I Don't Listen To EVE Online Podcasts

I listen to a lot of podcasts. I consider myself a bit of a podcast connoisseur. I prefer listening to the spoken word over music. I don't dislike music, but I'd rather listen to something new and informative rather than something I've heard before. I have about 20 podcasts I listen to weekly. They range from news & politics, sports, pop culture, technology, science, to history. The podcasts that have become my mainstays, it's been a process over a few years of finding them. I don't try as many new podcasts now as I used too, but I'm still always on the lookout for something fresh, with a new perspective.

I do not listen to any EVE Online podcasts, and that is not for lack of trying. I've given most of them my time^[1], given them a fair shake. At the end of the day, though, there's something off-putting about each and every one of them. I wish there was one I found worth my time, but so far I do not consider any worth the bother^[2].

I'm not going to call out any particular podcasts for shaming. They all have their problems. I'm just going to list a number of issues I've had with EVE Online podcasts, in general. The issues aren't prevalent with every podcast, but you might be able to pick out which issues apply to your own podcast (if you host/produce one yourself.) I'll then finish with a suggestion for what I think would be a winning weekly podcast format.

• Length. A number of EVE podcasts run to well over an hour. Some to two hours. And one has occasionally hit the four hour mark. (I can read a week's worth articles on themittani.com and EVENews24 in less than four hours, and they hit upon all the important news of the week.) A number of these podcasts trumpet their length, as though that's one of their winning features. I can tell you right now, you're limiting your audience. Few people have time to listen to two hours of podcast. In my experience, the sweet spot length for a podcast is in the 45-60 minute range.
• Focus. I find unfocused discussion to be a problem with the majority of EVE podcasts. When I'm listening to an EVE podcast, I want to hear about EVE Online. I do not want your opinion on last week's episode of The Walking Dead. I do not care that you prefer the Packers over the Jets. I do not care that you just had to bring your car in for maintenance. Or that it annoys you when you buy a basket of blueberries, that the ones at the bottom are mostly gone bad. I don't want to listen to you ramble on about everything that pops into your head during the recording of the podcast.
• Focus, again. If you have a topic for discussion, then stick to the topic. Long-winded tangents do nothing but deflate the topic at hand, to undermine everything that was said before the tangent. Learn how to stay on topic.
• Music. I realize that some of the podcasts run as live radio-style shows, and that they insert music between topics and guests. This allows the hosts to grab drinks and have bio- breaks. But before archiving the show as a downloadable file, please consider removing all the music. It's really no longer necessary. You've already subjected your live listeners to your music tastes, why continue to subject your archive listeners to it?
• Hosts. Three hosts/speakers, maximum. Nobody can keep track of six people nattering on, and talking over each other. It's confusing. It's loud. It's chaotic. Two hosts are preferable, with a third rotating guest. But never more than three.
• Guests. When you have a guest, please know what knowledge they bring with them to your podcast. Please have questions ready for them ahead of time. While they are a guest, please focus topics on their knowledge base. Too often a host will introduce a guest then they'll dive into topics that the guest isn't particularly knowledgeable in. If you have a small-gang PvPer on, don't involve them in a topic on highsec industry. We're not simply interested in hearing a guest speak, we want to hear them speak on topics they're very familiar with.
• CSM. Podcasts get too excited to have CSM members on all the time. Often they have very little of value to say. If you're pretty sure you know what sorts of canned answers a CSM person is going to give, then asking them that question is a big waste of time. It's a big waste of time having them on in the first place. Don't have them on immediately following a CSM Summit. They are so hogtied by the NDA that they can't talk specifics. And they won't. You know when you ask them what the summit was like, that they're going to say "It was good. Different than the last one, but good." (And be careful with Hans, because he can turn "It was good" into a 1000 word monologue.) Nobody needs to hear that, it's a huge waste of everyone's time. Wait until after the summit minutes are released, after you've read them, when you can write out a set of very specific questions. Having the CSM as a guest is not a draw unless listeners are sure there's something of value going on in the meta-game at the moment (i.e. summit minutes, the release of a devblog, etc.)

I didn't mention topics as a source of annoyance. I'm not concerned about what topics you discuss. Sure, there are some topics that interest me less than others, but I also feel that most any topic can be made interesting if hosts and guests can a) stay on topic, b) avoid losing focus, and c) engage on the topic authoritatively (which means having guests that are knowledgeable where the hosts may not be.)

I think there's a winning formula available to an EVE Online podcast. A format that I think would easily make the podcast that can successfully utilize it a real winner. I'm willing to bet it would become EVE Online's most popular podcast, by far.

The format I have in mind is used by all of Slate's podcasts. Their Political Gabfest (American politics.) Their Culture Gabfest (pop culture.) Their Hang Up and Listen (sports.) I would recommend listening to any of those podcasts to get a feel for the format. If you're a sports fan, Hang Up and Listen is particularly excellent, and you'll likely start listening to it regularly.

The format is simple. A 45-60 minute podcast, consisting of three 15-20 minute topics, and then one closing section where each host offers up something of particular interest to them (the tidbit section.) Three hosts work best in this format (or two hosts and one guest, per topic.) All three hosts/guests engage on each topic, remaining relatively on-point through the duration. One host should act as a sort of moderator, ensuring the topic comes to a close in an appropriate period of time. The moderator should be able to recognize when a discussion has mostly run its course, to stop it and then begin the transition to the next topic. (The entire podcast need not be recorded in one sitting. You can record each topic separately, with different guests, and then edit them together afterwards into one whole.) The tidbit section is discussion free. Each host/guest offers up something EVE-related that interested them that week. That's it. The format is as simple as that.

For those already considering a change to your podcast format, give this one a try. But seriously, first listen to a few of the Slate podcasts I linked above to get a feel for how the format works successfully. And if anybody does give this format a try, please inform me. I will want to download and listen.

====

^[1] I know I said that I wasn't going to name any podcasts, but I would like to point out that there was a particular podcast that I did very much enjoy for a time. Voices from the Void, back when the hosts were Arydanika and Seismic Stan. I always found the dynamic between Ary and Stan to be on the money, they balanced each other well. An important element of the show was lost when Seismic Stan left, and I slowly stopped tuning in.

^[2] It might be worth a series of posts to start reviewing EVE Online podcasts critically. In the next week or two, if you see a podcast review on this site, then it is safe to assume that I've decided to start reviewing them all, at a pace of about one per week.