When considering the idea for doing a new podcast about Call of Cthulhu, I had several examples I used as templates. First was Yog Radio, the original podcast about Call of Cthulhu. It was the retirement of Yog Radio at episode 50 that spurred me to consider doing a new one. I was waiting for someone to start up another one, and it didn’t happen. So, as is usually the case, if you don’t see someone making the thing you want, make it yourself. Thus, the Miskatonic University Podcast was born. How does one actually do this, though? That was my main question. I had no experience in audio production, RSS feeds or the like. I can make web sites, but that’s about it. That’s where d20 Radio comes in. My friend Cliff introduced our gaming group to Star Wars: Saga Edition. Still my favorite d20 based game yet. And, he mentioned that there was a podcast about it called Order 66. The show had a clear format that works well for a game with a lot of topics that can be covered. It started with two hosts, one being the tech engineer, the other lead topic moderator. I really liked how it worked, and the segments made it easy to be flexible with content. They also use a title system for the hosts that uses the gamemaster title from the game in question. GM Chris and GM Dave are the hosts of Order 66. A D&D podcast is hosted by DMs. And since this is Call of Cthulhu, we’re Keepers. Their episode 142 really enabled the creation of MUP. It was recorded live at GenCon 2011 with a panel called Hosting a Successful Gaming Podcast. In there, they mentioned one key element that has made MUP possible, how to host your episodes for free. We run on a super tight budget here, and GM Chris mentioned using Archive.org to host their podcast files. You do NOT want to host your audio content on your web server. They may claim “unlimited” space and bandwidth, but they will prove that lie when you try to make the most of it. Then I also looked for some podcasts about podcasting for further instruction. This included The Audacity to Podcast, School of Podcasting & Podcaster’s Studio. I learned Audacity, WordPress, & all the tools I needed to make this work from these guys. I put a thread on the Yog-Sothoth.com forums asking for a co-host (sadly that thread seems to have been pruned). This is where I got connected with Jon and Murph. We worked out a schedule, and away we went. My intention from the start was to join the d20 Radio Network once we had our required 5 episodes completed. I was in e-mail contact with GM Dave, and we were all set. Then something bizarre happened that I still cannot explain. Our e-mail programs stopped communicating with each other. I can’t mail them, and they can’t mail me. At the time I thought they just didn’t want the show and stopped talking, though. So we created our own forums and went solo. This past GenCon 2013 though, I was able to talk to them in person, and found that it was a tech issue that caused communication to stop. (Which is annoyingly still happening.) But we’re now a part of the network, MUP is part of the Gamer Nation! The reason for wanting to be in the network so bad is that it introduces a lot of new people to Call of Cthulhu who don’t already play it. There are podcasts on the network about all kinds of topics. Video games, Star Wars, D&D, Pathfinder, even the new Numenera game. And I’m proud to have our show in that mix. And a plug for a project that has sprung out of d20 Radio is Gamer Nation Studios, a game company lead by GM Chris and GM Dave.  And there is the Gaming Security Agency, a branch of Gamer Nation that is a community creating content for all kinds of games as well as reviews and interviews. Give it a look, there’s some great writing there. So, that’s it. The why’s, how’s and what-for’s. MUP Community, meet the Gamer Nation. Gamer Nation, meet the MUP Community. Both have some fantastic and creative people, and I think this is going to be a great relationship.]]>