Tonight apparently there is something funky going on with Bel’s Mic and he fades in and out at weird times.  First off we talk a bit about Paizo and their efforts to Unionize.  Bel talks a bit about having reached level 80 in all of his battle jobs in Final Fantasy XIV.  From there we talk about Pathfinder Wrath of the Righteous, Unsighted, and revisit Wildermyth.  We talk a bit about what happens when you make cataclysms happen 100 years earlier in Stellaris.  Then we finish things out with some New World updates. Topics Discussed Paizo Unionization Efforts Bel Finishes FFXIV Battle Jobs Pathfinder Wrath of the Righteous Unsighted Wildermyth Ballad of Brey and Royhen Stellaris Adventures in Turning Up the Crisis New World Updates 

AggroChat: Tales of the Aggronaut Podcast

AggroChat #363 - Pacifist Tomato Conquers All

Tonight we return to some discussion about New World and how the promised server moves don’t seem like they are going to work out as we thought.  The end result is the server queues are gone from Minda but we have a handful of people isolated on servers in a different region.  We talk about some of Kodra’s woes in attempting to run PVP Faction missions solo.  From there we talk a bit about Tabletop Simulator and some of the interesting ways it allows you to play board games virtually during the pandemic.  We talk a bit about Tales of Arise and some of the issues it has with not really explaining clearly where a player should go next.  We wrap things up with some discussion of Kodra finally beating Celeste and moving on to the modded version of the game including Glyph. Topics Discussed: New World Awful Server Move Strategy Issues with Solo PVP Good Systems Tabletop Simulator Virtual Miniature Gaming Magic Commander/EDH Playtesting Tales of Arise Beating Celeste Moving on to Modded Celeste 

AggroChat #362 - A House Divided

Tonight we are back after taking last week off for Tam’s wedding.  We also record an exceptionally long show because we got into the topic…  and were not watching the clock terribly closely.  So it clocks in at around an hour and forty minutes of talking about Amazon’s New World release and all of the good and bad that comes with that.  While this makes for an interesting show…  it makes for some pretty boring show notes. Topics Discussed New World Launch Infrastructure Woes Great Game Though Server Transfers 

AggroChat #361 - Huge Queues Tiny Servers

This evening we are down a Grace and went through a whole carnival of tech issues before the show, and as such were delated getting started.  Bel starts the show off talking about finding a batch of WoW Screenshots he thought were lost, and it turns out that no…  he likely deleted them on purpose due to the cavalcade of raid drama documented.  The Final Fantasy XIV Live Letter 66 was a seven-hour-long presentation talking bout the new job skills and various other system changes.  We spend a good chunk of the night talking through some of the changes including the complete revamp of the Summoner class.  From there we talk about Deathloop as Tam shares some of his thoughts about the game while Bel talks about almost refunding due to any sort of a single-player save system.  Finally, we share the news that there will be no AggroChat next week due to reasons that involve most of the show’s cast. Topics Discussed Hard Drive of Horrors Final Fantasy XIV Live Letter 66 Job Actions Trailer The New Summoner Thoughts for Endwalker Deathloop Proving we do like Jazz Interesting Take on Genre Bel Bemoans Lack of Saves No Show Next Week 

AggroChat #360 - That Summoner Glow Up

Tonight we start the show off with Kodra talking bout Celeste and making it past the Farewell segment of the game.  We talk about the conclusion of the Epic versus Apple lawsuit and how it is pretty bad for both companies, but especially bad for Epic.  From there we talk about our impressions of the games shown off at what would have been the Sony E3 show if that happened.  This leads into a discussion of Tam recently trying out Avengers and how it is still not a good game after all this time.  We talk for a bit about Pathfinder Secrets of Magic book and martial spellcasters in general.  Finally, we have a bit of a discussion between Thalen and Kodra about Super Mario Maker with children. Topics Discussed Celeste Farewell to Farewell Epic versus Apple Conclusion Bad for both Ruling against Epic Sony Playstation Play Showcase 2021 Avengers is Still Bad Secrets of Magic Super Mario Maker with Kids 

AggroChat #359 - PlayStation Play 2021

Tonight we are surprised to have with us Kodra and his five-day-old daughter.  Gotta get that podcasting started early.  This evening Ash and Tam talk about attending Pax Prime during a Pandemic and the oddities that come with that.  After that, we dive into a topic that we somewhat previewed at the end of last week’s show, but Magic the Gathering goes to some really odd places in 2022.  It seems that Wizards of the Coast is finally taking advantage of the fact that they exist in a game setting that can travel to all sorts of dimensions.  Bel talks for a bit about his adventures with the Gamesir X2 controller that turns an Android phone into something resembling a Nintendo Switch.  Finally, we talk about how the mechanics of “Real-time with pause” is generally awful and talk about some of the games that would have been made better with a proper turn-based mode.  Lastly, a quick topic as Kodra talks a bit about the 2.3 updates for VVVVVV and how he hopes to try speedrunning some other modes. Topics Discussed Attending PAX During Pandemic Interesting games Magic in 2022 Cyberpunk Kamigawa Art Deco Gangland Street Fighter Fortnite Gamesir X2 Android Controller PS5 Remote Play Xbox Game Pass Steam  Real-Time with Pause Sucks Pathfinder Pillars of Eternity Dragon Age: Origins VVVVVV 2.3 Released Kodra can speed run more modes 

AggroChat #358 - Magic Gets Weird

Tonight we talk about several things that Blizzard claimed were impossible, making their way into the 9.1.5 patch.  Is this fan service or an act of desperation in trying to stem the hemorrhaging of players?  From there we talk about how other games have done a better job of making sure that players’ feedback was heard and understood.  Thalen talks about the release of Psychonauts 2 and how it has been a long time coming.  Kodra discusses the frustrations of the game featuring callbacks to a virtual-reality-only game that very few players have been able to experience.  From there we talk about Marvel Crisis Protocol, a skirmish scale miniatures game as well as the revolving door of miniature games that have come and gone from game stores.  Finally, we preview a topic for next week, as we talk about all of the weird places that Magic the Gathering is going to go this coming year. Topics Discussed Blizzard Eats Crow Undoing Covenant Restrictions Undoing Conduit Energy Fanservice Racial Changes Too little too late Why we still can’t play Blizzard games Psychonauts 2 Connections to previous games Collectable platformers Marvel Crisis Protocol Marvel Skirmish Miniatures Coming and going of Miniature games 

AggroChat #357 - Miniature Marvel Mayhem

Tonight we start off with the travails of Belghast attempting to heal things on Scholar.  Kodra chimes in with his own experiences in the same class.  Bel talks a bit about getting to the bottom of the weird obsession that seems to be taking place with hitting +99/+99 aetherpool as fast as humanly possible in Palace of the Dead.  This leads to some discussions of WoW mindsets showing up in FFXIV players.  Bel and Ammo talk a bit about The Diadem and super chill leveling gatherers.  We talk at length about Wildermyth and how it does an excellent job of replicating the tabletop RPG experience in a digital interface.  Finally, we talk a bit about Art Software and Ash’s explorations of what works for him with Ammo and Bel chiming in a bit towards the end. Topics Discussed: Bel Trying to Heal Stuff Gotta get 99/99 Fast WoW Mentalities in FFXIV The Diadem Wildermyth Adventures in Art Software 

AggroChat #356 - Wildermyth

Tonight we start the show with some discussion of copyright trolls trying to prove how broken our system is by copyrighting a Magic the Gathering deck.  From there Grace talks about her experiences with the Kickstarter Kitfox game Boyfriend Dungeon.  We revisit The Ascent as Bel, Grace, and Thalen have now played the game and relate their experiences of how it is not really Diablo but also really enjoyable.  Ashgar and Kodra share their experiences of playing Bullet 

AggroChat #355 - Smooching Swords

Tonight we start off with Bel confessing his love for a class that he never expected to like in FFXIV, the Dancer.  From there we talk a bit about FFXIV in general and how weird the Bozjan Front is.  Tam shares with us a game that is actually way more in the wheelhouse of Bel, Grace, and Thalen and is effectively Cyberpunk-themed Diablo.  The Ascent is a game that was shown at E3 and actually the final product is pretty great.  A topic that has been hanging on the list for a while is some discussion of Civilization 6 multiplayer and contrasting it to previous versions of the game.  More specifically Kodra shares his experiences playing with asymmetrical difficult levels.  We talk a bit about MTG Arena leaning into its computer game nature and doing some things that absolutely would break paper magic.  Finally, we talk some about the board game Bullet Heart. Topics Discussed Final Fantasy XIV Dancer Bozjan Southern Front The Ascent Cyberpunk Diablo Civilization 6 Multiplayer Assymetrical Difficult Settings Magic Arena Historic Horizons Bullet Heart 

AggroChat #354 - Cyberpunk Diablo

Tonight we had the whole gang back and start the show talking about how Bel was apparently replaced by a totally different person as he both healed a few dungeons and ran raid content in FFXIV as a mage class.  From there we talk a bit about Blaugust which is starting the day this show releases.  The rest of the show is sort of a rapid-fire remembering of games that had dropped off our radar over the years or that we just plain forgot about.  We talk about MMORPGs gone by, games that had DLC releases, or just games that we started but never actually got back around to playing.  We dive a bit into Genshin Impact and the most recent content release as well as apparently the ability to play your pc/mobile account on the PlayStation 5.  Lastly we finish the show with a discussion of Ghostrunner, a movement puzzle platformer game featuring a deep cyberpunk aesthetic. Topics Discussed Bel Heals and Does Castery Things in FFXIV Blaugust 2021 is Here Great Games that dropped off our radar Games we forgot about Games we have returned to Games that got good when we weren’t looking Genshin Impact Ghostrunner 

AggroChat #353 - Games We Forgot About

Hey Friends, it is time for a bit of real talk before I get into the podcast show notes.  We had a discussion last night about whether or not we should talk about the horrific Blizzard situation on the show.  I’ve made my comments pretty clear on my blog, but it also sorta felt gross and weird to engage in a conversation without anyone other than cisgender men.  Real-world emergencies deprived us of both Ammo and Grace last night, and I hope both of those situations got better.  It might come up again in the coming weeks but only if everyone on the show is up for talking about it.As far as the topics we did discuss we talked a bit about Monster Hunter Stories 2 on the Nintendo Switch and how I apparently completely misunderstand the genre of that game.  Tam talks a bit about returning to Star Trek Online years later and the pattern of play that the game has fallen into.  We also go down a list of games that have quietly been holding on with a steady player base but get very little fanfare.  Kodra talks about his experience streaming Celeste and invites everyone to participate in those streams.  We close out the show with a discussion about Cyberpunk 2077 because Tam decided to give it a shot and Bel feels at least partially vindicated.  It is a mixed bag of a game but an extremely interesting one. Topics Discussed: Monster Hunter Stories 2 Star Trek Online Quietly Successful MMORPGs More FFXIV Discussion Kodra Streams Celeste Speed runs Cyberpunk 2077 Horrible Representation and Great Representation Easy to bounce early Extremely detailed and interesting game 

AggroChat #352 - Partial Vindication

This year has probably had more missing shows than pretty much any to date.  Last week storms blew through and Belghast lost internet for a good chunk of the night so we did not record.  This week however we recorded a slightly longer than average show as a result.  We start with Bel and Grace exploring Rune II and how it is a flawed game but also enjoyable.  Tam shares his experience of playing Final Fantasy 7 Intergrade and the adventures of Yuffie.  This bleeds into a discussion about Yakuza Like a Dragon and how Final Fantasy is going realtime and Yakuza is seemingly going to menu-driven combat.  Kodra and Thalen share their experiences playing the new Forgotten Realms-themed Magic the Gathering set.  Then we dive into a discussion about Final Fantasy XIV since a large number of us are active once again.   Topics Discussed Rune II Final Fantasy VII Intergrade Yakuza: Like a Dragon Adventures in the Forgotten Realms Final Fantasy XIV Live Letter Returning to the game Systems within Systems Bel Breaking his Tanking Block Final Fantasy XI Nonsense 

AggroChat #351 - Greysky is Active Again

Hey Friends! We made it to 350 episodes!  Which seems like a big number but as Thalen puts it… it is a new record over last week's new record.  We break into a brief discussion about the era of big box games which brings us into a discussion of the era of pack in “feelies”  From there Bel talks about his return to Final Fantasy XIV and the forming of the Super Dungeon Friends community.  We also talk about the weird events this weekend happening on Cactuar the server we all play on.  We talk about the Co-Op game It Takes Two and the platformer Iconoclasts.  We also talk a bit about D&D Dark Alliance and Mario Golf Super Rush. Topics Discussed Big Box PC Game Era We Miss Feelies Returning to FFXIV Super Dungeon Friends Weird Weekend on Cactuar It Takes Two Iconoclasts D&D Dark Alliance Mario Golf Super Rush 

AggroChat #350 - Super Dungeon Friends

Tonight we start the show missing several people and then Kodra sneaks in while recording and claims to have been there all along.  We start out with a discussion of the Windows 11 announcement and the odd requirements it seems are going to be required to upgrade into it.  From there we talk about Grace’s adventures with Subnautica: Below Zero which I legitimately thought was an expansion pack and not a whole new game.  Bel talks about the trend of WoW personalities switching to Final Fantasy XIV and the videos associated with them.  We talk a bit about MMORPG Tycoon 2 and Lum’s delightful tweet thread making us want to play it.  Bel talks about his nonsense setup and how Sony Remote Play is so much better with a PS5…  and how TMACDev REPL4Y is even better than that.  Finally we close out the show with some talk about Ratchet and Clank and Kodra’s observations given this is his first game in that series. Topics Discussed Windows 11 Announcement Leaked Build Scalping TPM Modules Subnautica: Below Zero What a difference a story makes WoW personalities playing FFXIV The “quitting wow for ffxiv” video trend What has lead to this point Medieval Marty Lum plays MMORPG Tycoon 2 Make bad MMOs for fun and profit Sony Remote Play Better on PS5 TMACDev REPL4Y Ratchet and Clank Observations 

AggroChat #249 - A Subnautical Tale

The podcast is a conversational look at video games, primarily focusing on the Online and Multiplayer PC genres. Join Ashgar, Belghast, Grace, Ashgar, Kodra, and Tam as they discuss current news and trip down memory lane.

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AggroChat: Tales of the Aggronaut Podcast

hubhopper