As time goes on and people get older they change, or at least they should change and for me one of the things that has needed to change over the past few years is my attitude towards the internet. It seems like a very easy thing to say that you will take any piece of information on in a level headed way and to respond to it with only something that will add incite to an established debate, in reality it can be all too easy to simply be the person talking crap on the forums, spouting some half formed opinion you just thought of based on a half truth somebody else only half understood themselves.

When you’re young, or not in the games industry it doesn’t really matter, the internet will always be a place for anonymous people to vent their anger at the latest outrageous DLC, or to remind people how liking something that they themselves don’t like makes them inferior. But when you do work in the games industry, regardless of if you are a coder, animator, designer or even QA there comes a time when you have to realize you represent not only yourself but your company and as such saying nothing is always better than saying something stupid.

I’d like to point out before I go on that this isn’t me preaching to anyone, or trying to make some huge statement, it’s just justifying to myself why I think it’s time for me to stop posting on the forums. I’ve never gone online with the intention of being an asshole, and in real life I strive to be as nice to people as possible, but it would be stupid to let my online habits jeopardize my future in the industry.

Basically what I’m saying is I won’t be posting on the forums anymore, I may occasionally write a blog here or there, and I will still visit the site daily for videos and content.

If anyone wants to chat or keep in touch or whatever PMing me is the best way, after all I’m still going to be visiting daily, I’ll just be hopefully keeping my opinions to myself a bit better.

I'm going to continue yelling at you on steam.

Stop being a pussy.

Pretend to be a girl.

Aw man, gonna miss your awesome avatar.

SOAP! SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAP! Yuri, what did you do???

Bye, Soap!

This place isn't all that different than other game forums anymore, so I can see where you are coming from.

Come on, who is going to clean up the internet if Soap leaves?

Too much?

Good luck out there.

Did you get a new job?

Good luck, have Batman.

It's a sad day for Giant Bomb.

I'm sure everybody good use a good palette/attitude cleanser when posting on the internet. I'm in the process of trying to change my posting habits now.

I don't understand what's going on. I see a tale of corporate espionage and double entendres but I don't understand!

@Barrock said:

Did you get a new job?

I did, I'm working at a games company in the UK, it's a reasonably sized one, I wont mention it though, the less I say the better :P

@Mmmslash said:

Bye, Soap!

This place isn't all that different than other game forums anymore, so I can see where you are coming from.

It's not just a giantbomb thing, I really still love this site and it's community is better than most places, it's more of a change of internet usage in general, better to be a an observer rather than a commenter I thought, especially as my usual level of sarcasm recently has been bordering on just being plain rude to people.

@Sweep said:

I'm going to continue yelling at you on steam.

I know Sweep.... I know.

What kind of name is Soap?

@Soap said:

there comes a time when you have to realize you represent not only yourself but your company and as such saying nothing is always better than saying something stupid.

I can understand that and that's a wise decision to make. I will miss reading your opinions.

@whistlebottom said:

Good luck, have Batman.

Good luck with your new disposition. :)

I think posting your opinions is good.

You are inferior.

Goodbye infidel.

(Joking of course -_-)

Ok then, bye :-h

@MooseyMcMan said:

Come on, who is going to clean up the internet if Soap leaves?

Too much?

Can't believe that made me chuckle.

I understand where Soap is coming from. Hope to still see your blogs pop up every now and then!

Peace dude good luck with your job.

A sad day indeed, but I get why. Good luck with the job!

Deuces.

@Soap: Yeah I understand what you mean. As someone trying to get into games journalism its something I keep and mind and I'm trying to temper my arguments a little. that being said I think its okay to voice opinions others may not share as long as you do it intelligently and respectfully. Good luck though :)

If you leave I will blackmail you with all the posts in your history!

When you least expect it...there will be an E-mail in your inbox with a copy of a letter I sent to your employer full of all your posts.

I completely get where you're coming from, Soap. The internet as a whole really irks me, and yet I seem unable to tear myself away from it. It's like driving past a bad crash on the motorway - you don't want to look, you know that if you do look it'll make you feel sick, and yet you look anyway. I'm also trying to cut down significantly on the time I spend on the Giant Bomb forums. It's been going well this past week, but it remains to be seen if I can maintain this level of commitment. I'm sure being unemployed doesn't help, either - as soon as I have something constructive to do during the day, I won't have an excuse to waste so many hours haunting sites like this.

Anyways, I wish you the best of luck in your job. Hope to still see you around the site, and I'll keep an eye out for those occasional blogs. Take it easy, duder.

Bye, Soap!

This place isn't all that different than other game forums anymore, so I can see where you are coming from.

What kind of name is Soap?

You'll be back... THEY ALL COME BACK

You can both be on the internet and still say nothing..you know that!

well I don't know you, but my advice is just seperate your job from the forums..You are right in one respect at least I'm sure, best they don't mix. Guess I could understand if in some ways things are getting on your head,..I have left another site or 2(non-gaming) for that reason.

That I do understand.

See you, Soap. We'll miss you.

On a side note, sad that such a great username is going to leave us. We knew we had the authority on ultranationalists whenever Soap had something to post.

@AhmadMetallic said:

How's that?

Please keep in mind I am not making an attempt to sleight the community here.

That said, I feel like Giant Bomb's community hasn't been much different than any other site's, for a long time. Don't get me wrong, there are still people here who I think are great, but they mostly predate my arrival, or have been here for a very long time, at least.

The forums are full of spammers, of kids who can't spell, and Mods who act as if they are the Supreme Chancellor of Fun Time (No offense to the few I know do well, and the many more I don't know at all). It's clique-y like a High School lunch room like all forums get, and coming to them gets less and less enjoyable each time. Certain users post a ton of new, off-topic posts each day, clogging up any actual discussion with "Do you prefer sneakers or boots?" or "If I fell down a well, would you miss me?" polls.

Again, I am not trying to insult Giant Bomb, I've gotten hundreds of hours of entertainment from here, and I appreciate the folks who made that possible, but the forums feel like GameFAQ's Part Deux, and that is really bothersome, to me.

Goodbye random internet duder.

I get where you're comin from man. There are days I wish to asplode the internet. 
Godspeed. Best of luck on the job.

peace!

You were one of my first followers, so thanks for that! You and a few others were the reason I decided to stick around here. Whether that's a good or a bad thing, I'm still not sure.

well good bye. i hope your life is good.

You will be missed, but I completely understand. One day I too shall leave from this place that we call the Giant Bomb forums. It is a sad occasion to be sure, but a sign that you have really and properly moved up in the world.

Why is it that the people who decide to leave the internet are the ones who should really stay? The ones you want to leave never, ever do.

Best wishes, and don't worry; there will be plenty of people around to post stupid stuff once you've stopped doing so, I guarantuee that personally.

@Lunar_Aura said:

Why is it that the people who decide to leave the internet are the ones that should really stay? The ones you want to leave never, ever do.

Sorry, I'll leave now. : (

Even though I don't really know you Soap it's sad to see a good duder leave, good luck with everything!

there are still people here who I think are great, but they mostly predate my arrival, or have been here for a very long time, at least.

The forums are full of spammers, of kids who can't spell,
 
Certain users post a ton of new, off-topic posts each day, clogging up any actual discussion with "Do you prefer sneakers or boots?" or "If I fell down a well, would you miss me?" polls.

We really need some sort of GB Community Year Book.

Good luck with the new jobby job!

Although it's probably against forum/site rules, just make a new account and post anonymously using that one!

Im sorry to see you go, especially because of your KICKASS avatar

@Mmmslash said:

there are still people here who I think are great, but they mostly predate my arrival, or have been here for a very long time, at least.

The forums are full of spammers, of kids who can't spell,
 
Certain users post a ton of new, off-topic posts each day, clogging up any actual discussion with "Do you prefer sneakers or boots?" or "If I fell down a well, would you miss me?" polls.

This! I've been here for a bit over a year and I don't remember having all these kid/spammers/trolls on this site. I wasn't able to get on here from February-June but when I came back, I started disliking the forums. So many of these threads are stupid/pointless/terrible and it just turns me away from posting much now. I can't stand the new users on this site, they bury all the good threads under their 'BF3 vs. MW3' and 'i hate this game becuz its gay' threads.

I love you all! Ok maybe not all... most of you... some.... a few.. hmmmmm

Goodbye

Whatever floats your boat, TC.

I remember you from the beginning and how crazy the forums were back in the summer of '08. Everyone has different paths to take, I hope you find success in industry, and I hope to see some new blogs from you every now and then.

Take it easy man.

Bye dude. Have fun out there.