I mention that because I saw that one of the podcasts continued the malicious lies that overall ratings are necessary. After poking through that one, and the one I still had, plus Jan 7 which I downloaded during writing this I'll offer some nonconstructive hateful whining.
I still question whether you guys are saying things because things need to be SAID about the subject or if it's because you want to convey a concept, idea or argument related to that subject. A lot of times I find myself saying "okay, and..." but you've moved on because the subject was talked about in some manner and thus success.
For example, during these vicious lies it was mentioned that Eric Bledsoe's ratings had gone up and there was some controversy. And then immediately cast off into the ether, along with a BJ Mullins mention. Why is there controversy? What was it really? Is there merit to any position? Bledsoe is basically an all-star player coming off the bench because he's behind a Hall of Famer, he's getting favorable media attention. Is he maybe STILL underrated? Was this a blunder on the 2K Insiders part back when he "originally rated" the players? Is this a flaw in having a mentally challenged golden retriever try to "keep up" instead of 2K auto-updating using data THEY ALREADY GET ala EA's DNA?
During the lies, Andrew briefly explained the potential invalidity of overall ratings then stated they were necessary even while Leftos started pondering some alternative methods. And the topic was closed, onto the award 2K bought from Spike!
Looking at the topics on the last two, there's more roster talk. What exactly IS there to talk about the roster updates? Are they SOMETHING THAT HAPPENED or are they something you have anything to actually say something on? Same with the server shutdowns. Are these topics for two weeks because they exist? What was added in these discussions compared to the ones weeks before? 2K sucks, ratings criticized, people biased, community works... EA's shutting down the servers because I want to speculate about Live 14!
Do I need news recaps beyond setup for the discussion? If it doesn't go beyond that why do I want the ten minute podcast version over the ten second website version? And if there's no discussion...
Andrew is too timid at times. It's part of why Leftos controls most every conversation. There are instances where I'm pretty sure Andrew has a different point of view but he acquiesces to Leftos' analysis. I could "hear" it more than I heard it when Leftos was taking out his frustrations with the "grind" on the open world genre and the GTA series. Maybe it goes the other way as much but the few conversations sampled it went that way. This might just be Leftos finding his voice first.
Has there been any real disagreement on a subject? Andrew got animated on some NBA subjects but it was to agree forcefully.
Maybe these all conspire leading to a situation where it sounds like Leftos lays out his point of view, turns it over, Andrew gives his maybe related one, maybe Leftos thinks of something more to say (maybe in agreement) or moves onto the next topic. Sometimes reverse. I can do this by myself, I don't need you guys.
TL;DR version: The question is still why do I want to listen to this podcast? Is it because I want to hear someone verbalize community-relevant topics or is it because I want to hear
YOU TALK about community-relevant topics?
It still feels like I'm only getting one of these.
P.S. Leftos wanted to say something regarding MLB 2K shutting down, but I didn't find it skipping around, did you ever get a chance to share that?
P.P.S. The rating progressions were in 2K10 and I think 2K11 as well. Although it was broken sometimes. (And it showed just how infrequently the Insider actually changes anything, thus why people notice the large jumps.)
P.P.P.S. Andrew says J.R. Smith has been having a decent season on Jan 7th; he's shot 24/75 since.
P.P.P.S. Slim's scaling is basically reversing compared to realistic stat bounds. It's easy to do if you have the time and can understand anything about NBA stats, even this dope has done it. 99 rating basically = 99% percentile. The game itself has its own hard bounds that you basically ignore. Varejao's rebounding is lower than even Reggie Evans this season. 23% is good high bound to use based on NBA history.
P.P.P.P.S. Just an idea. Record a podcast with nothing NBA/NLSC related, not to necessarily release even, but to illustrate to yourselves a possible scope and breadth of what makes your personalities unique and how to more naturally convey your points. Same with the shooting the shit pre-/post-recording of normal podcasts. I do think you're subconsciously going back to the "list" of stuff that HAS to be said.