PetFoodAlpha (PFA) is a weekly Final Fantasy XI (FFXI) Podcast run by three FFXI enthusiasts: Steak, Fusionx and Chinchilla. Until recently, they had a fourth host, Squigglicious, but due to personal reasons, Squigg had to take a hiatus. Last month they reached their two year anniversary, clocking in at 104 episodes – this means that since the beginning they have not missed a single show.

PFA rose from the ashes of former Podcast Mega Elixir, which aired fifteen shows in 2006. Steak and Fusionx were two of the guests on Mega Elixir, and when the Podcast drew to a close, Steak wanted to continue producing a show about FFXI.

Fusionx was a heavy poster on the Mega Elixir boards, and even admits he got in trouble for necro-posting! Steak jokes that although he was a nerd, he could tell Fusionx knew what he was talking about, and, adding to the fact he found him easy to talk to, asked him to become a co-host for a new show. The result was PFA.

Whilst levelling his BST one day, Steak was trying to come up with a name for the new show. He was using a Pet Food Alpha biscuit on his pet in the Valkurm Dunes and suddenly he decided it would be a good name for the show. At first, Fusionx was apprehensive, but slowly warmed to the name. It was from this that their memorable catchphrase, “bringing you the biscuit”, was derived.

In episode 2, “Now with Woman”, they brought a third host to the show, Samigrace. At the time, neither Steak nor Fusionx were L75, but Samigrace was a L75 PLD and both were excited and enthusiastic to bring someone with end-game experience into the mix.

Chinchilla was a repeat guest, who also wrote into the show. After a few emails she joined the team as a host for episode 22, “In the Can”, onwards. Squigglicious was introduced to Fusionx through Samigrace (as Samigrace and Squigg were in-game friends). At the time, Fusionx had an article called “Johnny McNoob”, which was a regular feature that explained game basics to new players, and Squigg had contributed to the article. She ended up appearing on the show so often that she was given the position of the fourth host.

PFA love to engage their guests as much as possible. One of their main articles, “The Round Table”, is designed to allow the guest to talk about whatever they want to talk about, so that they can make an impact on the episode. They also take the time to read as many listeners’ emails as possible and greatly encourage fans to do so.

The show itself has no leader; they are just a group of FFXI enthusiasts getting together to talk about a shared passion, but each member of the group has their role. For example, Steak structures the episodes, whilst Fusionx spends a lot of time working on the PFA website, adding graphics and updating articles – regularly! Another thing worthy of note is their modesty. Despite being the longest running FFXI Podcast, and regardless of the fact the show has many followers who are very complementary, they admit they do not feel like celebrities.

In June 2008 Squigg announced on the website that she was stepping down from her role as host on the show due to personal reasons outside of the game. The other hosts were sad to see her go, but she still remains a FFXI player and continues to post on the PFA forums. The group have no plans to seek an alternative, and Steak states that “Squigg brought an element to the show that could not be replaced”. They added she would always be welcome back if she so chose and fans hope that she returns one day.

They joke that they plan on producing episodes “until the servers shut down plus two more”, so fans can expect to hear a lot more from PFA, and we hope that Squigg will one day return.