the possibility of getting a Burglekast from Duckfeed?
Andrew (andyk250) Koch
2022-05-16 13:38:23 +0000 UTCHi guys - first of all I want to say keep up the good work! I'm currently playing through the Nier Replicant remaster/remake, having had no exposure to the original PS3 version, and have been listening to your episodes on the original version. One thing that made me laugh is when you got to the time skip, Gary said something to the effect of "at least we never have to go to the sea side town again". Can I just recommend that you never, ever cover the remake, because not only do they add a main quest that takes you back to Seafront after the time skip, but they take away your fast travel boat so you can't even just fast travel there. Not only that but I can only assume that you have to do it again in route B, since it happened after Emil's transformation (I'm only just starting route B so I can't confirm either way). In all seriousness I know you guys aren't going to cover this game anyway, I just wanted to know what you guys thought about "not enough long form travel to Seafront" as a problem that needed solving in the original Nier. I'm generally enjoying the game myself, but then the game I played just before this was about 70 hours getting to the end of Sekiro, so it's nice to cut through enemies like butter for a change :p
Dan
2022-05-16 10:21:25 +0000 UTCWhat are some of your favorite classes and/or class systems in games? I'm partial to the casting classes in the original Everquest, which were super well defined with flavor and utility spells. Also a fan of Baldur's Gate 2: 6 party slots made for endless combinations, and class specific quests and strongholds fleshed things out nicely.
Rob
2022-05-16 06:07:39 +0000 UTCGary, do you say "any-who" outside of podcasts? Kole, do you know anyone else who says "any-who"?
Videogames dot Afghanistan
2022-05-16 02:18:13 +0000 UTCFeel free not to answer this if there's nothing interesting to say, just spitballing here! You've talked a lot about games journalism and professional critics, but what about Steam user reviews? Do you leave reviews? Do you look at them? If so, how much do they factor into your decision to buy a game? How do you feel they affect the industry?
tundacct
2022-05-16 02:03:35 +0000 UTCWhat is your favorite turn of phrase from a bygone era?
Jack Corrigan
2022-05-16 01:27:39 +0000 UTCYou've both talked sugar recently about the Venom movies so I was wondering if either of you have seen the movie Upgrade? It released just before the first Venom movie, same Director as Invisible Man, very good Venom-like action and gags.
Luke Summerhayes, visionary host of the excellent Game Game Show podcast
2022-05-15 16:22:43 +0000 UTCDid you know that the Red Hot Chili Peppers' original name was Tony Flow and the Miraculously Majestic Masters of Mayhem?
Isaac Hoff
2022-05-15 15:36:17 +0000 UTCWhen was the last time you did something in real life that felt like a video game? There is a new subway station being built next to my apartment and so I've had to live with the knowledge that there is a big secret cave under my feet! So one night I finally snuck in. It was the middle of the night on a weekend so I knew no one would be working but I still tip toed around, stopped, listened for potential footsteps, peered around corners etc. And running down empty subway tunnels reminded me of fallout 3 or metro. I didn't find any cool treasure or a boss of any kind but I did see a racoon that was chilling down there. He didn't drop any loot unfortunately. (I'm kidding he's fine)
Matt DiTomaso
2022-05-15 14:18:49 +0000 UTCAs someone who primarily uses y’all’s show to vicariously experience games I will likely never play and see what they may have had to offer me. I’m curious because since games are such an interactive medium for art what are your thoughts on those experiences I’m missing out on? Can the messages and art of the game come across without playing, but if so at what cost? I certainly think so because of my deep fascination with the ideas put on display by Soma or Pathologic, yet I have little intention to ever play these games to feel these ideas through interactivity. An episode of WOFF or a video essay deep dive will usually work for me. Am I and others like me missing something, and if so how much is that something worth in a grander scheme? A bit of a long question so feel free to trim :) Thanks for the awesome work you guys do! It really helps me a lot!!
Chase Moore
2022-05-15 13:40:48 +0000 UTCI really enjoyed The Last of Us but still haven't played the sequel as I found the discourse around it so exhausting that it just killed all my interest in it. Had the discourse surrounding a game ever put you off of playing it?
Chris Hales
2022-05-15 12:52:57 +0000 UTCImagine Gary disappears and shows up on Kole's doorstep reincarnated as a toddler; Kole, how do you raise youngling Gary? Gary, same question swapped for Kole.
Jonathan Yih
2022-05-15 12:17:04 +0000 UTCIf you could each pitch one Hitman level, what would it be?
Audie Orlando Lily Bassoff
2022-05-15 02:10:28 +0000 UTCI find myself disliking characters people see as "badass" as time goes on. As far as I can tell a badass is a horrible person that we like for some reason. Perhaps the best example of this is"The Punisher" Is "badass" a virtue or is it some weird glitch in our brain? Is it really /that/ cool to not look at explosions, or saying bible verses while blowing things up? I'm hoping those more media literate can help me understand what makes a "badass" different from a villain, because the line is too fine for me to see.
CoalmineCanary
2022-05-15 01:25:56 +0000 UTCI play along with every game that the two of you cover on WOFF, and while I typically have a strong opinion that I want to share about my experience with each title, I find it difficult to express how I feel about any particular game (or any piece of art) in short and succinct responses. Most of the games coverage/criticism/reaction I encounter seems to start and end with totalizing epithets on either the game's quality as a product or with judgments on a hyper-literal narrative read, something which I try to avoid in my own evaluations and which I think you two do excellently in your coverage. My question is: what are some of the sites/writers/publications that you two have found to be worthwhile in how they discuss games, and how do you conceive of your own critical method in your chosen format?
Béa(u)
2022-05-15 01:13:35 +0000 UTChey guys! so, i recently started playing the resident evil HD remake after playing 2make and 3make, and something struck me: while i think that REmake is an absolutely fantastic game, no notes, big chefs kiss motions made to the team that made it, i can't help but think: what would a big modern remake in the modern capcom engine even look like? more over, would it be wanted by the general public, considering how good capcom made the HD remake? personally, i'd be real interested in seeing what a modern remake of resident evil 1 would look like, but i also know that would be a foundational sin to some of the fanbase. take care!
Cassandra Banner
2022-05-15 00:18:03 +0000 UTCThe Dark Gods of Adaptation Decay charge you with a Seven-Mary-Three situation: Tie each of these three directors to a game franchise for a movie adaptation. Rob Zombie, Quentin Tarantino, Tommy Wiseau. Deus Ex, Baldur's Gate, Dishonored.
Holland Hume
2022-05-14 23:40:57 +0000 UTCIn the teardown episode you talked about it being fun when you are adapting to a failed plan, what are some of your favourite games that allow you to continue after messing up and try and recover from the situation. For me It would be payday 2, a game about performing elaborate heists. You could be stealthily trying to hack the security system of a bank to unlock the vault, when someone gets suspicious, triggers an alarm and locks your access to the system. With no option but to go loud, Now you have to wait for someone to deliver a drill for the vault, while you try to control the lobby full of civilians, all the while you hear the police pulling up outside and the dynamic music system of the game is heightening the tension.
erhm03
2022-05-14 16:45:33 +0000 UTCThe mellotron is my favorite instrument, but it doesn't show up on many (if any) video game soundtracks. Do either of you have a musical instrument you'd like to see used more often in video games?
JC
2022-05-14 16:23:17 +0000 UTCWhat is a great part of an otherwise bad game you've played and why do you feel like it worked?
Glukeose
2022-05-14 15:19:53 +0000 UTCWhat is your favorite random encounter you've had while traveling in DND or another TTRPG, either as DM or PC? Recently did one where my players dug up a suspicious grave that was on a path they traversed the opposite way only the day before to find a small doll that one PC remembered being his as a child (after a failed WIS save) and refused to leave it behind. Obviously the rest of the party assumes it is cursed, although nothing has happened yet. The doll will cast Spare the Dying on the PC the next time he goes into death saves, vanish, and only he will completely forget about the doll. I got encounter from a Reddit thread, and just slightly tweaked it, but I loved the idea of a cursed item that was a boon because I knew it would cause paranoia in my PCs.
Tony Sleaze
2022-05-14 15:09:45 +0000 UTCDo you guys ever get to take time off, vacationing or otherwise? It might just be my poor memory speaking, but I can’t remember the last time either of you mentioned being able to step away from work for anything more than a weekend getaway.
Abe
2022-05-14 12:38:57 +0000 UTCCotton-eyed Joe 😩
Luna
2022-05-14 12:02:12 +0000 UTCHey gentlemen, wanted to get your thoughts on how you feel about how much videogame time is too much when it comes to younger generations of players. When I was growing up, it was always a battle between my parents and me as far as me wanting to play, and them wanting me to put down the controller and play outside with my friends. Now with kids of my own, I'm much more conscious of balancing my young children's "electronics" time with outdoor and social play. Looking back, I do think I had an unhealthy addiction to virtual worlds that inhibited my social skills a bit (not to mention my health, meaning I would rather play videogames then play sports and exercise) and I make sure now to encourage my kids to engage in outdoor play and socializing with friends over staring at a television screen playing videogames. I'm obviously going to evolve this over time as the kids get older, but wondering what your thoughts and experiences are with this balance.
Tom Works
2022-05-14 11:22:11 +0000 UTCShorter question: Is there a piece of gaming hardware that you feel special affection for? My DS Lite was with me through a rough patch in my life, and often playing a round of Elite Beat Agents or FF Tactics Advance 2 was what got me through the day. I’m doing much better now, but I still smile when I see my old clamshell friend in the drawer from time to time. Do you have any hardware (controller, console, accessory, etc) that you have a sentimental connection with?
Naveen Sivakumar
2022-05-14 10:58:18 +0000 UTCLong-form discussion prompt: Are genres still a useful measure of describing games anymore? It seems like most games nowadays take from a hodgepodge of genres such that it’s often difficult to classify them as any one thing. Deathloop, for instance, has elements of first person shooters, roguelikes, immersive sims, and stealth games. In addition, some genres describe mechanics, like rhythm games, while others describe setting, like open world games. Are these classifications still useful, and if so, how do you feel they contribute to gaming discourse? If not, what would you prefer take their place when describing games?
Naveen Sivakumar
2022-05-14 10:54:01 +0000 UTCWhich game character would have the best podcast, who would have the worst YouTube show?
Tom Healey
2022-05-14 06:59:41 +0000 UTCI find that I tend to shy away from 'endless' gaming experiences - MMOs, like Destiny; multiplayer games you can forever replay, like Overwatch; games which require dozens of hours and training to 'git gud' at, like Street Fighter; and shorter games that are designed to be replayed over and over, like Slay the Spire. If I think about my favourite games of all time, almost all of them are single-player, narrative-led experiences with a fixed end point and a finite play time. I think my preference for these sorts of games comes from the fact that I know once I've completed them I can tick them off of my list and move onto the next game in my pile. At the same time, however, I'm aware that, by shunning so-called 'endless' games, I'm missing out on a huge number of acclaimed titles and talked about gaming experiences: I've never played a match of Apex Legends, never started a campaign in Civ 6, never completed a run of Monster Train. I want to know how you both feel about 'endless' games. I know Gary has his thousands of hours of Isaac, but, given the games you choose to play for WOFF, it would seem you guys, too, seem to prefer games that fit in the 'non-endless' category. Are you curious to see what these other types of games are like? Would you be more likely to play them if you didn't have WOFF or Bonfireside Chat games to get through? Or, like me, have you naturally always gravitated towards games which you can 'finish'? Love the show, Jamie (UK)
Jamie John
2022-05-14 06:55:33 +0000 UTCWhat's your favorite King of the Hill episode? Sorry if this has been asked before!
T
2022-05-14 06:05:13 +0000 UTCHey guys, I've been thinking lately on how much a lot of modern games could use some goddamned editing. A lot of AAA games (especially more cinematically leaning ones ironically) seem stubbornly unwilling to do a freakin jump cut when really all you're doing is going from point A to B and this just leads to runtime bloat. This may be why the "standard" game runtime has ballooned from ~8 hours to 20, but that coukd just be my tinfoil hat acting up. What do you guys think? Am I off base? Can you think of any games that actually utilize editing techniques to aide pacing? Are video games currently stuck in the "walking down a hallway to completion" phase? As always, thanks for the amazing work and hours of entertainment!
Jonathan Scratch
2022-05-14 04:10:32 +0000 UTCGuys could I please get an update on buffo the clown I'm desperate for info.
Jake smith
2022-05-14 02:52:44 +0000 UTC- Would you guys ever put the Breath of Fire series on the WOFF podcast? Preferably 3rd or 4th entry? - Any JRPG music that gives you that instant Nostalgia Attack or that Ratatouie Critic scene? Ex. Legend of Dragoon Menu Music, for me.
Joe Binson
2022-05-14 02:33:01 +0000 UTCIs there a song that makes you just want to die when it comes on? For me it’s “Life Is A Highway.” Made the mistake of telling my annoying friend that, and now he plays it whenever he feels like being extra assy.
Al
2022-05-14 01:22:21 +0000 UTCWhat's a game that you tried really hard to like but couldn't get into?
Eric Plaisance
2022-05-14 00:46:37 +0000 UTCWhat is something that is popular to dislike, but you enjoy?
Nathan N
2022-05-14 00:33:37 +0000 UTCI know we *just* got Elden Ring, but where would you want Fromsoft to go with their next title? What would you think about a Bloodborne or Sekiro spiritual sequel in an Elden Ring-style open world?
Luna
2022-05-14 00:16:29 +0000 UTCWhat is the thing in a book, album, game or movie that had scared you the most? (I assume before age and exposure desensitized you to such responses). What medium and what themes or vibes are your favorite or most reliable ways to explore horror and get something out of it besides “that’s cool” ?
Roberto Stadthagen
2022-05-14 00:16:29 +0000 UTCWhat were your favorite gaming magazines growing up, and what do you miss about video games printed media today?
Fatt Mox
2022-05-14 00:12:07 +0000 UTCHi Kole and Gary!! When you cover games that have co-op like Divinity, Souls etc, do you ever co-op with each other? Thanks! Love all the shows, keep being awesome 👍
Daisy
2022-05-14 00:09:27 +0000 UTCQuick question for each of you: Kole, which game do you think has the more powerful plot twist, Bioshock or KOTOR? Gary, which animal or creature, fictional or not, would you blend with a Beholder to make it even more perfect?
Greg Polander
2022-05-14 00:00:34 +0000 UTC
