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I had fun with Graduation, though yeah it's plain to see from where it started and ended that things got derailed in a big way. I liked the main characters, the setting was interesting, just didn't nail everything in between. But Travis can still DM just fine and he's demonstrated that previously--just the jump to something longer is understandably a different beast.
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Feb 10, 2023 18:16
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change my name posted:You're right, it was great when the Venture Brothers did it Oh man, I forgot that whole thing was a Venture Brothers thing until you mentioned it
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Feb 10, 2023 18:17
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Graduation was odd for me in that I liked all the characters and enjoyed quite a few of their scenes where they got to be funny, so I listened the whole way through, but if you put a gun to my head and asked me to explain the plot in detail I could not do it.
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Feb 10, 2023 18:40
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The episode with the Firbolg in accounting class and the tavern information gathering exam is the funniest TAZ has ever been. Unfortunately that was the second episode and everything after it sucked
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Feb 10, 2023 18:55
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I genuinely enjoyed Firbolg as a character and his struggle with lying was a great character choice imo.
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Feb 10, 2023 18:58
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The first two episodes or so were surprisingly good and I remember even this thread being very enthusiastic after the first episode. I remember cackling at Travis’s “Please don’t. Hesitate to ask.” joke. But somehow it very quickly went off the rails as problems started to become apparent. I think for me it was NPC overload and a dawning realizing of how railroady it was going to be with Travis both being bad at yes-anding anything the players did that didn’t fit his plans and also barely giving them anything to work with in the first place.
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Feb 10, 2023 20:40
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General Dog posted:They're tasked with creating broadly comedic fantasy settings, but anything vaguely resembling real-world stereotypes is a no-no. It's a tough task for guys who aren't writers by trade. Is it?
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Feb 10, 2023 20:52
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Sudden Loud Noise posted:Is it? When you’re writing for an audience that seems to consume media looking to be offended first and entertained second, then it seems pretty hard.
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Feb 10, 2023 20:54
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Resetting my "it has been ___ days since I thought about TAZ Graduation" counter, thanks a lot y'all 
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Feb 10, 2023 22:48
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C-Euro posted:Resetting my "it has been ___ days since I thought about TAZ Graduation" counter, thanks a lot y'all a GREAT SHAME!!
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Feb 11, 2023 02:54
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effervescible posted:Graduation was odd for me in that I liked all the characters and enjoyed quite a few of their scenes where they got to be funny, so I listened the whole way through, but if you put a gun to my head and asked me to explain the plot in detail I could not do it. Graduation helped me realize how important having a, like, thing that you believe in is for story writing. Graduation's premise was super compelling to me--a sort of fake fantasy world captured by a capitalist bureaucracy, but that the implications of concept were just absolutely not followed up on even a little, and it very much felt like the reason was that in order to take the story in an interesting direction the GM would need to actually stand for something.
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Feb 11, 2023 03:25
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I’d honestly be open to another swing at the world of graduation. A prequel that takes advantage of the WRASSLIN stuff could be fun, though it would probably be best served as a one shot so they could focus on WRASSLIN and not having to weave a story or whatever.
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Feb 11, 2023 03:30
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Someone joked about it before ITT, but if you want another swing at the Graduation world, just watch the Venture Bro's. They do the whole hero/villian's existing under a bureaucracy that lets them co-exist in ways that are hilarious, fun, and clever as hell.
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Feb 11, 2023 05:21
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Don’t you threaten me with a good time sir/madam.
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Feb 11, 2023 05:52
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CatstropheWaitress posted:just watch the Venture Bro's this is just good advice period
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Feb 11, 2023 08:32
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The venture bros is good but there has never been a show more up its own rear end with its own continuity and lore especially by the later seasons
Entropic fucked around with this message at 04:27 on Feb 13, 2023 |
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Feb 12, 2023 22:59
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Your post is unclear, are you inferring that this is a bad thing or not? Be advised there is a right and a wrong answer here.
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Feb 13, 2023 04:22
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I enjoyed Venture Bros back in the day, not got round to watching the last few seasons yet but it seems odd to recommend it as a similar thing to Graduation but done better in response to people complaining about a thing having problematic elements and representation, based on what I remember of the early seasons.
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Feb 13, 2023 11:28
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I'd feel the only thing you could say in favor of some of those is it was being written in the early to mid 00s in the early seasons and, to quote a Simpsons, "it was the style at the time." I'd hope they got better about some of that stuff later, I also fell off cuz eps took so long to come out and I didn't have the effort to find out when new ones dropped  On topic though, I'm glad it sounds like the new campaign is well regarded. I haven't checked out a McElroy thing that wasn't a Monster Factory in a while though haha.
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Feb 13, 2023 14:53
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Good Listener posted:On topic though, I'm glad it sounds like the new campaign is well regarded. I haven't checked out a McElroy thing that wasn't a Monster Factory in a while though haha. Yeah Justin's campaign has been great so far. I will say though that the last couple of episodes have felt a little less polished imo. There's been a few moments where it seemed clear (to me at least) that Justin was sorta making stuff up as he went along rather than having a clear scenario laid out. Obviously that's an important skill to have as a DM, and if he went too far the other way with it he'd be accused of railroading. But yeah, for instance, Emerich's conversation with Scott Boldflex seemed like it was going nowhere until Emerich rolled a crit, then Scott was just like "here ya go, here's my crystal". And then the stuff with the Judge has felt pretty loose as well. But I'm still way into this podcast; still looking forward to it every Thursday!
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Feb 13, 2023 15:10
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It is an extremely common and very frustrating DM sin to have a conversational critical (or even a success) magically sway an npc into doing something they wouldn't ever do just because Number Big. It's so ubiquitous that even most players expect it. Sorry man, this guy isn't going to kill his dad (not an actual spoiler just an example) just because you asked really really nicely.
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Feb 13, 2023 15:18
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Good Listener posted:I'd feel the only thing you could say in favor of some of those is it was being written in the early to mid 00s in the early seasons and, to quote a Simpsons, "it was the style at the time." I'd hope they got better about some of that stuff later, I also fell off cuz eps took so long to come out and I didn't have the effort to find out when new ones dropped I've been doing a rewatch and it's mainly the first season, even the slurs drop off by season 3 (coincidentally also when they moved to HD)
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Feb 13, 2023 15:36
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Zutaten posted:It is an extremely common and very frustrating DM sin to have a conversational critical (or even a success) magically sway an npc into doing something they wouldn't ever do just because Number Big. It's so ubiquitous that even most players expect it. Sorry man, this guy isn't going to kill his dad (not an actual spoiler just an example) just because you asked really really nicely. In theory that's what the "effect" mechanic in blades in the dark is supposed to represent.
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Feb 13, 2023 16:32
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Yeah, they get a lot better about it. There’s an entirely different nut to crack with a character that becomes more frequent in the back half of the series but they appear to have realized that one of his main traits was a loving problem and retcon it as best they can.
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Feb 13, 2023 16:33
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Zutaten posted:It is an extremely common and very frustrating DM sin to have a conversational critical (or even a success) magically sway an npc into doing something they wouldn't ever do just because Number Big. It's so ubiquitous that even most players expect it. Sorry man, this guy isn't going to kill his dad (not an actual spoiler just an example) just because you asked really really nicely. I think the conversational sway in this instance makes sense when Emmerich is using his hard-light knowledge to sort of tinker with Scott and make him more amenable to hearing Em out. So far, Justin's been pretty good on keeping the team from being too overpowered in conversations and making the good/bad rolls fit the situation. I caught up on all of Steeplechase over the past week and this might be my favorite campaign so far if they keep up this level of quality. I was kind of hoping that the Barrister would be a Bear-ister for some Country Bear Jamboree nonsense. But this is delightful all the same.
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Feb 13, 2023 16:36
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Warbird posted:Yeah, they get a lot better about it. There’s an entirely different nut to crack with a character that becomes more frequent in the back half of the series but they appear to have realized that one of his main traits was a loving problem and retcon it as best they can. That ghost pirate can't help his tranq addiction!
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Feb 13, 2023 16:37
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change my name posted:That ghost pirate can't help his tranq addiction! Prob talking about yer ol’ Uncle Vatred.
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Feb 13, 2023 17:14
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Yes I was kidding (I can't believe they hold over that joke from the first season and make it a defining character trait for like 10 years even though it sucks)
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Feb 13, 2023 17:18
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Warbird posted:Yeah, they get a lot better about it. There’s an entirely different nut to crack with a character that becomes more frequent in the back half of the series but they appear to have realized that one of his main traits was a loving problem and retcon it as best they can. I thought this was about TAZ and got very confused.
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Feb 13, 2023 17:33
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Give it some time
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Feb 13, 2023 19:04
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It’s still really funny and very well written the whole way through but the sex change jokes are all pretty lame albeit not really what I would deem hateful. But it has been a while since I watched it. The pedophilia jokes are actually funny and good.
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Feb 13, 2023 20:15
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The boys are right about one thing: Ham is nasty.
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Feb 14, 2023 07:31
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The cranberry of meats
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Feb 14, 2023 09:30
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Oh man I could go for some ham with cranberry sauce right now
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Feb 15, 2023 07:36
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Zutaten posted:It is an extremely common and very frustrating DM sin to have a conversational critical (or even a success) magically sway an npc into doing something they wouldn't ever do just because Number Big. It's so ubiquitous that even most players expect it. Sorry man, this guy isn't going to kill his dad (not an actual spoiler just an example) just because you asked really really nicely. TBF Emmerich didn't actually talk Scott into doing that, he basically hacked into him to make him more amenable. I think Clint likes to weave a conversation into it because it's more interesting than "Emmerich hacks the construct." x50.
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Feb 17, 2023 00:22
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clint playing a somewhat confused old guy who's often not in sync with the rest of the partys goals gets a bit confusing on a meta level sometimes
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Feb 17, 2023 16:38
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I think I’m done with The Besties. I’ve enjoyed it for a long time because of the humor and banter but for two current and two former professional game journalists (lol) they are all so remarkably uninformed about games. I know they are busy but I’m tired of hearing half-baked discussions about games some of them only played for a few hours. This week’s discussion about the PSVR2 was full of misinformation and shows none of them did even a minute of research about it. Russ got things wrong that were in the Polygon review!
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Feb 17, 2023 17:31
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Not sure what you're talking about, that was a review of the pissvr. Edit: waypoint radio is good and had a nice psvr2 segment yesterday. I recommend it if you don't already listen.
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Feb 17, 2023 17:43
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sometimes I get disappointed in the The Besties but then someone draws a picture of Hi-Fi Russ with his special egg and I just can't stay mad at these cantankerous scamps I think their lack of time and passion mirrors my own at this phase of life, I don't think I could listen to another podcast where people were more informed because it would just make me jealous
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Feb 17, 2023 18:07
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It was also just a few short months ago that Justin coined the phrase books level boring.
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Feb 17, 2023 18:13
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