An MK focused podcast the "NetherKast"

Blackcyborg

New member
Hello friends,

I came to the realization and asked myself "Why is there no MK focused podcast?" Personally, I love listening to podcasts when I'm bored at home, playing games, driving, or at work. From wrestling, video games, or to comics, I love hearing passionate fans discuss the very thing I'm passionate about. I love coming to forums and discussing things, and have been coming here for 10 years now. However, sometimes you are somewhere where reading isn't ideal, and it's always nice to have another medium available to you.

So, with that said, I started an MK podcast with fellow members from several MK boards: TemporaryUsername, RazorsEdge, and Shadaloo.

We'll be mainly focusing on MKX, but we will discuss anything and everything in MK's history. We also cover multiple aspects of the game, such as story, visual aesthetics, characters, competitive play, and gameplay overall.

We hope to keep this going weekly, so let us know what you think! If you are interested on being on the show as a guest(BBBLP, Commander, Jade, Reaver come to mind) send me a message and we'd love to have you on if you feel you can add to the conversation.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cXpJuoOu4gQ

This episode is a bit longer than we were aiming for. Our usual episodes will hopefully be ~1h 30min. So if you hate long podcasts/discussions like this, hopefully you'll stick with us through some growing pains and getting caught up.
 
I remember when NRS released an MKast every now and then while the Midway boards still existed.
I also remember when we, at the Midway boards, made once a podcast for the team by ourselves.
Hopefully NRS will start making these again.
It was fun.

You/us making a podcast... for us. Sure, why not. Nice idea. Can work. But not if it's going to be 2,5 hrs long. That's over the top. An hour max would be better. Ideally like 45 mins.
 
Yeah, it was pretty long. The ideal time we were aiming for is ~1 hour and 30 min. But, we figured it was better to go more in-depth and not give anything the short end of the stick, so for an episode trying to cover essentially 6 characters, with tangents, it was necessary.

If an hour and a half is still too long, then it's likely that it just isn't for you. I listen to a lot of podcasts myself, usually at work, and I like them to be 1 to 2 hours. I feel that's when the conversations get really good. Some prefer shorter bites, some are disappointed if the episodes aren't longer, so the best middle ground I feel, is right around that hour and a half mark.

But I appreciate the feedback man! I'm definitely taking note on any feedback/suggestions, and if the majority prefer things a certain way, of course we'll take that under consideration. :)
 
Hey, no problem! ;)

Personally, I prefer the 45 min length. Not that I don't like in depth debate, I do, but usually when it's longer I start to lose attention. Or I start skimming through. It can be somewhat hard to stay focused on one thing for 2 hrs. Especially when most people now-a-days refuse to watch anything on YouTube longer than 10 minutes - and often not even that. Like... if you go by the numbers and guidelines... 3-7 minutes for today's generation of listeners is ideal. For online video anyway. I don't really have a problem watching/listening to something 1,5 hrs long... but I really have to be interested in it... and have the time.

Thinking about it, I can understand why this 1st podcast is longer - it's an introduction that tries to cover everything we know so far. I can dig that.

So I guess for next time, try that 90 min mark and see how it turns out. There's always something to talk about, for sure, but I think you guys have already covered quite a lot to begin with. And seeing as new info is slow this time... yeah. I too think that 90 is probably the best for the time being.

What I would suggest doing for future podcasts is giving more info/chapter marks in the description so that listeners know what you will be covering and at what time and can easily go to the parts they're most interested in. It would help a lot I think - especially considering the length.

For eg.:
00:00-05:00 Intro
05:00-15:00 Subject A
15:00-32:00 Subject B
32:00-47:00 Subject C
47:00-64:00 Subject D
64:00-88:00 Subject E
88:00-92:00 Conclusion

I know you already basically did that, but adding the time would make it perfect.

Other than that, I think it's OK. Understandable, prepared, no technical issues really.

I listened to most of it already. I agree with the glowing. Annoys the hell outta me.

As I said, I like the idea. Go for it. Fo sho! And yeah, if you'll need any help with anything just ask. I'll be happy to help.

BTW... one more idea... You could perhaps invite various forum members onto the podcast for each episode. To include more variety. 3 people rotating each round. Or have guests. Or also some games, where people have to guess something until the next podcast.

P.S. I like your avatar. I wanted to tell you that for a while LOL. It's like Cyrax is always on the run. Or dancing. Old MK games had cool animation.
 
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Thanks for the additional feedback. The time cues are something I've considered doing, so I'll certainly take that into consideration.

I've done a podcast in the past for a couple years, so I'm experienced with all the technical aspects of it for the most part, as well as the do's and don'ts for a bit of better quality.

You'll find that if you listen to the end, as well as read my initial post here, I discussed the ideal time being 90 minutes going forward, as well as having guests on. Both are the current plan. However, we'd only have 1 guest on at a time. 4 people weighing in is already quite a bit, 5 would be the absolute max in a single episode. And rotating out co-hosts would be counter productive, as we're trying to establish synergy and familiarity between the 4 of us to make the best sounding podcast we can, bringing in new people each week would only reset that each time. Plus, I chose the people I did for a reason. They, like myself, have been a part of the MK forum community for over 10 years each. They've been fans of the games since childhood. And we all cover different aspects of the game. Razor knows the story and the lore, Temp knows the competitive gameplay side etc. But I'd love to get a guest on, to add another opinion in the mix.

Long podcasts don't bother me, because I work 9 hours 4 days out of the week. So having something to listen to during those shifts, certainly helps pass the time. The great thing about podcasts over videos, beyond that, is that they don't really demand your attention. You can put one on while you play a game, browse the web, post on the forums, drive etc. So I don't think comparing one's attention span for a video to a podcast is applicable. It's comparing 2 different mediums with 2 different needs. I listen to podcasts ranging from 1 hour to 2 and a half hours. In the podcast world, this is common place. With that said, 90 minutes is ideal. No disagreement there.

I love Cyrax on the run! Heh
 
I agree with the whole time cue aspect of it, and for me 2 hours is far too long. Although its nice to get a in depth discussion, you can still make it short and snappy at the same time by simply firing questions and answers.

I havent watched the video, but from my experience, under an hour should be the minimum.
 
u guys sounds like u dont really wanna do it, wheres the enthusiasm? and i think im the only one who enjoys a long podcast
 
I'll try and work on the enthusiasm. We definitely wanna do it, lol, as this was something we all decided on ourselves. So if that's not coming across, we'll have to try harder to convey it. I think that when you are getting into a discussion like we do, you kind of put more focus into getting your thoughts across and what you want to say, more than you focus on how you say it tone wise.

Thanks for the feedback! Glad to see another long podcast fan. :p
 
Just gonna let everyone know we've put out 4 episodes now. We're also on itunes, just search "Netherkast". Remember, if you want to come on and discuss with us for an episode, just PM me. We'd love to have you on and add to the discussion!

http://youtu.be/kILi_98OXTw
 
This is awesome OP; your passion for hearing others discuss passions you share is something I can heavily relate to.

I'm a podcaster myself (mostly personal development and fitness/nutrition related stuff).
 
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