{"id":42101,"date":"2018-03-05T06:00:32","date_gmt":"2018-03-05T11:00:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/shamusyoung.com\/twentysidedtale\/?p=42101"},"modified":"2018-03-04T15:02:35","modified_gmt":"2018-03-04T20:02:35","slug":"diecast-200-mailbag","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shamusyoung.com\/twentysidedtale\/?p=42101","title":{"rendered":"Diecast #200: Mailbag!"},"content":{"rendered":"

We did it. We made 200 of these stupid things. If you listened to the show for 40 hours a week, it would take you 5 weeks to hear the whole thing. And that’s ignoring the fact that most episodes are a little over an hour. (And some episodes<\/a> aren’t included in the numbered list.)<\/p>\n


Direct download<\/a> (MP3)<\/small>Direct download<\/a> (ogg Vorbis)<\/small>Podcast RSS feed.<\/a><\/small><\/div>
\nHosts: Paul<\/a>, Shamus<\/a>, and guest host Bob Case<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Episode edited by Issac<\/a>.
\n<\/p>\n

1:10 Mailbag – Why Doesn’t Bob Make More Stuff?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Bob, I love your videos, and I’m a patient man. But having to wait 13+ months is really taxing on that patience. What would incentivize you to make more videos? Money? Sexual partners? Praise, cheering and love?<\/p>\n

Best regards,<\/p>\n

Moss<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

4:08 Mailbag – Why So Nitpicky?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Hi!<\/p>\n

First of all, I apologize in advance for any mistakes that I’ve made. English is not my native language (polish is). This whole e-mail is probably gibberish (especially since it’s the first mail in foreign language for me), but I’ll try to ask a question anyway. <\/p>\n

Second: big fan of your work. I just wanted to say that.<\/p>\n

Anyway, my question to Shamus, Paul and Bob is:
\nI’ve recently watched MrBtongue episode called “TUN: The Shandification of Fallout”. In one section, you criticized the way Fallout 3 handled the logic of it’s own world, comparing it to much more well-thought worldbuilding of Fallout: New Vegas (what do they eat? e.g. Megaton vs Goodspring). I’ve also read Shamus retrospection of the Mass Effect series (THE WHOLE THING). It’s makes me wonder, to what extent the games like that should justify the events they’re presenting – since if we were going to logically deconstruct everything in fictional world, eventually nothing would remain. So my question (finally) is: in which point the game should stop explaining it’s own world? To what degree the fictional world of that kind of games should be logically construct? Is there a clean line to be drawn? And how much of a game’s world should be just made-up? <\/p>\n

(I’m not gonna lie, your language is pretty funny; hope the question is not too long, I couldn’t help myself – I mean, the Bob himself is here!)<\/p>\n

Cheers to the whole crew of Diecast and hope you’re going to have a great time!
\nSincerely,<\/p>\n

Darek (hmm… “Darius” I guess?)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

14:36 Mailbag – How Would You Have Written It?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Hey Shamus,<\/p>\n

I have a (multi-part) question I’d like to ask both Bob and you. There’s a minor hitch, though.<\/p>\n

It’s about Mass Effect.<\/p>\n

No, wait! Let me explain!<\/p>\n

I want to make something absolutely clear before I proceed: if you don’t want to hear about the subject any more, or put it on the podcast, I totally understand. Both you and Bob have covered the series in the past many many times over in various formats, and I don’t blame you if you just stop reading right here, right now. If that’s the case, I guess all that’s left is for me to thank you both from the bottom of my heart for all the time and effort you’ve put into discussing and deconstructing the ME games. Your analyses are amazing and I think it wouldn’t be an exaggeration if I said that they have helped me immensely to grow not only as a fan of the series, but as a consumer of pop culture in general. You guys are the best, and I love you both forever. <3 <3 <3\n\nNow, on the off chance that enough time has passed for you not to be completely sick of hearing about Mass Effect, here is my question (for the sake of convenience I'm leaving it in its original format, which was conceived before I wrote this prolonged introductory bit, so there are some redundancies -- sorry about that):\n\n\"It's probably fair to say that you have spent a significant amount of time deconstructing the Mass Effect series, especially following the ending of the game that I personally choose to believe was never made. In the process you have acquired a great understanding of the series, which you have shared with your audience on multiple occasions. But did you ever create, or toyed with the idea of creating, an alternate Mass Effect canon for yourself, based on your analysis of the games, your personal preference, and how you believe the story should have went?\n\nIf so, what would your \"break-off point\" be? What is the moment where you substitute your own story for the one proposed by the writer? Is it the infamous ending, the opening of the third game when the whole series went full anthropocentric, or even earlier, like when Shepard got blown out of the Normandy and died, only to be immediately resurrected (following atmospheric re-entry)? Do you include Andromeda at all (I'm completely ignoring it as I haven't played it, but for you it can be different)?\n\nBasically, tell us about your Mass Effect headcanon, if you have any :) .\"\n\nThanks for taking the time to read this. Take good care of yourselves and greetings from Poland (where it's currently freezing -- hope the winter isn't too hard on you stateside).\n\nLove you guys,\nPawe?<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Correction: In this section I say that you work for Lester in Grand Theft Auto Online, and don’t meet the other characters. I just noticed on the Wiki that this isn’t the case. There’s quite a bit more to the game if you stick with it.<\/p>\n

31:25 Mailbag – Forbidden Adaptations.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Dear The Diecast,<\/p>\n

Are there any books\/films\/concept albums\/TV shows\/other things that should be barred from being made into games, and if so why?<\/p>\n

Cheers, Neil from England.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Here is the Papers, Please short film I mentioned:<\/p>\n