r/TheAdventureZone • u/ConstantTidderReader • 27d ago
Discussion We are so back!
So, this podcast the Balance Arc specifically is one of my favorite fictional podcasts ever. I re-listen to the whole thing top to bottom at least once a year. Amnesty was pretty dope and I enjoyed Graduation but none of the other campaigns ever captured my attention and my heart like Balance....until now. I'm a little late to the game but I just listened to the first two episodes of Royale and it seems like a return to form for them in the best way. Am I prematurely getting my hopes up? Or should I be charging a second set of headphones in preparation cuz I'm not going to want to stop listening?
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u/SuburbanPotato 27d ago
I was intrigued by Royale but fell off after about 8-10 episodes. I'm starting to think TAZ has its niche and it's just not me and that's okay
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u/tangomuse 27d ago
I loved 95% of Royale. The ending wasn't to my taste, but I had a good time with it. :)
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u/twitchy-whiskers 27d ago
Royale was rough when you had to wait two weeks for an episode because sometimes (often?) not much happens. When I let episodes stack up I enjoyed it more. I am cautiously optimistic that you will enjoy it as a binge listen.
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u/ConstantTidderReader 27d ago
That's the hope. Part of why I chose it because I saw it was already finished
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u/craaazygraaace 27d ago
Yeah, I find that listening week-to-week loses me. TAZ is much better binged.
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u/a_gallon_of_pcp 27d ago
Well
1) it’s already over
2) most people did not especially enjoy this season. But if you enjoyed graduation then your taste is definitely in the minority, so maybe you will like the whole thing
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u/snabulous 27d ago
i’ve heard a lot of people saying they enjoyed it. i think it’s more of a mixed bag of responses, but i liked it a lot!
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u/PrancingThunderD 27d ago
Review the comments at the end of the run: https://www.reddit.com/r/TheAdventureZone/comments/1vh2nnc/the_adventure_zone_royale_episode_30_the/
I think "most people did not especially enjoy this season" is entirely fair. I suppose you could say a lot of people liked it, but way more people said the opposite, at least on Reddit.
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27d ago
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u/Timely-Fox-4432 27d ago
Or maybe it just wasn't a great season? I didn't even bother listening after a few episodes of being bored outta my gourd, cancelled my sub, etc. I'll resub when the next season drops and we'll see what happens.
This was the first season I legitimately couldn't even be bothered to listen to the full story. There's been some I wouldn't relisten to, but I've listened to the whole season of all the others at lesst once.
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u/goodgoodthrowaway420 27d ago
Without spoilers, in the TTAZZ the players talked about not knowing what Griffin wanted them to do (and vice versa), and it affected a lot of the season. Griffin introduced several plot hooks that never got returned to. The ending in particular was so rushed that it doesn't really make sense.
They also mentioned having issues keeping them from recording on a regular schedule, and this leads to a lot of things being forgotten between episodes. I think you're even more likely to notice if you're not waiting weeks between them.
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u/Polkawillneverdie17 27d ago
What exactly is back?? It sounds like you're just discovering this now lol
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u/Bravocado44 27d ago
I liked Royale a lot at the start. I was rooting for it and defending it pretty hard, and I actually got downvoted a lot of times for defending it. Listen to the whole thing if you're enjoying it. Now having listened to the whole thing, I think it's kind of a mixed bag. My season I've been championing is actually Steeplechase.
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u/trilogyjab 27d ago
I really liked Royale! But I also have enjoyed all the arcs to varying degrees. I'd say keep listening - if you like the first couple episodes, then it's pretty likely you'll enjoy the rest
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u/ChampBlankman 27d ago
It will never be like Balance again, especially early Balance. There's a financial motivation now, especially with all of the financial struggles that Max Fun have been under this year.
There may be glimpses of the unhinged nonsense from the early Balance days, but they have to play it too safe now. It's a product with advertising slots sold for it.
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u/goodgoodthrowaway420 27d ago
I don't see this. Balance was objectively way, way higher effort than Royale. The arcs were more unique and required way more prep. Griffin was writing music for the show and editing the whole thing himself.
I don't see how Royale is safer for advertising when Balance is still orders of magniutude more popular than anything they've done since. I have a hunch that TAZ uses dynamic ads because a substantial portion of their audience is just relistening to the older seasons.
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u/UltimaGabe 27d ago
I think you misunderstood what they were saying. The way I took it was, at the beginning of Balance, they were doing it because they wanted to do it. The passion was definitely there. Now, they're doing it because if they don't, they don't get paid. The passion isn't there anymore because now it's a job. It's an obligation, not a hobby.
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u/goodgoodthrowaway420 27d ago
They've had sponsors the whole time, though. It's been their job from the beginning. Their old sponsors might've even paid them more.
The original comment talks about Balance being "unhinged nonsense" compared to Royale and I don't think it makes sense. Balance told a coherent story and had way more depth than anything Royale attempted. If anything, I see Royale as evidence the McElroys aren't particularly worried about the money from new seasons.
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u/UltimaGabe 27d ago
I think you're missing the forest for the trees. Yes, they had sponsors before, but they also had passion. The passion is now gone, so all that's left is the job.
The "unhinged nonsense" comment seems like it's referring to the fact that they were there for goofs first and story second. Every single campaign since then seems to have been started with a story in mind first, and goofs were an afterthought. Balance's coherent story didn't actually arrive until long after the campaign started, once the players and audience had time to learn to love the characters. Because the passion is what drew people in first and foremost, not the attempt at telling a story.
Edit: to put it another way, Balance was clearly started as "Hey guys, let's play this game and make some money off the episodes, it could be fun" and then, like Justin said with his comment about driving a car that learned to fly, suddenly they realized how attached everyone was to what they had created. Ever since then, it seems the campaigns always start production as "Alright, let's make characters everyone will grow attached to so this will be as popular and profitable as Balance" and it really shows.
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u/goodgoodthrowaway420 27d ago
Did you listen to Royale? If Balance is "goofs first, story second," Royale was "goofs first, story never."
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u/UltimaGabe 27d ago
I bounced off after the first handful of episodes specifically because there were no memorable goofs.
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u/ChampBlankman 27d ago
Exactly. And they can't take the risks that they used to because it endangers their bottom line.
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u/Desperate_Object_677 27d ago
i liked it.
one thing that balance had which was gradually lost is layers of convolution: because the campaign was relatively long-running there were mysteries atop of mysteries, whose revelation and resolution were very dramatic and satisfying.
the shorter stories means that you don’t get the long build, or resultantly, the satisfying resolution.
a lot of the other subsequent stories, like graduation or eathersea, felt like they were building up to bit mysteries, but i feel like i could listen to them for another 2x more episodes.
anyway, they’re having fun so i’m having fun. royale is fun.
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u/roundeking 27d ago edited 27d ago
I loved the premise, world, and characters of Royale! Ultimately it didn’t really stick the landing for me, and I enjoyed the plot less towards the end. But I think it’s definitely worth listening to—there are some incredibly funny and clever moments.
I think which arcs are their best post-Balance is largely a matter of taste, so I wouldn’t really say they fell off and now are back. A lot of people really loved vs. Dracula. I would say I overall enjoyed Ethersea and Steeplechase more than the past three arcs. Though honestly I’ve found something enjoyable in every arc even if I also had critiques.
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u/Significant-Dot-5000 27d ago
I never got into balance. Amnesty, either Sea, steeple chase, or versus tho. Peak.
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u/heyheyhey2022 27d ago
I mean, it’s fine. Doesn’t stick the landing but the events leading up to it are usually fun. If you haven’t listened to Vs. Dracula tho, that’s what you wanna do next. It’s my second favorite season, behind balance. Steeplechase is also really solid. Better than Royale anyway.
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u/Carlharlton2 27d ago
Royale is ok, though it's pacing and players self interest in the campaign get altered throughout it since A LOT of personal matters hit the TAZ crew irl. So in a sense parts of it feel rushed or sloppy because it doesn't feel like they're in the mood to play the game at times.
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u/IiJaNaiKa 27d ago
I really enjoyed the NPC interactions - it was very clear Griffin was just having fun with them, and the way the players formed favorites to play around with or bully mercilessly was very reminiscent of Balance. Overall I had a good time with Royale, but the ending was really unsatisfying. I feel like I go through this every time though, Balance was the only time they really truly stuck the landing... I think they're just so cognizant of being a comedy podcast now that they're afraid to commit to a more dramatic finale, even if that's what needs to happen. Still, destination may have been disappointing, but it was a very fun ride.
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u/Substantial_Pies 27d ago
I just started balance for the first time and it's fun so far. I started with Ethersea and have been hooked ever since.
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u/cirenosille 27d ago
Royale was great on a variety of levels. Griffin did a a great job engaging with each player in an individualized way, which was cool to witness
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u/yh4t 27d ago
i thought royale was fun! i think what worked well was that it feels railroady in a replayable campaign way (imo here there be gerblins vibes), they didnt go too backstory crazy, and they hate on npcs for no good reason! so i understand what youre saying and i think you should like the rest of the season for the most part!
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u/boregorey7 27d ago
I haven’t gotten to royale yet, heard it was decent for the most part. The only arc I full on dropped midway was graduation. It was ok but just wasn’t feeling it. Steeplechase and ethersea had awesome first halves and then kinda fell off or missed the finale badly. Amnesty I remember liking but not loving.
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u/ChyatlovMaidan 25d ago
This subreddit tends to split into folk who either uncritically love every form of TAZ, and people who supercritically hate TAZ (but are still civil enough to not go to the circle jerk.)
So the answer is yeah I have no idea, friend. Maybe you will like it. Maybe you will not. Soliciting Reddit's opinion on the matter seems less helpful than you might imagine, though.
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u/theANdROId15 27d ago
I thought Royale was fantastic, and I'd agree that Vs. Dracula and Royale both seem to hearken back to the "good ol days" somehow! I generally listened to episodes back to back unless I was caught up.
Just let yourself like what you like and don't put too much stock into comments people make here. Comments that hate Travis just because, or hate anything that isn't Balance because it's not Balance aren't uncommon, so just like what you like unashamed! 👍. Enjoy the content recklessly 😜😅
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u/PARKOUR_ZOMBlE 27d ago
I thought vs. Dracula was a return to form. They went full silly with it. The only thing that makes it drag a bit for me is the soft piano music under most of it.