The Buzz - a 30-episode visual novel podcast

[mikey]

Hi everyone - we just released Ep.4 of our podcast, and in this one we talk about critique and criticism. This is actually part one of our three-hour talk, but it is quite self-contained.

As usual, we welcome comments either here, on the site itself, or via Twitter (I will almost certainly respond via Twitter because I'm rarely at my computer these days). Additionally, a lot of them we will want to answer in future episodes in the followup segment at the beginning of the show. The first possible one will be in ep.6.

Anyway, we hope you enjoy it, this one is a bit heavier than the previous ones, but it is a very emotional topic.
http://www.thebeeskneesstories.com/2015 ... pisode-04/

[Shinoki]

I really enjoy listening to the podcasts, but sometimes, I kind of zone out as I like to multitask a little. Would it be possible to give a script/written out version of the podcast?

[mikey]

I really enjoy listening to the podcasts, but sometimes, I kind of zone out as I like to multitask a little. Would it be possible to give a script/written out version of the podcast?

Not anytime soon, I'm afraid - we did discuss it, but apart from a transcript of a conversation not conveying the tone very well, there is just no time to do this for these lengths - in a few podcasts we'd have accumulated a novel's worth of typing.

There are podcasts that are around 10-15 minutes long which are often articles read aloud for which it makes sense, but Sasquatchii and I usually have a lengthy, albeit less formal conversation. Which for us, as we both enjoy listening to podcasts ourselves, is the whole appeal of the format.

A good tip is to listen while doing a very "thinking-free" (not mindless) activity, such as mowing, cleaning, walking, driving, or working out. In these situations most people find they have the capacity to follow while still doing what they are doing. If you haven't tried it already, I would definitely recommend that approach, it should almost certainly solve the multiasking issue. If you use Soundcloud, you can add tracks to your queue and store the podcast for when you are in a situation that lends itself well to listening.

I will for example "save up" podcasts and only ever listen in specific situations (described above), just because that seems to give me so much more than if I listened to it playing in the background while I am actually engaged with something else that takes that cognitive attention. Anyway, if you can, try to give it a go like that, it really works wonders, in my opinion.

[octacon100]

I like the podcasts, thanks for making these! Really liked your latest one. Very timely for me. Would like to hear episode one and two, but I couldn't find them anywhere.

One topic I'd like to hear about is how to get your game out there and marketing it.

[Shinoki]

:3 Ok, sure.

[mikey]

Would like to hear episode one and two, but I couldn't find them anywhere.

Ep.2 - Thanks for pointing this out, this may be an upload limit problem. I have made a mirror for it here:
https://soundcloud.com/atp-projects/thebuzzvnp
The audio is considerably less consistent in this one than in ep. 3 or 4.

Ep. 1 we recorded, but at this time it's not possible to access it, so either the problem gets fixed, or we will re-record the topic, which was "procrastination".

One topic I'd like to hear about is how to get your game out there and marketing it.

Thanks for the suggestion - someone else already mentioned it, and we have it in out topics pool.

[mikey]

Hi everyone, after a bit of a break we are back and we continue where we left off, discussing criticism and critique in an episode titled How to Critique Others, and Receive Feedback Gracefully.

Check out the podcast here:
http://www.thebeeskneesstories.com/2015 ... -4-part-2/

You'll also find more context and links for the episode there.

As always, please enjoy and if you have something to add, let us know here, on the podcast site or via Twitter!

[mikey]

And another episode is out (#6), this time we talk about Genres Vs. Creators.

Check out the episode here:
http://www.thebeeskneesstories.com/2015 ... episode-6/

Enjoy and let us know if you have something to add!

[mikey]

And here is another episode! It's our 7th and we call it Time & Energy, and we discuss how one can get by with all the schedules, unexpected tasks, setbacks and all the things that conspire against you and the work on your visual novel.

For more information and streaming or downliad links, go to the webpage:
http://www.thebeeskneesstories.com/2015 ... episode-7/

So there we go, that's another one!

[mikey]

Finally, we have re-recorded our very first (lost) episode - on procrastination. As always, have fun listening and let us know your experiences, comments and suggestiona for the podcast and topics!

http://www.thebeeskneesstories.com/2015 ... pisode-01/

[mikey]

Our 10th episode is out, we talk about graphic design and how it applies to VN making. This is part 1 of the discussion. So... have a listen and we'd love to hear your take on the topic or something we missed that could be useful to mention.

Get the podcast here:
http://www.thebeeskneesstories.com/2015 ... 0-part-12/

[mikey]

We conclude our discussion on graphic design in the newly released ep.11 with some specific examples from the world of VNs and their GUIs. Check it out here:
http://www.thebeeskneesstories.com/2015 ... 1-part-22/

Also, we have a really handy RSS feed, if you want to receive updates automatically - just add it to your podcast app or reader.
http://feeds.soundcloud.com/users/sound ... sounds.rss

[mikey]

Another couple of episodes released - and in the latest one we welcome Kuiper to the team, talking about music and audio. Enjoy!
http://www.thebeeskneesstories.com/2015 ... pisode-14/

[trooper6]

I'm beginning to listen to these Podcasts.

I just finished Episode #2.
Some quick thoughts. I was disappointed in the discussion near the end about finding criticism pointless, hurtful, and bad. First off was the conflation of criticism with slamming something, with being mean. The idea that visual novels are personal, and that making these things are difficult, and that hurts to receive critique and so therefore we shouldn't critique anything....that I just can't support. Should we be bullies? No. But this medium is a form of art and therefore the art should be open to critique. Otherwise we'll never get better collectively. Furthermore, criticism is also a creative and important medium. Thoughtful criticism illuminates something not only about the specific work, but larger issues concerning visual novel creation, video game creation, art, the world.

I was very disappointed with the dismissive and negative attitude towards criticism.

[trooper6]

Thoughts on Episode 3.
This was a lovely episode. I really grooved on it.
It was philosophical in a wonderful way.
It touched on really fascinating and interesting topics.
A+ all around.

To answer the question posed: Whose responsibility is it to preserve visual novels? The player or the creator?
I think the answer isn't either one of those people (though it might be).
I think the preservation of our collective artistic archive is the responsibility of archivists.
Archiving and preservation are skills...there are people who love doing that. I think those people should be the ones archiving.
So who are those people? They might be fans. There are fans who are serious archivists...good for them if they l love it. Rarely is that person a creator...who tend to spend more time creating than preserving. It could be critics who are also archivists. It could be academics. It could be librarians.

I think the key is that the person is a person with an archivist calling.

That said, I also feel like the government and academia and museums and non-profit organizations should also be involved in supporting the process. The Library of Congress preserves films and books, etc. Universities have archives of the collected letters of various people, or record collections, or etc.

I think what is important is that archivists and preservers recognize video games as works of art worthy of being archived and being preserved. This is happening. So that is very encouraging. There is the Video Game History Museum. That is good. I feel like people are coming to see the value of video games as a medium. So I am hopeful.