Do you ever get freaked out by how we refer to the bombsquad?

Sometimes when I think about it, I realize I talk really casually about the GB crew as if they were close personal friends and not, you know, strangers who live on the other side of the world from me. I mean, sure I wouldn't not talk to any of them, or be an ass, but at least MY friend group all talk about Jeff this and Ryan that as if we could shoot a few over some brewskies. Then I get super paranoid because Refering to them as Mr Navarro, or Davis sounds real bad too because it comes off as really formal.

I do take medication for my anxiety, but sometimes, man. Sometimes.

Do you think famous personalities ever think about this? Britain has a bunch of them, and I wonder how many nights of sleep are lost because of this phenomenon.

Just use their full name, both first and last. 

@Turambar said:

Just use their full name, both first and last.

It's out of familiarity and habit of culture that I don't. That's the conflict. Just wondered if anyone else feels the same though.

maybe start a support group XD

I don't see what's wrong about just using their first names. People get freaked out over stupid shit.

Eh, I think it's only natural. If you think about it, we've got a shared love of video games, and probably more cultural aspects than that--if you didn't like anything else they talked about, you wouldn't be here; there are a million other video game sites out there. And they've worked hard to create a community, with the forums, the wiki, the e-mail responses, TNT, all that kind of stuff (and having premium members, which invites us in to some theoretical inner circle). We've probably got as much in common with them on some basic level as we do with a lot of our friends.

To put it more simply: if for some weird reason I suddenly ended up at a table with one or more of them, I'd at least have something to have a conversation about. It's a great community we've got going on here.

Or, if you'd rather be more crass and cynical about it, that's exactly what they would want--we build all the content of their website (and, for the mods, moderate it) for them for free, and some of us even pay for it. But it's less fun to think of it that way.

In either case, that's the culture they chose to establish when they built it and it's one the community's bought into. So worry less about it and have fun }:D

I consider them friends because i feel i know them. Maybe thats purely the result of listening to them on podcasts for 6 years though. :)

I mean, compared to TV, movie, music stars or whatever, the site is a lot more... intimate, than those other things. it's completely logical, if not a little weird, to do that.

Can we stop calling them the Bombsquad?

Eh it's not that weird, they're dudes on the internet not movie stars.

@Jrinswand said:

Can we stop calling them the Bombsquad?

That's fine. Most of us refer to them in less formal ways so naturally because they do a whole lot of things for and with the community. I don't want to pretend like I know more about them than I actually do - they're still strangers, technically - but we could probably take a good shot at describing their general personalities and characteristics, and could probably bring up random facts here and there that they've mentioned and some of us have memorized.

On to more important things - I hope the Bombcast doesn't take until sometime in the AM to show up. I was hoping to get the first half under my belt tonight.

Full name.

Robert Downey Jr isn't "Bob," Lee Harvey Oswald isn't "Lee," and Ryan Davis isn't "Ryan."

Except Jeff. Saying "Jeff" just feels right.

That's right. Jeff just feels right.

EDIT: Drew Scanlon is the other exception. I don't call him anything... except ADORABLE?!

I'm not sure how to explain it, but even though I have the utmost respect for them and what they do, I got the impression that if you called them by their last name you'd be fucking up. They realize that you've been listening to their voices every day while they do stupid shit, it'd be strange to suddenly call them out in a formal manner.

Not really. Most people on here have probably heard them on the pdocast for years now. Not to mention the Hotspot it has been a long time to build such a strong bond with these guys. We all have the common love of games and that has propelled to full on friendship with the bombcast.

I'm more concerned that your government is going to hear "bombsquad" and assume they're a group of Islamic gamers who are biding their time.

@mlarrabee said:

Full name.

Robert Downey Jr isn't "Bob," Lee Harvey Oswald isn't "Lee," and Ryan Davis isn't "Ryan."

Except Jeff. Saying "Jeff" just feels right.

That's right. Jeff just feels right.

EDIT: Drew Scanlon is the other exception. I don't call him anything... except ADORABLE?!

If people were exposed almost daily to RDJ in a light-hearted, informal manner I bet they would call him Robert, or whatever he prefers to be called.

@YI_Orange said:

@mlarrabee said:

Full name.

Robert Downey Jr isn't "Bob," Lee Harvey Oswald isn't "Lee," and Ryan Davis isn't "Ryan."

Except Jeff. Saying "Jeff" just feels right.

That's right. Jeff just feels right.

EDIT: Drew Scanlon is the other exception. I don't call him anything... except ADORABLE?!

If people were exposed almost daily to RDJ in a light-hearted, informal manner I bet they would call him Robert, or whatever he prefers to be called.

If I remember right, the Bombcast Crew ruled a few months ago that RDJ's wife, Susan Downey Jr, calls him Robert Downey Jr around the house. It makes for really stilted sex tapes.

I don't really know what the problem is, but I will add this, I only say their first name when I'm on this site since I know everyone knows who I'm talking about, but I say their full name if I'm elsewhere, and no, I don't consider them to be friends, because they don't know me, and I don't know them personally, but I've been following what they've been doing since the earliest of GameSpot years, even when I didn't notice it.

It seems to me that a lot of other people take this stuff to a whole other level though, and that I'm not comfortable with, as in, I wouldn't do it. I don't like when one crew member says something funny, or something memorable, and other people start saying it over and over, to me, it's kind of pathetic and weird. I mean, they're cool people, sure, but they get way too much praise in an awkward way. That's just how I feel.

@Ramone said:

@Jrinswand said:

Can we stop calling them the Bombsquad?

I always forget the excellent editing on this video. It's basically one picture, but it works for almost three minutes. Pretty awesome work.

My girlfriend and I talk about them sometimes, but I don't think it's weird. Not any different from talking about people on tv.

Full names, ladies and gentlemen.

Also, tip your wait staff.

No, it really doesn't bother me because it's kind of the point of the site. They created Giant Bomb to feel like a more personal thing, rather than sites like IGN or Gamespot. The fact that you feel like you know them in some way is a good thing, I think.

As long as your bros understand who you're talking about, feel free to call them whatever you like.

When I'm here, I don't see the point in saying anything but their first name, because I figure we all know who we're talking about. If I ever spoke about them outside of Giant Bomb, I would say their full name, obviously.

Referring to them as ''Mr.'' would be way weirder.

If I were to ever meet them, I don't know, I would probably greet them with their full name, but continue with just the first.

We're merely following their lead. Look at forum accounts: Jeff is just Jeff. Look at descriptions on videos: "Vinny and Ryan's conquest over suggestive demons is aided by blue circles, Fritos, and some familiar music." They present themselves on a first name basis to us, and we merely return the favor.

I don't know about that, but I dislike when people call them Bombardiers, just sounds dumb and weird.

Nope. I get a little freaked out by the way people latch on to complete strangers and act like they know them. ~BUT, I definitely hear enough about their regular lives and opinions of stuff that I'd probably be fine hanging out with any of them. Especially Dave. But especially Vinny.

When I went to PAX I wasn't sure how to introduce myself. Having been listening to the podcasts for years I feel like I know the staff pretty well, whereas they obviously have never even heard of me before, other than the occasional blog or forum post I guess. However it took about 30 seconds to figure out that it wasn't going to be a problem. I think the first thing I said to Jeff when he turned up in the bar before Rock Band night was: "Holy shit, you're a real person!" and he went "Uhh.... yep?" and then it was fine. Once you realise that there's no need to be intimidated it was easy. Drew especially is probably the most approachable guy of the bunch, and I had no problems at all chatting to Snide and Ryan, either. I actually spent a bunch of time talking to Alex as well, which I wasn't expecting because I'm not as familiar with his work, but he was so approachable it was hard not to just get along with him. I would have liked to chat to Brad a bit more but he always seemed to be drunk whenever I found him....

Man.... I miss PAX :(

Kinda glad that most of the responses help me justify the anxious part, thanks guys <3 Especially glad to see that noone, yet, has my awful neurosis.

@Turambar said:

Just use their full name, both first and last.

Whenever I mention something about the site or podcast to my girlfriend, I always use their full names because it would seem weird otherwise.