Players & Creators

Episode 12- The Metatopia Files: Part 1, Section 2 "Ask a Marketing Expert!"

In our ongoing series of recording sessions from Metatopia 2017 (by Double Exposure) this year, we sat in on an extremely informative panel, "Ask a Marketing Expert". 

This panel is great for both game developers and anyone who might be interested in peeking behind the curtain of how the experts market their products to the gaming community. 

The following is the official Metatopia blurb for the panel:

"Ask a Marketing Expert: A Q&A for the Game Industry" presented by  Beth Rimmels, Banana Chan, Mike Roberts. Getting word out about your  game or company is essential for success. In this seminar you can ask  your burning questions about video marketing, social media marketing and  search engine optimization (SEO). If time allows we'll do a few quick  web site/social media audits/video critiques. Our experts include social  media marketer Beth Rimmels, video marketer/videographer Barbara Chan, and SEO data analyst Mike Roberts."

Intro Links:

Lost Colonies LARP Meetup 

Lost Colonies LARP on Facebook 

Lost Colonies Patreon 

Episode Links

This is the LARP kickstarter video project heard in the panel: Seco Creek Vigilance Committee

 

 

 

 

 

Episode XI - Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge

A long time ago (maybe a few weeks) in a cramped recording space, Old Man and Skinny Guy discussed the new, wondrous addition to the Disney attractions; Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge.

For those unaware, Disney will be opening new sections at both Disney World and Disney Land of Star Wars! They will also be opening an immersive experience hotel which; when described, sounds alot like a weekend long LARP.

We discuss the actually game aspect of what has been proposed by Disney (Live Action Role Play) as well as our hopes and wishes for what they might actually add before opening in 2019.

Here is the link to Disney's initial announcement in July.

Here is a link to the Disney Fan Club that shows more of the proposed theme park.

Inside the Magic's Youtube page:  Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge name announcement, more details - Disney World, Disneyland - D23 Expo 2017

  "Star Wars Theme/Cantina Band" is a disco single recorded by Meco, taken from the album Star Wars and Other Galactic Funk. 

Skinny Guy's Bulletin Board Links:

NES Classic Edition 

Super NES Classic 

Sega Genesis Flashback HD 2017 Console 

 

 

Episode 10: The Metatopia Files Part 1

At Metatopia 2017; produced by Double Exposure, we sat in on a panel about the importance of mental health during gaming. In this instance, there was a specific focus on LARP (Live Action Role Play). The panelists discussed their own personal journeys and how they manage to cope. 

It was a very informative and powerful panel that we are grateful to have sat in on. We are also very happy to present it to you.

 The following is the description of the panel:

"Dungeons & Dialectic" presented by Kate Beaman-Martinez,  Jacqueline Bryk and Ysabel DelaRiva. The act of play allows you to access elements of  yourself that wouldn't normally be available. But how do you properly  deal with those emotions and experiences? This panel will discuss ways  to practice good self-care while playing, handling emotional issues at  game, and using self-observation to improve your experience. The  panelists are not medical professions. However, they have years of  struggling through their own mental illnesses and have learned to live  and cope with their own . This panel will make suggestions based on the  therapies that they have used as well as what has worked for them."

• Intro Link: LARP Box

 

  

 

  

 

A Special Skinny Guy's Bulletin Board: Far Far Away - The Wretched Hive

Enjoy a night among the criminal underworld of a Galaxy Far Far Away and help us raise money for Liberty Humane Society at Cathedral Hall!

This is an immersive roleplaying experience that will allow you to come out for a night and wheel and deal among the galactic underworld in a beginner-friendly Live-Action Costumed Event. We offer a fully interactive event, with exciting activities like card games and real droid racing, an escape room, and drinks for players of all kinds.

This is a charity event to benefit the Liberty Humane Society of Jersey City, which is a shelter serving the Newark/Jersey City area. They are attempting to expand the shelter, but they are in need of the funds to do so, and this event is specifically to aid in that.

The Wretched Hive re-creates a familiar scene: a popular intergalactic cantina which also happens to be the court of a massive alien crime lord. Come rub shoulders with smugglers and bounty hunters, have a drink or play a game of cards, and maybe even learn a thing or two about the Force!

Nerdy City

Nerdy City Facebook Event

Episode 9: That's the name of my favorite band!

There are many creative people in the gaming community that have used their experiences to expand on that creativity. Shawn Hutz is one of those people.

We discuss his early gaming influences (J.R.R. Tolkien, 4th Edition Dungeons and Dragons, Shadowrun) that eventually led him to the LARP scene at the Pennsylvania based Sci-Fi LARP, Doomsday.

Shawn shared with us some of his personal story. He tells how the gaming and LARP communities in particular, helped him with personal anxiety issues as well as helping him face some mental health problems.

He also shared with us some original songs:

"Please god keep driving"

"Hold on for your life"

"Going Home"

"Get Out"

"Your heart is a muscle" - a cover of the same song from Ramshackle Glory 

You can find Shawn on FB here: https://www.facebook.com/ErikBPD/  

Here is his YouTube page: Erik BPD 

 

 

 

Bonus Track 6: OMSG Outtakes 1

Hey there! This week's bonus track highlights some of the craziness we've cut out of some of our starting episodes. I like to save these because it reminds us how far we've come in a short amount of time. 

While some of these are funny, our ridiculousness has just become more epic. So expect funnier and stranger outtakes from here on out.

Enjoy!

 

Episode 8: LARP by Numbers

We sit down with Dave Morris, one of the directors of the Virginia and Pittsburgh Chapters of Dystopia Rising; a national zombie apocalypse based game. Dave discusses with us his journey as normal LARPer to being part owner of two chapters of the successful LARP franchise. We also discuss the ins and outs of putting together a game that brings with it a devoted player base and the challenges that it brings. With 17 chapter throughout the United States, it's an adventure to put it mildly.

Some of the game's influences such as The Walking Dead and Fallout (and all it's incarnations)are discussed. We also bring up the differences between some of the other LARPs: Nero and Dagorhir. Dystopia Rising is a LARP unlike most of the fantasy based games that many LARPers begin with. If a zombie apocalypse experience is something you think you might interested in, take a listen to this episode to get a really good idea of what that might entail.

Here are some additional links that are mentioned in the show:

Tales of the Left Hand: Books and Audio podcast

Dystopia Rising Southern California Video

Dystopia Rising Pittsburgh

Dystopia Rising Virginia

 

Bonus Track 5: The Spaghetti Sandwich Solution

We dedicated a whole bonus track to a serious question that plagues not only one of our listeners, therealspaghetti, but most of us in our day to day lives. A question came to us on Skinny Guy's Bulletin Board and we felt that it needed to be addressed in something much longer than our normal intro.  This bonus track looks at some hard hitting topics and tries its best to untangle this crooked bag of snakes. Although we  weren't talking about snakes, we hope the colorful imagery helps to illustrate our point.

 

Here are some of the links that we sued during our research. Yes, it was so important that w actually did an amount of research.

Wikipedia Source

And yes, we know. There is only one link. It's all we needed.

 

 

 

Episode 7: Women, Video Games & Jackasses...Oh My!

If you play any amount of online video games, at some point you have  unfortunately dealt with some sort of toxic behavior from anonymous  jackasses. If you happen to be female, this is an absolute guarantee. We  talk with an avid player of the game Overwatch (published by Blizzard Entertainment); Cerra Ayala.  Cerra discusses the craziness that she and other female players have to endure and what they did together to make their game-play more enjoyable  while supporting each other and combating the daily toxicity.

We also happen to compare and contrast the game-play on online environments of other games (such as Team Fortress 2) and give some advice on what others can do if confronted by the same jackassery (we know it's not a real word, deal with it).

Facebook:  www.facebook.com/soulofladyc

Instagram: @cmrayala02

PSN: CerraAnastasia

Intro Link

Pandemic Legacy Season 2 by Z-Man Games

 

 

Halloween Episode or Old Man's Dissertation on Rocky Horror

Surprise! Our very first holiday episode! We originally were going to discuss our favorite Halloween influences on our lives, but it quickly spiraled into Old Man's love and obsession with The Rocky Horror Picture Show!

 

This episode could have easily been called " Why you shouldn't drink and podcast!" We hope you enjoy what will be the first of many holiday episodes!

 

Happy Halloween!