Listener Messages

What’s your favorite @OutOfTokensCast episode of 2016?

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We wanted to know what your favorite episode of 2016 is! So we made a wee google form with every episode in chrono order that was released this year. The only one we excluded was the re-post of the Games Critique as POC episode since it really wasn’t a new episode but one of our first when the show launched in 2015.

So take the poll! Let us know what episodes moved you, what you liked and what you didn’t.

Give us feedback so we can improve in 2017! Also, check out the episodes where we used Ringr and let us know what you thought about sound quality, etc. Those are:

Speaking of feedback, here’s a lovely letter we got after this week’s episode with Laura Kate Dale aired.  You can email us at freshoutoftokens@gmail.com or reach out on twitter @OutOfTokensCast

Thank you Silver for being with us from the beginning and sticking with us! We appreciate you and thank you again for this lovely letter, it’s great when we get feedback from our listeners.

Hi Tanya and David,

Last episode you asked if anyone had listened to every episode. I’m happy to say that I have.  I just wanted to write in and let you know how much I love the show.  You are both amazing as are your guests and all the hard work you are all doing.

I also wanted to thank you and many guests for changing my mind on Dragon Age II.  I didn’t really dislike DAII but I found it kind of uninspiring as compared to the other games in the series, however after listening to the episode where you and a few guests talked about your feelings and experiences with DAII that I started to see it in a new and unique way.  I decided to replay it after that episode and did really enjoy it.

As a white person I hadn’t really ever thought about the immigration story unfolding in the game.  I think I really missed a lot of the depth the first time I played it.  Your show inspired me to give it another shot and look deeper to see all the great things that you all saw.   While it’s still my least favorite DA game (which is like being number 3 on a top ten list) I now appreciate and enjoy it so much more.  So thank you!

Anyways your show is great and I’ll be listening each week!  Thank you for introducing me to so many new perspectives and highlighting such interesting people and projects in gaming.

Silver

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ICYMI – Lady Boss Varric took us to school on a lot of topics

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Todd Harper, aka @laevalentine took us to school on a lot of topics; including body diversity, fat characters in videogames, LGBTQIA issues in gaming, Bayo Studies and more.

IMG_0166 (1)

Listen on Fresh Out of Tokens // Download the MP3

We have tees, and other items in the #INeedDiverseGames spreadshirt shop. We’re splitting the profits 50/50 with @Chachibobinks. There’s a blog to compliment the show outoftokenscast.com If you have questions, compliments, hate mail feel free to drop a note there as well. You can also @ us on twitter; @OutOfTokensCast or email us freshoutoftokens@gmail.com.

Musical accompaniment for Fresh Out of Tokens is provided by Mike Moody. You can hear more of her work at: http://soundcloud.com/mikemoody-1

Questions for Todd:

From @Thain1982

Who is your favorite openly LGBT character in a game?

(besides Taric), what queer-coded character(s) would you most like the developers to remove ambiguity from?

Using Bo Rai Cho as shining examplar of what not to do, are there any games that get body representation right?

What game or games will you always go back to?

What’s the best thing you’ve read in the last year?

Videogames Blackness Problem – Kotaku by Evan Narcisse, Kotaku

The Three Modes of Male Sexuality in Videogames – Dante Douglas, Paste

Listener Feedback/Question about our episode with Liam Esler:

Hello to all,

Listening to latest podcast, I got to the part about entitled fans & the statement “there’s a generation that feels voiceless & the only way they know to get attention & get heard is threats” (I’m paraphrasing here, but that’s close to what was said) and I feel some kind of way about this viewpoint.

Mainly that it is, at best, incomplete. And here’s why: The people that statement can apply to and not be erroneous? Predominantly white. Also, predominantly cishet. Most of modern history, people of color, queer folks, trans folks, have known nothing BUT being ignored to outright being silenced. This feeling of being ignored isn’t a new thing for this generation of marginalized peoples/voices. And yes, the rise of social media has given us platforms for our viewpoints and ways to make our voices heard but still nowhere near the level of perspectives that have always been elevated in the dialogue.

What are your thoughts on this?

Thanks,

Jay

Articles:

http://www.chaoticblue.com/blog/2015/10/whole-hog/

http://www.chaoticblue.com/blog/2016/06/trapped/

What we’re playing:

Todd: Overwatch, Odin Sphere Leifthrasir, Shadow Hearts Covenant

Tanya: Mass Effect, Dragon Age Inquisition (modded Cullen romance)

David: modded KOTOR2

Where to find our guest online

Twitter: @laevalentine

http://www.chaoticblue.com/blog/

GDC 2015 – Portrayals and Pitfalls of Fatness (free to view on the GDC Vault)

Bayo Studies, Year One – GX3 (GaymerX YouTube)

http://gaymism.com/ Gayme Bar

GDC 2014 – How to Subversively Queer Your Work

Where to find your hosts online:

Tanya D. – @cypheroftyr // @INeedDivGms

Twitch: twitch.tv/cypheroftyr // twitch.tv/INeedDivGames

Patreon: patreon.com/INeedDivGms // patreon.com/cypheroftyr

David L. Reeves – @RedConversation

Twitch: twitch.tv/red_conversation

Patreon: patreon.com/redconversation

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ICYMI, We celebrated our one year anniversary with @sammusmusic!

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Sammus_Picture

Sammus the Rapper came through to talk about her music, being a black nerdy girl, the importance of representation in games & in other media. We had a wonderful, candid and amazing conversation to help celebrate our one year mark.

Listen on Fresh Out of Tokens // Download the MP3

TW: Racial slurs used when we discuss an article in the show, so there is a warning at that point, and if you want to fast forward, you should do so for your own comfort.

We have tees, and other items in the #INeedDiverseGames spreadshirt shop. We’re splitting the profits 50/50 with @Chachibobinks. There’s a blog to compliment the show outoftokenscast.com If you have questions, compliments, hate mail feel free to drop a note there as well. You can also @ us on twitter; @OutOfTokensCast or email us freshoutoftokens@gmail.com.

Musical accompaniment for Fresh Out of Tokens is provided by Mike Moody. You can hear more of her work at: http://soundcloud.com/mikemoody-1

Questions for Enongo:

From @Thain1982:

  • What has been your most memorable performance so far?
  • Your arm cannon is badass, but is it as heavy as it looks?
  • What would you want in a new Metroid game?
  • What software do you use to make your beats and loops?

Articles:

“Nigger” and other words I learned while playing Overwatch – Top Shelf Gaming, Marcus Garrett

Why Sammus’ New EP Fusion is So Damned Important – Tanya

1 Year Anniversary notes from our listeners

@krageinsf /Juls:

Hello Tanya and David.

I just wanted to send a note about how much I love your show and how much it means to me, as someone who is NOT a gamer. I don’t play many of the games you talk about, but I started listening because of the INeedDiverseGames.

The content of your show is just superb. As a teacher, I am always looking for other sources of information to strengthen and improve my teaching/presentations. The wealth of knowledge shared by you (as hosts), your guests, and the other listeners of the show is amazing. I feel so lucky to have stumbled onto your podcast and listen in exchange for a few donations when I can scrape together the cash. (To other listeners, if you are able, PLEASE PLEASE DONATE!).

Although I am not a gamer, your show has helped me learn about pros, cons, and meh about some of the games my sister and her partner do play. There is a really great balance of enough detail that I can follow along when I watch her play, but not so overwhelming that I’m completely shut out of the discussion.

Thank you so much for your show.

Best, Juls

 

–Tim (@thain1982)

I truly loved both times I got to be on Fresh Out of Tokens. I was a little nervous when I found out the episode with David and Andrew would be a free discussion, since that was my first time on any podcast, but we had a really fantastic conversation, and the Star Trek discussion we had was great fun.

Coming back to guest host the interview with BioFanOfficial was even more fun. Sharing all the Bioware feels was just fantastic, and I love that Tanya brings Bioware love up so much in the show in general.

I love the work y’all are doing, and getting to be a small part of it was a tremendous honor (and an absolute blast). Any time y’all need an emergency guest host, just say the word.

Where to find our guest online

Twitter: @sammusmusic

https://sammusmusic.com/

https://www.facebook.com/sammusmusic

https://www.youtube.com/user/sammusmusic

https://soundcloud.com/sammusmusic

Signal boosting her partner, LJ Alonge’s YA series; Blacktop

Book 1: http://bit.ly/blacktopjustin

Book 2: http://bit.ly/blacktoptjanae

Where to find your hosts online:

Sponsor

Our episodes with @mel_f_lem & @MidnightRem were @GarrickWinter’s faves!

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We got another great listener letter to celebrate our first year!
Hey Tanya and David!

I’ve been bingeing the Fresh Out Of Token archives recently and I just wanted to say thank you for featuring Eve Eschenbacher and Mel Fleming on the podcast. I was delighted to hear from people with multilingual experiences, and I found that they both helped bring some much-needed attention the role language plays in experiencing videogames, especially Mel.

I personally grew up multilingual in a community in Canada where language is very politically charged, and the identity and political implications of language have followed me my entire life, even beyond my hometown. For just one fairly simple example, I recently started a new games job, and almost my entire first day was wasted because the office management software experienced errors and glitches when the IT folks tried to enter my non-English name. After hours of trying to fix and reconfigure things, we had to settle for (mis)spelling my name according to English conventions – and this is a problem I’ve had again and again with computer software designed by English speakers with no mind paid to non-English languages.I know language has major implications for Spanish speakers in the US, and my Taiwanese partner has talked to me about the role language players in her identity and experience as a woman of colour as well. It’s a wide-ranging and sometimes complex issue that affects many people, but (somewhat understandably I guess) gets covered so rarely in English-language games media. So thank you again for bringing on guests who can address this topic!

Love the podcast, and best of luck
Guerric Haché
other option for Mel Episode
Evee
Thank you so much for your kind words Guerric!