WoW Insider Show Episode 60: Inside Blizzard HQ

by Mike Schramm Oct 21st 2008 at 1:30PM

The WoW Insider Show landed at its new home, our new Ustream channel, last Saturday, and things went pretty darn well. We had a nice turnout of listeners from all over, and we had Adam Holisky and Turpster on, along with our guest Patrick Beja (of Azeroth.fr, How I WoW, and all of the other podcasts and features at his site Frenchspin). We had a few contests (one of which is still ongoing for you non-live listeners, so make sure to listen for the details if you haven't heard them yet), and we took some of the new features over at Ustream for a spin, including some fun polls.

I'm told our new iTunes feed isn't quite up and running yet, but in the future you'll see an iTunes link here as well. Show notes are after the break.

[iTunes] Subscribe to the WoW Insider Show in iTunes.
[Ustream] Listen to the unedited recording in Ustream.
[RSS] Add the WoW Insider Show to your RSS aggregator.
[MP3] Download the MP3 directly.

Or listen to Episode 60 right here:

This week, since Patrick and Adam were on with us, we talked a lot about BlizzCon, including:

The class panels for day 1 and day 2.
The Q&A panel, including the rock star attitude of one Chris Metzen.
The Guild and their panel, and why we all missed it.
Ghostcrawler and how awesome he is.
The UI panel and the insights they showed on how Blizzard designs their games

Additionally, Patrick talked to us about his visit to Blizzard HQ, and we talked at length about what we thought was exciting in patch 3.0.2, including the nerfing of endgame, why achievements are so much fun, and why it feels like the game is back on track -- everybody feels overpowered, which is the way it should be, more or less.

Be sure to join us again next Saturday afternoon for a live recording, or stay tuned here on the site next week (or just keep an eye on the feeds -- it'll likely show up there before we post it here) for another episode of our weekly podcast.

Tags: achievements, adam-holisky, anaheim, blizzard-hq, blizzcon, discussion, itunes, mike-schramm, patch-3.0.2, patrick-beja, podcast, recording, talents, turpster, ustream, wow-insider, wow-insider-show

Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Podcasts, Podcasting, WoW Insider Business, Odds and ends, Quests, Raiding, BlizzCon, Wrath of the Lich King, WoW Insider Show

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

BloodyLoc Oct 21st 2008 1:49PM

I went to my Itunes and have not seen your show up yet beside the WOWradio one........I need my fix guys

Bloodyloc

Mike Schramm Oct 21st 2008 2:08PM

Right -- iTunes takes a while to process our feed. As soon as it's up in iTunes, I'll link it here.

And fyi, this is the only week you'll have to wait. Usually, the show will likely show up on the feed every Sunday, just like it used to with WoW Radio. We needed some extra time to set things up this week, but usually, if you're subscribed, you'll get the show earlier.

And yes, you can always listen to the Ustream feed starting Saturday afternoon, right after we finish recording the show. So if that sounds better, feel free to listen there.

liquid_cheese Oct 21st 2008 1:57PM

Just to say that if you listen to it on Ustream it won't have the slightly tinny sound quality that the downloadable mp3 and embedded player seem to have.

Lminster Oct 21st 2008 2:04PM

Works good guys. Thanks!

Pidge Oct 21st 2008 2:41PM

Mike & all the great WoWInsider contributors - Congrats on the new home. The WoWInsider show is grown into a must-listen show and I look forward to more in the future. Just keep posting that MP3 link and I'll keep listening!

(And congrats x2 for having Patrick Beja on the latest episode. I've been a longtime fan of his work on The Instance and How I WoW. He's smart, funny, down to earth and a real pleasure to listen to. Blizzard giving him some recognition and access at Blizzcon was well deserved.)

Finally, a shout out to the WoWRadio gang. They were my first introduction to WoW audio podcasts and their shows remain great. While I always thought WoWInsider and WoWRadio seemed like a smart team-up, I'm glad neither is going away and am looking forward to being a loyal listener to both going forward. (TB -- I was shocked to hear what happened to you on the way to Blizzcon and hope it all gets straightened out soon. Wishing you the best!)

Galla Oct 21st 2008 3:57PM

Thumbs up for having the show right in the same post. (as apposed to having to go all the way to that WHOLE next page :P)

Galla Oct 21st 2008 4:06PM

Edit::Everyone sounds like robots.

Cylena Oct 21st 2008 5:27PM

Sound quality on the mp3 is *terrible*. Tinny, echo-y, and annoying static clipping at the end of some words.

I don't really know a thing about audio software, but there's got to be a way to fix it on your end.

Other than the quality issues, the 'cast is good.

bsides88 Oct 22nd 2008 6:08AM

urgggg... the audio sounds horrible!

and skype dropped out. Soooo.... this is what happens without duncor?

plz fix it!

conker87 Oct 22nd 2008 7:03AM

Are you guys not on WCRadio anymore? I cant find the link to your achieves on it.

TotalBiscuit Oct 22nd 2008 9:08AM

As stated in the post, they have moved to U-stream and are no longer part of our line-up.

conker87 Oct 22nd 2008 10:24AM

Ah, L2Read there conker. On a totally unrelated matter, how goes the visa TB?

TotalBiscuit Oct 22nd 2008 10:38AM

It's at a stand-still since Gen lost her job, and I don't think 'would like to murder vindictive employer' is a good reason to get back into the country.

conker87 Oct 22nd 2008 11:07AM

Ow Jesus, that's just salt in the wound now. Good luck with all of it anyway, eventually like to see Blue Plz and TBSAVG back up too.

Pete Oct 22nd 2008 8:10PM

Hi Guys, love the show.

Any chance of a Twitter notification when you start to Ustream each episode?

I always forget to tune in at any given time. Its helpful to be websurfing and get my Twitter firefox plugin popping up to let me know a show is about to start.

Melf Oct 24th 2008 9:19PM

The quality of the show was crap. I had to turn it off -- I normally listen on my iPod during my commute but this was unbearable.

I don't understand the need for the move and clearly people aren't going to say the *actual* reasons. After all, it's political season now, so why tell the truth? From the perspective of a listener who has been there since episode 1, I can say this:

1. The quality of the most recent show made it sound horrible and amateurish. The lack of an intro of any kind other than "Heeeeeeeeeeeey everybody it's Mike *inaudible techno shriek* of the WoW Insider *inaudible techno shriek*" was off-putting from the start.

2. One of the main reasons I listened to WoW Insider Show was because it was part of the WCRadio lineup and community. Not specifically because it was part of WCRadio, but rather because it was part of an entire station devoted to gaming and Warcraft. That was cool. Now it's just another independent podcast, which is meh. With so many podcasts out there, having an alliance of podcasts, a collective audience and a unified professional sound was what set these shows apart. Now there's not much to differentiate from any of the other shows floating about out there. Turpster helps, but without the behind-the-scenes professionalism of the WCRadio broadcast, it just doesn't feel worth it.

Chinoy Nov 7th 2008 12:15PM

WOW, WoWradio got rid of WoW Insider show? Didnt TB know that It was the only show thats worth listening to in Wcradio? You know the difference of WoWRadio to other WoW Podcast? WcRadio boss/owner thinks WoW Podcasting is a Competition and all the other ones (The Instance, Outlandish, WOW InsiderShow etc.) thinks It's actually a community. TB is a douchebag who thinks He knows everything when He actually doesnt.