Let me chime in with “Me too”. Still think this is and will remain the best forum around. Investing a lot of yourself and your time in something and then feeling like you are swimming upstream all the time has got to wear you down. Trying to do that on the internets is, like, harder and, like, stuff. So I will further add, “I hear ya’”.
Oh wait, can we go ahead and take this to the B&N thread so we can corral all of the doomsayers into one location?
Some of Tom’s great gifts are helping people relax and his being more interested in them than in himself. You heard it on the podcast and you hear it any time you meet Tom in person.
Hate to see the show close down for something as silly as forum drama - I get your disappointment, of course, but Qt3 is too big now to not have it.
Bring it back and I’ll sign up and talk about Tidalis.
Troy
I’ve missed every one of the issues Tom mentioned, probably because I only frequent about 10% of the threads here. Maybe just 1%. But this is one of the Qt3 things that I loved, and I am sad.
I adore the podcasts. And not just because I was on one! After each podcast, I felt like I knew that poster a little bit more. The QT3 podcast and the regular Secret Santa thing are probably my favorite parts of Quarter to Three. I’d hate to see them go away.
There are going to be assholes everywhere, but there are a lot of us who aren’t – or at least try not to be. I do think the podcasts were doing a lot of good. I know that after hearing everyone on one, I’d hear their posts in their voice in my head, and that helped.
Add me to the chorus asking you to please continue, if possible.
Matt with the heartstring tug (Secret Santa)! Nice play, sir!
I am genuinely sad hearing this news. The games podcasts were fantastic, not because they were about the best games or were perfectly produced or were super funny, but because they were about this community and what we were passionate about. By taking the time to learn about each guest they helped to put a very human face on what can seem to be a very impersonal message board. Hell, I listened to a few that were about games I had no interest in just so I could get to know that forum member a little better. I listened to every podcast (sometimes more than once), posted in every thread (except the puke thread), and loved all of it. Thank you for making these podcasts Tom, they will be missed by many of us.
All good things come to an end. Too bad it was this soon. I loved listening to the podcasts and the random question. The podcasts were one of the reasons I actually became active and browsing this forum after registering so many years ago. The community here seems to be much more friendly and helpful overall compared to other gaming forums I have been a part of. Hope it does come back in the future, if not, it was a great run while it lasted.
That’s a darn shame. It was always fun, not to mention informative, and really helped humanize this motley crew. There are some fascinating people here whose stories I never would have heard if not for the podcast. I’ll miss it dearly.
I can’t comment on teaching Sunday School, but having been a faithful student, I imagine it couldn’t have been easy.
Any ol’ Joe or Jane may be able to put together a podcast, but you also seemed very prepared with good questions and were able to tease out personal and entertaining details with your follow up questions. Your podcasts have a great conversational style where it was really about the subject (interviewee and game) and you more with the occasional guiding comments.
Thanks for doing them and you should consider cleaning house, even if I happen to be one of the people shown the door. It seems like you’ve put a lot into the community since its inception, you might as well have the privilege of shaping to be a bit more rewarding for you.
“Hit me again, daddy. I insist.”
Give it time. Let Tom stay in his room and blast Linkin Park and have a good cry at how the world is so unfair. He’ll calm down and maybe decide that some of us (some of you?) are worth knowing after all.
I’m sorry this has happened, Tom. I enjoyed doing the podcast, and I think your goal (to make a better community) was being served by them. Since I did it, I feel like people actually know me better here, and actually talk to me in various threads, rather than just replying to/with snark. I get in more actual conversations.
I actually enjoy meeting the people more than the game talk, but every bit of the game talk is informed by that first section. It’s a great format.
Also, I’d like to say that you’re a gracious host on the podcast. You really listen, and even if you don’t agree with your guest’s views, you’ll concede that they have a point. I really thought (based on your posting) that I’d get more pushback from you, but what I got really felt like southern hospitality, so I guess your Arkansas was showing.
If I had a vote, I’d take the games podcasts over the movie podcasts, but then you already know that.
I don’t think Tom even knows what a Linkin Park is. I picture him brooding* to some Tom Waits.
*by which I mean playing Starcraft II, obviously.
I came to the forum and podcast very recently, via TMA. From my point of view, this is a special place, and the podcast reflects it perfectly. I’m willing to bet that there are more than a few forum members who would in fact do an awesome job at the podcast. To my mind the qualifications are: being a good and sympathetic listener, and familiarity with a shitload of games. I enjoy hearing Tom, but I also enjoy hearing from the rest of you. Maybe if you (the hypothetical person who wants to step forward) think of it as a “guest host” slot, it can become an even better podcast with different hosts (you know, after Tom comes back)! My $0.02.
I’m just going to echo the other guys about how Qt3 is the best forum around and the only gaming forum where I’ve established any sense of community. Thanks, in no small part, to Tom and his efforts with the podcasts, the tone of the place and a large number of serious, interesting, entertaining posters.
I get that Tom’s frustrated at some of the issues in running the board, and I can’t pretend to fully understand any of it as I’ve never been an admin before. On the other hand, I do read almost every thread here and can see that there are occasions where the assholery and the douchebagery can be so prominent as to overwhelm the rest of the site. I’m sad when that happens.
I’m sadder when it affects the best posters around and Tom in particular…
I don’t mean to be condescending or anything, but this is the internet. The loudest, most prolific, annoying trolls posts the most and drown out all the signal that’s possible. We shouldn’t let that get us down.
If anything, I’m always hoping that the best posters of qt3 can foster that example. Post intelligently about games, be helpful, be funny, be insightful. Ignore the trolls, the flamers, and the guys who often times just don’t get it. Just keep building and shaping what Qt3 is meant to be. The podcasts were a large part of that. They were the best idea for making this place feel more like a gathering of friends than random internet bitchboard.
Qt3 is special in that we value intelligent posts, and often sincere posts. Sure we try to be funny, snarky and all the other “valued” internet traits, but more often than not, we just try to be honest. Not just politely honest, but passionately honest. It’s a value that should not be left to the wayside.
Man. The more I think about this, the less coherent I’m going to get. I’m just sad that Tom feels this way and hope he bucks up soon. Hell, I’d fly to LA and join him at a couple of shoot clubs if possible. Invite a whole bunch of qt3ers for a week’s gaming retreat. Remember that we’re not all jackasses and we like to talk to one another about games, movies, music, and everything else.
The games podcasts are one of the best things to come out of Quarter to Three. I don’t think I’ve ever not listened to one all of the way through once I started it up, and that includes the ones for games I’m not interested in and will probably never play.
Take a break from them, sure, but I hope you reconsider stopping them altogether.
What if we have a games podcast with a different host from the forum every time and the guest is always Tom Chick but, since Tom Chick is a gracious person, they mostly talk about the host and whatever game the host wants to talk about? That would work, right?
Seriously though, I didn’t think I’d be interested in the podcasts about games I’d never played, but it turns out that people are interesting and Tom does a great job of bringing those interesting things to the fore.
That’s it.
I am organizing a new podcast. I need to podcast, and I think that this would be something awesome.
Who wants in. I will host/produce the beast. I am sure we could Skype it, and I’ll bet I could get flowers to stop by and record sometime.
Ok, so who is in? I kind of want to do a games podcast, but nothing too serious. We could maybe do a group of people with a rotating guest.
Tom, if you could share any wisdom with me about this, I would greatly appreciate the help. I haven’t done any skype recording before.
I always pictured Tom brooding to some Perry Como, maybe the Statler Brothers if he’s feeling angsty and edgy.
Or, you know, whatever men of that certain age listen to.
Something I had been toying with would be the idea of an every-other-week podcast about whatever game is new and interesting, and we could get four or five people on to talk about it and generally bullshit around for an hour or so. We’ve already got QT3 regular games going on like Dominions 3, MAG, and about 900 of you Starcraft guys.
I will gladly participate in any podcast I can fit in and be somehow relevant.