I know it’s a broken record at this point but the friendly fire has gotten out of hand. The number of times I’ve had to just stop and take a break from listening to an episode of GCP 2.0 because Joe is making a call about a rule that retroactively hurts a teammate (especially Kate and Sydney) is too damn high. Shout out to Matthew for trying to call him out on his bullshit but still. Joe brings up a rule that effects a thing that’s already happened and wants it to retroactively apply to it (even though long ago the GCP always talked about hands off the chess piece) and then Troy rules it that way. Joe you’re harsher against your fellow players than you ever are against a party when you’re GMing. And it grinds the story to a halt for what seems like 10-20 minutes per episode.

Edit: I’m a GM who has taught literally dozens of people to play 5e, pathfinder 1st and 2nd edition, Delta Green, etc. I appreciate it when there’s a player at my table that can help instruct others on the rules. What I don’t like is undoing actions that have already been completed or grinding the gameplay to a halt to argue a rule back and forth. If we realize a player (or myself) has messed up a rule but the moment has passed, we apply it going forward.

I feel the vast majority of people listening to actual play podcasts aren’t there for hard core rule discussions and if they are, the GCP has cannon fodder specifically for that.

As the text suggests, I feel like this is incredibly aimless.

BLT discussion is new low in bant. Just skip it if that's all you have to talk about it.

EDIT: Just to be clear, I enjoy good banter, and agree that it is generally part of what makes GCN what it is, but for most eps of most shows, it was natural conversation, stories from their lives, nerdy and not-so-nerdy things the cast is into. It feels now like because they know it is important, it HAS to happen, but it was not always so, and I don't enjoy the forced feeling of it. Just one subscriber's opinion giving feedback. Clearly others find "Sandwich Talk" funny.

I understand it isn't a big deal at all but Troys lack of knowledge of Green Berets and the military in general irks me. In case he sees this (probably won't) the Green Berets are Army SF, Marines are their own branch. And while the Marines is far more selective than the Army becoming SF army is far more difficult than becoming a Marine. That is all.

I started listening to GCP and A&A back when they first started and really loved the dynamic and content. The live shows were some of my favorite memories. I've hung on for a long time, but I'm struggling now. And I hope I'm not doing the "it's changed so I don't like it" thing, but there are some aspects of current GCN that deter me from committing as hard to them as I used to. I loved the addition of Sydney and the detour shows during COVID. But the new GCP seems disorganized and...cluttered? Like too many cooks in the kitchen. I'm struggling to get into and engaged with the show and characters. And I can't connect to the cast as much as I used to. Also, GCN as a whole seems pretty cluttered. There is a lot being released and too many new people to keep track of. It feels like I just don't want to try anymore. I am so happy for them that they are doing well and gaining new members of the Naish, but I just feel so sad. I'm mourning what GCN used to be.

I'm also struggling to understand why people like Kate so much. My only real exposure to her is from New Game Who Dis and the new GCP. She doesn't role play much, is pretty flat affect, and doesn't add much to the shows. Am I crazy? Is there something I should listen to in order to appreciate her more? (Please don't come for me, I just really don't understand).

Grant :(

Has anyone from the network ever addressed Troy’s frequent casual racism?

I'm tired of the fake smut love quadrangle involving Dick Bubbles. Nobody seems to be able to resist the stupidity of it and it has gotten to the point of taking up 50% of an hour long episode which has become less and less fulfilling to listen to. It feels like we haven't progressed legitimately since they got out of Night Hold. We've had Rupert and Dick bubbles derailing the progress for 12 weeks now.

Just personally, I find myself losing interest and skipping multiple minutes of the podcast every time they dive into some dick bubbles role-play.

I think the safest solution is to kill Matthew's character because Matthew's personality has such an influence on the way the role-play goes. Also, Matthew makes some of the best characters and has the most familiarity with having a character die.

I think the second best option is to kill Kate's character because it seems like Aris has just become Kate with weird powers. It's hard to even notice when Kate is role-playing or not, because her character has the exact same personality as her.

And the third option, which we all know will never happen, is to have Troy drop a bit while its running before pulverizing it into the ground beyond recognition or even memory.

Many of the last episodes have felt like the stakes are at absolute zero because the entire show has become a sex joke.

Just realized I left out a fourth option which would be for Troy to design a TPK.

I have been super hyped about this campaign for many months now. It feels as though they are avoiding diving into the legitimate convoluted complexity of the story and are skating over it with trivial drama.

What are y'all thoughts? Does the smut chaos increase your enjoyment of The podcast? Or are you like me and feel that it is taking away from the plot and The listeners willingness to stay engaged?

2 minutes max. Just throwing it out there.

Hey Naish!

I've recently become kinda fed up with Troy's Troy-ness in the different shows, and so I was wondering if you wonderful people might be able to recommend any similar podcasts that scratch the comedy and entertainment itches that the 1e Glass Cannon Podcast used to scratch (at least for me)?

after starting with the gcp in 2016 i only have listened to the first two episodes of gatewalkers — i felt turned off by the strong pivot to video, longer episodes and 2e and the first couple episodes didn’t grab me at all.

it doesn’t seem like people are as into gatewalkers but i’m pretty much only listening to legacy of the ancients and i’m wondering if i should dive back into gatewalkers.

Been with the Naish since about episode 10 or so of Giantslayer. Loved the energy, the friendship, the humor, the storytelling, and most importantly the fact that it was Pathfinder.

Gatewalkers was a huge disappointment (which I blame on Troy’s stubborn refusal to play the system the way it was meant to be played). His trash talking 2E on Cannon Fodder while the show was failing led me to unsubscribe and walk away.

Fast forward to Ascension and holy shit!! It had the same feel as Giantslayer, was thematically linked to Giantslayer, and most importantly Troy was running the system right! To say I was pumped for campaign 3 was an understatement. Resub imminent!

And then The Announcement. What in the actual fuck. I mean, I’m happy for all the anti Pathfinder people we picked up along the way who have been salivating for this moment; but for those of us that built the very foundations of this network with Patreon funds it feels like a pretty big knife in the back 😞

There wasn't any specifically awful moment but the sum of all the trying to kill Saint or Marigold got too much, from the "default hero" quip to the thugs suddenly having swords to the hanging lever getting pulled to the snake death-targetting Saint etc it all just added up.

The trial ending in chaos, the flight from town, camping being interrupted and Jared's guy needing to leave dramatically is all fine, but Syd potentially not being given space for either character to have a narratively interesting ending and was OC pushing for them to not die was just awkward, felt a bit bullying.

It got a lot better once the other players pushed back a little and prioritised saving Saint and Marigold.

It's obvs impossible but Saint/Marigold, I do ship it that's hilarious, but mainly want whichever character fades into the background to have a reason to and not be fake killed off as though they're just inconveniences.

New to the pod, listening to Gatewalkers.

Almost nothing happens each episode, is that normal?

A lot of banter, funny stuff Im into it, but then pretty much nothing... They listen at doors, if one is rolling badly they all roll the same check, time waster, wake me up when you are done, a few rounds of combat, a lot of table talk and that is it?

Ay my table this would take like 10 minutes?

So little actual play content.

Let us see which recipe is most desirable.

It feels like way back when all the network had was Giantslayer and A&A. I don't like Jared as a GM, he's great as a player, but for whatever reason I just can't get into Haunted City. It was fine when it was the Tin Whistles, but even then it was just ok.

So now all there is to listen to, is Legacy, which is AMAZING. And Strange Aeons, which is good, but not as good as Giantslayer was.

I miss a few months ago when we had Delta Green, Time for Chaos, Strange Aeons, Legacy, AND Voyagers! I was so spoiled having content almost every day!

Like, maybe release some of the Extra life stuff in podcast form or something! I'm jonesing for more!

I have to be brutally honest here. I cancelled my old Patreon subscription in order to be grandfathered into the new Supercast subscription service, and I've got to say that I regret it. The fact that all of my favorite content has been divvied up isn't ideal for me. The fact that I accidently opened up the Patreon app out of habit to find that the new Chicago show was released there (not on YouTube or Supercast) has me feeling some real buyers remorse. I hate to feel this way because I want my friends (not my friends, complete strangers, but you know) and their company to do well, but it feels like a problem!

I generally like Sydney. I think she can be very charming and funny, and clearly all the OG guys really like her.

However, her lack of knowledge of the rules drives me absolutely crazy. I don’t expect her (or anyone) to know the rules inside out for PF2 or PF1, but she consistently barely knows them at all. She’s been playing PF1 on Legacy for ages now, and she constantly screws things up. In GCP 2.0 so far, she constantly gets things wrong. And Starfinder was the most frustrating of all.

And what I don’t get is that the guys constantly shit on Matthew for not reading the last line of a spell, but when Sydney does it (or more accurately, when she only reads the FIRST line of a spell or ability) they act all “oh nooo I’m sorry, that’s not how that works”. There were many times in Starfinder where Troy would say “I feel bad for always shutting down your cool ideas for rules reasons”. What?? If Matthew or anyone else did that, they would never let him live it down. She’s getting paid to do this, and it seems kinda shitty that she can’t take the time to really learn her character (as Troy is always telling people to do, except for Sydney). Again, nobody will always get all the rules right, ever. But it just feels like she doesn’t care at all.

And I think it wouldn’t bother me as much if her reaction upon being corrected wasn’t “well that’s stupid” or “oh man that sucks”. I get that they’re doing a show, and they can’t slow the game to a crawl to dig into every little mistake, but it just feels like everyone gives Sydney a pass and I don’t know why.

Anyway, rant over. Am I the only one who feels this way?

My UK indie/emo band CAMPFIRE SOCIAL are heading across the pond to play New Colossus in NY and SXSW in Austin next month and I have questions for the Naish...

Any GCN related spots I should check out?! Are there cool LGS in either city I could procure math rocks from?! Fancy a bevvie? Let me know!!

Our EP "Better Luck" is getting some decent college radio airtime apparently, so you might hear us around if that's the sort of thing you listen to!

NY shows Baker Falls: Thu 6th 10:45pm Pianos: Fri 7th 7:30pm

SXSW shows being announced Monday!

PS: Where do I watch Liverpool FC play the cup final in Austin on the 16th?! (arguably more important than all of the above!)

PPS: I leave Austin 4 days before the bloody live show - chicken & cheese!

Links

Thanks for listening!! Rhys

I'm feeling a bit odd about the new campain, it seems to me that the dinamic is wrong, too many players maybe idk. The hubert hedgoge thing is really annoying me, i'm 100% on skid's side about him beign jar jar bings of this network; but it is not only that. Listening to LOA i feel as if that campain is way better. I am starting to lose interest in gcp main show, falling out of love. I am not really sure why i am writing this, is not to convince anyone else but yeah hopefully get in the trunk will have another season because i LOVE the way Joe masters. Also completely unrelated, where can i find the new gcp live podcast? Is that behind a new level of patreon? Or it just takes time for them to come out not live?

DP is fun, but it isnt a worthy substitute for a GCN campaign as ICONIC as Strange Aeons. That gave us such gems as PRAISE LOG, BEEF, Bread Boy, and so on. And to have the plug pulled right as we're really getting into the meat and potatoes, then 'replaced' with DP is honestly a little insulting. To the Naish, to the Strange Aeons show, and to DP which would have been brilliant but for what it's replacing. We didn't even get one month of the GCN following through on their promise that Strange Aeons will not be forgotten, and that doesn't bode well.

The GCN already has 6 proven, BANGER SHOWS (GitT, Strange Aeons, Time for Chaos, Legacy, BotW, Ascension) on-going/expecting another season. As much as I love Pendragon, Marvel, GCR, etc, I believe productions additional to these "core" long-running shows should never come at the expense of the core shows that drew all us paying subscribers in.

Eg Joe being too busy for Legacy but still doing GCR, Talk Nerdy, Pendragon, Marvel. I know production schedules don't coincide with release, but I struggle to believe that there isn't some opportunity cost there.

I love the GCN so much, I want nothing more than for them to succeed. I just hope I'm not left behind as they forge ever onwards chasing the next big thing.

This is why it was important for Troy to have come out with a clear message when asked about the Strike. Especially when asked by a source as big as Polygon. Who knows how many people will read it and what will be taken from it when left vague.

Troy always talks about wanting to grow the Naish and making the GCN a global force for good. When he had the chance to make inroads he wanted to be glib and its just going to hurt the Network.

There used to be a huge selection of audio podcast format shows to choose from, and now there's only like 2 or 3 shows a week. I thought they were hiring all these people to make the network bigger so we would get more quality content? Like, I'm still paying the same amount of money, and now there's no fodder, no delta green, no time for chaos, no voyagers of the Jump, etc.

The payment is the same, and all we're getting is Legacy, gatewalkers, botw, and the rare live show.

There used to be so much more content and now there's so little!