I run the longest running community based thingy on Dtoid. 321GoCast!

Plus I have just been made second in command over at Streamtoid

Go ahead ask The Angriest Man in Gaming anything.

I have been here on Destructiod for years, discovered the site way back when Halo 3 came out and became a fan almost instantly thanks to Old Podtoid, Retroforce Go and everything that was going on back then. It has been a fun ride and I have cherished every second of it, I 'm grateful for my time here at Dtoid and its community. So when this month's blog topic rolled around it took me a little while to think about what to write on the matter. I could have written about the forming of 321Go, but I already did that. I could have talked about PAX 2010, but did that already too Then I thought of something I could write about, and it, along with so many more things that have happened because of Destructoid, is probably one of the coolest moments of my life.


I don't remember when exactly it was that I figured it out, but it was definitely during a post 321GoCast Skype call a few years ago. Analoge, Ryu89 and myself were just talking and hanging around as usual when the topic got us talking about the forums. We got talking about the badges,which ones we had and which ones we wished we did.

"I wish I had the Legendary Dtoider"

I said as we continued to talk about it and the mystery behind how people got to be considered Legendary in this community.The community that brought us together and was instrumental in forming the Goof Troop. Seconds later Analoge stopped me and said that I should check out my profile on the forums. What awaited me was nothing less than the Legendary Dtoider Badge. I was shocked to see the badge above my avatar among the other badges I have earned, and I couldn't believe it.




Imagine my surprise when I saw it. 4 years after joining Destructoid officially and becoming a part of the community, I had somehow earned the right to be someone that the forum mods consider legendary. It was, and still is, mind blowing to this day. I teared up a bit when I saw it, I still get a little choked up when I think about it.

When I sit back and think about my time here at Destructoid, I don't consider it legendary... I mean what could I have done to deserve this honor? I don't even frequent the forums enough to be synonymous with them. I can't begin to fathom what makes me legendary.

Knowing that I have that badge, however small it may be, however insignificant a badge on a forum may seem to other people, that badge means the world to me. It is a big part of my life, calling myself a Dtoider, counting my self among this big wonderful bunch of nerds, geeks, and gamers who share a passion for what they do, and they play. Dtoid is as much a part of my life as my family is and to be considered among its Legendary members, is a memory i will cherish for a long time.

December 22, 2009 was the first official release of 321GoCast episode 1 (which you can still get on iTunes and RSS feeds until I take down the podbean account in a month) What a lot of DTOIDers,, including those involved with it, called the spiritual successor to FailCast debuted 3 years ago. Though the show has changed its roster, format, where is it presented weekly and its time slot, 321GoCast is (as far as I know) the longest running Destructoid community production podcast/show in DTOID history. As the guy most closely associated with the show I thought it a good idea to give a retrospective on something that has been a huge part of my life for the past 3 years.

In the beginning

321GoCast started as the brainchild of Crocbox, who suggested that our weekly Dungeons and Dragons pre and post game chatter was funny enough to share with the DTOID population. The sessions, which featured the like of Analoge, Cataract, King3vbo, Cataract, Crocbox and myself) were just silly banter, ribbing on each other and talking about random topics. We agreed that it would be a fun idea and after a month or so of planning, working out logistics and schedule, we sat down and recorded. For the first couple of months or so the show was broken up into 10 to 15 minute segments, since our designated recorder only had the trial version of the software suite Pamela, which only allowed for short segments to be recorded at at time. We decided to fill the gaps between segments with songs, which at first were suggested by the cast members, then based off the current conversation, until ultimately it devolved into whoever edited the show decided which songs to use. The first official line up for the show members was Ryu89, Analoge, myself, and a guest host which changed every week for about a month or so. We used silly blog intro paragraphs for each show and through the first 15 or 20 episodes I went through and highlighted stuff that we talked about, which came to be known as the epic Show Notes.



Issues

Editing became the first issue that plagued the podcast. Since day one Ryu and Analoge had an ongoing argument about who should do the editing. Ryu was our principal editor for a majority of the early episodes. But as with anything involving The Goof Troop (Analoge, King3vbo, Pangloss, Ryu, Dyganth, and myself) someone eventually get tired of doing their part, in this case Ryu grew tired of editing and handed that duty over to Analoge. Editing came to a screeching halt after the release of episode 45 or so.

Another issue was scheduling, but as with anything being produced by people in different time zones, scheduling always gets in the way.

The Guests

One of the coolest parts about 321GoCast has been our many, and even recurring guests over the years. The likes of community members Stella Wong, Mikey Turvey, Garison, Philanthr0py, Bill Zoeker(RIP Billy Zoe), Spaceburrito, Rubyfair, Catarct, etc. It has also featured Dtoid staffers, such as Zodiac Eclipse, Jordan Devore, Powerglove, Conrad Zimmerman, and Chad Concelmo. We got to talk to these people, generally shoot the shit and have a fun time while doing it. Jokes were made about Stella being our emergency guest (which was true) and fun times were had by all.



Success

Beyond our wildest expectations, and our inside joke about Stella being our only listener, we actually got a decent following here on Dtoid. It was enough to get us a badge on the forums, our segment (however unused it was) on the community shows subforum, recognition from the cblog recaps, a successful charity show, and invited to be the first community based show on the still relatively new Dtoid.tv. This added more recognition as the show added not only new guests, but viewers. With the start of StreamToid, 321GoCast moved over to the community based streaming channel and is more or less its flagship program.

Cast members

We started out with just Ryu, Analoge, Crocbox and Me. Croc being extremely busy dropped out soon after, then we had Cataract for a few episodes and he had to drop as well. Our longest running foursome was Ryu, Analoge, Tactix who joined soon after his second consecutive guest appearance, and me. After being on the live channel for a while Tactix left us, and finally Analoge did as well. Now the foursome is Chris "Bleachboy" Healy, Ryu 89, Pangloss, and myself, though we will soon be saying goodbye to Pangloss as he prepares to go live in the land of moon runes and anime.



The end my friends

One last thing Id like to tell you guys about 321GoCast is just how ridiculous this whole thing has been. Coming from being a no name community member, who lurked for a while, change his username and was an avid listener of all the dtoid and community shows, it just is surreal to be writing this right now.

I have had a very weird success in my life with this show. I have grown as a person, gained friends, a reputation, recognition and just overall satisfaction with how I run my silly little round table show. I just want to finish this up before I tear up and thank everybody involved with the show, everybody who has ever listened, subscribed to our RSS feed and iTunes, Dtoid.tv for letting 4 guys with no idea what to talk about most of the time take up a Sunday evening time slot for about a year or so, and I personally want to thank my friends in the Goof Troop for being there for me and the show for such a long damned time. Three years of 321GoCast and I don't plan on stopping any time soon.

Thank you everybody.

[Here are two fun little segments from past shows if you have never seen or heard 321Go before. Here and here More highlights can be found on the Dtoid.tv highlights page!]

For those of you who aren't aware, Wil Wheaton has teamed up with Felicia Day and created a youtube program called Tabletop on GeekandSundry.com's youtube channel. The premise of the show is straightforward, Wheaton and various guests play a tabletop game, make funny quips about the game, other players, etc. Though it only has one episode to date, focused on the game Small World, the show already had 3 major geek/nerd figures on it; Sean "Day9" Plott, Grant Imahara, and Jenna Busch.

Why am I telling you all this? Simple. One because the show is very entertaining and I think you should watch it and two, because our very own Conrad Zimmerman has mentioned several times on Saturday Morning Hangover that he would love to be on it. Being the ridiculous Conrad fan that I am, I decided that if I could get the help of the DTOID community, I have no doubt in my mind that if we pull together and flood Wil Wheaton's twitter and email with requests for Conrad to be on Tabletop, that we could probably make it happen.

So how can you help?
1)Follow @wilw and tweet something along the lines of "I want @ConradZimmerman on Tabletop #ConradonTableTop"

2) Email him at wil@wilwheaton.net and politely ask that he consider having Conrad on Tabletop.

3) Comment on Youtube that you want Conrad on Tabletop.

That is really all you have to do. Remember be polite, do not DEMAND that Conrad be on the show, do not use offensive language. We want to bring attention to this, NOT to have Wil hate that we are doing this.

Now Dtoid community, go forth and get Conrad on Tabletop!



Any and all suggestions appreciated.

Another week has passed and its time once more to share our progress for the Fitness Challenge. Last week we had fewer people post their progress, but that is ok people get busy and this is not a mandatory thing by any means. Anyway enough of my babbling on to the porgress reports.


WARNING: Wall of text Incoming

JohnnyViral Progress

Previous Goal = 3lbs
Actually lost = 4lbs

What I've been doing:
Only had time to jog 3 times last week due to midterms and getting new tires for my car. Did not buy weights due to not actually having cash.

What I will do:
Continue the walking/jogging regiment.

Goal for the Week:
3 lbs

meteorscrap
Sure. I gained a few pounds in the last year or so, since becoming management instead of worker, and I'm looking to trim up a bit.

What I've been doing:
Weight training 3 or 4 days a week (once every other day). Minimum of half an hour of cardio every day except Sunday. (Day of rest/hangover)

What I will do:
Thinking about strapping some 5 or 10 lb arm weights to my wrists and playing 15 minutes of Fruit Ninja on the Kinect to add some additional arm toning and cardio. Could be good for the randomness of the movements.

Goal for the Week:
No specific goals from week to week. Right now my waist is up 5 inches from where it should be for a guy of my size and build. My goal is to get rid of those 5 inches for now. Once I do that, my new goal will be 300-style abs.

Blu Progress
Last week was a party week (no excuse)! But I've seem to actually lose that 1lb that I wanted so it should be all up hill from here. I've been doing 1hr cardio or a little bit more just to finish an episode of a podcast and what ever body part I had to do for weightlifting. Definitely want to get a straight habit before winter hits.

A pound a week for me is still my goal since I am still getting use to the gym schedule. Work hard, guys!

mollygos

What I've been doing:
A minimal amount of resistance exercise every day, eating a pretty balanced diet.

What I will do:
No candy at work (I work at a flower/candy shop, it's hard not to have one little piece a day). Bicycling at least 1 mile 5 days a week, eat more veggies instead of fruit, less sitting on my butt.

Goal for the Week:
3 lbs (for a steady 112 lbs)

Goal Overall:
10 lbs (for an even more ideal 105 lbs)

Tubatic Progress
Yeah! Health!

What I've been doing:
Failing at cutting out soda (boo!) but winning at drinking lots of water and getting more sleep (YEAH!)! Also, 4 mile walk wasn't bad!

What I will do:
Keep the soda's to minimum and get a good walk or two in during the week.

Goal for the Week:
Feelin' Healthy!

Goal Overall:
Feel less weighty. Will let you know more when I get in touch with a scale! (270lbs by EoY)

Frank Jaeger Progress
What I've been doing:
Haven't missed a day in the gym since last week and making regular progress.

What I will do:
Continue to go and make progress on the C25K app. Just hit week 3!

Goal for the Week:
Continue to not eat after 9pm. It cuts down on my calories and doesn't make me feel like shit the next morning like I do if I eat.

Goal Overall:
Cutting body fat and increase in stamina. I want to run a 5K or more next year.


Ok that is everybody who posted an update last week. Once again thanks to everyone that is participating. Keep at it and dont get discouraged.

Halloween is coming up so I've got a tip or two. 1) If you eat candy, try eating one or two pieces of the smaller ones, dont go for the big or jumbo sized bars.
2) If you go to a Halloween party, dont just sit there drinking and talking, do some dancing. It will help burn what you took in from the drinks or candy being served.

See you all next week.

Last week I started a Fitness challenge for any DTOIDer who wanted to participate. You can read up on it here. To my surprise a lot of people signed up and shared their plans and showed interest in participating, so this week I'm sharing their plans and an update on my own progress.

A quick note. From this week on you will be able to differentiate who has just started and who Im posting progress for. Next to their name will either be blank or have the word Progress to signify what kind of info is being given about the person.

(Some participants didn't follow the pattern I put in the last blog, so I'll just post their comment)

WARNING: Wall of text Incoming

JohnnyViral Progress

Previous Goal = 5lbs
Actually lost = 2lbs

What I've been doing:
Had to cut down on the walking/jogging regiment due to having to fix my car, and a few other problems, so I walked/jogged less days than I would have liked to.

What I will do:
Continue the walking/jogging regiment. Possibly purchase a set of weights.

Goal for the Week:
3 lbs

DimmuJed

What I will do:
Cutting out pop, packing healthy lunches, no deep fried food, no eating out / fast food, start to look sexy.

Goal for the Week:
5 lbs, start to look sexy

Goal Overall:
180lbs total. Loss of 80lbs. Be sexy.

Tubatic


What I will do:
More water, less soda (diet coke or nothing), 7 hours of sleep or more each night, smaller portions

Goal for the Week:
No scale for metrics, but the goal is to not feel stupid bloated or daytime tired at any point during the work week. Have a healthy project crunch for the week.

Goal Overall:
Get and stay as far under 300lbs as possible by the end of the year. Preferably around 270. Not passing out during this 4 mile Cancer walk two Sundays from now.

taterchimp:
My goal is pretty simple...make everyone here look bad by comparison. But no seriously, this is a cool initiative and might serve as a kick start into a fitness routine again. I know I lost about 20 pounds this time last year in a crazy fitness cut, so Ill say that same goal by December.

Quinoa is good, try it. Diet soda, all the time.

HOLY SHIT! ITS
Jonathan Holmes
I lost six pounds from joggging every night for a bout a month. About to go jogging now, even though I hate it very much.

I hope to lose about a pound a week.

Kittenwithbeer
Okay so I weigh around 140-145 instead of trying to lose weight I'll eat more protein and try to hit the gym and lift Monday, Wednesday, and Fridays every week with my friends. I'll throw some cardio in there too and maybe even hit the gym on the weekends. It's gonna be hard with all of my classes and crazy schedule but if I stay determined I can do it.

Overall goal at the end of all of this is: Get a good workout schedule going and gain a significant amount of muscle.

Blu
I actually hit the gym today from a long vaacaaation. A pound a day sounds really good plan until next Summer. This would make a good motivation for me since all my friends decided to be lazy as well.

Alex Barbatsis
I'll be working out 4-5 times a week, either with a 5 mile jog or 2 hours in the gym. Also, I've got to cut out Coca Cola, this makes me so sad, but its necessary ;0

Frank Jaeger
I am a respectable 172lbs, but very self conscious and lazy. Reasonably fit, but I always think I can do more.

My goal is to increase my bench press by 5lbs or more a week.

JoshThor
very good idea! i need people to help keep me accountable. last time i actually worked on losing weight i lost 20 lbs in a month, and from last year im down from 33% body fat to 20%. however, i still need to...not nessesarily lose weight, but trim the fat.

im going to the gym 5 times a week right now, and going on random walks late at night

stuff i need to do:
stop eating fast food and drinking soda (soda part not hard) count calories, do 30 min of cardio (on the bike) every day after my workout and 1 hour every day im not lifting, actually stretch several times a day, and keep focused on my ab stuff im trying to do 3 times a day. (goes from doing it 3 times a day for like 4 days to skipping a week)

i want to maintain my 200 lbs, but replace the fat with muscle. so far im doing a good job, i increased my bench by 60 lbs in the last 2 months.

Kyle MacGregor
I've been comfortable at 170 the past few years, but I'm always trying to better myself. Lately I've been working on upper body and core strength and am working my way up to running 5 miles a day 4+ times a week. Pretty close to that now. I also cut out alcohol a few days ago. I usually have a beer with dinner but figure it's probably holding me back a little. Let's see how long that lasts.


OK so we have a good number of people participating. Thanks a lot you guys for getting involve. Remember you can get in on the fitness challenge whenever you want, and when you do post a comment here is a nice little template for it

What I've been doing:

What I will do:

Goal for the Week:

Simple as that. Now go out there and challenge yourself to get healthy or stay healthy. Good luck