Podcast Ideas for Listeners

[Capt.D]

While I think selling the old episodes as a bundle is a good idea, I think that selling merchandise isa better idea. Then again charging people to download their favorite podcast is kind of wrong given how the industry started.

Podcasters made a concious decision to take on the burden of cost when they start a show. They do it because it's something they think/thought was fun, it is/was a hobby. If they started from the beginning with the idea this was a money making venture we wouldn't be having this discussion. And if the industry is planning to head in that direction they should look at commercializing before penalizing fans.

I GM 99.9% of every game I play, I also own the most gaming books of anyone I know. These books allow me to have references to use in my game, and to play different game systems. This is my hobby I enjoy doing it and provide it free to those that want to play. Is it expensive, Oh Yeah! But I made that decision. Also since most games are held at my house I tend to supply the larges portion of food items. If someone is thoughtful enough to bring munchies it is greatly appreciated. Just as the podcasters are currently doing with donations.

While I am very fond of the many podcasts I listen to and I will donate when I can, I would quit listening if it were to ever come down to paying for episodes. The radio may not be as interesting but it's already in my car and it's free.

[death_jester]

Hello All,

I agree that the podcasters that met up at GenCon did come back with a new fire and focus on what they were doing. The meeting also gave them something else. A chance to become employed, or at least supported, by doing something related to the very hobby that they love and spend so much of their free time on. I heard the word "passionate" a lot in the Almost Live Metacast. While they may not be able to quit their day jobs tomorrow, that would ultimately be the goal. If that is the case I would love to get in on that, as I work at a job that sucks the very life out of me and I am sure that I'm not the only one in this situation. If I had something that I loved and was passionate about and could eventually make a living doing you would have to shoot me to keep me from doing it. Now if paying for the podcast would be a problem then you will stop listening and find something else to do. I know it seems a little harsh to hear but it is the truth. You don't expect to see your favorite authors just give away their books do you? Do you think that the podcasters do any less prep or work? I would say not. If you listen to the podcasts you hear Chuck and Lonnie talk about the prep time and the other things they could be doing with their time, I have to ask, why. If they are working towards a goal of making a living at this then I understand what they are doing. Like I said before they are not going to be quitting their day jobs but if they are working toward that end I completely understand.
Something that came up on the podcast was the possibility of having commercials on the cast; if that helps get them to where they need to be in order to keep us from having to pay I am all for that as well. I wouldn't mind the commercials to listen to what these guys have to say.

Now to address the original question brought up by good ol' Capt D. I would love to see something dedicated to Superheroes and the modern fantastic genre, in a table top role-playing context. While I love superheroes I would rather see something that encompasses the entire spectrum of the genre. Supers are but one facet of the many that exist. Take Buffy the vampire slayer, she was not a super hero but she had elements about her that could very easily be classified as "superheroic". The same thing can be said about the Highlander series or just about anything else that Gregory Widen did for that matter. (Well, not Highlander 2 but you get the idea.) All of these things would be cool and I think broad enough that there would be lots of topics to cover.
You could do some pulp style stuff and cyber related stuff and still never be tied down to any one rule system or setting. After all superheroes have been around long enough, in one form or another, to cover quite a bit of time and sub-genres. More and more companies are now trying to muscle their way into the once cornered market of superheroes and it could be a very exciting time to be a supers player. You could do various meta genre takes on the classic supers campaign, for instance, horror related supers or more street level supers. There are so many things that you can do with this but unfortunately there is not a podcast for it as of yet. I think this could be an excellent “niche” with very fertile ground to cover.
Heck just talking about it makes me want to do it. Unfortunately I don’t have the time to do a podcast but if I did this would be the one I would be doing. I would be willing to help out even.


Ok enough rambling from me.

PS. This was edited by my wonderful wife Hyphen so if you understand what is written here thank her because I was all over the place.

[Capt.D]

While I did not intend for my post to come off as anti-profit for the podcaters, I fear that it kind of did. I completely support anyone that can turn a hobby they are passionate about into a career. However I do feel that comparing the podcaster to authors is a little off. They are more akin to radio personalities. As for authors you know when you go into the book store that the book is going to cost you money, even if it is a first time author. But podcasts started out as a free service to customers, just like radio. Which is why I feel that taking on commercials is the better choice, if charging listeners is the alternative.

One hurdle that podcasters will have to overcome if they want to be taken seriously enough to become profitable is irregularity. Now I'm not saying they should all eat a lot of fiber, simply that some of them need to act a bit more professional. Some podcast such as DL can pretty much be depended on, come hell or high water, to be there each week. Yet others may go a month or more with no show and then come out every week for a while, then nothing for 3 weeks. This hurts the overall image of all podcasters and keeps them at the level of hobbiest. Not only do professionals look at podcasters this way but listeners as well. If shows can not direct themselves in a professional manner then they won't be seen as professionals, and consistency is a major stumbling block.

As much as podcasters love to be friends and support their fellow casters, they will have to eventually realize that they are in competition if they decide to go pro. They will have to compete for advertising dollars and listeners. If you make podcasting your career then you won't want to lose your income to a buddy or new comer that is doing pretty much what you do. While the idea of doing something you enjoy as a career may seem all bright and shiny, you have to consider the long term consequences. Say that DL is just overcome by sponsors throwing money at them becaue their show is exactly what they want, but then some new guy comes a long and is just a little bit funnier, and has a few more fans. Is he going to be everyone's new buddy? Nope. Just like everything else DL will likely want to protect their interest and do what is necessary to win back the listeners and any sponsors they new guy may have taken. So what once was a friendly community of people that loved gaming, comics and podcasting is now in direct competition, which tends to breed resentment. What if the podcast that is "stealing" DL's sponsors and listeners is one of their buddy podcast and not a newbie?

Granted this was a worst case scenario, but a reasonably realistic one. Friendship and competition for your very livelyhood does not mix well. I'm not saying it can't be done, just that podcasters really need to think about things like this, before they get all starry eyed dreaming of making it big time. Then again No Guts No Glory!!!


While the system specific podcast has been done and never really found it's audience, that does not mean it will fail. However I feel it was the inconsistency of the people doing the show(s) that shall remain unnamed, that caused this particular show to flounder. If you do a genre specific or even system specific show and do it to the level of DL, I feel it would be just as successful and popular. And to anyone who is reading this and considering their own show I really would like to see a generalized, non system specific superhero show. Including all the elemenst that death_jester brough up would work well in that genre. Superheroics is a very broad genre.

[Jim in Buffalo]

It looks to me like professional gaming podcasters are a long way down the road, if it ever happens at all.

There are scarcely enough people playing tabletop RPGs to keep the industry afloat as a whole, and by the time we exhaust ourselves trying to get past the glassy stare that most people, even tech-savvy gamers, adopt when the word "podcast" is mentioned, we'll be down to our last five SAN points.

RPG podcasts are going to remain in the amateur realm for the foreseeable future, AFAICT, and I'm just as happy with it.

After all, the word "amateur" means "to love," and I'd rather listen to a couple of people who're doing a podcast as often as they can because they love it than listen to one where they drag themselves to the mike every week because they have to.

On the other hand, I do agree that it would be nice for some of the more established podcasts to be taken more seriously by the gaming industry, and that will happen, given more time, as more listeners come on board.

We existing listeners, therefore, are charged with the task of doing whatever we can to bring new listeners into the audience.

I'm going to start a thread to discuss ways to spread the word about gaming podcasts in general.

[Capt.D]

Very well put Jim.
While I too want to keep my favorite podcast at the amatuer level, I don't begrudge them for wanting to be more. However I both agree and disagree with the fact that podcasters still have a long way to go before achieving professional status. Services like itunes are growing in popularity and becoming a large source of entertainment for the masses. It just requires a little bit of savvy on the part of the podcaster to properly utilize this outlet.

But while podcasters continue to enjoy growing respect from industry professionals and fans, they are still viewed as nothing more than enthusiastic amatuers/hobbyist. Much of that does stem from the very lose and irregular way many podcasters conduct their shows. This is not bad, the unpolished aspect of many of these shows is what makes them great.
However this could change quickly if the right podcast with the right format were to show the industry pros there is a benefit to sponsorship. As it stands right now the companies have all the free advertising they could hope for, but if the podcasters began to not speak about these products they would lose their listeners. From the companies perspective it a "why pay for the cow if the milk is free" type of thing.
So the podcasters would have to go outside of the publishers to gather sponsorships. The niche clothing manufacturers, smaller press game companies, even the local muffler shop would be better alternatives for advertising revenue, if you can convince them of it's worth. This would be a job in and of itself. So going mainstream is very possible if someone wanted to put in that much hard work and risk to get it done. But they would lose the very thing that made podcast special.

I also agree that bringing in new listeners will be a struggle. I talk up the various podcast and you are right people's eye's glaze over, even gamers and comic fans seem uninterested. I have even tried to promote other types of podcast. I personally do not like NASCAR, yet I try to get the people I know to listen to the podcast and they won't. I'm not really sure why, after all they will sit for hours in front of the TV getting the same info and they will listen to a race or disucssion about the race on the radio. I have even taken them various podcast that would be of interest and they won't bite. So in that regard you are very much right.

[Hyphen]

My worry about the possibility of advertising is the resultant... well, whatever the podcast version of payola is. Scenario: GroovyGames advertises on GeekyGamer podcast, and all of a sudden GeekyGamer absolutely adores GroovyGames product no matter what. Or, worse, GroovyGames doesn't advertise on GeekyGamer, but secretly subsidizes them ... and all of a sudden GeekyGamer absolutely adores GroovyGames product no matter what, for no apparent reason.

Of course that wouldn't happen here, but some random theoretical podcast down the line could do it if the advertising dollars were there. Hopefully the discerning listener would know the difference.

Paying for complete past episodes would seem to penalize the new listener, who is the one you want to reel in. However, I'd pay for something like the worldbuilding series, or if all the frugal gamer segments were released together. (It's all in the merchandising!)

I had some other point here but it's way past the time of day for rational thought for me. (Though under normal circumstances I'd be in the midst of a gaming session about now. Hmm... that may explain my low character survival rate!)

[Elrandir]

That's something that can happen in any mass media. Magazines deal with it all the time. And generally, if the media outlet has any integrity, it keeps the paid ads separate from the personal endorsements. I've seen full page ads for movies in Entertainment Weekly in the same issue where they pan the movie. I've seen new products advertised in magazines that give those products bad reviews. Believe me, I used to do PR for a living.

In the end, it should be pretty obvious when a media outlet is pandering to the companies that sponser them. And those media outlets don't last very long because people stop trusting them and stop paying attention to them.

[Portanas]

Somehow I was missing out on most of this discussion until today. Wow where was I? Since I am involved in starting a "niche" podcast that is going to obviously rely on crossover from my parent (read inspiration) podcasts, I have an obvious bias. I would love to be able to do what Daniel is doing with TGT. I could easily put together a 5-10 minute minicast and have it slid into any of the parent-casts (if they would have me). I think that could be hurtful of both parties if used too often.

Having TGT in DLI is wonderful, but if there were 3 more minicasts from various podcasters put in each episode, that would take away from Chuck and Lonnie's voice. It would give me an instant audience, but not give me the opportunity to stretch my wings and fly. Then again maybe it would give newbies like me a bit of a safety net.

I would love to hear FR content in all of the podcasts I listen to. Everytime I hear something about the Realms my ears perk up just a little. I would even love to sit in on a section of the cast that has been set up for FR content (think Round Table "Monomyth in ..." Series).

I know I have said a lot without really saying anything. I do have one question. What would forum/board/ tavern dwellers think of Google Ads or some other form of revenue generating ads on the home pages of their taverns (assuming they were not obtrusive and tastefully done)? Just trying to help my favorite tavern owners help recoup some of the cost of all the rounds of gaming goodness they keep buying us.

God Bless

Portanas

[kilishan]

You know, we're actually setup with Google to do just this. However, when I ran it through a sandbox that would (supposedly) show what ads we would be served, it didn't look like they would be all that relevant so I opted not to do them. I may have to try it sometime, just to see if that sandbox was right or now, but I refuse to do it if we're not going to get relevant information.

[Portanas]

In theory it sounds like a great idea. I am just not sure about the details. And to be honest that is all that really counts. If the ad content is not proper or even something I could feel comfortable with, i am not sure I could do it either. But I wouldn't be disappointed in the DLI if you went that route. I certainly couldn't blame you!

Port