@burnttoast said:
@PassiveKaerenai said:
It isn't relevant, because any criticism you make is not going to create a change. Unless you think that Patrick's going to read this and go, 'Oh wow, I didn't realise I wasn't funny, I'll start being funny now'. Nobody can choose to be funny, or entertaining, or liked by you personally. So what change are you trying to generate? Make Patrick leave? Make him improve his 'performance' by not being himself? Screw that.
This complaint is old and no longer relevant. Yes, every staff member has their flaws, including Vinny, and every member their opinion. Does it need to be brought up for the thousandth time in a public way? No. There's an epithet for 'complaining for the sake of complaining'. It ain't a pretty one, nor should it be.
I am not under the illusion that any specific opinion I post will change the content of the site in even a minor way. I do think that in aggregate opinions made on the forums have influenced the content and I do think that the staff pays attention to video viewing counts and other metrics of interest. So I think it is valid and meaningful to express strong interest in a feature that is enjoyed (perhaps to ask for more time travel cartoon shows) or to express disinterest in a feature that is not liked (say if people don't like quick look with devs nearly as much as normal).
Your point is then not that complaints aren't valid but that complaining about personalities are a special case. That complaining about personalities is complaining about something that, unlike the rest, can't change. Perhaps that it becomes more petty and hurtful as well. I strongly disagree with this. I do not think it is a special case, and petty and character attacks are a danger but not intrinsically a part of those discussions.
Right now there is a golden man competition or some such going on. This is essentially a ranking of which guest do people like the most, which personality is the most entertaining. It is the very same thing we are talking about except that it is about guests not core members. I think that the bracketed compitition has been pretty well received. It would be cool if at the end the site admins see which people are the most enjoyed as guests and they can come on more. That would be producing valuable content that a lot of people would enjoy.
So maybe your point is not that it shouldn't be discussed which personality is the best, just that it shouldn't be about the core guys. Again, I think it is completely valid and not mean, to say I do not find Patrick's personality entertaining. He is on a site which has entertaining personalities, you could see game coverage on any site, I'ld imagine the reason you come here is a lot about the personalities. I think that expressing which people are enjoyed the most is as valid feedback as anything could be. I think, also, in aggregate, any feedback can have meaningful effects.
Ha, I don't mean that to sound like I want him out. But I think the site would benefit from Patrick taking a smaller role as an on-screen personality and a greater responsibility in game coverage/molyjam/ other stuff he likes.
First of all, the Golden Duder thing is a community project. The community is free to discuss its perceptions, but the staff isn't going to give these people more air-time based on that. They are well aware of the 'Patrick-hate' thing happening - how could anyone avoid it, the hate-cabal plagues everything QL the guy does - and they are equally aware of the 'Brad sucks' meme (see Breaking Brad). But Patrick still gets air-time, and Brad still does QLs. They have shown that this is the line they're taking, and haven't budged since.
Another note: the Golden Duder thing is positive promotion. What's happening here is negative, and if you saw any competition of 'Worst Duder', you can bet it'd get pulled by the mods. This is a positive site. GB is not, and I hope will never be, the cynical kind of place that considers its own staff-members as 'performers', and rates them accordingly. The site's charm is that everybody's themselves, nobody's trying too hard, and nobody's going to get kicked off a QL or podcast because the community's complaining. That's what keeps it relaxed, non-businessy, and genuinely funny.
One last thing: I've been here longer than my profile has. Over time, I've definitely noticed that as the number of complaints, ad hominems and one-liners increase in the forums and comments, the staff has started to pay less and less attention to the community. These complaints are making the site a negative place, they have not and will not generate change, and are pushing the team and the community apart. So please, however good your intentions, observe their results, and stop.
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