AggroChat #352 – Partial Vindication

Featuring: Ashgar, Belghast, Kodra, Tamrielo, and Thalen
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
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AggroChat #331 – Golden Age of Nick

Featuring:  Ammo, Ashgar, Belghast, Grace, Kodra, Tamrielo and Thalen
Tonight we talk about a few things that have been on the list for a while along with some new fresh topics.  First off Kodra talks to us about Nerts and the world of competitive solitaire.  From there Bel talks about how Dragon Age Inquisition has won him over and how he thinks that it might be the best Dragon Age game so far.  Ash talks about Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity and how it also might be the best Warriors game to date.  Thalen shares with us Nick Knacks on the PopArena YouTube Channel and its exploration of classic Nickelodeon television.  We also debate what we consider our Golden Age of Nick.  We dust off a topic that has been on the list for awhile where we talk about whether or not it is the time for World of Warcraft and Final Fantasy XIV to go Free to Play.  This leads into a general discussion of MMO mechanics over the years and lends its way to some talk about Guild Wars 2.

Topics Discussed

  • Nerts – Competitive Solitaire
  • Dragon Age Inquisition
    • Maybe the best Dragon Age
  • Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity
    • Maybe the best Warriors Game
  • Nickelodeon Nostalgia
    • Nick Knacks on PopArena Channel
    • What was the Golden Age
  • Should WoW and FFXIV Go Free to Play
    • Benefits of Free to Play
    • MMO Game Design Discussion
  • Guild Wars 2 Discussion
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AggroChat #312 – A Whole New World

Featuring:  Ammo, Ashgar, Belghast, Grace, Kodra, Tamrielo and Thalen
Tonight we are back after having a week off due to scheduling.  Bel is super excited to talk about Amazon’s New World, which finally leaves NDA.  He goes into a deep dive of his experiences so far with the assorted systems of the game.  From there we have a reasonable segue into a discussion about Guild Wars 2 and getting used to the WvW pvp system.  We also talk a bit about other games like Final Fantasy XIV and how it handles PVP.  We have a random aside where Bel talks about how he tends to avoid using mounts in Open World games, and finally Ash talks about how he has come to peace with the Blue Mage in FFXIV.

Topics Discussed:

  • Amazon’s New World
    • Deep Dive into Systems
  • Guild Wars 2 WvW System
    • Final Fantasy XIV PVP modes
  • Frog Fractions ???
    • When a DLC is a new game
  • Bel Ignores Mounts in Open World Games
    • Ghosts of Tsushima
    • Horizon Zero Dawn
  • Making Peace with the Blue Mage
    • How Ash Learns to Accept the Systems
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AggroChat #301 – Sega is Bad at Launchers

Featuring: Ammo, Ashgar, Belghast, Grace, Kodra, Tamrielo and Thalen… also featuring special guest Nephsys
Tonight we welcome our good friend Nephsys along for this ride because she more or less got kidnapped into the podcasting channel.  We start the show with some discussion about being back in Final Fantasy XIV and the current event where they bribe us to do unpopular content.  One of those content types is Rival Wings, and Bel talks about how it is PVP that he actually enjoys.  From there we break into a discussion inspired by a conversation that happened while watching the cutscenes of Praetorium, which is what games would you like to forget so you could experience them fresh again for the very first time?  We talk for a bit about the afterglow of watching your friends get into something that you really liked.  Finally we nestle into the main topic of the week which is the somewhat awkward North American PC launch of Phantasy Star Online 2.

Topics Discussed

  • Mogrocks for Mounts in FFXIV
    • Rival Wings is Fun
  • Forgetting a Game to Play it Fresh again
    • The Afterglow of Friends Experiencing Games
  • Phantasy Star Online 2 NA PC Launch
    • The systems within systems
    • Figuring things out
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