RPGFan's Random Encounter

The release of Virtue's Last Reward gives the podcast crew another chance to gush over visual novels (999 included, of course), while Pandas invade World of Warcraft to... do whatever it is pandas do. Following some news, Stephen picks the brains of Phoenix Online Studios Cesar Bittar and Richard Flores to talk about Cognition. Featuring: Robert Steinman, John McCarroll, Stephen Meyerink and Derek Heemsbergen Special Guests: Cesar Bittar, CEO of Phoenix Online Studios, Richard Flores, CTO of Phoenix Online Studios Questions? Comments? Spare Potions? Email us: [email protected]

Let the looting begin! Borderlands 2 is out, and our podcast crew has opinions. But that's not all this week. We've also got Realms of Ancient Wars and Ragnarok Online to round out the first of the big Fall releases. John also has some news coming out of Bioware that is both sad and exciting at the same time! Whatever could it be?! Featuring: Robert Steinman, John McCarroll, Stephen Meyerink and Derek Heemsbergen Questions? Comments? Spare Potions? Email us: [email protected]

Well, we actually made it to fifty episode. Bet no one saw that coming. But we have no room for a clip show with The Last Story, Darksiders 2, Guild Wars 2, and all sorts of news going on these days. We also have some fellow editors putting in brief appearances to talk about their favorite RPG memories (spoiler: lots of people like Chrono Trigger), and we hope to maybe continue with this in the future. Here's looking forward to fifty more episodes! Featuring: Robert Steinman, John McCarroll, Stephen Meyerink and Derek Heemsbergen Special Guests: Liz Maas, Kyle Miller Questions? Comments? Spare Potions? Email us: [email protected]

We decided to get one more leisurely episode in before the craziness of the fourth quarter starts to take over. Dave leads off with some final thoughts on The Secret World, Rob fends off the zombie apocalypse (TM) while talking about the first two episodes of The Walking Dead, and John throws down with Persona 4: Arena. Dave also pulls double duty as our podcast economist and tries to make sense of all the stuff going on with The Old Republic and Zynga. Finally, we've got an interview with game designer Mike Zadorojny from ArenaNet about the final development stages and future of Guild Wars 2. Featuring: Robert Steinman, John McCarroll, Dave Yeager and Stephen Meyerink Special Guest: Mike Zadorojny, Game Designer at ArenaNet Questions? Comments? Spare Potions? Email us: [email protected]

The podcast crew continues to fight back the record setting drought with a focus on great gaming experience. Rob and John spent some time in The Secret World, and John also pulled double duty by partaking in some Rainbow Moon with resident gaming lover Stephen. Meanwhile, some relatively minor news accompanies a major rumor on a supposedly troubled project. Featuring: Robert Steinman, John McCarroll and Stephen Meyerink Questions? Comments? Spare Potions? Email us: [email protected]

The summer heat has kicked in, but that just means more time to stay in the air conditioning and play some great RPGs. Stephen comes armed after a harrowing experience with the Japanese beta of Phantasy Star Online 2 (keep in mind we didn't know about the US release when we recorded), while John brings the critters of Pokemon Conquest to destroy the armies of feudal Japan. Meanwhile, Rob's been playing some Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne (way to stay current), and, of course, Zack brings the news, including the release announcement of Guild Wars 2. Featuring: Robert Steinman, Stephen Meyerink, John McCarroll, and Zachary Pintchik Questions? Comments? Spare Potions? Email us: [email protected]

Another year, another E3 come and gone in the gaming world. While it may not have seemed like there were a lot of RPGs on display, our intrepid reporters scoured the show floor to bring you all of the latest info. From the first Skyrim expansion to a game in which a young child tries to kill people (seriously!), this year's expo had a wide range of titles to choose from. Join the regular crew and various special guests as we do our best to talk about all of the E3 insanity! Featuring: Robert Steinman, Stephen Meyerink, Neal Chandran, Kyle E. Miller, John McCarroll and Dave Yeager Questions? Comments? Spare Potions? Email us: [email protected]

Looks like Hell has finally frozen over. Blizzard unleashed Diablo 3 a little over two weeks ago, and the podcast crew has been tearing through the armies of the Burning Hells with reckless abandon. What do they think about all of the connection issues? What about the auction house? Is the game even good? After that, the crew wades into a title that Rob can't pronounce or spell with Gungnir, and there's certainly some sad news to talk about following the closing of 38 Studios and Big Huge Games. Stay tuned after the regular show for an interview with Atlus' QA Lead Richard Rodrigues and PR Manager Aram Jabbari as they talk more about Gungnir with Editor-in-Chief John McCarroll. Featuring: Robert Steinman, John McCarroll, Stephen Meyerink and Zachary Pintchik Special Guests: Richard Rodrigues and Aram Jabbari Questions? Comments? Spare Potions? Email us: [email protected]

Join RPGFan Editor-in-Chief John McCarroll as he talks Gungnir with Richard Rodrigues and Aram Jabbari of Atlus. Note: This is the same interview available at the end of Random Encounter Episode 45. We've added a separate download option for your listening convenience. Featuring: John McCarroll, Richard Rodrigues (QA Lead, Atlus), Aram Jabbari (PR Manager, Atlus) Questions? Comments? Spare Potions? Email us: [email protected]

As part of the ArenaNet studio visit that took place one month ago, Rob was able to participate in two roundtable interviews on the upcoming Guild Wars 2. Unfortunately, we were unable to get you the interviews due to technical difficulties... until now! The first interview is with Lead Content Designer Colin Johanson and Lead Game Designer Eric Flannum, and is followed by an interview with ArenaNet President Mike O'Brien and Producer Chris Whiteside. There's a lot of interesting discussion in here, so grab a seat and listen up! Questions? Comments? Spare Potions? Email us: [email protected]