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Raef, Russ, and Craig pull up some stools at the tavern and chat with Jeff Martin, creator and mastermind behind what has become the biggest event at GenCon: True Dungeon. Join us as we delve into the history of this full scale dungeon crawling adventure.

But first, while Craig was away sailing on the high seas, Russ and Raef snuck in another Tech Talk segment. What vid games and other gamer technology have they been enjoying lately?

All that and our other not-too-horrible segments including:

- The Hollywood Minute
- What's in the News
- Total Fan Girl
- Do You Ever Notice
- & More

Link to Episode:
http://www.thed6generation.com/d6g-ep-79-true-dungeon-interview-tech-talk


Please let us know what you think!

Great show yet again.

Your tech talk segment made me really want to get an xbox and kinect, so I'll have to save up for that. Are there any kinect games that would be good for a 3 year old girl?

Any thoughts about the rumours for the new Nintendo system, or do you think with the kinect the xbox can't be beat?

Did Craig post pictures of his trip anywhere? I'd love to see the pirate ship and volcano island he was talking about.

Hey guys, I just started listening to the episode. I"m just finishing "Achievements in Gaming", and in fact as I was pulling in the driveway, you were just finishing your discussion of "Game of Thrones", so I wanted to add my 2 cents. Now, at the time of the podcast, you guys had seen through episode 3, and by now I"m sure you've seen episode 4.

- The Drogo/Danaerys (it's always interesting to hear how other people pronounce names) relationship - or more specifically the brutal first "consummation" was a big sticking point for book fans after the first episode. The fact that they seem to be showing a kinder/gentler Drogo is pacifiying this outcry to some degree at this point.
- The "aging up" of the characters. I think that this was a good thing. I did have a bit of a problem in the books with the young ages of some of the characters, and the roles they eventually take on (leading armies and such...trying to not have any spoilers here). Sean Bean is 50 I believe, so yeah they're definitely older
- Telling the Stark kids apart. They only trouble I had is when they all shaved for the feast. The biggest problem I had is that they had Theon Greyjoy in there unnamed for 3 episodes - and he's the same age as Robb and Jon, so I think it was easy (for non-readers especially) to mix him up with the older Stark/Snow boys. They finally named Theon and gave him a bit of backstory in episode 4.
- Russ mentions seeing Tywin Lannister at one point. I'm pretty sure Tywin hasn't been shown yet. The older knight that's talking with the King about their "first kills" (they summon Jaime into the conversation at one point) is Ser Barristan Selmy, the head of the Kings Guard. But again, they don't bother to give him a name, so it's kind of awkward. According the previews, he's given his identity this week in episode 5.

By and large the book fanbase seems to be enjoying it, although there's a certain faction that nitpicks everything that isn't identical to the books. This week's nitpick is that it was Littlefinger who told Sansa the story of the Clegane brothers as opposed to Sandor himself. Some folks feel that was an essential part of Sandor's character, revealing himself to Sansa like that. Meh...I don't think it's a big deal.

Biggest gripe among fans at this point (that I somewhat agree with) is the lack of the direwolves, since they are such an integral part to some of the children (Bran and Jon particularly). My understanding is that the breed of dog was picked because they resemble wolves so much...but are notoriously hard to train. The 20-second scene with Ned and "Lady" apparently took 3 hours to film. Rumor has it that they're going to switch to CGI wolves next year. That would solve the "training" issue, and also allow them to grow the wolves to be the "direwolves" in the books (the corpse of the mother in episode 1 seemed to be pretty huge).

And yeah, the day after episode 1 they confirmed that season 2 was picked up.

So, I just wanted to jump in with my comments about Game of Thrones. Looking forward to hearing the rest of the episode.

Agree with most of what you've got to say, Hoke. I've got to say, though, that anyone who's so out of touch as to have expected everything word by word, gesture by gesture to translate into the tv show . . . should have listened to Rapid Fire this episode, regarding the first time that was ever tried. But again, I think I'm sanguine with the whole thing mainly because none of my sacred cows have been gored yet. For the first time since the series started my listening to the audio book has passed the current point of the tv show . . . and now I'm getting nervous that the rest of the Hand's Tourney won't be covered, because there's a bunch of stuff going on there that I want to see . . .

But we'll see, I guess.

Also, I've been making the same complaint about the Dire Wolves locally, but everyone around here seems ok with the fact that the wolves have been getting one big moment in each episode . . . and I guess that jibes with what you've said about the trainability of the breed they chose . . .

Having just re-listened to . . . . awkward . . . anyway, having just listened to the Drogo Dani consumation, yeah, it is MUCH different than the way it was on the show . . . but I still think that was done to show growth in Drogo's character and get the audience to grow to like him. But who knows

Thanks for sharing your thoughts and researches into the fan community!

~Craig

Sigh. Listening to the Tech Talk segment now. Opening the old wound of the fact my XBOX360 is not online. *waahh*

I refuse to pay $100 for the wireless adapter, and would rather just plunk down for the newest machine that's got it built in. But, it's moot as I can afford neither at the moment.

However, to clarify one point: RIFT is the MMO, and RIFTS (with the "s") is an RPG from Palladium Games. There ya go. That's my good deed for the day. :-)

Oh, and Raef? Achievement for the Lost Vikings reference when you guys were talking about Portal. Man, I loved that game! Someone needs to bring that one back!

Another fine episode in the pod, as it were.

One day, I might try Rift, but I was really hoping that it was a Rifts MMO. Riftwalkers for the win. Besides, it might cut in to my Blood Bowl time.

I'm still not quite sold on the Kinnect. It hasn't quite fulfilled its goal of making the player the controller from the games I've seen for it. Motion cotrollers still feel more like a gimmick than a natural progression into a new paradigm of video game interface.

I suffer a lighter form of nerd rage, especially concerning George RR Martin. Sure, I'm upset. I mean, if half of his blog posts about making the series were pages for the new book, we'd have it by now. I don't hate him. I'm planning on buying the book when it comes out, and holing myself away to read it. I would also happily shake his hand and more be more than excited if he would sign my books. In some sense, he's like the friend that you have that fudges rules. You keep him around for his company, but you also know that you need to call him on some of his behavior.

@Nicole - C'mon, put some feet to fire, please. Ken should have answered Geekdads v Geekmoms. Great interview, leading to another book to be added to the project library.

@Raef - "Estoy Raef 'Hollywood' Granger"? Is being Raef a temporary/solvable condition like happiness or hunger? Perhaps as being described as being temporarily random? A bit that my high school Spanish teacher would kind of pull when we used 'estoy' incorrectly, which made me laugh when I listened to the opening. Can't wait for the comic talk.

Craig -

Yes the tournament has been a little bit of a talking point amongst fans as well. I *think* that more of the tournament will be shown this week. But there was some griping amongst the fans that we only saw one joust, and that the crowd was only 2-3 deep for that joust. Some comparing it to a "poorly attended Renaissance Faire". LOL. So...we'll see, I'm hoping for a little more pageantry with the remainder of the tournament as well. I'm trying to finish the latest Guy Gavriel Kay book, and then plan on re-reading ASOIAF to be ready for "A Dance With Dragons"...probably should have started before the show aired. So, my memory is a little hazy. I remember the jousting ends with Sandor and Gregor going at each other...and the Knight of Flowers is introduced, I think. Also, there's the melee as I recall with the Red Priest and his flaming sword (I think he was mentioned last week). Agreed that they can't fit everything in the show, and I wasn't expecting them to...but 10 episodes is pretty quick. 12 or 14 would have been a little nicer. We're almost halfway done and everything's been setup until now, basically...the last scene of last week, Catelyn taking Tyrion hostage, really starts setting off the fireworks, so to speak.

The comment about the tourny looking like a "poorly attended Renaissance Faire" reminds me of another complaint that folks have...that the Dothraki hoard doesn't look particularly "horde-ish". In the books, they're something like 40-50000, as I recall. On the show, they look a like a few hundred...hardly an imposing army. But, budget constraints, I suppose. Some talk about the ethnic makeup of the Dothraki's as well...or rather, they're lack of distinguishing "ethnicity".

Anyway, I use Westeros.org to keep tabs on the fans. I've been following that site for years - lots of very knowledgeable folks about the series, made me see things in the books that I'd missed during my one reading.

Great episode! The tech talk stuff was pretty good. Has me wanting to brush off the dust on my consoles... maybe finally get around to playing Reach.

Craig & Russ (and other watchers) -

Just watched episode 5 of "Game of Thrones". Best episode yet, IMO. Unfortunately, per our earlier posts, they lopped off most of the tournament, but I still thought it was an excellent episode. In the books, I was undecided about the Loras/Renly relationship - are they or aren't they? Guess they decided to not be so subtle in the TV show...

I've got to agree, Hoke. Loved it. On your advice I actually went and checked out westeros.net after the episode. It was fun watching the discussion go from 2 pages to 10 pages in about 5 minutes

Although I wouldn't have been able to tell you why without having read all the posts there, I knew they were gay. About half the discussin right now is about how many people knew that, whether it's 'canon' or not, etc. Many folks have flown to their books for quotes, and now that I remember a lot of what they're saying, I'd say yes, it's clear (although always understated) in the books that they're gay.

I'll admit that I'm in the camp of 'wishing the Lion vs the Wolf' battle scene at the end had been closer to the books, both in actual events and in ambience, but it was damned cool seeing Ned getting to strut his stuff.

And that was 3 big fights in one episode . . . and it's been awhile since there's been ANY fighting . . . in fact . . . this was it, I think! Also, decapitate horse ftw . . .

Loving the Hound.

Master-Terraformer wrote:
Although I wouldn't have been able to tell you why without having read all the posts there, I knew they were gay. About half the discussin right now is about how many people knew that, whether it's 'canon' or not, etc. Many folks have flown to their books for quotes, and now that I remember a lot of what they're saying, I'd say yes, it's clear (although always understated) in the books that they're gay.

Yeah, Renly's and Loras' relationship became clearer later in the books, but I didn't catch it at first. Probably nothing explicit in the books since neither one of them were a point-of-view character. But they're leaving no doubt in the show. The forums at westeros.org can be really good for catching minutia, but sometimes the folks their can get stuck on one topic, such as the Renly/Loras thing from this episode, and make new readers/watchers feel dumb...imagine that, on an internet chat board...

Master-Terraformer wrote:
Also, decapitate horse ftw . . .

Truer words were never spoken...

I have to post and agree with Hokie and Craig. This was the best episode yet. Tons of action and some plot movement to boot.

As far as the making the Renley and Loras relationship more overt, I think they kind of forced the issue so that they would not have to waste too much time beating around the bush. There is only so much time in a season to cram in all the little bits from a long book.

I am a little sad about how ren fair the tourny looked, but I am guessing that the budget will grow next season.

I agree that the Hound is being done very well. He is coming off as a somewhat likable, for this series, monster without making it too obvious that you may want to root for him.

I am psyched for next week's double episode.

vinsal wrote:

I agree that the Hound is being done very well. He is coming off as a somewhat likable, for this series, monster without making it too obvious that you may want to root for him.

I am psyched for next week's double episode.

I think the Hound is being portrayed OK. He's not coming across as angry as he is in the books - he's just kind of more, I dunno...morose. I think the average viewer might be a little confused about him...in one episode he rides down the "Butcher's Boy" mercilessly, but in this past episode he appears to come to the defense of a helpless knight, screaming "leave him alone!" Of course, I think he looks for any reason to tangle with his brother, but to someone who hasn't read the books...there may seem to be a little disconnect there.

Yeah, I just signed up for "HBOGo"...I can get it free through my cable/internet company...so looks like next week will be a double header.

HBO Go fail for my service provider.
I was a little PO'ed.

DAMN!!!! Me too! Curse you, Comcast!!!!!!!!!

HBO promises that episode will be the best!!!! Just like every boardroom scene in The Apprentice is the most controversial! And every Tribal Council in Survivor is going to be the most exciting! . . . wait a minute . . .

Master-Terraformer wrote:DAMN!!!! Me too! Curse you, Comcast!!!!!!!!!

Well, I'll try not to gloat too much next week then. I'll keep it low key...you know just things like "OMG....THAT HAS TO BE THE BEST EPISODE OF TELEVISION SINCE THE MOON LANDINGS!!!" Subtle stuff like that...


So, I just finished the latest podcast on the way home, and just listened to "Didya Ever Notice". As I recall going on a mini-GRRM rant a few episodes ago on these very forums, I started to get that hot-under-the-collar feeling, while darting my eyes around nervously. In the end, I generally agree with what you had to say, Craig. Signing petitions, facebook actions, etc...all very silly. To be fair to myself, the few times I've, er, "ranted" about GRRM, I would always follow it with "but I'm gonna buy the next book as soon as it's out!"

The last time I "ranted" (there's that word again) on these forums, I'm not sure I was especially cogent. I started to get irritated with GRRM a year or two ago when reading interviews or posts on his "not a blog". When talking about "A Dance With Dragons", the tone always seemed to be the same - it's a beast, I've got a lot of issues to work out, it's the monkey on my back (he took to calling it "Kong"). On the contrary, whenever he'd talk about his other projects - "Wild Cards", various anthologies, going to conventions, and even the HBO show, the tone was excited and even jubilant at times - Wow, I really love working with so-and-so author, I can't wait to go to place X for convention Y, let me tell you about the great actors we're getting for the show, etc. Mixed in were his blog posts about new things he was selling - new replica swords, new miniatures, new calendars, etc. - all based on A Song of Ice and Fire. The whole "vibe" I was getting was "I'm struggling with this book, it's not fun, I want to do other things...but hey I need to keep selling ASOIAF trinkets to you rubes in order to do these other things." Did I read too much into his various blog posts? Was my perceived notion of him trying to milk his fans for money a little bit of a reach? Undoubtedly! But that's where I at least was coming from with my frustration with the man. Just wanted to get that off my chest after listening to you , uh, rant about nerd rage.

A thought just struck me...I presume that you guys have read the "Dunk and Egg" short stories that are set 70ish years prior to the events in the main book? I commented on Nicole's latest blog, taking my life in my hands by suggesting she continue with the books, and one of my suggestions was to try the short stories.

Thanks for another great episode guys.

I liked Craig's tip about using resin souvenirs as 6mm terrain. Just be careful about buying souvenirs from Egypt.

I hear it's all to easy to get caught up in a pyramid selling scam.

Sorry.

Holdenstein: LOL!!!!!!! Well, not out loud, as we're conducting an interview while I muddle around . . . but laughing very loudly in my own head.

In China they make may of those miniatures out of manure and sell it to unwary tourists from roadside stands . . . I speak from sad experience . . .

GRRM has an interesting post on his "Not A Blog". Some interesting details on the new book (not story spoilerish). He talks about the final page count, and the number of chapters and the viewpoints (73 chapters and almost half - 35 - are from the viewpoints of Jon, Dany or Tyrion). But a good chunk of the blog post is about his struggles to write ADWD. As I mentioned above, I was getting frustrated with the guy...but this is an interesting read, and fascinating insight into the mind of an author and the book publishing industry.

Guess I shouldn't have mocked you guys for not having "HBOGo"...damn site won't load for me now - I think they must be getting flooded.

Episode 6 was pretty darn good. Two things missing for me - Ned's "Tower of Joy" dream sequence, and once again no freakin' direwolves in a scene that they had a major part in (Bran and wildlings). The lack of direwolves is the only thing that is really frustrating me about this series...but as discussed before, it sounds like they had ill-tempered dogs.

Viserys and the crown of gold was pretty perfect (other than that gold melted awfully fast).

I spent the week hoping that, if the world didn't end on Saturday, that my local cable company would pick up HBO-Go before last night . . . well, I have good news and I have bad news . . .

I'm hoping the whore from Winterfell doesn't turn into Shae, but it looks like that's the way things might be shaping up . . .

I was also very disappointed that there wasn't even an effort to put the dire wolves into the background of the wildlings scene.

I had the same thought about the dream sequences. With this latest 'read' through I'm seeing far more dream sequences than I'd remembered. The Tower of Joy sequence would set a lot up for future developments, but I'm sure they figured they can cover some of that stuff, Howlan Reed and the rest, in later episodes.

In the book the gold isn't actually poured over his head, but rather the entire cauldron is placed over his head . . . this way was more visually interesting . . .

I liked it, and tried to revel in the fact that the world wasn't destroyed, rather than that I didn't have HBO Go . . .

Master-Terraformer wrote:I'm hoping the whore from Winterfell doesn't turn into Shae, but it looks like that's the way things might be shaping up . . .

Apparently they've cast (or are in the process of casting) Shae, so I think that fear is unfounded. From what I understand, they really liked the actress that plays "Roz", so they decided to expand her role. I think she may end up taking the place of Alaya (or whatever her name was) - the woman who ran Littlefinger's main brothel in King's Landing.

After reading the message boards a little bit, I do agree with one criticism of last night's episode - Robert's boar-hunting party looked a little pathetic. Just a couple of them trudging through the forest with big spears. I understand that they were trying to set up the Robert-Renly rift...but c'mon, the King is going hunting! There should be dozens of people, on horseback, someone blowing a curly horn, dogs, etc. Kind of like the tournament...it failed to live up the grandeur of how I imagine it. Lancel eagerly offering up more wine to Robert was interesting, if a bit obvious...my wife (who hasn't read the books) said "Uh oh...is it poisoned?"

I'm hoping to get on HBOGo tonight to watch episode 7 - I gave up after an hour or so last night. I thought I might be able to get on at 11:00, after the initial rush finished watching the episode. Sure enough, I got in, the show started playing...and promptly froze right at the end of the opening credits. :shakes fist: Well, we'll see...early reaction from fans who've seen it indicate that the guy who plays Tywin does an excellent job.


Edited to add:

HBOGO worked for me tonight...I won't spoil anything...another good episode that has it's ups and downs, although mostly ups. Tywin was pretty good, I thought, although I'm not quite as ga-ga over him as everyone else has been. The only other thing I'll say is this - I like looking at attractive naked women as much as the next guy. And the books are definitely adult reading, with adult sex scenes - which is all well and good. But HBO is starting to come close soft-core porn with with some of these scenes, particularly in episode 7. Nudity and sex is all well and good when it fits the story and makes sense...to throw it as "background entertainment" during an info-dump is a little gratuitous.

So there...now you have something to look forward to...

Craig (&other Comcast customers) -

Try the following link to get to episode 7:

http://xfinitytv.comcast.net/

The D6 Generation Law #3
"Raef loves Eurogames like Germans love David Hasslehoff."

The D6 Generation Law #9
"If it's tech, it's ours-Russ's Motto."

The D6 Generation Law #16:
"Any episode with contest results will be delayed."

SpookyVeez wrote:The D6 Generation Law #3
"Raef loves Eurogames like Germans love David Hasslehoff."

No that you mention it, the Hoff has been long overdue on my Idevice.