PolyCast Episode 175: "In Response to That"
- Thread starter DanQ
- Start date
That is very. In getting caught up, do you recall roughly how many episodes that was and over what time period? Doing so too fast with too many could lead to withdrawal upon completion.
I had forgotten the exact episode number that I had missed, so I just started back on episode 1.
I think I started the catch up back in #1 shortly after the Girls Playing Civ II special came out and I think I took almost two weeks to do so.
More directly related to this week's episode is that in Civ V, it's all too easy to use the same strategy (successfully) over and over again. I find myself constantly going 4 city science victory in every game. The only time I now end up with more cities is either if I'm playing Austria and married a few city states on the way or else I conquered and puppeted some of the AIs cities along the way. I did find though that using legendary start (as opposed to either strategic balance or standard) helped quite a bit in adding differences to the pantheon I choose from game to game.
Just four of his LPs would do it; some were 30 hours I think.
kingchris20
Wisdom Seeker
DanQ
Owner, Civilized Communication
I was referring first and foremost to the overview you can get from reviewing show notes at a glance. Certainly though, listening to the episode from beginning to end is what will get you the 'complete' picture (even though it is audio onlyI know, but I can't listen to them all at once, my daily commute is only so longAnd there are so many other podcasts out there too
).As for other podcasts, absolutely: there's RevCast, SCivCast, TurnCast...
You could load them onto an MP3 player, or even a 'general' USB-device, for when you get to work... for on your breaks, of course.
We have long felt, even if our respective schedules would routinely permit recording weekly (our = regular co-hosts), that we would not be able to maintain the level of quality we feel we have established. Combined with my wanting to ensure other notable portions of the Civ community are represented, this led to the generation of four spin-offs over the past seven years which are released on a rotating schedule that alternate with PolyCast.
We discussed Civilization V vanilla and Gods & Kings strategy topics on a regular basis prior to Brave New World being announced; as more information became revealed publicly about the new XP and community discussion focused in on that, we shifted our focus in turn. There was a similar shift in lead-up to G&K's release as well.
Thank you kindly.
Thanks for bringing us Polycast and looking forward to future episodes and BNW discussion. It really enhances the Civ experience to hear discussion from other players that love the game.
Further to your preface here, yes the four of us who are regular co-hosts must decide what we feel is best for the show. We base this ultimately on our analyses, opinions and preferences through consensus. That said, we are always open to constructive criticism from audience members, first-time to seasoned listeners alike: such feedback factors into coming to decisions on how the podcast is planned, produced, post-produced, distributed and marketed.
but my 2cents (listened to a handful of these in the past 3 months):
You are the first to ever comment on this (publicly, that I have seen, anyway). We will have to agree to disagree on our view with respect to it.
It is rare that viewpoints are shifted, or at least voiced as having shifted, on this show... I don't think that's necessarily a negative thing. On the interaction part of your point, I do understand how this can come across as a detraction. I do feel we more often than not address the points raised by one another, with one another; that these responses can be more indirect than direct is likely the source of feeling less interactive than we otherwise could, even should, be.
Towards in part what I've said above, if you review show notes for episodes outside of the BNW "latest" timeframe you will see more emphasis on game strategy discussions.
Yes, Civ modding remains the purview of ModCast. (The first season of PolyCast being the notable exception, as it was before the ModCast show existed.)I do understand there's a separate Mod podcast but it's not very active. I can see why since the general modding community moves too fast and only presenting the new stuff isn't the best idea either. Also, many of the bigger mods have smaller communities that already know everything. But maybe "present" one of the big ones... Again, probably for the other podcast...
Much of the banter on most episodes, or at least the extended portions of them, is contained in the introduction and the closing/bloopers. With the aid of the show notes, you can skip past the former and stop before the latter if you so desire. That said, though you found there to be too much banter but still enjoyed the product overall is encouraging!
Don't forget - Dan makes a poll every year to gauge listeners interest in the main topic groupings, so don't forget to vote
Too bad Mad has to clam up on BNW. I do understand though. I was able to get on Frankenstein for Sid Meier's railroads patch, and that was before Beyond the Sword had been announced.I saw the forum Beyond the Sword while testing but alas, had to STFU and say nothing here.
Mad deserves it, he's an elite player. I wish he could pronounce Melee and Composite Bows though. Since Quill18 also mispronounces Composite Bows perhaps it's a Canadian thing.
edit:
As I do development, debugging and testing for a living, I can say it is a lot of work and you get to test only parts of the game/software because the developers are looking for specific, quantifiable feedback. The main concern is to release a game that is relatively bug-free (challenging to do when there are so many different PC configurations and people screwing up their machines) - mechanics that work as intended as well as the game installed/runs fine within specs, not crap like I think Venice's color should be a little lighter purple or its leader is looking the wrong way.
And that is WAY harder than you would think. WAYYYYYY harder. I was a lousy member of the the testing team because my focus was on playing the game, not trying to break it. I was only asked because I played multiplayer lan so I was marginally useful for testing. Devs probably shouldn't be the guy looking for bugs, get the goofy users to come up with crazy scenarios you never thought of.
Hulking Lummox
Warlord
I'm a fan of all of the polycasters!
Dan, no harsh criticisms were meant by my post. I just wanted to bring things up to help make Poly even better. In my experience from working at events there is a danger in too much positive feedback and not enough criticism. It usually means people are only interested superficially. Honesty from your consumers is a very good sign as it means they are invested!
Is TheMeInTeam going to start playing Civ V again with BNW though? That guy is GREAT but he needs to climb back in the wagon! Must have something to do with his handle.
Dan, no harsh criticisms were meant by my post. I just wanted to bring things up to help make Poly even better. In my experience from working at events there is a danger in too much positive feedback and not enough criticism. It usually means people are only interested superficially. Honesty from your consumers is a very good sign as it means they are invested!
Is TheMeInTeam going to start playing Civ V again with BNW though? That guy is GREAT but he needs to climb back in the wagon! Must have something to do with his handle.
I'm a fan of all of the polycasters!
Dan, no harsh criticisms were meant by my post. I just wanted to bring things up to help make Poly even better. In my experience from working at events there is a danger in too much positive feedback and not enough criticism. It usually means people are only interested superficially. Honesty from your consumers is a very good sign as it means they are invested!
Is TheMeInTeam going to start playing Civ V again with BNW though? That guy is GREAT but he needs to climb back in the wagon! Must have something to do with his handle.
He is still waiting for turn times to be instantaneous before he'll play.
Hulking Lummox
Warlord
He is still waiting for turn times to be instantaneous before he'll play.
Patience makes all of the things instantaneous.
DanQ
Owner, Civilized Communication
I did not take any of your criticisms as harsh, or any others that have been presented in this thread to date for that matter. I hope that my replies have not come across as defensive, at least not overly so.
As for your assertion on types of feedback being received, I agree so long as the criticism is constructive... which is also what has and continues to come about in this thread. I won't presume to speak for fellow past and present regular co-hosts, or anyone who has served as a guest, but for myself while I do not agree with all such criticisms that is not required for there to remain value in their consideration and conversation surrounding.
That's only something he can answer... truthfully, anyway, if he's so inclined.Is TheMeInTeam going to start playing Civ V again with BNW though? That guy is GREAT but he needs to climb back in the wagon! Must have something to do with his handle.
Furycrab
King
- Joined
- May 26, 2011
- Messages
- 914
Don't forget - Dan makes a poll every year to gauge listeners interest in the main topic groupings, so don't forget to vote
I think you made a typo here.
Gauge our interests?
I think you meant Gouge our interests.
Those polls...
MadDjinn
Deity
- Joined
- Jan 28, 2011
- Messages
- 4,554
It's for anyone that wants to call in to further discuss a topic, preferably if they have a different perspective that what was discussed. Either from the current live show or on a topic discussed on a prior show.
