Dodongo

I finally figured out what annoys me with the latest news post. It absolutely does not match the emotion of the community at this moment.

The "staff" have obviously known about this at least a little while longer than the rest of us. And then they write a story that basically amounts to "join us in Acceptance and moving forward", meanwhile, the rest of us are steps back in the DABDA process.

It's just a colossal misread of the "room". We, the GB audience, are not ready yet. And it's likely to be a continuation today. "It sucks Jeff is leaving, he was the heart/soul of GB, blah blah blah. Also, here's Jeff Grubb and <insert other new staff here> and boy oh boy is everything going to be amazing and great and weird going forward!"

They could have figuratively mourned with us and said "we're going to take our time to figure out the next steps". And even if they already knew what that was, you wait a week! Instead it's full steam ahead as if Jeff fucking Gerstmann leaving the site he founded is just a minor bump in the road for the "cast".

And on a certain level, I get it. The people remaining are concerned about their jobs and their future. But maybe right this second wasn't the best time for the approach taken.

I played and "hate loved" They Bleed Pixels, btw.

The lack of Quick Looks is what really kills me. They were THE thing about the site for the longest time. You got 20-40 minute looks at all sorts of games. Not just the big releases but indie games and whatever niches a particular staffer was interested in. It gave such wonderfully broad coverage that you really could just come here, feel satisfied that you were seeing more than just the big AAA releases, and know which games were worth going on my personal backlog. And we got one practically every damn day!

That's simply not happening anymore. We get it a little bit with UPF but that's about it. JUST SHOW ME MORE VIDEO OF GAMES!

And look, I can be somewhat sympathetic to the situation. But at the same time, this is a job and they work for a big company. I'm kind of sick of hearing excuses.

I resubbed around the holidays because of the sale but there's a better chance than there's ever been that I might actually put GB in my rearview, and that makes me a little sad. My brain goes back to Austin's famous "How do I know when I'm satisfied?". In this case, it's more "How do I know when I'm dissatisfied?" And the truth is, I am at the moment, and there's only so long nostalgia and history are going to keep me hanging on.

I want to echo these thoughts.

I tried starting Dishonored 1 at the start of the lockdowns last year and just wasn't feeling it. About 6 months later I came back to it and had a good (but not great) time. I tend to want to play these games completely stealthily/non-violent, looking into every corner and collecting every object, and I don't think that approach does Dishonored any favors. So go nuts and play loose and murder-y and I think you'll have more fun. This is a game that's more about the gameplay than the story anyway, so don't sweat not getting "the good ending".

The Dishonored 1 DLC has some characters in it that play into the sequel, so it might be worth playing.

Dishonored 2 is mostly more Dishonored. I just played it in the last few months and while it's probably objectively speaking a "better" game I wouldn't say it's a slam dunk. As was mentioned above though, there are 2 really, REALLY awesome levels that almost single handedly make the game worth playing.

I haven't played Death of the Outsider yet, so I can't comment on that one.

I have no suggestions, unfortunately. Just posting in case someone mentions something good.

I'm almost always playing games years (and years and years) after the fact. It's very rare I want to play something immediately and at full price. Last year the only one might have been Hades.

I mean...something like that has to exist, right? Even if just a podcast where everyone decides to play an old game and discuss it ala...was it Waypoint who had that Waypoint 101 series for a little bit? I think the key thing is that I would just want them talking about the game and not current events, otherwise it "dates" the show.

I know it's not the same thing but I certainly save "spoiler section" stand alone podcasts of games I haven't played yet to listen to after the fact.

This topic hits so hard, lol! I've found myself in that scenario too many times. I have to step back and ask myself "What the fuck are you doing?!? Just finish the damn thing already!"

I've gotten better more recently at knowing "when I'm satisfied" and to just move on and not fret over all the little extra bits games throw at you. It helps to realize that modern games are designed so that anything you need is going to be unmissable and anything off the beaten path is literally superfluous for the purpose of finishing the game.

I recently also played through Dishonored 2 and quickly realized that 90% of the powers and bone charms were not necessary for how I played the game. I still hunted a lot of them down though because they gave me impetus to explore and take in the environment. But eventually it got to the point in later levels were I was content to leave many uncollected.

How to dismantle a bomb.... :(

I've been thinking the same thing as the OP for a while. I've also found myself agreeing with both sides of the "argument" in this thread.

Personally, I think the larger issue is just that GB has felt a little...stale recently. Which, isn't the end of the world, everything goes through ups and downs. Plus, I think there's good reasons both internal and external for that.

Obviously they've lost staff but hopefully they're working on that? As people have said, they are missing those creative catalysts they previous had.

The idea that they can recapture the "golden" days of a particular podcast is folly. Those stories have already been told and the crew is in a different place where maybe they don't want to share their personal life stories (because you'll notice all the reasons those were considered the "golden" days aren't related to gaming).

The industry certainly feels like it's in, and will continue to be in, a dry spell. So the question is, how do you (GB) respond to that? Do you get creative and bring some new ideas to the table or even bring back again some old ideas (Game Tapes, Load our Last Souls, etc.)? Or do you just slog along putting out the same content as always but which is suffering because there's a paucity of new, big games to talk about?

I should also say that, well, there IS life in gaming (and otherwise) beyond GiantBomb. It's okay to take a personal hiatus from the site or specific content for a while if you're not digging it. There's a TON of content out there to either supplement or replace GiantBomb. I listen to Waypoint because I missed the opinions and insights of Patrick and Austin but I understand their politics might not be to everyone's tastes. Dan's got that new Fire Escape Cast or whatever it is. There's a lot of other gaming podcasts I have no idea about! Point being that if you're looking for new/different sometimes it's on you to go seek it out.

Watching/listening at 1.5x or 2x speed helps me out.

If I’m remembering right, the Kings Brand opens a very particular door. There’s some interesting stuff behind that door.