New Premium Member - Questions About Using GB Website.

I upgraded my account to Premium about a month ago. I absolutely love Giant Bomb's content and think it is well worth the money. They have a subscriber for life. I normally consume most video content via the Roku application.

I don't think I have a good grasp on how to use the site to the best of my abilities. Also, it seems that the premium content is relatively sparse. Last week we had Spookin', VinnyVania and UF. If that is the way it normally is, I am perfectly fine with it, but I want to make sure I am not missing something.

So, I have some questions:

1. If I want to read all articles written by a certain author (e.g., Patrick), how do I pull up his archive.
2. Does anyone besides Patrick post news in text form?
3. What is the best way to find quality user generated content?
4. Is the user generated content even a thing that is used/popular among the general population?
5. Are the official subscriber/premium videos (minus trailers) as "sparse" as I am perceiving them to be?
6. Did Giant Bomb stop doing video reviews?

Any other tips and tricks on how to get the most out of my subscriber fees would be appreciated. Hopefully it is clear that I am not complaining about the content, I am just trying to find out what the reality is so I can be assured I am getting all the content I can - or - if there is a problem with the way I am using the site, fix what I am doing wrong.

Thanks for your help.

I wanna say I've seen stuff written up by Navarro but it may not have been news. I am curious though if there is a way to filter the premium video's without having to search them.

1. I don't think you can organize content by author, sorry.

2. Alex also posts news and trailers, although Patrick is the only staff member posting more resource intensive stories at the moment.

3. There is a tab under "users" called the "Bomb Shelter" where all highlighted user generated content lives.

4. One of the great parts of this website is the crazy stuff made by really talented duders. Anything notable gets put on the front page and often gets a ton of visibility and discussion by members.

5. Your definition of "sparse" may differ from mine, but I think there are a ton, and in fact some users don't like how much premium content there is compared to non-premium content, 1 or 2 premium content videos goes up every week, along wit the smattering of premium podcasts.

6. Giant Bomb no longer does video reviews. It's generally accepted that video reviews are too resource intensive for the very small size of the crew, and judging by their responses to questions regarding video reviews I don't think they'll bring them back even if their staff increases.

@brendan - Thanks for the information. I put sparse in quotations for a reason. I am trying to get a grasp on what my expectations should be when it comes to premium content. I will rely and trust the answer of the seasoned community members (such as yourself). Thanks for all of the information.

As a follow up to number 4 - How is content that makes it to the front page discovered? Is there a voting system where the cream rises to the top or is it curated by individuals on staff?

1. It's a bit difficult to pull up a long running list of articles by a certain person. At best you'll have to scroll through the stories in the news tab and go that way. The site doesn't post news that often so only a few pages takes you back a ways.

2. One Alex Navarro writes a decent number of articles, and at certain times has taken the reigns for news writing. Occasionally Jeff throws in an article and those are always noteworthy.

3. This one is easy, head on over to http://www.giantbomb.com/community/

4. One chief attribute of Giant Bomb's community is the crazy great stuff the community does and makes for the site.

5. Depends on how you define sparse. If you only look at premium content and don't consider all the other videos that come down for free, you can maybe see it that way. Another way to see it is that each piece of content is hours long. Together each week the site puts out a ton of video content. Originally, Giant Bomb had no ads for at least a year or more and the premium subscription was basically a way to support the site, not get ads (which were rolled out at the same time), and get premium content. Lastly, and this is the most important bit, there are hundreds, and I mean HUNDREDS, of hours of old content on the site, premium and otherwise. If you're ever feeling like you could do with something more, head on over to the premium or endurance run section in the videos tab and have at it!

6. Video reviews have been more or less phased out due to how long they took to produce for the increasingly little return on that time. Given their video focus, to spend that much time on a video review when it could have been spent on another feature, quick look, or premium feature, it doesn't seem worth it.

As I said in 5, the asset you have for premium is the ability to have the most options for watching videos on the site. Take a trip through the premium archive to start and if you haven't already, the other feature staples like TANG and the Endurance Runs.

Welcome, duder! That's quite a list of questions, so I'll just tackle them one by one.

1. I don't think there's any way to sort news by team member. This is your only question that stumped me.
2. Patrick is the big news writer, but Alex sometimes writes a few pieces of week. The other editors only really post news in special circumstances, like E3 plans or changes.
3. The best user generated stuff gets put on the front page by the mods. If you scroll down, you'll find the User Community Showcase with the best art, videos, and such from the community.
4. General population? Maybe not, but we sure love it.
5. Nah, remember they're ramping up to E3. Some weeks there we had Spookin', Breaking Bad, Load Our Last Souls, UPF, and Jar Time at once. Sometimes it's packed full, and others it's only a couple videos, but it's always been worth it.
6. GB did stop doing video reviews. Their official stance was that they may revisit them someday, but that was a long, long time ago. It's a shame, but they did take a long time to edit compared to the near-uncut videos they trade in now. A lot of us wouldn't mind them coming back, but Quick Looks are still much better at showing the game itself.
7. If you're a new subscriber, the Subscriber video tag can keep you occupied for a long time. I suggest the old Random PC Games.

Hope that answered your questions, duder. Peace!

Thank you all for your answers so far. Even though I am a new premium member, I have consumed a LOT of the old content through the Roku app. I have the good fortune of working from home and have watched a TON of the old videos while working. I really enjoy indie/odd/weird games, so Unprofessional Fridays is a favorite of mine.

I am not too sad they stopped doing video reviews - one thing that I really enjoy about GB content is the raw nature of it all. I like the fact that they press record and go - it lets their personalities shine and provides for more in-depth discussion.

@brettuss: In regards to user content there is no official system but moderators are quick to highlight things they see that stand out. If you look under the Bomb Shelter tab you'll see really good artwork, animation videos, and music that, once it hits the forums, is naturally kept at the top by how notable it is. Since the forums are integrated on the front page this is easy. In addition, notable blogs are tweeted out by a Giant Bomb account and highlighted as well.

tldr; The community is small enough and the moderators are invested enough to ensure that if you create something great, it won't be ignored.