I hear what you are saying. Part of the problem is my self deprecating sense of humor. Think Conan O’brien. The other part of the problem is exactly what you say, a sense of inadequacy. So my pact with you will be that in the future it’s either me laughing at myself, or being honest about limitations.

I’ve just discovered you podcast via the Fred Hicks interview, and I’ve listened to three or four episodes now. One thing that stands out is that you are frequently apologizing for your inexperience as a podcaster, or your lack of advanced education, or because you feel you aren’t speaking well.

Cut that out.

Two reasons:
First, you’re doing fine. So you don’t have a Master’s degree in English Lit. So what? You need a $50,000 education to talk good sense about gaming?

Second, if you sell your audience on how bad you are, it will color how they perceive the rest of the content of the show. If you go on about how you don’t know what you’re doing, you’re going to convince somebody of it, and they’ll stop listening.

So lighten up on yourself. You’re doing a good job.

Thanks. Glad to have you aboard.

Hi Daniel,

I bought a router with some birthday cash, I’m almost ready to let my old xp box touch the internet, as there is so much more I can do to protect it now. So I should have the podcast subcribed to iTunes before the weekend is over. Thanks for the offer.

Hi Michael,

Social contract is going to be my next show. There are definitely some useful bits for me to address there.

Mostly the things that I would like to hear about and hear different takes on are in Campaign construction, and gaming group limits.
For example I have been trying to establish in my mind the style of play I want, both when running and playing. This way I can discuss it with all of the other people at the table and either establishes my rules of play (as a game master) or my limits and focus points (as a player).

I hope that makes sense and give you some things to mull over.

I’ve glanced through Icar today. My first thought at looking at it is that it seems like you are really going for a game where people interact and explore the setting. Your setting is not ambiguous but well defined. If this is accurate you may want to consider another use of flags that I’ll be talking about in the next show. I won’t type a lot about it now as the next show will be out by Monday at the latest, but you can do the reverse of how I’ve presently defined flags. Flags can be used to show the G.M. what the players are interested in, but they can also be used to feed the players information on who the characters are. I’m not sure what to call this as I’m not sure if this is a new thought of mine, or something I’ve recently come to understand.

Anyway. Icar looks interesting. I think the bit I saw about phase two humans and phase one humans will have me giving the game a more thorough read in the future. My RPG time is swamped right now. Thanks for listening.

Thanks for explaining that stuff. Not sure how it’s going to apply to Icar but I’ll put my thinking cap on.

You can subscribe via iTunes. I’ve got directions on how to do so here:

http://theoryfromthecloset.com/2007/01/04/how-to-subscribe-to-the-podcast-feed/#more-6

Apple doesn’t make a version of iTunes for Linux, so I haven’t been able to add my show to their service yet. I apologize that it’s not as easy as it should be.

Glad to have ya, and I’ll start working on a social contract episode, expect it in a few weeks. I’ll be interested to hear what you think. Are there any questions you have, or any thoughts you’d like to share?

Hi James,

Thanks. I’m glad you’re enjoying the show. The Low Key approach is deliberate, I’ve spent going on 20 years in the punk rock/hardcore scene and I wanted the show to reflect those sensibilities. Which is why you won’t hear things like promos for other shows, or a lot of polish. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with promos and polish it’s just not me.

I really like your unpolished interviews. It sounds like a real conversation. It doesn’t sound like a “production”. It’s a unique take and I like it.

I have been recently spinning my mind around a lot of the RP theory, and what I want to do with it and how I want to incorporate those concepts into my gaming life.

Personally I have been really focusing on Social Contracts and what types of things you can take care of through the discussion and interactions through those Contracts.

Now in my mind that makes some sense, but I don’t know how it looks written down….

Rambling aside I have really been enjoying the shows and hope to see more of this good theoretical stuff in the future.