I really like cats and kittens. Just don't see as many of them in San Francisco unless you're visiting friends!

@shodan2020: Cute! I bet the chihuahua totally dominates the older dog. They're bossy little poopers.

Ah, I'm pretty much fine where I am. Sitting here makes it a lot easier to check on bugs and stuff to make sure that people know about them before I start putting them into the database. Most of what I need to talk to with the GB guys is just stuff I need to get set up with, so I don't really need to be sitting over there all day every day. Even if it'd be fun.

Thanks!

Came here for a tacit promise of future Master of Magic content, can leave content.

I suppose a question is in order: How far up the list of designer/engineer priorities is reinstating our beloved Followed User Blogs sidebar?

It's great to have you back, Rorie. They really could not have picked a better guy for the job. Your interaction with the community at Screened is what made me hang out there so often, so it's nice to see you back doing what you do best.

Like everyone else, I'd love to see you pop up in some premium video content or on the Friday shows. We need some kind of Rorie/Alex reunion, too. Best of luck, dude.

Glad to see you around again, Rorie.

Where do you land on the whole drinking alone debate? Does it make you crazy and sad (=team Jeff) or is it ok to enjoy a few beers on a long and relaxed game section on a weekend night (=team Brad/Patrick)?

And, by the way, do you have a good documentaries to recommend? If that's something you watch.

I do not know! I think they're pretty swamped with a lot of things at the moment, but I'll bring it up if I can.

I've heard that a lot! We'll see if we can get some movie impressions together at some point.

I drink by myself fairly consistently, especially when I was unemployed. Trying to cut back on it now that I actually have a job that I need to show up for, but I've never felt too apologetic about it. I'll kick back with a couple of tallboys and some pizza on my own for sure.

I haven't really been a big documentary guy over the last couple of years. I know there are a lot of good ones that have come down the pipe, but I mostly watch film for entertainment's sake rather than edification, especially post-Screened. Alas!

@rorie What's the weirdest thing about being back in that office?

Any interesting stories from your time working on Alpha Protocol? Thoughts on how that game turned up or where it could have gone? (I loved it, despite its flaws).

Also, please share your thoughts on Midichlorians.

@rorie

Welcome back, I loved it when you were on the Dark Souls quick look. That was actually the QL that got me to sign up for a Giant Bomb account.

You've already made a big difference man and I can tell you are going to be invaluable to the team now that you are back once more.

As a former subscriber and someone who has read quite a bit of user posts on the forums, if Giant Bomb has a severe issue/low hanging fruit that needs fixing it's the subscription/premium value proposition.

If you guys are serious about having "clients" instead of relying on advertising than you guys really need to take that relationship much more seriously than you have in the past. Or at least what Giant Bomb has projected themselves to. Otherwise your retention is going to slip, you won't be able to grow the subscriber base enough to keep up with your rising costs and it won't work.

How you guys handle customer service requests, how you explain and market and sell subscriptions to potential members, how you guys handle billing and how you guys handle premium show schedule changes stuff like that. Your post mentions some of these and it looks you've already made a lot of progress on this in a short period of time. Certainly if nothing else you've helped the image you guys are trying to project immensely.

Still the big one out there is the premium content. I'm aware that this is likely outside of your control.

A lot of the unnecessary bad feelings/disenchantment users seem to have can be handled by just doing two really basic things

1- Being specific with the minimum amount of content someone gets with a premium sub, providing that quantity (and quality) of content or exceeding that consistently. Put things in place to make sure that content gets delivered. Have something going on when the guys can't do a show, bring in some subs. Or if you have windows where you can record stuff and windows you can't, record the episodes then but hold on releasing them until you need them. Or maybe have scheduled off weeks. The major tv networks don't have new shows every week, but the public is ok with it because they have a published schedule and stick to it. Stuff like that. Underpromise and overdeliver is the old adage.

2- Communicating changes to premium subs content in a timely and professional manner. The tone can be jovial and light hearted but the communication needs to be pre-emptive so the subscriber feels valued. Don't just dump and run, then have a long drought. That makes people feel like their 60 bucks isn't worth much to you guys.

you guys are capable of both and have done both at times, but you guys don't do it consistently. Which is the problem, because it creates a feeling of being taken for granted. An impression I'm sure you guys don't intend, but that is how it can feel.

The good news is that I think it's a very fixable problem and that your brand/product is still strong and well respected. And from what you've already done, you're already set the right tone the community's needed to hear to getting that where it should be for you guys.

Still don't be complacent about it, the expectations are higher from the user standpoint now that you guys are part of CBSi and not in the Whiskey basement. Maybe that's unfair, but that's the consumer perception and they will be more demanding as a result.

@wrighteous86: Not much is really weird so far! It's been a pretty smooth return. Just glad to be back in a good building with a locked bike room.

Wish I had some AP anecdotes, but alas, that was like four years ago. It's been a long time since I've had much cause to think about it. Wish we could've had another six months to work on it, mostly, but even by the time it shipped most of the people on it had been working on it for like four or five years, if I recall.

Pretty sure I wrote an article on that over on Screened!

@slag: Yep, one of my primary goals is to increase the amount of value people get from their subscriptions. I'm going to write a blog post about this at some point and let people know our general stance over here, but I don't think anyone's really happy with the amount of premium content that's getting published. In the future I'd like to start moving towards having at least three scheduled pieces of content every week, Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. We're talking about some other ways of increasing the variety and amount of premium content, as well. There are some interesting ideas on the docket, and it's definitely something I'm going to be focusing on.

@rorie said:

That's very good to hear!

I think A MWF schedule, or whatever you guys decide you can actually consistently do would go a very long way. While people do have their favorite types of content/personalities, I think most people are understanding that sometimes the creative well runs dry on a show (e.g TANG) and it's time to move onto something new. Having a set schedule reassures them that they will at least get something for their $.

eventually you guys may have to make some tough decisions about what and how you give away from free and what goes behind the paywall if you really want to make the subscription model work for you guys, but this is a very good step in the right direction.

AmAA? Ask me Anything... Aight?

Even if that's not what it stands for it is how I shall recognise it from now on anyway!

So, how yours Borderlandins been? Have you kept up to date with all of its DLC? Or, like seemingly everyone else (including me), you bought the season pass, completed NG+, but then felt like you already had your fill of BL2...

That's good to hear. I take a glass every now and then and don't like to feel ashamed about it. But yeah, never when I need to work the next day.

I practically watch documentaries as entertaiment these days. That might seem a bit harsh, if you think about it, but I just cant get fiction movies to affect me (emotionally) as much as they used to. Get what I'm saying, man... or am i totally lost?

Ask me Almost Anything, so far as the Reddit parlance goes...

I recently reinstalled BL2 with the aim to try the new super-difficulty that spans from 50-60, but I found it a bit too hard to really get into. I suppose I need to get back and farm a couple of levels from 50-52 or so and give it another whirl. I am looking forward to the Tiny Tina DLC, as she was a high point of the game for me (such a divisive character, though!). But yeah, for the most part, I'm good on my BL2 for the time being. I'll come back to it at some point, but probably not right this moment.

Glad to have you back, as you can probably tell you were missed a great deal during your hiatus from this community. I love the fact that you are taking an interest in the premium content on the site in terms of quantity and quality. That is greatly appreciated.

I was wondering though, do you have any plans for the physical site. For example, a lot of people miss the forum splash that used to be on the front page and I know that some GB members like myself miss that little reminder of what others are posting. The removal of that has, for whatever reason, reduced my activity on the forums.

On a different topic, are there any games that are coming out this year that you are interested in?

I know that with the new consoles on the horizon this is a pretty exciting time and there are still a ton of question left to be answered, especially as it relates to the new XBOX. If the new XBOX does decide to use an Always-Online system do you think it will be a huge mistake or something that they will be able to manage even for those without a quality internet connection?

Also, can I touch your hand?

Who's complaining about not getting enough subscriber content? For a few weeks there, we were getting three live shows several hours long each. It wasn't even sustainable.

When there are no videos on the site, I like to think it's cause everyone is super busy.

I can't really speak to the forum thing - that was a design decision that was made before I came on board. I don't think I'm going to be much involved with design stuff, at least not until the next site redesign rolls around. Sorry! We do still feature the most recent forum activity on the homepage, at least.

I haven't really looked too far forward into this year's games, mostly because I'm the kind of Steam gamer that usually waits until stuff is heavily discounted before buying it. So most of the stuff coming out this year I won't play until next year anyway. The new inFamous game looks neat, and I'm hoping Dragon Age III is good. And Saints Row IV should be fun.

I don't really mind the idea of an always-on console so long as I'm not forced to subscribe to Gold. Never did find a good use for that.

Did you have/do you have days where you just have trouble writing? If so how did you get over it?

@finaldasa: Finaldasa! Good to hear from you. Hope BB is paying you well. I'm just saying, with Stacey leaving, you probably have some leverage...

I've been pretty lucky in that I've never really had any writer's block to speak of, but that's mostly just because my topics have always been pretty obvious. Sometimes coming up with good intros and conclusions can be time-consuming, but apart from that I've always been able to sit down and crank out some words. Not always good words, though.