Features I would love to see on Giantbomb.com

 Giant Bomb is an amazing site, and I love it for it. There is always room for improvement, however. Here's a list of things I think would help to make the site even better.  Vote on which you like and tell me if you agree:
 
1. Weekly Mailbag video feature with a separate tab location above the video feed
 
2. An option for a Subscription based site with absolutely no ads what so ever.
 
3. An office webcam to always see what's going on in the basement. (maybe pointing at the couch to see what their reactions are to whatever games they play without needing to see anything we're not allowed to yet)
 
4. Dave on every weekly podcast. I know we have a full 4 cast rarely enough that he comes on anyways, but I think a fifth opinion would be awesome. plus he's just cool.
 
5. Debate videos: have the crew discuss the multiple points of why this game sucks, or why it's amazing. Debate over gaming trends, etc. 
 
 
Vote on which you like, and feel free to comment or add more.  Don't worry, I'm not totally sold on all of them either. 

1. The weekly mailbag stuff would only work if they had something in the mail every week, which isn't too likely.
2. Does seem like a feesable idea, though I wouldn't sign up to it.
3. That... is an AWESOME idea.
4. It would be nice for those who listen to the podcast I suppose.
5. I think that could pretty much be filled in the Bombcast, but a different video featurre would be cool.

"

1. The weekly mailbag stuff would only work if they had something in the mail every week, which isn't too likely.
2. Does seem like a feesable idea, though I wouldn't sign up to it.
3. That... is an AWESOME idea.
4. It would be nice for those who listen to the podcast I suppose.
5. I think that could pretty much be filled in the Bombcast, but a different video featurre would be cool.

"

Meh, only the fifth one seems any good.

I really only agree with your fourth point. Dave is awesome and deserves to be on the Bombcast more.

Not liking 2 or 3.

" #3 is a little creepy. "

I find the site extremely confusing.  I've been listening to the podcast for a few months now, and I'd hear about all these crazy features but never really understood that they were for this site (yea, I'm dumb).  But it's not just that, it seems like everything is so buried.  I wanted to check out the question of the week this week, but it wasn't in the top recent video flash animation thing, and I didn't see it on the side bar.  So I had to search through videos, and tab over until I found features.  It just seems weird to me to have all the best content hidden in a videos tab.  It's also not really clear that there's a bunch of wiki-like video game content somewhere.  I know there's a site redesign coming up, so here's what I would like to see:
 
Tabs for quicklooks, mailbags, mondays, endurance runs, and video reviews all on the mainpage and clearly labeled.
Links to all the wiki stuff on the main page and outside of any hidden dropdown menus.
The latest bombcast should also be only 1 click, but at least there's a tab that says "Bombcast" right on it, so I can't miss that.
 
Other than that, it's just content issues, which to be perfectly honest has been amazing.  There could be more though, specifically in the review department.  I hope this doesn't come off as harsh, but I just don't read written reviews.  That may be a kick in the nuts to writers, but when you put a written review side by side to a video review it's pretty obvious which is superior, especially in context to video games.  Though I do appreciate the quicklooks, which kind of get the same point across (these are an excellent answer to the preview, I may like them even more than reviews).  Anyway, I just wanted to state the facts, I don't care if there are still written reviews on this site, if people are actually read them then great.  But for me, the only two video game journalism sites I go to are this one, and gametrailers, and that's just because I feel the video format is just better to the written format when it comes to video games (ok that is an opinion, but it's not a bad one!).

" @bonbolapti said:

" #3 is a little creepy. "

My thoughts exactly. "

The Dreamcast stuff was really cool, so I'd like to see more retrospective type stuff. Considering the nature of the site, I think it would really fit, plus I just Iove that kind of stuff.  More videos of the daily office randomness would also be cool. 

yes to everything but the pay site. If ad's bother you that bad just use the firefox addon's that block. I don't recall the last time i ever saw an ad on any website.
 
I especially like the debate thing. I always like debating with people and the idea of having a weekly or bi-weekly video of them just picking a topic at random and discussing it for 25-20 min makes me happy. It doesn't even have to be gaming related.

I think ads are fine as long as they aren't flash ads.  There are just too many cases of keyloggers being hidden in flash ads for me to ever run without noscript.

I'd like to see a video podcast of some kind, although obviously that is a huge workload and they have their hands full with all those hours of video they put out each week.

 1. Hmm, not sure about this one.
 
2. As it stands, there aren't many ads on Giant Bomb right now. At least, compared to IGN, there aren't. And I don't think the site will have that many ads anytime soon. Not needed.
 
3. Stalker-ish, but would be interesting.
 
4. Yes, he is very cool.
 
5. Cool, BUT, do they really disagree that much?

1. Blog Tab on the navigation bar at the top (make my blog spotlight a lot easier,or even unnecessary which would be great, oh and next edition I'm aiming to be out tomorrow, so sorry for being late, not that you care) 
2. Weekly Mailbag like you said 
3. Community Spotlight Section on podcast (maybe like 10 or 15 minutes discussing what's going on with the community) 
4. Make the retro quicklooks more regular, because I love watching them 
5. Forsake itemized news and just have Jeff or Brad do a daily recap. They can still write about stuff like they would normally and maybe fit in a couple more items. 
6. A new video series from Ryan Davis when TANG goes on extremely prolonged hiatus 
7. Maybe make it so that you get a point each time you make a forum post. Or get points for doing reviews, who knows. Though that might not be a great idea because it could lead to spamming. I want to be rewarded for having no life.  :( 
8. Dave as a regular podcaster'd be nice 
9. More Vinny reviews if possible (though I know that may be asking too much). 
 10. White layout ASAP 
11. Weekly debate video or weekly news wrap up video might be nice 
12. More Luchadeer, put him in everything possible. EVERYTHING. 
13. Oh and daily office check-ups on a regular basis might be nice, you know, just like 5 minutes a day or something. And your webcam idea is completely stupid. It's kind of stalkerish and who would have the time to sift through all that. That's why I proposed my "altered form".

Hey, an obsessed GiantBomber can dream... 
 
EDIT: Oh yeah, and a weekly Brad fails video, wherein we eatch him attempt to actually play a game well.... kidding of course. Though I totally want to see Brad suffer through Shenmue, talking into a mic, by himself, slowly going insane....

" 1. Blog Tab on the navigation bar at the top (make my blog spotlight a lot easier,or even unnecessary which would be great, oh and next edition I'm aiming to be out tomorrow, so sorry for being late, not that you care)
 2. Weekly Mailbag like you said
 3. Community Spotlight Section on podcast (maybe like 10 or 15 minutes discussing what's going on with the community)
 4. Make the retro quicklooks more regular, because I love watching them 
5. Forsake itemized news and just have Jeff or Brad do a daily recap. They can still write about stuff like they would normally and maybe fit in a couple more items. 
6. A new video series from Ryan Davis when TANG goes on extremely prolonged hiatus 
7. Maybe make it so that you get a point each time you make a forum post. Or get points for doing reviews, who knows. Though that might not be a great idea because it could lead to spamming. I want to be rewarded for having no life.  :( 
8. Dave as a regular podcaster'd be nice 
9. More Vinny reviews if possible (though I know that may be asking too much).  
10. White layout ASAP 
11. Weekly debate video or weekly news wrap up video might be nice 
12. More Luchadeer, put him in everything possible. EVERYTHING. 
13. Oh and daily office check-ups on a regular basis might be nice, you know, just like 5 minutes a day or something. And your webcam idea is completely stupid. It's kind of stalkerish and who would have the time to sift through all that. That's why I proposed my "altered form".Hey, an obsessed GiantBomber can dream... 
 
 EDIT: Oh yeah, and a weekly Brad fails video, wherein we eatch him attempt to actually play a game well.... kidding of course. Though I totally want to see Brad suffer through Shenmue, talking into a mic, by himself, slowly going insane.... "

If you'd want a high quality webcam, that's a lot of bandwidth if it's 24/7. This is only a small site so that'd be an issue.
 
Furthermore, as trivial as it is, they could be playing things under the 'bargo.