Four Mini Podcast Reviews

Back when I used to play WoW, I often liked to listen to WoW fan podcasts while playing. Doing the same thing in The Old Republic is a bit trickier if you're questing and don't want to miss the voice work, but it's not too hard to occasionally pause whatever you're listening to in order to have a chat with all the NPCs at a quest hub, and then resume the playback once you're out and about killing things again.

One thing I've found remarkable about all the SWTOR podcasts I've listened to so far is that none of them have been badly made, even if some of them didn't personally appeal to me because of the hosts or the content. While looking for WoW podcasts I always had huge issues with finding way too many of them that had no structure and were badly edited, but with TOR podcasts I haven't run into a single one with any of these problems yet. Kudos to a knowledgeable community.

Here are four podcasts that I've been listening to for a while and what I think of them (in a nutshell). I might eventually post more reviews like this as I've been trying to broaden my horizons, but I need to listen to multiple episodes of each new podcast before I can really form an opinion on it.

The Instance: The Old Republic Edition

The Instance is one of the longest-running and most popular WoW podcasts. Being an avid listener, I was very pleased when they announced that they were going to start recording a SWTOR version as well, even if this immediately came with the bad news that Turpster (whom I personally consider to be the funniest of the three hosts) wasn't going to join in for this project as he's rather anti Star Wars.

Still, the final result did not disappoint. Scott and Dills still make a funny team, and I feel that Dills in particular actually gets to shine more in the Old Republic Edition than he ever did in the original Instance (possibly due to the absence of Turpster and his fairly dominant personality).

The sad news is that it seems to me that the entertainment value of the last couple of episodes has been declining rapidly. Scott in particular often sounds like he's already a bit bored of the game, and his claims to the contrary don't sound very convincing when he admits in the same breath that he's struggling to get any character past level thirty. It's a very stark contrast to the WoW podcast, where he still manages to get massively excited about every little bit of news even as they are approaching their 300th episode. It's also notable that they have a whole segment dedicated to criticising the game, something that I find rather odd for a fan podcast.

Final verdict: Strong podcasting team, started out great. Lately suffering from declining enthusiasm, and I find myself worrying about the future of the show if Scott would rather play WoW.

Mos Eisley Radio

This is quickly becoming my favourite SWTOR podcast, as it has just the right mix of everything for my taste, including but not limited to: interesting guests and news, intelligent and thoughtful discussion, great enthusiasm for the game but not without a critical eye, and of course a little bit of humour sprinkled on top.

Final verdict: Really can't say anything bad about this one. Highly recommended! I just wish they'd update more often.

Sunny's Diner

Another podcast hosted on the Mos Eisley Radio website. With this one it took me a little while to get into it, because at first I was a bit put off by the title, as I just couldn't decide what to make of the food theme. What do diners have to do with Star Wars?

Once I started listening, I learned that the host considers his show to be "the podcast for the casual SWTOR gamer". Personally, I'm not sure you could be called casual by any means if you listen to or even create podcasts related to your hobby, but maybe that's just me. Thing is, I don't consider myself a casual gamer either... but I still ended up finding Sunny's Diner very appealing. Like MER, it offers both humour and intelligent discussion, and I don't really feel that any of it is particularly targeted at the "casual" gamer only. I suppose they are casual in so far as they don't talk much about endgame activities like operations, but I'm quite happy to just listen to their general observations and stories about the game anyway.

Final verdict: Similar to Mos Eisley Radio really, even if it features different people. Don't be confused by the food themed title and intro, it's about SWTOR through and through. Shorter in length than the average MER episode, but just as entertaining.

Corellian Run Radio

I only started listening to this podcast comparatively recently, after one of the hosts guest-starred on Mos Eisley Radio. One thing that I immediately found refreshing about Corellian Run Radio is that it's a SWTOR podcast that appears to be primarily run by ladies - even better: ladies that are clearly hugely enthusiastic about the game. That's not to say that they never criticise anything, but even then you can always tell that they are extremely passionate about the game in a good way. This is a great podcast to listen to if other people's negative comments ever get you down.

The only problem I have with Corellian Run Radio is the main host, Carla - at least sometimes. I'd like to emphasise that this is completely subjective, but something about her accent often makes me cringe, and more often than not her opinions on what's best about the game are diametrically opposed to mine. After the umpteenth time of her declaring why the Republic is lame and how she can't wait for the game to get a dungeon finder and cross-server grouping, I just want to shut the whole thing off sometimes. However, she still does a good job regardless.

Final verdict: A podcast that radiates love and enthusiasm for the game. Only "issue" is that the main host has a very strong personality, something that you might find great... but if you're anything like me, there's also a chance that you might find it annoying instead.