This episode: The battle continues, and the mystery deepens… have you figured it out yet?
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27 Comments
Hi guys, just a note: the images are in reverse order again. Not a problem, just an FYI for everyone. I’m using Firefox 7 in case it matters.
I’ve enjoyed this show very much, Rob delivering a nat 20 on bursty power was just perfect. Out of curiosity, is Grenschack an Invoker?
That Lizard is Kick A@@
He is an Invoker – with the usual Rob multyclass i suppose ;)
PS: You guys don’t need to make a video feed. Better to be the best audiopodcast.
Some feedback on the video discussion during the Q&A in this episode:
While I sort of agree that watching you play might not be the most exciting in the world for some people (personally I watched several games), but it would be very convinient having the audio and a timesynced slideshow of the photos you already take – encoded as a video.
We did something similar in my former group a few years back, not for podcasting but as a chronicle of our campaign for our own reference. The process was pretty much identical to what you already do, recording the audio and snapping a few photos along the way.
In our case we didn’t need to distribute it so we just created a small webbased audio player which showed a slideshow of the images. The audiofile had the starting time as part of the filename and the photos had their own timestampes and the the audioplayer did the simple math of calculating when each image should be shown. Quick and easy.
Critical Hit could definitly work as a conviniently timesynced slideshow encoded as video… but that wont happen because I predict the following response from Schleicher:
“It takes too much time!” (It can be automated, but yes, the manual process probably takes a whole 5 minutes per session)
“It takes up too much space!” (Slideshows without transitions compress extremely well, the video wouldn’t be much larger than the audio version plus the size of the images. But yes, the space required per episode would be slightly more than double)
“But… I don’t want to!” (Well, that’s really where the problem is, isn’t it?)
That’s an interesting idea, can we do this through Libsyn and iTunes?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enhanced_podcast
That would probably be a good starting point for you to figure out if you can, or would like to, do this.
We are already quite familiar with the enhanced podcast format…
Stephen, We understand the amount of work the MS crew puts into the show, and are not questioning Your knowledge in the field.. Rodrigo asked, Dave suggested.
We appreciate the workload You put into editing (which We cannot imagine), and are willing to contribute what knowledge or money we have when requested.
For all the friends I have introduced to your shows, and myself, the last thing We want is to sound ungrateful.
Reading the responses, I am feeling some hostility towards the suggestions that would add to the workload.
Is there anything We can do to take some of that load off of You?
Lin
Feedback on the feedback:
We ugly. The end. :D
Based solely on Critical Hit behavior/self descriptions:
Rodrigo (judging a skill challenge) : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fBWgmQYAQ90&feature=related
Matthew (from how he describes himself): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-EUl8gA5tbo
Brian (only lucky when bad luck is around the corner): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eFtjJ9nKy8c&feature=related
Rob (master of the art of conversation) : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ozADPzl30s&feature=related
Stephen (remember that speech to the students before they set sail?) : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GTNBvXc5h1s
His idea is only related to the battle images Stephen already takes and posts up for us to see. I don’t need to see a bunch of people who look like me sitting around a table talking for over an hour either. :-)
Love the podcast as is, any images would take away from how my mind interprets the situation and what I love more about the podcast is the fact that since it’s only audio I can listen while doing something else like play video games. Hysterical laughter has caused many a death by the way ;-)
I do love this podcast to death and I think it definitely sets the standard for liveplay podcasts! While the audio quality is superb, I do find the turn-by-turn images a bit hard to follow. I find it a bit difficult to tell who’s who in most of the images; maybe having a “legend” depicting the PC’s would be helpful.
More importantly, it’s hard to keep track of which image you should be viewing unless you’ve been very carefully following along on the images the whole time. Sometimes, like when Rob throws out a nasty burst, I just want to take a peek at the current field of combat. As it is that’s very to do. While integrating some images into the podcast might be a solution, a simpler one might be to annotate the images corresponding times within the podcast.
Just a few suggestions. Keep up the great work!
^ another fantastic idea- simply put time signatures in the show notes under each image for approximately when the image was taken. Would make them a lot easier to use for reference.
And just out of curiosity, how long do you think it takes to edit a single episode of Critical Hit?
from what i know about podcast in a standerd 1:30 formate it takes a good five to six hours to edit
At least as long as it took for Rodrigo to prepare the campaign and you guys to run it, somewhere around 2 hours per hour of podcast or so?
The above should be under Stephen’s post, sorry.
Stephen, not sure if you were aiming this question at me based on my last post regarding the character sheets? If so, please note that I was only suggesting it as a one-time request, not every episode.
I would guess you spend a lot of time editing – maybe 4 hours / show?
It is very much appreciated!
Probably original recording length + episode length + 10-20% or so. Just my guess. Depends on your editing method.
this is something that could be crowd-sourced too, within the comments.
Something else I would really love to see at some point, would be copies of all the core PC character sheets (Orem, Randus, Torq & Khet), and the level-by-level progression. I don’t have the 4E rule books, so it would really help with following along during the “what about this power / feat?” or “This modifier applies to this ability because of X” discussions.
Thanks!
For my third comment- are the Ranger and Invoker characters y’all are playing in another campaign? You (Rodrigo and Rob) both seem very familiar with them.
Great show as always!
Three cheers for not making Stephen or Rodrigo work more for free podcasts!
I like what you all currently provide and upon reflection after suggesting something similar a ways back re: enhanced podcast and screenshots, the website is the right place to view the hi-res pictures of the turn by turn action.
Smaller images would be nigh useless in ipod/itunes players so you are talking about (guessing) 10% of downloaders being able to benefit from the time syncing pictures, and only a fraction of those on larger display devices.
Along the same lines of extra and equally unfeasible, additional work per podcast, i was day dreaming of transcription services for critical hit and priced that at $120 per show.
Bottom line is .. Click on that $10 recurring donation link now!
As a long-time listener (from around the broadcast of episode 15), I love for the work You put into making this podcast a campaign We have enjoyed for two years.
I must express my waning interest over the past weeks. I understand the next week may knock my socks off, but the last five weeks have been a slog. Five weeks of combat, interrupted by minimal story action. At a time when the Story is moving in unique ways- in the mechanics of the game format!
I feel underwhelmed when the episode primers say “the adventure…continues” or “the mystery deepens”, and they ask “have you figured it out yet?” When the episode itself gives little to no real information, and the episode after that, and after that, and after that..
To address the obvious counterpoint, the “Tower” episodes were a long series of combats. However, they proportioned RP action and combat: they used separate and unique environments for each encounter, while creating one of the tensest character moments in the campaign (with its own discussion episode).
Compared to that, hearing four samey encounters in just two environments, with little RP and no listener questions (with the suggestion of a feedback episode to break the monotony used as a joke!)- It hits the wrong points for me.
Knowing the Skill the Party brings to the table, I expect the next episodes will be the different, these last ones being the lead-up to fantastic developments. I am not asking for an impossible change to the next episodes. Being an aspiring podcaster, I know how scheduling works. Please, in the future, consider breaking blocks like this up. If the combats are not part of the same story arc (unlike the “Tower” episodes), place in a relief, so We can spend a week wanting more. We always enjoy your takes on the game in a meta-sense. Maybe a new Book Review episode?
Thank You for all You do, and for keeping my love of this hobby alive,
Lin
Personally, I’m one of those Listen In The Car kind of guys. So the video wouldn’t do anything for me. I love being able to discern the action within a combat just by listening to the podcast. Anything The Guys do to really let me visualize the action (and/or tactics) seems to me the best use of the energy. To me, if you’re going to look at the stills, what you really want is time to consider them and think about the tactics. In other words, a listener may want to pause the podcast and really dig into the image each round in order to follow along, decide what you would have done, and so on. The stills as they are posted now do allow for this. If they were embedded in the video file, well, that would be nice I guess, but I am not sure they would really be enjoyed by most listeners – that is, unless a listener was willing to sit down and watch the podcast as one watches a TV show with full attention on the images at all times. And if you’re giving it that much attention, frankly, isn’t it easy enough to visit the website and look at them there?
I think the real trick is this: a lot of the mp3 players out there don’t do so well with the video format and might not even play it. Which means the guys would have to produce and post two files every time instead of one. Probably not worth it – in my opinion at least.
What I really want to know is did Rodrigo reference “That Mitchell and Webb Look” with his comment about BMX Bandit when Robb summoned angels. If so that is totally awesome and earns major UK based props