14 minutes ago, mamajamma21 said:

@heychadwick , just added your podcast to my subs...look forward to checking it out (sans state of the game episode). Thanks.

Enjoy! Also the first episode might seem a bit negative because we're trying to establish why we're not covering competitive play, but otherwise we stay pretty positive.

Some of these podcasters only have fun if they are making top 8. They put themselves in that spot. Some dont even take lists they like to fly, just whatever can get them the best chance to top 8. When you are flying a list you don't care much about for 9-10 hours, it can definitely burn you out when you have nothing to show for it, not even having fun. It begins to turn into "work". Go to three regionals and never make the cut with a list you aren't particularly having fun flying can damper anyones mood.

If you guys watch Berto on the SlingPaint youtube channel, that guy is the best. He loves every ship on the table and just has fun flying anything. Even when he is getting his butt kicked, he is like "****, your ship is so awesome. That thing is sweet. Look at it, it's a beautfiul beast just tearing apart my forces."

I listen to Gold Squadron and Mynock a lot and I like both of them. Gold Squadron I feel like they get distracted from what they want to provide in the hour, but they also only release every second Monday vs Mynock which feels more often. The banter between the hosts/cohosts are what I enjoy and why I keep coming back. They are very different casts, but I do find them both very informative and I like the different views they each have.

Dee is awesome, and even though he's been having a rough time he is my favorite podcast personality right now. his "filthy casual" lists are inspiring too! I would like to see them do a whole episode on "fifthly casual" lists

3 minutes ago, wurms said:

Some of these podcasters only have fun if they are making top 8. They put themselves in that spot. Some dont even take lists they like to fly, just whatever can get them the best chance to top 8. When you are flying a list you don't care much about for 9-10 hours, it can definitely burn you out when you have nothing to show for it, not even having fun. It begins to turn into "work". Go to three regionals and never make the cut with a list you aren't particularly having fun flying can damper anyones mood.

If you guys watch Berto on the SlingPaint youtube channel, that guy is the best. He loves every ship on the table and just has fun flying anything. Even when he is getting his butt kicked, he is like "****, your ship is so awesome. That thing is sweet. Look at it, it's a beautfiul beast just tearing apart my forces."

I agree, Berto is hillarious. I actually really like the Slingpaint youtube series. Nymz seems pretty disconnected lately, and I honestly don't mind that. Do they do stuff in podcast format? I normally listen when I'm lying down relaxing going to sleep and don't like how crazy hot my phone gets running youtube videos all night when I eventually fall asleep!

I would point out that I always sound this way

And my flight decks are short

Directed at the OP, I obviously can't speak for all podcasts BUT (going on to speak for all podcasts) I know that constructive criticism and discord between Listeners and hosts is mostly a good thing.
I would either just post your full complaints here or one the relevant Podcasts Facebook page.

Kris

P.S.
NOVA is back on scheduled now and we are back to recording every two weeks and I keep hassling Ed to trim people Flight Decks and keep us all in line

12 minutes ago, Wiredin said:

I listen to Gold Squadron an Mynock a lot and I like both of them. Gold Squadron I feel like they distracted from what they want to provide in the hour, but they also only release every second Monday vs Mynock which feels more often. The banter between them hosts/cohosts are what I enjoy and why I keep coming back. They are very different casts, but I do find them both very informative and I like the different views they each have.

Dee is awesome, and even though he's been having a rough time he is my favorite podcast personality right now. his "filthy casual" lists are inspiring too! I would like to see them do a whole episode on "fifthly casual" lists

Dee is awesome, he's also a great guy in person too, pleasure to have played him at regionals!

43 minutes ago, wurms said:

Even when he is getting his butt kicked, he is like "****, your ship is so awesome. That thing is sweet. Look at it, it's a beautfiul beast just tearing apart my forces."

That's just it. . .if the game is fun, it's a hoot even when you lose. I have had games where I made an obvious mistake and know just when I tossed the game, but still had a blast.

X-Wing is a pretty tough game to play, all things considered. So, if the games aren't fun, it gets ugly fast.

40 minutes ago, Wiredin said:

I would like to see them do a whole episode on "fifthly casual" lists

What is filthy casual?

2 hours ago, mamajamma21 said:

I guess I just look at it as a hobby and if you burn out on hobbies, you might going too hard at'em. Sort of an issue of feathering the breaks and minding your speed so you don't have to slam on the breaks at the last second only to have them lock up, sending you crashing into the wall....to use an abstract metaphor.

Having gone through all that with a different game,it's not always that easy.

Let's say your hobby is competitive x-wing. You enjoy going to tournaments, matching your skill against other skilled players and ultimately winning.

You've done that for a while and it's been fun, but you're not fond of the direction the meta is heading to. If you want to keep playing competitively, you need to fly stuff you don't consider fun more and more often.

Now, your options are pretty bad : you either keep flying unfun (for you) squads to stay competitive which might lead to burnout or you fly what you find fun, even though it's less and less competitive, which leads to you losing more and more, which might lead to burnout.

14 minutes ago, Darth Meanie said:

That's just it. . .if the game is fun, it's a hoot even when you lose. I have had games where I made an obvious mistake and know just when I tossed the game, but still had a blast.

X-Wing is a pretty tough game to play, all things considered. So, if the games aren't fun, it gets ugly fast.

What is filthy casual?

non-meta fun stupid combo lists that may actually be competitive.

like:

Jess w/r3a2, 2 gold tlt, 1 bandit with tracers and guidance, 1 band without tracers

tarn w/m9 + 2 gold TLT + stresshog (actually sounds nasty)

hobbie w/targeting, biggs with r2f2, sabine w/score to settle and jyn, rookie with r2

are a few from Dee's thread

one that is dirty....

Youngster w/Expose + Omega Ace w/Swarm leader + OL w/juke+coms + tomax w/shuttle, twin ions, system officer, fleet officer

5 minutes ago, Wiredin said:

non-meta fun stupid combo lists that may actually be competitive.

Oh. You mean what X-Wing should be.

3 minutes ago, Darth Meanie said:

Oh. You mean what X-Wing should be.

exactly!!!

There's an Australian podcast called Hell of a Pilot that is pretty entertaining (to me) and they seem to be avoiding the doldrums of "too much X-wing".

They're competitive, but don't seem so focused on winning all the time that they feel the need to staple your balls to the wall. They're a fairly new podcast, so that may account for the enthusiasm for the game, but still, it's worth a listen.

26 minutes ago, LordBlades said:

Now, your options are pretty bad : you either keep flying unfun (for you) squads to stay competitive which might lead to burnout or you fly what you find fun, even though it's less and less competitive, which leads to you losing more and more, which might lead to burnout.

I don't see how my options are any worse now then they were for the previous couple of years. In fact, if I want to be competitive I feel like I have a ton more options than I had a year ago. I recently played in a 90+ player regional here in the UK, I didn't play the same list twice, and the only two similar lists were not what you'd call super common in the meta. That was before the FAQ, which is going to shake things up majorly too!

As for the original topic, my local podcast, 186th Squadron, are pretty much of the same opinion. Loads of variety in the top tier lists, none of which are unbeatable, and there are still some left field lists taking people by surprise at big tournaments. The only thing that makes competitive play more taxing at the moment is having to plan on playing more than two different lists in the top 16, which in my opinion is a plus.

I agree with some of the earlier posters that the relentless schedule of regional and above tournaments may have left people burnt out rather than the meta. So, I would prescribe a healthy bit of mucking about with spaceships to get your mojo back. I haven't lost my mojo, thankfully, but my tournament buddies and I are starting Heroes of the Aturi Cluster on Monday anyway!

2 hours ago, WWHSD said:

I blame it on FFG's changes to Regionals and Worlds. I think that having the first of this year's Regionals happen just a week or so after last year's worlds has really taken its toll. In the past, hardcore competitive players had what almost amounted to a tournament season. Outside of that season they could play more relaxed games and goof around with stuff that was fun to play but not really competitively viable.

The extended tournament season that we are in the middle of right now has a trickle down effect to even players that wouldn't consider themselves hardcore tournament players. Tournament players are looking to maximize their playing time with the squads that they are wanting to run competitively. Because they're bringing their tier one squad to the shop to get practice rounds in the people that they are playing kind of need to bring efficient effective squads as well. This makes the pool of players available to play a game for lols with whatever jank they think might be fun much smaller.

This is a solid point.

There has been no breathing room in the tournament series.

Store Championship season definitely raises the general moral of the community, as more players get to find success in sanctioned FFG events. If I remember the store champ results threads correctly, they were always ripe with slightly more off-the-wall lists that would win or get Top 4, and more players get to have that moment of spotlight. Players would talk about these lists and try them out, and get really excited!

I miss that!

There are just so few Regionals, and only 8 to 16 players/lists even get noticed.

4 hours ago, mamajamma21 said:

I'm a big fan of the podcasts of this game. I liked the personalities and enjoy the banter. However, I cant help but notice that many of them seem to recently have a common thread of burnout or frustration with the game.

I can't help but think that the unrelenting focus on competitive play is partially the cause for this. Very often I hear the podcasts deeming certain things that are very fun as not "viable". Things like the Nastah pup, epic play, and other fun mechanics or interactions get shunned.

I don't often play competitively, partially due to the time commitment, but I have. I do believe that as a competitive game, the game is a more flawed game. Timed games, points, half points, all seem clumsy at times and against the true goal of the game, space murder.

Sometimes I wish a lot of the podcasts would stop and smell the roses, for the lack of a better term, and talk more about the fun lists, fun games, and fun moments and take a break from trying to win Worlds with every card that gets spoiled. I just think this game is at it's best when friends get together and trying to bury each other in the vacuum of space.

Not saying their way of doing things is wrong or that all podcasts are like this all the time, just my own personal observations on the scene currently.

I not sure what your talking about but the general consensus is very positive post FAQ. Can you be more specific? Obviously, the competitive podcasts do not seriously consider the "fun" lists but you know that going in before listening that weaker ships and upgrades will not be a focus.

36 minutes ago, Force Majeure said:

There's an Australian podcast called Hell of a Pilot that is pretty entertaining (to me) and they seem to be avoiding the doldrums of "too much X-wing".

They're competitive, but don't seem so focused on winning all the time that they feel the need to staple your balls to the wall. They're a fairly new podcast, so that may account for the enthusiasm for the game, but still, it's worth a listen.

Yes! I was going to bring them up here. They have a great chemistry, and lots of good laughs. Hell of a Pilot is quickly moving up into my top 3 favorites.

I would say morale is up after the FAQ. It's unfair to point fingers in the last few months.

If moral is up after the FAQ, I guess that will reflect in the podcasts. As far as being more specific.. honestly, no. It was just my observations followed by how I prefer to look at the game. I'm not really trying to be persuasive.

3 hours ago, Darth Meanie said:

What is filthy casual?

Better question, what is "fifthly" casual?

Perhaps playing X-wing so casually as not to provide evidence against yourself?

7 hours ago, mamajamma21 said:

Other than to mention how ridiculous that sounds?

Listen closer. They've mentioned it on most of them.

1 hour ago, TasteTheRainbow said:

Listen closer. They've mentioned it on most of them.

If they are even partially blaming their gamer malaise on that, I'll purposely NOT re-listen to avoid the risk of pulling a muscle laughing at them.

Nova Squadron seems to have good moral S&V did mention burnout but that often comes with many people in the Hobbies. Especially those that turn it into maybe not a job (because none of them get paid) but somewhat of a service obligation. You start to feel like you have to or else you let a lot of folks down, yet you get nothing in return. Those types of obligations really do put a wait and have vulnerability of burnout. You get the entire all cost and no gain scenario.

I love 186th as it is my local cast; Back to Dials is really great. Gave up with SoT as a new host is really annoying...the off-shoot Destiny cast is great though. S&V is an occasional listen too.

On 3/17/2017 at 2:18 PM, Tbetts94 said:

S&V-not too bad, but Blair always complains about something ?

Haha not even gonna argue that but they did drop a massive nerf on dengaroo so I feel like I can at least say most of my salt over the last 8 months is now some what justified. I also had to play parattanni 6 out of the last 9 freaking games at endor and did no complaining about that so I think I deserve a little credit for that too :D. I've never claimed that anything I say has any kind of real substance to it at all either so just ignore my ass if my attitude is wearing.

On 17/03/2017 at 7:22 PM, mamajamma21 said:

I'm a big fan of the podcasts of this game. I liked the personalities and enjoy the banter. However, I cant help but notice that many of them seem to recently have a common thread of burnout or frustration with the game.

I can't help but think that the unrelenting focus on competitive play is partially the cause for this. Very often I hear the podcasts deeming certain things that are very fun as not "viable". Things like the Nastah pup, epic play, and other fun mechanics or interactions get shunned.

I don't often play competitively, partially due to the time commitment, but I have. I do believe that as a competitive game, the game is a more flawed game. Timed games, points, half points, all seem clumsy at times and against the true goal of the game, space murder.

Sometimes I wish a lot of the podcasts would stop and smell the roses, for the lack of a better term, and talk more about the fun lists, fun games, and fun moments and take a break from trying to win Worlds with every card that gets spoiled. I just think this game is at it's best when friends get together and trying to bury each other in the vacuum of space.

Not saying their way of doing things is wrong or that all podcasts are like this all the time, just my own personal observations on the scene currently.

We need x wing podcast 2.0.