AggroChat Podcast

AggroChat #333 – Adventures with Lava

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Featuring: Ammo, Belghast, Grace, Kodra, Tamrielo and Thalen

Tonight we are down an Ashgar but start off the show with some discussion about Bel’s adventures in Hardcore Minecraft.  Grace also had never played Minecraft prior to this week and she shares her initial thoughts and just how much cultural knowledge about the game had seeped in from other sources.  A topic that didn’t happen last week but we talk about how Gabe Newell and Elon Musk want to put computers in our brains.  Tam shares his experiences with that Death based Puzzle game Hitman 3.  Kodra talks about his son and Let’s Go Pikachu and this leads to some discussion about Pokemon Snap.  Finally we have a lightning round of quick topics including that the Dark Angels are good, a preface for next week’s discussion about Final Fantasy XIV Endwalker, Diablo 4 not releasing in 2021 and Doctor Snuggles a Nickelodeon show we deleted from our memory banks.

Topics Discussed

  • Hardcore Minecraft
    • Life After Death
    • Grace plays Minecraft for First Time
    • Horrific Machines
  • Gabe Newell and Elon Musk want Computers in our Heads
    • Addiction to the cutting edge
    • The cost of technology adoption
  • Hitman 3
    • A puzzle but someone dies
  • Let’s Go Pikachu
    • Pokemon Snap
  • Quick Topics
    • Dark Angels Surprisingly Good
    • Final Fantasy XIV Endwalker
    • No Diablo 4 in 2021
    • Doctor Snuggles

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AggroChat #332 – Why Games are Important

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Featuring:  Ammo, Ashgar, Belghast, Kodra, Tamrielo and Thalen

This evening’s show is a bit of an odd one, but we are living in very interesting times within other interesting times.  We start off with some discussion about choosing a game controller with a good D-Pad and how most just use 4 independent microswitches these days.  This leads into a discussion about Celeste and Kodra attempting B-Sides.  From there we talk about Crying Suns which effectively feels like a more mature version of FTL.  Then we deep dive into why Games are extremely important and what happens when “Players” start applying the same system breaking logic to the real world.  What we witnessed with the GameStop stock is precisely what gamers do best, evaluating a system, findings its weaknesses, and then exploiting the hell out of them for fun and profit.  This leads to one of the stranger conversations we have had but one that is nonetheless interesting.

Topics Discussed

  • Controllers with good D-Pads
    • Missing Retail for Testing Controllers
  • Celeste 3rd Anniversary
    • B-Sides
    • Classic 2
  • Crying Suns
    • FTL 2.0ish
  • Why Games are Important
    • GameStop Stock
    • Applying Game Breaking Principles to Real Life
    • Trolling the Stock Market
  • Changing Demands and Goals
    • The Fall of industries like Diamonds
    • The Rise of Electric Cars

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AggroChat #331 – Golden Age of Nick

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Featuring:  Ammo, Ashgar, Belghast, Grace, Kodra, Tamrielo and Thalen

Tonight we talk about a few things that have been on the list for a while along with some new fresh topics.  First off Kodra talks to us about Nerts and the world of competitive solitaire.  From there Bel talks about how Dragon Age Inquisition has won him over and how he thinks that it might be the best Dragon Age game so far.  Ash talks about Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity and how it also might be the best Warriors game to date.  Thalen shares with us Nick Knacks on the PopArena YouTube Channel and its exploration of classic Nickelodeon television.  We also debate what we consider our Golden Age of Nick.  We dust off a topic that has been on the list for awhile where we talk about whether or not it is the time for World of Warcraft and Final Fantasy XIV to go Free to Play.  This leads into a general discussion of MMO mechanics over the years and lends its way to some talk about Guild Wars 2.

Topics Discussed

  • Nerts – Competitive Solitaire
  • Dragon Age Inquisition
    • Maybe the best Dragon Age
  • Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity
    • Maybe the best Warriors Game
  • Nickelodeon Nostalgia
    • Nick Knacks on PopArena Channel
    • What was the Golden Age
  • Should WoW and FFXIV Go Free to Play
    • Benefits of Free to Play
    • MMO Game Design Discussion
  • Guild Wars 2 Discussion

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AggroChat #330 – Language of Gameplay

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Featuring: Ammo, Ashgar, Belghast, Kodra, Tamrielo and Thalen

Tonight we have a bunch of toppings that have been hanging around on the list for awhile.  We talk a bit about the announcement that Riot is making an MMORPG and our general thoughts about that.  Bel talks about the need for Attract Screens in game and this leads into a discussion about Tutorialization in games.  From there we venture forth into how exactly you teach a non-gamer how to play games and if games are too complicated right now.  Bel talks a bit about how much he misses F-Zero and why Mario Kart actually won the battle of the racing game that Nintendo cares about.  From there we talk about the vast array of experiments Nintendo is doing right now surrounding Mario.  Bel talks about revisiting Jedi Fallen Order and we wrap things up with a discussion about struggling to find a good tabletop cyberpunk game.

Topics Discussed

  • Riot is Making an MMO
  • Game Attract Screens
  • Teaching Game Mechanics
  • Gaming for Non Gamers
  • Pining for F-Zero
  • Why Mario Kart Won
  • Mario Experimentation
    • Mario Legos
    • Mario Kart Live
    • Super Nintendo World
  • Revisiting Jedi Fallen Order
    • Mouse and Keyboard
  • Finding a Cyberpunk Tabletop Game
    • Genesys
    • Shadowrun
    • Cyberpunk
    • Storyteller games

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