In this episode, Sean from Gaming Conjecture joins me to talk through our experiences quitting or fading away from MMO’s and some of the reasons we chose to do so.

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Show notes:

What Are the Kids Playing?

Portal & Portal 2 – Brodkil

Definitive Gaming History

Main Topic – Quitting Your MMO

Questions/Topics for discussion:

What Have I Been Up to?

Featured network show: Cat Context

Feedback

FREDELAS (@BRANDYWINEFRED)

I agree with all of the reasons given for having a separate persona online for gaming. I have another reason: In many ways, Fredelas is my funnier, handsomer, more interesting self. I’ve actually found myself becoming more like Fredelas over the last 8 years (especially in terms of pie consumption).

I had always been something of an introvert in real life, but learning how to socialize as a pastry-loving hobbit has led me to some great adventures that I might otherwise never have embarked upon.

TOMEORIC

Another great show. I totally agree with keeping things separate, and I’ve actually gone to the extreme on that. I have absolutely no “personal” presence on the internet – no Twitter or Facebook or anything. Mostly to safeguard the work I do, but I likes me privacy as well!

Mistah Helpful

Hi Brax,

I loved your conversation with Braag recently.  I discovered that he’s a very funny guy when he’s just talking off the cuff (moreso than his prepared gags, imho).   I wondered if he would reference my not-entirely-positive review of his podcast, and he did!   But he also mentioned requiring a thick skin to deal with ‘negative’ reviews.   It made me think about the way that fan casts are generally rated, which is to say they get 5-stars or they feel like they’ve been aggrieved, or failed in some way, or there may even be a sense of “Geez, it’s free, what do you want?”.

As someone who does creative work for a living I love good reviews, but I get the most information when people call out what they perceive as problems.  It’s humbling, but it gives me a lot to think about.  Ultimately you can’t be everything to everyone, but it’s helpful to know if you’re missing your own mark, so to speak.

A few years ago, I realized that the Netflix descriptions of star ratings are kind of perfect:

You can sense a quality distinction in these descriptions.  It generates a pretty perfect bell-curve, with a huge number of movies right in the middle, tapering to both ends.  When I started using this scale the way it’s intended, the suggestions I got from Netflix became quite prescient.

So I’ve started approaching all rating along these lines, including podcasts, and I try to be constructive in my criticism.  (I once implored LOTRO Players News to ‘thin the herd’;  they didn’t actually do that, but they fixed the real problem of pacing caused by all those people.)  And I try to be fair and go back to rewrite my reviews and change star ratings.

So what I’m curious about, from your perspective, is if my ‘use all the stars’ rating system is hurting or helping podcasters (or NBI folks) who are building their audience?  Am I just being a picky bastard?  Or is there some value in someone who wants to avoid the “5-stars for effort” ethos.  I’m honestly doubting myself here, and I’d love to get your perspective.   (I know you’re busy, so don’t post, podcast, or otherwise respond to this unless you actually find it an interesting topic.)

Mistah Helpful

You can send your feedback to [email protected] and I’ll read it on the podcast. Reminder that Beyond Bossfights is on iTunes and would appreciate your ratings and reviews!

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Contact information:

Sean

Me

 Voiceover by Alexa Rubinov