Unprofessional Fridays: 08/01/2014

I got drunk on a submarine and it was great, highly recommended.

@legendarychopchop: I..just think you might be imagining things.

@legendarychopchop said:

@notdavid said:

This "Brad is the host now" thing was funny for a bit, but please don't take the joke too far. I love the dude, but one of his most endearing traits is his lack of energy. Someone like Drew or Dan would be a better ringleader in Jeff's absence.

@mister_v said:

@legendarychopchop said:

@pinner458 said:

Huh, Jeff seems to be around for Unprofessional Fridays less and less these days... And Bombcasts now that I think of it..

Sucks man. It totally does. I wonder if he's feeling worn out? It seems like he's a little more reserved these days, and without him around I don't really think I can enjoy Giant Bomb as much as I used to considering Vinny is also pretty much gone and the joke of "Giant Bomb New York" took him away.

I'm glad Jeff is getting some vacation time, but I mean more or less his presence seems more subdued in general in the past few months. I mean, maybe it was because he needed some time off.

I hope, anyway, I pray that this won't end with Jeff leaving the site in the next few years or something like that.

You are just being way too paranoid (as are others)

This site was his and Ryan's baby, he's not leaving. I don't get why people get this weird mentality that when one of the staff takes a vacation a "so and so is leaving" rumor starts.

If he's not able to earn anymore vacation hours then he should use up what he has now and relax and then start earning more. Besides, everyone needs a mental break every now and again, even if you love your job.

I think him having so many vacation hours saved up shows his dedication to the site and not wanting to leave. Now is the perfect time to take off with the insane amount of content that's been on the site.

@legendarychopchop said:

@notdavid said:

This "Brad is the host now" thing was funny for a bit, but please don't take the joke too far. I love the dude, but one of his most endearing traits is his lack of energy. Someone like Drew or Dan would be a better ringleader in Jeff's absence.

@mister_v said:

@legendarychopchop said:

@pinner458 said:

Huh, Jeff seems to be around for Unprofessional Fridays less and less these days... And Bombcasts now that I think of it..

Sucks man. It totally does. I wonder if he's feeling worn out? It seems like he's a little more reserved these days, and without him around I don't really think I can enjoy Giant Bomb as much as I used to considering Vinny is also pretty much gone and the joke of "Giant Bomb New York" took him away.

I'm glad Jeff is getting some vacation time, but I mean more or less his presence seems more subdued in general in the past few months. I mean, maybe it was because he needed some time off.

I hope, anyway, I pray that this won't end with Jeff leaving the site in the next few years or something like that.

I didn't notice his presence being more subdued at all. Seems par for the course, vacation time aside.

Good job hosting Brad. Though, I wish Jeff were there to mix it up a little.

@cdub901 said:

@legendarychopchop said:

@notdavid said:

This "Brad is the host now" thing was funny for a bit, but please don't take the joke too far. I love the dude, but one of his most endearing traits is his lack of energy. Someone like Drew or Dan would be a better ringleader in Jeff's absence.

@mister_v said:

@legendarychopchop said:

@pinner458 said:

Huh, Jeff seems to be around for Unprofessional Fridays less and less these days... And Bombcasts now that I think of it..

Sucks man. It totally does. I wonder if he's feeling worn out? It seems like he's a little more reserved these days, and without him around I don't really think I can enjoy Giant Bomb as much as I used to considering Vinny is also pretty much gone and the joke of "Giant Bomb New York" took him away.

I'm glad Jeff is getting some vacation time, but I mean more or less his presence seems more subdued in general in the past few months. I mean, maybe it was because he needed some time off.

I hope, anyway, I pray that this won't end with Jeff leaving the site in the next few years or something like that.

You are just being way too paranoid (as are others)

This site was his and Ryan's baby, he's not leaving. I don't get why people get this weird mentality that when one of the staff takes a vacation a "so and so is leaving" rumor starts.

If he's not able to earn anymore vacation hours then he should use up what he has now and relax and then start earning more. Besides, everyone needs a mental break every now and again, even if you love your job.

I think him having so many vacation hours saved up shows his dedication to the site and not wanting to leave. Now is the perfect time to take off with the insane amount of content that's been on the site.

I know it's a tad bit paranoid. Believe me, I don't think Jeff is leaving the site, but there's no way any one of us would have guessed that Ryan would have passed away, that Vinny would be leaving to form a very raggedy "New York Giant Bomb" subsect, or that Brad would be manning the podcasts (permanently? Who can say?).

I like Vinny and Alex, but, so far that whole NY thing has been very very rocky. I'm hoping for the best, but I just think the live shows are missing something without Vinny. And so far, it all just seems very weird and unprofessional (how ironic).

But, anyway, it's just that the community here has been through a lot the past few years, you know. I just don't want to see my favorite site end up losing the reasons why it's my favorite site. I mean, Whiskey's downfall and the CBS merger, Ryan's passing, Vinny leaving the main crew, Patrick (and without Patrick), all of this stuff happening is just pretty crazy. We've been through a lot as a community, good and bad.

I guess we'll know for sure in the next few months. I just don't want any more dissipation here to disrupt what makes this such a great site and community.

And I'm not sure why I think Jeff has been subdued, I guess because he has taken less of a role on the video features on the site lately, it seems. Not many Jar Times, less videos of him on Bombastica, less appearances on livestreams and podcasts, etc. I hope he comes back and appears like he should after his vacation.

"I just want to kill so badly!" - Drew Scanlon

@legendarychopchop:

I hear what you're saying, but honestly I feel like the site is currently in the best state it has been in a while. Before the new hires, there wasn't much content and everyone just seemed sleepy and tired. This past month has had an insane amount of great content coming from the main GB office and from GB NY, and I think Dan has been a great fit and really re-energized the site.

As far as Jeff goes, I think he's definitely picked up a lot in the last month as well. I was concerned about the site a couple of months ago, but now I think its headed in the right direction again.

"Having a fun game like at recess."

So fab.

You play a game about a corgi who is referred to as a Data Dog who hacks computers and nobody calls him Ein?

Drew continues to be my favorite duder. I mean, look at that hat.

@tophernav: he IS Dexter!

Let's all be real here: Giant Bomb died when Dave Snider left.

I'm only kidding, though not really since I miss that guy and his Random PC games. I just want to chime in -- in light of more negative comments -- saying this UPF was great, even without Jeff. Dan brightens the studio and Drew continues to be an excellent duder in all video content. Brad and Alexis are the cooking binding the Oreo filling. You wouldn't eat them on their own but the filling wouldn't be as good without them.

Thanks for giving me something fun watch as I eat my burrito.

Video games are neat as shit!

Man, content has been great these last few weeks! Not that it wasnt before, but i just love this new group dynamic. Makes for some fun watching. I was afraid upf would suffer without Vinny. But i was wrong! :-)

Really enjoyable UPF. It's also great to see Brad be so much more comfortable in the host hotseat these days.

Matt Rorie, stone cold ghost killah.

Well, if the minimum is 5.0 mbps for Playstation Now, I literally cannot use it as long as I live in the town I live. Awesome. Thanks modern internet age.

Outside of that, great show as usual guys.

corgis are the best! too bad we stunted their legs for our amusement and they have back problems :'(

Rorie is in a constant state of belching

They should let Dan in the control room and let Drew be the host.

@brad Azorian is no longer on Netflix. :(

@bread_harrity: you shouldve seen dan last night

Rorie the unofficial Luigi Mansion king

I wish Alexis was on the podcast regularly, he always seems really energetic

No Dan adds so much to the show. Anyway they got Jason in there.

Some of you folks are just crazy. Giant Bomb's output the last month has been exceptional.

I wonder if Corgi Simulator was partially inspired by Cowboy Bebop.

edit: Just saw the smiley faces, absolutely inspired by Cowboy Bebop

I havent watched a UPF in a long time but damn this was really fun. Also with the demo of PS Now has got me more interested in finally, after cancelling my pre order, to get a ps4.

Yup. And good job hosting Brad.

Nintendoland is so perfect for UPF

@quarters said:

I'm surprised and a little impressed they got it that low.

I'm sure I'm preaching to the choir here but the ISP in your town needs to step it up. Unless you live out somewhere where the infrastructure required to support anything better simply doesn't exist, and/or your service is dirt cheap, a max of 5.0mbps down should be basically unacceptable these days.

I've thoroughly enjoyed the content, Dan is great. Jason (that's his name, right?) is whatever, but not like he does anything on camera anyway.

We've had good content for sure, but I dunno, something feels kinda weird. Not horrible, and I'm sure things will settle eventually. I'm still a dedicated site-goer regardless.

But, about the New York thing. I feel like GBNY is in a very infantile state. Shoddy video quality, poor audio, etc. I'm hoping they get that all worked out, but it's going to be weird unless they all unite together every now and again (not just E3 and PAX). It's still very hard for me to completely accept UPF without any Vinny. And GB... Chicago? I'm not even sure what that officially is aside from Patrick lol.

I certainly hope all of this "spreading" will add up to something, but I have my doubts unfortunately. It seems to me like building a big community in one place is better than being on opposite coasts. The site being in the hands of a global media conglomerate hasn't ever been completely comforting to me, either. Another rant, another day though.

@robo: Tell me about it. Basically, I'm just in a situation where our local cable company somehow got the monopoly on Internet here, so it's their way or the highway. Even though I actually should be getting pretty close to that according to my plan, it actually ends up being lucky if I get 1 mbps or a little over. Streaming things is hellish, and it takes hours upon hours to download anything. Our town isn't that small or anything, we just somehow ended up getting really boned.

My god this is long and bad, I'd blow it out but I typed so much I have to post it. Maybe don't read it, it's 4am and I'll regret this tomorrow.

I feel like I need to offset your totally valid and understandable opinions here by saying I feel the opposite way to each point except the tragedy of our loss and the rocky transition Vinnie leaving GBSF has caused.

Dan is fine and I was enjoying him when he was first hired, but Brad and Drew are holding it down. I'm finding Dan to be a little much now. His energy really does add to the group, but he can get something valuble from them too.

There has always been subtlety here along with the insanity and Dan's not providing that, which is why I'm loving Drew and Brad so much right now in Jeffs absence. When someone does something that needs a head shake you can always get it from Jeff, Brad or Drew. That's a vital part of the formula here because without the acknoledgement that something embarasing has happened the whole thing devolves. That doesn't mean that they stop The Dumb, it means that they know where The Dumb is and they can control it. Dan has what it takes but he seems to lack the awareness the guys have, the thing we're missing so much without Vinnie there to stir things up.

What delights us about Vinnie is that he is so purposeful in breaking apart a game, conversation, show, whatever. He finds The Dumb and exposes it with such precision and ruthlessness that you have to admire it while you laugh. But he never does it with contempt. There is fun to be found even in a broken game, often more so in the right hands. That is the balance and spirit that I hope they can maintain.

The Mario Party show is a good example of the disconnect I'm feeling right now. It's exacly the kind of thing the site is great at. Here is a popular game that Jeff hates, but he decided to use that. Jeff hates the game but agreed to play it because of the enjoyment we'd all get from watching him suffer. It didn't matter who won, Jeff was losing the whole time and he played that up beautifully. Why I worry about Dan is that he said he understood the premise, but he lost the thread somewhere and started acting like it was his Dan the Heel turn that was the entertainment. It seems that a lot of the site agreed, though those who seemed to enjoy it the most were definately in the UMADBRO camp and that's the kind of thing I think Giant Bomb can do without. To me it became an awkward sideshow. It doesn't seem to me that he and Brad are tight enough yet for that kind of thing to work, and the joke spun out at some point. It was fun to watch Dan loving the game and being wildly enthusiastic while Jeff deadpanned. That's what Dan can bring to this party, his unique viewpoint and energy. I don't like Nintendo stuff at all but I can enjoy it through him because he so clearly loves it.

In the end I think they're all doing great work, Dan included. I just want to put in my support of Brad and Drew in particular. I feel like they've both stepped up noticeably.

@rockhardalibi: Looking at the comments under the Mario video, about 95% or more were positive. And there was very little "umadbro" kinds of comments as a response to the few people who didn't like it. It's one of the most positive reactions I've seen to a live show in quite a while. You might not agree, but don't act like you're not in a very small minority on this particular point. I agree with you about Brad and Drew, of course. Brad hosting the Bombcast has been amazing so far, frees Jeff to be Jeff as well.

Anyways, pretty hilarious to see some people speculating about Jeff leaving and such nonsense just because he's finally able to take some vacation time after the new hires. The man hasn't really had a proper vacation since he started Giant Bomb. And saying that he seems burnt out? The man hasn't seemed this upbeat about the site for over a year. It's strange that a pretty loud subset of GB fans are so ready to believe the worst about Giant Bomb at every single turn; it's always gonna go to shit, if those people are to be believed. And when it doesn't they seem to turn around to the next imagined crisis.

"I think its very funny and every time I've seen it happen it's delighted me" - @danryckert on lighting farts on fire

Dan is the man :D

A lot has changed in the last month. In a good way.

@legendarychopchop: you forgot the part where vinny wanted to leave regardless and they couldn't really force him to stay. Yeah some people may think it sucks but it was a necessary change. And we at least still have him in some form (though i think their setup and output are both great right now, like some weird low-rent bootleg pirate radio verson of the site in the best way)

It was super dumb but I really was bummed that MGS2 HD didn't have the skateboarding mode, it was the first thing I looked for.

I wish I hadn't bought the Trials season pass version. The first expansion that just came out has a quarter (if not even less) of the content that the first DLC for Evolution had.

Fair enough. I don't mind being in the minority, I still think it was awkward but whatever, I just like things to be a bit more positive leaning than most of the site I guess, but I'm old so...

To be clear, I have never thought that Jeff was leaving or that Giant Bomb was going to shit, even when things got rough. I think the new guys are great, but I didn't have a problem with the site before. Just knew they needed help. They are a welcome and necessary addition and are already adding a lot, I just don't want the feel of the site to change too much, new dudes or not.

@rockhardalibi: I should've made it clearer, the stuff about people speculating that Jeff is leaving or whatever wasn't directed at you, but others in the comment section.

Matt Rorie knows a thing or two about stealth.

@amyggen:

Ah, cool, I just didn't want it to seem that I had some big problems with the site.

Rorie with the D1 Ghost plays

"Its streaming so I'd expect that the games would start instantly or less" - Brad Shoemaker

Dan probably had a few people tell him to "never change" in his yearbook, and he ran with that shit.

It's sad when even an English major is using nonplussed to mean unimpressed. To be nonplussed means to be filled bewilderment.

If you're unimpressed with something just say you are unimpressed, rather than using a fancy word for it that actually means something else entirely.

Yeah, first came Ed's avatar then came the Ein realization.

FiveThirtyEight did a really interesting look at some statistical data around the Globetrotters. They're basically at the level of a high ranking NCAA basketball team. Also I think I need to get a Generals jersey.

Nintendoland is great, but pretty tutorial heavy. All of the minigames are fun, except for Balloon Fight. Fuck Balloon Fight.