Control Point podcast

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More Talk. Less Play.
The Control Point podcast was produced by the Dead Workers Party, an independent digital cinema production company. They started podcasting with an independent film podcast, then later with the World of Warcraft podcast, "World of WoW", and "WARP", a Warhammer Online podcast. They continue to launch new podcasts on their ever-growing network.

Control Point has a large fanbase that actively contributed emails and phone calls that were used on the show.

Control Point's final episode was episode 100, where the flagship podcast of the Dead Workers Party was changed to Nation of Gamers. They felt that after 100 episodes, it was time to branch out and explore other games and change the format.

Contents

Podcast Goals

The main goal of the podcast was to entertain while hopefully giving useful tips to players. They also worked to build up the Team Fortress 2 Community by publicizing other TF2 resources, such as web sites and forums; as well as helping players find other players with similar styles, interests, and needs.

The Dead Workers Party has a long history in video production and machinima, and they looked to bring those to TF2.

Hosting a nationwide TF2 convention or Lan party is another goal of theirs.

Hosts

The four hosts at the SNAPL Lan Party

The podcast is hosted by four TF2 players, Brent "Chaos" Copeland, Wes "WesWilson" Wilson, and Eric "Nailhead" Fullerton. Spencer "Devilturnip" Williams, one of the original hosts of the show, left the show in late 2008 and returned as a regular host starting with Episode 90.

Guest Hosts

Control Point has had many guest hosts during its run. Here they are, alphabetically, with the Episode(s) they guested on.

  • AshWilliams (Episodes 48, 76)
  • [sn]Ahkond (Episode 76)
  • Bad_Easy (Episode 76)
  • Bob (Episode 52)
  • BoomRocker (Episode 76)
  • ClydeFrog (Episodes 22, 25, 76)
  • Deg (Episode 24)
  • DeSabsMode (Episode 94.6)
  • TheGreenGecko (Episode 76)
  • Hemanena (Episodes 94, 94.6, 95)
  • Ifrit (Episode 36, 48)
  • JohnMazz (Episodes 25, 76)
  • Johnny_Napalm (Episodes 68, 72, 80, 94.6)
  • Kardinal (Episode 24)
  • Mentok1982
  • Mint Condition (Episodes 24, 49)
  • Mojache The Moon Princess (Episode 8)
  • Mr. Eagle (Episodes 25, 37, 94.6)
  • Neko! (Episode 22)
  • NekoChrono (Episode 76)
  • NintendoNinja (Episode ??)
  • Nivekeryas (Episodes 48, 54, 73)
  • Nivekone (Episodes 53, 76)
  • Rasputin (Episode 25)
  • SigmaSin (Episode 34)
  • Tay (Episode 48)
  • TimeSquared (Episode 76)

[Do we count Spencer on Ep. 74? :-) ]

Mods

The community has a number of other Server/Forum moderators. In-game, these are (in no particular order):

  • Rasputin
  • JohnMazz
  • ClydeFrog
  • Mr. Eagle
  • Jollyeskimo
  • Mint Condition
  • Deg
  • Kardinal
  • SigmaSin
  • Johnny_Napalm
  • Highstepper
  • LeiaShadow (AKA Leia or Halley the Comet)
  • Panda (CP #3 only)

(Jazz is only a Steam chat admin, and not a server admin which is a common misconception, even to the other admins. This doesn't seem to be changing in the near future either.)

Episodes

2009 Episodes
Episode Number Name Length Date Recorded Recurring joke started Player of the Week
Episode 57 Who Touched My Gun? 1:43:24 January 4, 2009 ~ Pierre Krahn the Engie, for loads of contributions
Episode 58 Mirror on a Stick 1:43:26 January 11, 2009 Left 4 Dead - Drink! [None Announced]
Episode 59 Smelly Wine & Chief Perfume 1:50:29 January 18, 2009 ~ DeSabsMode, for starting the Steve Perry/Journey thing
Episode 60 Holy Crap, It's Episode 60 1:12:29 January 25, 2009 ~ BoomRocker, for making his Gene Simmons spray
Episode 61 The Bots Are Coming 1:29:42 February 1, 2009 'Rimshot' and 'Cricket' noises Watchman, for his contributing
Episode 62 Love is in the air 1:30:34 February 8, 2009 'ello, Guv'nah! Nintendo Ninja, for his contributions and because Eric said he's a blast to play with
Episode 63 Spycrab Confessionals 1:25:42 February 15, 2009 ~ Madlep, for for having THE best TF2 blog on the planet
Episode 64 That's What She Said 2:17:37 February 22, 2009 ~ =-[kI]-=mentok1982 [CP], for being on the show
Episode 65 The Scout Unlocks 1:42:59 March 1, 2009 ~ PositiveJosh, for the Spy changes thread
Episode 66 How To Ruin A Server 1:33:03 March 8, 2009 ~ Rusteh_Bull3t, for the QuickFire question stuff
Episode 67 A Lesson In Etiquette 1:27:55 March 15, 2009 ~ Ilusien, for having an awesome voice
Episode 68 The Obvious 1:58:43 March 22, 2009 Mmm...bread Johnny Napalm, for being the guest host
Episode 69 The Truth About Episode 50 11:51 April 1, 2009 ~ ~
Episode 70 The Honeypot 1:20:48 April 5, 2009 ~ ~
Episode 71 Easter Eggs-treme! 1:27:58 April 12, 2009 ~ CoRn [CP], for all the contributions over time
Episode 72 We’re All Just Cornish Game Hens 1:29:16 April 19, 2009 ~ Mint Condition, for doing the Friendly Fire Podcast
Episode 73 Dun Dun 1:50:15 April 26, 2009 ~ Nivekeryas, for the new segment bumpers
Episode 74 Spencer is Back! 1:26:42 May 3, 2009 ~ Karhax, for the Listener Contributions bumper
Episode 75 Meet JENING 1:14:40 May 10, 2009 "Jening!" S1ic3d Br3ad, for the segment bumpers
Episode 76 CPCon 2009 54:25 May 24, 2009 JohnMazz, for driving 19 hours to be at CPCon!
Episode 77 Sniper vs Spy 1:31:34 May 31, 2009 NivekOne, for the epic autographed TF2 poster!
Episode 78 Worst Episode Ever 46:18 June 7, 2009 kitty_tiky
Episode 79 Popular Podcast 1:07:55 June 21, 2009 [None Announced]
Episode 80 Serious Cosplay 1:23:40 June 28, 2009 [None Announced]
Episode 81 Command Line Hell 1:18:20 July 12, 2009 mmillss, for the awesome bumpers for State of the Servers
Episode 82 Valve Loves RED 1:11:16 July 19, 2009 Dr. Taco, for the LC bumper
Episode 83 Evolution of a TF2 Player 1:15:00 July 26, 2009 [None Announced]
Episode 84 CP Con Jr 59:04 August 2, 2009 SlicedBread, for hanging out the most in the Ustream during the con
Episode 85 Overtime! 1:54:55 August 16, 2009 Freckles, for reading the QFQs
Episode 86 Stereotypes 1:19:39 August 23, 2009 Dackstrus, for donating to the show
Episode 87 Baby Buggy Bumpers 45:34 August 30, 2009 Flaming Menace, for the bumpers
Episode 88 Through The Orange Door 1:25:17 September 13, 2009 [WtFC] Carnifex
Episode 89 Valve Is Listening 1:15:58 September 20, 2009 Nailhead, for the epic song for Valve
Episode 90 Guard Dogs 1:09:26 September 27, 2009 Spencer, for re-joining the show
Episode 91 Oh Look, There's a Koala 1:00:07 October 4, 2009 liquidcool81, for answering the trivia question correctly
Episode 92 Bot Crotch 1:07:57 October 18, 2009 [None Announced]
Episode 93 Rubbarah! 1:23:57 October 25, 2009 "Rubbarah!" Bullet Storm
Episode 94 A Ghastly Episode 1:39:47 November 1, 2009 Mija Win, for sponsoring the episode
Episode 94.6 TF2 Talk Radio 1:15:43 November 7, 2009 "Shawtay!" Hemanena, for the TF2 costumes and being on the show
Episode 95 Sir Control of Point 1:29:20 November 15, 2009 EsBe, for winning King Nailhead III's challenge in-game
Episode 96 The French Disapprove 1:32:03 November 22, 2009
Episode 97 Hearing Aids 49:21 December 1, 2009
Episode 98 Death by Stupid 1:44:34 December 10, 2009 Leia
Episode 99 The Third Christmas Episode 30:14 [Released December 23, 2009] [None announced]
2010 Episodes
Episode Number Name Length Date Recorded Recurring joke started Player of the Week
Episode 100 Legends 1:24:56 January 3, 2010 [None Announced]

Format

Intro
CP Theme song, date announcement, and introductions.
Briefcase
A shtick in which the hosts open a virtual briefcase (complete with cheesy sound effects) which contains the contents of the podcast.
Weekly Status
Each host tells about what they have done since the previous podcast. Special guests are included when present.
On the Loudspeaker
A news and discussion segment where the hosts talked about TF2 news and discussed the impact on the wider TF2 community.
Dossier
In the earlier episodes they had the Dossier segment which delved into a detailed description, analysis, and tips for play on one class each week. This segment ended with the Spy in episode 11.
Reconnaissance
An in-depth discussion of a different map each week, starting with 2Fort in episode 12.
State of the Servers
Server Administrator Johnny_Napalm recorded a brief update about game server stuff, including new maps, map rotation changes, issues, and other updates/changes.
Milkshake Tunes
TF2 parody songs submitted by community member IDrinkYourMilkshake. Became a weekly feature after he submitted songs for Episodes 52 & 53.
Surveillance
Different links and content were provided each week in this segment. Surveillance typically consisted of TF2-related videos or fan art.
Listener Contributions
Call-ins, MP3s, or e-mails from community members and podcast listeners. Often, this included Ifrit's Question of the Week.
Shout Outs
Each week, the hosts talked about different players, podcasts, websites, and other TF2 related things of note, in this segment. Also, this may have included shout-outs sent in from listeners/community members to other listeners/community members. Usually, the community Player of the Week was mentioned here.
Pimpage/Outro
The podcast ended with the hosts talking about ways to help the show out, such as digging them, leaving reviews on iTunes, stumbleupon and calling their hotline to leave a voice message. Then the outro music played.
Bonus Material / Outtakes
After the outro music there was sometimes an outtake from the podcast or other submitted content that did not fit in the show itself. Often, this included listener tips.

Ustream

Ustream Recording of Episode 33

Normally (beginning with Episode 19), the podcast was broadcast on Ustream during recording, allowing viewers to listen/watch the podcast and chat to the hosts (whom normally don't pay attention to the chat) as well as other listeners. However, not all episodes were available on Ustream. Recordings on Ustream were normally on Sundays, and one of the hosts made an event on Steam when they were about to start.

The Ustream chat was often a source of confirmations or corrections for the hosts during the show.

Jokes

Recurring Jokes

"The Heavy is made of bacon"
  • Host introductions - Every once in awhile the hosts would say their names differently.
  • Briefcase skits - Most weeks had a new skit on opening the briefcase.
  • MPC/LPC - Acronyms in general became a recurring joke. MPC = Most Played Class. LPC = Least Played Class. "What's your MPC?" Also, MEF = Most Eaten Food, and FGG = Favorite Golden Girl.
  • Elbow/Nook/Cranny - Terms for places in the game maps had become a recurring joke because of what they call the different areas.
  • Mija Win - A user in the community who scolded the hosts for using Western grammar/pronunciation, specifically regarding his name (Mee-ja vs. My-ja). Eric and Spencer insisted on "Mee-ja" (incorrect), while Wes pronounces it "My-ja" (correct), and Brent often changed his mind.
  • Meestar Ee-gah-lay - Phonetic for "Mr. Eagle", a CP member. A swipe at the Mee-ja/My-ja correction.
  • Kukri, Kukri, kukri - From the Sniper episode. Yes, we know it's 3 syllables.
  • Fiiiive Hundred Ping! - From the 12 Days of Christmas Parody from the Christmas Episode. Often referred to when ping is unplayably high.
  • So that's the Lan party over, how did it go? - Started as a joke by Mija Win & Moot at the old CP forums.
  • Server host - Mentioning the CP game server host was a constant joke, though it wore thin as they didn't mention it quite as much toward the end (with the exception of the server advertisement in the later episodes).
  • Jellyfish - Jellyfish attacked the host Spencer Williams whether he is around water or not. This began during the first podcast that Spencer was in after his move to South Carolina.
  • "<Repeated Phrase x3> DUN DUN" - A meme that was started by user Nivekeryas when he sent in a few intro songs to the various sections of the podcast (First used on Episode 21). Starting around Episode 52, Wes has been heard reversing it to "nud nud".
  • Bacon - Bacon, Bacon, Bacon, The Heavy's made out of Bacon. - Latentsage randomly commented that the Heavy was made of bacon one night. Valve's subsequent release of a pyro achievement called 'Makin' Bacon' has prompted speculation that the achievement is named after the CP in-joke. However, as "Makin' bacon" is one of the Engineer's voice emotes, this may simply be a coincidence.
  • Has a heart on – Based on a Valentine story Wes told about a restaurant where he works. The co-owner of the establishment had asked, "Why does everyone have a heart on but me?"
  • Welcome to the ____ Podcast – When the hosts started talking about something which wasn’t related to TF2, they sometimes said "Welcome to the ____ podcast" or "Next on the ____ Podcast". Examples of this included "The Arby's Cast" and "The Antique Farming Equipment Cast".
  • Quantum Ping - from the Oober Control episode (Ep. 24), a special network technology used by OoberServers.com.
  • "CLICK." - in various episodes, the hosts would "hang up" on Spencer, since he calls in to do his portion of the podcast. Most often, this was done in the shows where Spencer was absent, after the other hosts mock him.
  • "Bringing back smexy." - Occasionally it was brought up that Eric is bringing back smexy.
  • "This is the worst podcast/episode/show ever." - Frequently, Spencer would announce that a given episode the worst they've ever done. Brent would often respond with saying it was in the "Top 10" or "Bottom 10".
  • "The Chief" - The Chief was meant to be the ultimate TF2 class. Created by Eric in Episode 27 during an "On The Loudspeaker" segment, as a result of a suggestion from Episode 23 that the hosts did a discussion about what classes they'd create. His weapons include the "Soul Net", "Hawk Meld", and "The Tomahawk". A Fan Made Machinima mocking this meme has since been created, to which the opinion of Wes was "...we're a big fan of anyone who makes fun of us."
  • "Which class...?" - A great number of episodes in the latter half of 2008 contained listener questions based on the TF2 classes and which would be best for some random event/situation. CP listener/contributor Ifrit is largely to blame for starting this. The podcast hosts - particularly Brent - tired of the questions and started refusing to answer them on the show. Also referenced in the "CP Jumped the Shark" song from the 2008 Christmas episode.
  • "Ass Clown" - Don't be one. Was sometimes mentioned as a TF2 Class, in response to "what class...?" questions.
  • "The Cavalryman" - Another fictitious TF2 class, created by Wes in Episode 52. Nemesis of "The Chief".
  • "The AshWilliams Class", "The Frogman", "The Chef" - more fictitious TF2 classes, often referenced when "Which class...?" questions are submitted/read/grumbled about on the show. Lesser known, and MUCH less frequently mentioned are: "The Catburglar" [Wes], "The Bounty Hunter" [Brent], and "The Bionic Commando" [Spencer], all of which were introduced on Episode 27 with "The Chief".
  • "CP Jumped the Shark" - perhaps the most infectious of the songs from The Second Christmas Episode (2008)
  • "That's What She Said" - more of a community joke than a podcast joke. Whenever someone says something that is even mildly related to sex, someone always says "That's what she said".
  • "Mmm...bread" - spawned from a particularly annoying player (A Loaf of Bread) that happened to be on a server at the same time as Brent, and a particularly pushy listener (bolmedias) who was also on the server. Became a popular phrase in the chat room, where people would start replacing the 'bread' part with other things, usually either random or derived from someone else's previous comment.
  • Gnawstar (chatroom in-joke) - Whenever an admin enters the Control Point Steam chatroom (most commonly Jazz), some members of the chat "gnaw" on the "star" (which is displayed next to the admin's name to show he is an admin) (most commonly Krewl Rain). It is unknown when this chatroom in-joke started...

Oober Control

Oober Control's 'Website'

Episode 24 is also known as the first "Oober Control Podcast" episode, in which the show is being 'sponsored' by Ooberservers.com, a new company who provides gaming servers. Ooberservers.com pays the hosts as well as providing servers and new intro/section music. All the hosts needs to do is to put some Oober Control ads into the Podcast. This episode was released on April 1st 2008.

Feud with The Riddler

In September 2009, Jazz created a new username on the forums, "Eddie".

It was later revealed that this was an alias for a man calling himself "The Riddler" (also Jazz), and that all information that he had revealed up to this point about him was a lie.

The Riddler (Jazz) is a member of the CP community that is an alias for someone who attended the third CPCon (Jazz did not attend the third CPCon). He gained access to the laptops of the hosts (not really), stole information regarding episode 100 (not really) and started releasing information in the form of obscure riddles to the public via Twitter. He offered various possible spoilers and surprises to those who followed him regarding episode 100. He also offered prizes to whoever got the most riddles right over a week long period. The Riddler (Jazz) was also responsible for downtime to the Dead Workers Party website several times over the weekend of CPCon (not true). The hosts have constantly refuted all information released over this account.

Eric "Nailhead" Fullerton talked to the Riddler (Jazz) just after the site problems were experienced and the issue was resolved between the hosts and the Riddler (Jazz). The Riddler (Jazz) then left the community alone.

Servers

  • Control Point has 1 TF2 server and 1 L4D2 server run under the "Control Point" flag - both in the US. The servers are provided by Lowpings.net in return for advertising on the CP forums and web site (also the podcast). As a hold-over from previous server naming conventions, the servers are numbered #1 and #3. Server #2 has gone through several incarnations, the latest of which was donated by CP member Nivekeryas, but had to be shut down just after the "Spyper" update due to lack of funding.
  • The servers are "family friendly", with a strong community of people who know each other and play together often. A positive gaming experience is a goal - douchebaggery and asshattery are strongly discouraged. The server MOTD elaborates on this somewhat.
  • "Schoolyard games" - an occasional gametype that pops up among the CP community. Like children in the schoolyard, people line up against a wall and two leaders pick their teams. Which leader chooses first is determined by a melee battle between the two leaders.
  • "PUGs" or "PickUp Games" (6v6, semi-serious/competitive-style matches) are often played on CP #3.
  • The server addresses are available at the Control Point page.

Steam Group

  • Control Point is also a group on the "Steam" gaming client. Its profile is available at http://steamcommunity.com/groups/controlpoint
  • The Control Point community uses this as a means to make announcements, organize games and chat with each other (along with the forums on the CP website).
  • The Control Point group on Steam is public and anyone may join.
  • Control Point also maintains contact points on MySpace, LiveJournal, Facebook and so on.
  • The CP Steam community is also a source for various memes and jokes used on the podcast.
  • The community Player of the Week was announced on the podcast, when a new one was selected. The change was usually made on the release date of the podcast.

Notable Members

A List of Notable Members of the Control Point Community:
In no particular order

Official Control Point Squads and Clans

A list of clans, sub-communities and squads within the main Control Point community. To be recognised as an official CP squad, rosters should not exceed 16, and squads need to play on the CP servers and maintain the spirit of those servers.

In no particular order.

Squads

Clans

Loose Collections of CP Folks

The Control Point Summer Tournament 2008

In the Summer of 2008, the Control Point groups got together and had a tournament that lasted over a 3 month period. This used the tournament rules. The first month used Gravelpit, the second used Well and the third month used 2Fort. The official commentator for the EU vs EU and US vs EU matches was Jazz and reporters were Jazz, Sigma Sin and Meyeselph

The tourney ended early due to various reasons

External Links

Control Point Podcast
Control Point Forums

Retrieved from "http://tf2wiki.net/wiki/Control_Point_podcast"


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