Good morning all! And welcome to The Second Opinion with Doctor Loxley!
So, I am assuming by now you've all been listening to the Malifools Broadcasting Network?
If you play Malifaux, and the answer to that question is no, then shame on you!
I'm not going to sit here and compare this podcast to the others, as I'll be honest, I don't listen to them all, and each one brings something different to the table, Malifools is no different.
Ok well let's get started with the Second Opinion.
The show has three 'designated' hosts, Mike, Jon & Conrad. Each one clearly a Malifool in their own right, but when you put them together you get some great listening material!
- a bit of a tangent here I must admit, you're probably wondering why I'm writing about this now, we've just had Episode 9 released, which means we're 9 weeks in and really anyone who is anyone has already reported on this show.
Well you'd be right, and until now I've been happy just listening to the show and making my thoughts and comments known over Twitter. But you must understand, Episode 9 is SO funny, I just had to post this!
You see, I've listened to plenty of other 'casts', I've heard quality stories, gained valuable privilege information and learned many great game tactics, but I havent really had -fun- and that's what the Malifools Broadcasting Network brings to the game.
The pretence is three regular gamers, sitting around a table in a pub talking about their hobby (note: their hobby, not The Hobby). And while the reality is three guys in different houses talking over headsets, I think that the idea is captured very well; it's casual, fun and quirky.
Now some may not get their humour, but then that is something I am very familiar with myself *goes off to cry in the dark about how no one understands him* but if you do, then it's worth every minute.
You see, don't be distracted by the friendly voices, and the funny jokes, this is a wargames podcast, and they do tackle many issues that personally I think is very relevant to the game at present; should Pre-measuring be allowed? Just because a crew is deemed as low performing, does that mean they are? (See #Molly2012) If a model was a 90s WWF Wrestler, what would be their intro song? (that's how I interpreted the theme song question).
And yes they do make the occasional rules slip up, but then we all do! Virtually every game I play I get at least one rule wrong, and very often while I'm trying to run a speed demo at Leisure Games I will often alter the rules in subtle ways either because a). I am unfamiliar with something and stopping, getting the rule book out and checking will slow down the pace too much or b). The stripped down version flows better on a smaller scale.
So to me, when these guys make their mistakes, it reminds us as listeners that they too are human players who are going through their own gaming journey.
I would love to skip forward a year and see where things have gone, to have so many questions answered: are they still an episode a week? Have any of them become hardcore gamers? Did they win their own inevitable #Molly2012 tournament or was that title taken by another Molly player who flipped more Red Jokers? And more importantly, did they get their own Expo? (PAX started with a web comic let's not forget).
Ok, so perhaps this article is a little gushy, and coming across as very fanboi-ish, but all I can say is this:
When was the last time you laughed out loud on a train and had the entire carriage turn around and look at you with confusion and fear?
For me? Yesterday! Listening to the Malifools Broadcasting Network!
(PS There should so be a 'Where's Conrad been this week segment')
- Your friendly neighbourhood Doctor Loxley
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