The HTL Podcast Community Feedback

Hello everyone!
As many of you know I've been hard at work producing and recording the HTL Podcast series and right now I'm prepping one more ME3 themed discussion. After that I would like to take a break from Mass Effect 3 and start talking about other games and issues.

First up I'd like to do a discussion on Diablo 3. After that I would like to take in suggestions from you in the community as to what topics you would like to hear discussed on the podcast. Any topic, whether it be Mass Effect related or not is welcomed! Let me know if you have any ideas for games we should cover, or perhaps themes and events surrounding games and the gamer community. Also, ideas for interviews or people I should try to interview would be welcomed.

Also if you would like to be on the podcast, especially if it's an idea you're proposing, let me know! If you have any interesting links to blogs, videos, forum posts on the matter that you have created or taken part in share them so that I have something to build off of.
I've had a lot of fun making these shows for HTL and I'd like to continue doing so. Thanks again to all of you who have watched, commented, and shared your ideas with me already. Keep them coming!

@Awesomologist Thanks for all your hard work!
I would love to hear about Witcher 2 and the Skyrim MMO coming up!
I've never played an MMO but I love Oblivion and Skyrim and would love to hear how to get involved with their new MMO coming out I think later this year.

I still gotta play the Witcher 2! Skyrim was awesome. I'll probably stay away from doing previews for the time being seeing as I have no access to anything except trailers and whatever media the companies themselves put out. I don't want to fall into the same trap I did for DA2 and ME3.

Some things I'd like to see podcasts for eventually:

• An interview with one or more of the guys from Forbes who shocked many of us with their fair and balanced (oh god, sorry to use that phrase. ) blogs regarding the ME3 Ending controversy.
• Interviews with the creators/heads of HTL regarding the site: How it came together, What it's for, Future Goals, etc.
• A podcast that addresses the issue of Gamer Advocacy in general: What can/should we expect from games and game developers? From reviewing mags/sites? Not a rant but an exploration -- as far as I understand this is rather a 'new' concept at least insofar as a fan/consumer group goes? And maybe it should just be covered along with the idea above.
• This is more 'fluff' but, whatever, I'll throw it out there: A collective interview/montage of different HTL members with brief snippets of a more personal view of gaming: What got them into it, what they're fans of in their games, etc. Kinda more of a "project" along the lines of that 'Voices of ME' that came out early on after ME3's release.

My 2 cents!

I couldn't agree with this more, especially the what we should expect from devs. I can't tell you how many times I've seen fans not fully understanding what devs can actually do. It really pisses me off when I see people getting mad at devs (This has actually happened to me once or twice. I've sworn off community watching because of it XD), for not being able to do everything and anything.

I know I would love to learn more about it. I'm frankly pretty much clueless when it comes to how games are made and what goes on behind the scenes. What is a reasonable expectation and what isn't. And one of the keys to bringing out a better sense of cohesion, fairness and community in any group is understand where all sides are coming from and the reality of different situations. I'm guessing most devs in the game industry love games and are probably fans of many themselves -- but most fans aren't game designers/developers/writers/etc etc etc -- gathering together people with insight and pertinent points to make would be really helpful and interesting.(I am TOTALLY fighting the urge to post the pic of your 'crown' again, MissFish )

What is the break between marketing and development? I saw a commentary or comic once (which,g ah, I wish I'd saved) where it showed a hyper marketing guy asking developers about features they were working on for a new game. Harried and/or optimist designers spouted out all manner of possibilities, from the realistic to the improbable and the downright silly. Which the marketing guy ran off and made quotes of, showering news outlets with all the fantastic things the game was going to have. It was exaggerated and meant for humor, but I wonder how much truth there is to scenarios like that. And, if so, how can a balance be achieved to stop what ends up being false advertising, whether innocently, maliciously or negligently done.

And how do we take what we know or discover about the industry to help find ways to better represent and protect ourselves as fans AND paying customers?

Sorry, I haven't had all my morning coffee and I'm rambling. But I'd really love to see podcasts and the like that start to better explore the idea of gamer advocacy on a realistic and applicable level, starting with shedding some light on things a lot of us - the common gamer - may not be aware of.

@ShyGravel I'd absoulutly LOVE it if more gamers knew what went on behind the scenes. We're seen as being the God of video games way too often, and we really aren't (sadface).

Just my two cents. I honeslty don't know what I'd talk about on such a podcast... It's just a general idea that I love.

PS: I am TOTALLY flaunting that crown around. My mother's already been made aware of the fact that I have it multiple times, and I've only talked to her 20 minutes since you made it!

I'd love to hear about some girl gamers -- maybe the stereotypes that are there, what makes us game, what we like to play and why. No, I'm not a total feminist.

I can't picture anyway that'd turn out but EPIC.

Absolutely loved doing the recent podcast! Definately interested in giving my two cents in another one whenever the need should arise!

I'd totally be down for a podcast featuring the marketing aspects of game development. A lot of the fail that came from ME3 was from over-hyped marketing done by not only marketing departments, but the game devs themselves. No one ever expected game devs to be gods, but they do expect them to do what they say they're gonna do.

By extension, getting someone to talk about PR would probably also make an excellent podcast, but they'd have to be someone that actually works in PR.

Haha... It is a little addicting, isn't it?

@MissFish it really is haha. If it wasn't for awesome moving us along I am sure we could have rambled on and on

The topic of women (or gender) in games is certainly one I'm interested in doing in light of recent threads and such. That said I'm a little cautious on how to approach it. @Syrin if you and @Breefolk would like to put together a few ideas on the subject for me to work with I would be more than glad to host the show (and as @DJayRaIDeN points out, keep things moving ). Perhaps @MissFish would like to join as well as woman working within the industry or @Elise Alenko if she has any particular opinions on the matter?
Let me know.

I'd be honored to join the podcast and offer my thoughts. I don't work within the industry, but I head a college organization geared toward helping women get their foot into computer science and IT doors. There's definitely a difference in their treatment in terms of gender. And I know I had my moments of when I started gaming... <thinks of one specific game that changed how I thought of "girl gaming">

But anyway! My point is that I'm happy to assist in whatever capacity that @Awesomologist would prefer. And thanks for the invitation.

I'd love to participate! As far as male-dominated industrys go, I'm pretty sure I'm in one of the biggest besides construction, and I'd love to talk about it.