Will the community behave if GB gets called out again?

It warms my heart to see so many brave souls standing up for white men. It's about time someone had the overwhelming majority's back!

Seriously, though, I hope there's not a repeat of the whole Samantha Allen ordeal. Whether you agree with them or not, people have the right to criticise Giant Bomb's hiring decisions without suffering rape and death threats.

I'm guessing a lot of people don't remember Brad Nicholson. Before Patrick, there was Brad Nicholson, and though a lot of his "news" was essentially copy pastes of other sites he still provided a service to the website and was condemned for it. When Patrick first came to Giantbomb I was not a fan, and though he did say things and write things that irked me in weird ways, I tolerated him long enough and he eventually grew on me. Some of his opinion articles should have been kept to himself, because all that did was further inflame the community's hatred towards him.

I don't understand how or why the people of this community have to go on crusades because they don't approve of something or someone. I'm surprised these same people didn't picket Ryan Davis' funeral, because they still wanted him to work for GB. I know that's a dark idea, and I'll probably get blasted by some nut for saying it, but it's as irrational as someone protesting a person providing news and opinion articles. You can disagree with someone else's opinions without personally attacking that person. That's something I think is really fucked up about the entire gaming community.

People say the Religious Right do crazy shit in the name of religion, and that's what I liken these video game enthusiasts actions to. Patrick's personal life was constantly being attacked for reasons unknown to even him. I mean, we get it, people don't like Patrick's articles. It doesn't make him a terrible person. Since Patrick left I find the website is substantially lacking in written content, and while I don't always like to read when I come here, I also don't always want to watch the guys play some tripe that even they're not really into.

The thing that really bugs me is how Patrick was able to provide news and opinions and actually TRIED to open people's minds to other ways of thinking and other ways of life. It's really very difficult to live in darkness and I felt like Patrick was trying to bring light to situations that a lot of people just weren't aware of, or had very closed minds towards. Because he tried to change people's minds he was attacked for it. People want to be ignorant and will be offended when someone tries to promote facts of life to them.

Honestly, as much as I like GB, I can't see this site living on long after the founding members leave. The only people I think at this point, that the community would tollerate are Joe Fielder or Greg Kasavin or Rich Gallup. Maybe Greg Miller. That's the real problem here. People that come to this site don't want opinions, they want comedy and easily consumable media in video format. Patrick was neither of those things, and the same can be said about Brad Nicholson. Was it really their fault they were there to provide more avenues for traffic to be directed at this website? The people of this community want a dumb entertainment, and that's why Dan Rykert is famously a great addition to the team. Despite it seeming like the rest of the staff being baffled by his antics.

I don't care who they hire (white, black, LGBT, whale-kin, whatever) as long as that person doesn't talk about fucking wrestling.

It was fine at first, cause Dan is quite enthusiastic about wrestling and it's good to hear someone genuinely excited for something, but holy crap is it getting tiring at this point. Basically most quick looks are something like -

"Yeah, so this game's controls feel a bit sloppy"

"OH YOU MEAN LIKE HOW RANDY SAVAGE WAS IN THAT 98 RAW EVENT??!?"

I'm not gonna ask them to stop, cause that's impossible if you have Dan around, but Jesus Christ, just slow down with that stuff.

It's totally OK to want to feel represented in things you like. It's not OK and unrealistic to demand and expect to be represented in every little thing you like.

This applies to topics as wide and broad as people angry about Giant Bomb not hiring a woman and the people who were angry about the all-female Ghostbusters film.

I think it would be great if GB hired a woman/minority, but demanding that they do so or calling them sexist/racist over not doing so is stupid.

I find it super stressful when people act as though straight white dudes are oppressed in hiring practices, as though everyone is already on equal footing. Just...please, can we not?

@otakugamer: You know how silly that sounds? No straight, white guy is getting denied anything, GB has only ever hired them.

It was pretty much two little known free lancers that got the brunt of the harassment and threats, they had no power or influence over Giant Bomb. I would say the hate campaigns actually backfired and added significantly more weight(and eyes) to their arguments about Giant Bomb, and the cult following they've fostered.

I dont agree witht he criticism they recieve for their hiring decisions. Giant Bomb needs to hire people with personalities that will fit in with their current crew. It helps nobody to hire somebody "different" for the sake of variety and then they don't feel comfortable in the job. Dan was perfect for the job. I can only hope future hiring decisions will be as good. However, its wrong to treat people badly on twitter because you disagree with them.

@davidmerrick: I very, very seldom bring it up as it bears no relevance to the vast majority of conversations I have here, but I just happen to be a non-white person. Anyway, this is just my particular perspective, but what I find has pissed me off royally in the past has been people saying things along the lines of "I know you MUST want someone just like you represented on screen, you're in a minority". It has just always struck me as presumptive and more than a little patronising.

In the same way that I have absolutely no qualms whatsoever about being represented in a game by a male/female/alien/robot/black/white or green character and still being able to fully empathise with or relate to them, I really (and I can't stress this enough but let me try...) reaaaaaaaaaaally don't care if the person entertaining and informing me about these same games on Giant Bomb or wherever is not "just like me". If they are an entertaining and engaging person, that's what I see and hear. Moreover, it's often the games themselves that are doing a lot of the "talking" to me anyway.

Now, if the Giant Bomb crew were a rotten bunch of bigots spouting a load of hatred along with the Quick Looks, then yes I would be very concerned about frequenting this place and be quickly looking elsewhere for my games-related entertainment. Thankfully they (and those around them) are and always have been just a group of friendly, knowledgeable people playing and chatting about games and crap... and I'm really fine with that.

I trust the guys at Giant Bomb to ensure that their new hire, someone they'll be spending an inordinate amount of time with, is a person who they feel is a good fit to add to their ranks rather than a "statistic" based on criteria forced upon them. If they happen to also be from some form of minority, so be it, but its certainly not an aspect that I prioritize in any way when it comes to my ability to "relate to" the site and its content.

Let's broaden the request for kicks: please don't attack other people. Don't heighten the tension of whatever conversation. Don't imply faults of character when you're discussing the merit of an opinion. Just... be cool. Everybody be cool. When a person says some bullshit you think is beyond wack, then consider how you might diffuse them rather than chucking another pipe bomb into a burning forum thread. If you know you can't restrain yourself, take a break from interneting.

I think this thread has just about run its course. This is essentially a carbon copy of several discussions that have already been had dozens of times, and beyond that, this thread is built upon baseless speculation about who may be hired.