LonelySpacePanda

Did a ChatGPT bot really revive a thread about Broken Arrow? The future rules, dude.

I was bummed Dan Ryckert didn't enjoy this one. I love this film. My favorite part is when Christian Slater does that absolutely ridiculous dive cradling the shotgun while firing it, the most unlikely action position I've seen on film. I love in David Foster Wallace movie (The Tour) There is a scene that is just him watching Broken Arrow and vibing with it. Like, heck ya man. Even the bots agree!

I started relistening to the memorial episode which I've been dreading but realize now that was a reflection of how I felt at the time. The podcast itself is actually a really upbeat, celebration of Ryan's life. As an extension, it's the best oral history of Giant Bomb they've ever done since GB was really just another part of their friendship. I recommend checking it out if you haven't heard it before. It was really cool they did this and shared it with the community: Pretty nuts it meant they didn't miss a Bombcast as a result during maybe the most challenging moment of their lives up to that point. But, like I said, it's a fun listen. I'm going to miss hearing Ryan's voice on Bombcast (again) as I continue my 2013 revisit.

https://www.giantbomb.com/shows/07-09-2013/2970-17140/free-podcast

I've been relistening to every Bombcast on it's 10th anniversary since 2022 and now up to next week which is Ryan Davis memorial episode. Feels dumb putting myself through this bummer again knowing it's coming up but I did grow to appreciate Ryan a lot more than I did at the time. He was so incredibly funny, an amazing host (better than Jeff even though he improved in Ryan's absence), full of great stories, had a wide range of interests and could speak on them very well. Even though GB will always be "Jeff's site" in my mind, I can see now it never would have worked without Ryan. Ryckert was a nice change of pace and Ben Pack had a good chemistry that recalled Ryan's with Jeff at times, but there was just no replacing him.

But I laughed so much in recent months revisiting all the old content and made me realize how much Ryan lives on in all of us who loved him through the site. As long as these shows and videos live on, we can always revisit him and relive the joy he brought us. I can't feel sad about it because it's so obvious to me now that he brought laughter and joy in such quantity in his limited time that more than made up for the short number of years he was given.

I do feel bad for the guys though. It's unbelievable they carried on at all. He wasn't just a staff member but the real heart and soul of the site. Jeff made the content but Ryan always set the tone and kept the pace. It's nice to think "what would have been" if he didn't pass away but also important to be grateful for what we were given. RIP Ryan Davis.

The old RSS feed broke for me earlier this month but found the Spotify feed somehow works and lets me download old episodes. That still stinks though since I been using that RSS feed for over a decade now.

@nicolenomicon Thanks for sharing that awesome tip! I thought all the old videos were just broken but that clear cookies and sign-in solution solved for me and now videos even resume progress again.

Rolling out a player that is unable to play old content followed by Rorie leaving is not a good look. Think it's time I start taking archive seriously and download the stuff I care about before it's gone. I don't think these things happen unless they either A) are about to close the site or B) really, really don't care about the archive itself and will let it further slide into disarray until links are dead or whatever else.

Don't mean to be doom and gloom but it just feels kind of obvious at this point. But also hoping gives me and others the motivation to take archival effort seriously and stop putting off. I don't doubt the crew itself would love to archive and share it all -- Vinny even said he had backups of everything. But probably legal reasons that prevent them as employees so up to community.

Seems like whatever update happened since my last post above now Premium Content doesn't render at all. Hear audio but no video. I'm on latest Chrome. Try these links and see:

https://www.giantbomb.com/shows/a-holiday-stocking-stuffer/2970-22068/premium-video

https://www.giantbomb.com/shows/unprofessional-fridays-012513/2970-14096

I've been rewatching GB videos every day from 10 years ago and it's been fun. Surprised how much I still enjoy/listening. I knew it was pure gold back then but reliving it really shows how timeless it all is which I wouldn't say about any other games media. All the more why I'd be destroyed if the content ever got completely abandoned -- it's more than just historical content, it's actually still entertaining and sometimes eerily relevant.

This new player is awful. Terrible decision to roll this out in its current state and not even give option of using older player. You can't resume videos which is a core feature this site is designed around due to the lengthy content it puts out. Hope it gets fixed soon.

If only Hardcore Dave were here to see the glorious return of GPU-demanding, janky Eastern bloc FPS!