HLTB Podcast - A Community Podcast!

Hey everybody! It's been a long time coming, but here is the first episode of the HLTB Podcast, featuring your three regular hosts: NinjaRic, UltimateZombieToast, and yours truly. This is kind of a just-getting-started introductory episode, so we'd be happy to take any constructive criticism for how we can improve it in the future.

Thanks for listening!

Those darn dogs are super annoying! Get rid of them or I refuse to keep listening!

I just listen to a two-hour podcast and i didn't mind it at all, keep up the good work guys!

I thought this was really well done. I don’t listen to podcasts often, but I listened to the entirety of this so great job!

I only had time to listen to a bit so the only feedback I can give at the moment is that the length is pretty intimidating, especially for a new podcast. A youtube video over an hour has less a quarter of its viewers watching past the halfway mark and less than 10% watch to the end.

TED talks are 18 minutes because their research found that after this point, people start "checking out" mentally. Obviously a podcast needs to be longer than 18 minutes, but the point is the longer you go on, the less likely people will be actually attentive to what is being discussed.

I only had time to listen to a bit so the only feedback I can give at the moment is that the length is pretty intimidating, especially for a new podcast. A youtube video over an hour has less a quarter of its viewers watching past the halfway mark and less than 10% watch to the end.

TED talks are 18 minutes because their research found that after this point, people start "checking out" mentally. Obviously a podcast needs to be longer than 18 minutes, but the point is the longer you go on, the less likely people will be actually attentive to what is being discussed.

Yeah, we realized we effed up after we had recorded it. The one we recorded today is shorter, and we're working to get them down in length.

But yeah, you're right. It's waaay too long.

listened to the first half hour and loving it, great job guys. Are you going to be releasing it as an audio file? I listen to all my podcast going to/at/coming from work so I would love to chuck it on the phone.

My only complaint is KerfMerf's audio could be a bit quieter and UltimateZombieToast and NinjaRic's could be a little bit louder. Apart from that I enjoyed it, and am going to listen to episode 2 when that's available. Well done.

I just listened to part of the podcast and I'm ejoying it so far.
My only issues are the previous two posted in the thread:
The diference in volume for the hosts
And not having an audio only version on soundcloud or itunes or whatever. I do most of my podcast listening through an app in my phone and It would be nice to be able to listen to it while commuting.

Thank you all for your kind words and feedback so far!

Regarding audio-only versions, I listen to podcasts that way too so I hear you. We are looking to get it up on iTunes, but that is a work in progress right now.

In the meantime, would people be interested in the audio file going up on Soundcloud or similar?

Just finished listening to the full podcast. Here are my thoughts on it:

a) Others mentioned this already, but more important than a Soundcloud link would be to balance the audio levels.
b) My gaming knowledge doesn't span as wide as you three and because of that I wasn't familiar with half the games you spoke about. But it was still a very enjoyable podcast to hear some of the excitement and passion in your voices discussing those games.
c) Gamefly! Similar to Kerf, Gamefly is a great service for me with decent shipping times (in the DC suburbs), and I definitely get my money's worth in the service. I've also bought a few used games from them over the years and the discs are always in great condition, and the case/manuals are new.

Look forward to hearing the next one.

I thought it was pretty good, especially for the first episode in which a lot of podcasts seem to have a lot of awkward pauses which you guys seemed to avoid.
Good luck on the next episodes.

So far so good! I think I'll finish listening to it on my knitting session (thank guys, I was looking for something that I could just listen to for a couple of hours)

Finally got a chance to listen to the whole podcast.

To be honest, I was a bit nervous about the idea but I think you guys did a great job. I really enjoyed the listen.

I like the cast and thought you had good chemistry. Not that it was planned but I do appreciate having a "token female" AND people from both North America and Europe. It just adds a little more perspective. I never felt like conversation was stagnant or boring and it was segmented well too.

As some other people mentioned, my only criticisms would be the length (even though I don't mind, regularly listen to 3 hour podcasts), the volume levels, and background noise. However, I understand that it's an amateur production done over Discord and can only be improved so much.

Basically what I'm saying is, I was quite impressed! Keep up the great work and I'll be tuning into every episode.

Just posting to congrats on the new podcast!

Listened to the whole thing and just wanted to say I really enjoyed it. Thanks guys!

It's a day later than I was hoping to post this, but wait no longer, friends: Episode 2 is here! We're still finding our footing in terms of format, so let us know what you think about the changes. Intermission music is a new thing too--do you all like it? Also, we shaved nearly 30 minutes from this episode compared to episode 1, but we're still looking to cut it down to the 90-minute mark.

So, a couple of behind-the-scenes things I want to mention. 1) I am looking at getting this onto Soundcloud and iTunes to make it more easily accessible for people (will probably be a Spring Break project for me) and 2) I know the audio is still balanced pretty badly in this episode too, but I'm working on it. I basically work a full time job AND go to grad school full time, meaning I don't really have much time left over to edit the volume levels on every line--but I'm going to make an effort to do better sound checks before we record future episodes so that the raw audio needs less fine-tuning.

Finally, we are quickly depleting our supply of questions to answer on air, so if you're itching to ask something, hop over to the Questions Thread and drop one off for us (or you can ask here or in a YouTube comment, those work too)!

It's a day later than I was hoping to post this, but wait no longer, friends: Episode 2 is here! We're still finding our footing in terms of format, so let us know what you think about the changes. Intermission music is a new thing too--do you all like it? Also, we shaved nearly 30 minutes from this episode compared to episode 1, but we're still looking to cut it down to the 90-minute mark.

So, a couple of behind-the-scenes things I want to mention. 1) I am looking at getting this onto Soundcloud and iTunes to make it more easily accessible for people (will probably be a Spring Break project for me) and 2) I know the audio is still balanced pretty badly in this episode too, but I'm working on it. I basically work a full time job AND go to grad school full time, meaning I don't really have much time left over to edit the volume levels on every line--but I'm going to make an effort to do better sound checks before we record future episodes so that the raw audio needs less fine-tuning.

Finally, we are quickly depleting our supply of questions to answer on air, so if you're itching to ask something, hop over to the Questions Thread and drop one off for us (or you can ask here or in a YouTube comment, those work too)!

Looking forward to firing this up on the drive home.

Also, not sure if you need any of this (or which software would help you adjust audio levels), but Humble Bundle just put out a bundle with audio software.
Take a peek: https://www.humblebundle.com/software/magix-sounds-of-music-software

(Bumping this because the threads are moving fast today)

Enjoyed Ep 2, Thanks. Personally I'm fine with the length but I may be the minority. I personally skipped the intermission because I wanted to get back to the meat of things but that's just me and my taste. I didn't have any issues with this format though I think I preferred the "what have you been playing" then the Q&A. Also wondering if there's plans for a more video version with footage from the webcams or do you rather stick with audio only?

Finished the 2nd episode. Good episode. Audio balance and background noise were much improved.

Unfortunately I'm going to have to revoke your submissions for openly admitting false completions! Shame on you Ric/Toast! /s

I liked the interview idea and think it'll allow us to become more attached to our hosts. I'm glad you include the game of the month, maybe share some of the communities general opinions or posts at the end of the month? Understandable if sometimes there isn't much to say because the title wasn't very popular.

I need to make comments while I listen because i had a bunch of thoughts on the discussion that are escaping me...

The 3 of you are doing a great job, thanks for putting it together.

Loved the 2nd episode! Like others said the audio levels are definitely better than the first episode and I'm a fan of the format you did with this one. The interview segment was a great addition, makes the entire podcast much more homey getting to know the hosts.

I have good and bad news! The good news is, I tinkered around with the audio levels and (at least in my opinion) they're much improved! The bad news is, our time management went off the rails, so we're back up to 2 hours. Getting it down to 90ish minutes and publishing it on a podcast-hosting platform are our 2 biggest goals right now.

Anyway, highlights of this episode include starting with a discussion topic about tactical role-playing games, debates about brand loyalty and story vs. gameplay, an interview with NinjaRic, our biweekly gaming updates, and more forum questions that gloriously derail us into conversations about dialectical differences in the English language, somehow.

Thanks for listening! Your feedback is always appreciated!

I have good and bad news! The good news is, I tinkered around with the audio levels and (at least in my opinion) they're much improved! The bad news is, our time management went off the rails, so we're back up to 2 hours. Getting it down to 90ish minutes and publishing it on a podcast-hosting platform are our 2 biggest goals right now.

Anyway, highlights of this episode include starting with a discussion topic about tactical role-playing games, debates about brand loyalty and story vs. gameplay, an interview with NinjaRic, our biweekly gaming updates, and more forum questions that gloriously derail us into conversations about dialectical differences in the English language, somehow.

Thanks for listening! Your feedback is always appreciated!

Oh, crap! I didn't get through it last night to check it, and I know I fly off the rails this time! Gack! Hope it was tolerable levels!

Oh, crap! I didn't get through it last night to check it, and I know I fly off the rails this time! Gack! Hope it was tolerable levels!

this time

;)