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Waypoint+ |OT| "Fuck Capitalism, Go Home"
- Thread starter Mezentine
- Start date
Aw man, lots of love to Danielle and Austin. Go forth, be good, and be good at it.
We'll always have Papa Bear Austin Walker.
I kind of checked out of Waypoint as soon as Danika and Natalie left. There is like zero draw for me to this rebranded and restructured "Vice Games" as much as Austin wants to try to assure everyone everything is fine Waypoint is dead IMO.
I am glad Austin is getting a break but it still sucka that the waypoint I loved a few years ago is just gone.
I am glad Austin is getting a break but it still sucka that the waypoint I loved a few years ago is just gone.
Considering that FatT makes pretty decent bank on Patreon, it makes sense that Austin feels confident enough to commit to it more than a side-gig.
This is a sad, I hope they can keep him around on the podcast for a decent chunk of time to come. And I'm assuming podcast appearances are mainly referring to mainline Waypoint Radio and none of the side stuff (which is the bigger bummer to me).
I was kind of surprised reading his post on the waypoint forum that it sounds like he's taking a bigger step away from games journalism/crit altogether. Which is kind of a shame in its own way since I feel like critical voices are more crucial than ever, but also appreciate that it's not his burden to bear.
I admittedly could never get into his other projects like Friends at the Table but I'm glad he's going to still be around here and there.
I was kind of surprised reading his post on the waypoint forum that it sounds like he's taking a bigger step away from games journalism/crit altogether. Which is kind of a shame in its own way since I feel like critical voices are more crucial than ever, but also appreciate that it's not his burden to bear.
I admittedly could never get into his other projects like Friends at the Table but I'm glad he's going to still be around here and there.
We'll always have Evangelion and Pride and Prejudice.
Get in the fucking robot, Lizzie, or Jane will have to do it again.
Get in the fucking robot, Lizzie, or Jane will have to do it again.
):
I wish Austin was a little more clear on exactly what his future is regarding Waypoint cause this reads a lot worse than what specifically Austin said.
Austin basically is waypoint to me and 80% of why I listen cause I just find him incredibly engaging to listen to, especially in a freeform audio format. I like everyone else but he was always the glue that held everything else together to me and it is really saddening to see him go. It's selfish to want, unfortunately. Austin should do what is best for him, though, and hopefully we'll continue to hear him on waypoint radio just like Beastcast's Jeff "rotating chair" Backalar, but as was stated before, "you'll continue to hear from me" rarely ever actually plays out.
I wish Austin was a little more clear on exactly what his future is regarding Waypoint cause this reads a lot worse than what specifically Austin said.
Austin basically is waypoint to me and 80% of why I listen cause I just find him incredibly engaging to listen to, especially in a freeform audio format. I like everyone else but he was always the glue that held everything else together to me and it is really saddening to see him go. It's selfish to want, unfortunately. Austin should do what is best for him, though, and hopefully we'll continue to hear him on waypoint radio just like Beastcast's Jeff "rotating chair" Backalar, but as was stated before, "you'll continue to hear from me" rarely ever actually plays out.
I mean, he's still a contractor for VICE for the time being, he's still being paid to co-host the podcast, that's a bit better than the usual "you'll continue to hear from me" bits.
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Absolutely true. I'm not discounting it, but it is still a bummer. I imagine Vice, as long as it exists, will continue to want a gaming section to it so I don't see Waypoint/VICE Gaming shutter any time soon, but it is still sad news regardless.
Sounds like Austin is doing what Kirk Hamilton is doing with Kotaku Splitscreen, in which he isn't in games journalism anymore, but continues to be on a weekly podcast about it.
Also sounds like Austin is going to do more writing and Actual play stuff for his full time work, which makes me really wish i liked Actual Play podcasts.
Also sounds like Austin is going to do more writing and Actual play stuff for his full time work, which makes me really wish i liked Actual Play podcasts.
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Wow, no kidding. Never checked, but for some reason I've never thought it'd be that successful.
Yeah, I totally get this. FatT has always been the project/thing Austin has seemed most passionate about, and if it's actually viable to to it as more than just a side-thing while being swamped with work at your actual gig... absolutely.
Like, being a manager of a site at VICE has always seemed the most draining thing of his job. I absolutely understand not wanting to do that anymore.
The thing is, he's leaving behind things like Health Insurance, Retirement benefits, PTO, etc by going out on his own/Patreon. I can't speak to the value of those benefits, but considering Vice is unionized, I feel fairly confident in saying that they probably had above average benefits. It sounds like he was really burnt out and just wanted out of working at Vice.
That said, i'm willing to give it time and see what his new work ends up looking like. Sounds like he's going to be doing world-writing of some kind.
obviously austin is pulling a mcelroy and will be building a podcast empire on the back of fatt!
honestly, as long as he's still on for most waypoint radio episodes, i'm cool with this. sounds like he gets to do what he loves (actual play) full-time while still getting to indulge in games criticism on the side and getting paid for it without the burdens of being in a leadership position on a media site.
i've followed danielle since idle thumbs, i'll follow her to wherever she's doing next!
honestly, as long as he's still on for most waypoint radio episodes, i'm cool with this. sounds like he gets to do what he loves (actual play) full-time while still getting to indulge in games criticism on the side and getting paid for it without the burdens of being in a leadership position on a media site.
i've followed danielle since idle thumbs, i'll follow her to wherever she's doing next!
I really hope he's not devoting his full time to FatT, I mean he should do what he wants of course but I just don't care about FatT at all.
He already said he isn't though? He's gonna focus more on that, but not exclusively. It definitely feels to me like he wants to expand his storytelling skills to more mediums though, which I'm 100% into. Given how much I love FatT, him writing a novel or a comic or something like that would be super cool.
It sounds like even Austin isn't entirely sure what's next. He mentioned a book, possibly comics, but it sounds like the main goal is just stepping back for a while to decompress and figure out the next chapter.
I mean it also sounds like how people would go "things will not change at all" as thing eventually change shortly after.
I mean if you think he might be lying that's on you :P I think he's been pretty explicit about what he's doing. I don't default to believing people are deceiving me :P
Not lying, it's just that people think that they can keep control of the circumstances but eventually drift away when there's no more full commitment.
If his passion now lies outside of waypoint who's to say if he'll come back to it once he's found something else he's passionate about?
Saddened but not surprised. It was easy to tell since Vice's layoffs that Waypoint as existed was on borrowed time. Wish all the best to Danielle and Austin. I'll follow their careers no matter where they go, same for the rest of the Waypoint. They've made a lot of my work days so much better.
I mean yeah, specially to the bold, he evidently has ambitions beyond games journalism, but that's a far cry from where you started (oh no he's doing FatT 100% now), which is just not true.
No that's what I'm saying. It's easy to say that everything will remain the same but in my experience. It's like telling your ex you'll still be friends. It can work, more often than not it doesn;t.
I don't think we understand each other too well :P I'll just say I tend to be more optimistic, and I know Austin to be extremely skilled and capable and know he's got waaaay more in his future as a creator/storyteller than "just" FatT, and I fucking love FatT.
I normally stay away from threads like this, but today is an exception. I can tell you they are honestly disconnected; Danielle's offer letter for her new gig (which will make sense when it's announced, it's exciting) just happened to come in as Austin has formalized his next moves (which we had to wait on, to make sure he could get paid for his labor on the pod going forward). We only figured out we could announce both moves together right before the podcast recording.
Anyway, I can answer some questions if people have them.
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Dear Scoops,
RE: Mario Maker 2 Mornings:
Have you gotten good yet?
(Love those steams. Thanks for bringing them back.)
Are you in charge now? Will you fire Rob for dunking on you?
Any Waypoint Radio guests lined up yet? I mean in terms of on-air folks it's just you, Rob, Cado, and a rotating chair now, right?
Sort of. Rob and I are splitting duties. We're not looking to replace Austin, though we are interested in hiring someone to address the now-glaring diversity issues on the paid editorial staff. Corporate machines move slow and are often unpredictable, though, or else we'd have better addressed this in plan A, B, C, D, and E that fell through in the past. (One day I can tell those stories.) In the near future, we're expanding the circle of people who will appear on the podcast and bringing new voices to our freelance pool.
Nothing specific, though feel free to make suggestions. There will be two regular podcasts a week, and the plan is to have Austin on both of them. There's a real world where we ended the pod if we weren't able to figure out how to keep Austin on it and make him a paid contributor. We are not in that world.
Did you already message a mod to get your tag changed to Waypoint Co-Editor in Chief? :P
Best of luck to you and Rob (and Cado and anyone I'm not listing) in this new phase for Waypoint! It's a relief that Austin will still be on the pod and I'm looking forward to hearing more voices on it. Keep up the great work :)
I think it would be cool to see Dia Lacina on a Waypoint pod again sometime. The pod she and Rob did about her Shadow of the Tomb Raider review was pretty rad.
It's a new, scary phase. I could not tell you what things will look like in a year, though I can tell you with some measure of confidence, with as much confidence as you can say given how fucked working in media is, that I do not think our (me, Rob, Cado) jobs are in any jeopardy.
Funny, Rob mentioned that this week when we were talking about pod guests.
Hi Patrick - glad to hear that you and Rob (and Cado) will still be running things. Do you think that with this reduction in staff you'll still continue with production of both Waypoint Radio and Waypoints? Or any new shows to look forward to? I'm a big fan of all of your work - good luck with all the transitions ahead.
Yeah, changes can be scary, not necessarily in terms of "will I have a job next year" but just the general increase of unpredictability and having new responsibilities to attend to can make one nervous. I changed positions last year into a more of a mentoring and management role after 7+ years of other stuff, and have seen people depart from my job that were a big deal and obviously meant we were going to have to shift some things, so I can relate.
But hey, it's also a great opportunity to shake things up for the better where needed and I'm sure you guys will. It's great to hear you feel good about your job and I hope you'll be even more confident of that in a year! :D
I'd think of it this way: one exclusively (mostly, given our tangents, I guess) games podcast a week, and another podcast that could be almost anything. Waypoints, WPR, whatever. But outside of an emergency pod, two podcasts a week, with Austin on both.
The podcasts have been getting uploaded to the Waypoint youtube along with Cado's Shadowkeep stream. Are there any plans for more video content?
As for guests, Gita Jackson and Sam Philips :D
I don't have anything specific to ask, just wanted to take the moment to say that I appreciate everything you guys do and am glad you're carrying on - excited for what it means for Danielle and Austin, and for the future of the podcast. And I REALLY appreciate the transparency you tend to approach this stuff with. Means a lot.
Austin = Trench
Danielle = Dylan
Cado, Rob & Patrick = Jessie
2) Is there a patreon I can contribute to get less NFL talk :-P. How about some Rugby? Or gaa?
3) Is there any hope for a return to official streaming / gameplay? Was there just no return / not enough viewership?
Edit: Already asked
4) .. Agents of Shield catch-up side series when?
Danielle = Dylan
Cado, Rob & Patrick = Jessie
1) More guests is a great idea, especially with the wide array of contributors on Waypoint
2) Is there a patreon I can contribute to get less NFL talk :-P. How about some Rugby? Or gaa?
3) Is there any hope for a return to official streaming / gameplay? Was there just no return / not enough viewership?
Edit: Already asked
4) .. Agents of Shield catch-up side series when?
Hmm think I'm gonna have to disagree and say that Austin is definitely Polaris and Danielle is Emily Pope.
Austin's voice through Waypoint has probably been my largest influence in how I engage with games and games crit. Excited to continue following Waypoint / Vice Games' new path forward, and support Austin's next chapter. After he gets some rest.
I think we all know Austin is deciding to step back from Vice because he has realized that existing in a world where he cannot play FFXIV is just the wrong way for him to be living. I'm glad now that given this step back Austin can begin his new life as a FFXIV nerd, godspeed.