ABTS-420: C-C-C-Combo Breaker

Hey, everyone. Welcome to the final episode of season two, already starting off with a joke. My name is Doug Coleman and I'm the host of Almost Better Than Silence, have been since 2014. Geez. Like I said at the beginning, this is our last episode as we go on an extended hiatus. So if you've been listening and are bummed about that, I'm sorry. But I really appreciate you guys listening for as long as you had. This episode is going to be not very typical where I don't have a cohost with me, I'm just flying solo. So shout out to Pat Johnston of the melting. Pat, I have no idea how you do this shit, my dude. But that all being said, I'm just going to kind of go over why we did the show, some retrospective thoughts on it, and hopefully keep this episode short and give you guys insight on what might be happening in the future. But let's start from the get go. It's sincerely been an honor to podcast for you guys consistently for as long as we have. This show started in December of 2014, and along with the occasional bonus episodes on Friday, we are lucky to say we never missed a Monday release. So that's just insane. So this is technically why this episode is called Combo Breaker. Next week is the first episode we will not be putting out a brand new episode to listen to, so it's sad to see the incredible combo we achieved end. But also it feels like it's the right time I started the show just to do it and get out of my comfort zone. For those who don't know, before the podcast, I was rather introverted and socially awkward. I still am those things, but after countless hours of podcasting, I feel that it's really helped me break out of my shell and conversate with anybody. That said, it led us to paths I never anticipated, like getting the interviews, some of my favorite actors, musicians, podcasts, comedians, and game developers. So that all being said, I just want to thank anyone who's ever been involved in the show. Hosts, guests, listeners, anyone who ever once sent a tweet or email, all of you guys. Of course, the biggest shout out goes to the main co host of ABTS, Brendan McCullough, who without him, this show certainly would have ended a very long time ago. Seriously, all the people that have been a part of the show, all was mainly happenstance. Bren, for instance, was just somebody my current wife, my girlfriend at the time was like, oh, this guy might be interested in doing a podcast with you. And we had never met and ever since, almost going on seven years later, we've become good friends and had many conversations about video games. Similarly with Matt Bastard, somebody I went to college with didn't really connect with during the college years. But after college wrapped up, I reached out to him and said, hey, do you want to start a podcast on a whim? And it's been kind of just crazy and just led by fate. This whole podcast, I'm not even going to lie. So shout out to anyone that ever hosted, but especially huge shout out to Brent for keeping this show alive for as long as it has been. If he hadn't been available to do the podcast, we would have ended this many years ago. Let's be real. But also, I'm going to miss the conversation games. We had so much fun on this channel doing things like I was the Walrus ten questions. What's that sound? Game or no Game, stumpers Tunnel of Love, even as on the more recent years. And some games that were just played once and never again. Just like experimental goofy games. So I give a lot of credit to Matt Basta and Mark Choi for being innovative with our games. And also shout out to Mark for being the only person interested in ever doing improv on this show. Me and him only ever tried it maybe once or twice, but it was a lot of fun, goofy fun. I'm sure people that are into improv are like, that was awful. And I guess that's kind of what we were going for. We were just having fun with it. But seriously, that's the whole point of this podcast, just to have fun. I hope you guys had fun listening to the show. That being said though, it seems like this journey may be coming to a close. Both Brent and I will be findable on the internet. If you want to get in touch, I will continue to stream under the Abtsilencemoniker on Twitch Tvtsilence. Brent can be found on Twitter at ABTS brendan, as well as heard on his other anime podcast, Are We There Yet? And for anybody out there that just might be wondering, is there hope that the show will return? Honestly, I don't know. We were lucky to keep it alive for as long as we had. That being said, it is my sincere hope that there will be a season three. But honestly, only time will tell. But seriously, to all of you listeners, I really hope it has been better than silence after all of these years. And if it wasn't, then why did you listen? Just kidding. But until season three, thank you all for listening. Take care.