Wherein Greg, Darryl and I talk about the lack of product from FFG, why this sucks, what should be done about it, how the amount of product hurts new players and what might be done about it. Oh, and we talk about our predictions for the 2013 Moonboy Classic from what house will win it all and why, to who will make the biggest fool of themselves at the bar.

I barely even made it two minutes in before turning it off. You guys just come off as crude with how severely off topic this one went right from the start.

Sorry you feel that way. We usually take the first 5 minutes (give or take a little) to try to be be humorous or otherwise intro ourselves. Humour can be a finicky thing, so I guess this time it wasn't your cup of tea.

For anyone else listening, curious, or wary, we make a crude joke in the first minute of the show, then spend a little time talking about the Explicit rating that we have in iTunes and Darryl's best recollection of when and how we got that rating. At 3:11 the transition music starts, and at 3:26 we move on to discussing the lack of product, why this is a problem and so on. At 33:26 we move on to Moonboy Classic predictions and a loose look at the meta. As always though, I edit lightly and we enjoy trying to make people laugh, so be warned that we certainly digress with a few more jokes as the show goes, though admittedly none as crude as the initial one.

Plus, Kennon edited out a dig I made at Darryl's adulterous ways during the reading of the passage from the books. That particular dig led to our explicit exchange. I'm not trying to make excuses, but it at least provides context.

Indeed. I decided that most of the rest of that discussion was extraneous and cut it down to the main joke, IMO.

Good episode guys. Enjoyed the commentary, I am curious to see what impact house of dreams has on the post worlds meta.

This makes me laugh. We are crude and we are off topic. Our show is us having fun and talking about the game we love and whatever else we feel like. We don't get paid and we do this on our own time. We rule sorry you can't handle 2 minutes of grown men acting like fools and using foul language but thats who we are sometimes.

Well, maybe just two minutes for Greg and I. Probably a lot longer for you.

Gearhalt said:

Was providing feedback on your show. You can do whatever you want but others will not like it and will provide feedback in an effort to see the show improve. If you don't take it or can't accept it then don't that is your problem not mine. I know others that feel the same way that will not listen to your show either. Grown men don't have to behave like that that is your choice and you are free to do whatever the hell you want on your show but figured you might want to improve it to help expand it to a wider audience other than people who think and act like you do. Maybe not. Again not my problem.

I felt like the banter was about par for the course. I'm rarely fond of radio banter (has to be done just right), but there's enough substance in the rest of your show that I continue to enjoy the podcast. Take my comments with a grain of salt though. I typically listen while washing dishes or commuting to/from work though, so I'm able to mentally space out during segments that I find less interesting (usually about 1/2 the podcast). I'm sure these less interesting segments are the most fun to create though, and if that's what keeps you making the podcasts, fine by me.

One content-related note, I liked your (especially Greg's) discussion of FFG's poor communications with its playerbase on the last episode. Not that I feel that topic needs more discussion, but I appreciate hearing alternate views of broader trends or developments that are impactful to the game more generally. The narrower, forward-looking discussions of "what's going to happen" (at Moonboy, regionals, etc.) are much less interesting to me because it feels like the environment hasn't changed so substantially that you are adding much to the conversation. In cases where you do identify an interesting development, the new development feels more of a metagame adjustment than outright innovation. And when innovation happens, no doubt you will report on it after the fact…so the pre-reporting ends up feeling a little redundant.

If you do look at deckbuilding, then you might take a slightly different approach. For example, "how to build an extremely flavorful deck to introduce new players to the game." After all, we can all netdeck the best decks, and competitive players who are listening have a good sense of what is going ot be competitive given the relatively slight shifts that occur with new chapter packs. There's much more unexplored territory related to how to make this game feel more like a game (more "fun").

I have something of a backlog of episodes, so it'll be some time till I'll get around to listening to this one, but I'd like to state that generally I like the show just fine the way it is. Sure, I might not be the biggest fan of the banter or the non-Thrones related stuff, but the show has grown on me over time, and I don't mind really.

Toqtamish, I think it's a good thing that you gave feedback on the episode, but to be honest, I also think that your last response there did come off as a bit heavy-handed. This is not a professional product, obviously. These guys (Kennon especially) spend a significant amount of time on 2C1C, because, I'd venture, they have fun doing it. If they ever stop having fun doing it, they will probably stop doing it. So, while it is a pity that you and others dislike the show's current format so much that you'd rather not listen at all rather than put up with it, I'd guess that the alternative to the show in its current form is not a more streamlined and professional version of the show, it is no show at all. And I for one would much rather have the show as it is than none at all.

~Besides, I take the gravest possible exception to your claim that the show's audience consists solely of people who think and act like Darryl.

I enjoy the banter. I think that the addition of some (short) non-thrones banter helps me relate to/identify/distinguish between the hosts.

And building themed/good introductory decks is something I've suggested in the past… especially after all that mention of how an "alternative core set" would have been great - as "a new entry point". Design some alternative-core set decks! A pair of decks that keep the complicated second/third order interactions down, use existing cards, are somewhat thematic, and pair off well against one another.

Gearhalt said:

Darryl, just because we invite you onto the show, it does not mean we invite you to post on this thread. Go away and stop being mean to our listeners. By the way, I'm going to crush you this weekend.

Gearhalt said:

This attitude bothers me more than the joke. There is nothing wrong with someone providing you constructive feedback about how they felt about the joke. the person wasn't rude or anything. Being this antagonistic is silly when it isn’t called for. I actually think the whole “we do this on our free time” line of attack is stupid. You’re doing this on your free time and you’re doing it for free, but you’re doing it for the audience. If you don’t want to hear criticism then don’t put it up for the public to listen to. It’s that simple.

Whoah, this headed in directions that I didn't anticipate.

Anyway, Twn2dn, I'm with you in that I generally listen to podcasts while I'm doing other things like driving. Particularly I tend to listen to podcasts while I drive to and from Springfield where I commute to play Thrones.

I'm curious, what sorts of other shows do folks listen to? I split mine between some professional shows (How Stuff Works family of shows, the Rachel Maddow Show) and other fan created gaming shows (Pauper to the People, Cardboard of the Rings, Bear Swarm and sundries). I can tell a fairly large difference between the two varieties of show. For context's sake, though, I'm curious about others.

Thanks to you guys (and your banter) I am able to guarantee that once a week on my commute from work I will get to be sitting in my car, alone, laughing and looking like a lunatic to all of the other saps stuck in the misery of Chicago rush hour traffic that might happen to glance at my car and thus providing laughter for them as well. I consider this to be a public service you are providing, not just for your listeners but for others as well.

The banter and sarcasm of the show is what makes it conversational and immersing. Nothing would say 'truly representative of the AGOT community' (or the GRR Martin universe/subject matter) like rigidly scripted, rated G content.

Keep it rolling and unapologetic.

Kennon said:

Whoa, can it be? A closet Lib in the heartland?

I'll concur with the opinions that it is possible to have witty banner without being crude. A couple examples from other podcasts I listen to are the D6 Generation and Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me.

Monday Night Magic, Top8Magic, Limited Resources and The Eh Team which really reminds me of your podcasts.=)

Love 2C1C Keep up the great work!!!

@Kennon: I listen to podcasts at work (Headphones) and honestly 2C1C is my favorite. The crude humor is part of the appeal of the show, at least when its in moderation. Other podcasts I listen to include The Best of Mike and Mike, Pardon the Interuption, Stuff you Missed in History Class, Richard Taylor's Roots Rock Radio, The Ice Box, and On Boardgames.

Kennon, to answer your question about podcasts I listen to they are Summer is Coming, the Icebox, Agenda7 and Smugglers Den. I used to listen to and was on an episode of question of Gluttony when I played WoW TCG. I help out behind the scenes with Agenda7.

Hey gang just wanted to let you know I love the show. The banter made me feel like I knew you guys well even before I met you guys. I feel like Daryl and I are besties and I'm sure .he agrees.

Btw I agree those guys doing summer is coming and the smugglers den are great!

Keep up the good work 2c1c

TinyGrimes said:

I agree that the smuggler's den guys are doing great, but the summer is coming guys can't even get on iTunes.

TinyGrimes said:

hahahahaha i hope the guy that posted after you knew that you make both!!! xD