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98: What is Hildibrand?
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🕺Fancy yourself a Manderville man? You would do what only a Manderville can? 👀🤭
For our esteemed listeners’ consideration:
- 🫰 Weeks in Snap!! 🫰
- Secret Homework 🤫: Dungeon Crawler Carl 😻🩳
Rie's Game
- Rue Mer Trailer (give it all the love!)
- Rue Mer on Google Play
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Featured decks:
Credits:
- Cover art by Lauren
- Snap On This!! Theme by Ben
- YouTube thumbnail by Lauren’s kid, Reggi
- Thumbnail portraits by Adam Star
Timestamps:
- 0:00:00 Intro / Our Week in Snap
- 0:39:30 Secret Homework: Dungeon Crawler Carl
- 1:08:51 Next Week's Secret Homework
- 1:10:23 Housekeeping / Closing Remarks
Recommended
Transcript
Challenges in Canceling Gym Memberships
00:00:01
Speaker
Yo, I thought that people were exaggerating about how ridiculous it was to try to cancel a gym membership, but it really is that bad. They made her come in in person and they made her pay for another month of it because she didn't give them 30 days notice. And I'm like, what the fuck?
00:00:20
Speaker
It's like too silly. tim too silly Gross. But yeah, that's that's what we did. And then we went bought locks and did the thing. The story's all out of order. But that was the story.
Weekend Snap and Deck Building Adventures
00:00:34
Speaker
um Other than that, been watching shows and things. um I don't know. Is this a segue into Weekend can Snap?
00:00:45
Speaker
I you can just go for it. Oh, it could be. and snap um My Weekend Snap has been pretty snap-light because... Been all hectic with the moving. um One thing did... the I guess like the big headline for Snap for me this week is like, gosh, those ah those movable cards.
00:01:07
Speaker
I feel like they... and Aunt May did not land the way I thought she would, and I think the problem is movable cards. That's what I think. I don't think the problem is Aunt May
Spider-Man Brand New Day Bug Discussion
00:01:19
Speaker
herself. It's just like the movable cards don't like want to be played together like that, and like there's no there's no real like incentive for... Yeah, it's it's just like she's a great card in the wrong...
00:01:33
Speaker
Playing on the wrong team in the wrong package and all that. Also, here's the thing that I noticed just before recording. It seems like Spider-Man brand new day. If he gets moved by like the great web or whatever, he loses one of his movies.
00:01:47
Speaker
Oh, that sounds like a bug. Yeah. And like maybe I'm wrong about it, but like i I counted. like i i was looking at It was turn three. I played him on turn one. I moved him on turn two. He got sucked onto to the great web at the end of turn two. And then on turn three, I could not move him. So I think it ate his move.
00:02:07
Speaker
That's weird. I feel like I've seen, have not been watching that closely, but I feel like I've seen brand New Day. I guess we have to call him the Spider-Man Brand New Day because there's also a Scorpion Brand New Day. Yeah, great name on that, you guys. good I've seen... and like I'm hesitant to to continue along the path of like Spider-Man 2 because you know we're looking down the barrel of of Spider-Man 3 and 4 and 5. So it's like i don't I don't think that's a good habit to get into is numbering them. I think there will just be too many.
Marvel Deck Building Strategy Insights
00:02:37
Speaker
So Spider-Man Brand New Day. I believe I've seen, because like your opponent, they've they've made it now so you can see when your opponent's cards are movable. They like float up. I feel like I've seen a few times where their brand new day only does it the first time.
00:02:51
Speaker
So again, haven't paid close attention. So maybe that's just in my imagination. But wouldn't surprise me if if ah if he had some bugs. Yeah. Might surprise me more if he didn't.
00:03:05
Speaker
Yeah, yeah, the that could be. I have been playing a deck with ah both of those cards because, like, I'm fascinated by Aunt May, even though she's not, you know, i don't when when she works, like, it's really cool to... ah to have a Jeff in your hand, like a classic Jeff, and he's like 0-8, and you can just play him anywhere, and like that's that's cool.
00:03:30
Speaker
I mean, like there's there's stuff to like. I just don't think it... like It doesn't feel practical, and I'm i'm climbing with this deck. I'm playing it exclusively just so I can like keep track of it, and like...
00:03:41
Speaker
I want to play other decks, but like I want to see how far I can get with this one. um It's Batrocco the Leaper, Spider-Man Brand New Day, Jeff the Baby Dolphin, Aunt May, Kraven, Sam Wilson, Captain America...
00:03:56
Speaker
Other Jeff, classic Jeff, Silk, Hydrastomper, Mercury, Prowler, and Cannonball.
Climbing Ranks in Snap: Strategies and Opponents
00:04:03
Speaker
And gosh, i i'm i'm up I'm up on cubes and things. I haven't played a bajillion games. I'm sitting at 77.
00:04:13
Speaker
I'm a little, I don't think this deck's very good. I'm not i'm not saying, dear listener, to play this deck. Uh, yeah I feel like a lot of the wins have been against bots or humans who are just not getting their stuff right. You know, like, I, I don't know. I don't know y'all.
00:04:32
Speaker
um I played, played Aunt May from 70. What do you start at 75? 75 to 85. Maybe 75. I don't think they bumped it. Anyway, whatever it is. I've played it all the way up to 85. Yeah.
00:04:48
Speaker
You're still there. I signed in for the first time like today in a week. I'm like, okay, I'm back. And I signed in and clicked the buttons. I'm like, okay, now we break. know a made to okay. That's what I thought.
00:05:04
Speaker
yeah okay that's what i thought Um, so like 10 levels with Mei. And she's fun, but like, there's a couple things that are goofy about her. One you touched on, she like there aren't movable cards that pay off inherently, right? There's not, there's not like a multiple man or a human torch type character who is movable.
00:05:24
Speaker
So that alone, like, it makes it really hard to ramp her up. The other thing is, there's just not that many movable cards. So- almost every Aunt May deck has like eight cards in common because it's just like, yeah, just use all the movable cards. um But yeah, I thought it was fun. But yeah, it's like, it's like, ah Ascani is like one of the only things I can think of that like pays off to like be buffing your hand like that. And it's just kind of awkward to pull off.
00:05:49
Speaker
So um yeah, I agree. Not very impressed performance wise, but I did have fun playing Aunt May. Yeah. But I just figured I had to touch on it because, like, man, I was feeling pretty high about the card going in, although I warned you all last week.
00:06:05
Speaker
i was I had not thought about these very hard at all. But, you know, I think even if I had thought about it harder, I would have had higher expectations. but But, yeah, yeah, disappointing is is my my take on that.
00:06:21
Speaker
I've seen, honestly, I've seen more Mary Jane around, and I would have thought it would be the other way. But I sometimes get stuff wrong, as as many do.
00:06:32
Speaker
um Other things in my week in SNAP, still been playing some Hearthstone Battlegrounds, um because that's just a...
00:06:43
Speaker
Fun thing to do when you don't have all your stuff set up like your you know computer or consoles or whatever. So we've been we've been rocking the duos during the
Digital vs. Physical Media in Gaming
00:06:53
Speaker
move. I forgot to mention last week I was listing all the all the minion types that I like.
00:06:59
Speaker
I didn't list Quillbore. Quillbore great. um They have been ever since they were introduced. That's that's my opinion. ah Sometimes they play a little samey. you know You're always waiting around for your three little Quillbores to show up. and like if you If you can get it, that's great. and If you can't get it, that's a real bummer for you. and Probably someone else in the tavern has ah monopolized them and is beating you over the head with it.
00:07:24
Speaker
But... That's games. i
00:07:31
Speaker
You know, i will, if I think of another thing that I need to talk about in my weekend snap, I will probably get to blurting. I don't know. Maybe something in the dungeon crawler Carl discussion will remind me of a thing I need to say.
00:07:44
Speaker
Okay. Ree, how was your weekend snap? And keep it snappy. All right. I have decided, as is vastly appropriate, to be honest, to use my, as we as we roll slowly towards the finale of Snap on this, to use my remaining ah week weeks in Snap ah to Hildebrand. What is Hildebrand, you ask? You don't get to know yet. First comes the Hildebrand.
00:08:14
Speaker
Just a small one. Explaining Hildebrand. Okay, did you guys hear this week, um I'm sure you did, PlayStation is going to quit making physical discs?
00:08:27
Speaker
Boo! yeah Yeah, i I know. It's been like, it's been bad. It's just been bad news.
00:08:38
Speaker
you like I was thinking
The Ouya Console and Gaming Industry Trends
00:08:40
Speaker
last week when I was like, the gaming industry broken. I'm like, you're so right, Rhi. You're so right past Rhi. I sound serious. But it made me think back. I was just interested.
00:08:51
Speaker
ah Do you guys remember the Wii O-U-Y-A when it was coming out. I know about it because that's what Towerfall launched on.
00:09:03
Speaker
It was an Ouya exclusive for like a year. Oh, is it Ouya? I always said Ouya. Maybe it's Ouya. We don't know. We're all just nerds who read things on the internet. We don't want to say it.
00:09:14
Speaker
Okay. um But yeah, okay. It was a different time in gaming. The possibilities seemed endless. It seemed like we were expanding upon the options we would have rather than narrowing them. They were like, there's just like, oh, we're trying out these services where like, we're just going to, all the processing power will be, I mean, these probably still exist, obviously, in some format. But that was like the new thing that they were trying to do where you the processing processing power exist remotely and you'd just stream ah the game that we were trying like new consoles were trying to come out uh and the idea was that the android system would like democratize gaming in a way right you'd uh it's always had a more open market than consoles or apple or anything and they're like what if we build what if we build like a budget console, right? for it Because like consoles are expensive. I mentioned before, not every kid gets to have one, you know? And, um you know, and one of the big things about Ouya, Ouya sounds fun. I'll say like that. Okay. It was like, then we would have no physical media,
00:10:36
Speaker
And like, it's so funny. And I was like, that was like celebrated at the time, or at least by me. um and I think generally because the idea was like, oh, yes, this will make it cheaper. The games are probably going to be a bit on the smaller side. You know they're built for Android for lower processing power. So they'll be downloadable.
00:10:57
Speaker
And, you know, it was it was it was a good thing. And and it's like, but why is it now not? And it's like, oh, the context is so diaf so
Digital Media's Impact on Ownership
00:11:07
Speaker
different, right? People are are are clinging back to analog, to physical media, because we have thoroughly realized, now that we have digitized, how much we don't actually understand. things that are digital, how easily they can be taken away and how little recourse we have to do anything about that.
00:11:28
Speaker
So all of a sudden, right, it feels like it's like I want to own it. i don't have to pay for it over and over. I don't want everything in my life to be a subscription. So when we see that now, when we see this, like we're taking away the physical media, you know, it's like if this isn't just to make things true. It's it's to for us to have less ownership over the things we buy, you know, and and the narrowing the narrowing of options that we have, right? all of the the It wasn't the only console that was coming out. I remember I was really excited for it. seemed like one of the ones that was most likely to succeed. As someone who's wanted to have a game studio for so long, it was like, this was the perfect platform for me and for other indie developers, right? To make little like niche games that would be cheaper on this console. you know
00:12:22
Speaker
ah Maybe we could finally get some promotion over the big studios. Because... you know, we're developing for the smaller console. And I just, I think it's always a worthwhile thing, right? Games have catered more and more to the few, like, who can pay a lot, right? They found it's easier to cater to whales than, you know, right? Is is the way to make money. but i But I, you know, wholeheartedly believe, right? That that you should there should be, like, gaming should be forever. So I don't know. It's just a it's just a sad I was just like, oh, looking at the state of gaming now and the sorrow everyone is collectively feeling the announcement of the loss of physical media. The same announcement could have been made in a different context and a different alternate.
00:13:17
Speaker
You know, maybe the there's a brighter timeline of us out there. um maybe the other you is doing better than this you. You don't know. like, you know, where this announcement is made and it doesn't feel so bad as it feels now. and it's just like, this is why it's like so many, so much of of the way we look at and interpret it the same kind of news in different years is all about the surrounding context. And it's like, the surrounding context is bad right now.
00:13:48
Speaker
All right. ah this if you Before we move on, if you had any thoughts to share about loss of physical media station, go ahead. It doesn't affect me a lot, personally. um I've been doing mostly digital for a long time.
00:14:03
Speaker
i I like having access to 250 games on my Switch and not having to switch cartridges or bring them all with me or whatever. Yeah. But yeah, like, I remember being a kid, and it was a really important part of getting new games was selling off all the old games I had. a terrible deal. But like, that's what I did when there's a game I urgently wanted. I was like, okay, well, I guess I don't need to play these four anymore. um And that's like, that's something that goes away. you know, lending...
00:14:33
Speaker
it goes away in different ways. Like Steam family sharing. Awesome. Switch sharing for digital stuff is like, it's okay. You can lend, lend somebody a digital card. And then for a week you can't play it and they can play it. And that's like,
00:14:48
Speaker
that's fine. You have to have physical proximity to that person, which I guess you have to have with physical media too, except for, you know, like mailing it or something. Um, it's like, I can see why it's a bummer. The main thing for me, and I think this came up, was it, was it the, uh, the Xbox one there was Microsoft like really super stepped in it at one point, I want to say, and they tried announcing this on like the previous generation and it went really, really poorly.
00:15:13
Speaker
They had a lot of backlash. Um, and like PlayStation made a whole deal out of like this is how you share games with your friends. And it just shows somebody handing the disc to the next person. And that was like widely celebrated.
00:15:25
Speaker
um And like from that, I learned that like oh there's people in different situations. right There's people who have poor internet access. Or there's people who like i don't know are in prison or are deployed. or Who knows? Who knows what the situation is? But the situations where they don't have access to high-speed internet like I have.
00:15:46
Speaker
And And so for them, having the entire game on cartridge actually makes a lot of sense. And that's something that has already been going away because even if you do get the game on cartridge, you often still need to do ah gigantic download to make them playable on modern consoles.
00:16:02
Speaker
I don't know.
00:16:05
Speaker
Yeah. No, that's a good point. It's where we're not used to thinking about the context of different. Like, you know, some things are necessitated.
00:16:16
Speaker
right. Um, okay. So, yeah, i just saw that and I'm like, I have to talk about this. Okay, now... good ah Yeah, not good. Uh, now to explain what Hildebrand is. Hildebrand is a noun I've used as a verb. This is my want. Um... It is Hildebrand is... Okay, let me let me let okay let me let me back up. um Okay, FF14, Final Fantasy XIV, is a mix of science fiction and fantasy. It's done really well in a way that has, you know...
00:16:55
Speaker
ah pathos and levity and you know everything you could want and the sci-fi and fantasy are in lore making sense enough that you can like if you're like a nerd who likes internal magic systems you know to have rules and make sense and they're like an overall you know setting to put your original character in like you know ah it has that it is It has enough realism, enough logic behind it that it is, ah you know, it's a treat to ah delve into the lore. Also,
00:17:31
Speaker
ah another great thing is the art, which has gotten a graphical upgrade. Yes, it does. it it's It's the realism, Right.
00:17:43
Speaker
But stylized. You know, in a more anime, it's a Japanese MMO, so more of an anime look to it. But, like, you want just the bit of stylization on realism to avoid the uncanny valley.
00:18:01
Speaker
Perfect trick. You know, you go real, but you don't you don't try so hard. You know, we don't go into the, like, Maru, you know, old... feel the old ah Elder Scrolls that ah really, really got into that on Candy Valley. um So, right. So it's the it's kind of that perfect mix. So it's like it's something you can really immerse in and feel like you're going through the story because your character is the the main character of the story and living through. and then, um you know, so i'm im I'm loving it when I was first playing through it.
00:18:40
Speaker
um And I went through, i'd I'd gone through the story at the time. I'm going through collecting blue quests. Blue quests, right? are ah They're differentiated because it's not just like a side quest. You know, i do, i have I have done every single side quest that exists in FM14, which is like a thousands, I assume? i don't know. Maybe it's just hundreds.
00:19:03
Speaker
Probably just, like, over-exaggerating. Except for one, because it's a fishing side quest, and it's very hard, and
Hildebrand Quests in Final Fantasy XIV
00:19:10
Speaker
I'm not a patient woman. But so but it remains my my journal log. You know, one day. like like The final quest. Okay. Um...
00:19:20
Speaker
I'm getting blue quests. Blue quests unlock things like optional dungeons, raids, right? Blue quests are like, ooh, a blue quest I don't have. that's That's a big something, right? So an unsuspecting me ah walks into...
00:19:37
Speaker
I should have looked up what the first quest is called. i don't know. A Manderville man, maybe. ah You know, to click on a blue quest. And I'm expecting something that unlocks a dungeon.
00:19:47
Speaker
or you know, whatever. And I walk straight into... A Looney Tunes cartoon. I kid you not. these I just explained how the art of of this game is and how it could feel so real. And all of a sudden characters' eyes were popping out of this storyline.
00:20:09
Speaker
Full-on dance numbers are happening with like the characters suddenly breaking into songs. There's a see you next. There's a full-on like television show.
00:20:21
Speaker
I was like, what the fuck is happening? I was just trying to get a blue quest. It is insane. It is Inspector Inspector. It's a detective. Inspector Hildebrand Manderville. Gentleman extraordinaire, Manderville man.
00:20:43
Speaker
um and it is just a bonkers storyline that is a straight up cartoon. And for this reason, some people love it and some people hate it.
00:20:53
Speaker
But ah the story of how Hildebrand came to and they thought they were done with it and and people demanded it until it came back. And there there's long running Hildebrand that it like...
00:21:07
Speaker
precariously balances alongside the lore of FF14, being canon and yeah, you know, ah just a little bonkers. But here's how it started. When FF, the original FF14, if you didn't know, it was a complete failure. Um, it turns out it was, was poorly product managed. I think I've talked about this before, but like the art wasn't working with it all of the pieces were being made, not in tandem. Don't do that in software. Don't build them all, all those silos and you'll connect them. It'll all work perfectly. ah right at the end. um
00:21:47
Speaker
so, uh, As, right, and and i think I've told this story before, but, right, the new producer, they stepped in to save it, Yoshi P, topped Square Enix in in a miracle of capitalism that surely will never happen again, to be like, we have... we have to uh we have to like we can't lose the faith of our customers in a main flagship final fantasy game let's ah remake the game from the ground it's the only way to save it it it is a garbage foundation i cannot build upon it and um they agreed so
00:22:26
Speaker
They knew, right? There's this countdown to the game ending, right? And, like, they pulled in all kinds of fun game stuff, like the moon slowly, the red moon slowly got bigger in the sky, and like, people that fell asleep in the inns would have ah scary nightmares. But on the whole other side of this, like, eerie thing going on, was the writers are like, well, this whole thing is blowing up. It's not going to count for anything. We can do whatever we want. And thus they introduced Inspector Hildebrand and his assistant Nash, who likes ah blowing things up with bombs she makes herself. It's
00:23:01
Speaker
like cherry bombs and say, sounds, things sound bad now. It's an end game. It's fine. Okay. um And ah it was this bonkers. They just, like I said, they just made a cartoon because the world was ending. um Like, like Loki discovered, if everything's blowing up, what you do doesn't matter. You can do anything.
00:23:24
Speaker
and so they just did it to be silly and people loved it and demanded demanded the return of hildebrand at the once it got rebooted right so they brought so they did have and they made this whole storyline about you know coming back from from the dead ah being found again um and the story continued but ah The things, as much as like you know the storyline, some people love it, some people hate It um hey has improved the base game because it has been a playground. for the you know for the developers and ah the animators. They said ah it has improved their facial animation, doing all the cartoons, stretching what they could do that they wouldn't do in the real game, improve their ability to emote the comic moments that weren't quite going as far you know as Looney Tunes, but like,
00:24:30
Speaker
um you know they could they could learn from that they learned how to uh this is another thing they did this is the first time um your character has always been um the main character in final fantasy right but mmos for a long time but they were kind of it was almost even kind of the fantasy even mo you were one of many you know ah you were a soldier and ff14 was trying to to do this new thing where you're character but you're still kind of used to you like standing to the side for a long time and kind of observing other characters, because how much agency can you have over a storyline? It's, like, gotta be the same for everyone for the most part. so
00:25:12
Speaker
um But with Hildebrand, they started giving your character like special action shots where you would get to see your customized character pull off some amazing thing and slow – something that's usually like in a cool cinematic for an NPC. you know And it's you and it's your character. And they did it first in Hildebrand and – Of course, everyone loved it. Everyone's taking screenshots. Boom, they start it starts going into the main story. All these, like, awesome your character moments. So um I just wanted to... ah So I mean that I've decided to hillbren my weekend and snap in that, you know...
00:25:57
Speaker
Let me, let me go on what? Let me do what I want. You know, see what sticks. But I do think, i think like a lot of creative people listen to the podcast. and I'm better Lauren both are very creative. And I wanted to encourage you to find your own way Hildebrand. Find a place that's silly and it doesn't matter where you can try new things, right? Risk-free and see how we can improve, you know, your regular style. There's a real freedom to letting go that is so hard for creative people to do who want to like do the good job they want.
00:26:36
Speaker
the vision to be there. They want to be happy with it. Um, and you, if you can find a place where that just does not matter and you can be silly, you know, who knows what you can take back to your regular process to improve it.
00:26:51
Speaker
Um, so that's, that's my week in Snap, Lauren. would love to hear you. lovely I think we could all use more Hildebrands in our life.
00:27:02
Speaker
Um, Okay, my week. I thought I had something written down, and now I'm not seeing it on my paper if I if i did.
00:27:14
Speaker
yeah ah i rushed Infinite as I have been doing lately. ah Again, I don't know why I do it, except that it just feels like chores that need to be done, and why not get them done? um I got from 85 to 100 pretty quickly by exploiting the hot hot location.
00:27:33
Speaker
i have been... increasingly aware of the hot location because we've started covering it at fourth location. Weekend missions, we provide decks for for free.
00:27:44
Speaker
Hot and featured locations, this is like our premier premium feature is you get you get a handful of decks for every hot and featured location. You can just go to the site, tap a deck, get it. And was like, you know what? I'm just going to grab one of the decks that Scott came up with.
00:28:02
Speaker
um I'd say I'm writing about, I don't know, 80% of these decks. Which is funny because I've had people point out a lack of tech in them and I'm like, yeah, that's how you know it's it's Lauren writing the decks.
00:28:15
Speaker
But also, why would you run tech when when you're already like favored by leaning into the hot location, right? That's already like... No, it's... Lauren, it's a never-nude situation. It's like, i mean even in the shower, I need the jeans. Give me a tech. Give me one red guardian.
00:28:32
Speaker
It's something. I mean, I feel so naked when I have zero tech in my deck. That is so funny. That's with them okay yeah and i'm so not that way i'm so happy doing my own thing and and having the interaction be like the way that we play at the locations or like you know like trying to read my opponent like that's enough interaction for me i don't need to be interfering with their game plan and please don't interfere with mine thank you very much um But it's kind of like Grand Arena. Something I love about Grand Arena is you can be all in on that game plan. You don't need tech because you know exactly what you're goingnna draw and you can build around it. So hot locations kind of like that. They show up 50% of the time when they're hot. I know that there's a lot of ah negative feelings about hot locations. I don't know how you two feel about them in particular. But... um
00:29:17
Speaker
It is kind of wild to me that like the main permanent game mode, almost 30% the time, is in this like kind of special condition where where the game is super skewed towards one location. i know competitive players don't like it.
00:29:36
Speaker
But if you are somebody who's struggling to climb, that's a good way to get an advantage is lean into
Snap Hot Locations and Gameplay Dynamics
00:29:42
Speaker
the hot location. I will say I like the hot locations most that bend the game in a meaningful way, right? Like when Cancun first came out and it was a featured location, I had so much fun that day. It was such a fun location to build around. And it could be, it could be things like white tiger. Just like, Oh, one power on Cancun doesn't matter, but 10 power somewhere else.
00:30:04
Speaker
Um, but it can also, you know, just like all your setup cards on Cancun. Is Cancun the one where power doesn't matter until the end of the game? Yeah, no matter how much power you have, you' it's a tied location. So you can play cheap cards that set up your other locations, right? Or like, Zola is obviously really strong on Cancun.
00:30:22
Speaker
Um, Altar of Death is one that they run sometimes as hot, and it's like, it's really fun to build around that. And you you just win the matches that you are prepared for and your opponent isn't. Um,
00:30:35
Speaker
So i don't I don't know, like, if is the problem with Hot Location is that people don't lean into them? I think part of the problem is that they're there replacing the main game mode, ah you know, two out of every seven days, which is, I do think, is is too much.
00:30:50
Speaker
But... Yeah. Second Dinner is also a super-duper data-heavy company, and if they if their data said that people played less on Hot Location Days, they wouldn't have Hot Location Days, you know?
00:31:02
Speaker
Well, I mean, i play on hot location days, but I'm not always happy about Sometimes I run away to Conquest and do that. But other days i just sort of and just sort of power through it, you know?
00:31:18
Speaker
Yeah, think a lot of people do that. And ah sometimes I'll try to like... rationalize it by, like, you gave the example of Altar of Death, and I mean, like, there are decks that that really favors.
00:31:32
Speaker
But I'll play Surfer into it, and I'll tell myself, well, you know, at least I got my broods and stuff. yeah I'll get into Altar of Death. It'll be fine. You'll tons of extra energy. yeah And, you know, it it is largely fine, but, like, I still wish we were just playing with normally weighted locations, and...
00:31:53
Speaker
you know I'll i' still... I don't know. i don't know it's It's all fine. like i I think people some people must really like Hot Locations, and they are great for climbing if you're not... you know i think for like new players with like limited collections, I think it's good that they can like get a little leverage. yeah. mean, like...
00:32:15
Speaker
so yeah i mean like and They're not great for me, but i'm not the only person. And I try to remember that. And it doesn't all have to be for me.
00:32:29
Speaker
Rui, do you opinions about hot locations? Yeah. Mine is just very specific to the hot location, obviously. I think, like, a lot of people, there's sometimes where it's like, ah, this doesn't matter. You know, it's one of the hot locations that's not very – it's not super effective, and you're just fine. Those, I'm like, why even make them? Why even make them Right?
00:32:51
Speaker
just Why? i think it's their way to like kind of try and not have one because, you know, because of the complaints about having one because yeah, it's like white. Hot ruins. guess some people can feel like they get something off of it, but like.
00:33:05
Speaker
Yeah, and then this the the ah second here is like, boo, this location already, boo. Like, I'm just going play Conquest or not play or whatever.
00:33:19
Speaker
And then there's ones that I get into, I'm like, i don't know, maybe. And then you find out what people are playing into that hot location. and you're like, boo. Yeah.
00:33:30
Speaker
And then ah the final tier is like, oh, this hot location would be good for this deck I already like and I'm playing. Yay! he
00:33:42
Speaker
you know, like I think like a lot of snappers, it's like, but what about me? And what am I liking? And how am I feeling this day? that's how I feel about the hot location on any particular day.
00:33:54
Speaker
That's very true. I don't know. i just I think it's interesting to think about what they should do with it. mike I'm such a ah proponent for adding unranked as a mode in the game.
00:34:08
Speaker
I don't care what that looks like. I don't care if it's make Sanctum permanent or make Diner permanent or just make it freaking regular snap but take out the snapping. And I know that sounds awful to some players. But I think there's an awful lot of people who just want to play for fun, who just think winning or losing the match is the fun is the most fun part.
00:34:24
Speaker
And playing it out... is fun and it's like if they did that should the hot locations go to unranked mode instead of ranked mode like well that takes away the possibility to use that as an edge for climbing but like maybe that's preferred especially by the most competitive players right like take hot locations out of post infinite where people are like or take it out of the top 5 000 or whatever like people are actually like clawing for supremacy but maybe you should reward people who are who are adapting
00:34:53
Speaker
Yeah. I do want add, I feel like in that conversation of snapping versus no snapping and the recognition of the importance it is mechanically in the game, i do want to argue on the side of there is, like, a feels component where it does... Winning, like, an 8-cube game dramatically feels dramatically more awesome than just winning a game dramatically. So, like...
00:35:23
Speaker
You know, like there can be there can be the feels, I guess. But that's like the post-infinite, right? Where you don't... I guess the thing is that just if there's a floor to it, right? Then people... That's when people can...
00:35:39
Speaker
It's interesting because I don't really care about 8-cubers post-infinite. I do love them pre-infinite. That does feel great. And so I'm like, really, how important is snapping? And obviously people who are competing at the top, cubes are more interesting to those players.
00:35:55
Speaker
But the modes that do have snapping is what? Diner and and Sanctum Showdown. Are there any others? Yeah, and those are And it's like... Anytime they've tried to mess with snapping from the base way of snapping has been bad.
00:36:12
Speaker
Oh, I think the Sanctum Showdown snapping is very cool. i like the Sanctum Showdown snapping, although a big part of why I like it is controlling Hydrobob.
00:36:22
Speaker
It's a long game mode. Hmm.
00:36:28
Speaker
feel like it's faster than regular games. it depends on them but It depends on the game. Some games can go longer. i think but yeah Anyway. Diner, though, is bad snapping. like it's it's You just snap three times every time. like It's really badly done. um The texture that regular snapping adds is like completely lost in the pool's diner.
00:36:53
Speaker
So it's like, I do agree that snapping and retreating are an ingenious mechanic, and they're really rewarding for players who are looking for competitive skill, for that kind of skill expression. But for players who just want to slam cards and see them do shit, I honestly think they're bad mechanics.
00:37:07
Speaker
How else are you supposed to get ahead while playing like a bad deck like the one I was playing this week? like I can only... i can only like I'm only in the black because I can snap and retreat and like...
00:37:26
Speaker
It's a super cool mechanic that you can have a sub 50% win rate and still be climbing. Like that is super cool. But I think it only appeals to a certain type of person. I think everybody else is just like, they just take a game to game. If they won, cool. If they didn't, go too bad. Let's start a new game.
00:37:41
Speaker
Like, don't the track. I think it's generally exciting for people though, right? Even like, even when you're not like playing well, like sometimes I'll be like goofing off and not, you know, trying particularly hard. And it's just more exciting to, you know,
00:37:55
Speaker
it It's just interesting. I do sometimes snap just because it's the only thing that I can do. about it Yeah, sometimes like... My turn timer is burning down and I'm like, there's nothing to do right now except for snap. I've done that Where it's like, I've just sat long enough waiting for them to take their turn and I'm like, yeah, snap. they're today Obviously they're they're tormented in their turn. Oh, man. Okay.
00:38:23
Speaker
Okay. Ben, don't disagree with you.
Casual Interaction with Core Mechanics in Snap
00:38:26
Speaker
I just don't think that that's true for every player. Probably not. I would like to see them appeal to the casual players because that's the base.
00:38:33
Speaker
That's the majority of players. are we Are we sure that casuals don't like snapping? Because I'm not sure about that. i don't think it's like casuals i don't think it's that don't like snapping. i think it's that casuals don't like retreating.
00:38:46
Speaker
Oh, that may be. That may be. you might have...
00:38:52
Speaker
Sort of yeah. Now i see what you mean. And being good at snapping inherently means knowing the meta well, which like a casual is less likely to be in tune with, you know. Yeah, that's true too. I guess that's some of it.
00:39:08
Speaker
or building comfort with your deck because you've played hundreds of games with it. Then again, some casuals are way more dedicated to their deck than I've ever been. You know, those players out there who only ever play Destroy and it's all like, yeah you know, decked out and yeah. Those are who the hot locations are for. They're like, it's cloning vets.
00:39:27
Speaker
My time to shine. It's a good day.
00:39:32
Speaker
On to our side quests. First up, and only this week, Secret Homework. Secret your Homework was assigned weeks and weeks and weeks ago bye
00:39:42
Speaker
Okay. It was ah because we had all finally finished reading it, or we're close to finishing it. ah Dungeon Crawler Carl.
00:39:53
Speaker
That's what we're discussing. um And i will, ah let's try and like round table it a bit more, right? Rather than maybe go boom, boom, boom. So I'll start talking, but if you have something that's relevant, please feel free to jump in. I'll try and leave space, but jump in if I'm not. Okay. Um, what first thing i will, i will say is um, they did, they did. I was initially reserved about the chunk about princess and because I've been sold so many mascots.
00:40:30
Speaker
Um, we've discussed this before and not just, you know, no it used to be, I get it. There's a requirement that there'd be a a cute mascot, but then they got like commercialized so heavily. It was like, it was immediately just like,
00:40:44
Speaker
You know, it'd be like that like star in the Mario movie talking about death or whatever, and you're just like doing this so they can sell plushies or whatever. You know, you're so like cynical, Jada, now that I saw this like you know adorable, like fluffy, raggedy doll cat you know called Princess Anne, and I'm like, I know you want me to... the the Princess Donut, sorry.
00:41:10
Speaker
Princess... Princess Donut. It's been a month now since I finished reading it. And I've been watching some history. Okay. Princess Donut. and i've been i've been watching some history okay <unk> donut Okay, the Chonk.
00:41:26
Speaker
um Yeah, and then, so I was very like, don't know about this. don't know. And like halfway through, I think it was about, and like, okay, I'm still, you did it. You did it, I'm into yeah She really is kind of the main character.
00:41:46
Speaker
Like the the books are written as if Carl's the main character, but i think I think Princess Donut has become essentially the main character. She is she's she's the heart and soul. um and And you two have only read the first book, right?
00:42:00
Speaker
That is correct. Yeah. So, I mean, of course all the characters go through character growth. Like literally they're in they're in a game where they're leveling up and getting their skills up and stuff like that and learning about the world. But also they go through like, you know, human like growth, um which is maybe an unkind thing to say about a cat. um But yeah, she's she's she is a great child, or a great character, and they point out several times that she starts off kind of like a child. She is just she has just woken up, she has just gained sentience, and even though she kind of like retroactively remembers things from her life, she she has very little lived experience having this level of awareness.
00:42:45
Speaker
That's, I agree, that's what makes her endearing, because the first time they have, they establish firmly her ah propensity to immediately learn a spell without bothering to, like, make sure it's going to be good or not, you know, carelessly. At first I'm like, okay, you're saying this guy you know this is going to like pay off in a bad way later. That's clear to me. um But at the same time, it also served the purpose of setting up that duality with her character. Like if she was all the snide, you know, ah that like...
00:43:23
Speaker
Because there could have been a moment, right, where he's like, okay, fine, I'm going to leave you because you're being too bratty, you know, too queen cat. And then she's like, breaks down and she's like, oh, but I'm really, like, scared. Don't leave me.
00:43:36
Speaker
The reason that moment pulls off and works is because they've shown these other moments where she is making impulsive decisions. She's not, like, it's not all, like,
00:43:49
Speaker
manipulative intellect and it's not all like, you know she's just being a coward now, you know, it's like you, you can feel for her in that moment and it doesn't just come off as like, get your comeuppance because,
00:44:03
Speaker
ah Yeah, he's he's played on a character like that. So it's a well-built character to, like, draw you in and ah you know, have the good buddy cop between them. It's hard. You have to have the tension between the characters, you know, um that's pushing them apart. but they have to have that pull that keeps them together and it has to make sense. And, you know, you have to... There's there's not, like, no...
00:44:32
Speaker
know you can do a bad job of crafting that and it's done well here it plays out it pulls together yeah i was i was initially a little bit skeptical because i don't i don't don't love these popular cat stereotypes. I don't know. They're all... they they got They got depth, and they're not all like people think they are and stuff. But like by the end, I was like, okay, all right, I can trust this this depiction of ah a cute Persian cat.
00:45:10
Speaker
i can I can accept it. Yeah, I don't know. I mean, obviously... princess donut comes to be more than a cat so you know but or more than a cat don't know cats are enough i'll say it cats are enough um but yeah uh i i i was i was initially unsure but was eventually over by the Yeah, I thought Princess Donut was pretty well characterized
Character Growth in Dungeon Crawler Carl
00:45:40
Speaker
as as it went on. And she does seem to have more, maybe more going on than Carl.
00:45:48
Speaker
One of my, were to make if i were to make a I don't know. i I could have used a little less Dungeon Crawler and a little more Carl and in this book. I know that like there are going to be they're a zillion of these books and you know we can't have a whole arc in here or anything. like you know he He can't become fully actualized. or like yeah you know I understand this is but the the first chapter, even though
00:46:21
Speaker
The book itself has, i don't know, 40 something chapters. does Does that sound true? Yeah, about 40-ish. Yeah, yeah I wish, you know, i I guess he's got a fraught relationship with his father, but we don't really learn...
00:46:40
Speaker
much of any deets about that i i just my gosh though we sure spend a lot of time opening loot boxes and reading achievements like yeah the snarky dungeon ai like are we supposed to hate it are are we supposed to hate the tone of its humor because it does comprise like a lot of the book so like are we supposed to like feel kind of ambivalent about it i was like i've played borderlands 2 i've played grand theft auto 5 I am familiar with this brand of snark and like, I, I thought we were done with it. And like, I think we are supposed to partially hate it, but like, are we also supposed to like be enjoying it? Is it supposed to be fun for us? Cause like, I guess I giggled a couple times, but like mostly i was, I, I found it a bit grating in those, in those parts.
00:47:31
Speaker
I'm kind of with you. i think, i think like Carl's reaction to the you know, groan inducing AI jokes is more than entertaining than the a i ah AI jokes themselves. um But I will, the AI becomes more of a character over the course of the story that, that also goes through character growth, which is, you know, not expected. um And so I think seeing the AI start off as this just like really impersonal, making stupid jokes, um,
00:48:07
Speaker
I think that that's like that's a good that's a good basis. You've touched on, with with your statement about Carl's growth, you've touched on something that I think is weak about book one. I think it's really good at introducing a story and getting you engaged in the world and introducing this world, but I don't think it it is very satisfying as a standalone book. like I don't think there's like a big climactic finale. there's not like There's not payoff in the same way that the other books seem more self-contained. It's definitely a cliffhanger ending.
00:48:36
Speaker
Right. and And they set that up throughout. They're setting you up to like, oh, we're going on to the next floor or something really awful happened. We're going to pick up in the next book. And like, they of course keep that going. But I feel like each of the other books, like the the floors are more involved. They aren't just like a basic dungeon, you know, like there's there's more interesting things going on and they can be self-contained stories in a way that the first one I think is mostly just teeing up the series. Yeah.
00:49:01
Speaker
made me think about how writing has changed reading it. Okay, interestingly enough, the book I read directly after this was Piranesi by Susanna Clark. Highly recommend it. it's also very short. I think i waited so long because I have Jonathan...
00:49:21
Speaker
and Mr. Strange, Jonathan Strange, and Mr. Norrell, whatever it's called, by Susanna Clark, that I've been waiting to read for a very long time, and i was like, it's a chonker. And then I got to Piranesi, I'm like, oh, it's little slim boy. And it's really fast read, super good. But interestingly enough, okay, uh...
00:49:39
Speaker
Side note, journey for me with writing is someone who is very grew from a very snobbish ah realm of of a view on writing and literature. ah It's really changing. Like I loved Edgar Allan Poe. I'm like, I want all my poems to have meter and rhyme, you know, to be difficult in the writing of them
00:50:04
Speaker
them. And the same thing with prose. And i was like, a literally my teacher who would have me grade stuff because it was like grammar just came to me. Like as some other subjects came to people.
00:50:17
Speaker
and then But as you know you grow older, like you learn with most things in the world. It's all like made up. It contradicts itself. It's used a lot of times to make certain sets of people feel superior to others.
00:50:31
Speaker
and and it But it's all like there's no – doesn't follow its own rules. It's it's just made up. Yeah. The point of words, right, and I think this is where you see a lot of this break in literature for a lot of people when they discover this, is to communicate something. And how well it's communi- you do it communi- to people, you know, communicating something between them is really the success of it is really what's what's important. um And I say that in a way because I grew also as someone who loves – love genre fiction. i love a love fantasy, love sci-fi. And I definitely had all the professors that sneered, you know, that are like literature. And then i once I realized what bullshit.
00:51:19
Speaker
there Anyway. Anyway. But like with this, right, it's like I feel like for me getting into Dungeon Crawler Carl immediately fallen because your eyes scan the page so fast, right? It's stuff that is written like the Internet to communicate stuff as quickly into your brain as possible, translated down, you know, and you can just like eat it like potato chips, right?
00:51:47
Speaker
Kirinasi, which I will say I think is a better book, not in a in a bad way or a mean way, but it's just, a you know, ah it's just a better book.
00:51:59
Speaker
I, like, maybe had to, like, read the first page three times. My brain, like, did not want to clasp onto these words. There's a thing with the opening. Openings of books are hard, right? People want to yes paint the scene, right? Get you into it. But when I open a book and I see a writer too in love with their own prose painting the picture of the landscape with their work, I'm like, I am not reading two paragraphs of your overwrought, overworked, you know, ah like piece of prose describing a landscape. Get me in, get me excited. and that's why i allowed them go right into dialogue or right into action, you know But there's a beauty to setting the scene, right? right There's always that tension between ah what I was used to as a scholar of writing and a fantasy, right? Of studying, of like pulling someone in, but like having beautiful prose like that lingers, right? Without taking you out of the book, there's this craft to it, right? Right.
00:53:06
Speaker
And it's, like, gone now from popular writing. I feel like it started... Like, I hate to compare Harry Potter to Dungeon Crawler Caro because I feel like I much... I mean, they're not dissimilar some... Yeah, I see that.
00:53:20
Speaker
yeah Yeah, I feel... I feel like, I mean, I feel like I agree. Is it Matt Sullivan is his name? The writer of Dungeon Collar Car. I feel like we have a lot of views that are aligned. And then on the other side, you have a pure, awful, evil gremlin. So like, but as far as like, neither of these are as much as I enjoyed the story and I was engaged, right? Like a good television show. I was kind of into it.
00:53:46
Speaker
It's like the writing wasn't what made these good. It's like they managed to pull from pop culture, right? Like Dungeon Crawler Carl is this mix of like Isekai, Battle Royale, like Dungeon people have gotten like main, D&D has gone mainstream. Like this collection of things, all cats, internet cats, you know, like cats.
00:54:10
Speaker
piled up correctly into the like the zeitgeist. like He did a good job pulling it all together and just you know funneling it through. And like the way Harry Potter you know kind of pulled in a lot of things that people liked.
00:54:27
Speaker
And the prose itself, though, isn't is kind of an afterthought of it. just meant to feed it into your brain as quickly and easily as possible. And nothing brought this more of a head to me than when you get to this moment in the book where he's literally just telling you it's exposition to a character, but I've never had an author more literally get in my face, pop out of the pages and be like, hey, so some of the stuff I'm doing here is social commentary. You know, it's a little joke. at the expense of stupid people but sometimes I just think it's funny to put things together like llamas and drug bus drug dealers and stuff and sometimes it's not a social commentary at all the quality of the writing is going to be uneven for all of the that what you're talking about
00:55:13
Speaker
Yeah, sometimes it's just for fun. And it's them explaining how the game works, but it's really the writer telling you, yeah, sometimes I was trying to say something, sometimes as a day to say I know don't know, whatever, don't at me, you know? And I was just like, oh, it's like...
00:55:31
Speaker
ah you you You're allowed to do that? Like, if I am writing something so many things I've written, right, it's the... How do you not make things sound so clearly like exposition? When you do that exposition, how how you sneak it in? So they're not like, ah, exposition, exposition, character wouldn't say this!
00:55:50
Speaker
You know what mean? And now it's just directly... It's like the nature ah writing and what is valued has changed. uh...
00:56:00
Speaker
I miss, I think, you know, there, I, I'm, I'm trying to say some more neutral way. Obviously i love as someone who loves crafting prose. I'm like, I'm sad that that seems to be, you know, Piranesi isn't where dungeon crawler Carl is, but like, uh, it's a fascinating, it's a fascinating change.
00:56:23
Speaker
I actually agree with most of what you're saying, except I don't think like writing as an art form is going away. Like, I think that we have always had trash writing and we have also, and also that beautiful, careful writing is still coming out today. i'm Sorry, sorry. Guilty pleasure, right? Like, which I don't really believe in the concept of guilty pleasure, but this kind of potato chips. I wouldn't even say that.
00:56:48
Speaker
Right? where it's okay Where it's easier, more accessible, where it's demanding of reader. It's more about the throughput. You know, it's less about like the vessel of it. It's more about just transmitting the information into your brain fast as fast possible. Right, yeah, it's a totally it's a totally different job. And it's actually something that, as you as you stated, Matt Dinneman does really, really well. It's just doing a different thing, right? Like, the art of his execution is he's pumped out nine books in eight years or whatever, something like that.
00:57:18
Speaker
I feel like he's got a valve and he just sort of like twisted it open and just sort of let it out. There's this paragraph in the in like one of the earliest chapters where Carl is explaining that like nobody knows that Coast Guard people are so athletic, but they really are. And he just like says it one too many times. And it reminded me of this I-think-you-should-leave sketch. um The one you know where... um the day Robert Palins murdered me, you know, there's, there's a ah Johnny Cash type, like trying to sing his song. Cause the kids don't want to listen to gospel no more. And the Tim Robinson character, like keeps interjecting and taking over about how it was also the night that the skeletons came to life. yeah And like,
00:58:00
Speaker
they get to the end and ah the Johnny cash type is like, you mentioned how the bones were their money like eight times. And Tim Robinson's character is like, yeah, I couldn't remember if I said it.
00:58:11
Speaker
if you just, he said like that the, the, the people were surprised at how, like how they, people don't know how much training the coast guard gets in like hand to hand stuff. And like, he just said it like one too many times. Cause he couldn't remember if he said it already. And like, I don't know, but like this, that is like the thing he, He twisted the valve open and just like let it let it fly. And like I kind of like that. like it There is something sort of freeing about it. I'm reading this once and I feel like he probably read it once while he was doing it. He didn't think too hard about it. don't know that. I don't want to say it's not.
00:58:48
Speaker
I'm sure there are parts of it that he thought about really hard. Also, like wow, do you remember where you were When the first Fallout New Vegas DLC, Dead Money, came out and it had a perk called The Long Haul that let you travel while over-encumbered.
00:59:03
Speaker
Because I'm pretty sure Matt Deniman remembers where he was when that happened. That's that's just my suspicion. um With the infinite inventory? Yeah. Yeah. Oh, my gosh. Yeah.
00:59:14
Speaker
um I'm like, I get so so much of, I don't know. There were parts where like it is not in my nature to skim. it really is not. I really like to like read everything. I'll back up if I think I missed something or if I didn't get something. And like, wow, there there were parts in the in the gameplay stuff and like some of the some of the fighting of mobs and things where I was just like,
00:59:43
Speaker
It's not like I'm not a skimmer by nature, but like, oh, my gosh, my eyes were just like moving. I was like, don't back up. Don't back up. And just like let it go. Let it flow. Like where this is i Yeah.
00:59:57
Speaker
And like this it probably sounds like more critical than I mean it to. But like it's just like the kind of book this is where like. We're just going, we're going, we're going. And like some of the parts are going to be more important than other parts. And like just if it's not an important part, don't feel bad that you're not like 100% engaging with like this loot box or that. Like when when the item is going to be important later, they'll tell you about it. They'll tell you where he found it.
01:00:26
Speaker
yeah You know, he'll tell you where he found the engineering tables that he's pulling out to make the readout, you know, like, ah like, it's it's fine. Like, don't worry if you need to be reminded, you will be reminded and it it'll be fine.
01:00:40
Speaker
um Yeah, that's I. But also, like with a lot of the gameplay stuff, I was like, we have this at home. Like we were talking about Princess Donut and like, oh, you're going to have to watch out. She's got low constitution and there aren't going to be many ways to shore that up and stuff. And I'm like, yes, I also have cats with low constitution and we have to work around that with our equipment and stuff. And and I'm referring to meugenics there. But I'm just like, so so much of this stuff is like, this is stuff we have at home. But I think he did a good job with it, right? like i Oh, for sure um like it pulls that there's
01:01:21
Speaker
I like the kind of greater mystery he started. but like that's the engaging part is like, oh, how does this all work behind the scenes? What are these corporate wars that are going on?
01:01:34
Speaker
he's He's pulling it together in a way that can still, that can be a big long anime, you know, like Isekai and Naruto or whatever, you know, I know there's like so so many books out right now, as opposed to like, I think I was someone who really enjoyed reading Ready Player One.
01:01:54
Speaker
um Because if if you're with Ready Player One, the whole book is just like, hey, remember this like thing that's probably even older than you, but like you know grew up on the internet, so you have nostalgia? I'm like, I do. And he's like, wouldn't it be cool if someone like recreated it? you know So like it would be cool. I'm like, yeah, I would love if someone recreated that real life.
01:02:15
Speaker
I'd enjoy that. And that's whole book is vicariously being like, yeah, it would be so cool if someone took things we had nostalgia for and recreated them and like that kind of worked for like exactly one book and he wrote a sequel i don't even remember if i bothered to i don't think i bothered to the try to read dix it because it bad but it was just like that like it wasn't created he like it wasn't a new franchise that was going to exist the whole thing was like member berries it was just like here's the thing you like right and even in the movie which like
01:02:51
Speaker
I didn't enjoy, I saw the movie and I didn't enjoy as much as first time I read the book. It was just like, yeah, like, oh, it's Mario, it's this. It's like, hey, things I recognized, you know. This he did, it is stuff that,
01:03:06
Speaker
that we're all like familiar, like with, but he did pull it together at least in a way that intrigues you to keep moving forward, not in a way that was just pointing out. So I just want to point that out as comparison to another book that I enjoyed, but had no like continuing power to it. It's a,
01:03:30
Speaker
I remember the first time I learned that some TV shows, some TV series were not plotted out in advance that like season two is done and we're currently writing season three. I'm like, how do you not know what happens? Like, how do you not have it? Like the concept of not having an overall plot that you're following was mind blowing to me, but I have since learned that that's a fairly common writing practice. What were you going back in the day, they didn't always know where the season itself was going. Like they would like, right. Yeah. and yeah there's a lot of like I don't think that happens anymore in the age of streaming television and like six episode seasons, but like back when it was like 23 episode seasons. Yeah. Like sometimes it was episodic. Yeah.
01:04:13
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. um So Matt Dinneman, I've heard him talk about this. you know I've seen a couple interviews and stuff. And he calls it, I don't think this is his invention, but this is the term of art for writers, is there's plotters, and those are the people who have an overarching, they already know like where it's going to end, they know the middle, and they you know fill fill in the gaps and all that, but they they have a plan. And then there's pantsers flying by the seat of their pants. And he's like he's he's a super pantser. He loves writing himself into a corner and then having to figure out
01:04:44
Speaker
what am I going to do now that my characters have done this and they're here and they're stuck in this situation? I have no idea how the fuck they're going get out of it. But like, I don't know. Let's look in Carl's inventory. Let's, let's see, let's see how they could possibly get out of this. And it's like, that's kind of fun. That's like constraint, you know, breeds creativity.
01:05:00
Speaker
And I know that he, it's not, He has some method to the madness, right? Like he has like a ah notion or some sort of like outline where he has his 500 named characters and has bullet points about each of them so that he you know, he records the open threads that he can pull on later.
01:05:16
Speaker
But it still is just like, e largely he starts a new book and it's totally open-ended. He writes his own tools for success. He's like, oh, the AI is like into Carl. so we You know what I mean?
01:05:31
Speaker
He like wrote himself all these tools to help himself get out. It does seem fun to be him. right yeah I'm like, oh, this is not, I like when I work on things, I write things. It is such a more painstaking way. It's like, this is what i'm talking about with Hildbrand. It's like challenging yourself to like go of that and just have fun and just do something and not need it to be like, I will write Lord of the Rings and I will retire, you know? It's just, ah um
01:06:02
Speaker
yeah. It's glorious. It sounds fun. it Yeah, right. Especially as you like establish the world. And he's given himself so many tools. There aliens who can just like fabricate things. So you can just make the next floor something completely different. Yeah.
01:06:20
Speaker
I've heard theory, I've heard two different theories that really appealed to me about what is it that makes animals or makes humans unique as animals. And one is that we play games and the other is that we tell stories. And I mean, is that really unique? Maybe not. You know, maybe there are some animals who can tell stories to each other. I think dolphins that. Right. Crows probably do too. Yeah.
01:06:41
Speaker
But I think that's the real art of this, right? Like, yeah, maybe it's not the most beautiful writing. Maybe it's not the most like technical or perfectly crafted. um But he is telling a story and over over the arc of it, there are some really human moments. I have laughed. I have cried at these, you know, with these characters. And that is like, that's doing something, even if it is, I agree, ultimately it's potato chips, but it's still a vehicle for like, you know, conveying empathy with another person for, for telling a story, which I think is like this thing that is super human and sorry, that is extremely human.
01:07:20
Speaker
yeah And I certainly didn't mean to not get it was more like a shift in what's valued and serious but yeah it's it's very good I enjoyed it like the only reason I didn't continue on is that I do I did a pre I listened to half of it I listened to the audiobook um and half the first half I read in print and I was like oh i want to listen to audiobooks but like I don't have audible right now so yeah. it got that backlogged, but it's like, it is, it's really, it is the the thing where you could fly through like, you know, all of the books. Oh, for sure.
01:07:53
Speaker
yeah i think if i if I had the second one in my possession, I probably would have read and finished it by now. um Yeah. I have, in fact, mine i may I may read it someday in the future, probably get it out from the library because I don't, I don't have all the money in the world for books, but Yeah. oh New books are so crazy.
01:08:17
Speaker
They are. It's true. But what a great service libraries are. They really are. They're the best. My goal was to re-listen to the first book by the time i by the time this episode aired and I have almost finished re-listening to the second one. I wasn't even going to, but it just like, Audible automatically queues up the next book. It's like, here's the next book in the series. And I'm like, you know what?
01:08:39
Speaker
Yeah, why not? Do I have other things I could listen to? Yeah, but you know, I'm having fun. And maybe that's what I need right now. Okay. Okay, yeah.
01:08:49
Speaker
Ben?
01:08:54
Speaker
You're signing next week's homework. I suppose so. ah You know, it's not Honestly, there's sort of a ah thematic through line of ah meta commentary about games and things between between these two properties. But yo, yo, yo, yo. I think think we should all play Inscription because we were talking about it.
01:09:19
Speaker
And when we first like started the podcast, maybe not when we first first started the podcast, but very early in the podcast, I played Inscription and I talked about it. And I'm like, what what if it all came full circle? We've been doing this long enough that I can replay Inscription now and get pretty excited about that.
01:09:36
Speaker
We don't have to finish it, but like I guess i guess ah maybe we should all try to get to at least the second area. But also, Reet, if you love it and you want to finish it, yeah i mean.
01:09:48
Speaker
I won't tell you not to. will get as far as I can. don't have any context for the game. want to go in blind. I don't know how to say how far I'll get, but I'll get as far as I can. I've said it before, listeners. If you like card games or, don't know, if you just like games, honestly, it's really good and really special, and the less you know going in, the better. Good?
01:10:17
Speaker
Good? Yeah. Okay. I didn't mean to, I didn't mean to put the, the period on that sentence. um If you liked what you heard and you haven't already, you can like, and subscribe or don't. We're going on hiatus in a few episodes. Currently. i I didn't ask if I'm okay to say this, but currently we're planning 104 as our last episode.
01:10:35
Speaker
We'll keep, we'll keep you posted. um Last for a while. ah Come hang out with us in the speakeasy. That'll keep going. It's our little corner of Discord. The instructions to get there are in the show notes or video description. We're part of the Snap Judgments Network where listen to other great shows like Snap Decisions by Joe on Mondays.
01:10:55
Speaker
I should be on that soon. He invited me and I don't know what we're going to talk about, but it should be a good time. ah Tune in next week and and see what we think about inscription. Same Snap time, same Snap channel.
01:11:09
Speaker
Oh, yeah. And I would like to give a shout out to one of our listeners in the Speakeasy Mandatory Burnout. congratulations on doing your first paid tarot reading and also the I mean I don't know if you want us telling everybody all about your business but you had multiple cool things that happened for you this week and I'm glad you shared them with us yeah just I do so that's the sort of thing that's the sort of thing you can learn if you were part of the speakeasy yeah catch up with burnout