Episode 591: Warzone Is an Abusive Ex & Other Truths

Jake's sick, Raz is recovered, and karma is real — so we kept it loose and answered your questions from the Discord this week. We get into whether Apex hitting all-time-high player counts means anything for a Warzone comeback (short version: Warzone is the abusive ex who shows up with roses), why Zelda is a children's game, the most overrated franchises in gaming, when a game stops being a game and becomes a simulator (Tarkov vs. Squad vs. Hell Let Loose), whether AI will let you build GTA 6 in one prompt, the hardest gaming achievements we've ever earned, and a pile of off-topic chaos — first jobs, childhood cereal, the one-hair-on-your-steak test, and which historical event we'd go witness. Plus: a new development on splitting donations, the DMZ deep-dive over on Patreon, and a behind-the-scenes look at how the show actually gets made now. Got a question for us? Join the Discord (linked everywhere) and drop it in the Q&A channel. We may or may not answer it. Jake's the optimist, Raz is the cynic — guess which one of us thinks Warzone could still be saved. 0:00 - Intro (Jake's sick, karma is real) 3:03 - New: splitting donations 50/50 with Jake 4:02 - Patreon + the DMZ deep-dive 9:17 - Best life advice you've gotten 9:43 - 'Tell the truth, or at least don't lie' 14:03 - Just start — stop making the perfect plan 15:49 - Our first jobs 21:29 - Does Apex's comeback mean hope for Warzone? 23:01 - Warzone is the abusive ex 23:52 - How the rebranded show is going + the AI workflow 26:42 - Selling your old CoD-era Dropshot merch 28:05 - When does a game become a simulator? 31:23 - Would you play a good new Call of Duty? 32:17 - It's all a tax write-off now 33:52 - How we approach open-world games 37:32 - Did you beat Radahn before the nerf? 41:14 - Our most interesting use of AI (this podcast) 44:05 - Claude's Fable 5 + the gov't shutting it down 45:47 - If AI could build any AAA game, what would it be? 49:17 - Most overrated game & movie franchises 51:16 - Zelda is a children's game (hot take) 56:01 - Most useless & most useful real-life skill 57:48 - Hardest gaming achievement (Hearthstone Legend) 1:06:28 - A food that reminds you of childhood 1:10:21 - One app you'd keep on your phone 1:12:16 - Worst restaurant experience + picky eaters 1:18:44 - The one-hair-on-your-steak test 1:24:51 - Weirdest thing you've ever Googled 1:29:15 - A historical event you'd witness 1:36:32 - Ranking awkward social situations 1:39:00 - A historical figure to have dinner with 1:44:17 - Followers you'd rather have 1:44:45 - Hardest game you've ever finished 1:47:18 - Outro + peripherals _Note: timestamps may be slightly misaligned on podcast apps (but not on YouTube) due to dynamic ads._ The podcast is available wherever you listen to podcasts, and ad-free & early access versions - as well as bonus episodes - are available to all of our Patreon (https://www.patreon.com/thedropshot) supporters. We stream the podcast live on our YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/c/thedropshotpodcast) every Saturday morning at ~9 o'clock Pacific Time. We typically start the stream 30 minutes early to answer viewer questions, banter, and chat. Links for everything are below. Thanks for checking us out! 🔹Streaming schedule (Pacific time): 🔸Saturday ~9 AM: Gaming news and stories of the week 🔹The Dropshot: 🔸Website: https://www.thedropshot.com 🔸Twitter: https://twitter.com/TheDropshotPod 🔸Discord: https://discord.gg/B4Nsarq 🔸YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/thedropshotpodcast 🔸Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/thedropshot 🔸Donate: https://www.paypal.com/donate?hosted_button_id=YVR98VF4S945G 🔸Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thedropshotpodcast/ 🔸TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@thedropshotpodcast 🔹Razinon: 🔸Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/razinon 🔸Twitter: https://twitter.com/razinon 🔸Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/razinonttv 🔹Jakedown: 🔸Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/jakedown_ 🔸YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@jakedown Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices