Episode 5 - RFGeneration Community Playthrough Wrap-Up

[singlebanana]

Episode 5 is live on these sites:
Youtube -
Podomatic - http://rfgenplaythroughs.podomatic.com/
Itunes - https://itunes.apple.com/...ythrough/id874327459?mt=2

THIS PODCAST CONTAINS SPOILERS.

Retro: SNES - Chrono Trigger
Modern: PC - Minecraft, Gone Home, The Stanley Parable, Dear Esther

Join the RFGeneration Community Playthrough hosts Rich (Singlebanana), Jamie (techwizard), Floyd (Fleach), and Shawn (GrayGhost81) along with a couple special guests as we discuss an epic RPG on the SNES and a collection of indie PC games in the July Playthroughs.

We were joined by the always fantastic Russlyman for the Chrono Trigger portion of the show. Be sure to follow him on Twitter as well as Instagram:
https://twitter.com/RussLyman
http://instagram.com/russlyman

Introduction: 0:00:24
Chrono Trigger: 0:01:27
PC Indie Mix: 1:48:19
Conclusion: 3:57:47

Music:
Opening/Closing theme by Atma Weapon - http://atmaweaponnc.bandcamp.com/

Shownotes:
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/rfgenplaythroughs
Twitter - https://twitter.com/RFGPlaythroughs

Edited by Jamie (techwizard) and Floyd (Fleach)

[Crabmaster2000]

I did indeed get my Mega Man 2 vinyl (2 copies). Its also a different member who is trying to get the Chrono Trigger vinyl pressed. He is trying very hard to get the rights to the music so that its a legit item and not a bootleg like the Mega Man 2 ones. The Mega Man 2 guy is planning his next one which is Zelda I believe and planning several others (Ninja Gaiden!!).

[Disposed Hero]

Oh, I can't resist:

"Frog The Wet Robo Sprocket"

[singlebanana]

Send me your address sir!

[Fleach]

Coming Soon.

It's Here!

[img width=320 height=240]http://stream1.gifsoup.com/view2/1288191/they-re-here-o.gif[/img]

[bombatomba]

Even though I do get the reference, that Toadies video, Possum Kingdom, popped into my head.  I just spent the last ten minutes reintroducing myself to the Toadies.  Man, the 90's was a weird time.

The first time I played through Chrono Trigger and I encountered Lavos I immediately called my friend at Funcoland and was invited to come up and beat the game at the store.  The fight took quite a bit longer than either of us expected.  While it probably didn't take more than thirty minutes, it felt more like an hour.  Man, the amount of endorphin that surged through my brain when I finally finished it.

A former WoW addict?  Good call on staying away.  If you look at my original activity on RFG you will see a massive dip where I disappear almost entirely.  This pretty much coincides with my Minecraft "addiction." After I bought it in 2009 I spent quite a while just puttering around, building houses and fortresses.  I stopped around the time my boy was becoming interested in building and construction, so I bought him some Legos and his own Minecraft account.  Never regretted it.  I occasionally run a small server for him and one or two of his buddies, but unlike his friends (and me) he is less interested in survival and more about the creative side.  Future engineer, I'm hoping.   I think most of the Minecraft "scene" revolves around a group of "Youtubers" who test and use mods in their videos.  For a while I got into these videos, and was using them to "test" mods so I could perhaps interest my son with, but now I just let him play what he wants to, which is currently tornado mods.  

UPDATE:  I wanted to thank you guys for putting a bunch of PC games into the CP this past month.  While I was unable to jump in and play with you guys, I at least got to listed to you all talk about it.  Thanks again.

[techwizard]

I wanted to thank you guys for putting a bunch of PC games into the CP this past month.  While I was unable to jump in and play with you guys, I at least got to listed to you all talk about it.  Thanks again.

glad you enjoyed the discussion! the playthroughs definitely needed some PC love so i'm glad we finally got a chance to play some, even if participation was low.

[Disposed Hero]

Once again, I really enjoyed the podcast!  I should really go back some time and get all the different endings in Chrono Trigger.  During this playthrough, I got the standard good ending and the 'Dream Team' ending for beating Lavos with Chrono and Marle at the beginning of a New Game+.  I remember when I was a kid getting an ending where the Reptites took over as the dominant species, but I forget how exactly you get it.

I don't think I mentioned it in the thread, but I did actually finish The Stanley Parable, I just didn't have much to say about it.  My opinion of the game is exactly the same as singlebanana's.  I got a chuckle or two out of the game's humor, but overall I didn't find it to be that funny.

It was very interesting to listen to the discussion about Dear Esther.  As I mentioned in the thread, I didn't really care for this 'game' very much.  I normally don't look for a lot of symbolism and metaphors in media though.  I tend to take everything pretty literally and at face value.  While I was playing through it, the scenarios and theories you guys mentioned never occurred to me.  I always interpreted it simply as a man walking through a remote island, coping with the loss of Esther, and eventually committing suicide.  All of the theories and explanations you guys came up with make it seem much more interesting.

[singlebanana]

My opinion of the game is exactly the same as singlebanana's.  I got a chuckle or two out of the game's humor, but overall I didn't find it to be that funny.

Yeah.....I'll probably get a lot of hate for this, but I'm not a big fan of Monty Python and related-type humor. It seemed that the game was trying to be aggravatingly funny and over-the-top, and it just didn't work for me. I tend to take to more "serious(??)" gaming themes and plots, so I found the game a bit contrived. As you can tell, I was much more excited to discuss Gone Home and Dear Esther.

It was very interesting to listen to the discussion about Dear Esther.  As I mentioned in the thread, I didn't really care for this 'game' very much.  I normally don't look for a lot of symbolism and metaphors in media though.  I tend to take everything pretty literally and at face value.  While I was playing through it, the scenarios and theories you guys mentioned never occurred to me.  I always interpreted it simply as a man walking through a remote island, coping with the loss of Esther, and eventually committing suicide.  All of the theories and explanations you guys came up with make it seem much more interesting.

Over-analyzing games is what I do. I have a Masters in English Literature and actually taught college courses for a while, so it's just ingrained. What made Dear Esther most impressionable to me was piecing together the "story" and analyzing the Biblical references inherent within (they are obvious and can't be ignored). The gameplay was basically non-existent, so the game was story-driven. Like any text, this game begs to be analyzed and in the same way, there is no right or wrong interpretation. If we take the time to reflect on games like Dear Esther and Gone Home, I think we learn something about ourselves and that's what makes media like this so great. Sure, I love to play escapist games like shooty-shoots and beat 'em ups as much as the next person, but it's nice to play a more personal and reflective game from time-to-time.

[shaggy]

Frog The Wet Robo Sprocket!  Amen!

[singlebanana]

Frog The Wet Robo Sprocket!  Amen!

Thanks for listening, but you're late on the prize.

[Crabmaster2000]

Finished the episode and although I did enjoy it overall I felt it was the weakest episode put forth so far. The biggest flaw being that we had to wait for Jamie to leave the call during the Chrono Trigger segment for the podcast to actually begin. These are discussions for people that participated in playing the games or who want to explore other player's feelings on these games (please correct me if I'm mistaken, that's what I have always felt the intention was behind the community playthrough podcasts). Having to wait for someone to leave the discussion for fear of spoilers seemed to defeat the purpose and prolong some of the less interesting areas as you guys tried to stretch the discussion to allow for Jamie to participate longer. I feel a bit bad saying this, but it really did feel like the I was waiting for the podcast to start once he left the call. The second half of that section was engaging and had a nice flow to the conversation. Russlyman was a great addition to the cast. I don't fault someone for not playing each and every game to completion, but don't hold back those that did or those that just want to have (and hear) a fully open discussion of the game in its entirety.

That said I've heard a ton about Chrono Trigger over the years so I was far more interested in hearing about the other 4 games as the only one I've had any experience with was Minecraft, mostly through my son. Gone Home was the one the piqued my interest the most. I really enjoyed hearing all the theories from you guys as to what certain things meant in that game. The last 2 games though seemed maybe a bit too long winded. Almost like they didn't have as much focus as the rest and you guys were just talking at certain points to extend the conversation and meet an invisible time limit.

And even with my rudimentary knowledge of Minecraft I felt it deserved more time in the spotlight. You kind of explained what the game was about and how to do certain things, it was like listening to an audio manual. I would have liked to hear why you guys enjoyed it, what you built and why. What brings players back into that world and why it has been such a runaway success. I don't understand this game's appeal and thought this might be my opportunity for some insight into it.

Like I said earlier, I still found enjoyment in this episode and will continue to listen to future podcasts. Each previous one has kept you guys moving in a positive direction and I just felt like this one might have been a bit of a stumble, but definitely one that I know you guys can recover from.

[singlebanana]

Finished the episode and although I did enjoy it overall I felt it was the weakest episode put forth so far. The biggest flaw being that we had to wait for Jamie to leave the call during the Chrono Trigger segment for the podcast to actually begin. These are discussions for people that participated in playing the games or who want to explore other player's feelings on these games (please correct me if I'm mistaken, that's what I have always felt the intention was behind the community playthrough podcasts). Having to wait for someone to leave the discussion for fear of spoilers seemed to defeat the purpose and prolong some of the less interesting areas as you guys tried to stretch the discussion to allow for Jamie to participate longer. I feel a bit bad saying this, but it really did feel like the I was waiting for the podcast to start once he left the call. The second half of that section was engaging and had a nice flow to the conversation. Russlyman was a great addition to the cast. I don't fault someone for not playing each and every game to completion, but don't hold back those that did or those that just want to have (and hear) a fully open discussion of the game in its entirety.

I appreciate your thoughts Crabby and agree that some of the discussion seemed a little "held back" at times to avoid spoilers. As you mentioned, the reason for our podcast is to discuss the games after we've played them, which means spoilers are out in the open. I'm of the opinion that spoilers should be out in the open from the onset and this means that as hosts, we have to make the choice to be okay with spoilers (if we didn't finish the game), or remain out of the conversation. I don't fault Jamie for wanting to be a part of the conversation, it's Chrono Trigger, a heavy hitter, and everyone wants to discuss it. In the future, it might service us best to choose one option or the other for the sake of the discussion.     

And even with my rudimentary knowledge of Minecraft I felt it deserved more time in the spotlight. You kind of explained what the game was about and how to do certain things, it was like listening to an audio manual.

I thought that we spent a nice chunk of time on Minecraft, even though some segments were much longer. The issue this month was that we played four games and one week was dedicated to each. We only had two people to play the game, Jamie & SirPsycho, so it was rather difficult to get a lot of opinions regarding the game. I approached the conversation as someone who had never played it before (which was true) in a sort of "sell this game to me" manner. I suppose it might have sounded rudimentary (like listening to an audio manual), but it seemed the most logical way to discuss it concerning the circumstances. I commend Jamie for going stepping out of the box and offering up some PC titles, since I'd say the majority of our members are primarily home console collectors. Unfortunately, I don't know that these titles got the support that they deserved and with so many of them in one month, people kind of picked and chose the ones they were specifically interested in. I think that Minecraft was probably overlooked due to it's intended audience and the age of many of our participants. We should have interviewed your son; that would have actually been really awesome!

We certainly appreciate the feedback and will take all of this into consideration. Thanks for listening!

[techwizard]

Great feedback Crabby! Even though it can be hard to hear negative feedback I find that it's often more constructive than positive feedback as it shows us what areas we could improve on to make a better show. I don't disagree with anything you said but I'll put in my 2 cents on each point.

On dropping out early with CT I've been on the fence about whether or not all playthrough hosts should be present for every episode, or if it's better to only have those who played the game right to the end. In this case I figured that because I had played through a good portion of the game it wouldn't affect anything too much as we usually leave story and end plot discussion towards the end of each segment. I completely agree that as it came to it, it did feel like I was holding everyone back and the show did improve significantly after I left.

I will say that our show is very casual, and if it might feel like we're trying to hit certain time limits that's not the intention. The Shadow of the Colossus segment in Ep 4 was the closest we've come to any sort of "script" and that was essentially just a list of what order to talk about each topic in. That one did seem to get some of the most positive feedback we've had yet, so maybe that's a sign that we should strive for more structure.

Another big issue which explains a lot of our "rambling" at times is that we aren't always very good with note-taking and prep work. We do have a google doc which we share notes on prior to the show, but some segments had close to nothing for notes. I think Rich and Floyd both tend to have hand written notes sometimes though, so maybe that problem is more for me and Shawn to work on.

As for the PC discussion, that was mostly a case of no one except myself having played minecraft (and again bad notes). For the most part all three of us really liked Dear Esther and had less to say about Gone Home/The Stanley Parable. I see your points about MC but for myself I feel like TSP actually deserved more air time than it got.

like Rich said we'll definitely take this all into consideration, thanks again!

[Duke.Togo]

You guys have a very tough chore, which is A) pick games people want to play, and B) pick games that are fun to discuss on a podcast. I don't envy that task, but admire you guys for having at it.

I am still in the PC section, but here are my thoughts.
- Chrono Trigger - Great game, but the conversation was a bit all over and sounded like a tap dance around parts, and not much about the structure of the game itself. Very insider, and some of the folks listening may have never picked it up. Let people know what they are missing, why they should pick it up if they haven't, and why they should finish it if they never did. As the listener, take me through the experience you had. People that did the play through already know all the spoilers, people that didn't probably won't understand/remember them when they go back to play. Some people just like to listen others talk about games they will never play (those would be those PC thingies for me).
- Russ was great. Good job on inviting him on.
- GrayGhost has a new mic. YES!

Lastly, it seems like these are very delayed past the end of the actual play through. I'd bring them out at the end of that month, and use it as a vehicle to plug the one that just started. It might mean that the hosts need to be ahead of the actual players, but it won't be a big enough delay to deter from the conversation in the thread.

Free advice is worth what you paid for it, and I wish you guys the best. I enjoy listening to the show regardless if I have played the games or not. Keep them coming.