@faridmon An Ad hominem response followed by strawmanning my argument only reinforces my point.Toxic and destructive people have no place here which is why I pretty clearly was not talking about them. I was talking about people who are not toxic but may disagree on other points being derided because they disagree.
Just because two parties may disagree on certain points doesn't mean that they get to be labelled arbitrarily as monsters. That is just engaging in another type of toxicity
I've been listening to some of the early bombcasts and I have to say I'm not thrilled with the growing level of political and social commentary that has been creeping into the site the last few years. They are entitled to their opinion and I am by no means going to get into a debate about any of them here.
People can argue that everything is political and that they should use this platform to advance their views but the dwindling apolitical hobby communities - more like the site used to be- where people can co-exist and enjoy an activity without sniping at people with different political viewpoints is a problem. Things like this will only further the toxicity and division in society and is only helping to foster the troublesome troll culture they hate so much.
I have expressed this here before and gotten push back in the past and so be it. It is frustrating to see a large chunk of people demonized (some rightfully and others not rightfully) over something which this site doesn't need to expressly join a war on.
If people can come together over a shared interest, that can be the start of more people learning to dialogue and discuss issues in a healthy way. The current trend of soapboxing every platform only ends in complete alienation and isolation - with each side in their own echo chamber.
Giant Bomb is one of my favorite sites and I have consumed 1,000+ hours of their content and subscribed over multiple years. This has been a troubling trend the last few years though which I fear will only further fracture the community of a hobby we enjoy. Thank you for reading and considering and have a good day!
I know whether the crew feels right about doing it is the first determining factor in whether more similarly styled content gets made, but please stick to the plan of doing this next year (and maybe one other time in the year if at all possible?). This was quite possibly my favorite piece of GB video content this year- a total light hearted blast from top to bottom. Please, if at all possible, do this more :D
@jagubrah: You are absolutely right about the pewdiepie/naughty dog stories being game industry related and I should have said in my original post that they should cover them when they are industry related. I could be totally wrong, but I remember Vinny's discussion regarding the pewdiepie thing being much longer than their discussion of the naughty dog issue (perhaps it just felt that way due to it being primarily one person talking).
I really don't mind the way they covered the naughty dog issue- they reported on it, discussed it briefly, and moved on. Perhaps Vinny's piece on pewdiepie was just as short but it certainly felt longer and much more emotionally charged, following several such emotionally charged segments from him. At the end of the day, the way they choose to cover things is their prerogative and, as another person replying to my post pointed out, I will have to deal with it as I am able.
You also pointed out the feedback they got regarding their lack of stance/statement on Pewdiepie, on which I am certainly not as "dialed in". This was short-sighted of me to forget about this and so perhaps my complaint about the constant politicization of things largely non-political (certain cases excepted, of course, I'm trying not to make universal statements) should be levied at the people demanding that they take a stance on every issue.
I'm sure I've missed some issues in my response here and I appreciate your incredibly considerate and thoughtful reply! At the end of the day, I'm not saying politics and games should never mix but rather that they should be covered practically, coolly, and efficiently, so that we can all get back to the games we love. Thank you again- people like you are a helpful reminder that the GB community is a pretty great place and the internet isn't totally a den of monsters yet! :D
I am going to do my best to phrase this comment diplomatically so that hopefully it will not be dismissed as insulting, whiny, or any other non-constructive type of feedback. Please let Jeff "host" the Beastcast from here on out. This is a small step to help remedy what I fear is a growing aspect of Giant Bomb which may alienate me from a website and crew to which I have become very attached.
By "host", I simply mean that he should be the one guiding the changing of topics and the overall of flow of the conversation. This, in my opinion, should be done for two reasons:
1) For my humor tastes, Vinny is the funniest Giant Bomb employee to date, with the possible exception of Jeff G. This comedic ability of his has been somewhat hamstrung though by having to be the "straight man" that has to make sure things move along at a reasonable clip on the podcast. With Jeff B hosting, Vinny could perhaps return to his old bombcast days where he and Jeff G would tear it up, especially when neither of them were hosting. I also believe that Jeff B has the personality and experience hosting podcasts that would not severely hamper his ability to interject with his own jokes/observations (love Jeff B very much as well).
2) This is gonna get me a lot of flack- I really don't enjoy or appreciate the politically charged or politically adjacent discussions that have become more and more common on Giant Bomb. This has nothing to do with my opinions agreeing or disagreeing with theirs but rather that I believe it is not the place for such discussions. I understand that now is a very contentious and heated time in the political world and I don't expect them to totally isolate that part of their lives, but it has become just common enough that I have started to skip through segments such as Vinny's monologue (for lack of a better term) following the Pewdiepie issue (again, I don't disagree with him, but it is not remotely why I to Giant Bomb for their content).
This is another long post from me and I appreciate anyone who read through to the end. I have listened to Giant Bomb for almost 4 years now (I have listened to all the Bombcasts going back to 2011 and have listened to some favorite episodes (GOTY, especially) 4 or 5 times all the way through while I work. It is the podcast I use to distract or cheer me up at work or to unwind after with fun jokes, witty observations, stories of the game industry, and of course, reviews and criticisms of games. It is not where I go to hear about social issues or to hear about their long form view on the state of the world, either politically or socially. This is not why they became well known and not why I love them so much. I follow professional people on both sides of the political spectrum (whose opinion on games means nothing to me) to help educate myself and keep abreast of these issues.
This is not a post I wrote rashly- the second point of this long comment has been bothering me for well over a year now when it comes to Giant Bomb's content becoming more politically charged. You can disagree and claim it's not a big deal, that they should do it, or that I should just leave if I don't like it. I can only hope that either the world or their views on this subject change or I fear the last option may be my only recourse. Thank you again for reading.
No one has to read this. I just have to write it some place public.
I first heard Drew and the whole GB crew on their 3/4/2014 episode and was quickly hooked. I was able to listen to podcasts while I was working and, as such, listened to all of 2014, 2013, and 2012 (backwards, yes I know) in the course of a few months. Because of this and the very real impact this has had on my life, I feel the need to honor Drew in some way as a thanks for the hours of joy he has helped bring me.
Over the years, certain aspects of the other various personalities have rubbed me the wrong way, almost certainly due to excessive listening. Drew, however, was always a delightful presence and has made me more cognizant of defects in my own character which I have diligently worked on ever since regularly listening to and watching him.
Drew is the best of the internet personified in a way that almost does not exist today. He has a personality and his own interests, but does not trample over others with his opinions. He keeps his personal life personal in a healthy way and recognizes and upholds a public image/private life balance which is completely undervalued in the age of social media. He knows a lot but always seems ready to listen, learn, and embrace new things rather than dismiss contrasting views by yelling over them, ignoring them, or deriding them. His controlled tone, language, temper and overall demeanor during his time in front of the mic/camera are something to aspire to.
Because of all this, the end of this podcast felt like a gut punch. I wish Drew all the best, obviously, and I know he will excel at whatever he sets his mind to but, for someone who started listening in 2014, his leaving hits very hard. Best of luck Drew, and I hope the internet gets more out of you (preferably beyond his lucrative meme empire).
I'm sure this will not be a popular opinion so I will share it as diplomatically as possible.
It is really frustrating to me to hear Vinny say he wants to stop talking about a social or political issue and then use the podcast as a podium to project his or the groups opinion on a controversial issue. This isn't about the pewdiepie stuff but rather the growing amount of not so veiled political commentary and comments on similar issues not usually common fare on a games/personal comedy podcast.
At the end of the day it's their podcast and how I feel won't change their content. But stop keeping up the facade of this games and game industry based podcast where political and cultural issues are taboo when, if something happens that you find offensive, they will call it out then act like it's not worth being discussed.
As far as what I would like, though it hardly matters I know, I wish that cultural issues and politics were completely off the table. It's not why I follow and support giant bomb and, regardless of what views I have, the inability to separate those issues has really made me cool on the site to a certain degree. I know things in the world may not be to everyone's liking but can't this site be a hobby focused website, devoid of external agendas and issues?
Thanks for reading all the way and have a great weekend, everyone.
Really love Jeff-hosted podcasts. He seems to care less about structure and moving things along which makes for way more funny, personable moments than the more structure-focused podcasts which have become pretty common over the last couple of years. Early 2014 podcasts are among some of my favorites for this exact reason.
I've never really posted here but I love GB and all their content, especially the GOTY podcasts, all of which I have listened to in their entirety at least two times (2013, which was when I found GB somewhere between 3-4 times I think). I know this is their podcast and my opinion is of little import but I thought I'd provide some feedback which may prove helpful in some small way. I apologize in advance if this is a little long.
While I think the approach for the final category that games should be celebrated first is great, I do feel like the way they did it this year hurts the build up (which is a secondary issue cause these podcasts are archives of their process first, entertainment second) but it also means tons of games never get spoken about at all. Dishonored 2 was not even mentioned once and, while I'm sure it would have been summarily cut, if it was in a giant list of games we would at least maybe get half a sentence of why it didn't stand, which would be a nice nod to a game like that. This, in turn, would help celebrate games even more because, as they point out, a mention and a cut is better than no mention at all (even if it's as short as what Mankind Divided got in Day 5).
I think there is a way to keep the positivity while fixing this issue, though. Have a giant list of games (whatever seemed halfway appropriate to them) from which they separate (3 x number of staff) games via their 3 round preservation system. Then, once they have celebrated the games which really are near and dear to them, turn to the other games which, while maybe not their favorites, then get a brief mention as they go through them. This may in turn result in them remembering a game which may actually be top ten material but just didn't come up. It also means a slightly longer GOTY podcast which, in my opinion, can never be too long. Thanks for reading and Happy Holidays/New Year!
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