Do people actually read Patrick's stories?

I agree, people seem to just post without reading anything but then again I get the feeling this happens a lot on the internet these days. Its sad because his articles are really good and are always interesting.

Not all of them. Mostly for a matter of size than content. They are often quite interesting, but they tend to be too long...

I never comment in unread articles, though.

I read all of his articles but rarely comment. I don't always agree with Patrick's point of view but the content of his articles is head and shoulders above a lot of games "journalism" these days.

I can only imagine Patrick's frustration reading the comments sections and this thread.

I do, the guy writes good stuff.

I skip Worth Reading because I feel like that title is a bit of a misnomer. But, for the most part, I read most everything he posts.

I read 90% of them and only comment on the ones I read.

He's hit or miss for me. Just my opinion but I'm not a big fan of his voice.

@rick_deckard said:

But don't go posting on the forums if you don't, because that just a huge freaking insult to Patrick, and to the rest of us that want a good conversation on the topic.

Do better.

I have no issues with insulting Patrick or his work as I feel sometimes he could use a little criticism to temper the praise, but I do try not to derail community members trying to have a good discussion.

I think the tone of the article often sets the tone of the comments that follow and I think both Patrick and the community could "do better" :)

I will give him credit though. When he writes something good, it's usually really good.

I read pretty much anything I can on this site, since it's the only gaming website that I really like besides PCGamer (and that's still only meh). Patrick's stuff is another niche that needed filling here, and he does it. Worth Reading has been consistently worth reading, and his other stuff is good. So yeah.

@HistoryInRust said:

Patrick's work is a nice, restrained middle-ground between [traditional games journalism and journalism] polarities. Sure, he takes up his causes too, but a great deal of his work is preoccupied more with introspecting on the industry, providing a critical--critical in the observational sense, not critical in the destructive or detracting way--look at a culture I'd otherwise know very, very little about.

I concur!

It's why I think he was a good addition to GB. Until I've seen consecutive failure on that part, I don't see why ignoring his articles does anyone any good.

I don't

@jdh5153 said:

There's writing on Giant Bomb ? O.o....news to me, I just watch the quick looks and listen to the podcast.

Swing and a miss. You actually just insulted yourself with that. That's okay, though, you'll get another chance soon.

rick_deckard, people really like increasing their post count, and reading would take time they don't want to spend.

Nope. I tried but can't get into it. I just don't like his writing style I guess. I prefer the snarky/smart-ass style of Alex and Jeff.

Every time Patrick writes something it seems to be very interesting and I really do want to read it but then I see that it is very long and I am a slow reader and my attention span will quickly want me to do something else. The few I have read are the series ones which are a little shorter like the one with Jeremiah from 5th cell and that one was very interesting and cool to read. I know I should read more of them and the kickstarter one from this week seems like a really good one to read but then I see how long it is and I just can't get myself to start them. That being said, Patrick does an awesome job and I am glad he is doing what he does!

Don't tell people to do better. It sounds stupid.

I read some of his articles yes, but not all of them.

I tend to always read his stuff. I may not have time direcly when I see it but I usually return later to read it when I have time.

I think there is a lack of this in his field of work but to be honest most videogame sites are starting to man up on this. Today you can find really good interviews and researched articles on 1UP, Polygon, Kotaku, Wired and of course Giant Bomb. There are more places but those were the sites that I can rememner that during the year have had some really interesting or thoughtprovoking content. My personal favorite is Polygon on the subject since they both has good ideas AND really good writing. I hope they keep it up. After that I dig Patricks writing maynly because of the ideas. With Patrick it's not so much of how good of a writer he is as to how many good concepts and ideas he has for articles. Many times during the year when I read a header here on Giant Bomb I have thought "Yes, yes I would like to read about that". And that is a good qualitiy in my book. More often than not it was worth the read.

I sometimes comment but I always read before I comment.

Definitely. I just don't read the comments on them, as I have no interest in repeatedly reading about how Patrick is the worst person to ever exist, and is going to singlehandedly ruin the game industry, the internet, and the world.

Not all, but most. I never read the comments on them.

Yeah, I enjoy his insight.

This title sounds so insulting, couldn't you come up with something better? I just got used to people posting stupid shit that they know nothing about, it doesn't affect me anymore.

@rick_deckard: He's not as prolific a writer as you pen him to be. I would maybe read more of his stories but I find his writing kind of awkward and too flowery for my taste. Give me no nonsense delivery and get to the point. Not a bad writer, but theres something to be said about Jeff's blunt delivery which is a stark contrast to Patrick's long winded sentences that often take many detours before finally arriving at a point.

@EquitasInvictus said:

Unfortunately, I don't think this post is going to reach the people it was intended for.

My thoughts exactly.

@rick_deckard If your intention was to demonstrate this by people commenting on the title of this thread instead of your main point, well done.

I guess I don't expect much from the comments. Only a few really add something of value to the conversation. Take my comments for example, pure garbage :)

I read most of the new stories on GB regardless of who wrote them. Worth reading can be hit or miss depending on the content he brings up but the walking dead articles he has been doing are really good.

Patrick is alright. His writing style isn't to my taste, mostly because his opinions tend to overshadow what he writing about. I rarely agree with him and as an adult I can form my own opinions on things. If I don't read, I don't post. He seems to try hard to make video games into something more than maybe they are, but I get why and that's fine. Just not my cup of tea. I used to read everything posted, but it just started to bug me and now I read maybe a quarter of what I used to. All of the guys (except Vinny, Drew, and Dave) come off jaded more often than not these days. I still like the site and the crew still seems like a group that I'd enjoy hanging with and having a chat, but I'm just tired of all the complaining.

Still... they could have found the $28 dollars with ease

I don't like hearing or seeing Patrick, but he is a damn good writer. That said, no, I don't read them most of the time. But only because I come to this site for the videos mostly.

@oraknabo said:

I read most of them and don't comment on the ones I don't read.

There's some wisdom in these words

@rick_deckard said:

Seriously guys. Patrick writes this stuff for us.

He must not like us very much.

@rick_deckard said:

[MOD EDIT: Users who insult members of staff will be subject to moderation. Remember our golden rule, folks: Don't be a jerk.]

Patrick's a big ol' doo-doo head. His writing's pretty great though. He covers interesting shit too, not just more of the "OH GOD THIS HALO 4 IMAGE LEAKED, AIN'T IT SWEET?" He brings up shit that could actually argue video games as art, or at least more than just man-child hobby.

I read the majority of them, yes.

@Sooty said:

I don't like his writing style or the way he words a lot of things.

I'm in the same boat. Also, actual research for his articles, beyond interviewing a developer, does not seem like something he's really into. Admittedly I don't read his articles often (points back at Sooty's post).

Sure. When I am interested in what he has to say, I read the articles. Why not? They are well written and Patrick is a smart and funny guy.

Not really, don't really like his writing style or personality or whatever you wanna call it.

Not a huge fan of click bait articles, so no.

Also this:

SOMEONE ACTUALLY THOUGHT IT WAS A GOOD IDEA TO WRITE THIS

I read them every now and then but most of the stuff he writes are on things I care very little about.

I appriciate just fine thank you very much!!! ;)

also, I totally do love his articles - and I agree that he is one of the few.

Seems like multiple answers in this thread only respond to the title, not the body of the post. Snake eating its own tail and all that.

If I comment on something, I always try to have the decency of reading it. Characterizing my response to a piece is only possible if I read and understand what the piece says. That's kinda literacy 101. It's hard, I know. I'm soon going to be teaching it to teenagers.

I prefer my chloroform liquid.

Overall, I love Patrick's writing style. He's one of the few writers whose spelling/grammar/punctuation errors come off as just that: errors. They don't feel like they happen because he isn't a good writer. I dunno if that makes sense. He also seems to have his hand on a pulse of gaming that I myself don't usually feel and I pay pretty close attention to a lot of gaming stuff. I like his insight into things as well. At least the haters have a million places to go if they want inferior news. We wouldn't want the haters to feel left out.

None of the creators involved with those games have the expertise to port their games Sony’s platform,

And then I usually stop reading.

only watch videos on gb, never read any of the articles.

Of course!

Yeah I usually read the entire article before posting.

@AndrewB said:

I can only imagine Patrick's frustration reading the comments sections and this thread.

I don't know. I guess. I don't see him as an inactive participant in the shit he gets. He gets more then he deserves. But he certainly earns a lot of the shit he gets dude. He has to, somewhere deep down, understand where some of it comes from. You would hope he would take this to heart and attempt to improve. If simply gets frustrated at this stuff he'll never improve eve if a lot of the criticism isn't founded.

@KittyVonDoom said:

I like the 'surprise!' bit. That really sells it.

The article says they couldn't come up with the last 28$ because people kept changing their pledges- so they had no way of knowing what amount would be necessary or something. I thinks that's at least somewhat BS but whatever. 
 
I made a comment on that article but I'm sure it was drowned in a sea of other comments that were less interesting. I don't think a lot of commenters read articles on most video game websites. They comment on the title and sometimes the first paragraph (or in the case of reviews on the score).  
 
Happens a lot in forums, too. Some people cant be bothered to read let alone understand what you are trying to say. I guess they can be happy these people open the article at all.  
 
This is the case in life in general, not just the internet. There are a lot of people that are interested in their own thoughts more than yours.

I don't get why they didn't just donate the money themselves?

@JasonR86 said:

@AndrewB said:

I can only imagine Patrick's frustration reading the comments sections and this thread.

I don't know. I guess. I don't see him as an inactive participant in the shit he gets. He gets more then he deserves. But he certainly earns a lot of the shit he gets dude. He has to, somewhere deep down, understand where some of it comes from. You would hope he would take this to heart and attempt to improve. If simply gets frustrated at this stuff he'll never improve eve if a lot of the criticism isn't founded.

That's just it though... I *don't* see where he earns any of the crap he's given. Most of what I see is the same "Ehhhhh! His voice is annoying and he sucks at videogames" that I expect to hear from middle/highschoolers (and I sincerely hope that's the case). Deserved constructive criticism is difficult to come across.

It's sort of like the thread going on right now of someone complaining how someone laughs.

It has nothing to do with Patrick's articles. Almost everything posted on this site gets the same treatment.

I guess it might be fixable if the staff and community were better at calling people out for being goddamn idiots.

Or maybe it's the inevitable result of being a video game news website.

"I think he's probably one of the few true writers of our little industry." You're not looking hard enough.

I am not interested in the things Pat writes about, nothing against Pat or nothing but I have not seen an article of his that I wanted to read. *shrugs*

@AndrewB said:

@JasonR86 said:

@AndrewB said:

I can only imagine Patrick's frustration reading the comments sections and this thread.

I don't know. I guess. I don't see him as an inactive participant in the shit he gets. He gets more then he deserves. But he certainly earns a lot of the shit he gets dude. He has to, somewhere deep down, understand where some of it comes from. You would hope he would take this to heart and attempt to improve. If simply gets frustrated at this stuff he'll never improve eve if a lot of the criticism isn't founded.

That's just it though... I *don't* see where he earns any of the crap he's given. Most of what I see is the same "Ehhhhh! His voice is annoying and he sucks at videogames" that I expect to hear from middle/highschoolers (and I sincerely hope that's the case). Deserved constructive criticism is difficult to come across.

It's sort of like the thread going on right now of someone complaining how someone laughs.

You don't have to be a middle/highschooler to not like something. Constructive criticism can only go so far. The main reason why I don't read his articles, or generally dont like him, is because hes all about the inter-workings of video games and how they are built. As a casual video game fan, this just does not interest me. I come to Giant Bomb for entertainment first and video game knowledge second.