It seems like events have caught up with Spencer, host of 40K Radio, and due to a number of issues he has decided to shut down the show. As seen in his post, recent threats have scared the proclaimed "Rockstar of 40K" into making the decision to go off the "air":What a long crazy journey this has been! I want to thank each and everyone who listened to the show. You truly made it an enjoyable experience. Meeting you all at live events or on the chat or on the phone has been amazing. It is something I will never forget. In light of recent threats to myself and my family I have decided to close down the show. I did not start this to allow people a platform to attack my family. This is a show about little toy men….moving on little toy worlds. It was supposed to be fun. Personal attacks and threats take that fun away.
I will miss all of you.
Thanks for listening.
The show and all of its contents are for sale. If you are interested please send me an email.
For what its worth, I wish Spencer good luck and will acknowledge that the end of 40K Radio leaves a hole in my podcast listening itinerary. No one should have issue with acknowledging that Spencer and Phil (the original 40K Radio hosts) were trailblazers of a sort for miniature war-gaming podcasts. Following the example and with support from Podhammer, they carved out a very successful niche for 40K podcasts.
When I received word earlier today that the show had been canceled, I found myself with mixed feelings. On the one hand, I was surprised because I did not expect Spencer would have this reaction to recent events on/with his show. On the other hand, the quality of the show seems to have been declining for a while, with even the hosts repeatedly discussing "how bad the show is" and Spencer specifically claiming that listeners should just "accept what they get, because its not going to get any better". Recent comments along those lines truly make me wonder if the emailed threat came at an opportune time for Spencer to use it as an "out". I do not condone the threats or implied threats Spencer published in an email he claims was recently received, but it does make me wonder.
Now let me also say that I am/was a listener and was even a "Freeboota" for a period of time. While I am no longer financially supporting the show, I do wonder what will happen to those who were. Will the Freeboota's receive any reimbursement for prorated fees paid to support the show and gain access to the private forums? Was there any implicit or explicit agreement between 40K Radio and its sponsors/supporters? I hope everything works out well.
At the end of the day, there are many Freeboota's who showed their support financially and will surely miss the show. I also know there are several other quality podcasts out there that will fill the gap, and perhaps even surpass 40K Radio. Here are some I listen to (and one I host) - All of these should be the feed's:
- Dice Like Thunder
- Gamers Lounge
- Worlds End Radio
- Podhammer
- 11th Company 40K Podcast
- Imperial Vox Cast
- Heelan Hammer
- theWarBanner
- D6 Generation
- Miscast Podcast
- The Waaagh Cast
Posts
Looks like Miscast has closed up shop also.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree. Your story sound so very familiar, as with all of us that were fans of the show. I cut my teeth on 40K Radio. I was a noob when Episode 1 was released, just out of the rulebook and learning the game. And 40K Radio taught me how to play. I learns tactics, terms, and oh so much more. I will miss them.
ReplyDeleteEvilEd209
Sadly true, Miscast closed up last November. Still some good stuff in my archive to listen to though.
ReplyDeleteAs I say, missed but it does raise questions. While I have had my disappointment with the show on a number of occasions, it is never good for the hobby to see one of the front-runners leave the scene.
ReplyDeletePulled this PM exchange off my DLT account this morning. I contacted dapatrick on the DLT forums as I remember him as being very vocal about Jar-Jar’s slip up a few months ago. He was attempting build some support towards getting sponsorship pulled from 40K Radio. When I read the above e-mail I was struck by the tenor of the letter as being very similar to how dapatrick writes his posts. Further, dapatrick has a post on the DLT forums with an alleged bit of correspondence from Stephen Hope.
ReplyDeleteIt should be noted that dapatrick has not denied that he is Stephen Hope aka, Jack the Ripper. Actually, his easy and off-hand dismissal itself is suspicious. I know that if I was accused of being someone who would do such a thing, I would definitely deny it.
dapatrick has not made that denial. If anything he has responded with the lofty dismissal so prevalent amongst internet badasses who sit safe in their anonyminity.
The first communique is listed at the bottom and works backwards towards the top.
Re: Who are you?
Sent: Tue May 25, 2010 9:51 am
by James
No thanks….
I see you are still declining to answer the really important question…
Are you the person who sent the e-mail to Spencer at 40K radio?
_____________________________________________________________
Re: Who are you?
Sent: Tue May 25, 2010 9:47 am
by dapatrick
drink the cool-aid buddy.
_________________________________________________________
Re: Who are you?
Sent: Tue May 25, 2010 9:44 am
by James
I don’t know how to respond to that.
If you are Stephen Hope you are a detestable human being.
If you support the e-mail sent to to Spencer at 40K Radio via Jack the Rippa (aka, Stephen Hope) than you again qualify as a detestable human being.
If you are neither of the above then you are merely someone with whose point of view I disagree with.
__________________________________________________________
Re: Who are you?
Sent: Tue May 25, 2010 9:41 am
by dapatrick
so then i guess it doesnt matter who i am
__________________________________________________________
Who are you?
Sent: Tue May 25, 2010 9:34 am
by James
Are you Stephen Hope?
I guess it is pointless to ask.
I remember you leading the charge on these forums back when Jar-Jar dropped the N-bomb on 40k Radio.
Either way, I disagreed with you then and I disagree with you know
Pulled this PM exchange off my DLT account this morning. I contacted dapatrick on the DLT forums as I remember him as being very vocal about Jar-Jar’s slip up a few months ago. He was attempting build some support towards getting sponsorship pulled from 40K Radio. When I read the above e-mail I was struck by the tenor of the letter as being very similar to how dapatrick writes his posts. Further, dapatrick has a post on the DLT forums with an alleged bit of correspondence from Stephen Hope.
ReplyDeleteIt should be noted that dapatrick has not denied that he is Stephen Hope aka, Jack the Ripper. Actually, his easy and off-hand dismissal itself is suspicious. I know that if I was accused of being someone who would do such a thing, I would definitely deny it.
dapatrick has not made that denial. If anything he has responded with the lofty dismissal so prevalent amongst internet badasses who sit safe in their anonyminity.
The first communique is listed at the bottom and works backwards towards the top.
Re: Who are you?
Sent: Tue May 25, 2010 9:51 am
by James
No thanks….
I see you are still declining to answer the really important question…
Are you the person who sent the e-mail to Spencer at 40K radio?
_____________________________________________________________
Re: Who are you?
Sent: Tue May 25, 2010 9:47 am
by dapatrick
drink the cool-aid buddy.
_________________________________________________________
Re: Who are you?
Sent: Tue May 25, 2010 9:44 am
by James
I don’t know how to respond to that.
If you are Stephen Hope you are a detestable human being.
If you support the e-mail sent to to Spencer at 40K Radio via Jack the Rippa (aka, Stephen Hope) than you again qualify as a detestable human being.
If you are neither of the above then you are merely someone with whose point of view I disagree with.
__________________________________________________________
Re: Who are you?
Sent: Tue May 25, 2010 9:41 am
by dapatrick
so then i guess it doesnt matter who i am
__________________________________________________________
Who are you?
Sent: Tue May 25, 2010 9:34 am
by James
Are you Stephen Hope?
I guess it is pointless to ask.
I remember you leading the charge on these forums back when Jar-Jar dropped the N-bomb on 40k Radio.
Either way, I disagreed with you then and I disagree with you know
James,
ReplyDeleteHow in the hell does this help anyone? All you're doing is stirring up more crap that no one wants to deal with. Better question is why are you bringing this crap over to DTP? It doesn't belong here.
Even without the emailed threat, this seemed to me a likely outcome for 40k Radio. I thought things were unravelling pretty quickly for Spencer and his show, as evidenced by the steady decline in quality not to mention the total meltdown involving Scott and Chipley. I suspect the most recent and final parts of this story really just provided the final incentive to pull the plug. I doubt anyone from the show anticipated talking about plastic spacemen would ever create this type of stress in their lives. Oh well... it's a sad ending for something that brought people a lot of enjoyment.
ReplyDeleteLarry,
ReplyDeleteI posted this information as it seems relevant to the discussion at hand. The community has lost a resource. It only seems fair that the one responsible come out of hiding and own up to his actions.
My edit (to be clear) was to identify this thread from its duplicate so I could remove the duplicate. No contents have been changed.
ReplyDeleteJames, I will agree with Larry that I do not feel this is truly pertinent to the situation. Your personal correspondence with someone on the DLT forum are certainly between you and that person. I would like to be clear that DLT has very openly posted their response to 40K radio closing its doors. It can be found here: http://dicelikethunder.com/?p=252
Personally, I could care less about who sent the email, as I whole-heartedly disagree with the comments in the email posted. Then again, that issue is past and I do not think the email deserves much more time spent. I think the bigger story here is 40K Radio leaving the Mini-Wargaming podcast scene.
As mentioned on the Gamers Lounge blog comments, it would have been nice to listen to a farewell show.
ReplyDeleteI was about to compliment Bill for putting DLT at the top of his list (over his own podcast) but for god's sake people, this crap has followed me here too.
ReplyDeleteWhich crap was that Dan?
ReplyDeleteFunny enough, as I record Gamers Lounge, DLT actually takes priority on listening to new casts. D6 used to be much higher as well, until they went to the 3-4 hour format and I just have trouble listening to a whole show without dedicating a long drive or flight to it.
Hey Bill, just hit the jump from GL and my suspicions were correct about your feelings. Those were some of my thoughts too. I don't, nor will I probably ever know the whole story, but factoring in the declining quality and departing hosts, I think the writing was on the wall and these "threats" seem a little too convenient and an easy out without ever really having to explain the host exodus. Maybe I'm totally wrong. I've listened and supported 40k Radio for a long time, but they were passed in quality a long time ago. DLT, IVC, and now some of the other new blood like yourself, IC, 11th Co. I almost found myself struggling through their episodes. Sorry to ramble, but as I said this was the first time I saw someone who had even remotely the same initial thoughts. Keep up the awesome work and keep killing those little gray bastards.
ReplyDelete