Away to me, children…

Yeah, surprise; another post. This blog isn’t actually totally dead… I’ll be relocating most of its content and moving forward with my own reviews, editorials, and the like on my own WordPress installation (though NOT http://www.drawgoradio.com, as that’s pretty much going to be for Magic).

Speaking of DrawGo Radio, that’s something that still surprises me at its growth. My time has become more and more of a premium, so starting with episode 14 Steven will be taking over as podcast editor, which should go well since he’s the recording industry major and I’m just general electronic media. I’ll be focusing more on the background and doing production work for the site, including a complete overhaul of its layout and an update to a much more… user-friendly feel. I’m also moving closer to campus so even though I’ll be there on average around ten hours a day, the proximity should actually free me up to do some real work on game reviews again, and maybe even a separate podcast or video series there. I may be deluding myself, however, because in addition to my part-time job at the university library I’ve taken over as online editor at the university newspaper, which is like a part-time job except, because of school policy, I can’t accept pay at two different positions on campus so it has to be volunteer (and yes, sadly, working in the library pays more than working on the paper).

So anyway, DrawGo Radio and The Gates of Rashomon. They’re both getting some fairly dramatic rebuilding, and a bit more attention to content quality, if all goes to plan. Not that I’ve really been disappointed with what’s come beforehand, but I think I may start just writing and requiring everything in AP or the best approximation possible. It’s really stifling, but it’s also efficient… I’m still trying to find the best compromise.

So anyway, that’s the state of things; seemed as good a time as any for an update.

DrawGo Radio joins MTGCast.

Yeah; for those of you who haven’t heard the news, our new episodes are being released on MTGCast on a roughly 24-hour delay (I had to have some incentive to view the ad-supported version, after all).

DrawGo Radio #7

Speaking of ad-supported, it looks like we might just have our own website up and running in the next few days. I’ll keep you informed, true believers.

Nailed it.

I got nothing.

In all seriousness, if you don’t mind a little more “serious business”, you can also check out the social media and marketing journal that has kept my blogging attention this semester here. I’ll eventually collapse it and condense it with The Gates but being in a position where I had to start something new yet have regular content updates, I was forced to split, albeit temporarily.

Busy, busy, busy…

You may have noticed that content has been… sparse again, lately. This is due mostly in part to my efforts in getting DrawGo Radio off the ground, which I must admit has had a measure of success faster than I expected. Not for lack of quality or effort, of course, more due to the simple turnaround time one can expect in pushing anything forward with social media. We’re about to record our fifth episode, covering the Nashville 5K and PTQ weekend, and look for our expansion to iTunes distribution within the coming weeks, if not days.

As an aside, people still ask me why I chose Blip as a distribution channel, when we’re an audio-only podcast; well, we’re working on changing that. Will we be recording the whole show in video? Not likely… there’s just too much editing and too much need for retakes if we have to worry about visual continuity as well as audio. What I am trying to do is, well, learn my Adobe software more effectively; I have to confess, I started out with zero experience in the actual production and editing side of all of this when we started a few weeks ago, and that’s part of the main holdup for any of our technical delays: I’m usually trying to learn how to do something, mostly on my own. I don’t mean that as excuse, but explanation, on why the show is so slow to “evolve”, yet simultaneously can make large jumps in production from one week to the next. So what all this means RE: Blip, is that I do hope to be able to add in some “video”, albeit stills with card images, decklists, etc., while we may also record live video at future events that will be available in the video-only releases at Blip.

What’s the next step for us beside that? Well, actually… I’ve considered a few possibilities. I would like to upgrade our equipment, for one; we use a Sony digital recorder with a single electret condenser for recording, and then I process and edit on my old portable Sinbox. What I would like to have is something more like a multi-channel input with a set of lavaliers… Something to pursue for the future. If you’d like to improve the quality of your experience, of course, you could always contribute via that little Donate button on the right there… But I’d like to find more tangible means of reward for showing support, so I’m not a huge fan of the button. Still, if the spirit moves, have at it; same if you just like what you’ve read here and want to see more.

Anyway… yes. Some links:

DrawGo Radio on twitter.

You can also find us on Facebook, where we will be adding photos and you can discuss the show with me and the other hosts.

From Bloodswarm to Hematophilia

Hematophilia

Creatures
Vampire Lacerator x4
Bloodghast x4
Gatekeeper of Malakir x3
Vampire Hexmage x3
Vampire Nighthawk x3

Spells
Bloodchief Ascension x4
Lightning Bolt x4
Burst Lightning x4
Quest for the Gravelord x3
Terminate x4
Blightning x4

Land
Swamp x8
Mountain x4
Akoum Refuge x4
Dragonskull Summit x4

Haven’t tested at all, probably won’t get to, but it seems fun. Maybe a little less FNM than the previous version, but also clearly more expensive to build. I started off with a Grixis slant, but tilted back over towards a more Sligh build. (Oooooold.)

DrawGo Radio Episode 2 – Austin City Limits

A 5K, a Pro Tour… been a busy couple of weeks, it has. Join a slightly diminished DrawGo team and guest as they review the top decks and singles to come out of both events, as well as take a look at the latest planeswalker Duel Decks.

DrawGo Radio Pilot Episode 001 – We’ll Fix It in Post

The Gates of Rashomon is pleased (dismayed?) to announce the premiere of DrawGo Radio, a Magic: The Gathering podcast covering the spectrum of organized and casual play, as well as secondary market speculation and discussion. The first episode is exactly what it says: a pilot, and you’ll notice a myriad of amateur hour-style mistakes. I do hope you’ll stay tuned, as there is quality content behind the recording gaffes, which will work themselves out in time.

There Will Be Blood… There Will Be a Bloodswarm

I actually managed to play in a Constructed event last night, with a deck I built Thursday evening, played a match with, and finalized before the start of last night’s tournament. So rough, to say the least, and it showed in my play performance; the majority of my losses were directly from blatant play mistakes and oversights from not having complete familiarity with my cards or abilities. RTFC indeed, more than once I missed a Bloodghast on a Landfall trigger (losing a game that was a win otherwise in one case) while it was halfway through the event before I remembered that Quest for the Gravelord grows with every creature death, not just mine (though that was exactly why I added it to the deck, I got caught up in my own death effect interactions I basically transcribed my own creature death as a requirement onto it). And so by the few cards (and the less than subtle title of this article), it’s probably obvious what archetype I was playing: Vampire Aggro.

A Bridge Too Far to Murder Simulation

Click here for an AP article by Christopher Toothaker about Venezuela’s recent ban on violent video games in order to decrease the crime rate.

According to the report, some parents are just ecstatic over the new law. Why wouldn’t they be, as they’re getting official byes for their potential failures in properly educating themselves and controlling access to the media their children access?

Okay, it’s Venezuela… not getting to play Halo probably isn’t high on the governmental grievance list. Still, it’s always chilling to see these bans and censorship of media push through (pun intended). I could proselytize over the reasons why, but it’s a nontroversy that some irrationally still consider a debate, that being that violent video games instill these negative values in children. Personally, my adolescent development was filled with games of Mortal Kombat and Street Fighter, but my urge to brutalize my fellow man is less about Ken spin-kicking Ryu in the face repeatedly and more about the persistence of indefensibly stupid ideas as grounded, proveable reason. However, this constant desire is easily supplanted by the fact that I am not psychologically malformed by my media, even though video games were a constant fixture in my life when it supposedly counted most. But don’t just take my word for it; studies that have been cited as so-called evidence have, been repeatedly proven to be non-contextual instances of intellectual dishonesty, or even outright fabrications.

But as Carl Sagan once said (and Donald Rumsfeld more recently made common vernacular), the absence of evidence is not the evidence of absence. To add a little balance to my spin, we should pause to consider that successfully crossing the uncanny valley just might push us into territory where these fears are credible. The problem I see there is that this adeptly-named “valley” is less like the distance between two locations on earth and more like the distance between two galaxies; it’s theoretically possible, but the visual detail along with the behavioral and intellectual dynamics are so far and away from modern technology that it’s not too practical a contingency to plan for just yet. However, I could very much be mistaken; games like Lionhead Studios’ Project Natal presentation Milo may just be the first of many waystations on the journey across.

Ultimately, regardless of how peaceful or violence-torn your country is, media censorship is not the answer; instead, it’s a scapegoat to distract the masses from an incompetent government that approves unreasonable legislation. It’s a sign of a failure of the people to assert their rights whenever their government intervenes to protect the citizenry from itself; it’s pretty terrifying to imagine living amongst those who actually look to and encouraging their government to behave this way.

Black Flower Music

So I ended up sitting next to someone particularly interesting in my Speech and Diction class (another reason I haven’t published any recording yet, still have a bit of an accent hurdle to get past), and discovered he is not only a long-time blogger, but a regular podcaster as well. Whereas I’m a jack-of-all trades for all media with no significant specialization beyond perhaps design theory, he features attentive detail to video games, audio, anime… lots of things I just knew my audience would likely have an interest in.

And so, I send you his way: Black Flower Music