What do you hope to see next from GB, Vinny, Brad, and Alex?

So, it finally happened. Thanos snapped, and half of Giant Bomb disappeared. Vinny, Brad, and Alex are leaving. Godspeed all three of them, and also godspeed the future version of Giant Bomb itself. There are already a number of threads that spun up about this news, so I hope this one isn't overkill or in bad taste. But there's a lot of speculation and wishing out loud going around, and I wonder if that creative energy and imagination can't be channelled into some useful food for thought.

Granted, each one of these guys probably already has some idea about what they're going to do next, but maybe they don't. Or maybe this will serve as idea fodder. Or maybe it will help bring a sense of closure and acceptance to just openly discuss this topic. So, what's next? What do you want (not expect) to see from everyone going forward, acknowledging this is all pure fantasy? (Positive vibes only. Swipe left if you're just going to leave a "GB is ded" comment.)

From Giant Bomb, I always got a vibe similar to RedLetterMedia: industry experts who combine their abundance of wisdom and knowledge with comedy to poke fun at things while providing valuable insight to a lay audience and hobbyists alike. Jeff Gerstmann has an encyclopedic knowledge of the video game industry's history, and garage aside, the guy is basically already a museum curator. I know some people dislike "old games" content, but in a world where review scores don't matter anymore, it would be interesting to see a "Best of the Worst" style dunking on bad games with notable guests. (Of course, this would be more than ideal with the participation of Vinny, Brad, and Alex, but literally every idea would be made better by their contributions.) Giant Bomb also already has a homegrown "Ranking Of" style of retrospective, and they've proven that formula can be applied to a variety of media formats. Then again, this may lean too heavily on their current format of shows, if this is indeed something they want to change in the next version.

People are also speculating that Giant Bomb could adopt a format closer to Twitch, elevating independent streamers and content. While there are obvious risks with such an attempt, I could also see it working as more of an incubator for pilot shows, podcasts, and other content centered around teams and groups rather than individuals. Not that the world needs more Steal My Sunshine or Burgle My Bananas, but there aren't a lot of creative game shows based on video games, when you think about it. This also potentially provides Jeff with more of an opportunity to step away from the frontlines, so to speak.

The upside to tying so much of the content around individual personalities is that large portions of the community will continue to follow those personalities and whatever content they'd like to provide. Plenty of people have already said as much, and I'm right there with them, to the extent Brad, Vinny, and Alex want that as well. Vinny's YouTube channel of handyman advice and woodworking streams? Sign me up. Anything showcasing Alex's musical talent or knowledge of film and media? Sold. Brad already has a great tech podcast with a certain Will Smith, and I'm all for any expansion of his perspective as we approach this dark future dominated by NFTs, cryptocurrency, and hardware shortages. Not that I want to stereotype any of them simply based on what they've shared on this site. I'm sure they have a number of other interests, hobbies, and experience!

Again, I don't know if this is the healthiest approach to the recent news, but I'll be damned if these departures don't get a jazz funeral rather than the regular old somber variety. Please feel free to contribute, even if this becomes nothing more than an open source community chest of ideas about video game media.

I would love to see GB take pitches for shows and then help shape, fund, promote and host them. Almost like a movie studio. I'd hate for it to just be a white label for the typical twitch streamer - I've tried but can't watch any solo streams. Without the group conversation they do absolutely nothing for me.

For Vinny, Brad and Alex: They are now free to do anything. They are experts in their field with a huge following that will support them in whatever they want to do. While it is a sad occasion, these guys will continue having awesome careers. Even if they choose to never appear publicly again and pursue some more traditional careers, I am sure they will be just fine.

For GiantBomb as a whole, though: I agree with the original post. I think now would be a good time for Jeff to step back and manage the site from the background. I faintly remember him talking about this idea in the context of new hires and their career development chances at Giantbomb. People like Abby, Ben or Dan just couldn't grow with their workplace because there was no room (and probably no budget). With three of the four senior members of the site gone there would be more niches to fill. I imagine this also frees up a bit of the budget, too.

Considering they want to use the month of may to start the new Giantbomb project I don't think there will be any new hires any time soon. I bet the new project will start relatively soon. With two video producers, customer support and Jeff at the helm they are not really equipped to create themselves, but they could curate other creators beneath the Giantbomb banner. For example get MinnMax to create a podcast, get NoClip to make an exclusive feature or get Abby for some community streams under this banner and find new voices to highlight. If they can work that out financially (and that's a big if) Giantbomb could be a neat M U L T I M E D I A network of dope content creators.

End of an era, for sure. But good luck, Jeff. Hope your new vision will be succesful!

I guess my wish is that if Giant Bomb continues, it isn't in name only as a husk of it's former self. I would kind of rather see it just end at that point. The crew has made some truly amazing, memorable content over the years and that legacy is worth something.

As for the recent departures...I don't know. While a selfish part of me wants them to remain together, the likelihood of some guys pushing/past 40 starting up something brand new again seems kind of slim. It's one thing when you are 25 and another when you are 40 and have a family. It would be a shame if this is the last we see of someone like Vinny in an on screen role. I've always found him to be the heart and soul of the site, even if he was primarily considered a producer.

Yeah, I miss the studio dynamic. You can do so much more with that equipment and in that environment. Working from home is limiting.

For me, Giant Bomb is Jeff, Ryan, Brad, Vinny. After Ryan passed away and Vinny moved east. I still think Brad and Jeff held it together well on the Bombcast. But when Jeff took a leave for a couple of months Giant bomb ceased to be enjoyable for me.

The fact that Brad is leaving and no longer going to be on screen with Jeff makes me sad to no end. and if Jeff steps away from the screen this is the end of GB for me. It's not about being resistant of change. I've yet to dislike any of GB hires. I liked all of them. I't s just the idea of Watching/listening GB content without the OGs is incomprehensible for me.

I want Vinny, Brad, and Alex to do whatever makes them happy. If any of them don't want to be in a public-facing role anymore, then I totally understand. If they do want to be, that's great too and I'll follow. They've all had a chunk of their lives on display for the last almost two decades in some cases and it can't be easy, especially when you have kids like Vinny does.

But really, if Vinny did a woodworking podcast or something like that it'd be fantastic. Alex would be fantastic as a person covering music in either written or audio form. Brad has the tech pod so I know where to find him already.

For GB, I'll see what Jeff has planned. I'll keep an open mind and don't want to speculate at all.

One thing: Provocative, yet tasteful, full frontal.

I want everyone to do what makes them happy. But, if that could also encompass what would make me happy, I would want to see everyone back together again. I don't care if it's gaming related or not. I don't care if they do things that aren't even remotely related to each other, I just want to see the gang be together.

I would prefer anything that differentiates Giant Bomb from twitch.tv, cuz if it boils down to hitting the "Start Streaming" button on OBS within a home office/bedroom then GB lacks a raison d'etre. I see GB's position relative to "the market" as having:

• professional ethics (no sponsored streams and such)
• a "non-corporate", genuine vibe
• personalities that do things together in ideally a physical location
• greater production value than a bedroom livestream
• leveraging industry contacts and knowledge as much as possible (I would love to see more guests and stuff)

so I hope the direction they go in gets away from the pandemic-induced solo stream / videoconference stuff.

no idea what to expect of the site now honestly , i came here for dan and i stayed for the talent. jeff is cool but the way hes been talking hes definitely been evaluating his life outlook with things. rorie is nice here n there but hes clearly more of a background community guy not a in front of the camera all the time type. jason has gotten increasingly quiet over the years imo and while i'm sure he does more behind the scenes idk how long i can see him saying in front of the camera and jan seems extra cool but half the stuff he puts out i have limited interest in half the time ( but thats just personal taste.) so new hires and whatever jeff has cooking aside idk what to make of things but i have premium till sept at the least and we'll see what my ex who i share the sub with thinks after that.

as for those 3 i hope they stay in a content spotlight type role but only time will tell. i always liked what they put out and would still love to see more. wishful thinking would be vinny at waypoint or something cause i feel like the deeper discussions he and austin used to have were really my taste and frankly i'd just love to hear them n rob zachy and even gita talk about topical things and select more niche genres they all seem to have in common. i don't have the same memories alot of ppl on here have about 'the old days' since i wasn't around. honestly i think i missed a ton of great things but when i was young i actively avoided gamespot purely based on aesthetics thinking it might have bugs or something, it was only after i started visiting here that i realized how much i missed. honestly i'd love to see a patreon style thing or just a channel of these guys doing there thing like abby and dan but as ppl ( including themselves) mentioned they aren't getting any younger and they have families to think about too idk how much they're willing to 'risk' moves wise if it was starting something new and while i would be more than happy to support it its also not something i can honestly afford and who knows if they could either.

overall tho i hope everyone here and gone/going have made the best moves for themselves even if they might not be for us. when change happens its sucks and its hard and i just hope those 3 land in a good place, and that good things come to the site.

I want Vinny to completely disappear off the internet and enjoy his life raising his kids and spending time with his family. That's what I'm hoping

@sombre: This is the correct answer, though the selfish side of me would jump at the chance to pay a lot of money to support a “Vinny’s Twice-A-Month FMV Games and Open World Hijinks Streamathon Spectacular” Patreon.

I would rather see GB shutdown than see it try to exist without the original staff members. It will never have that same magic again. I would pay to watch them stream videogame playthroughs on Twitch. Watching Twitch Endurance Runs, Breaking Brads, and Daily DOTAs sounds incredible to me!

My pure fantasy:

GB becomes a central video repository for video game content and earns a small amount of commission for each link clicked. IE: Going to the Hades wiki page will have the Noclip documentary episodes on Hades.

Vinny - Produces and/or develops FMV games with cameos from previous staff

Alex - Goes back into music in some fashion or joins an organization to help people with anxiety and depression

Brad - Goes on Patreon and makes Breaking Brad type videos where sponsors recommend what video game challenge he has to try to complete

What if, in the ultimate heel move, the three of them went to work on Dan's podcast?

gb- whatever gerstmann wants to do next, i suppose. but it would be rad if he gets some young, hungry folks that are eager to try new things. worst case would be just letting the brand turn into something extant.

brad- i'm content to keep tabs on him and the fresh prince with their new techno-topia (tech pod).

vinny and alex- similar to @sombre, i'd be content if these two spend some time away and find a good fit for whatever they're after. i can see alex settling into something entirely different, and vinny seems like he'll want to build something new eventually. but i'd be alright with them effectively retiring from playing video games on camera. they seem ready.

Between Vinny's past stories about his roller rink DJ time, to all the stuff he has done while at Gamespot and Giant Bomb, I think Vinny knows how to entertain a crowd while on mic/on camera. I wish him all the best and I hope that his next career move is something with a healthy work-life balance, but to your point, I don't think all this time Vinny has just been thinking "Man, if only I could completely get out of on-camera media jobs and live a private life." He is a tremendously talented host/producer, and while I can't speak for him, I'd be surprised if he thought he had to completely retreat from public internet appearances to be able to spend time with his family.

I'd love for the interviews to be a focal point of the site moving forward. Based on the E3 coverage over the years, it's clear that Jeff is really good at having thorough interviews that seamlessly segue between moments of humor and professional criticism. I'd love it if we got more content like that on the site. If they can get a lot more preview content and behind the scenes interviews, I'd definitely be intrigued to view those. And no, I'm not thinking some sponsor-driven videos that serve as nothing more than pre-release hype events by the publishers. I want the 60 minutes of video game interviews/previews.

In addition to this, the ideas others here have expressed which is a platform for budding content creators is an interesting one but something I'm not sure I'd be interested in. IDK. I don't want it to be a site that requires me to sift through junk to find one or two great things. I suppose if Jeff serves as the curator then maybe that'd be cool I suppose. It would certainly address the critique folks always had about this site - too few staff and not enough diverse tastes. By serving as a platform for content creators, you could always have a bench of people that serve various interests regardless of niche/popularity (RTS, JRPGs, CRPGs are just a handful of overlook content in this site's past).

Just my two cents. Either way, I'll certainly stick around to see what Jeff, Jeff, Jan, and Jason (and Rorie) have in store for us. I'm cautiously optimistic they'll make something cool, fun, and unique.

As for the departing crew. Best of luck to them. I'm happy for them and wish them nothing but the best where ever their dreams and desires take them.

@bisonhero: This is my view of things. I don't buy into the idea that the departing members are desperate to withdraw from public view, so my hope is they take some well deserved time off and come back with something they can just enjoy doing entirely on their own terms, without the pressure of it being a full time corporate job. They're too good at what they do to disappear and I think they know that.

My totally selfish wants based on what I feel they uniquely excel at:

Editorial content from Alex. His top 10 games of 2020 is easily the best thing GB put out in the last year. His arguments are the best part of the non-jokey part of GotY debates. An Austin and Alex combo doing just about anything would be great.

Vinny being a team dad, hopefully somewhere with a good pension lol. He's great at being a divining rod for others, one who can grasp what they're trying to say when their words fail and translate it for others when needed. And he's a damn good cat corraller.

Jeff and whatever new thing that retains the Giant Bomb branding, something new I guess. GB was ahead of the cruve on personality-driven video game-related media but since that that's the become the norm, the thing that made them stand out were the old farts with 20 years in the business. Without that, they need to do something totally different from every other video game coverage Twitch/Youtube company.

I just want to watch Vinny, Brad, and Alex to stream an Starsector endurance run. I finally started playing it.

I'm a creature of habit. Change makes me scared and confused. So, I would like all of them to come back to Giantbomb.

That being said, I just hope they're happy with whatever they pursue in the future, and that they are able to tackle new and entertaining challenges.

I suppose I wouldn't mind some more written content from Brad and Alex. Those to write pretty.

The three of them could easily have a successful Patreon, and put out content at a much more reasonable pace. No corporate mandates from up top. It wouldn’t even have to be games focused necessarily.

But I totally understand if they want to bow out of the public sphere.

For GB in general, I really have no idea. I trust Jeff to build something great. While I would hate to see it turn into something mostly unrecognizable that still carries the Giant Bomb name, that may be what is necessary to build an effective site going forward. I guess ideally for me, it would follow the same format. A team of entertaining people that are passionate about video games just shooting the shit and playing games. I'm just not sure you can rebuild that particular bomb in this day and age.

I can definitely see Brad and Will expanding on the Tech Pod empire. Brad's passion and knowledge of technology in general is very evident. I don't know what Foo is up to lately, but it doesn't seem like much. Although I guess the intent of Foo past the Foo Show was mostly a behind the scenes production/licensing thing, so their activities may not be obvious. Either way, it seems like the Tech Pod Patreon is already doing well and may have room to grow.

I don't really know what I'd like to see from Alex or Vinny. Vinny has been like a comfort food to me for years. His presence is always the perfect balance of fun/funny/soothing. I'd love to see him back on camera or on a podcast again at some point in the future, but I have no clue what form that could take.

I want to see GB try some new things with new people while still maintaining the core spirit of the site. I think obviously that a few things, i.e. the Bombcast, Quick Looks, etc. are staples of the site and should remain as such. I'm excited to see what the Jeffs have in mind for the next chapter of Giant Bomb. The thing that scares me most is that there's a distinct possibility that they will be moving very far away from what GB has been since its inception and that Jeff may have much less of a front-facing role from here on out. I hope to hell I'm wrong. I'm not ready to let go of GB as a whole anytime soon.

For Brad, Vinny, and Alex, I want them to take whatever time they need to focus on their personal lives before diving head-first into their next endeavors. Ideally and selfishly, it would be amazing if they at least started a podcast of their own. Those guys hanging out and interacting with each other has always been what Giant Bomb has been about, and it's what drew me in and kept me here for the last 12 years. I will try and keep up with whatever they do next, if they end up doing something that can publicly be kept up with. I already listen to Brad and Will's podcast from time to time, so I'll probably start checking that out weekly now. I really hope Vinny especially ends up doing some new internet venture. He's too infectious of a personality to keep out of the public eye. If he does, of course, I want it to be on his terms and to be something that doesn't drain him and keep him from his family.

As for Alex, he's probably who I relate to most on personal level from the crew. Whether he chooses to continue being a public facing figure or not, I hope he gets to be happy.

I want Alex to write a GB biopic, Vinny to direct it, and Brad to star as every GB member in the film wearing different costumes and suits.

All I know is that I will be sad to not get to listen to Vinny every week anymore. The guy has such a positive and fun loving energy to him that always made everything he was part of fun to watch or listen to.

I am totally on board with everyone that feels like their favourite band fell apart but, I don't want the site to shut down.

Mainly because GB has become a 'go to' source for video game history and commentary. They are one of the few sites/groups of creators that pause to talk about the past because they have lived it and can accurately compare and contrast with what is going on now in the industry. Their retro game/console streams are important parts of video game history. In an industry that absolutely shits on it's own history and any kind of preservation efforts, GB is the place where you can find that stuff.

That's my biggest issue with staff turnover. Abby, Ben and Austin while great just did not have the knowledge of 'back in the day'. They brought great things to the table but, clearly could not keep up with the OG crew.

I don't want 13 years of very good, important content to just disappear like Game Trailers. That would be a travesty.

Whatever makes them happy. They are all wonderful people, that's what brought us all here to begin with. I hope they get to enjoy more family life and find something new to channel their immense creativity. If that also includes an audience I will support it.

I will miss Vinny dearly simply because he is the person I look up to most and I could listen to him talk about anything.

I'll just add one more thing - I think a lot of what happened this week can be traced back to the commentary they did during Christmas 2017 on E3 2005 (I think it was 2005) where they saw all those people in the video which don't work in games journalism/commentary/whatever you want to call it and literally Vinny asked 'So nobody works for this company anymore?' (mostly referring to games journo work) and Brad replied 'Just us...' and you could cut the atmosphere with a knife at that point. That for me was it. Also when Jeff was asking Andy McNamara during E3 Night Shows when he is moving on. I think that was another small hint that these guys are ready to move on.

I'm assuming its okay to do this but here's a link for Brad's tech podcast he does outside of the giantbomb realm - https://techpod.content.town/.

I'd expect there are gonna be a lot of people reading this that didn't know that podcast existed and perhaps will now more than ever want to listen to it...assuming Brad continues with it which I hope he does.

Not Twitch or Discord. I hate both. I like GB as an app on Roku. Don't have the others on Roku and I don't like following live streams. TBH what I really want is more Game Tapes and demo derby videos. More stuff that feels off the cuff. None of the trendy video bullshit on YT and Twitch.

as someone who did not know thanks for this

I just want a podcast with Vinny, I could hear that guy talking about his basement, transformers or cutting wood for hours.

I think I've said this on one of the other threads but I would totally get behind GB becoming a little bit like Nebula, a place where good content creators can expand/explore what they do without fear of messing YouTube algorithm or fear of a DMCA strike. Some special short show from NoClip, something from Area5 guys (they are still doing videos? not sure), I mean, there is a lot out there. At the same time Jeff can think on some in-house show without the pressure of filling the site with content on its own. I would love a talk-show-like show with Jeff as host, his interviews during E3s were always awesome.

For the rest of the dudes they can do whatever they want, I don't care, I will just support! If they have a online presence in the future I will for sure watch/follow (already followed/listened the Will & Brad podcast that I was not aware of), if not, it doesn't matter, they will live in my heart.

Dumb, dumb shenanigans. Stupid hijinx. That sort of thing.

Not to be a party pooper, but isn't this fantasy booking? Jeff has said in the past not to do that.

I want Vinny and Alex to join the Contradiction team and finally star in their own FMV game, while Brad goes on the road with the peegs to kick-start his vaporwave country music career. Seriously though... Echoing the sentiments that whatever they do, I hope it's great for them first and foremost, even if that means leaving the public eye. If any/all of them did stick around, though, I'd tune in for whatever they wanted to do.

As for GB? There's a lot of talented people doing live videogame stuff these days, but few to none of them have the money or connections for an actual studio. I feel like as the pandemic gets under control and the lockdowns are (responsibly) lifted there's definitely room to capture the energy of people getting back together in person in a big way. One thing I've noticed on Twitch over the pandemic is that communities of creators form, stream online together, raid each other, develop great chemistry, but without the chance to ever be in the same room together. A physical studio, dedicated production staff, off-twitch hosting away from DMCAs; this stuff is still out of reach for the vast majority of streamers, and giving creative, talented people what they need to do crazier shit than they've ever done before is something GB has always excelled at.

Beyond that, Jeff is a consummate interviewer with a lot of connections and a history of professionalism and integrity. Every time I watched Jeff interview someone at the E3 aftershow I was fascinated, and with the videogame industry bigger (and with a bigger history) than ever, there's so many stories out there. Like, I'd give my right arm for a Gerstmann interview with Mike Morhaim or Jeff Kaplan down the road, or the recently-departed Stadia head- Chances to peek behind the monolithic logos and see some of the real humans that were integral to these high-profile parts of the industry and hear stories that might otherwise never get told. Jeff's interviewing skills and authenticity remind me a lot of what I loved about Larry King and Jon Stewart, and all they ever needed was a guest and a chair to sit them in. I think as long as Jeff's willing to talk to people about videogames, I'm willing to listen.

Alex, Brad and Vinny should start a band. The musical talent is there, so why not?

I'd hope to see as much veriety and chaos in the things GB persues as we have over the last decade or so. It's the kind of energy which brought me to this site after Danny left GS and what I enjoy most about it. In any case, I feel it's going to take at least six months to a year for GB to recover from this sudden loss of talent (depending on what's been happening behind the scenes).

In so far as what those leaving decide to do? Ideally they'd start up a similar site with similar goals, though I can't really see that being a reality. Either way, they'll do as they please and I'll be pleased if that pleases them.

@monkeyman04: In wrestling fantasy booking has a connotation of "they should do this thing I came up with" instead of "here's what I wish happened". The former is fundamentally negative and backseat-y, whereas the latter is just people throwing ideas and generally being positive (or at least trying to).

I really hope Brad does something cool with the tech thing. You can hear the genuine passion and excitement in him for that in the tech pod.

For Alex and Vinny, my selfish hope is that they'll keep on podcasting (together). But the goofy ideas are: Vinny should become a professional Transformers influencer / opener, whereas Alex should get a job designing wrestling games.

Great written post. +1 (Also some of the responses so far aren't bad).
I am excited to see what ideas Jeff has, he was part of a movement into video before video on the internet was a thing, same for podcasts. I don't doubt the talent that's still at GB will do great stuff but obviously I will miss the crew leaving.

If I'm being selfish about the crew and what I want them to do after leaving, its some other podcast or another streaming move like Dan & Abby but I'm assuming these guys are probably looking more towards doing something 180 as they've been in the 'game' for over 10 years and had the success they wanted. If they stayed in the content side - I'd be surprised. But I'd like that.

Like everyone here, I just want them to enjoy whatever they move onto.

I was thinking this morning in my mind of what I would like to have from Giant Bomb when I think of Giant Bomb and would still love to see continue in the future. I'll support whatever comes next for Giant Bomb because I want to see it succeed. At least in terms of consumption of #content with what Giant Bomb currently provides. If the future is still with what we know of today, I would love to continue to have the following (with the assumption that Giant Bomb is still 'a site about video games' and 'video game stuff':

- I still like Quick Looks and video in general. The video format is great. I get a quick snapshot of a game and that helps validate my decision to purchase or skip a release. I still find value in them. No matter who covered them, they gave me an inside look at a new release. I find them much better than 'Day 1 Review's' flooded on YouTube. If something like this or akin to this can continue, I would still find it valuable.

- I still think there's great value in having a web database of _videogames_ and _videogame stuff_. It would royally suck to see that go. As a personal user, I admit I don't visit GiantBomb.com main page very often. I consume my GB content from YouTube and /chat/ when a livestream was on (and Twitch when the video player doesn't work). If I am looking up something video game related I will use the bookmarked Wiki. I don't know how much cost and ops goes into maintaining this Wiki, but the web needs more of things like this and there's still historical value. This was what came to mind when Jeff questioned what a website even is anymore in 2021. Everything is really a Tweet or an App. Do people actually go to websites anymore?

- Podcasts. Even if nothing were to drastically change except a new head count with new hires, I would continue to support a new staff on the podcast because it's great hearing from other individuals in the industry. I would continue to support that. I still find lots of value in both a gaming podcast and a shooting the shit type podcasts (like HotSpot). Even if there were a bump in numbers of staff again, hearing and listening to something fresh would be welcome.

Look at the end of the day, I would continue to support Giant Bomb going forward because "I Trust Jeff ™" with whatever changes he has in mind. I still find value in a personality based site. That's why I became a member years ago.

I'm not sure what I would like to see out of GB as far as content goes. I mostly want to see it continue to be employed by genuinely honest and good people. I am also hoping Jan continues to get a chance to produce his own content and express his own experiences with video games, prior work, life, etc. I think he's a brilliant asset to have for whatever they'll focus on next.

I was blindsided by what happened but I'm also not all that surprised at the same time. Whether it was the Bombcast, Beastcast, or HotSpot, they've all waxed poetic recently about being able to retire out of the public limelight. Brad in particular seems eager to move out of SF and into the middle of nowhere. While their recollections/retrospectives during the HotSpot of various aspects of the olden days was some of my favorite content to listen to, it also always felt like a group of guys who knew they were kind of the last bastions of that knowledge and recounting it was a way to say goodbye to it all. Jeff's garage talk gives me similar vibes and I wouldn't be surprised you see him move on, or at least take a big back seat, after helping GB transition and stabilize a bit.

I just hope Vinny, Alex, and Brad enjoy whatever they slide into next. They'll have plenty of opportunities to remain in the public eye, should they choose to do so. I selfishly would love for them to continue the HotSpot every now and then; foremost, I just want them to be happy.

Please remember not to fantasy book replacements and not to fantasy book someone's life.

Let's have this be more about what we hope for in the future and not discussing someone's real life.

Honestly, I get working to create opportunity for new and up and coming, but I'm 42 with a 3 year old, and part of the attraction of GB for me has been voices that I can relate to, people my age, with stories similar to mine, at a similar stage of life, but still gaming, with the history we have behind us.

If GB loses that completely, then it's no longer for me.

The only thing I hope is that they don't just disappear off the face of the planet. I'd love to see them pop up occasionally on other people's podcasts or even start one of their own. I do understand if they want to be out of the public eye but this is what I selfishly would want.

I just want them to find something that makes them happy, I also selfishly really still want to be exposed to them through podcasts or video. Because this is really difficult to deal with right now the thought that i might never really see them again. It hurts.