Call and Response: WOFF Dispatch February 2025
Added 2025-02-19 03:28:42 +0000 UTCK here. I am super sorry about the late notice, but the task to post this call for responses fell through the cracks on my end (this is not Gwen's fault!). So, we've got a tight deadline for you to submit your questions for this months' Dispatch episode of Watch Out for Fireballs!. Please, if you can, submit your questions in a comment on this post by noon Eastern time on Thursday February 20th.
We're looking for two kinds of things:
Suggestions for our long-form discussion prompt.
Q&A about the shows, behind the scenes details, and miscellaneous (including off-the-wall and off-topic questions). Ask us about games or other media, life in general... You name it.
One caveat we've given in the past: If the question is too personal or gross, we may dance around it and not give a direct answer.
Looking forward to hearing from you!
Comments
I noticed that a lot of the questions are submitted by people named "Dylan". I have never submitted a question before, but every time I hear "the next question is from Dylan", I have a split second worry that I submitted something while intoxicated and forgot about it. Note that I still have not submitted a question. -Dylan
Dylan Smith
2025-02-20 16:51:06 +0000 UTCAre you excited for the upcoming A24 Tim Robinson horror comedy film Friendship?
SindrElf
2025-02-20 14:37:20 +0000 UTCThis might work better in May, but: moms in videogames? I can think of a lot of games where you play as a dad, or surrogate dad, or where you fight your dad, or where someone's dad is otherwise key to the plot. What are some games where you play as a mom or surrogate mom, or where a mom advances the plot? No shade to the JRPG moms who exist to greet you when you go back to your house -- they're lovely! -- but hopefully there are more active examples as well. Apologies if this has been answered before!
Nina
2025-02-20 14:35:39 +0000 UTCI have video game acrophobia. I've never been a fan of sky levels, falling into bottomless abysses, or jumping across abstract floating objects in an undefined space. Yet, if you were to transport the level into water or lava with the same negative result - death, respawn, losing a heart - I barely blink an eye. Since the penalty is the same in either case, and often negligible, it this simply a matter of context? Do you think this is taken into account in level design, or do devs merely view it as the "dead space" to build the level on; regarding it as merely an aesthetic choice? Do either of you experience any reaction to environmental design - a bit of claustrophobia, thallasophobia, or the like? Thanks as always for your hard work!
Joseph
2025-02-20 06:46:29 +0000 UTCI'm going to admit to something disastrous. Way back in the first Destiny, my friends and I heard Peter Dinklage's delivery of the (in)famous "that wizard came from the Moon" line. Ever since, we've brought it up in some woefully esoteric contexts. The platonic ideal of a shibboleth for that group. My question is this: how many swirlies would you consign each of us to? How many hours would we spend sealed in hallway lockers, were there justice in the world?
Fringleton
2025-02-20 01:44:58 +0000 UTCHey, y'all. I noticed recently that I have a weird habit when I'm plumbing the archives of any new podcasts: I get picky about selecting episodes recorded prior to 2020 and rarely listen further back than November 2016. "Those poor, beautiful creatures" some part of my subconscious thinks about the hosts, "Their innocent minds know not the Horrors to Come." Am I the only person who gets like this? Am I floating alone in a terrible void of self-soothing folly? Anyway, the new multi-show Patreon feeds are a delight. Thanks for all your great work!
Jay Eff
2025-02-19 22:49:10 +0000 UTCWhy are gamers like this? You know what I mean.
Matt DiTomaso
2025-02-19 19:33:09 +0000 UTCHey guys. Gary question/prompt but I’d love to hear Kole’s thoughts as well. Something Gary said in the tactical breach wizards woff really hit for me. “[this dialogue sounds like] what people think dnd is like.” I felt very seen by that statement. I play dnd with a crew of three other people, and there’s a distinct feeling that there’s me and the DM, who grew up thinking that swords and dragons and monsters are cool, and then there’s the other two players, who have listened to the adventure zone and watched that mulligan fellow’s game. It’s a hard to pin down, but absolutely palpable, difference between “likes the trappings of the fantasy genre” and “likes the trappings of dnd, and very specifically modern dnd culture.” Bit of a broad question I know but Gary, do you have any thoughts on this phenomenon that seems to have come along with DnD’s meteoric rise? Disclaimer, these are my best friends, I love them and every moment at the table rolling dice with them is a treasure. Second disclaimer, this is not a gamergate style complaint about people invading a fan space in a part of bc I don’t think they’ve “earned it.” That question is long enough but I do want to explain what I’m describing a little bit more as I would just like to be understood correctly. None of this needs reading on air though. These two friends in question have never seen or read lord of the rings, and there’s nothing wrong with that. They haven’t watched game of thrones and there’s *obviously* nothing wrong with that. But it’s not as though they’re versed in the works of Terry Pratchett. They’re not big Xanth heads nor did they spend a lot of time at the library looking at Dragon Lance covers because they were obviously badass. On the other hand the DM and I have been chastised, sometimes glibly, sometimes with a bit of irritation, for incessantly referencing the series of fantasy novels we both love (there’s a jar we keep on the table that he and I have to put an “Eli Buck” into whenever we reference those books). And that’s weird I think, right? We’re playing *the* fantasy ttrpg. The fantasy stories we connect with are bound to come up. This all leads to the occasional disconnect (that I think I’m the only person at the table whose noticed) that half of the table is trying to lead the story in the direction of fantasy stories we know and love, while the other half is leading the story into cozy and whimsical direction that I recognize from reels I’ve seen of those big DnD podcasts that people love.
Eli Leslie
2025-02-19 19:14:51 +0000 UTCWho, what, where,when, and why is zoodog
Ian Fredrick
2025-02-19 18:29:42 +0000 UTCNot that this is necessarily a "fun" topic but it's a thing I've been chewing on a bit myself: we know countless examples of games with bad politics, both good and bad in terms of play but awful in terms of the attitudes they might reflect. What games do you think have GOOD politics, or at least kinda good or true-to-life views on things? For me, Baldurs Gate 3 comes to mind. As the EU in particular has been embroiled in debates over a refugee crisis and the U.S. has of course gone insane about immigration, it makes sense that BG3 might reflect some of that, and I feel they handled it a lot better than I'd expected. It's heavy-handed sometimes, but not as embarrassing as one would expect for a take from the world of "Sauceman Chorizo." Interested to hear your thoughts
Emily K (EmK Ultra 64)
2025-02-19 18:07:41 +0000 UTC
