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No worries. It's still a pretty niche interest/hobby at this point. Have a great podcast!

I picked your Switch question for the podcast, but I'll try to answer some of the others. I have no interest in Fallout 76. Vagrant Story and Xenogears need remakes! I think Mass Effect could make a great Netflix series. We have a few tweaks to make to patreon when we launch our new branding but it won't be too different. If we can get things figured out I think we will surpass 100,000 subscribers and be hitting something in the realm of 20k-30k views on average per video. I think there's a lot of talent in the Japanese game industry. I think that Square's upper management is the problem more than the talent of the devs themselves. We probably won't do a table top night, but we are planning on starting a book club and a radio show on Twitch.

Resonant Arc

I guess I often think of Show Don't Tell as 'fill in the blanks using the evidence', sometimes it can be obvious, sometimes a little more nebulous but even the obvious ones can just sometimes go over your head when they are not explicitly spelled out by a character. The Lorerunner example seemed the clearest and most recent. After I made my comment it got the following reply - Exactly! When I looked back at this episode, that's the one thing I remember about it: Picard being confronted with the physical embodiment of his own (possible) cowardice and the loud silence of no one mentioning that Picard Two abandoned his ship and his crew. That's why it's so important that Troi keeps saying this is the "real" Picard... because that would mean that, deep down, despite his self-assurance, Picard One is also a coward (at least it seems that way until we find out what really happened). Picard faces his own biggest fear: the possibility that he will crumble, panic, or let down his crew under pressure. To me this was what the episode was Showing me but not Telling me and it seemed very odd that Lore did not bring it up and instead said something much more insignificant. Whether he actually missed it or not I can't say but that is how it looked. This is why I came up with this topic

ChocolateRob

I suppose I would argue that in FFX's case the confusion actually comes from the fact that it does not show but only tells in exposition dumps. I think the key example for me is the scene with the kid (Fayth of Bahamut I think) explaining Dream Zanarkand to Tidus. I'll probably go into more detail on this in the podcast, but the game never really shows the events of the real Zanarkand or Yu Yevon summoning Sin or the Fayth summoning Dream Zanarkand. All of this information is told through dialogue, and in an attempt to keep the kid mysterious he's not exactly direct in how he says anything. I'll watch that scene again, because I remember feeling like it was clearer than I had remembered it last time I watched it. Anyway, we'll talk about this for sure.

Resonant Arc

I was just trying to remember what the discussions I had last year were about. I think the real problem had been the nature of summoning and dreaming and how it had worked in Sin and Dream Zanarkand's case. The general interaction of Summoners, Fayth and Aeons. Overall I felt like a discussion about the possible shortfalls of Show Don't Tell would be an interesting topic. The FFX and Lorerunner examples just seemed like the most obvious to bring up. I seem to recall that early complaints about FFVIII involved it not explaining things like Ultimecia's motivations, just hinting towards them. Some people are just bad with subtext. Telling can often work a lot more clearly than showing. I'd have to deep dive last years podcasts or any FFX videos to find specific areas of confusion.

ChocolateRob

I would say that neither of us are really all that interested in esports. I only have a cursory knowledge of the Smash community because I loved Melee so much back when it came out and because I work for GameTyrant now. I don't really follow any of the players outside of work or root for anyone though. Elegant was a nice story for Smash Wii U at our event last year, a Luigi main almost beating MKLeo as Cloud, and I know he's surged in the polls since then. There were some other cool upsets and new players who have emerged since then like Amsa. Honestly though I don't pay attention to this stuff in my free time.

Resonant Arc

For clarification what do you mean by history of Sin?

Resonant Arc

This may be too specific a question to answer on the podcast, so feel free to skip if it won't create much discussion. This weekend is EVO 2018 in Las Vegas. For people who follow competitive fighting game tournaments, this is pretty much the Superbowl/Olympics/World Cup of the Fighting Game Community. Over 7500 players are coming from all over the world to fight it out. (Personally, I’m getting really hype for it!) I’m wondering if the Dark Pixel gang follows any competitive fighting game tourneys? (Street Fighter, Smash, Tekken, Guilty Gear, etc.) Mike, are you rooting for any specific Smash players at GTX in November? If not fighting games, do you follow any esports type games in general? If so, do you have any favorite players or teams that you follow? What do you like about watching those games/players? And if not, what factors prevent you from watching or becoming interested in esports? (I’m guessing it’s mostly busy schedules, but are there any other factors?)

Suppose you're given the chance to redesign FF8's Junctioning system - what changes would you make, if any (while still preserving the general concept)?

And also a thing that bothers me about octopath and generally in jrpgs is that have a lot of characters that the ones out of your party do not level up. I love character variety in jrpgs but it sometimes also hurts the game if you have to level them up individually. A game also then needs to encourage me to use different characters and not just my main party. Like in ffx where the battles become like a puzzle game where you have to exploit the enemys weaknesses with different characters. But it does not have to be so strategic like in ffx as i said it would be enough to me if they just also level up. But then theres the arguement that someone who does not do anything would not gain experience in real life, but then again we are talking about a game and you dont have to be so strict. These are some deductions i would take if the game becomes more fun. Whats your take on character variety in jrpgs, do you think more is better or do you like smaller casts from a gameplay and also a story perspective? (Sorry for my bad english)

Whats your opinion about this topic?

I just started Octopath traveler a few days ago, i was sceptical because i heard it was really grindy. In the beginning i really enjoyed it, i love the art and music and the battle system is really strategic. But in chapter 2-3 it becomes really grindy for no good reason and you have to level up all your characters. I love engaging battle systems like in the persona series where you have to think every step through, but when a game then forces you to grind its to its own detriment. Because every little grunt is a challenge it acquires your full attention an then you have to repeat this process for hours without progressing in the main part of the game. I even sometimes enjoy grinding if the game somehow gives me an easy way to do so and i dont have to give it my full attention. I understand that back then it was a way to suggest to you that the next boss is challenge if you have to grind. But if you already have an engaging system than its unnecassary and just hurts the pacing. My point is that grinding in really challenging rpgs just does not fit together. Oh and your party members in the tavern do not level up with you, oh boy.....

Do you guys enjoy it when RPG's require you to spend a lot of time in menus configuring equipment, stats, etc. I personally have a lot of fun with games Like Vagrant Story or Final Fantasy 6 where there is a lot to do in menus, even if it might be a bit time consuming.

Fallout 76 opinions? Which classic series needs a reboot? (Besides Chrono) Over a year later, is the switch the next classic Nintendo console? Or is it going to go down in history as the "port machine" (ie: a vast majority of its titles are ported from other consoles) with the Castlevania Netflix series being a big success, and the upcoming Witcher series looking like it's intended to be Netflix's answer to Game of Thrones, are there any games you'd like to see adapted to film or television? (presuming Uwe Bole is not allowed within a 100 km radius of production) with the rework of the channel and the end of reviews are you examining ideas for reshaping the patreon? Where do you see the channel in a year given the new direction? As the Japanese devs who gave us all the classic jrpgs retire do you think there is going to be a talent vacume in Japanese game development? (is it happening already with final Fantasy 13-13/2-13/3?) because I'd love to see it and it seems to be having a massive resurgence in popularity, any chance of their being a tabletop role playing night on the channel?

Silvar

One of the unique aspects of video games as an artistic medium is that the person engaging with it has a direct impact on the course of the piece and interacts with it in a way that is different than writing, static art, theatre and performative arts, cinema, or television. Though many people might buy and play the same game, each person will encounter the game differently, almost as if Da Vinci painted a personalised Mona Lisa for every person who asked for it. What are some games that truly highlight the uniqueness of video games as an artistic genre, and conversely what are some barriers that keep the medium from realising its potential.

What happens when 'show, don't tell' goes wrong? The problem can be that if things aren't explicitly stated the audience can completely miss or misunderstand just what is being shown. For example I always understood the mechanics of summoning and history of Sin in FFX quite easily, I felt it was all shown quite clearly but many people (yourselves included) didn't seem to get it. Last week's TNG rumination (time squared) inspired this topic in me. Lore gave a rather weak reason for Picard's uncomfortableness with his doppleganger but did not mention what seemed to be a much more obvious one (It looked like his future self abandoned his crew - it looked like cowardice). I can't say whether he missed it or just didn't mention it but it seems like he did not see what they were showing, hence this topic. It is easy for people to miss what is shown, just like not seeing an object you are looking for when it is right in front of you. Telling will ensure everyone is keeping up. What is your opinion? (and don't mention the Lore example please)

ChocolateRob