PolyCast Episode 100: "Keeping on Civ'in"

[DanQ]

The century mark through and through. The one-hundredth episode of PolyCast, "Keeping On Civ'in", features regular co-hosts Daniel "DanQ" Quick, "Makahlua", Philip "TheMeInTeam" Bellew and Lisa "qnl" Bang with Michael "emeseles" Lucas-Smith and a record twenty-one guest co-hosts throughout its epic 2h:17m:39s run. These individuals include but are not limited to past regulars Wouter "Locutus" Snijders and Kelly "KMadCandy", 2K Games representatives Elizabeth "2K Elizabeth" Tobey and Greg "2K Greg" Laabs, and Firaxis Games representatives Barry Caudill and Dennis Shirk.

The summary of topics is as follows:

- 01m25s | Introductions
Saying hello to the regular panelists with Michael "emeseles" Lucas-Smith, past regulars Wouter "Locutus" Snijders and Kelly "KMadCandy", 2K Games representatives Elizabeth "2K Elizabeth" Tobey and Greg "2K Greg" Laabs, and Firaxis Games representatives Barry Caudill and Dennis Shirk.
- 10m32s | Q&A: 2K Games
"2K Elizabeth" and "2K Greg" take on co-host and audience member questions about the up-and-coming Civilization V.
- 34m45s | Q&A: Firaxis Games
It's Caudill and Shirk's turn to take on co-host and audience member questions aboout CivV.
- 76m36s | Miscellaneous
A roll-call of past guest co-hosts, call-ins and typed questions from listeners about the show, CivV and the Civilization series in general.
- 92m00s | High Council (1 of 3)
Relive the much beloved High Council from Civilization II as you've certainly never heard them before in the first episode of 'I Disagree, Sire' compiled and produced by lead co-host Dan "DanQ" Quick, set in the game's Ancient Era.
- 100m27s | Overtime
Due to the enthusiastic interest and request of most audience members, the gathering continues past its allocated timeline.
- 118m41s | High Council (2 of 3)
Onto CivII's Medieval Era with its High Council courtesy "DanQ" in the second episode of 'I Disagree, Sire'.
- 125m16s | High Council (3 of 3)
Concluding the three-part 'I Disagree, Sire' mini-series by "DanQ" in its final installment, set in the Modern Era.
- 128m16s | Conclusion
Goodbyes and well wishes to and from the show's four core panelists.

PolyCast is a bi-weekly audio production in an ongoing effort to give the Civ community an interactive voice on game strategy; sibling show ModCast focuses on Civ modding and RevCast focuses on Civilization: Revolution.

As always, enjoy.

 

[Caeserportugal]

just when I asked you about Polycast 100 it is here wow Dan I know the first thing I will do tomorrow morning is hear it. Again good job and cant wait for the next Polycast which I hope will be the first about gameplay in CIV5.

 

[remake20]

What happened to awkward silences?

 

[DanQ]

just when I asked you about Polycast 100 it is here wow Dan I know the first thing I will do tomorrow morning is hear it.

Again good job and cant wait for the next Polycast which I hope will be the first about gameplay in CIV5.

Due to the time delay between episode recording and release that won't be the case, but without a doubt CivV's gameplay will get coverage.

What happened to awkward silences?

Given the nature of the recording, and the number of people involved in it, there weren't that many. Nevertheless, those that did make it in I edited out in post.

 

[Kordanor]

While I liked the last 2 episodes this one was kinda contentless.
Bad jokes and silly comments belong to every podcasts, but in this episode I could hardly find anything else. When you said goodbye to the 2k guys I was wondering why they were there at all, cause all the time before they made maybe one or two press statements, nothing interesting. All the rest was silly talking, hellos and goodbyes. I have never done this with any podcast before but this one I turned off after 30 Minutes.
I understand that you are not paid for this, anyways without a certain level of professionality it does not really fit my taste, no offense.

 

[DanQ]

While I liked the last 2 episodes this one was kinda contentless.
Bad jokes and silly comments belong to every podcasts, but in this episode I could hardly find anything else. When you said goodbye to the 2k guys I was wondering why they were there at all, cause all the time before they made maybe one or two press statements, nothing interesting. All the rest was silly talking, hellos and goodbyes. I have never done this with any podcast before but this one I turned off after 30 Minutes.
I understand that you are not paid for this, anyways without a certain level of professionality it does not really fit my taste, no offense.

The nature on this outing was atypical. It was a celebration of 100 episodes of PolyCast, and as such the tone was more casual than usual. It was a live recording which not only changed the nature of the recording and post-production. The agenda was driven greatly by audience questions and requests. It is not at all a representative sample of our usual format which, given your reference to the most previous two episodes, I believe you are already aware.

I don't take offense nor do any of my fellow panelists, regulars and guests alike, as we recognize that this approach is a substantial deviation from our usual outings which are more focused. If and when we do another live recording, it would not follow this template but rather be closer to our usual fare be it as an episode or a "Focus" special; in part as this was our first live recording, the more relaxed nature that predominated it helped ease some technical pressures that arose as it progressed.

 

[gazzahk]

I am new to these podcasts and have listened to a couple now. Maybe I am missing the point, and even acknowledgeing that humour goes a long way in life, but for me there was almost no content except the silly giggling. Or at least the content was lost in all the silliness and the whole thing ends up being a complete waste of time.

Having invested a few hours listening I can honestly say I am none the wiser about anything to do with the game, just a headache from the childish giggling and guffawing thoughout the podcasts.

Probably these podcasts are not aimed at me, I suppose, but really is there any point to these podcasts? They do seem devoid of any useful content.

Can I humbly suggest that you guys think about the audience I guess you are trying to reach? I am also not saying make it dull, but a bit more professional with an agenda or objectives might be useful. Live seems to be a waste of time.

 

[DanQ]

As I have discussed in this post above, gazzahk, this episode was most atypical. It appears you are judging the entire show based on this episode, and this episode alone, and that has led to some serious misconceptions. I urge you to review our archive of episodes even just this season to date, and you will see and hear that -- again -- Episode 100 was not your typical fare for reasons previously stated.

 

[gazzahk]

Yes, thanks I did see that episode 100 was atypical.

I did write that I had listened to a couple of the podcasts and not just no. 100; obviously no. 100 being a landmark episode it was bound to be a bit different and deservedly celebratory. Having noted all that, and ignoring no. 100 now, I still did find the content and format of the others I dipped into somewhat unfocused and with a bit too much familiarity between the podcasters which for me was to the detriment of the audience. If the purpose is for you guys to have a nice time chit chatting with each other then that's fair enough. As I said having invested a few hours in this potentially useful support resource I am just reporting that I was disappointed by the lack of learning I experienced.

It is just an observation based on my experience. I will most likely perservere with some more of the other historic casts before drawing a final conclusion.

 

[Apocalypto]

Congrats on reaching 100, Dan - and the rest of the crew.

No 100 was a bit 'messy' shall we say, but I guess that is to be expected of a 1st time live show.

I've thoroughly enjoyed the other podcasts, though I've not listened to all of them, and I do not at all feel that the 'lighter moments' have been detrimental to the experience. After all, a podcast on gaming could easily come across as a bit dry, and so I have especially enjoyed the bloopers and good tone amongst you hosts.

Rarely do we fans get to hear first hand from the developers themselves, like Jon Shafer and not least Sid Meier himself (ep 50)!

Keep it up, and keep 'em coming!

 

[DanQ]

Congrats on reaching 100, Dan - and the rest of the crew.

Thank you kindly.

I've thoroughly enjoyed the other podcasts, though I've not listened to all of them, and I do not at all feel that the 'lighter moments' have been detrimental to the experience. After all, a podcast on gaming could easily come across as a bit dry, and so I have especially enjoyed the bloopers and good tone amongst you hosts.

Your kind words and support are greatly appreciated.

Rarely do we fans get to hear first hand from the developers themselves, like Jon Shafer and not least Sid Meier himself (ep 50)!

Keep it up, and keep 'em coming!

We certainly intend to.

 

[TheDS]

Those of you who didn't like Ep100 because it wasn't focused enough or didn't have much gaming content, I've got a list of the best Polycast episodes yet, which DO have a lot of useful content. Although I don't have a link to the All-Girl episode, which, iirc, was in the first season and was the first episode I listened to.

Dan, you should do another one of those for Ep101!

Anyway, IMHO Ep97 is best, followed by Ep71, but they should be listened to in numerical order. Then Ep50, then 92, then the Girl episode.

NOW, onto commenting on Ep100!

Sorry you stopped listening at 30 mins. That means you didn't get to hear any of my material, which is, of course, the whole reason the show does so well. (Can't be anything else, can it?)

It just warms my heart to hear Lisa tell me how much she loves me! I'm going to make a ringtone out of it and sell it for $1000 a pop, which is only slightly higher than what the phone company sells ringtones for. Everyone will be able to listen to Lisa say she loves me, but of course, I'll edit it so it sounds like she loves you, which is why it'll sell like hotcakes!

With how much that got cut, I'm surprised a little more didn't get cut. There were still a few bits and technical issues that probably could've withstood trimming and not detracted from the flavor of the show. I would imagine at some point poor Dan got tired of listening to it and trying to figure out a way to make me look good and just said "To hel(beep) with it!"

I see that I got bleeped! I guess I should've made it more clear that I was saying DAM, not DAMN, which is perfectly censor-friendly, when I made fun of KMad. Kuh-DAM! Maybe I should've said Kuh-beaverDAM! No, wait, that wouldn't work either. Kuh-HooverDAM! How about Kuh-DAMtheriver!

I didn't do Lisa because what the heck is a qnl? Quick no like? Is there some friction there we don't know about?

And pronouncing DanQ as Dank isn't funny enough for this episode. Maki did better than I could on that score.

I did FINALLY notice Dan's Canadian accent about half way through listening to this. All of a sudden, I noticed he was saying oot. "Cut that oot. I want to go ootside. What's this aboot? Welcome to Wooter!" And once that started clicking for me, I noticed a few other slight oddities. I've got a feeling, one day soon, Dan's gonna let all that pent-up Canadiish burst forth and we're gonna drown in it! Everyone go back and try to spot all of Dan's mispronunciations! I expect a detailed list!

Actually, if someone had put together a list of all the dropped hints and other useful tidbits the official guests dropped about Civ5, that would've been good. (Now that the game is out, it doesn't matter.)

All in all, it was a good way to celebrate 100 episodes and I'm thankful to have been a part of it.

We love you too!