Ryan is the most noble of them all, really
With Patrick moving, the crew needs to step up their game.
Y'know, I wouldn't be wholly surprised if he skips over reviewing ACIV at that.
@poisonjam7: @animasta: Here's the blog detailing Dave's departure from CBSi. So far he hasn't made the Gary Whitta-style weekly visit thing since leaving.
Very true, since the last game he reviewed was AC3. Back in November. Of LAST YEAR. Oh, but let's not forget, slapping the same 30 second intro/outro song onto 3 hours of seemingly unedited nonsense once a week is a huge job, guys. And meetings!
@gaspower: Dave's on vacation. Last I saw on his twitter he was in the Ozarks.
So what you're saying is Ryan is some sort of gaming superhero saving us from Brad's bad game playing once a year? My world view on Ryan has changed dramatically.
@mariachimacabre: Ah right I forgot about that part that he was gonna take a vacation with his wife and kid. hehe! thought he'd be back in Petaluma by now.
Ryan Davis is the Jay-Z of Giant Bomb. He played Assassin's Creed so hopefully we don't have to go through that.
Very true, since the last game he reviewed was AC3. Back in November. Of LAST YEAR. Oh, but let's not forget, slapping the same 30 second intro/outro song onto 3 hours of seemingly unedited nonsense once a week is a huge job, guys. And meetings!
I don't get all this talk about how Ryan does nothing. Have you ever watched one of Jeff's cell phone streams? Ryan is Jeff's chauffeur. If it weren't for Ryan, Jeff would have to drive himself into work every day. I bet you all feel pretty stupid now.
In all honesty though, we have no idea what goes on at Giant Bomb and who contributes what, so it's pretty dumb to speculate. Giant Bomb isn't a charity (especially now that they are owned by CBS). If someone wasn't pulling their weight, they'd probably be lectured regularly, and eventually fired. Since it's been a year and that hasn't happened, I'm just gonna assume the best.
Over the last year it has become clear that out of all the crew, Patrick has the most enthusiasm and go-get-it attitude for his job at Giant Bomb. This enthusiasm can be felt on the podcast and on the live streams. You see it in how Patrick steps out of his comfort zone and plays games like Fire Emblem and Monster Hunter. And we've all noticed how he's in so many Quick Looks.
Perhaps this is due to Patrick being younger than the rest of the crew and not having had this job quite as long. Whatever the reason, it seems at times that the other duders are a little tired and jaded in comparison. There may be a big gap felt in the content of the site. The others are going to have to step up their game. I'm not feeling that same kind of enthusiasm. Sometimes I get a "ho-hum, it's another day" kind of feeling from the other crew members.
What can the Giant Bomb crew do to fill that gap? The addition of Rorie is a god-send at this point. He has that fun and playful energy, but is that enough? Will Giant Bomb need to take on another young and energetic person in the future? I actually think that people like Kessler and Pascual being on the site more in the Dota streams is a good step in this sort of direction. What about bringing interns into GB again?
What do you think?
Edit: Since a few have missed the news. Patrick is not leaving Giant Bomb. He is just leaving San Francisco and moving back to Chicago. So he'll still be creating content for the site like Alex.
I didn't know this. :(
One of the GB staff should get in here to at least let us know they are listening. For a site that started off as two bros just fucking around, I would have hoped they would keep in touch with their community more.
This a thousand times. Whenever these threads show up about wondering how the staff has become comfortable, it would help a ton if someone would respond to criticism. Obviously trying to respond to everything would be a little crazy, but it would make me feel better to know that they are taking feedback into consideration.
It's weird because, for this site especially, the staff put themselves out there and maybe responding would involve getting more personal than they feel comfortable (ie Ryan not having time because he's getting married).
It's funny because the crew sometimes jokes about not caring what the community thinks.
You know, I would absolutely love for Giant Bomb to kidnap Danny O'Dwyer and make him a part of the Bomb Crew :o
@selfconfessedcynic: The scope of some of the content has changed but I don't see how someone could watch the BioForge stream or this week's TNT and think that their enthusiasm is gone or that they're jaded. Those were two of the best videos that Giant Bomb has ever produced. Not to mention all the Iceland stuff from the past couple weeks, which has been fantastic across the board. I'm just not sure what people want out of them. No matter what they do some people are just never happy.
yup
Y'know, I wouldn't be wholly surprised if he skips over reviewing ACIV at that.
I'd take that bet. He's in this far and with it being a cross-generational game I could see them wanting to do some comparison coverage. I would even say he'll give it 4 stars and yet it will be "most disappointing or "most wasted potential" of the year and we'll hear nothing but bad things about it despite the review.
The Patrick haters can go suck it. The guy brought a special brand of enthusiasm to the table
I think I get it now. It might be that certain kind of enthusiasm that don't always go over that well.
I wouldn't consider myself a hater per se, though I'm not going to pretend I don't know what people are talking about in situations like this (or in the case of that one lady who was in some E3 podcast). There are some personalities that are best administered in moderate doses.
At a certain point this is true for everyone, and Giant Bomb did Patrick a huge disservice by having him, not a member of the 'core crew', be the most featured staffer on the site. It is obviously going to have the 'Metal Gear Sold 2'-effect, the question was just to what extent.
Hopefully this is going to put Patrick in a better position to do what he does best, and it's a good thing he is staying on.
i think that when Patrick joined the crew the other guys sort of thought "let the young up and comer prove himself, we're going out for taco's"
Sorry GB, but it does look that way
@negativecero: they dont, think of it this way, u think the rockstars give a fuck about their audience? maybe at first, but after, they just leech off of them to keep on living their niche lifestyles and u know what? We'd all do the exact same thing.
I think they'll rectify it with an Endurance Run. At least for now. Patrick seemed like one of the main reasons we had so many quicklooks of such weird and random games.
@selfconfessedcynic: The scope of some of the content has changed but I don't see how someone could watch the BioForge stream or this week's TNT and think that their enthusiasm is gone or that they're jaded. Those were two of the best videos that Giant Bomb has ever produced. Not to mention all the Iceland stuff from the past couple weeks, which has been fantastic across the board. I'm just not sure what people want out of them. No matter what they do some people are just never happy.
yup
Thank you
@negativecero: funny because it's true
I think all of those guys are passionate about games, but Ryan, Jeff, etc., they're just laid back dudes. Perhaps Patrick was more enthusiastic than them, but their personalities are a little more chill than Patrick and that's how they've always been. It doesn't necessarily mean that they're jaded or tired, and I'd never want them to force any enthusiasm. If you're looking for a group of people who have that same demeanour as Patrick, I'm afraid that's just not what Giant Bomb is.
The amount of content on the site is a different issue, but I'm not feeling a particular drought of late. They're not covering a huge number of big games right now, but that's more because the big games just don't seem to be there. E3's just around the corner though. I'm not a big fan of the DoTA streams as that game isn't my thing, but it's cool to see Kessler have a place back on the site again. Maybe there's something to be enjoyed in a new intern, but I didn't feel like any of those guys were as entertaining to me as Kessler was.
@gamer_152: there's really two different issues here;
1. the guys are more jaded than patrick and this affects the content (which I don't believe)
2. the loss of patrick will result in less content, as in skipping stuff none of them have interests in because Patrick seemed to be the only one reaching to try new things (which I believe)
@gamer_152: I always did adore Kessler and found him incredibly entertaining. Smart, funny, and just loud and obnoxious in all the right ways. I never did understand the hate for him.
Exactly. Why couldn't he review a game during this year's November?
@animasta said:
@gamer_152: there's really two different issues here;
1. the guys are more jaded than patrick and this affects the content (which I don't believe)
2. the loss of patrick will result in less content, as in skipping stuff none of them have interests in because Patrick seemed to be the only one reaching to try new things (which I believe)
Oh, I won't deny that there is a potential problem with Quick Looks and the like getting done now that Patrick has left the office. I'm sure the staff are smart enough to have some ideas on how they're going to fill that gap, but the gap is there. What I'm saying is that I don't believe that up to this point the site has been short on content.
@gamer_152: I always did adore Kessler and found him incredibly entertaining. Smart, funny, and just loud and obnoxious in all the right ways. I never did understand the hate for him.
I think there was a certain dislike of him initially because he was still feeling his way into things and his commentary felt a bit forced in the first Quick Look or two. After that I don't remember people having a big problem with Kessler, but maybe his chipper enthusiasm got on peoples' nerves the same way Patrick's did. I just wish everyone could express these things without being a dick about it.
@gamer_152: there's really two different issues here;
1. the guys are more jaded than patrick and this affects the content (which I don't believe)
2. the loss of patrick will result in less content, as in skipping stuff none of them have interests in because Patrick seemed to be the only one reaching to try new things (which I believe)
I read different people's opinions on this and I start to question my original post. It's true that the Bioforge stream, for instance, was fantastic. But there are times when I get the feeling that I expressed in the original post. But you are right about the amount in content and the type content, like the indie games Patrick finds. The other dudes need to branch out at the very least.
But then again, maybe I'm just crazy.
But then again, maybe I'm just crazy.
*looks at the rest of the thread*
I think you may be on to something there.
Yeah, maybe Ryan will finally review something.
Like how Ryan said he'd review GoW:A or do something with the director's cut of Deadly Premonition.
So I guess I'm not the only one that realized that Ryan hasn't reviewed a game since XCOM. Is that weird? I think it's weird.
I do hope that Patrick can make his own "Quicklooks" but not called "Quicklooks". Of all the crew, my tastes always aligned with Patrick's the most (a fascination with anything weird or different; or horror games), so I would be quite bummed if he couldn't keep bringing those games into the light because of this move.
Still sad though; feels like Patrick had only just arrived.
@gamer_152: I always did adore Kessler and found him incredibly entertaining. Smart, funny, and just loud and obnoxious in all the right ways. I never did understand the hate for him.
Kessler wasn't around for much longer by the time I found the site, but I did love his appearances in all the old content I watched. I would have been totally okay if they had kept him around as a permanent "intern". Not a fan of watching Dota, but I am a fan of listening to all those guys together again too.
Ouch... people are really turning on the site huh? Usually these threads pop up and people come to defend it with clever comments like "they just changed offices; they are still settling in!"
I wish I had their job tho. Do a 15 minute vid monday. Do a 2-3 hour podcast Tuesday (actually that's done on Monday as well isn't it... so Tuesday... just hang out?). Wednesday...hang out and play games that I don't have to review or mention until the next week's podcast??? Thursday, do a 1-2 hour stream. Friday, do a 2-3 hour stream where I play whatever game I want.
Sounds like an awesome gig. Yes, I'm that cynical! I guess I should turn off my auto-renew at some point but then there goes my Friday content and that's definitely the best content they have. As for the Ryan hate, I can see where it comes from. But I do enjoy him in the hosting duties more than anyone. I was rather surprised that he played thru God of War Ascension... no review of it tho.
Patrick will no longer be doing videos at the office, therefore Kessler will be returning to eat that nasty fish 24/7
I wish I had their job tho. Do a 15 minute vid monday. Do a 2-3 hour podcast Tuesday (actually that's done on Monday as well isn't it... so Tuesday... just hang out?). Wednesday...hang out and play games that I don't have to review or mention until the next week's podcast??? Thursday, do a 1-2 hour stream. Friday, do a 2-3 hour stream where I play whatever game I want.
Yeah I highly doubt their work week is that simple
Patrick will no longer be doing videos at the office, therefore Kessler will be returning to eat that nasty fish 24/7
I wish I had their job tho. Do a 15 minute vid monday. Do a 2-3 hour podcast Tuesday (actually that's done on Monday as well isn't it... so Tuesday... just hang out?). Wednesday...hang out and play games that I don't have to review or mention until the next week's podcast??? Thursday, do a 1-2 hour stream. Friday, do a 2-3 hour stream where I play whatever game I want.
Yeah I highly doubt their work week is that simple
No... but it's all we see from it.
And, as someone else mentioned, the scheduling of things makes it worse. The person mentioned Bradly May Cry. That would be a nice feature that you schedule like once a week and can come in on that day/date and watch it. Instead we got 3 episodes of that in like a 2-3 month span and after the 3rd episode they pretty much said F this we don't want to play this anymore. Alrighty. So much for that feature. Was that a surprise to anyone? The whole thing was predicated on Brad's interest in DMC which made him want to play the originals but then they half-assed actually going thru with it.
Patrick will no longer be doing videos at the office, therefore Kessler will be returning to eat that nasty fish 24/7
I demand a 24/7 Livestream of Kessler eating the crew's nasty fish. It can be like that one fanfic.
@gamer_152 said:
I think all of those guys are passionate about games, but Ryan, Jeff, etc., they're just laid back dudes. Perhaps Patrick was more enthusiastic than them, but their personalities are a little more chill than Patrick and that's how they've always been. It doesn't necessarily mean that they're jaded or tired, and I'd never want them to force any enthusiasm. If you're looking for a group of people who have that same demeanour as Patrick, I'm afraid that's just not what Giant Bomb is.
The amount of content on the site is a different issue, but I'm not feeling a particular drought of late. They're not covering a huge number of big games right now, but that's more because the big games just don't seem to be there. E3's just around the corner though. I'm not a big fan of the DoTA streams as that game isn't my thing, but it's cool to see Kessler have a place back on the site again. Maybe there's something to be enjoyed in a new intern, but I didn't feel like any of those guys were as entertaining to me as Kessler was.
I'd like to imagine that this is the case, yeah. Not only are there not really any games worth covering now, but we're in the slow, quiet phase of pre-console launches. Once that stuff gets going again, I have no doubt that business will resume as usual, at least for the most part.
That said, I'll absolutely miss Patrick's enthusiasm. The rest of the crew certainly seems to still love what they do, but there was a clear interest for everything Patrick covered and it's been really nice to not have someone be dismissive of a game at first glance.
Patrick will no longer be doing videos at the office, therefore Kessler will be returning to eat that nasty fish 24/7
I wish I had their job tho. Do a 15 minute vid monday. Do a 2-3 hour podcast Tuesday (actually that's done on Monday as well isn't it... so Tuesday... just hang out?). Wednesday...hang out and play games that I don't have to review or mention until the next week's podcast??? Thursday, do a 1-2 hour stream. Friday, do a 2-3 hour stream where I play whatever game I want.
Yeah I highly doubt their work week is that simple
I love how people think doing a game site is so simple. This isn't IGN or some other bigger site that has a fuck ton of people under the roof. There's only a handful of a guys here. I also love the notion that the crew are lazy. But hey...internet.
Ugh, it's a weird time for Giant Bomb. People have been saying that daily since before CBSi.
They're still getting used to the new office.
Its kinda weird, but Jeff and Ryan are kinda the biggest bummers on the site. They're so bitter and hate on god damn everything its tiresome. Sure they founded the site and are in alot of ways the core of it. But damn, its often that they're the least important people anymore.
Patrick, yeah, i'll admit at first i hated him. I thought he was an annoying pretentious gaming hipster (he kinda is) but after awhile he grew on me. He didn't hate everything. Sure he seemed to auto-hate any big game until he learned more about it but he at least gave things a chance, like a real chance. Which i fully apperciated. Plus he put more passion and effort into his work than the rest of the staff combined. It's crazy how patrick swung me over. Sure i disagree with patricks opinions alot, but he's a great member of the team.
Vinny is Vinny so yeah, nothing bad to be said about him.
Brad, well he's Brad, he's never been a huge draw, but He's never been a bad thing either. He always gets deep into games I'm not into. Starcraft 2 (which i personally hate) and now DOTA 2 (which i'm completely indifferent about). But at least he still cares about games.
Jeff and Ryan though, GOD DAMN. Massive bummers and negative nancy's. I dont even know what the fuck Ryan does. He never reviews anything anymore. He's barely in quicklooks. Jeff said that Brad is usually the guy dealing with the publishers. Jeff is usually the guy in the meetings since he's the head of GB. The fuck is ryan doing? And i don't care that he's getting married that shouldn't effect his job. It also doesn't take months to find a place to do a podcast.
I'm not sure what you guys are talking about when it comes to this site. Ryan Davis has always been cynical dick. Jeff has always been a cynical sarcastic joker. This jaded attitude has always been there. If anything this move may be better for Giant bomb.
The 5 person bombcast was getting really unruly. Ryan would ask what you been playing and then Vinny would talk about his personal life. This would end up going on several different boring tangents where each person talks about how they've tried to repair drywall(or something) and then they'd talk about games for about 30 minutes. I like their personal stories when they are entertaining and not full of inside jokes between the crew, but they've started stepping into some really weird inside joke territory where it's only entertaining to the people in the podcast room.
Patrick never did what he was supposed to do when he came to giant bomb. I'd much rather see Giant bomb put out these breaking stories than the sensationalist stories that Patrick usually does.
I don't really have any interest in seeing an ER nor the vast amount of quicklooks they've been putting out recently. If anything I think they need to streamline their content. Cut some of the unorganized and boring fat( TNT and Unprofessional Fridays), but I suppose those are made because they require very little production or preparation.
I never get how people think Ryan and/or Jeff are cynical either. They have a sense of humor about all of this, and why wouldn't they? Jeff, and to a slightly lesser extent Ryan, led the charge on how a lot of this stuff is covered to this day. At some point, the format backfired on one of them and had a lasting effect on the other, not to mention everyone's favorite worst gamer and everyone's favorite goofiest gamer. The fact Jeff and Ryan created this site on nothing much bigger than a cult of personalities - where else is the Editor-in-Chief vlogging on the weekends just because he wants to be heard and let subscribers hear him? - and that that's still what makes Giant Bomb special is a testament to their love for this thing. If people didn't enjoy listening to Jeff and Ryan talk about games, Giant Bomb would not be a site.
I'll miss Patrick, primarily since I hadn't followed Giant Bomb until well after Patrick was embedded in the framework, but it's Jeff and Ryan, not to mention Brad and Vinny, that are the vehicle here. I'm sure all four of them realized that a while ago, and all this kvetching about their attitudes towards games is missing the point of their content in the first place. Jeff and Ryan are two guys who have been there, done that many times over - they aren't cynical, just metered. With a strong dose of hip-hop centric sarcasm.
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