Warframe: Creator Spotlight: Cephalon Squared

www.cephalonsquared.com

What happens when two Warframe fans team up to create a podcast?

In the case of Cephalon Squared, an entire community was born. Cephalon Squared began as a podcast in July 2018 with the goal of covering Warframe news and providing tips to Tenno, and has since grown into an entire online community. In this month’s Spotlight, we shine a light on the two ‘Cephalons’ behind this passion project, and how their podcast led them into a content creation journey.

For those looking to jump into their own Podcast, they’ve also shared some tips on how to start!

Tell us about Cephalon Squared and its journey up until this point!

Cephalon Lucas (A.K.A. SilvrLght): It has been a wild and exciting ride, but as a passion project, that's exactly what you want. C2 has been a learning experience for me - a chance to learn more about myself, to discover like-minded people, and to make some friendships that have helped me grow. There have been a number of advancements in how we work the show, with some segments becoming accidental permanent parts (weather rambles) and others that were planned out and thankfully successful (King Louie's Blessings).

Cephalon Greg (A.K.A. MadCapsules): We started as a podcast, but as we noticed there was interest, our ambition grew and we became much more, very quickly. Perhaps too quickly. We've put the brakes on a little recently because time is a commodity hard come by, but by-and-large the whole experience has been a blast. The podcast and the community we've built are our primary focus for now, and we really love every aspect of both.

Click here to listen to Cephalon Squared Episode 96 - Interview with Pablo!

Since 2018, the Cephalon Squared podcast has covered all things Warframe and now has 130 episodes! What encouraged you to begin and continue this project?

Cephalon Lucas: In the beginning, there was a Greg, and Greg had an idea for the greatest Warframe podcast to ever exist...but he could not do this alone. So he called upon a friend (me) who had soaked up Warframe knowledge to a substantial degree, and together they combined their minds and formed the collective that is Cephalon Squared.

I’d always wanted to try my hand at being a content creator to some capacity, but my social anxiety was always a hindrance to attempting something on my own. While in the beginning I had my fair share of self-doubt, it was thanks to the small following we developed early on and the support of my co-host that pushed me to continue and better myself for the show's progression.

Cephalon Greg: I noticed a distinct lack of audio-only Warframe podcasts, and thought this might be something people were interested in. I had some limited experience with content creation, and Lucas had the Warframe knowledge, so I thought that if we put our heads together we might create something pretty great. Whether or not it's actually pretty great is up to the listeners, but I'm proud of what we've achieved. We continue for a few reasons - habit, out of respect for our listeners, and most importantly - because we still enjoy it!

Do you have a favourite episode?

Cephalon Lucas: Umm...just 1? I may have completely fanboyed in the past when interviewing a few of the lovely voice actors/actresses that have worked as some of the fantastic characters in Warframe. Oh, and collaborations with our good friend Xenogelion are always fun too!

Cephalon Greg: Having the chance to speak with members of the Warframe team, as well as voice actors and other content creators, has been mind-blowing for both of us, but I think some of our live-streamed episodes have been the most fun. I'm looking forward to doing more of those - perhaps we might even have a guest on with us next time?

Click here to listen to Cephalon Squared Special Episode 2 - Sheryl Mebane (A.K.A. Nora Night)!

For those interested in creating a podcast, how would you suggest getting started? What are some of the top tips and tricks you've learned along the way?

Cephalon Lucas: Just do it - jump on in and take a chance. Don't hold off or aim for perfection (perfection is an illusion). Don't think “what if?”, think “why not?”. Start small if you must, but still start. If you stick to it, you will find traction and discover your niche. At the end of the day, we are our own worst enemies and don't realize that by thinking "eh, I’ll start next week" we are setting ourselves up to fail. It also helps to have a pushy co-host.

Cephalon Greg: Pushy co-host? Why I never! But seriously...I have been pretty pushy. From day one, when Lucas agreed to start a podcast, my response was "well, let's start tomorrow." And we did. I think persistence, predictability, and consistency are key to success, so I've made sure we stuck to it. Lucas is 100% right - just do it and don't stop. Find a topic not covered by a million other podcasts, make it fun, and get the word out. Never stop never stopping.

Did you ever experience challenges while creating the podcast? How did you move past them?

Cephalon Lucas: Audio quality has been one of our biggest issues. At the start, we recorded the first few episodes on phone and eventually moved to PC with proper recording microphones. Even today, we still have listeners comment on the improvements since the infamous Episode 1, and are often amazed people will go back and listen to that eardrum destroying content. Also, the Australian summers don’t help when you have your laptop literally melt an hour before recording…

I'm thankful to have supportive friends willing to assist in times of crisis. THE SHOW MUST GO ON!

Cephalon Greg: My challenges have been different and more varied, as I handle the publishing, website, editing, and so on, so there was a lot to learn. Not that I didn't want to learn, though! Audio quality is important, but production quality becomes important over time as well. We still aren't the most professionally produced podcast out there (far from it!), but I'm really proud of how far we've come. Just listen to that first episode...*cringe.* Learning from Youtube helps, as well as having good friends with good advice (hat tip to Xeno).

Click here to listen to Cephalon Squared Episode 48 - Xenogelion Interview!

The Cephalon Squared community spans across many different platforms, including cephalonsquared.com. Where do you find most of your inspiration behind the site content? Does it differ from the podcast?

Cephalon Lucas: This is a simple one for me. I often script out my tips and topics for the podcast, so with a slight bit of editing and a few pics, we have an article for the site - TADA! We have a hefty amount of backlogged articles, though...

Cephalon Greg: Sadly, the way I built the website means that it's not simple for others to create and post articles. You live, you learn, I guess! As a result, most of the content at the moment is split between 2 posts - the show notes for each episode, and a weekly Nightwave article outlining the weekly challenges, alongside some tips and store contents.

We also have guides for a bunch of weapons and Warframes, but it's a little out-of-date at the moment. That said, we are in the process of addressing all of this, so hopefully, that backlog will be posted in the coming months!

What's been the best thing about creating Cephalon Squared?

Cephalon Lucas: THE COMMUNITY!!! The community is amazing and the support we receive keeps us going and wanting to improve.

Cephalon Greg: Absolutely the community. We've made a number of new real friends through C2 (particularly our Discord server), and I really couldn't imagine life without them. If we stopped today, I'd put all of my focus into maintaining the Discord - it's community-generated content in itself, both Warframe and non-Warframe related. Such a great bunch of people with all sorts of knowledge and experience.

Thank you for sharing your insights and story! What's next in store for the Cephalon Squared community?

Cephalon Lucas: We have a few plans for this year that we are hoping will grow the community. The stream team we have built to assist with day-to-day streams on the C2 Twitch channel has been a massive help, and hopefully, we will manage to do some awesome things with them later in the year, but for now? THE SKY'S THE LIMIT!

Cephalon Greg: Lucas' ambition is growing, which is fantastic, and he's taking the reins for our Twitch Channel and some other plans besides. My focus is on maintaining the podcast and Discord, in particular. I'd like to make sure we stick to doing what we do, and hopefully, do it even better!