Any sort of considerations for subscribers after this week?

I love GB and I understand the tribulations that come with a redesign/launch, but I pay money each month to access their content, and well, I can't half the time.

I don't want a refund or anything because I genuinely want to support the Bombers, but some sort of something should be in order.

your having a laugh. for real!!

@orlandodoom:

DAVE HAS SAID A 2 WEEK EXTENSION ON SUBS WILL BE ISSUED DUE TO WEB SITE LAUNCH SPREAD THE WORD

dude are you new here or something? :P

ain't gon' be nothin' different

you can't even download them?

What exactly is the problem? I'm a subscriber and can access all the premium content without issue. Maybe explain in greater details what is wrong in the bug reporting forum?

Subscriber content took the site down today for everyone. Never forget that.

@nekusakuraba: After grueling seconds of critical thought, I've come to the conclusion that he's upset that certain subscriber features have been available to non-subscribers over the past week. Which is a valid complaint.

@walkerd said:

I guess. I also don't care too much as a paying member. Shit will be back to normal soon enough. I think the dude's just overreacting.

@jasonr86: It's easy to feel cheated in a situation like this when you don't have a lot of money to throw around on things like this. When you do have a little excess to spend on something like a Giantbomb subscription and it turns out you're not getting quite your money's worth, it can be pretty damn distressing.

http://jeffgerstmann.tumblr.com/post/43205130667/any-plans-to-extend-premium-memberships-by-a-week-to

I haven't had problems viewing content, so I don't need any sort of compensation. If anything, I've finally felt like my premium membership is just beginning to be worth it with the consistent Unprofessional Fridays stuff they've been doing. I joined right before they joined CBSi, which means a drought of significant premium content for the majority of my membership. It's nice that my membership is becoming worthwhile now that it's about to expire.

Think of this as a teaser for new subscribers. They will maintain their subscriber only content but they have an opportunity to show what premium membership will get them.

Honestly I don't pay for a subscription for the premium content, I pay because I love Giant Bomb and want them to be as successful as possible. If they didn't even have premium content I would subscribe for the sake of subscribing.

I pay my subscriber fee because I want to support the guys with or without their being bonus content on the line. The things they do (the majority of which remains free for all) cost a lot of money to maintain between the cameras, software, writers, things breaking, etc etc and I want to do my part in keeping that awesome wave of awesome going.

That is why anyone and everyone should subscribe not to get bonus content exclusively so you can be an asshole and look down on those who either can't or must wait.

I suspect they will credit everyone a week - and I can see how monthly users will feel it more - but you don't half come across as a real scuffer begging for credit.

I've not experienced any of this I suspected it was going to be a rough few days so I downloaded more than enough stuff to watch in the interim.

Fail to plan plan to fail (We where all warned). I Don't want any kind of reimbursement I pay my money to keep those guys doing quick looks and the bombcast the subscriber stuff is just a sweet bonus.

@orlandodoom: Subscriptions are being extended by two weeks due to site instability.

While it is true that you couldn't access the site for a while, you're getting an ALL NEW site. Furthermore, it's like $5 a month or something, I don't even remember because I am a yearly subscriber. That's a tenth of a new game - a game you'll, if you're anything like me, play less than the amount of time you're on GiantBomb.

tl;dr: All new site, $5 is nothing. Deal with it. :)

I think it's gross that YouTube is now premium only. Definitely not making me want to resubscribe anytime soon.

This thread's existence is ridiculous

I dont think posting a video of Brad playing the first DMC very poorly to the point of it being frustrating to watch is a good sales pitch.

What a terrible argument.

Would you seriously apply this logic to anything else? "Hey, that meal you paid for was only $10. Who cares if it's shitty? It's not even close to the price of a bad video game. Just deal with it."

No, you wouldn't because that would be insane. Just because -you- have not set a bar of expectation for a product you're purchasing, does not mean others cannot do so. You're perfectly within your right to purchase something with the sole intent of "helping them out", but you cannot expect others to use the same reasoning when purchasing a product.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not here to claim the OP's argument is valid (or not), I just abhor this sort of, "It's only $X so just deal with it, durr!" argument. It's asinine and promotes an under-performing and underwhelming business model. You know, like 'As Seen on TV' crap -- They fully expect you not to return those shitty products for that "guaranteed lifetime refund" because they know the customer will conclude, "It was only $7.99 so it's not worth my time."

Do you really want to be using scumbag marketing logic as justification for Giant Bomb's subscription?

Giant Bomb is not a charity; it's a business. As noble a cause as giving them money because you want to help them out is, they are still expected to provide a service that justifies the price they're asking for. While you're certainly entitled to have no bar of expectation when purchasing a subscription, others are equally entitled to actually expect content worth their money.

How can you have like 5000 posts on the site, meaning you must come here for a while now, and think of that feature this way? I mean maybe I misunderstood what you meant, but did you enjoy the video? I loved the first one and barely paid attention to how "well" Brad played.

I disagree, if only because the site was so busted over the past week that non-subscribers deserved at least some manner of content. When the staff was reduced to running livestreams through Twitch, it's not like they could have locked it down to Giant Bomb subscribers only, anyway.

Nah I wasn't a fan of it. It was frustrating to watch Brad fail over and over. Was never a fan of the Breaking Brad stuff either. Luckily that isn't the whole site so coming here is still worth it for me. I probably shouldn't criticize a piece of content here though. Vinny made it somewhat tolerable though so props to him.

I didn't say the premium content was worth the cost of membership did I.

also I loved Bradley may cry one and two.

No matter how hard I try, I always manage to stumble upon one of thesethreads. Call me crazy, but I throw my money at these people because I appreciate the laughs/content they gave me over the past 4-5ish years. Besides, that gold ribbon on my profile pic looks pretty hawt.

I still think the premium membership is the worst thing to happen to the website. Random content used to be free.

I don't really understand the supporting the guys thing anymore either, they are part of CBSi. That doesn't mean they are rolling in money but they're not going to be going anywhere anytime soon and I refuse to believe subscriber memberships are needed in order to put out Let's Plays. (which is what Breaking Brad / Bradley May Cry are)

CGR puts out way more content than GiantBomb and it's all free. Yeah it's usually 5-7 minute videos but I'd rather a lot of them than the stuff subscribers get here.

I had a premium membership for a year, and yes Jar Time was nice to watch but honestly, why am I paying money to watch a guy speak into a webcam?

Maybe I am looking into this too closely but money matters for me, I'm a student on a fixed budget per week and most of that goes on food.

Fair enough, I just don't get it when we get an all new site with tons of improvements - That was the reason the $5, in my opinion, doesn't matter. It's not like we're getting ripped off like the poor guys who buy things from TV Shop or whatever.

And the part with the video game, I used as an example because this is a gaming site and thus most users probably buy games. If you bought something like "Aliens: Colonial Marines" on Steam, that to set you back 50€ (or, I assume $50). The comparison being that game used false advertising, the press demo was apparently not even in the game! And the cost is 10 times greater than one month of GiantBomb Premium. It's actually the same as one whole year of GiantBomb Premium.

My point being, I understand that people who might not have a very stable economy or whatever, have to prioritize, but it's not like we didn't know this redesign was coming and thus these issues. The redesign have been discussed for several months, so if you've got such a big problem with losing out on content for less than a week, maybe don't buy your premium account this month.

I'm not really seeing the improvements, the website is now worse to browse on my phone (the full old site worked great for me), the main page has too much space taken up by the most recent 3-4 items (75% of my screen at 1920x1080), there's no recent forum activity at the bottom, the forums look weird and YouTube is now being held hostage requiring a subscriber membership. Like really that last part is what irks me the most, who the hell charges for YouTube? That's worse than when HD videos were subscriber only.

This isn't me hating change either. The Wiki looks nicer but aside from that the old website was better.

@laserbolts: That is what those features are about. Why watch them if you know he is going to be dying over and over?

There is still plenty of random content that is free. They do tons of live quick looks for free. TNT is free. Endurance runs are free. In fact, most of their stuff is free. They have never taken a free feature and made it premium only and they never will. People who pay for a premium membership to Giant Bomb are obviously the type that are going to want to watch a guy talk in to a webcam in his bedroom. Those that aren't paying members are more than likely casual viewers who come for Quick Looks and the Wiki.

They are part of CBSi now but that doesn't mean that they can just coast by and get unlimited funding. They need to generate income or CBSi will see no reason to keep giving them a budget. All of those cameras and tri-casters and trips to go see games are not free. It's a business, and they need to make money.

I have no idea what CGR is but I highly doubt they can match Giant Bomb minute-for-minute when it comes to the amount of video content. I don't think there is another website on the internet who can match them. Also why do you care what they are giving to subscribers if you aren't interested in it?

That is something you have to ask yourself. A lot of people like to hear Jeff's thoughts on various topics. If you don't then no problem, don't get a premium membership.

Money used to be tight for me but I decided that giving up $5 (less than a single meal) was worth supporting the Giant Bomb guys.

I'm pretty sure subscribers have been given extra time before after site issues? Or am I thinking of something else? Maybe that was PSN or something, fuck I dont know.

Either way while i've got nothing against calling Giant Bomb out for fumbling the relaunch a bit, I personally dont mind that much. I pay the subscription once a year and get more entertainment out of it than pretty much anything else I spend money on, in terms of quantity and often quality as well.

But while we're on the note of criticising the website I just want to say get some better t-shirt designs god damn it.

CGR is Classic Game Room. It doesn't matter if they match it minute for minute, most of the quick looks are extremely boring when they go on for over 40 minutes. I've rarely watched any all the way through.

As for features that were free, well...

- YouTube is now subscriber only

- Flight Club, Random PC Game, Spookin with Scoops are all quick looks

I never saw anyone bring up the cost of equipment when stuff like the Endurance Runs were free. Just sayin' it seems now extra content is more often than not going to be behind a pay wall, this wasn't the case in the past.

and it's not like they're buying new cameras and tri-casters for every video.

I'm all for decent subscriber only content, but don't just phone it in and slap slight variations of quick looks / let's plays behind the paywall and throw in a few webcam videos. None of that is costly to produce.

There's an overreaction if I've ever seen one. If anything, it is dumb as hell, but "gross" is not at all an apt description. For one, the built in video player is better quality than youtube, and secondly, YOU CAN WATCH THE YOUTUBE VIDEOS ON YOUTUBE!

I suspect it is a mistake honestly, since it makes little sense for them to send those that would want to watch the video via youtube away from the site (and the site's advertisements) in order to watch it. You can call it out for being extremely stupid, but to get in a moral outrage is just ridiculous.

Tbf I haven't been able to watch any content on the site since they moved to CBS? So what do I get? Lol

Started subscribing only a year back when I got my first credit card. Was a student outside of the US and been following Jeff and the guys from the Gamespot days. Being outside the US the 50$ subscriber fee is steep but it's been worth it - the premium content streams are great entertainment and the archives are a boon! Plus, the guys are apparently extending subscribers membership by some weeks to compensate. Couldn't ask for anything more and I know a lot of sites that have done a lot less!

I'd be fine if they didn't give us a free extra week, but I'd be happy if they did. I'll probably resubscribe either way.

Just to let you guys know, Dave said on twitter that subs will be extended by two weeks.

Making existing paid content for free after a certain amount of time seems fine to me. Especially seeing as though they introduced Unprofessional Fridays as an extra "paid-but-free-when-watching-live". I'm getting as much content as I paid for. One is made free, while another new one is made for paid. Give and take, nothing lost, nothing gained.

Everyone complaining about the CONTENT of the paid stuff, I cannot fathom why. You knew what you were getting into. Complaining that Brad was playing "terribly" at Devil May Cry is extremely debatable. But that aside, do you REALLY come to Giant Bomb to see "100% PRO MLG SKILLZ WHILE ALSO GIVING QUALITY COMMENTARY" video game playing? Get the hell out of here with that sort of thinking, we don't want you, it's poison. I like the content, both good and bad. Warts and all.

I don't get people who complain that Brad was awful playing Devil May Cry, if he was actually good and playing with ease it would've been a boring-ass video of yet another playthrough of Devil May cry...

The fact that he struggles and Vinny suffers along with him only adds up to the drama and entertainment value.

Playing games well is for bitches!!!

Are people really complaining about a $1.25 worth of content?

@damisterchief said:

Didn't they say the same thing when they moved over to the CBS offices? My subscription still expired on December 31st.

I don't really care though. I think the content we've gotten since the new redesign launched is worth what I'm paying them.

Who the fuck charges for YouTube? Have you ever seen a website charge to use embedded YouTube videos? I haven't. Yes I know I can just go to the channel but that's just as inconvenient as having to go to the Twitch archives. (which doesn't bother me because TNT is pretty dull)

As for the video player being better quality then that's debatable, I don't like only being able to use "auto" settings on websites because it's iffy at best. I have a 60MB connection and I've already had the auto setting deliver pretty bad video quality for no reason, this has happened on YouTube and Gametrailers before, the only website that never messes up when left to automatically adjust is Netflix which always delivers 1080P. (if available)

So did they kill my cat? No, I'm not morally outraged, it's still dumb and it is gross if intended. The only upside is the new video player actually seems to work.

This question alone should indicate that perhaps this is a bug on a new site riddled with bugs, rather than some crazy conspiracy to squelch YouTube views on the site once and for all.

Chill. If it turns out to be the latter, you'll have a lot of users airing the exact same complaint at Dave, regardless of the staff rationale.

Same reason I spend 80% of my free time on the internet, boredom.

Hahaha do you like anything on this website?

I think the wiki stuff is great but I have to admit the content hasn't done much for me in a while, kind of why I unsubscribed.

I would take a Hardcore Dave Radio show for consideration. It's been a while since we got one of those.

Or anything with Dave in it really.