I finally found time to listen to the whole podcast. I'll write up my thoughts, though I'm aware that this episode suffered from disorganisation. I hope the topics and recording schedule of the next episode are announced in advance
I think you need to stick to the topics a lot more. Yes, still. This episode was a little better than the first in that regard, but not by much. Final Fantasy XIII isn't even mentioned on the podcast's
front page article, for example, yet you were talking about it for what felt like ten minutes. I completely forgot what you were actually supposed to be discussing at that point.
I'd still like to see the length of the show come down a bit. My idea of a perfect length is about 40 minutes, divided into three clear segments of 15, 10 and 15 minutes. The first should be used to introduce all the guests, state what is going to be discussed on the show, and then get straight in to the first, pre-selected topic. The second pre-selected topic should be discussed in the second segment. The third segment could be a bit more flexible. My idea would be to open it up by reading out a listener's comment or question, after which a discussion of the topic they brought up would take place. Then the host would encourage listeners to submit something for the next podcast, thank all the guests, and sign off. That would make it feel more interactive.
I wouldn't personally play any music at the end, unless a specific piece had already been brought up in discussion. Seeing as the show begins with the opening theme from Final Fantasy VII, how about closing the show with
the music that plays at the end of the game?
I don't think every guest needs to speak about every topic. When I took part in a Nordic football podcast a couple of years ago, I spoke about Finnish football at length, and then stayed almost silent when the other guest spoke about Norwegian football, chipping in with no more than a single question in about fifteen minutes of discussion. It would have been silly for me to do otherwise, as I knew nothing about it and thus had nothing to add. If I were hosting it, I would ask people onto the pod who have specific areas of "expertise". That could just mean that they have played a particular Final Fantasy game a lot more than most others on TLS have, but it could also mean that they are a member of TLS staff with a specific responsibility. It would have been great to discuss the 500 articles milestone with Tres, for example. And I'm sure Tetsujin would have had some interesting things to say about the concert he attended. As another idea, if we have a community event coming up, then invite the person who is running it so they can talk about what's happening. That would give the pod a stronger connection to the rest of TLS. Once you had your panel of "experts", you could go straight to them when a topic relevant to them is brought up, rather than just throwing it open to the floor, which leads to jumbled discussion.
Ryu: don't mention how long you have been recording for, because parts will be edited out. You said you were coming up to the hour mark when, on the finished podcast, you had only been going for about 40 minutes. I also agree with Fangu that you are better utilised as a guest than a host.
I know I brought up some of those points after the first podcast, and I'm sorry for repeating myself, but they are the biggest issues I have. It's fine if you decide you don't want to change the way you're doing it; I won't keep pushing them on you
I just think it's important to get the format right, and there's no better time for experimenting with it than in these early episodes.
