One of the weirdest parts of podcast prep is learning enough about a guest to ask useful questions without turning the interview into me reciting their career back at them. I want enough notes to know where the interesting doors are, then let the conversation kick a few open.

Some of the best parts of an interview happen after you've run out of the questions you planned. That's why Side Quests & Save Points usually runs around two hours. There's time for work and career, but also tangents and stories that make each conversation different.

Season 2 of Side Quests & Save Points is bringing together developers, authors, content creators and actors. George Ziets, M. J. Gallagher, Luella and Jason Charles Miller are four of the guests joining me, each coming to RPGs from a completely different corner of the space.

I'm looking for the last couple of guests for Season 2 of Side Quests & Save Points. If you're involved in RPGs or MMOs and would be interested in joining me, please get in touch, or tag someone you think might be interested.

Outward was deliberately built for old-school RPG players. No quest markers, a map you have to read and navigate by landmarks, and even the chance to accidentally sell something you later discover was a quest item. Guillaume Boucher-Vidal spoke about that design philosophy when he joined us on SQSP.

I used to script talking points because I was afraid I'd run out of things to say or waste my research. I thought it made me prepared, but I was listening for my next question instead of my guest, boxing them in and leaving no room for tangents or to bounce off each other.

Some of the people I would most love to sit down with for Side Quests & Save Points, definitely not an all-inclusive list: Gideon Emery, Matt Mercer, Sam Riegel, Carina Reeves, Chris Metzen, Colin Ryan, Robbie Daymond, Jennifer Hale, Henry Cavill, Felicia Day.

Season 2 of Side Quests & Save Points is wrapping up. I'm reaching out now to book the final guest slots and get the remaining recording dates in place. I'm also getting a head start on Season 3, speaking to RPG and MMO developers, actors, composers and creators. Reach out if you're interested.

Sometimes you get on so well with a podcast guest that you end up kidnapping them for your D&D campaign. Upside: @murderblonde.bsky.social is now one of my players. Downside: she has written actual canon content for D&D and writes game narratives for a living. Now I have to DM for her.

I started Side Quests & Save Points because I love the behind-the-scenes stuff: how games are made, performances come together, stories are written and communities form around them. The podcast is my excuse to talk to the people responsible for all of it. #SideQuests

I had the pleasure of sitting down with @jasoncharlesmiller.com for Season 2 of Side Quests & Save Points. Nearly two hours flew by as we spoke about voice acting, music, Dungeons & Dragons and plenty more I’m keeping quiet about until the episode drops. Keep an eye out for Season 2.

I’m still booking guests for the second half of Side Quests & Save Points Season 2. RPG and MMO developers, writers, voice actors, composers and industry guests are all welcome. Recommendations and introductions are appreciated. #SideQuests

One danger of DMing D&D is that the party ignores the villain you spent hours writing and becomes obsessed with a blacksmith called Steve because you panicked when asked his name. Six sessions later, Steve has a tragic backstory and more screen time than the villain.

FFX gave me a lot of great memories, but the one that probably takes the cake is me and my brother constantly doing Hypello impressions. “Ride ze shoopuf?” “Imposhibibble!” I’d love to say we grew out of it, but we’re 37 and 31 and still doing it.

I can spend ages thinking I’ve come up with a brilliant podcast question, then the guest mentions one tiny thing I wasn’t expecting and suddenly we’re 30 minutes into a completely different conversation. Meanwhile, what I planned to ask is now completely irrelevant.

WoW is strange. I can forget whole expansions, dungeons and storylines, but I can still pinpoint the exact spot in Orgrimmar where a veteran traded me 100g as a new player and I thought I was rich.

Editing the podcast is mostly me discovering how often I say “umm”, forget someone’s name exactly when I need it, bang my knee into the desk, and somehow manage to say “fantastic” five times in about thirty seconds.

I don’t need every RPG choice to completely change the story, but I do need the game to at least acknowledge that I picked something different. Four dialogue options that all lead to the exact same response is just a cutscene with extra steps.

A huge thank you to @thestartingzone.bsky.social for joining me on Side Quests & Save Points last night. It was an absolute pleasure having you on. Hope you have a good reset day!

One of the best things about recording the podcast has been how little the episodes resemble each other. One conversation is about mythology, the next is community and burnout, then suddenly I’m hearing about how one actor’s performance forced another actor back into the booth for rerecords.

I don’t want every quest to tell me exactly where to go. Give me a vague direction, let me get distracted, and allow me to come back two hours later with no memory of what I was originally doing.

People say games should respect your time these days. I don’t. I want fishing, cooking, card games, pointless collectibles, unnecessary side quests and an entire evening lost to something that has absolutely nothing to do with saving the world.

Besaid Island in FFX and Norune Village in Dark Cloud are two places I can hear before I can picture them. After spending hours in an RPG world, its soundtrack stops being background music and becomes part of the place itself. Take it away and half the place goes with it.

What’s new in Outward 2? ✅ Combat upgrades ✅ Seasonal world system ✅ Better narrative delivery ✅ Character creator glow-up Guillaume from @ninedotsstudio.bsky.social explains it all in out latest episode ▶️

🍻The Tavern🍺 is back! In Episode 2 Part 2, we're back with @ninedotsstudio.bsky.social CEO Guillaume about RPG influences, Nine Dots Studio’s next games, and why Romancing SaGa 2 deserves to be crowned the greatest remake ever. ▶️

Why did @NineDotsStudio.bsky.social go all-in on split-screen for Outward? Because it mattered. In our latest episode Guillaume Boucher-Vidal talks about what it cost to make that vision real. ▶️

Good design isn’t about overwhelming players, it’s about giving them something to chew on. @gheeyom.bsky.social explains how layered RPG mechanics deepen immersion. ▶️ www.tiktok.com/@chefmonkeyg...

🎮 Ever wondered how RPG mechanics should be built? Guillaume Boucher-Vidal the CEO of@ninedotsstudio explains why their design philosophy breaks things down into meaningful steps - so YOU, the player,...

TikTok video by Chef Monkey

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The next round in 🍻The Tavern🍺 is here! In Episode 2, we’re joined by @gheeyom.bsky.social to talk about how Nine Dots Studio built an indie studio, navigated publishers, and shipped Outward - a game that sold over 3 million units. ▶️

Our next guest in 🍻The Tavern🍺 isn’t pulling punches… @gheeyom.bsky.social believes Romancing SaGa 2 is the greatest RPG remake - not FFVII Remake or Rebirth. Here’s your sneak peek before the full episode drops Monday: ▶️

The doors to The Tavern swing open once again. Episode 1 Part 2 is live with MMO deep dives, housing rants, and Yakuza vibes. ▶️ youtu.be/3X4CQtB_wWg 🎙️ Side Quests & Save Points - The MMO and RPG Podcast.

MMOs, Player Houses & Yakuza Shenanigans with @RinKarigani🎮 | Side Quests & Save Points Ep1 Part 2

YouTube video by Chef Monkey

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Chef Monkey@chefmonkeygaming.bsky.social · 2y ago

New episode from The Tavern is live! In Part 2, we dive into MMOs, player housing, the state of the genre, and a bit of Yakuza chaos with @rinkarigani.bsky.social at the table. ▶️ youtu.be/3X4CQtB_wWg 🎙️ Side Quests & Save Points - the RPG & MMO podcast from The Tavern.