Captains of Industry by PARTON, James: Recent Episodes
Mark "Belghast" Temp
This is the official podcast of the Tales of the Aggronaut blog and Stalwart gaming community. Join Ashgar, Belghast, Grace, Kodra, Tam and Thalen as they talk about the pc and console video games they have been playing.
Tonight we start the show with a heartfelt congratulations for our very own now Doctor Grace, for passing the gauntlet and defending her thesis. While I am certain we will revisit this point when she officially returns to the show, we thought it was worth noting tonight. After derailing completely on a discussion about the origin of the Garter snake… we dive into Pokemon Scotland aka Sword and Shield and the little bit of information we know about it at this point. From there Bel talks a bit about the Magic the Gathering Deck Builder's Toolkit league that he is starting at work and why he went down that path. Kodra breaks off from this into a discussion about the game Gruff, which leads to further talk about how balanced asymmetrical play is really hard to design. We then dig into some of the large patches that happened this past week… namely Anthem that occured mere hours before recording the show and Warframe that occurred earlier in the week. Bel and Tam talk a bit about their impressions so far about the tweaks made that make the characters feel significantly more powerful in Anthem. The rest of the crew that plays Warframe… which is basically everyone but Bel… dive into a discussion about the changes that were made to the melee combat system and some of the things that are soon to come as well. Topics Discussed Doctor Grace Garter Snakes Pokemon Sword and Shield Pokemon Scotland
Work Magic League Deckbuilders Toolkit
Gruff Difficulties of Asymmetrical Gameplay Anthem Patch Warframe Patch Melee Combat Changes Hildryn Frame
This week we talk about the topic that has spent the most time so far rolling from show to show because we didn’t feel like we had enough time to properly address it. We have a Trello board where we stub out future topics, and before Christmas Tam put the topic of Silent versus Voiced protagonists on that board… and we are finally getting around to talking about it. Not surprisingly we spent almost the entire episode on this one topic as there is a lot of stuff to unpack here about characters and whether or not we are meant to place ourselves into them. We also talk briefly about the Warframe Nightwave alert system that just went into that game. Topics Discussed: Voiced Versus Silent Protagonist Personal Preferences Times when it works and Fourth Wall breaking. Jarring nature of a character you don’t relate to that is supposed to represent you. Classic game examples
Warframe Nightwave Alert System
This week we are still down a Grace but also down a Tamrielo because work travel happens. Tonight we start the show with a discussion of Civilization VI and its new Gathering Storm expansion. This introduces the fearful Hockey Rink building and Mountie fielding Canadian Army… and also natural disasters. Then we get into a discussion about Anthem and our feelings about the release. I think as a whole we are largely enjoying it, but even at that we talk a bit about the problems the game is having. Topics Discussed: Civilization VI Gathering Storm Expansion
Anthem What we are enjoying What we problems exist
This evening we discuss the Anthem “Launch” and the spreadsheet that is required to understand it. We give a quick summary of our experiences and how it is turning out to be really freaking good. From there we dive into Silksong the Hornet DLC that has turned into its own larger than the original Hollow Knight game. We also talk about the first Nintendo Direct of the new year and all of the games that got announced. Bel tortures Kodra with some brief discussion about Keen Dreams showing up on the Switch. Finally we dive into a topic about playing games for what they are actually good at rather than trying to bend them to our will. Topics Discussed: Anthem “Launch” Spreadsheet Launches Improvements over Demo Very Much a Bioware Game in a Good Way
Hollow Knight: Silksong Announcement Nintendo Direct Mario Maker 2 Link’s Awakening Various Final Fantasy Releases Fire Emblem: Three Houses Captain Toad DLC Tetris 99 Did Tetris Need Battle Royale Mode?
Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night Boxboy + Boxgirl Yoshi’s Crafted World Astral Chain Deltarune
Keen Dreams on Switch Playing Games for What They Are Good At The Struggle with MMOs
Tonight we have a bunch of not entirely related topics, but there is at least a minor theme of how you end something is extremely important. Bel talks a bit about his experiences with the latest brand name beta in the form of Division 2. From there he also shares some frustrations with the way Assassin’s Creed Origins is ending which leads its way into a larger discussion about what makes a satisfying game ending. We talk about what this means for passive media and how it might be different for interactive media. We then get into a discussion about progression systems and why fixed ones often times feel better than completely random ones. Finally we have some assorted digression about us looking forward to Anthem as a non-PVP mmo that somehow leads its way to FFXIV housing? Topics Discussed: Division 2 Military Fantasy Fallout but no Nukes Worthy Successor to Original
Assassin’s Creed Origins Great Game… But Forced Character Swaps End of Game Without “Your” Character
Satisfying Finales Twist Endings Mass Effect 3
Resolution Endings Plot Twist Ending Plot Twist at Beginning of Final Chapter
Fixed Length Shows Anime Babylon 5 Russian Doll
Revisiting Choices From Game in Ending
Fixed vs Random Progression Systems Warframe Blueprint System Destiny Random “Powerful Gear” Frustrations Warframe Economy
Excitement over Non-PVP MMORPG Anthem Free PVP Gear from FFXIV Retainers Lacking Money Sinks in FFXIV House Reclamation
Tonight we talk about a bunch of things that have been sitting in our list as well as a quick revisit of Anthem and how much difference a week can make. We all for the most part struggled last weekend but things have gone extremely smoothly this weekend. From there we talk about the revelations from Fanfest Paris… and the new Gunbreaker class giving us Gunblade Tanks! We talk a bit about the various titles coming out for the Switch in the near future and close up with a postmortem of Octopath Traveller. Topics Featured: Anthem One Week Later Much Smoother Experience Class Related Discussion
Final Fantasy XIV Shadowbringers Gunblade Tanks Viera Confirmed Nier Automata Crossover Raid New Game Plus
Switch Indie Releases Tangledeep Wargroove CrossCode Steamworld Quest Not indie but… Darksiders!
Octopath Traveler Postmortem Demo Did More Harm than Good Drastic Tone Shifts
Tonight we talk mostly about the Anthem Demo and our thoughts about it. Having played it or at least repeatedly attempted to play it... we have things to discuss from our feelings about various Javelin types to the general feel of the gameplay. Additionally we talk a bit about Ravnica Allegiances which officially came out this week. Kodra and Bel have been drafting some on MTG Arena and talk a bit about the mechanics that they are enjoying. Topics Discussed Anthem Demo Ravnica Allegiances
Tonight we talk mostly about the Anthem Demo and our thoughts about it. Having played it or at least repeatedly attempted to play it... we have things to discuss from our feelings about various Javelin types to the general feel of the gameplay. Additionally we talk a bit about Ravnica Allegiances which officially came out this week. Kodra and Bel have been drafting some on MTG Arena and talk a bit about the mechanics that they are enjoying. Topics Discussed Anthem Demo Ravnica Allegiances
Tonight we have a fairly packed show as Ashgar is recording from Pax South 2019. As such we start off with a rundown of some of the games he played. From there Bel talks a bit about TemTem or a game he backed but forgot to fill out the survey for that is actually a Not-Pokemon MMORPG. We dive into some talk about games that have massively overhauled themselves specifically discussing Stellaris and Warframe. Then we get into a discussion about normal and mundane things happening in games and how it sometimes enriches the experience in ways you don’t at first expect. Finally a quick discussion about Elder Scrolls Online and the Necromancer before we realize we have gone well over time. Topics Discussed Magic the Gathering Gatewatch Needs to Die
Pax South 2019 Tunic Nelo Last Epoch Aqua Lungers Super Cane Magic Zero Plunderbound Hermetica Days Gone Zombie Bear
Resident Evil 2 Ace Combat 7 Jump Force Forsaken Castle Gestalt Vanguard Dicey Dungeons Lapis Labyrinth Witchstone
TemTem Actual Not-Pokemon MMO
Game Overhauls Stellaris Warframe
Mudanity and Normality in Games Hitman Travel Time in MMORPGs Tiny Normal Things in Assassin’s Creed
Elder Scrolls Online Accidental Necromancer Discussion
There is an auditory warning, but we figured we would throw one out here as well. During about the last 15 minutes of the podcast something went wrong with Bel’s audio where the last bit of every statement got clipped. So you essentially lost the last word he was saying. This weeks show starts with a discussion about Kickstarter projects, which leads into talk of some of the things we have backed and how Bel is that guy that fails to fill out surveys. From there we jump into a discussion about Far Cry 5 and how it is a game where the forced story gets in the way of everything else. This leads into a discussion about Destiny 2, the Bungie divorce from Activision, and even to some discussions about how important publishers actually are now. This also includes a bit about the bidding war for Gamestop between the folks behind Hot Topic and the folks behind Redbox. Topics Discussed Kickstarter Projects Reliability of Boardgames Questionable Nature of Software Projects Bel fails at filling out Surveys
Far Cry 5 Fun Gameplay Forced Story Mode Abductions Weirdness of Religious Cult Theme
Destiny 2 Returning Player Experience Expectations of Knowing Lore Bungie and Activision Divorce
Importance of Publishers Bidding War over Gamestop Digital Only Standouts UbiSoft Abandoning Steam
This week we set out a plan of some dozen different topics… but only actually made it through two of them. Last we recorded the Games of the Year show and this week we started things off with some discussion of a few of the honorable mentions that didn’t quite make the list. From there we had a discussion about what games interest us for the upcoming year… and the list we gathered up is sorta nonsense. I have no clue what order we actually tackled them in so just sorta going to make an attempt at listing everything out. Topics Discussed Games of the Year Honorable Mentions Tangledeep Spyro Reignited Trilogy Celeste Civilization VI Let’s Go Pokemon Starlink: Battle for Atlas Tetris Effect
Games Of Interest that “Might” Release This Year Hollow Knight: Hornet Ori and the Will of the Wisps Beyond Good and Evil 2 Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice Ghosts of Tsushima Fire Emblem: Three Houses In The Valley of the Gods Untitled Goose Game Kingdom Hearts III Digimon Survive Tangledeep on Switch Anthem Dragon Marked for Death Chocobo’s Mysterious Dungeon: Every Buddy Pokemon 2019? Town Granblue Fantasy Relink New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe Onimusha: Warlords remaster Metro Exodus Far Cry: New Dawn The Division 2 Rage 2 Final Fantasy XIV Shadowbringer The Outer Worlds Ooblets Harry Potter Wizards Unite Wolfenstein: Youngblood Welcome to Animal Crossing Dragon Quest Builders 2 Psychonauts 2 Wasteland 3 Minecraft: Dungeons Star Wars Jedi - Fallen Order Metroid Prime 4 Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night
This evening we do our traditional Games of the Year show, and apparently we are way less verbose than we used to be. These shows used to get chopped into two roughly hour and a half long shows… but this year we managed to do it in pretty much two hours straight. What makes this even more interesting is the fact that we churned through nineteen games in the process. Ultimately we each pick roughly five games that were important to us during the calendar year, and some overlap always occurs. This year less overlap happened than is normal. Games Discussed CrossCode Destiny 2 Forsaken Dragon Quest XI Fallout 76 Subnautica Gloomhaven Heroes of Hammerwatch Final Fantasy XIV Stormblood Xenoblade Chronicles 2 Diablo 3 on Switch Magic the Gathering Arena Night in the Woods Super Smash Bros Ultimate Hitman 2 Return of the Obra Dinn Spiderman Hollow Knight Dragalia Lost Monster Hunter World
Tonight we are down a few people and have a fairly scattered show where we cover a bunch of topics… but none of them super deeply? You can tell we were all somewhat out of it because while editing the podcast there were a bunch of really lengthy pauses. Tonight Bel rails in the Elder Scrolls Patcher apparently being blocked by various ISPs including his. He also talks a bit about the Destiny 2 Dawning Event and making questionable baked goods. Thalen talks a bit about the FFXIV Starlight Celebration event. Bel spins up a topic from his blog about the seeming return to NDA restricted games testing. Thalen talks about Return of the Obra Dinn, and Kodra a bit about Gris. We discuss the topic that has bounced around a bit on the significance of going Left in video games. There is some brief discussion about Artifact and how it is trying to right the ship… and some of the MTG Finance speculation that came into that market quickly that is super angry about the price crash. Finally we talk a bit about Starfinder and Pathfinder in general and the lack of really good ready made third party modules. Topics Discussed Elder Scrolls Online Patcher Problems Destiny 2 The Dawning Event
Final Fantasy XIV Starlight Celebration
NDA Testing Makes a Comeback Return of the Obra Dinn Gris Going Left Night in the Woods Metroid Castlevania Symphony of the Night Braid
Artifact Tries to Fix Things MTG Finance meets Artifact Speculation
Starfinder Third Party Modules
Tonight we had more topics than we had time to talk about them, but we managed to hit the majority of them. First up Bel talks about his frustrations with Black Armory the latest content drop in Destiny 2 and their overarching plan of content releases going forward. He also talks a bit about the Last Wish raid that he got drug through this week. From there we talk a bit about the Game Awards and how weird it is that they are actually relevant. We discuss how it is turning into E3 part two as major shows give big release information… and occasionally they give an award for things between the commercials. Grace talks about Hades the new title from Supergiant Games and how it jumps right into her wheelhouse of the Action RPG blended with a Rogue Lite. This also starts a discussion about how Epic Games is vying for serious competition with Steam by discounting their cut of sales. Finally we talk about the new Smash Bros game and the World of Light adventure mode. Featured Topics Shiana verifying Tam Was Rogue Class Lead Destiny 2 The Black Armory Last Wish Raid
GAME Awards E3 2.0? Various Games Announced
Hades - Supergiant Games Epic Games Storefront vs Steam Storefront Super Smash Bros Ultimate World of Light
Tonight we talk a bit about Monster Hunter World Winter Star Event and how maddening the Tempered Kirin is. From there we talk about the closing of MMOs and specifically the loss of Wildstar. Several of us have returned to Final Fantasy XIV as is often the case at the end of an expansion. We briefly talk about some frustrations with World of Warcraft and then go into a discussion about puzzle games you can zone out while playing specifically Tetris Effect in VR and the amazing Lumines. Topics Discussed Monster Hunter World Winter Star Event Tempered Kirin Talking about Various Weapons
Closing of MMOs The Last Hours of Wildstar Star Wars Galaxies City of Heroes Games being Bought
Returning to FFXIV Main Story Quest Palace of the Dead
World of Warcraft Issues Tetris Effect in VR Lumines Bejeweled Peggle Loot
Missing Game Forums
Tonight we talk about a bunch of differing topics… that sorta blend together into a mix of ideas. We start off with some discussion of Thanksgiving Leftover abominations. From here Belghast talks a bit about his experiences with extremely Hardcore players on mobile phone games. This sorta leads its way into discussions of MMO Design problems, which itself leads to talking about the FFXIV Shadowbringers expansion announcement. We discuss the problems with the Blue Mage and how the Limited Class construct is probably not the right way to do it. This leads eventually into a discussion of the shenanigans that Tam and Kodra and crew have been up to in Fallout 76. Topics Discussed: Thanksgiving Leftover Abominations Hardcore Mobile Players MMO Design Problems Final Fantasy XIV Shadowbringer Blue Mage Limited Job Fallout 76
Tonight we talk about a bunch of things starting off with the interesting and also sort of weird experience of watching a movie, and having a live orchestra play the soundtrack. Ash talks about his experiences with the new Spyro the dragon and the practice of modernizing games without really changing the original gameplay. From there we talk about the insanely charming Pokemon Let’s Go game and how it is seemingly way more sticky for a few of us than core Pokemon games. Tam and Kodra talk about how with Diablo 3 on the Switch they finally understand what Grace and Bel see in this game. Grace talks a bit about the new Netflix She-Ra. Bel talks about his disappointment in the newest Hellgate: London steam release. Finally we end up in a lengthy conversation about Fallout 76 multiplayer and how this game does not deserve the grief reviewers have been heaping on it. Topics Discussed: Orchestra Plus a Movie Spyro Pokemon Let’s Go Diablo 3 Switch She-Ra Hellgate: London Fallout 76
Tonight we are down a few people but pick up with a topic that sorta got skipped from the previous week which is Deltarune the new Toby Fox Game. From there Kodra talks about his experiences with The Messenger and then the game Getting Over It. At which point we discuss how much Kodra apparently loves meat grinder games. Bel talks about the purchase of Obsidian and inExile and how it is probably good for the longevity of those studios. From there we discuss the conflict between investors and game players…. Fighting for the soul of a game beginning with the news that Destiny 2 is “Under Performing” and sorta going off in different directions from there. Bel talks about his experiences trying a bunch of new Mobile games and encounters the weird trend of mobile games that literally play themselves. Finally we move into a discussion about how much Ashgar would like us all to try Cross Code. Topics Discussed Deltarune The Messenger Getting Over It Microsoft Purchase of Obsidian and inExile Destiny 2 “Under Performing” Trying Action RPGS Last Epoch Grim Dawn Path of Exile Wolcen
Mobile Games Playing Themselves Crusaders of Light Lineage II: Revolution
Cross Code
Tonight we have a packed show full of topics to discuss because as we hurdle towards the holiday season… a bunch of stuff is happening. First up we talk about Super Smash Bros Ultimate and the inclusion of the World of Light single player system. From there with similar Nintendo topics we talk a bit about the Diablo 3 Switch release and just how good it feels. Chaining off that we get into a discussion about Blizzcon 2018 and the announcement that the community was not prepared for… Diablo Immortal. We try and break this down a little bit, talk about the positives of it, and explain why the community as a whole freaked the hell out in a very toxic and dangerous manner. Admittedly somewhere along in here we jump around through a bunch of topics but eventually settle into a discussion of World of Warcraft Classic and all of the things Bel quite honestly didn’t remember from playing on a retro client. Saturday afternoon Bel, Tam and Kodra spent a few hours roaming around in Fallout 76, so there is some talk about how much they are now looking forward to the release. Finally we wrap up with a brief discussion of Deltarune, which honestly happened in a few places during the show… but will likely be reprised next week. Topics Discussed: Super Smash Bros Ultimate World of Light
Diablo 3 Switch Blizzcon 2018 Diablo Immortal
World of Warcraft Classic Fallout 76 Deltarune
This week we welcome Thalen back from his Japanese sojourn, and with that we have a brief reprisal of the monetization topic from a few weeks back. From there he talks a bit about his own experiences in Japan and how watching Tam experience it for the first time brought back all the feelings of his own first memories. We talk a bit about slow game starts, primarily Xenoblade Chronicles 2 and then some talk of Persona games. From there Bel talks a bit about digging into Destiny 2 Forsaken and all of the quality of life tweaks that have been made. From there we discuss Starlink and how the Nintendo Switch Digital Deluxe version is the correct way to purchase this game. Finally at the very end there is some talk of League of Legends Worlds. Topics Discussed Monetization Reprised The Sad Demise of Marvel Heroes
Thalen in Japan Raubahn is the Scowlingest Soup
Slow Game Starts Xenoblade Chronicles 2 Persona 5 Personal 4
Destiny 2 Forsaken Itemization Changes Gambit Haunted Forest
Starlink Playing as Fox Switch Digital Deluxe
League of Legends Worlds