What didn't make it to the Third Floor (Gregg's personal Frustrated Incorporated)

One of Craig Shipman's most engaging segments on Third Floor Wars is when he asks his guests, "What media are you consuming right now that you can't get enough of?" Although the answer I gave was Boomer Shooters, a videogame staple which has seen a revival since their popularity of the 90s and 2000s, I thought about what my answer would be for months. What else did I consider?

The answer I intended to give, right up until a few days before we recorded the show, was Sonic Youth. Known for their singular influence on the noise rock genre, Sonic Youth was a tremendous influence on me in the late 80s and early 90s, and their rise and fall is a blueprint for how a game of Limelight could go for a group of players. I listened to just about every Sonic Youth album (including EPs, live shows, compilations, and side projects) for two weeks straight in preparation.

Three days before we recorded the show, however, I learned that Keith Levene of Public Image Ltd. passed away. Keith was a pioneering guitarist of the post punk movement, and thus deserved to be honored. Plus, much like Sonic Youth, Public Image's time in the public spotlight, due mostly to John Lydon's personality and antics, is a prime example of what Limelight aims to model (so much so that a game "change" for The Spectacle bio is inspired by Public Image and Lydon). During our interview however, questions focused primarily on gaming and game design, and much less on music, so I decided on the spot to not use this answer.

I also considered discussing the Terraforming Mars and Adrenaline board games. Craig asked how board games influenced Limelight, and Adrenaline fits the bill. It models the FPS videogame genre, but in a way that emphasizes the mechanic of area control rather than minis combat you'd expect of it, which I find unique from a design perspective. For Terraforming Mars...I'm simply a big fan. Plus a dice version just successfully funded via Kickstarter, so it would have been an up-to-date discussion piece.

In the TV arena, I thought about discussing House of the Dragon, The Rings of Power, or Andor. Dragon was particularly notable because Craig had discussed his disappointment with it in a previous Third Floor episode with Navi and Shawn Drake, so I was curious to see if his mind had changed (and if not, if possibly I could change it!). But since Deric had already tackled the TV angle, I put those thoughts aside.

Finally, one of my more unusual ideas was bringing up the book Liarmouth by John Waters. It is a fascinating read (one I'm still not sure I enjoyed!), but I realized discussing deviant acts of sex, violence, and every other corrupt thing Waters is known for (and quite a few new acts of depravity), on a show focused on role playing games, might be too much for the unsuspecting audience. Although it was a missed opportunity to talk about how in the world Waters is going to show cars powered by people bouncing on trampolines on the big screen.

If you lament that I didn't bring up any of these topics, let me know below; I'm happy to dig into any of them further!