Dan's growing on me.

So I obviously don't mind if people call me dumb, stubborn, etc. If I had an issue with that, I wouldn't loudly broadcast my stupid experiences and opinions on a forum as widely seen/heard as Giant Bomb. I saw this thread tonight and wanted to clarify this particular tweet. I meant it 100% as a "I hate the game of soccer, and I hate that my friends and the country at large are starting to care about it" thing. At zero point did I even remotely consider that the tweet might come across as race-related (in fact, it was white gaming journalists that were tweeting about soccer that made me tweet it in the first place). When it was pointed out to me that it might be misread, I deleted the tweet so as to avoid confusion. One of the many things I love about America is its initial purpose of being a melting pot that offers the chance at the American Dream for everyone, regardless of where they come from. So yeah, wanted to clear that up. Cool? See ya!

@nodima said:

The problem is that the term "deported" applies specifically to foreign nationals (in common usage, anyway). So it's not really surprising that that joke would provoke a reaction from immigrants.

Of course it's pretty clear (now) that Dan didn't really mean it in that way. If Colbert used that word, he'd definitely be aware of the implications.

Dan has been a great addition to the site.

@djou: you are way over the top. Everyone member of Giant Bomb starts Quick Looks of games sometimes without knowing about them.

If you don't find someone to be your style, fine. I don't enjoy Patrick that much. I don't say he's bad at his job and dumb either. You're going way too far, it sounds childish. It's really fine if you don't like him but to say he's phoning it in already? What?

I like him, he reminds me of Vinny in a way, i just feel hes a great addition to the team.

Yeah, I know and that is weak filler content.

I don't think he is dumb or bad at his job either, I never said that. Obviously he has worked in the games press for a long time so he should know good from bad coverage, but his work so far is lazy and his insight is shallow. This is exactly how I would describe Game Informer and most traditional mainstream game coverage. Having personality and reciting a list game features isn't offering meaningful insight. I wrote that after watching the Lovely Planet QL which literally told me nothing about the game. Neither Brad nor Dan talked about any of the game features and he played like total garbage even though it was his second time through the levels. They went on about the game soundtrack which you couldn't hear... at all. They didn't even mention that it was from the devs of Speedrunners. Contrast this with something like the Hotline Miami QL, Ryan was enthusiastic while discovering the game, jammed out on the soundtrack, and showed off the game.

The reason I subscribe to this site instead of just getting game news from the dozens of very good Youtube or Twitch players is that these people are professionals. They are paid to play and think about games. They have insight and access to developers not available to some yo-yo in his bedroom playing games with a face cam. There's value in experience. If Dan talked about video games like he did wrestling then the story would be different, unfortunately I don't give jack shit about wrestling and this is not a wrestling fan site.

I'd be interested in your version of the Lovely Planet QL where Brad was there instead of Drew and Dan didn't immediately say "I've never played this game before." Interesting. Also, I don't know what platform you watched the QL on because that soundtrack was really loud in the mix for me. It was an awesome QL because of that. Also "showing off the game?" Didn't they do a few full worlds' worth of levels?

I understand the rest of your comments, but I think you should either use actual evidence or back up some of the other mentions (like saying the soundtrack wasn't at all audible, which can be dependent on more than just the source mix).

I'm pretty into Dan and how excited he gets. My only issue is that he doesn't seem to understand the difference between something being bad and him disliking something. That said, it's a minor annoyance, and if these guys were flawless it would be boring.

Except Vinny. He's flawless and never boring.

I agree with your points here.

Djou, on your essential disagreement, I really don't get where you're coming from. I have followed these guys since Gamespot and what I've always come for is funny, entertaining, well hosted, quirky videogame coverage. You sound as if you are coming for deep insight into games and frankly I have no idea where you are getting that on the site or why that is your expectation. I mean they do a thorough enough job reviewing games, talking about them, all that, but no more than any number of other sites. It's always just way more funny and entertaining and with an interesting angle. That always been the appeal.

It's why Dan fits in seriously perfectly. There are other sites out there for games coverage that tries to be in depth, and I'd understand how Dan might not fit in there. I really don't get the core point though. I don't see how you come to it at all. Where do you get this coverage on the site? Other than some of Patricks interviews and the Endurance Runs, I really can't think of where it could be. They hardly even complete any of the games they QL at this point.

But to each their own. It's just funny to be so critical to say Dan is phoning it in when he does EXACTLY what other crew memebers do constantly. How many recent QLs or videos have been Vinny jumping in cold to a game? A number. This goes on with everyone on the site.

@danryckert:

Hey Dude. Just a small detail about your response to the negative response to your tweet. I get where you're coming from; you're trying to say that you intended no harm by your tweet. The problem with the response is that, say I were offended, it could be read as 'I didn't mean to offend, here's what I meant, do you get it now?'. It makes the offended culpable by suggesting that they were the ones misunderstanding.

I hope you don't take that the wrong way because I'm sure, like with the tweet, you meant no harm. But maybe next time you might want to go with simply stating you're sorry and stating why rather than implying that the offended simply didn't understand.

@siroptimusprime: You're right, I misremembered, it was Drew, but I still stand by everything else. Maybe it is my mix? I am watching the QL on a television sitting on a couch. Despite that, there definitely was no highlighting of the soundtrack, just Dan and Drew talking over the music. It's not like I'm expecting a fucking master's thesis. I wouldn't even fault them if they spent 30 talking about the soundtrack... at least that's something. But there is so little substance to some of the content I'm not even sure what the point of watching it is. Maybe I'm sour that a week ago they fired a bunch of the OG Gamespot folks that actually did good work and now we are left with slapdash effort.

Hey @danryckert:

My only tip so far is play more computer games dude! Your lack of familiarity with some of the older ones as you said you never had a good computer seems weird. I know GI always seemed rather console focused but now you gotta catch up. The WoW content is a good start I hope to see more.

PS: Dota isn't dumb wrestling is dumb.

I was cool with Dan until he said Assassin Creed had janky controls. No way, the controls are fine. Also, wrestling is dumb.

Dan is great. It's easy for someone outside his sphere of reality to call him ignorant. But I almost envy his position and conviction. I gotta say he is a great addition to the crew and am looking forward to seeing him unfold. One thing that I am glad I got over as I got older is that you can't change or align everyone to your views. It makes for some great viewpoints and stories. Which of course is why I am here. Welcome Dan!!

@djou: Always possible. I remember them talking about the soundtrack relatively frequently, but I could be misremembering (I just watched again, but my memory is about as useful as wet cardboard so who knows). Either way, sorry for the possibly confrontational tone - was a bit of a testy morning. I agree that a lot of the content could start to feel churned out, especially with GBeast feeling like they're just grabbing any indie game in a sort of slapdash way of making content. It's still a weird transition period (cue the raw vegetables because jesus fuck that's been said for about 5 years now), so I'm just hoping that the personalities gel and the party continues.

As someone who played on a terrible computer in the mid 00's and was forced to play games from the mid-late 90's as a result, I wholeheartedly disagree. Mostly because I stopped coming to Giant Bomb to agree with the cast on games, and Dan is certainly not stopping that trend.

I love Dan, he certainly missed some stuff during the whole growing up thing though. I like to imagine he was riding the rails as a child and has lots street smarts but doesn't know what real food with mayo/mustard is and had to eat cheese dogs out of a box that he heated on the top of the trains' brakes after it came to a stop.

After the hearing latest Bombcast, Dan and Matt Kessler need to be in some kind of on-going series where they eat relatively common foods, possibly for the first time. New podcast, perhaps?

@siroptimusprime: np. I'm pretty forgiving when it comes to churning content. As long as they find something interesting to say, or make even a modicum of a good point, I'm satisfied. Vinny and Alex's content has been pretty random, but I imagine they are still playing games on Vinny's laptop. The Eidolon QL was interesting even if Alex was just bullshitting and throwing out the idea that survivalist sandbox games were some representation of post-millennial anxiety. That's some Don Delillo philosophizing. I can only hope that all the content tries to think like that while having fun.

I watched him in the Jet Gunner Quick Look today, and I have to say that I'm not a fan. It was pretty grating to see him discover things in the game that he should have known about beforehand.

I've decided Dan's my favorite internet person. Everyone else needs to step it up.

I audibly said "OH MY FUCKING GOD" when Dan told the story of forever fucking up his vision because he wanted to be a superhero. His weird spirals into darkness are quickly becoming my favorite parts of the recent Bombcasts.

I laughed out loud during the latest Bombcast. Drake's WTF attitude toward both Dan and Kessler is weirdly refreshing.

I've always wondered this, but how little of the site's content do you take in? Because that's the sort of thing that's in 1/3 of most videos nowadays, if not more. I just think calling Dan out specifically for "not knowing something beforehand" is exclusionary considering that's been the case since ~2010. i'm not saying we shouldn't be questioning it and talking about it, but we should probably include all the crew's collective lack of awareness.

It's pretty much Bombin' the AM, Worth Reading, maybe a written article here and there, rarely longer videos, and that's about it. Under those circumstances, it's a little more understandable that I'd single out Dan (intentionally or not).

@video_game_king: Yeah... I guess, but I still think it'd be better to say "All of the guys need to get better at this" because it's a site-wide thing. Or something, it's weird since you don't get to much of the content where everyone else does the exact same things others have been complaining concerning Dan. I dunno, always been bothered by this activity ever since people complained about Rorie a long time back doing things that Ryan or Jeff had done all the time (I forget the context). It feels like sad, blind fanboyism. At least their comments, not yours specifically.

Dan's contribution to the site has been superb so far (good job being Dan, Dan!). Especially in the bombcast, where he gets to tell all of his stupid, funny stories and be himself even more. I lauged out loud at the office when I heard him talk about pogs this last episode. He loves dumb, nerdy stuff and he is not afraid to admit it and embrace it. Not unlike Ryan, in a way, even though I would never compare the two in any other fashion (Ryan was one of a kind).

I was going to photoshop Dans face onto a picture of a skin tag but I searched for pictures of skin tags and I will never talk about that experience again.

Been a fan of Dan's for a while even though I never watched his Game Informer stuff until he came here, and obviously I've been riding for him a little in this thread already, but between the Mario Party Party, TMNT QL, Jet Gunner QL and Wii Sports, I can tell the site is in good hands. Especially when it comes to the Wii Sports or Velvet Sundown quick looks, to assume Dan would always go into a video unprepared is misinformed. When that dude knows something, he knows it, and his often non sequiter-like connections he makes to understand mechanics/plots in games is very infectious.

All I want to say is that Terminator 3 and 4 are not that bad but no where near as good as T1 and T2.

I don't get you people who get upset that Dan doesn't seem open to trying things or stubborn. Have you ever listened to Jeff? Go look at his tumblr, it's just people telling him to see Guardians of the Galaxy and telling them to shut up.

Also, Dan is down for the proposed "Feeding Dan" feature so he seems game enough

He's funny and gets along.

I wish my brain would just like him already. It's like the bridges in Donkey Kong Country 2, I keep coming up, pay the toll but then something happens and it turns into a sadistic version of Papers Please where they stamp my passport to let me in but then shoot me as soon as I cross the border. I keep telling myself, 'He ain't so bad, he's a funny guy.' and then something new pops up and it's like DUDE! WHY DO YOU HATE OAK TREES? (I'm assuming this will be the next thing that he hates) He's a good guy, I just wish my brain would stop being so picky about him.

Hate to make that reference again, but much of the negative stuff I keep hearing about Dan is the same kind of stuff people loved about Ryan. The willingness to embrace the shit you love no matter what, the stubbornness, the tounge-in-cheeck "fuck that" attitude, the sticking to your guns approach. All of these things were traits that made Ryan the best dude(r) ever and Dan shares some of that, in his own special way.

Yep, there certainly are similarities.. I think the negative attitude towards Dan comes from his weirdness. Ryan was a charming, social character, while Dan is more of a weirdo, and "people" generally choose to think of weirdos in a negative manner. "Fear of the unknown" and all that bs... I know from personal experience. But once people get accustomed to the weirdness, they will embrace it.

Dan is just keeping it real.

Dan's glasses story is one of the funniest things I have ever heard. Keep it comin' Dan.

After hearing the sour cream, the salad and now the glasses story I'm wondering if he has no common sense at all. I mean that is beyond retarded now.

After this week's podcast, my love for Dan is unshakeable. He's a fantastic addition!

"Whaaaaaat?"

@l4wd0g: If at any point in life you end up in this situation, you are doing pretty ok in my book.

Dan's cool anyway, any new edition can be hard to take in on something like a podcast, these familiar voices are like home, a new edition is like a new room...takes a while for it to feel part of the house, but when that room is Dan Ryckert you know it's gonna be an interesting and awesome room.

Brads hosting however...now this might take some getting used to..

I hate children. Like I have 0 patience for them. This is the reason I can't stand Dan. I don't think he's funny or entertaining, I just find him irritating. He never has anything interesting to add to a conversation and instead will just throw out something that will make me grimace and switch off like today when he asked Drew if there was air in space.

I found John Drake's real talk with Dan on the podcast almost embarrassing to listen to, because it didn't come off as jokey at all to me. (Though I'm sure it was mean humorously). It just seemed like one person saying "Hey maybe you shouldn't be so narrow minded" and him saying "Well it's worked for me so far, why should I care about other people?".

I think I'm still in the "Is this an elaborate troll?" phase. Once I get past that, and through the "wrestling is clogging the twitter listing on the front page" phase, the growing on me phase can commence!

Just finished the latest bombcast:

I'm officially on board with Dan.(The laser eye surgery and the black and tan star wars marathon during the tornado sealed it- I had been somewhat on the fence until today.) He's stupid and funny in a way I find amusing. Stupid and funny are really what I'm looking for the bombcast to be. We all loved Ryan and no one will ever replace him but there should be room in the good places of our minds/hearts/whatever for more ridiculousness. I full intend to read up on this Jose Canseco foolishness momentarily.

That being said: I do hate wrestling and if we could just stop talking about that quite so much I'd consider that epic.

As a Hispanic who did not watch the World Cup I agree with deporting everyone who did. Lets keep America soccer free like the founding fathers intended please.

Of all the Dan criticisms the complaints about wrestling talk hold the least water in my eyes. He makes quite a few references but it's not like swaths of Bombcasts, QLs, etc are taken up w/ talk about what's going on during RAW.

Yeah I don't find the wrestling stuff overwhelming- it's a minor issue at best. After all that positivity I felt like I had to throw a complaint in there to balance things.

Maybe this is changing the subject, but I just listened to the most recent bombcast, and I thought John Drake was a great counterpoint to Dan. He said the shit to Dan that I've been thinking, but not in any sort of malicious way, it just put into stark contrast how bizarre some of the shit Dan says is. But, I enjoy bizarre shit, so that's great!

@dusker: John Drake is the Chalmers to Dan Ryckert's Skinner.

Ryckert: Oh no, I said 'steamed hams'. That's what I call hamburgers.

Drake: You call hamburgers steamed hams?

...

Now that I've got a good feel for what Dan is all about I love him. All of the ball busting on the podcast is done in jest yes? Because they were really ganging up on him. A breath of fresh country air in comparison to the snooty San Fran air the rest of these guys are huffing. Don't change Dan!

@kkotd said:

I wish my brain would just like him already. It's like the bridges in Donkey Kong Country 2, I keep coming up, pay the toll but then something happens and it turns into a sadistic version of Papers Please where they stamp my passport to let me in but then shoot me as soon as I cross the border. I keep telling myself, 'He ain't so bad, he's a funny guy.' and then something new pops up and it's like DUDE! WHY DO YOU HATE OAK TREES? (I'm assuming this will be the next thing that he hates) He's a good guy, I just wish my brain would stop being so picky about him.

Is it like DKC2 or is it like Papers Please? It doesn't add up!