Farewell Power Source Listeners

This is an open letter to all of those who have listened to me over the past two months on The Power Source. As of now, I will no longer be a part of the show. It was a fun ride, if a bit brief, and very rocky at the end.

In brief, the other night, I was informed that I had misunderstood my role on the show and that it would be continuing without me.
It began in late September when I was lurking on the D&D Community forums and saw a post by Jared Glenn seeking a cohost to help start up a new D&D podcast. Podcasting is something I have wanted to try my hand at for a long time, but I have always been something of a 'someday' podcaster. Someday, I'll do it. Well, someday was today.

We met, via Skype, a few days after I responded and instantly hit it off. Jared had clearly been planning this endeavor for a while, had purchased some sound equipment, and had rough outline already. But he was open and receptive, fun, and easy to talk to. I pushed for some things I wanted to hear, some things I wanted to be a part of the show. Some ideas were imitative of other podcasts, others were uniquely our own. We cobbled together ideas for the segments, building on his idea of outlining the show with various power source titles. I helped fill in some of the segments that were blank on his side. We went back and forth, talked about what would work and what wouldn't, what we belong where, and what would make us unique. In the end, together, we created the format that would become the core of the show.

Things came together very smoothly after that, for the most part. There were some creative differences, but nothing that we couldn't work out. We joked on the show once or twice about our bloody preshow meetings. We had a great on-air chemistry and a workable off-air chemistry, fueled by our differences as much as by our similarities. And by every measure, we were fairly successful right out of the gate. I was riding high and so was Jared. We would talk about our download numbers, check our reviews and average ratings obsessively, and refresh our e-mail boxes ten times an hour. I was finally convinced to join Twitter.

Last week, just before Thanksgiving, Jared and I had a bit of an argument. I really have no desire to go into it, but it amounted to a question of ownership of the show and acting as partners instead of as individuals. I was told, in no uncertain terms, that I had misunderstood the nature of the relationship and that I should not have thought of myself as an equal partner. That is why I had been referred to as "and joining me once more" rather than as a host or even as a cohost. We hashed even this out, proving that reason and compromise could win the day. Because, of course, we both had a stake, our names were side by side on the podcast. We had divided the work as evenly as possible given that I could not really help with the sound editing. We had divided the costs involved, except for the sound mixing equipment Jared had purchased, but we had agreed this would be all right given that he would keep it if the show failed.

On Sunday, November 29th, I was told that I was no longer a part of the show due to my misunderstanding of the terms of my participation; Jared had not been seeking a partner and felt he had been clear on this all along. I was told that the show would continue without my participation or approval. Jared had laid claim to everything I had brought onto the show as his own. And, as he has so bluntly put it, I have no recourse.

Sadly, this is true. There truly is nothing I can do except roll over and accept that something that I helped built had been taken from me over a senseless argument as to whether it was 'our' show or 'Jared's' show. In time, my name and my contributions to the show will be forgotten, though they will continue to be built into the very foundation of the show. I am not going to hash out which segments and ideas are mine because that turns me into Jared. Every idea of how the show was put together was something that evolved through our collaborative effort.

To all of those who have listened to me, I will truly miss you. I loved reading each and every e-mail, reading your tweets, reading your reviews, every bit. And that is why I wish Jared all of the best in continuing this project. Although the mean spirited, spiteful part of me wants revenge, the rest of me knows that the foundation that Jared and I laid down together will make for a great show, whether I am there or not. I would not deny any D&D fan out there the right to enjoy it. Unfortunately, slighted and betrayed as I might feel, knowing full well that I have been robbed of my time and creative energy unfairly; it is still all about the game and the fans.

And so I say: best of luck to all of you, happy gaming, and thank you for listening. Being a part of your lives is the only real loss here for me.

Feel free to drop me a comment here or follow me on twitter at twitter.com/DM_simonides.

And happy holidays.