Listen to the wizards cast the spell "Pod level 3" here! This spell lasts only 30 minutes, and in it, they discuss Batman Arkham Asylum and Tim Schaffer's indie hit, Stacking!
Okay, so here's some thoughts for you fine gentlemen.
First off. You guys could use an intro, something that starts things off with a little music and gets the adrenaline going and also intro's a little bit of what the show is about for those of us who are new (which is essentially everyone at this point). On that note, some outro music is also a good idea for the wrap up and telling your listeners where they can find your show and subscribe etc. all that jazz.
I think you two are great hosts! But one thing I seem to notice (bear in mind this is my opinion and could be argued) is it feels like you have a hard time figuring out who your audience is. Is your audience hardcore gamers? Or is your audience newbies? Even if you're trying to appeal to more casual gamers, it's difficult to walk the line of describing things in too much depth for those who aren't familiar, and beating a dead horse for those who are. One example was in your first episode, your description of Minecraft is exceedingly long and almost too in depth. For anyone who's familiar with the game already, that's a good ten minutes of talk concerning Minecraft that doesn't interest them much as they already know about the different enemies and whatnot. And for those who don't, well to some extent they will still probably have to play it for themselves to really get a sense of what you're describing. Again, I'm not saying your description was bad, just that it's hard to cater to both demographics simultaneously.
Also, I find you guys seem to talk about a game, but it kind of ends up being just shy of a review. I don't get the sense of this being strictly a review show, but it couldn't hurt to incorporate a little bit of that. You talked about the Batman games quite a bit, the elements of the game, how it fit into the comics etc. but I didn't walk away feeling like I got all that great of an impression of whether you really enjoyed it or how it would fair against other games of a similar type. Also, don't feel like you can't talk about aspects of games you don't like. That keeps people's attention oftentimes as much as talking about what you did like. Don't be afraid to be critical and if it's sparks controversy, well now you have something more to talk about.
As far as time goes, here's my advice: Don't worry about it at all. Let the topic and conversation guide you. As soon as you feel like you have to fill or compress the flow of the podcast into a time limit, you inevitably start to sacrifice the quality of it in some way. An hour-long show can feel like ten minutes if it's riveting and well produced. If you do want to fit to a more regular time-frame however (which is probably preferred by most listeners) I'd recommend maybe trying to find someone to be your producer/sound-engineer. Someone who can operate the sound equipment, run the music, sounds, keep you to a topic schedule, etc. all while staying mostly in the background. That way you two as the hosts can focus on the topics and conversation.
Some things you could try out in future episodes: Playing the games while you're talking about them could be interesting, or at least editing some of the music and sounds from the games along side your conversations could immerse the listener a bit more into the world of the game. Also, guests! Even if it's not someone from the industry or a 'star' it's nice to get a fresh perspective and hear a new voice from time to time. Having a female once in a while would also broaden your listener base.
That's just about everything off the top of my head, hope this is kind of what you were looking for when you asked for feedback. Great work, keep it up! Just by doing this show more and more, you guys will get better at it and you're audience will grow with you. And you're off to great start already, so you guys are in good shape! Cheers!
Matt!! This is Justin, and it's absolutely a breath of fresh air to finally have a healthy criticism of what a listener thinks and what we might change to make this thing a little better! Some things in reply: I used to have a loose format of a breakdown for each game or movie we would review. It had a couple of topics that I wanted to touch on, but it was nothing overly detailed. I think maybe I should go back to that sort of a "reminder sheet". The whole ideer of this thing is to eventually get it into a video format. I don't really know what we need to begin, but we've been researching. We are very limited on funds... A capture card and a video camera are in our immediate future.
We TOTALLY plan on having some guests as soon as we can round a few up. I think your suggestion for not really minding the time is very sound advice. I go through a simple editing process, but I've only ever shaved maybe 5 minutes off, maximum. If you're still in the area, maybe YOU'D like to play guest a time or two!
We DON'T quite know the audience, it's true! I'm not even completely sure who I WANT to cater to, but I'd prefer as wide a gaming demographic as possible. I also agree with your comment about us not giving "full fledged" reviews. So far it HAS been pretty scattershot and we just rattle off about what we know off the cuff. Some organization in that department could most definitely benefit us!
I've entertained having a sound editor/manager guy, but I kind of do all of the work he would do as it stands. And it doesn't take too much time or effort. It may be a good idea, but I think we need to do sound and figure some stuff out first, or he/she's have nothing to do... leading me to my next response:
I've waaaay entertained music, and I have a band with which we could make some sweet sounds and stuff! It just hasn't reached that point yet, but it was actually next on the "to do" list. Good call!
Thanks SO so much for the positive feedback and the helpful hints towards making this thing even remotely successful! I appreciate this more than you might believe.
As a busy mother of 2 that likes to keep up with your podcast, I really prefer the shorter 30 minute version. I understand, however, that I am not your target audience and my needs are not at all the same as a majority of your listeners. You boys do go on a lot of tangents, which I love, but that may make it harder to just do a 30 minute show. I'm a big help right? So, if you can keep the witty banter, impressions, and tangents all while still covering the items you want in a 30 minute show then that is what I want!
Gotcha covered. Like I say on the other comment thread in Episode 1 (Not Star Wars) it'll probably end up at the 40 minute mark, but it'll be loosely so. ALSO, thanks for letting me not feel old alone! Your support is rad, and I eat it for breakfast, lunch, and dinner as the podcast is so young, you're helping us shape this thing!
Also! I have been entertaining splitting the show down into 3 or 4 different segments into one episode so that people can break into a certain part or skip parts they don't want (at their peril)! It'll be extra work for me, but it's something I'm entertaining...
Sadly I'm not in the area, but I'm honored by your offer! I did however have an idea for a game for you to review and it would be fun to listen/watch you guys play: Slender. It's a peaceful little atmospheric game where you go around collecting bits of paper with poetry on it.
Haha, I'm joking a little bit on that description, but I imagine it would make for a very entertaining playthrough with your commentary!
Keep up the good work fellas! Consider me a listener!
Rad! You hit a bit of a nail here as Kodiak is already a bit of a nut for the Slender Man. If he had his way, Slenderman would have already worked his way into the spellcast. If you have any sweet ideas on any of the tech we might need to upgrade, I'd appreciate hints and we're ALWAYS welcome to avid listeners. Thanks for the early support during the "rough times." We expect to have a sweet new website and music coming: The music as early as the next podcast! Thanks again!
Okay, so here's some thoughts for you fine gentlemen.
ReplyDeleteFirst off. You guys could use an intro, something that starts things off with a little music and gets the adrenaline going and also intro's a little bit of what the show is about for those of us who are new (which is essentially everyone at this point). On that note, some outro music is also a good idea for the wrap up and telling your listeners where they can find your show and subscribe etc. all that jazz.
I think you two are great hosts! But one thing I seem to notice (bear in mind this is my opinion and could be argued) is it feels like you have a hard time figuring out who your audience is. Is your audience hardcore gamers? Or is your audience newbies? Even if you're trying to appeal to more casual gamers, it's difficult to walk the line of describing things in too much depth for those who aren't familiar, and beating a dead horse for those who are. One example was in your first episode, your description of Minecraft is exceedingly long and almost too in depth. For anyone who's familiar with the game already, that's a good ten minutes of talk concerning Minecraft that doesn't interest them much as they already know about the different enemies and whatnot. And for those who don't, well to some extent they will still probably have to play it for themselves to really get a sense of what you're describing. Again, I'm not saying your description was bad, just that it's hard to cater to both demographics simultaneously.
Also, I find you guys seem to talk about a game, but it kind of ends up being just shy of a review. I don't get the sense of this being strictly a review show, but it couldn't hurt to incorporate a little bit of that. You talked about the Batman games quite a bit, the elements of the game, how it fit into the comics etc. but I didn't walk away feeling like I got all that great of an impression of whether you really enjoyed it or how it would fair against other games of a similar type. Also, don't feel like you can't talk about aspects of games you don't like. That keeps people's attention oftentimes as much as talking about what you did like. Don't be afraid to be critical and if it's sparks controversy, well now you have something more to talk about.
As far as time goes, here's my advice: Don't worry about it at all. Let the topic and conversation guide you. As soon as you feel like you have to fill or compress the flow of the podcast into a time limit, you inevitably start to sacrifice the quality of it in some way. An hour-long show can feel like ten minutes if it's riveting and well produced. If you do want to fit to a more regular time-frame however (which is probably preferred by most listeners) I'd recommend maybe trying to find someone to be your producer/sound-engineer. Someone who can operate the sound equipment, run the music, sounds, keep you to a topic schedule, etc. all while staying mostly in the background. That way you two as the hosts can focus on the topics and conversation.
Some things you could try out in future episodes: Playing the games while you're talking about them could be interesting, or at least editing some of the music and sounds from the games along side your conversations could immerse the listener a bit more into the world of the game. Also, guests! Even if it's not someone from the industry or a 'star' it's nice to get a fresh perspective and hear a new voice from time to time. Having a female once in a while would also broaden your listener base.
That's just about everything off the top of my head, hope this is kind of what you were looking for when you asked for feedback. Great work, keep it up! Just by doing this show more and more, you guys will get better at it and you're audience will grow with you. And you're off to great start already, so you guys are in good shape! Cheers!
-Matt
Matt!! This is Justin, and it's absolutely a breath of fresh air to finally have a healthy criticism of what a listener thinks and what we might change to make this thing a little better!
DeleteSome things in reply: I used to have a loose format of a breakdown for each game or movie we would review. It had a couple of topics that I wanted to touch on, but it was nothing overly detailed. I think maybe I should go back to that sort of a "reminder sheet". The whole ideer of this thing is to eventually get it into a video format. I don't really know what we need to begin, but we've been researching. We are very limited on funds... A capture card and a video camera are in our immediate future.
We TOTALLY plan on having some guests as soon as we can round a few up. I think your suggestion for not really minding the time is very sound advice. I go through a simple editing process, but I've only ever shaved maybe 5 minutes off, maximum. If you're still in the area, maybe YOU'D like to play guest a time or two!
We DON'T quite know the audience, it's true! I'm not even completely sure who I WANT to cater to, but I'd prefer as wide a gaming demographic as possible. I also agree with your comment about us not giving "full fledged" reviews. So far it HAS been pretty scattershot and we just rattle off about what we know off the cuff. Some organization in that department could most definitely benefit us!
I've entertained having a sound editor/manager guy, but I kind of do all of the work he would do as it stands. And it doesn't take too much time or effort. It may be a good idea, but I think we need to do sound and figure some stuff out first, or he/she's have nothing to do... leading me to my next response:
I've waaaay entertained music, and I have a band with which we could make some sweet sounds and stuff! It just hasn't reached that point yet, but it was actually next on the "to do" list. Good call!
Thanks SO so much for the positive feedback and the helpful hints towards making this thing even remotely successful! I appreciate this more than you might believe.
-Justin
As a busy mother of 2 that likes to keep up with your podcast, I really prefer the shorter 30 minute version. I understand, however, that I am not your target audience and my needs are not at all the same as a majority of your listeners. You boys do go on a lot of tangents, which I love, but that may make it harder to just do a 30 minute show. I'm a big help right? So, if you can keep the witty banter, impressions, and tangents all while still covering the items you want in a 30 minute show then that is what I want!
ReplyDeleteGotcha covered. Like I say on the other comment thread in Episode 1 (Not Star Wars) it'll probably end up at the 40 minute mark, but it'll be loosely so. ALSO, thanks for letting me not feel old alone! Your support is rad, and I eat it for breakfast, lunch, and dinner as the podcast is so young, you're helping us shape this thing!
ReplyDelete-The Wizard Justin
Also! I have been entertaining splitting the show down into 3 or 4 different segments into one episode so that people can break into a certain part or skip parts they don't want (at their peril)! It'll be extra work for me, but it's something I'm entertaining...
ReplyDeleteSadly I'm not in the area, but I'm honored by your offer! I did however have an idea for a game for you to review and it would be fun to listen/watch you guys play: Slender. It's a peaceful little atmospheric game where you go around collecting bits of paper with poetry on it.
ReplyDeleteHaha, I'm joking a little bit on that description, but I imagine it would make for a very entertaining playthrough with your commentary!
Keep up the good work fellas! Consider me a listener!
Rad! You hit a bit of a nail here as Kodiak is already a bit of a nut for the Slender Man. If he had his way, Slenderman would have already worked his way into the spellcast. If you have any sweet ideas on any of the tech we might need to upgrade, I'd appreciate hints and we're ALWAYS welcome to avid listeners. Thanks for the early support during the "rough times." We expect to have a sweet new website and music coming: The music as early as the next podcast! Thanks again!
ReplyDelete