Call and Response: WOFF! Dispatch March 2022
Added 2022-03-18 16:35:20 +0000 UTCHello! The purpose of this post is to call for your questions and prompts for WOFF! Dispatch. Please respond by Monday, March 21 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
Have you guys ever considered doing a video podcast every once in a while? Not that the audio isn't amazing, it would just be fun here and there. You guys are awesome, very excited for the Elden Ring season :)
My Dog's Name Is Yharnam
2022-04-02 23:36:16 +0000 UTCMuch like Stranger Things, Succession is fine. It's not top tier.
Tom Gilbert
2022-04-01 09:24:46 +0000 UTCAlso, I'm Dr. WOFF-so and I like Kole-caine!
Matthew Lee
2022-03-25 22:35:14 +0000 UTCAs far as early release, I don't care nor will notice if stuff is early, so I'm fine with the change. Just my single vote on the issue.
Matthew Lee
2022-03-25 22:34:35 +0000 UTCPotential topic: I'd love to hear you explore the idea of permissive and prescriptive games more, especially in light of some things you've been saying about Elden Ring!
Andrew C
2022-03-22 02:14:58 +0000 UTCHaving heard Gary's dismissal of Dark Souls 3 as more or less an official fanfiction, I found I was able to similarly disregard The Matrix Resurrections outright so as to go on loving a favorite setting of mine uncompromised by the association of a misguided entry. This is something I never let myself do in years past when my brain had somehow decided IPs were package-deal passions, and it's since rekindled love for franchises that used to feel spoiled for me by bad-apple installments, such as Silent Hill. What are some other series/franchises with entries that, as far as you guys are concerned, "don't count?"
Greg O.
2022-03-21 17:10:55 +0000 UTCI’m not sure if y’all have covered this yet, but what are you favorite source books to play or just to read and why?
Will Phillips
2022-03-20 15:46:19 +0000 UTCSomething that doesn't really work well for the format of the show is fighting games. What are your opinions on the genre as a whole and Which are your favourites I love how mechanical deep the games can be and they often end up as complex mindgames at higher levels
erhm03
2022-03-20 11:25:34 +0000 UTCThere was an interesting discussion on the /r/PatientGamers sub on Reddit (if you didn't know, it's a sub that forbids discussing games that are less than 6 months old), where they talked about how much loading times affect a games enjoyment. It resonated with me as a 30 something adult with commitments that prevent me from playing games for more than an hour in an evening, where I tend to avoid games that have long loading times purely because I don't want to spend 10+ mins of my evening waiting to play. Load times refers not just to games that take a long time to launch or load new screens/saves etc., but games that make me launch a proprietary launcher, then run an update tool, then wait for the server to connect (even single player games!), then menu dance to my save. Some modern games have turned me off after a single play through because I had no desire to go through the rigmarole of simply starting the game up. I think this is partly why I've really gotten into roguelites and deckbuilders in recent years, as they tend to be straight into the action within a minute of me sitting down to play. What are your thoughts on load times and the way games handle loading games and load screens? Tangentially, on the scale of Mass Effect wait in an elevator for a minute until the next screen loads to Half Life literally slaps a "LOADING" screen pop-up in between level transitions, what is your preferred way of load transitioning?
Chris Hodgson
2022-03-20 11:09:44 +0000 UTCI've been a lifelog fan of portable consoles. Ever since the GameBoy Advanced, I've been mesmerized by portable consoles that could play my old console games on the go, such as Super Mario World. At some point I got an absolutely ridiculous sandwich of a PS1 mini with a screen and battery instead of a PS2. What are your histories with portables, and what are your thoughts with the Steam Deck?
Nick
2022-03-20 07:21:05 +0000 UTCANy favorite xcom clones? Recently played Hard West and Phantom Doctrine which kinda mess with the formula in interesting ways but still feel like they fall short. PD is a stealth cold war spy thing which is very different. Would recommend if you're kinda interested in that structure of game
Randall
2022-03-20 07:04:13 +0000 UTCIt's reasonable at this point to call Elden Ring a cultural behemoth. It's selling Call of Duty numbers of copies, every center-left online news magazine has a think piece on it, and it's dominating online discourse everywhere. From has clearly achieved a new level of cultural cachet and popularity. As people who have been covering this studio's games for nearly a decade, what are your thoughts on this new mainstream acceptance for games that were once seen as too prickly for mass appeal? Are you surprised? Concerned perhaps, of the studio losing its way and falling into a content mill like Call of Duty? Basically, has From sold out and is it time for me to become the "I liked them when they were underground" type of fan? ;)
Naveen Sivakumar
2022-03-20 03:09:08 +0000 UTCI'm not one of those gamer-americans who goes around making "the cake is a lie" jokes in my day to day life, but last year we got a new safe at work and I was the manager that day so I got to set the combo. I got an incredible rush from sending a company-wide email saying that the new safe code is 0451. Besides "being guys who talk about games for a living," what is the most gamer-american nonsense you've done at work?
Michelle
2022-03-20 00:56:04 +0000 UTCAs one of the many individuals who uses “watch out for Fireballs” as way to vicariously play games I have no time for… what is a game you wish you could get all the plot beats and experiences of Playing without actually putting in the time to play it?
Jordan and Maya M.
2022-03-19 23:56:44 +0000 UTCHave you guys seen the trailer for The Quarry? I saw it, I'm not even joking, right before I listened to the Until Dawn WOFF. I'm glad Supermassive is getting to make something a bit bigger and more in line with Until Dawn again
Jonathan Scratch
2022-03-19 22:56:01 +0000 UTCBFSC will always be my first love, but I need some more solid Elden Ring content to tide me over between episodes. Besides Vaati (who’s always great), do you have any new recommendations for Souls/Borne content creators?
Mark Mahler
2022-03-19 21:49:09 +0000 UTCWould Twitter be better or worse if it only had a Souls-like messaging system?
Mark Mahler
2022-03-19 21:46:37 +0000 UTCWhat's your favorite Souls build archetype? Trying anything different in Elden Ring?
Wesley Rich
2022-03-19 17:36:50 +0000 UTCWhich current TV show/movie/game etc do you just NOT get the hype for? Example: Ted Lasso is FINE. It is OK! Why do people think it's the first TV show to have nice people and jokes?
Andrew T
2022-03-19 16:07:05 +0000 UTCMy first introduction to Bloodborne was seeing the trailer that opens with the camera lowering into an alley of Yarnham, and it was love at first sight. I literally gasped with wide eyes like a child in a candy store and whispered "Castlevania!" Sadly, due to Konami effectively leaving the game industry Castlevania as a video game series is finished. If Konami were to sell the rights to Castlevania, who would you want to have it? Assume Koji Igarashi turned it down due to having his hands full with Bloodstained.
Lucky McChancey
2022-03-19 13:20:26 +0000 UTCCan you remember a moment when the themes or content in a work of media challenged you intellectually, emotionally or philosophically? Not in the puzzle box sense of something being difficult to parse but in the way that it makes you contend with something about yourself or the world in a way you wouldn’t have before. Or simply that their impact put you in a daze for a few hours of aftermath. Michael Haneke movies tend to do this a lot for me, but I couldn’t say in what way I was a different person before watching Caché. That could be more of an impact thing.
Roberto Stadthagen
2022-03-19 04:56:49 +0000 UTCMay I respectfully request that we move to change "Fashion Souls" to "Elden Bling"?
Jonathan Scratch
2022-03-19 02:44:08 +0000 UTCEverybody's got a few so let's hear it: tell us about your favorite Robot Masters you made up.
Alex Shaw
2022-03-19 02:25:38 +0000 UTC(Sorry to be greedy and throw a second one in here) What are your guys' thoughts on the Steam Deck? I believe one or both of you had a preorder? When is your order availability window? I'm in Q2 and am giddy like a pig in shit thinking about getting Elden Ring on the go. I love the concept and hope Valve has success with this.
Gabriel Tindall
2022-03-19 00:07:47 +0000 UTCLately I've been having conversations with friends and people in my online gaming communities about framerate. My personal bias is a lot like Gary's in that I get annoyed and don't care about framerates, refresh rates, resolutions, HDR's, teraflops, flerp-a-derps, etc. Yes, I have a high end PC and monitor but I don't put framerate counters up and pretty much think if it plays the game, great. I think Bloodborne is one of the greatest games ever made and is a must play to people into that genre. Despite this, I have heard from friends that they find the game "literally unplayable" and cite input lag due to the framerate. I've played the game three times and find it as responsive as any other souls game. I argue that they are creating artificial hurdles in their head and are denying themselves one of the best gaming experiences. You guys say that fun is real and that makes me think may be I'm wrong and that hardware related roadblocks are real too on an individual basis. What do you think? I know the N64 is a mess but I still play it, but that might be permanent nostalgia goggles, but I can see how Goldeneye would be unplayable to a more fresh gamer. I feel like people saying 30fps is unplayable is BS and if it's true, would that not invalidate the last decade or two of console gaming? Where does the line get drawn? Also I just want to massage your ego Gary when you brush off all the technical mumbo jumbo. I love that shit.
Gabriel Tindall
2022-03-19 00:06:19 +0000 UTCQuestion for Gary - Have you ever played Shadowrun Crossfire the SR deckbuilding puzzle game? I think it might be one of my favorites
Ralph
2022-03-19 00:01:04 +0000 UTCIn the past, you've both referred to things that hit you just right as Gary-nip and Kole-nip. I would like to motion the court to hereby refer to those things as Garyjuana and Kolecaine. I was bored driving across several states and listening to WOFF and BFSC when this hit me like a shower thought. Feel free to burn after reading. Thank you sincerely for all you do.
Erin Locke
2022-03-18 23:50:36 +0000 UTCWhat is your favourite Paul Verhoven film ? Also if you could choose to either urinate out your eyes or defacate from your ears, what would you choose? ( Assume that whatever you choose, the other functions as normal)
Ak1raTron
2022-03-18 23:12:41 +0000 UTCOf all the poison swamps in Soulsborne games, which do you find most habitable? What reward would convince you to spend a month living in said poison swamp, assuming food and water of survivable quality would be guaranteed?
Fenreliania
2022-03-18 22:15:06 +0000 UTCYou're being forced into a time machine by some mysterious kidnapping time guy and must choose a new time period, decade or era to live in, which would you pick? It can't be now or any time period you've been alive for.
Christopher Schlee
2022-03-18 22:11:18 +0000 UTCAre either of you subscribed to any Patreons or Patreonalikes? If so, are there any you'd recommend? What makes you decide to subscribe to one? Do you tend to be reward-focused or are you more likely to subscribe to a creator out of a sense of "I just like that person?"
Matt Bixler! Hello!
2022-03-18 21:43:58 +0000 UTCTopic Prompt, User Experience! With the recent release and critical praise of Elden Ring, a hot topic within the gaming community is how the game's UI, HUD, narrative clarity and quest design is challenging the industry's current perception of open world games. Personally, dialogue like this makes me very optimistic towards future long form/open world games as a genre that has stagnated in almost everything but graphical fidelity and map size over the past few years. Discussing how FromSoft's decisions may echo into games from other developers in the future could inspire us all to be excited about bigger budget games breaking the formulaic nature they've been stuck in... or will it just be a new formula? Plus, more chances to gush about Elden Ring!
LambearguineaPig
2022-03-18 21:15:52 +0000 UTCIf you had to direct a scene where you were introduced as a character in a film, what song or theme from from a videogame would you have play over the slow motion shot of you walking into the room? Personally I'd go with End of Small Sanctuary from Silent Hill 3.
Casey Francis Alger
2022-03-18 20:17:50 +0000 UTCI had a surreal experience recently playing the new Horizon. The early goings of the game are set in Zion national park. I wandered off on a random side quest and was stunned to find a rock wall and a dilapidated fence, perfectly rendering a random spot where I took a photo with my mom and sister on a family road trip. This was not a big monument or point of interest, just a rock face that conjured a treasured memory. I’ve gone to many a familiar landmark in games, but nothing this personal or out of the way. Just wondering if you’ve had a similar experience visiting a virtual version of a familiar place.
Doug Lief
2022-03-18 18:43:23 +0000 UTCIf you could eat one fictional food what would it be?
Tom Healey
2022-03-18 18:33:48 +0000 UTCI've been thinkimg about the asymmetrical relationship between content creators and their listeners. Have either of you ever had any poor/interesting experiences when meeting or interacting with listeners, stemming from the potential overfamiliarity they may feel from listening to your thoughts and opinions and lives?
Joe Mecham
2022-03-18 18:28:14 +0000 UTCKole, would you rather rename and recategorize every episode on the premium feed 10 times, or help everyone troubleshoot their podcast apps?
Al
2022-03-18 17:39:45 +0000 UTCIf either Kole or Gary were to be away from the network for an extended period of time, which Souls-Borne NPC would you summon to sub for them?
Kyle Sandy
2022-03-18 17:11:45 +0000 UTCBeen playing Immortals: Fenyx Rising, and enjoying it quite a bit, but one of the criticisms I've seen online is the game is "too easy" - it got me thinking - does a game NEED to be challenging for it to be a "game"? If there is minimal challenge, do you still consider it a game? Or is it just something else altogether?
Andrew F
2022-03-18 17:10:04 +0000 UTC(Gregg voice) hey guys! just this weekend I went back to my childhood home and found a bunch of old tapes I had when I was a kid. it was a neat feeling to see some of the kids media that made me the weirdo I am today like Black Cauldron and the Disney Sleepy Hollow, but what I was really hoping to find was a recorded 6 hour Three Stooges marathon tape that had all of the ca. 1994 commercials still in it that I rewatched incessantly. ripping that to digital would basically be a 6 hour easy dopamine source for me now. sadly I'm pretty sure that went to a landfill when my parents cleaned out their old outdated entertainment center, so now I can just remember it wistfully as the one big nostalgia source that I won't be able to go back to. do either of you have similar pieces of media or experiences from your childhood that are lost to time but you wish you could find it recreate again?
Jacob Vasser
2022-03-18 17:02:33 +0000 UTCA group of friends and I are starting a game club where every couple weeks we play an assigned game, and then get together to discuss it afterward. I started taking notes for these sessions, which mostly is just writing down stray thoughts into a Word document as I play. Do you have any tips on note taking, or assigned play sessions in general?
Kelerak
2022-03-18 16:55:46 +0000 UTCSky dive from 15,000ft solo and you get to have dinner with your celebrity crush, or stand in a pit of spiders for 5 minutes and get to make out with your celebrity crush? (You live in both instances. Not sure how in the second. They’re venomless cuddle spiders.)
Francis Adrian
2022-03-18 16:55:36 +0000 UTCWhat are y’all’s favorite fake in game advertisements, products, slogans, bumper stickers and so on? Mine is a sticker that says “club inflexible person” from silent hill 2 in that weird football room after meeting Billy. Another great example is Aqua Cure from the re3 remake.
Fermented-Sorcerer
2022-03-18 16:53:02 +0000 UTCLiving within America, how do both of you feel with the general chaos and downfall of normalcy due to factors like the pandemic, civil unrest and the downfall of the middle class? What do both of you use/do to cope with the daily stress of being bombarded with our negative reality of the world? Thank You!
Michael Whitmore
2022-03-18 16:50:37 +0000 UTCTopic prompt- themes! Theming is easily the core of artistic expression. Great movies, tv shows, books, and even albums tend to keep a strong theme in mind, especially if a core narrative is being included as part of the work. What themes do you enjoy seeing in games specifically? What themes do think work poorly, or are overdone? And maybe most interestingly, what do you think makes for a good theme specifically within the medium of video games?
Eli Leslie
2022-03-18 16:44:11 +0000 UTCQuick question I was wondering if you guys have ever played any Total War games?
Chase Moore
2022-03-18 16:43:00 +0000 UTCWhat is the Dark Souls of comparing things to Dark Souls?
Noel Warford
2022-03-18 16:41:24 +0000 UTCYou guys sometimes disparage people who value immersion, and I always find it interesting, because what those people are complaining about I tend to find pretty insubstantial, however sometimes I hate having my own broken. So, what does immersion mean to you? What enhances it, what breaks it, and is it really even a factor for you in any way?
Eli Leslie
2022-03-18 16:39:45 +0000 UTCHow has the pandemic affected your podcasts both in terms of recording them and also listening to others? Before it started, I would listen to podcasts all day at work as our net access was restricted. But now that I'm working from home, I have YouTube or regular TV programing on in the background and only listen to podcasts now and then while playing some games. I'm so far behind on your stuff due to that. I promise I'll catch up, please don't hurt me!
Greg Polander
2022-03-18 16:39:25 +0000 UTC
