Another episode of Soulstone Train has been recorded (should be online tonight) and in planning the next episode we realised that it’s been almost a year since we first recorded. As you can imagine this has somewhat changed our plans for the next episode. If you listen right to the end of the episode being released later, there will be a brief (and probably quite shocking) preview of what we are planning for our next episode.
Looking back over the year since we started recording was a slightly odd experience as a hell of a lot has changed. I listened back to our first episode and realised straight away why I had taken it down, it was bloody awful! As much as we have learnt a lot about gaming in the past year, we’ve learnt a lot more about podcast recording and editing. We’ve also progressed a lot as a gaming group with many more of the local gaming club getting involved in recording sessions and more varied games being played on club nights.
The major changes that we’ve seen as a podcast are;
· Move away from Malifaux – this is something that I really didn’t see coming, we were all heavily invested in the game (me especially as a henchman) and we were in it for the long haul. I do sometimes miss the verbal jousting with the Malifools (not that much though as you may find out later) and being part of that community but that change was overall for the better.
· Changes in hosts – most people have forgotten that the very first episode was just me and Baby Jake, I didn’t even meet Shane until the week after. Now we have a rotating set of hosts that all play different games making it a rich tapestry of nerdy goodness. We are still looking at getting a few more locals involved so watch this space for more.
· Sound quality – we now have actual recording equipment rather than just using the microphone on my laptop that picked up every time Jake scratched his nuts. The sound quality has improved a huge amount since making that investment.
· Sponsorship – early on we were sponsored by Little Star Miniatures run by local gamer Carl. Unfortunately Carl had to take a break from the business for personal reasons however, hopefully he will be returning soon (both as a business and as a host). Following the end of that arrangement we had a few offers but the prospect of Carl returning was always a sticking point for us. In my mind Carl will always be a friend above anything else and as such, we would not do anything that could potentially have a negative effect on his business (i.e. being sponsored by a competitor). We received an offer from OG Games and, as they stock completely different things to LSM, we jumped at the chance to get involved with a company of their quality and reputation. Having a proper professional relationship with a company that isn’t run by a friend has been a big step and has worked out well for us so far.
· Less alcohol – that’s actually a bit misleading, the alcohol is still there but the editing just cuts out most of it. As a general rule I don’t even listen to the last hour or two of recording, some of it might get cut in as out-takes though. Our legendary tangents also still occur but, in the interest of good taste, any discussions about chat roulette and the like are now removed.
· Discovering more games – for me, this is the single biggest change that we’ve seen. We started off concentrating on one game and now we are exploring new games for each episode. It turns out that variety really is the spice of life as I’ve never been happier with my gaming life.
That is a lot of change in a year, I can’t wait to see what the next year has in store for us!
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