The Status of the Thing
They Say You Should Use Headers To Make A Thing Easier To Read
Originally posted to BuyMeACoffee supporters, but the public demands to know.
Intro
Hello all,
I’ve received a couple of notes recently from people wondering what the deal is with GM Word of the Week.
Now, I know I’ve mentioned this once or twice on the podcast itself, but I presume people missed it or heard it and forgot or whatever. So let me reiterate what I have said previously.
GM Word of the Week is not dead. It is not pod-faded. It is not on hiatus.
It just isn’t being produced as regularly as it used to be.
Current Plans
As “proof” I have four to six episodes planned out. I say four to six because, like the series on Persia, I may or may not add one or two more to a four-episode series, it just sort of depends.
For those wondering, the episodes revolve around magic and magic users in RPGs. So, as the plan sits right now the episodes are Magic (generally), Wizards, Sorcerers, and Warlocks. I strongly suspect I will need more than that just to cover a couple of other cases, but that is the plan for now.
What's The Problem You Bum? (There Are Many)
“But Brian,” I hear you say — unless you didn’t know my name was Brian, in which case maybe listen to the end of an episode once in a while — “What is the hang up? Why do it take so long? What’s the deal?”
And to you I say, 300+ episodes.
Quality Over Quantity But Also Quantity
That’s a lot. And sure, there’s a ton of D&D related stuff that could potentially be covered yet, but we run up against a problem which is that a lot of it has been covered already in one way or another across all the various episodes the collective ‘we’ have done. Maybe not directly, and maybe not each in its own discreet little episode, but a whole lot of what you’ll find between the covers of the many editions of the various Fantasy-based tabletop RPGs has had almost more of a look than it can stand.
For example, initially when we started out, we thought there would be a lot of really great episodes about the creatures of D&D. And, granted, there have been a number of them, but it wasn’t the huge amount we thought it might be. Many of them are, as you are no doubt now aware, sourced from a variety of folkloric traditions around the world.
The problem is, once you’ve mentioned, for instance, that trolls come from Scandinavian folklore as do dwarves and other such related creatures, it’s hard to then do episodes on those other such related creatures without repeating a lot of what you already said the first time. The episodes all start to sound same-y and repetitive. And when it isn’t the case that the game has plundered so much traditional fare, then usually the answer is: Gary just made it up. Generally, because he was upset at the way someone was playing his game.
Well, there are only so many episodes you can do about that sort of thing. And we’ve done them.
Generally Interested In Interest
This ties into another problem with getting more episodes out more frequently. One of the primary things a topic has to do is interest me. I’m not doing homework here and the more I’ve tried to deal with listener topics that don’t really interest me, the more it felt like trying to do homework in high school. It’s fine in school to write about topics you aren’t necessarily interested in, there are lots of reasons to do so. But to do it for a thing you do because you enjoy it? That’s no good.
Now, some listener suggestions do interest me and so I dive into them; the magic series is one a listener wrote in to suggest. But, as has increasingly become the case, quite a bigger percentage weren’t. And even worse, a lot of the topics I was coming up with for potential shows at first seemed interesting, but swiftly proved not to be. And I can’t think why I should have to force out an episode on a topic I don’t like, just to meet a schedule. It won’t be a good episode. At least not to my mind. I don’t even start writing an episode until I’m sure it will be interesting, so it isn’t even as if there is fodder for a lost episode.
Please For The Variety
Also, I’d like to do other things with my life besides write weekly episodes for the same show for the rest of it. Other projects interest me as well. If nothing else, I need space to try them out in. I’ve run through a few ideas. FolkLiar (if you remember it) being one of them. The Hook being another. I used to think I wanted to be a writer and so The Hook, in particular, scratches that itch to a degree. Supposedly I can design a game or two as well. So, there’s that.
The Game Of Concentration and The Game Of Life
But these other things also mean that when I do sit down to write an episode of GMWotW, I don’t actually sit down and write an episode. Instead, what I do is sit down and think about all the other things I could do that aren’t writing an episode. Then I get a cup of tea to help focus. But mostly what I focus on at that point is not letting the tea biscuits fall apart when I dunk them. And then I think about all the other things I could be doing some more. It’s a rare occurrence for me to just sit down and begin writing an episode from start to finish. I get a couple paragraphs a day maybe. That’s about it. So the writing process has stretched out considerably. Fortunately, once I do have a script in hand, the recording and production can all be done in one day still.
This lack of concentration on my part has all come about since… Well, since The Great Sickness. So, make of that what you will, but I sometimes find it rather difficult to even keep track of what day it is now. Pretty sure this is Thursday, the 9th, but don’t quote me on it. Partially this is because all the events which might have clued me in on dates and days, came to a halt when everyone decided to shelter in place. And, since I have few other obligations that make a calendar necessary, days just sort of drifted into one another. I haven’t recovered a sense of time and place yet. Staring at a computer all day every day has not really helped as much as you might think. There are other, more personal, reasons for a reduced more-convenient-for-me release rate, but we won’t get into that.
Anyway
Anyway.
This is where we stand. GM Word of the Week is not done. It has just slowed way down for reasons of content, interest, and ability. Keep in mind, other, bigger shows, shows that are produced on a weekly basis, have staff that make that possible. Your really big shows have multiple groups of staff working on multiple episodes at once. The voice you hear on your favorite podcasts just shows up and reads what they are told to. They aren’t personally responsible for making sure each step of every process gets done themselves. Here, it is just me. That’s just the reality of it. There used to be two of us to split duties and make things easier, but that situation has been nearly non-existent since episode 200.
And look, I get it. You want regular content to take on your drive or wash dishes too or whatever it is you do while listening. I do not blame you if you feel the need to pull your support because you aren’t getting the show when and as you want. We’ve weathered a lot around here to get this far and I appreciate it. If this brings things to an end for you, it’s okay.
But again, the show’s not dead. Nor is my interest in continuing to produce episodes. It’s just going to be less frequent than it used to. They’ll come when and as I find interesting topics to write about (and you should totally feel free to keep suggestions coming even if I might not use them). In the meantime, you’ll get to be privy to other things I work on. Like that Sherlock parody from a week or so ago. Like The Hook. Like some game stuff for Transit which I am preparing to do. Like whatever other creative endeavor happens that neither you nor I know about yet.
So, if you can, bear with me. I promise I am working as hard as I can to produce a really delightful magic series for the show. I expect it to be released when it is ready. But it is coming. In the meantime, there are other things to enjoy that I work on as well.
And if I ever do decide to fully bring the show to an end, you will absolutely be the first to know and there will be no doubt in your mind that it has ended.
Yours, etc.
Brian “Fiddleback” Casey