Evil Avatar News Radio Podcast -- Episodes 4 and 5!

[Kefkataran]

So you've been calmly waiting for new podcast episodes for several weeks? Boy, have we got a treat for you!

First off you can check out our brand new Evil Avatar News Radio website! (http://www.evilavatarradio.com). There you can both subscribe to our podcast or manually download each episode. You might notice we have not one but TWO big episodes up for your downloading pleasure.

First up is Episode 4 (http://www.evilavatarradio.com/audio/Episode4.PingPong.mp3), containing such gems as:

-the World's Worst Videogame contest!
-Call of Duty ads banned
-reality TV show + MMORPG = match made in heaven... or hell?
-GDC nominations
-Rockstar Games' Ping-Pong: the next-gen has finally arrived
-the first ever Real Gamer Reviews audio version performed by bapenguin himself!

After listening to this one, be sure to check out our freshly-recorded Episode 5 (http://www.evilavatarradio.com/audio/Episode5.Redux.mp3)! This is a bonus Evil Avatar roundtable discussion featuring a big group of well-known EvAv posters: bapenguin, Jeffool, thecrazyd, agentgray, and myself! In this one we cover:

-our intro music finally revealed!
-knighting of videogame designers
-CRAZYD IS GOING TO E3! GET HIM!
-Family Guy videogame: good or most likely bad?
-first reviews of Elder Scrolls: Oblivion and Final Fantasy XII
-sex-based MMOs: the next-gen has finally arrived

Give these a listen and let us know what you think of the shows or the stories we covered at evilavatarnews@gmail.com and be sure to stay tuned tomorrow night where we'll be recording Episode 6 from 9:00 PM to midnight central.

[agentgray]

Really let us know what you guys think of the episodes, especially episode 5. It was something different we tried on short notice and (I think) we all had a lot of fun running it.

Don't forget that if you want to subscribe to the podcast, you can now do it in iTunes (http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?id=121060914&s=143441). Go to the music store and do a search for "evil avatar" or click on the previous link.

[Spigot]

I wanted to be a part of Episode 5, but alas, it was the one Monday night I was actually slated to do work stuff. Curses!

[bean19]

I hate to be a downer, and I think this is really cool, but I found myself fairly bored listening to this. Also, I would never make these suggestions if agentgray didn't ask. . . do don't crucify me if you disagree:

1. The show doesn't sound rehearsed. There are a lot of topics that no one seems to have much to say about, or what they have to say isn't all that entertaining. Also, Kefkatran (I believe he is the host?) doesn't seem to know when all the salient points have been spoken about and thus he doesn't know when to move on.

2. Try to find a regular cohost who is genuinely funny and quick in the way that he or she communicates ideas. You don't need someone who is a comedian so much as you need a great speaker who can communicate in vivid images. . . it's just that humorists are usually very good at this and also bring humor to the table.

3. During rehearsal, make an outline. You don't need to cover every story of the week and if no one has anything interesting to say about it, you can just immediately go on to the next story.

If you had cut this down to just the "best" stories, it would have been really entertaining. I was laughing out loud when you got to the last two stories (CS-perv and the porn MMO), but was yawning and reading other sites before that. Of course, you need more content than just two stories. . . thus the need for rehearsal and someone who is effortlessly funny and vivid in their speech.

P.S. - bap's Real Reviews doesn't really translate well to radio.

[thecrazyd]

I don't think that "No one has strong opinions" is true at all. There just were not many controversial topics on this one. I was ready to start throwing chairs if anyone said the wrong thing.

[Kefkataran]

If you had cut this down to just the "best" stories, it would have been really entertaining. I was laughing out loud when you got to the last two stories (CS-perv and the porn MMO), but was yawning and reading other sites before that. Of course, you need more content than just two stories. . . thus the need for rehearsal and someone who is effortlessly funny and vivid in their speech.

I think there's a lot of things this can be attributed too, and I'm honestly saying this not exactly defense of the show (which I recognize can be made better in a lot of ways yet). That said, there were a number of factors at play: first off is that this was a slower a news week, and we still wanted to fill up around a half hour to forty minutes of news. There were a couple stories that would easily have been replaced if there was something better reported, but there just wasn't. Beyond that, I think it's worth pointing out that this was the first time doing any "radio-like" experience (as far as I know) for all of the guys except me, and it was also our first time trying a show in this style and over Skype.

Your point about rehearsal is valid, but only insofar as if we do this again I'd like to make sure we have enough of a lead time that everyone involved can get copies of the specific news stories I'll be reading. I don't think actual REHEARSAL is a very good idea, as in my opinion that takes away a lot of what talk radio is actually about, but making sure everyone has read, thought about, and has things to talk about with the stories we're going to report on is obviously a good idea.

Of course, as far as bap's Real Gamer Reviews, I just totally disagree, so who knows. :p

Anyways, my main point with this post is mostly just that Episode 5 acts more as a kind of "taste" of what we can do. If we try the roundtable format again in the future, it will invariably get better, although I'd still say there's some extremely strong points for this run at it (especially the last ten to fifteen minutes, as we got more comfortable, as you point out).

[agentgray]

bean19, your comments are exactly what we are looking for. I don't take them the wrong way. I'll try and respond just as fair. I don't mean anything personally.

1. I don't think that the show needs to be rehearsed. However, I do think that everyone needs to be involved beforehand in knowing what news items we are going to go over. Granted this was the first time we got together, and for some of us it was the first time any of us had ever met (vocally at least). As you can tell, we sort of figured out or dynamic by the end of the show and we were all giving witty barbs and touches of humor. You can kind of tell we didn't have that at first when one of us would say a comment and there'd be a sniffled laugh or an "uh...ok...silence moment". However, I think we all got in stride by the end. Getting back to the rehearsal: the spontaneity of the moment is what we're looking for. If we do more shows like this it'll come along. I'm pretty sure of it.

2. I think Kef does a great job hosting. Some of us got together with the idea of the podcast, and since he does a radio show on Fridays he's the natural choice for the host. He gathers the info and dishes it out. In a comparison of all the episodes, he's come a long way since episode one. Plus, revolving round tables doesn't help.

3. We could cut stories that don't get any response, but like I said, we're still feeling it out.

A couple of things:

1. This has got to be tough to do on radio. I imagine some people in the listening area are like WTH when 10PM hits on Fridays and some others are psyched about it. It's also hard because it's only the host and another person. I know Kef is working on adding more people to the dynamic. Who knows, we may also just do the skype thing from time to time.

2. Bap's, RGR audio: I think they are good. They would have been better live. We could have kidded with him and added our two cents (which we didn't do all that much).

3. As far as strong opinions I think that's a hard call. By the end, we all found out where our "lines" (consoles, games, etc) were drawn, but nobody attacked any one person. I mean I could have railed on Sony, and others could have railed in other places, but I don't think any one of us was a diehard tatooed fanboy...and attacking people is just ...stupid.

4. I'm really glad you took the time to listen. I hope some others leave comments as well. Also, thanks for doing what I asked with the feedback. How will we know to make it better or even know we're doing any good unless someone speaks up? :)

[jeffool]

I hate to be a downer, and I think this is really cool, but I found myself fairly bored listening to this. Also, I would never make these suggestions if agentgray didn't ask. . . do don't crucify me if you disagree:Get that bastard! *ahem* Nah man, it's completely cool. I think we're all open to criticism and personally I'm a fan of it. (Seriously. I love to talk bad about things.)

I think that a large problem we had (that comes with being unable to see each other,) is talking at once and not knowing when someone else was going to speak. That, on more than one occassion, led to people stepping on each other and odd pauses. Of course it didn't help much that, like was said, we were completely new to each other in the sense of 'audial conversation'. I think that with time we can work on general comfort and maybe even a method of speaking turns that'll better lend itself to Skype. (If this is kept up.)

Glad you at least enjoyed some of that one.

[agentgray]

Get that bastard! *ahem* Nah man, it's completely cool. I think we're all open to criticism and personally I'm a fan of it. (Seriously. I love to talk bad about things.)
I think you did push us the most when it came to that stuff, but we didn't bite. I agree about the simul-talk thing. There was a lot of that I edited out. If we do do more of this it'll come along and we'll begin to figure out what topics people will talk on.

For instance, most of you could go on and on about Guitar Hero. Notice I didn't say much. "Dueling banjos" but that was it.

However, there were items I commented heavily on and others were silent.

[TrackZero]

Really let us know what you guys think of the episodes, especially episode 5. It was something different we tried on short notice and (I think) we all had a lot of fun running it.

Don't forget that if you want to subscribe to the podcast, you can now do it in iTunes (http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?id=121060914&s=143441). Go to the music store and do a search for "evil avatar" or click on the previous link.

If you ever have to do another Redux, call me in on it! ;)

[Kefkataran]

If you ever have to do another Redux, call me in on it!

Definitely! :p

[bean19]

Believe it or not, most professional talk radio is rehearsed. It isn't rehearsed down to lines or anything, but what happens is that they do a run through and then the producer who is not actually talking will help by writing down what was good and what didn't work as well as providing an outline for the host and guests.

That could help cut down the simul-talk and it also lets people go balls-to-the-wall with jokes before being told to cut them back.

Still, Kefkatran obviously knows all this since he has experience with radio and is choosing not to do it because he feels that it takes away from what talk radio is about. . . and that is true for many formats of radio.

The problem with that Kefka is that the shows that improptu talk shows still screen comments from everyone but trained professionals, and if a caller is boring they make the question more interesting by changing the premise of the question or by answering it quickly. When they have actors, singers, politicians, etc. on, all of those people are trained to give good interviews. No one here is trained for it. They know how to keep the audience interested. Plus, most talk shows that do stuff improptu have big name DJs that have been doing it for years and they are not rehearsing anymore because they've covered nearly every possible base in rehearsals for previous shows.

Also, by strong opinions, I don't mean bickering and fighting. That, of course, is also boring. What I think is interesting is when you have people that have oppossing viewpoints that are communicated civilly. Hell, they don't even have to be oppossing viewpoints. . . you could all agree about something, but agree about it with feeling instead of apathy and/or trepidation (which I know is largely a part of not really having a feeling for one another).

That trepidation would also be fixed by rehearsal. . . or even just a quick run through.

Anyway, I don't mean to shit on something that you are all working so hard on. This is motivated by wanting to enjoy it more because I think that the premise is great and you all have the ability to make it worth listening to.

Go listen to one of the Hotspot podcasts (http://www.gamespot.com/features.html?type=features&category=HotSpot) then listen to the first fifteen minutes of this one.

You guys can probably provide the best feedback yourselves just by analyzing your own work.

[Kefkataran]

The problem with that Kefka is that the shows that improptu talk shows still screen comments from everyone but trained professionals, and if a caller is boring they make the question more interesting by changing the premise of the question or by answering it quickly. When they have actors, singers, politicians, etc. on, all of those people are trained to give good interviews. No one here is trained for it. They know how to keep the audience interested. Plus, most talk shows that do stuff improptu have big name DJs that have been doing it for years and they are not rehearsing anymore because they've covered nearly every possible base in rehearsals for previous shows.


Most of what you're saying, though, is stuff that's going to come more with increased time doing the show in this format and experience. Rehearsing isn't going to help, in my opinion, but just doing it and getting better well. As I think was pointed out before, the increase in quality from the first episode to know is already quite visible, and I see no reason why it won't keep going up. I realize I'm not a perfect professional yet, but you can't really expect that to happen overnight. :)

Anyway, I don't mean to shit on something that you are all working so hard on. This is motivated by wanting to enjoy it more because I think that the premise is great and you all have the ability to make it worth listening to.

Go listen to one of the Hotspot podcasts then listen to the first fifteen minutes of this one.

No worries, I listen to the Hotspot and a whole crapload of other podcasts, so I know what's out there and realize we're not up to that level yet. That said, that is most definitely where we're aiming, so hopefully you can take some heart in that at least. We definitely DO want feedback, so all this effort you're putting into posting letting us know what you think could be done to make it better is very much appreciated.

You guys can probably provide the best feedback yourselves just by analyzing your own work.

I can't speak for everyone else (though I'm sure they listen to the show as well), but I know I listen to each episode with Amanda at least once, and on my own at least twice. We're all working very hard to make this a great experience for listeners, and I really do think the longer we're at, the better it will get. Hope you stick with us. :)

[Spigot]

You guys can probably provide the best feedback yourselves just by analyzing your own work.
Bah. Self reflection is for losers.