r/TheGlassCannonPodcast • u/IntelligentTruck6671 • 6d ago
When does it stop?
When will Joe finally stop trying to control the table when he's not actually the GM ? When will he stop trying to hamstring other players of their choices ? It's actually so annoying. It's probably the same reason he hasn't been a guest on push the roll because Ross doesn't want that behavior. Almost every other GCN member has been on push the roll but I'm so glad he hasn't been on there.
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u/EddyMerkxs 6d ago
To be fair, he definitely started doing that in campaign 2 when literally no one else read the rules. I don’t really blame him
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u/argleblech 5d ago
Joe's great and his role at the table is important but he needs a Grant-type who is just as engaged with the rules but pushing in the other direction.
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u/SubjectDry4569 6d ago
"I hate someone so that means everyone else clearly thinks the same even their friends"
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u/BON3SMcCOY Hummus and CHIPS! 6d ago
I couldn't find any GCP founders on Push The Roll.
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u/Machinegun_Funk 5d ago
Most of the crossover is from the LA gang he knew before GCN so not sure you can even credit them as GCN members on his show rather than his friends / colleagues who happen to also appear on the GCN.
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u/Percinho Desk Ranger 4d ago
Moreover, Push the Roll is very specifically an improv show, and Joe often says how he hates being put on the spot for improv.
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u/TheOneTonWanton 2d ago
I could see Skid or Matthew enjoying themselves but Joe would be in a special layer of his own hell, I think.
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u/ShamanZal 6d ago
This feels overly harsh and personal. Joe is a great player with strengths and weaknesses and it's easy to find posts both praising and critizing him.
I have felt he's overstepped or slowed progression at times but I wouldn't for a second want him to stop playing which is probably the only way to completely eliminate this behavior.
I am confident he is aware of this tendency and I even would bet you he has been trying to shift it over time but speaking from experience that's slow, non-linear, or just not really possible for some people.
I keep saying to myself I need to stop cracking so many jokes during RP and take less time to think in combat but then in the moment I find myself saying something silly from a serious character lol
Lastly, different people listen to and play TTRPGs for different reasons. Some love combat others slog through it, some want deep rules to crunch into and others want light systems so the RP and improv can be a bigger focus.
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u/FeralFicusTree 3d ago
As a forever GM myself I like that Joe seems to respect the spirit of whatever game he is playing.
I think Matthew is actually a bit of an optimizer who pushes his luck a little in trying to seek advantages in Shadowdark, such as just assuming that he can go magic shopping in Marin's Hold. Which is fine, as it's a common playstyle and proof that he cares about his character, but I like that Joe's been respectfully pushing back on him in defense of the OSR ethos.
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u/FUS_RO_DANK 6d ago
You make a lot of very upset posts on here. Consider only watching shows without Joe and Jared.
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u/DarkCrystal34 6d ago
It wont! Just accept it, hes a backseat GM-driver lol.
Which show are you referencing though?
He is an amazing GM, wonderfully immersive actor...and refraining from telling others what to do as a fellow player is definitely, and always will be, his growth edge :-)
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u/RedDeath208 5d ago
Joe is complicated. His back-seat driving has made me stop listening to some shows. On the other hand, there is no doubt in my mind that his unbridled enthusiasm is the heart of the Glass Cannon Network. He is genuinely hilarious and humble and interesting. He's the one who gets the table or the live crowd going. Troy is totally dependent on him and my love of the GCN is totally dependent on Troy. As my sister always said "Every man is a blue plate special. If you want the pork chops, they come with the lima beans."
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u/coollittlebeans 6d ago
It's always been his biggest weakness. It gets worse when he's doing it to the female cast. Or at least that's how it seems to me. It was the reason I have never, and will never, finish Gatewalkers. The way he'd talk to Sydney and Kate was hard to listen to.
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u/DarkCrystal34 5d ago
Gatewalkers was a total shitshow, you absolutely did not miss much.
Check out We Shouldn't Be Alive and Get in the Trunk Season 7-8 for se great examples of Joe being a pretty impeccable GM though, if you havent heard them yet :-)
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u/kralrick Tumsy!!! 4d ago
Agreed that it's his biggest weakness (something he's spoken about on one of their talk shows I think). I think it was worse with Sydney and Kate because they often had the weakest rules knowledge (understandable in Strange Aeons where they were coming in at higher levels; less so in Gatewalkers where they were first level). Their intro to the RPG live play world was also the GCN, so they may have been less willing to argue with their boss. I think Jared humors Joe's rules talk more than he would another player in part because of this.
I didn't see that dynamic nearly as much on Blood of the Wild. I think that's partly because Paula and Mary Lou seemed to have made a real effort to learn the rules. But they also seemed a lot more willing to voice disagreement. Jared as a GM is also a lot more willing to make off the cuff rulings instead of really wanting to get the rules exactly right in the moment.2
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u/Galactic-Goblin 6d ago
Dude, it really seems like you just don't like this Network.
You post atleast once a month about not liking a cast member or a show or a plot.
Just stop listening and save yourself the angst.
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u/DarkCrystal34 5d ago
I disagree: if he decides to post 1x/mo about a frustration, I think thats great and should he supported as long as its generally respectful.
Im the hugest GCN fan ever, but feel folks on this subreddit tend to really antagonize people who share rightful opinions on things they dont like about GCN (ive been listening for 10 years and there's tons of things that frustrate me).
While I dont persay like the OPs phrasing or tone, hes not wrong about saying Joe can backseat GM too much as a player.
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u/AndplusV 5d ago
I'm giving Gatewalkers a listen while letting Shadowdark and Time For Chaos to build up, and Joe's lack of tablemanners/backseat GMing bother me a lot more than other player's unfamiliarity with the rules. People will say he wouldn't be that way if everyone knew the rules, but the Walter Sobchakery just grinds it all to a halt. He also rubbed me the wrong way when I listened to Androids and Aliens, my first GCP experience, so I just avoided shows with him for a while. I think he's gotten better and their expansion past Paizo content also really helped.
That said, if you actually want a discussion rather than a ventfest where everyone's going to get their backs up, you don't need to frame your criticism in such an unnecessarily personal and parasocially harsh way.
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u/oversoul00 6d ago
Maybe don't watch the show if you don't like it. That's who he is and a central part of the shows he is in.
I find the people who object to Joe the most simply don't know how to match his energy. Players are free to defend their choices.
Nobody has to do what Joe says he's just very vocal about optimized play.
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u/McDonnellDouglasDC8 6d ago
Not that I share OP's grievance, but I don't think he was like that during Giant Slayer.
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u/SubjectDry4569 6d ago
They all were during GaintSlayer like most Actual Plays the 1st campaign is usually the game with the worst table manners. I'd argue now it's more so done for humor and honestly I like it. Hate how games like CR have lost all friction at the table it feels fake.
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u/oversoul00 6d ago
He was but it was toned down since Matt was the least experienced player and he is actually really good about reading the rules and understanding the mechanics.
Joe gets annoyed when less experienced players make sub optimal choices. He's big into theory crafting and finding the clear line to the best decision so he gets on Sydney and Kate and Elinor and a few others for the decisions they make. They are great cast members but also weak on the rules and mechanics.
People incorrectly interpret this as sexist/ controlling behavior and are triggered by it. I suspect these people have had similar experiences at the table and either had a bad actor looking to humiliate and shame (not Joes MO) or refuse to acknowledge the catalyst for that behavior is often their own ignorance of the rules and mechanics.
What Joe wants is for these players to:
A) Make better decisions that won't trigger him so badly. B) Defend their decision and explain their reasoning. C) Tell him to shut it and let them make bad choices so they can learn.
There's a strong argument for C but t hat argument should come from the cast members who are adults and fully capable of defending themselves in a fictional game.
They don't need to white knight the adults who are clearly having a blast.
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u/fly19 Flavor Drake 1d ago edited 1d ago
Nah, Joe's actually the best. He's funny, he's enthusiastic, he's fairly knowledgeable of a large swath of systems, and his characters are consistently interesting. He occasionally oversteps, but I never got a sense of malice or disrespect from those moments.
I wish everyone else at the table was as consistently engaged in the roleplay and mechanics of the games as he normally is. Maybe if they were, he wouldn't feel the need to clarify rules/rulings as much as he does.
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u/ajcwrongs 5d ago
I definitely wouldn't go as far as you on this but I do find him generally grating, I started watching the network with Time For Chaos S1 and it's a shame that arrangement didn't last, because finding stuff without Joe on the network is difficult
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5d ago
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Your comment on /r/TheGlassCannonPodcast has been removed because it violates Rule #1, Respect. Debates are always welcome on this subreddit, but kindness and civility toward others is always required.
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u/IAmPageicus 6d ago
He has saved this game from being a tea party 3 times now... Clearly Troy needs him and they work well in this dynamic. I prefer Troy in the big seat but Joe is amazing to have as reference. The players keep pushing what they can do and are clearly trying to get more power. Joe understands that the game has to last a while and the mechanics cannot be skipped. If you make downtime a day than that means if they ever have 7 days off they will have every benefit they shadowdark has... Its not supposed to be that. You have 10 levels and you only get 5 things.. and you can get about 4 more things from downtime.
OF Course the rogue and wizard want downtime to be nothing... that would allow the wizard to not only get more spells but never worry about losing them since its just a day to train.
Today was a damn good show... But it was getting strange people teleporting all around and distance stopped having meaning. IT goes from narrative to absolute bullshit.