Giant Bombcast 773: Weird Jesus Vibes

Another Dan no-show.

The J-Crew has lost two members. Miss ya Jess and Jason!

@alternate: Dan has said he doesn't do it because of his show with Mary Kish and Mike Mahardy. He felt he doesn't have much to contribute to game news so he would just end up talking about what he talks about on Fire Escape.

@marokazam: Is he going to talk about the layoffs on Fire Escape? Because I mean...

I don't mean to sound like a dick, or even to rag on Dan - but if there was one episode that the whole crew should have gotten together for, it was this one.

@soyburger: Yeah I do get that. I am sure though there is only so much they can say with NDA's. The guys here spent just about 8 minutes on it and sounded like they could only say so much.

Bad form on Dan's behalf not showing up for this episode. He knew Jason longer than anyone on the site.

Three person pod after what happened is a disgrace. No hate to who is left but I'm done.

Guys, Dan was never fully GB after he returned. Neither was Tam or Lucy. This shouldn't be a surprise. He was used to keep people hanging on after the Jeff G situation.

The 4070 Ti is straight up a terrible buy, the performance per dollar is the worst of any of the new Nvidia or AMD cards on the market. But hey, if you can get one for free more power to you.

@Marokazam ok, but I'm not paying for Fire Escape and I (was) paying for this. It doesn't matter if it makes sense for Dan, if he's full time he should be here.

@haxadecimal: I never was defending him or in favor of him not being on. I was just saying what he has said before about why he is not on. I would agree it would have been better he be on this time.

I understand why they have to do it, but the whole "we've dealt with it, now back to business" attitude just rubs me the wrong way. I get this was a decision above their heads and there is nothing they can do about it except move forward, but my appetite for giantbomb stuff is rock bottom now.

@Marokazam fair, sorry, I didn't mean to sound confrontational towards you

I hate to say, but I agree with you. A sizeable portion of the GB audience doesn't follow Fire Escape. Figured Giant Bomb was the full time priority, while Fire Escape and his Twitch were a side gig, but who knows what the structure is.

Thought he'd step in to help fill the gap left without Jason and Jess, at least. I like this trio. And I like Dan a lot, he's a good dude, but the layoffs felt like we'd need all hands on deck here. The situation has changed. More work? Yeah, but with Jan picking up more video he'll need some help when it comes to being on content.

But I've seen a lot of doom and gloom around here. And the situation sucks, but layoffs aren't the end of a place. The transition can be a pain in the ass but this crew has the chops to make anything work.

Side note, taking dogs out to socialize is a real toss up, but it warms your heart so much when they make friends.

@glok1132: I think they gave it enough time. A 30 minute cry fest wouldn't be good for anyone. We all know they don't feel good about it, but wallowing instead of moving on is not a good way to live.

I noticed the springiness with Elite 2 for the first time while playing Vampire Survivors and it drove me crazy trying to control weapons that fire the direction you're facing.

Nobody here has any idea how Dan's contract is structured, the expectation when he signed back on to GB, or anything of the sort. The idea that because a shitty corporation left GB short-handed Dan should have to make changes is the type of shitty labor expectations all too prevalent in the US. It absolutely sucks that this pod is 3 people, but that is NOT the fault of Dan, Lucy, Tam, or anybody except the shitty corporations .

Y'all looking for a scapegoat in the wrong places.

I'm in no way mad at Dan or anything like that. I think the sentiment here (at least what I'm feeling) is this used to feel like something that people built that they felt invested in and were there through all the ups and downs. Dan not on takes a lot of that feeling away, like it's just a job instead of a love. That's likely a totally unfair expectation, but it's something we used to have or at least thought we had.

@haxadecimal: I fully understand this and that's what this site used to be. After the last two years, the way they treated Jeff, the part-time nature of so many contributors, I can't expect any of the team to act like this is anything more than a (hopefully) cool job. GB can live, but the vibes we used to love are soooo long gone

Maybe Dan's pissed off that they fired his buddy? I just really hate how the community always wants to attack the line staff when stuff like this happens. We have absolutely no idea why Gerstmann received zero fanfare over his departure, but so many people talked shit about the remaining editors as if it was their fault and their call to handle it that way. And I'm not really sure what else anyone expects to be said/done about the departure of Jason and Jess. Yes, it sucks and we've all acknowledged that. What else is there to do but move forward?

Hey, you wanna talk about Forspoken's NYC being not quite right, try being a lawyer and then sitting through the first three to five minutes in that courtroom sequence. I though my brain was legitimately starting to melt.

I've already cancelled my premium and I don't see myself starting it back up as long as Fandom is behind the scenes but I'm payed up till the end of March I believe so I guess we'll see what happens in a few months. My worry is that Fandom is just going to kneecap you guys again if you start catching your stride again. Also take care of yourself Jan I hope your not trying to shoulder the work of three people.

The Fandom CEO is a MORON. Absolute idiot. Never forget this.

@marokazam: They actually talk about video games on Fire Escape? lol

@moda: You could have chosen to not been an asshole and not say anything.

At least we'll always have the bomb-a-thon...

@marokazam: Asshole how? I actually listen to and enjoy Fire Escape as well.

Bummer Dan wasn’t on. Even more of a bummer since it’s forcing a lot of people to speculate.

@c_toc: I don't think it's a stretch to expect/want more GB "staff" on the weekly podcast more often.

I don't think many of us thought the likes of Tam and Lucy were actually fulltime GBers after the latest incarnation happened but I feel they've *almost* been on content as much as guests of the site are (which is not good!)

Fuck fandom

Urgh, pPugs are the worst

Without trying to be a complete ass I'm just gonna gonna throw my voice into the chorus of thinking someone else really REALLY should have been on this episode...

First time I have even commented on here in ages, but it just feels crazy to me to not have the biggest personality participate in your biggest show, even more so with current events. Don't know if that is a personal choice or a corporate one but it's the wrong choice either way.

I just don't know what to say. I don't know if I expected this podcast to be dedicated to the history of GB, a recognition of the work the missing people have done, a full e-mail podcast or an effin' eulogy. But I am angry at what just happened and I expected something. This felt like going on like nothing happened, a bit like Jeff G's departure.

I love the current crew, but at this point I just don't expect much more from this site, and this worries me.

This episode was great. Thank you all for showing up and giving us all you can. Dan can do whatever he wants and needs to get done.

Y’all are great!

The reactions to this one have been...weird. I feel like there's nothing the team could have done on this episode that would have satisfied everyone or not led to rampant speculation. A shitty thing happened that was completely out of their control and I know they're doing their best despite the circumstances.

I understand the frustration and disappointment (and maybe I'm just a hopeless optimist), but I want to believe this crew will continue doing what they do best as best as they can. I trust this team to continue to make fun stuff and I'll continue to be here for it.

Funny, people screamed that last of us show was pointless, then it comes out and many who what do you know...dont play video games ended up watching it and enjoying it. Plenty who dont watch youtube of it also liked it...and that percentage turned out pretty high. We stay in our bubble so much we forget most dont sit down for hours to game or watch but make that excuse if it's prestige tv. I feel the same about many media and hate to see the hate when live action is announced. Your thing still exist.

I think one piece netflix works the same, even if the animation/illustration is better you got people who will never touch it, but will watch the condensed tv version that ends in 10 years...cause people just like seeing humans or something lol.

@catlicker: Its sad but it doesn't surprise me at this point. I don't remember much of anything the website did for Gerstmann when he left the website. Maybe Gerstmann didn't want anything done, maybe the crew was too busy, but for the fans of the website, it really feels horrible. Everybody deserves better (both the fans and the GB crew putting in the work). They try to revamp the site, Jess seemed like she was especially working hard with all the content she was involved with and boom she's gone. Not sure what the other crew members can do at this point thats going to guarantee a future here.

BLEAK Fucking BLEAK boys.

Fuck CBS, fuck Red Ventures, fuck Fandom.

Also get Dan on this fucking show for once!

I don't think it's much of a reach to assume that the bombcast has the largest viewer/listener numbers of anything on Giant Bomb. It's probably the only giant bomb content that some people consume. When Gerstmann left, there was an expectation that Dan, Lucy, and Tamoor would be joining the team, but from the perspective of anyone who only listens to the podcast, those folks have hardly shown their faces at all, and now, two of the GB members that actually did show themselves on the podcast are gone.

Giant Bomb ostensibly had 8 members (+Rorie), but this podcast only ever saw 5 of them (+Rorie). Now it's down to 3, and that just won't cut it.

So what's actually going to happen, now? It's clear from this episode still just being Jeff, Jeff, and Jan, that the other members of Giant Bomb are members in name only. I don't have anything against those three, I love those guys, but how am I supposed to have any hope for what's to come for Giant Bomb, when half the remaining team is a constant no-show on the podcast.

I don't doubt that we're going to eventually see a new member or two join Giant Bomb when it becomes clear that the site that does a lot of video, can't persist with only one video producer. Problem is, that person won't be Jason, and it won't be Jess, and then you just gonna wonder why they were laid off in the first place.

There's no easy way to handle this type of thing. No matter what you do you're making someone mad. Talk too much and it's a sadfest, don't say enough and it's disrespectful. No win scenario. That being said, for solidarity purposes Dan should have been there. But Dan is more a brand these days than anything else. I just assume anything he does is to improve on the Dan brand. He feels more about his own streaming and Fire Escape than GiantBomb. Maybe that's not true but that's my perception. If GB is truly his full time gig then he should be on their flagship property I would think. But maybe his role is more video related. If so then he's doing what his job duty dictates. Again hard for us to know. All that being said in general Dan has been a giant yell machine since he's come back, he can't just talk he has to be animated all the time. He always was to a certain extent but it's been way more obnoxious since his return in my opinion. I posted this elsewhere but I let me premium lapse as it wasn't providing value anymore since almost nothing is purely premium as far as content. The core chemistry just isn't there for me either. I support Jeff G and Nextlander instead. Sad to say.

@moda: The way I read it sounded like you were saying it in a snarky mocking way like. Text is hard to know the tone something is being said in so it was on me reading it that way when you did not intend to sound that way.

I got to join into the chorus - I'm kind of shocked how you guys decided to handle this news here. For me, it's not because Dan wasn't here - it's incredibly weird, yes, but what really ruffled my feathers about this cast is the collective shrug the trio gave the news. Not only that, but then immediately pivoting to expressing their excitement about the future of giant bomb for longer than they talked about these lay offs.

This felt deeply corporate in a way that's completely antithetical to what Giant Bomb is supposed to be about. If it was just the dispassionate shrugging off of the news it was once thing, I could and would very easily assume that's down to y'all being (understandably) done and just trying to do your job and not get too invested in it anymore. But the pivot to "Actually, things are really exciting and potentially dope right now!" in THIS episode? Ugh.