Thursday, December 12, 2013

(Podcast) Friends of Jackson Elias

I know that there are people in this world that can not survive a day at work, or the commute to and fro, without a pile of new podcasts and/or audiobooks.  I have to admit that I've yet to grasp that concept.  Even though I greatly enjoy their podcast, when there was a month long delay between episodes at the Miskatonic University Podcast, it wasn't enough time to catch up on their massive catalog. 

I've attempted to expand my repertoire, with little success.  The latest has been Friends of Jackson Elias, an irregular podcast by the folks associated with yog-sothoth.com and the upcoming 7th Edition of Call of Cthulhu.

Now I get the concept of blogging/podcasting:  regardless of cries of guerrilla journalism, it's merely an extension of your opinion, wrapped for public consumption.  Perhaps that's why I just don't like it.  I know it's not completely based on the accents, as I'm a fan of Cthulhu on Parade.   The problem is I can't actively put my finger on my issues.  The only example that stands out is the the panel discussing the worst spells in CoC.  I know most players and keepers agree with them, but their reasoning for despising Call Fish and removing its tiny blurb from the next edition is so over the top that I can't take them seriously.  It's a perfect example of "mundane magic" offered by the Things Man Was Not Meant to Know to support their followers.  C'mon, half the deep one stories are based on dealings with humans and applications of the spell.  I imagine it used more often, albeit in a perfunctory way, than Summon Freakin' Cthulhu!  Most spells exist just for the investigators to prevent their casting.  Some as there for the investigators to cast only as a last-ditch attempt to hold back a worse rising tide of chaos.  Spells like Call Fish remind people that the unknown magics are sometimes benign, or at least appear benign.

That little topic threw me completely off a podcast I considered marginal at best. I've tried a number of podcasts devoted to D&D that I realize that the hosts don't get the game in the way I get the game.  Neither opinion is wrong, but it deviates so far from my "norm" that I can't enjoy it without screaming back at my computer/iPhone.  I don't feel I can give them a proper review without listening to more, and that's something I won't devote time to. 

Friends of Jackson Elias

1 comment:

  1. I sympathise. I can't make it through a whole episode without shouting at someone either.

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