Every week, Now You Know recaps the Know Direction content of the past week, previews the Know Direction content of the week to come, as the director of operations, Ryan Costello, shares his thoughts on the state of the network.
You may have noticed that Now You Know is dated the Monday of the week it releases. You may have also noticed that when you log onto the site on Monday, there isn’t always a new Now You Know. How can this be?
Your eyes aren’t deceiving you, dear readers. I am. I’ve been consistently late with my network editorials, and I back date them when I post so they appear in the mix of content when they should have posted.
I’m mostly bringing this up as an indicator that I’ve mellowed out about some of the site’s policies. It used to be that my top priority for network content was timeliness. I believed you build an audience by reliably releasing content when your audience expects it. That way, if it’s part of a reader’s routine to read a certain blog every week at breakfast, or listen to a certain podcast on their morning drive, we deliver on that expectation. It’s also good for search engine optimization.
I’ve come to realize that there is an alternative way to meet expectations: Event releases. Rise of the Rulelords does this very well. Instead of regularly scheduling content exclusively, mixing in regular releases with occasional but purposeful releases serves two audiences.
Those who want the comfort of routine can expect new Intrepid Heroes, Game Design Unboxed, Legend Lore, Tavern Rats, Digital Divination, and Upshift in their podcatcher on the same day of the same block, week after week. Likewise, Eldritch Excursion, Investing In, Essential Builds, and mostly Now You Know show up on the site when you expect them to.
Those who only want content when it feels important get new Know Direction: Beyond, Know Direction when Esther and Navaar bring it back, and Behind The Screens. Behind The Screens is a great example of this. When I’m inspired by a GMing topic and have the time to fully explore it, it can be a fun and useful blog. When I’m just writing whatever, or rushing through a half-baked idea because I have a deadline, it suffers. Before the launch of Essential Builds, I thought I just didn’t have a passion for blogging. It ends up, I just didn’t have a passion for writing Behind The Screens every two weeks like clockwork. In the past, I might have officially cancelled it. Instead, I’ll leave it with an open-ended release schedule, using it as a forum for my GMing thoughts when I need one.
Speaking of network content, here are the articles and podcasts that released last week:
Recap of September 11th to September 15th
What happened last week on knowdirectionpodcast.com and twitch.tv/knowdirection?
Monday, September 11th
Article
Now You Know – Starswan Songfinder
By Ryan Costello
Starfinder 1e may be in its final act, but the network will continue to love and support it on its way out.
Tuesday, September 12th
Podcast
Tavern Rats 6 – The Green Moon Festival
The Tavern Rats continue to explore their lives in the Realm of the Mammoth Lords and maintaining Broken Tusk traditions.
Thursday, September 14th
Podcast
Legend Lore 63 – LL Builds The Muppets
Loren and jess look at the history of The Muppets before building two Pathfinder 2e Muppet PCs each in an absolutely delightful episode that warmed this Muppet fan’s heart.
Article
Investing In: Are We The Baddies?
By Rob Pontious
Alignment might not be making its way into Pathfinder Remaster as a mechanic, but the concept of an evil lives on. Rob explores why and how to (and especially the how not to) run evil PCs and an evil campaign.
Preview of September 18th to September 22nd
Block 1 of our 2-block schedule.
Monday, September 18th
Podcast
Intrepid Heroes 116 – The Journey
After flying through starship weapon battery fire, our Intrepid Heroes are ready to break into the titular ark causing all this devastation.
Article
Now You Know: A Case of the Mondays
By Ryan Costello
Let’s all just pretend this came out on the 18th.
Tuesday, September 19th
Podcast
Game Design Unboxed 72: Disney Sorcerer’s Arena: Epic Alliances
Danielle speaks with Sean Fletcher about Disney Sorcerer’s Arena: Epic Alliances and, frankly, having the kind of career I used to think was prototypical of game designers before realizing how rare it is.
Article
Eldritch Excursion
By Nate Wright
Nate’s Pathfinder and Starfinder designs and musings.
Wednesday, September 20th
Podcast
Know Direction Beyond 77: Starfinder 2e Design
Alex and James talk with Thurston Hillman and Jenny Jarzabski from Paizo’s Starfinder team about their plans for Starfinder 2e.
Thursday, September 21st
Podcast
Digital Divination 92
John and Jason talk Starfinder.
Friday, September 22nd
Article
Essential Builds – Mega Man
By Nate Wright
I build pop culture characters using Essence20.
Now you know,
Ryan Costello
