Defiance Reporter – MMO Reporter
Defiance Reporter Episode 011 - Sick days
This week we break the mold and do a show about having no show! Yep, you read right. There was no new Defiance this week, so Chris and Ben take a look at all the show predictions to see how they scored. Were they right? Were they completely off the reservation? Tune in to find out!
Listen now:
DRAMA IN DEFIANCE
NO EPISODE THIS WEEK
This week there was no new episode of Defiance so Chris and I are shaking things up and breaking the mold this episode.
Recap - What’s happened on the show so far this season.
DJ Alak Tarr of Raider Radio was kind enough to put together a 5 minute segment explaining the things you need to know about Defiance, its history, and its major players.
33 years ago humans were the only intelligent species on Earth, then came the arrival of 8 alien races, the war, exploding arkships, and the accidental terraforming of the planet. (whoops!)
A small group from both sides got together and said “this war sucks, lets just chill and be cool.â€
There are some major players in Defiance all newcomers should know about..
Joshua Nolan – a former soldier and one of the defiant few who grew up in St Louis and came home and became the new lawkeeper.
Irisa – a rescued Irathient who is being raised by Nolan and is his badass and deadly right hand. She has some alien psychic power that other think proves she is a God.
Datak Tarr – Its hard to describe WHAT Datak does (but we all know its shady and probably illegal)
Stahma Tarr – She doesn’t wear the pants in the family (har har har), but she does have her family’s best interests at heart.
Amanda Rosewater – the stand in mayor after former mayor Nikki who is trying to get everyone to play nice.
Kenya Rosewater- She’s kinda the mayor of Pleasureville. She runs the bar and brothel, the Need/Want
Rafe MacCawley and his kids – Rafe employs half of Defiance in his mines. There’s an issue between Rafe and Datak.
BREAKING NEWS: E-Rep has beefed up its presence in Defiance but no one seems to know why. Also that guy who is seen to hang out with Mayor Nikki is missing.
Also some good news, Alak and Christie will be getting married!
Word is Irisa and Deputy Tommy hooked up (wonder where she kept her knives, HAH!)
The Fast Five with Josh Nolan
Did you really grow up in St Louis? Yeah, never thought the city would end up buried
Is it difficult having an alien for a daughter? I think teenagers are tough no matter where they come from.
Is it true you cheated when you fought the Bioman? Who’s saying I cheated?
When are you gonna stop harassing my dad? When he stops harassing my people.
Is it true that Kenya dumped you? Thats a load of shtako.
Preview for next episode “Goodbye Blue Sunâ€
The description reads: Defiance is hit by Razor Rain, forcing its residents to stay indoors – where interesting relationships develop. Irisa’s visions lead her to Sukar and the Spirit Riders, where she finds Sukar under the influence of a strange and mysterious force.
FINALLY! Razer Rain. I’ve been waiting to see what Razer Rain was all about.
What are Kenya and Stahma discussing and what would make Stahma so upset?
Is that an arkfall headed towards Defiance?
Absolutely nothing was in the trailer that gave a glimpse of what Sukar was experiencing, so we’ll just have to wait to see.
Watch the first 4 minutes of “Goodbye Blue Sunâ€
Man that Razor Rain looks exciting, dangerous, and just the kind of natural disaster I was hoping to see in Defiance!
Sukar dying?! NOOOooo!
Oh, its just one of Irisa’s visions. Really? All that heart wrenching just to push the reset button on Sukar’s death?
HAH! Nolan got kissed by a Liberata.. and he doesn’t know if it was a he or she. LOVE IT!
“You coming or not.†I love the dynamics between Bowler and Leonidas more and more as the episodes air. It was like Nolan waited for the invitation because he knows not to go following in Irisa’s footsteps if she wants to be alone and she knows all she has to do is ask for help and Nolan is by her side.
Predictions throughout Defiance Reporter history
Throughout Defiance Reporter episodes, even before the Pilot episode of Defiance, Chris and I have been throwing out our predictions for the future of the show. Now that we’re mid season, I think its time to see how well or completely off the reservation we got.
Ben
Chris
DR Ep 2
From the snippets of the show I’ve seen in all of these Making Of Featurettes, I predict a wedding. A marriage between Alak and Christie to either bring the Tarr and McCawley’s together, or drive a wedge deeper between them. My guess is that Christie, in her hopes for unity and the allure of the new and wondrous, will be taken in by the Tarr family, leaving her father behind. Also, in true shakespearean fashion, Tybalt dies, so while I hope we don’t have a death so early on, I think we lose young Quentin.
I think that the relationship between Alak and Christie will be put in jeopardy by Irisa. She’ll become a part of a new love triangle.
DR Ep 3
Nolan will have relations and maybe feelings for Kenya, but will get spurned and fall for Amanda.
We will be introduced to a character flaw in Amanda that could later cost her job. I’m guessing she’s done something illegal in her past….
DR Ep 5
The key that everyone is looking for is obviously important and has to unlock or power something that came down with the votans as Earth wouldn’t have been prepared for this in this universe. I’m guessing that the key is some kind of control or blueprint for a “master terraforming device†that will eradicate either human or votan life once and for all. Either that or it could power a downed arkship if there are any.
Nolan will have a relationship with Amanda AND Kenya at the same time. Oh that Nolan! *Insert Family Guy transition music here*
DR Ep 6
I’m calling the easy one this episode. Tommy and Irisa. There’s definitely a relationship forming there. Also, the first thing Nolan is going to do next episode is arrest Datak Tarr.
Alek will side with the McCawleys at least once this season.
DR Ep 7
Rynn is going to bust out or get co opted to work for the bad guys (Birch and Nikk)
The Earth Republic will try to get a coup going in Defiance in the next few weeks.
DR Ep 8
Next week I think we’re going to find out that Rynn was rescued by not the spirit riders, but Birch and Nicki since she’s proven herself resourceful and they could use someone like her in their plans.
Irisa will have more visions, Rynn will escape because anyone in cuffs who steals a pen will escape (Its movie law), and the E-rep and Amanda are going to butt heads.
DR Ep 9
Tommy scored, and he’s going to let it get to his head and think there’s something there, even though Irisa isn’t interested.
Alek is going to continue to anger his father with his tendency to move to Human cultural norms, and Irisa is super interested in Tommy, but doesn’t have the emotional tools to hold a relationship.
DR Ep 10
–
–
We didn’t do a show prediction last episode so that we could save it for tonight’s. So with that in mind, here are our predictions for the next episode and possibly the rest of the season:
Ben
For Next episode, I think the Razer Rain disaster will cause some true colors to fly. I think we will see the private or hidden side of people come out while they think everyone is too busy with the storm or because they feel trapped and cornered.
For the rest of the season, I predict Irisa will have a defiant teenage phase where she leaves Daddy for a little while to hang out with the cool biker gang, straining the father/daughter relationship, but never breaking it. She just “has to go explore the world on her own†because she “isn’t a child anymore.â€
Nolan will NOT have a relationship this season with either Amanda or Kenya, mostly because he tried to play both fields and ended up losing one on principle and the other to an old friend. Better luck next season Nolan.
Chris
I think that despite the teaser intro, Nolan and Kenya are going to end up in a spot stuck together, and have to work out their “issuesâ€.
Alek will do something to save either Christie or her father, and earn some respect.
E-Rep will try to take over Defiance from the outside
What do we like in the show? What do we want to see addressed or changed?
Ben
The show has done a great job with the Irathients and Castithans, highlighting what makes them so alien from us and yet still able to conform to the ways of earth, but I want more focus on the different races of the Votanis Systems. I love Doc Yewell and want more Indogene involvement. I get that Sensoths and Liberatas are more muscle or serving class, but they can’t ALL be set in their roles. If we can have an episode highlighting a Bioman (Ulysses), then we can have an episode following a Liberata arms dealing, starting a revolution for liberation (see what i did there? :P), or just talking about his/her race and their culture.
Speaking of show appearances, what about some of the baddies we have in game showing up in the show? We got to see a Bioman, and we’ve had mention of a 99er, but no glimpse of one, nor have we seen mutants, scrappers, Dark Matter, or even POWS! And no, a butcher sign shaped like a pow doesn’t count.
I want to see more episodes this season and next. I know that 12 episodes is great for a 1 hour drama on television to tell a compelling story without stretching it too thin, but Defiance has a lot going for it. A lot of content to cover. I think a 24 episode run would have been better.
I’m having fun with these smaller character driven episodes that focus only on a couple of people at a time since it makes digesting the evolving characters more manageable, I want to see more of the main drama develope. When they stretch it out this long I feel like the plot isn’t well developed or complicated and will make the show fall flat. Well, that and I get impatient when I get no answers for a while.
Chris
I like where the show is going, and how each episode feels “tighter†than the last.
More alien races without an “alien of the week†theme.
More episodes!
What the community has to say
.@defiancepodcast we love how the show upturns gender norms; btw the gayliens and the bromance, there’s something for everyone. #Defiance
— Women of Defiance (@womenofdefiance) May 31, 2013Â
.@defiancepodcast We’d really like to see Amanda Rosewater go the #gaylien route as well…
— Women of Defiance (@womenofdefiance) June 2, 2013
@defiancepodcast Zombies, cures, corruption, Sister/cop love triangle drama and typical alien discontent. With sex/drugs/violence as usual.
— Competetive Gamer(@l7l_LuSt_l7l) May 30, 2013
@defiancepodcast I want the show (or game) to go to Vegas.
— David Collins (@DraftingDave) May 30, 2013
Unanswered questions..
What is Ex Mayor Nikki up to and why does she think its necessary?
How did she orchestrate a Volge attack on Defiance?
What is the deal with the artifact or artifacts, the cave paintings, and the stuff from the 1800s.
Why is E-rep moving in to Defiance? Is it all about the Maglev or do they know about St. Louis underground and the artifact?
- Is Irisa really a God? Why does she have these visions and do other Votans have powers we don’t know about?
NEWS FROM THE BAY AREA
[What we did in game]
Ben
Thanks to the patch I FINALLY got to do Dam Defense and thus complete all my area pursuits save the ones in San Francisco. Hey, I can only do so much driving time trials before I want to do a table flip.
Chris
Ran a couple of co-op missions with random people. Fun, but wish more people chatted with each other during the runs.
350+ Ego.
Almost completed all of the side missions before the bridge. Want to finish it all!
Spent about 3 hours trying to get the Challenger. The stupid random event that would pop up along the way and wreck the course. It’s not right that different runs would be affected by the world.
Defiance: Across the Badlands Episode 7
http://www.twitch.tv/trionworlds/c/2341899
Best episode yet! A sweet 2 minute video tying in with the events happening in-game.
Basically Sledgehammer and Dahanese have come down with a mysterious illness and only Overload was there to run the show, which only lasted a few minutes tops.
What the HECK!? What did that flu turn Gregg into?! Hopefully we get to see these mutants or zombies or whatever they are in-game soon.
With that, let’s talk about the illness spreading out across the Badlands..
SICKNESS HITS THE BAY!
http://community.defiance.com/en/2013/05/28/sickness-hits-the-bay/
A mystery sickness is spreading across the Bay area! In an effort to find out what is happening, triage centers have been established at Iron Demon Ranch, Top Notch and Shandu’s Consulate.
Pursuits: Hunting the Cure
Find Data Recorder “Subject Douglas Riversâ€
Find Data Recorder “Quarantine Recommendationâ€
Find Data Recorder “Stage 4 Outbreakâ€
The sickness right now is, as we are led to believe, coming from an Iratheint caravan moving East across the Badlands into the Storm Divide, hinting at the illness coming to Defiance, Missouri (are there still states?), but as some older promos have led us to believe, the sickness could have been brought down from the arkships in a Razor Rain.
Right now this event isn’t much other than finding some data recorders but the hope is that it will extend to finding a cure with Eren after Monday’s episode.
Massively’s The Think Tank: The best MMO of 2013… so far
http://massively.joystiq.com/2013/05/30/the-think-tank-the-best-mmo-of-2013-so-far/
“At the end of each year, we like to put our heads together and figure out the year’s best MMOs in several categories. Often times, the games released earlier in the year aren’t as fresh in our memories, so we might not be as excited about them by the time December rolls around. But in this week’s The Think Tank, I wanted to make sure to play off of that mid-year enthusiasm and have the team members pick their favorites as they stand at this halfway point.â€
DEFIANCE won the pick with 4 out of 6 writers enjoying the game now.
Beau was very enthusiastic, saying that it really has something for almost everyone. “I’ve heard that the single player campaign is very easy to burn through, and I’m not sure how much the game will actually connect to the show, but I don’t care. It’s fun and easy to get into.â€
David: “The game has a flavour that caters to my need for shooting things, while just covering my RPG needs. I also really dig the concept of crossing the TV show and the game together to bring an extra level of engagement to the game.â€
Mike: “If you’ve got only 30 minutes and really want to play an MMO, Defiance is probably the game to play. It’s not perfect, and I doubt it will live forever, but for those of us with tight schedules and minimal requirements for a title beyond it being “fun,” it certainly does the trick.â€
Shawn was grabbed by Defiance and even though its not a “full-service†MMO, its fun. “Fun is why I play games.â€
Community Spotlight
Each episode we try to find gamers who go above and beyond to create a more immersive experience for the Defiance Community. This week we want to shine our spotlight on:
KTAM Radio
We’ve talked about KTAM before and even had DJ Beck Altarr as a guest host, but it bears repeating. His radio station provides a third dimension outside of the game and show, providing listeners with good tunes, radio shows, and ads tailored to the world of Defiance.
Remember, if you want us to feature your clan or community site on Defiance Reporter, tweet us, leave a voicemail, or send us an email at defiance@mmoreporter.com.
LAST MINUTE ANNOUNCEMENTS
Join our clan IGNI FERROQUE! <defiancereporter.guildlaunch.com>
No registration required, just look for one of these officers in-game, Corso Vanlocke, Jack Thundersteele, or Almazar to get an invite!
CONTACT US!
Email: defiance@mmoreporter.com
twitter: twitter.com/defiancepodcast or @defiancepodcast
site: defiancereporter.com
Voicemail: 616-666-6778 (and our new widget on the ride hand side of the page)
youtube: youtube.com/user/mmoreporternetwork
Chris: twitter.com/almazar
Our sponsors:
Visit Podcast Website
RSS Podcast Feed
Subscribe
Share
Add to MyCast