I tuned in for about the first 20 minutes or so... you guys seemed really scatterbrained last night and it was kind of tough to follow... not sure if that's because things were all over the place or because there were so many people involved after the opening discussion. I think the idea of Fully Charged is great, but sometimes I feel like it's basically just cbear and djc talking to each other about stuff while Sal makes funny faces into his webcam. This is great, but sometimes it feels like they exclude the viewers and forget the show is actually being streamed.

I think you guys need weekly segments, some sort of underlying theme for each episode, and more variety to your guests. If it's going to be sal/bear/djc - then stick w/ that and bring in one guest. Otherwise, make it sal/bear and bring different guests in. As much as I like hearing the banter between bear and djc, I think it appeals to a niche you guys aren't targeting... if you want to do an invite/platinum circlejerkfocused show, then do that... otherwise, I think you need to make sure you're hitting your stride w/ the low divs, pub players, etc. It just seems like DJC is on there telling funny stories and talking shit about who he thinks is bad, cbear is being handsome and insightful and sal is just kind of along for the ride - at least sometimes.

We went through the same kind of discussions with eXtravision (before Jeff got busy and bumps had a babby) and it was always back and forth with who we were doing the show for... was it competitive, or was it general? That's why they ultimately broke it into 3 shows, but I think that was just too much for people to follow.

Anyway, focus your theme each week, add in fun segments, and introduce a variety of guests. Keep it fresh, but make sure people have a reason to continue tuning in each week. Also, move away from the "hat giveaway" every week - people need to tune in for the content, not the items. If they're just tuning in for giveaways, it defeats the purpose of the show all together... might as well just pub for 50 minutes and then give the hats away.

EDIT:

But DJC referenced some random guy in stream chat as a source for Hein having a bad attitude with the team? Is that good enough? That REALLY bothered me last night, btw.

Holy shit, I was actually kind of close:

18 #pX Project X

This would have guaranteed 500 viewers:

gotf2.com is available - you should pick it up and make things easier to get to. tf2center.com is cool and all, but when you want to go play tf2, gotf2.com. Just sayin'

Thanks for everything you've done. If you still want to help out w/ competitive TF2, you should get in touch w/ Nahanni - she's starting Apocalypse Gaming back up with Meo just to sponsor teams - I'm sure you could offer some insight and help her balance the workload.

Good job guys - I was in airports all day but I managed to catch a couples rounds of Badlands on Sunday on my tablet w/ the Twitch app and it looked like a tight production. Gj Lange for keeping the stream going for almost 12 hours w/ no cuts or drops, good stuff - trust me on that one.

Killing, you know as well as anyone that one does not simply remove anything from the internet. Jeff's rant was honest, emotional and from the heart. Somewhat misguided, but it's raw emotion like what he showed in that video that drives his passion to continue doing what he does.

Let's put this issue to rest, everyone will kiss and make up and bro fist and touch wieners and what not. LAN is going to be sick, let's focus on crushing the CS and CSS streams once again so maybe next year Craig and the other brass at ESEA are more open to footing the bill to get TF2 covered on-site so this is a non-issue.

I'm not quite sure I'll be able to add any insight to this, as I'm just hearing about it this morning, but I wanted to chime in.

One of the main reasons I took a step back from playing a role in eXtv and casting was because the community was so heavily fractured. Everyone was kind of doing their own thing and as much as we tried, there was just wasn't a huge amount of support for what eXtv was doing. The LAN fundraisers and i46 fundraisers were great, but ultimately they were a means to an end. The amount of time we put into what we do just wasn't worth what we were getting out of it, at least for me. There were weeks I, personally, put 40-50 hours into eXtv - including organization, casting and administration. I also work 50+ hours each week at my job that pays the bills. That's too much for what we're taking out of this. The level of support we get from sponsors and the league organizations is pathetic, as in none. Everybody wants us to keep casting their matches but nobody wants to support us. This isn't a cheap thing to do - I've personally invested probably $500-$1000 into my shit JUST to stream and cast.

The thing about eXtv is our goals have always been to grow TF2 for the community. We do our casts for free, we offer all our services for free, and we provide servers to the community (when they work) for free. We ask absolutely nothing of anyone. We don't sit in our streams and beg viewers for money, we're not pimping a sponsor, none of that - we're just bring you the game - yet we're constantly chastised left and right for the community for not doing enough. Well, where's the incentive? Making people happy is one thing - that's great, I know we all love bringing you guys the games... but I've never seen a "great job, eXtv" post. Ever. Never. Anywhere. Maybe that's a good thing, but I think that's more everyone just being complacent that we'll always be there. We'll always be casting.

What if it all just went away? What if Jeff finally got so fed up, he just woke up one morning and said 'fuck it' and shut it down? Well, the fact is somebody would just start casting in our place. It's completely interchangeable - and with the lack of competitive support from Valve, the lack of corporate sponsors, and the leagues themselves ambivalent to casting and streaming (they're going make all their money regardless) this game isn't exactly setup to benefit from what we're doing. Anybody can cast and stream - our advantage is we're established and organized, but as MGE proved, anybody can do it... we've just gotten good at sticking around.

Anyway, I'm not sure the point of all this, maybe just venting. It's shitty what ESEA did, especially after we spent 2 months working with them to work out the specifics of us casting for them, trying to get 1 or 2 of our people on-site to cast on Orange for them, and finally agreeing to do our own thing (mutually, I do believe) and then all of a sudden they've grabbed the guys we were planning on having our stream. I understand it, it's a business decision, but it also shows a complete lack of integrity, and in my opinion, just further support the somewhat scumbag image towards the community that has been festering around ESEA for some time now. I'm really glad I'm not as directly involved with this stuff as I used to be, because chances are this would have been a lot more hostile - but the fact of the matter is this was a shady decision built around the guise of 'doing good' for the community, when in fact it's just a money grab.

Shlaner is on it, Monty. Don't worry about it.

One of those Volt kits is a great way to get started. Cheap and easy and it'll give you an idea of what vaping is like and if it's for you.

You typically attach the cartomizer to the battery by screwing it on - that's all you need to do. Batteries charge via USB, take about 2 hours to charge.

A cart/battery will last a full day if you're a pack-a-day smoker. One cart is essentially = 1 pack. Your mileage may vary. I'd recommend using them just like a regular smoke... if you smoke one every 2 hours, keep doing that. You can rock through carts quickly if you just sit at a desk vaping all day, but it's certainly not doing as much damage as smoking real cigarettes, and tbh no one will really know you're doing unless they're looking at you doing it.

The "hits" are dependant on the strength of the niquid... 24mg is about equivalent to a regular filtered cigarette... the 18's and 12's are significantly less, but once you've waned yourself off analogs it's not a huge deal. After a couple months you actually kind of forget you even want to vape, you just do it because you like it.

Honestly, my best advice would be to pick up a kit, grab some 24mg carts and just go. Don't be embarrassed or ashamed, you're literally smoking the future and anybody that gives you shit can fuck off.

Like ty I smoked for about 10 years (actually 12, I guess). I started with a 24mg cart, then dropped to an 18 after a couple weeks, then a 12 and now I keep a couple around for when I'm drinking or playing games. You can get them w/out niquid too, which I will probably do the next time I order. I noticed in the first month or so that I could run and move around again, wasn't coughing, was sleeping better, smelled better, etc. It's really a great thing. Shit in my house is cleaner (I used to smoke inside... god that's disgusting). Since picking up my Volt and buying probably 4 packs of carts a month I'm saving something like $250/month versus analogs.

Also, if you're looking at starting to vape check this thread: http://www.reddit.com/r/electronic_cigarette/comments/107l8q/reddits_ecig_recommendations_sep_20_2012/

There's a 16% off coup to smokeless in that top thread. Pick up the starter kit she recommends and grab a couple sample packs to see what you like. The Ice Menthol is good if you smoked menthols (the other one tastes like cough drops, no bueno). The 555, RY4 or Cowboys are great subs for tobacco flavor (Parliaments, Camels, Marlboro's respectively as far as taste).

A lot of hardcore vapers will bitch and moan about volts and cartos saying you should get a big ol nasty clearo and mega batteries and tips and what not... but if I wanted to carry around a thing that looked like I was sucking on a dildo all day I'd carry a dildo. I like the Volt because it's the size of a 120 analog, you can pocket it, you can stealth it (I vaped on planes and didn't get thrown in jail, no one knew - exhale over coffee - pro tip). And really compared to a pack a day or every 2 days you're saving a ton after about 2 weeks... costs a bit to get started, but it's worth it in the long run and w/ the coup you're saving a ton of money.

I quit smoking analogs back in February... used a Volt from smokelessimage.com - they have starter kits that are pretty good. My mom smoked for 40+ years and used one of their kits to quit in about a month. Highly recommend it - their ice menthol is pretty damn good - I never really smoked menthol but I liked it.

I worked in St. Charles for like 2 weeks a while back, it was pretty nice... all of those suburbs west and north of the city are pretty up-scale and welcoming. Also Earth City, that was a pretty cool place.

Avoid East St. Louis... actually, just don't cross the river into IL.

It's hot and humid a fuck, Kip is just used to it. If you stay west of the city you'll be fine, if you go east of it you're probably going to get shot.

so shlaner has an admin login now, let's hope he can keep things on the up and up