Love all those people. Sounds good to me!
Announcements from 6/8/21 'Cast. O'Dwyer joining P/T. Collabs with Ryckert, Grubb, Gamespot peeps. Will hire more F/T.
This is exactly the news I was hoping for.
Whenever I explain Giant Bomb to people, and why I watch it vs twitch I always use the, "it's like a TV network" analogy. This is just them leaning more into that which I am 100% for.
And while the UPFs and such are fun, it's not why I come to GB. That style of content is why I, and probably many, fell off last year. Again ABSOLUTELY through no fault of their own, I still resubbed and everything because I like them as people.
Looking forward to what comes down road, especially what ever nightmare Ryckert is coming up with.
It’s funny you compare Giant Bomb to a TV Network because I liken it to a newspaper where people obtain the coveted position of “staff writer” or “editor” and thus I can look forward to reading (or in GB’s case watching) their work in the same publication for decades.
What concerns me about the proposed pivot is that these content creators want the steady paycheck of working for GB while also being able to solicit funding via patreon and Twitch donations for their other passion projects. I’m of the mindset that you can’t have it both ways; if Rykert wants to take a paycheck from Giant Bomb then I want access to all of his content included in my subscription otherwise he is free to freelance and those who want to support him on the various other platforms are free to do so.
Call me old and cynical but I prefer paying one subscription fee for access a dozen staff writers total breadth of work as opposed to getting a fraction of their total output while being asked to pony up more on each of their individual platforms.
@nerozerohero99: Rorie said they're gonna go back to the office real soon it's just gonna take a bit to get the new studio set up. But with the new shows it'll vary I guess depending on where people are located. It's not like UPF or in studio stuff is going away, they're gonna just do that along with all these new shows.
It’s funny you compare Giant Bomb to a TV Network because I liken it to a newspaper where people obtain the coveted position of “staff writer” or “editor” and thus I can look forward to reading (or in GB’s case watching) their work in the same publication for decades.
What concerns me about the proposed pivot is that these content creators want the steady paycheck of working for GB while also being able to solicit funding via patreon and Twitch donations for their other passion projects. I’m of the mindset that you can’t have it both ways; if Rykert wants to take a paycheck from Giant Bomb then I want access to all of his content included in my subscription otherwise he is free to freelance and those who want to support him on the various other platforms are free to do so.
Call me old and cynical but I prefer paying one subscription fee for access a dozen staff writers total breadth of work as opposed to getting a fraction of their total output while being asked to pony up more on each of their individual platforms.
I love to subscribe to HBO Go to watch Game of Thrones and thus get access to Goldeneye and Fellowship of the Ring for free because Sean Bean is also in those.
It’s funny you compare Giant Bomb to a TV Network because I liken it to a newspaper where people obtain the coveted position of “staff writer” or “editor” and thus I can look forward to reading (or in GB’s case watching) their work in the same publication for decades.
What concerns me about the proposed pivot is that these content creators want the steady paycheck of working for GB while also being able to solicit funding via patreon and Twitch donations for their other passion projects. I’m of the mindset that you can’t have it both ways; if Rykert wants to take a paycheck from Giant Bomb then I want access to all of his content included in my subscription otherwise he is free to freelance and those who want to support him on the various other platforms are free to do so.
Call me old and cynical but I prefer paying one subscription fee for access a dozen staff writers total breadth of work as opposed to getting a fraction of their total output while being asked to pony up more on each of their individual platforms.
But they are already available....for free..
Again I think Giant Bomb’s business model is more akin to legacy media like a newspaper or cable news network. The beat reporters for my local sports teams write exclusively for the local paper they don’t publish half of their weekly output for said paper and then run their own individual newspapers on the side.
@nerozerohero99: Rorie said they're gonna go back to the office real soon it's just gonna take a bit to get the new studio set up. But with the new shows it'll vary I guess depending on where people are located. It's not like UPF or in studio stuff is going away, they're gonna just do that along with all these new shows.
To be clear: we will soon be allowed into the office but I don't want to promise that we'll all be there five days a week anytime soon. It's going to take a while to get everyone's stuff set up and feel out how comfortable everyone is with going back to the office and feel out what the reduction in space is going to mean. But the first day I'm back in there I'm sure we'll do something dumb.
They’re only available “for free” because “whales” are essentially subsidizing those of us that don’t subscribe. If/when all of these individual content creators go independent and the Patreon bubble bursts I wonder how we will all get our games coverage.
Maybe I’m out-of-touch and this won’t be a problem but up until last year, if I wanted to access all of Dan Ryckert’s output it was included in my Giant Bomb subscription. Now I’m effectively being asked to subscribe to Giant Bomb and support him on Patreon and Twitch. That waters down the value proposition of a site like GB and I don’t want that to continue (I.e. Rory starts his own podcast, Jan starts his own Twitch channel, etc.)
@thej6m: Tons of newspapers use part time staff and freelancers to supplement their full time staff. There's even a word for it that's used so often it's in the dictionary.
Jamelle Bouie is a columnist for the New York Times but he also appears on shows on TV networks and you can't see that content on the Times. Likewise if you watch him on a TV show you don't get a free subscription to the New York Times. This is incredibly, incredibly, common.
Giant Bomb has full time staff and you get access to everything they do for the site, which is the vast majority of their output, for the subscription. You also get access to stuff freelancers do for the site (just like getting to read a stringer's work in your paper.)
If you want to see the stuff that appears elsewhere you need to watch/subscribe to it there.
Again, this is incredibly common in basically all forms of media.
I don’t think your comparison is apt personally. Sure, a New York Times staff writer can appear on TV but they have exclusive contracts and typically don’t write for the Chicago Tribune.
As for the freelance argument, I can point you to many a articles written by the editorial staff of various newspapers complaining that the outsourcing of writing to freelancers is killing the industry. That’s kind of my point here; similar to how I don’t want my local paper outsourcing to freelancers I would prefer that GB also focus on producing content from full time, staff writers/producers.
@bigsocrates: Thanks for the summary!
(Btw, I feel really good about this mix of old and new. GB 4-ever.)
@thej6m: Dan Ryckert's job is for WWE. He also does Twitch streaming as a side-gig. He also does a podcast with his wife, which, by the way, never appeared on Giant Bomb. And Giant Bomb also had Danny O'Dwyer collab with Dan Ryckert to produce Danswers but you didn't get a subscription to his other work if you did that. Likewise I think Drew's Alt-F1 cast with Danny O'Dwyer was not a Giant Bomb product.
So this has been going on for a long time.
Jeff Grubb is primarily a writer. He also does podcasts but he does not really do edited video content so this is a lot like an NYT writer appearing on TV. Dan is primarily a podcast producer for wrestling shows.
Meanwhile there are TONS of examples of journalists having multiple gigs on different networks simultaneously. Bryant Gumbel, for example, was on Today on NBC and The Early Show on CBS at the same time he did Real Sports for HBO.
I just flat out don't agree that you always get access to all the content someone produces when you get a subscription to a TV network or a newspaper. Bouie also had a subscription newsletter when he wrote for Slate. It's very common for people to have multiple gigs and side jobs.
As for whether freelancers are good or bad...I think that in general moving to all freelancers is bad, but that's not what's happening here. Jeff said they are looking to HIRE additional full time people, not to slim down. Alex, Vinny, and Brad left of their own volition.
Newspapers used stringers even during their golden eras, and networks have always used contributors who had other jobs. It has never been the case that everyone who worked in media was full time.
Again I think Giant Bomb’s business model is more akin to legacy media like a newspaper or cable news network. The beat reporters for my local sports teams write exclusively for the local paper they don’t publish half of their weekly output for said paper and then run their own individual newspapers on the side.
I think the best analogy would be PBS or NPR (and their local affiliates). Donations are a big part of how they're funded. You can choose to donate if you want. There are bonuses that come with donating. And donating allows people to consume most of the content for free. But if Ira Glass (or anyone else) wants to make a movie, write a book, or film a tv show on the side, he can sell those without including them as an NPR donor bonuses.
(I.e. Rory starts his own podcast, Jan starts his own Twitch channel, etc.)
If Rorie finally wants to start his puppycast who are we to say no?
@chibi_kaji: Wait? Are you announcing that @rorie is going to do a version of Anthony Bourdain's No Reservations where he travels around the world and eats up local puppies with one big chomp? Is that confirmed? Where can we go to help fund/subscribe?
I like this idea.
I hope they pay these temporary contractors fair wages.
I understand why the initial slate of shows would include people that they have existing professional and personal relationships with. It will be deeply disappointing if they don't open up these opportunities to diverse, new, upcoming talent.
Agreed the whole way down.
@thej6m: These content creators aren't seeking a "steady paycheck" in that sense, because their relationship with Giant Bomb is always going to be temporary. They aren't going to be working for GB permanently. In other words, GB will be their side project or passion project, and they'll likely be continuing on with their own channels.
What you suggest just isn't how anything works, and additionally it doesn't make much sense because Twitch streams are already free to begin with. You can already watch all of Dan's content and listen to his other podcasts for free.
So we can agree to disagree on this issue and I’m glad you’re happy with the new direction. The only thing I take exception to is the dismissive notion that what I’m describing isn’t how “anything works; that’s nonsense. Cable news anchors, staff writers, etc. sign exclusive contracts all the time the business model I’m describing is the rule rather than the exception.
Hell one of the first groups to venture out on their own that I remember, the Kinda Funny guys, did it explicitly because IGN wouldn’t allow them to publish video game related content somewhere else.
@thej6m: And yet Gamespot and IGN ALWAYS used freelancers for some of their reviews. Listen to The Hotspot and you will hear the guys reminisce about some of the freelancers they worked with back in 2000 or whatever.
And as established earlier, Giant Bomb has had people do projects on the site who were not full time staff in the past.
They are not getting rid of full time staff, they are expanding the number, including camera facing people.
Also the idea that Giant Bomb should give you access to all Dan Ryckert's stuff...
Dan quit. He left the company. You didn't have access to his stuff via premium because he was no longer employed there. Jeff had no control over that. What you're saying is essentially that Jeff shouldn't bring back a popular ex-staffer to do a part time show because...he also has stuff he does elsewhere.
It's not like Jeff demoted Dan from full time to part time.
I am so very excited for this all. I think where things went for a lot of the others recently also sets up things where people can do their own thing and have this collab among their colleagues from time to time. Definitely could see GB/Nextlander and GB/Waypoint+ together time to time. I am happy for all!
Super excited to hear Tamoor and Lucy will do a show. I hope to see some Jan and Michael shows sometime in the future too!
@thej6m: I wrote another reply that I deleted because I thought my first one got an error (I'm on mobile right now).
It's true that lots of places have exclusive contracts. It's also true that places don't, as others have pointed out. As in the example you give of Dan Ryckert, you're were simply incorrect about all of his output being on Giant Bomb when he worked here.
Out of curiosity, how did you feel whenever Giant Bomb had guests on streams? We can ignore the podcasts and just talk about guests on premium content, like UPF.
This is very interesting news, super excited to see how some of this new content and collaborations play out over the next several months. I will say that one of the things that I like the most about this new direction is how it doesn't seem to be overly competitive with the formats that a lot of other streamers and even former GB personalities have been using. With so many streaming things now following that old GB formula of "we are just playing some games, come hang out" it really helps that on top of leaning more into the QL coverage format that GB is famous for, the Premium and feature content seems to involve a bit more planning and creativity at a conceptual level.
I see many rightfully arguing that the value justification with so much content and support options is tough to keep up with. While I can totally understand this perspective, for me personally; with the sheer amount of content that is out there the idea that I'd "need" GB to provide a value to watched hours of content for my premium subscription to be worth it just feels entirely out of touch with why I even support GB (or others) in the modern times. If I was looking to watch a person online play through a video game, any video game, that is their. For free, all over the internet. I'm supporting who these people are, what they've built, the communities they cultivate and the values they choose to bring to these spaces.
Ultimately I think it's why I'm most intrigued to see what happens with some of these new ideas and the overall new approach to content. Sure we may still have some staples, but we'll get to see some fresh new feature ideas pitched and ran by in some instances former GB personalities, as well as other content creators. This shared exposure is a very good look, and is totally in spirit with something I am happy to be supporting.
It's good to see the prophecy of 'Hire O'Dwyer' from, like, 2012 has finally been fulfilled.
I think Danny's fandom for GB is going to lead to some really solid material.
I was thinking that I might reconsider premium after E3 and having just pledged to Nextlander, but this bodes really well and I think I'll stick with it.
I would like to see a McElroy Brother collaboration; Monster Factory is some of the funniest Youtube content I've ever seen
I'm feeling optimistic about the future of the site after the announcements. I'm definitely going to stick around for the long haul. Between GB and Nextlander I think the fans have it pretty good.
I'm just glad they finally got the information out there in some official capacity. The combination of tribe mentality and confirmation bias that tends to develop is surely going to be the death of us.
The waters are arguably crowded, but man, am I nonetheless excited for this new and potentially golden age of entertainment.
This is a step in the right direction, its a shame to see the nextlander guys go but these announcements get me excited to possibly resub after my year ends this month. Previously I was going to drop the subscription.
My main hope is that I can Sub here still and maybe use my twitch prime sub for nextlander to watch their live shows and show them a little support here and there.
Dan is back and Danny is here too...c'mon now lets have some more Danswers.
It's like Giant Bomb is becoming UHF and I'm down for it
I'm the guy making the show about teaching my pets how to fly by tossing them out the window. Hire me, Giant Bomb.
@indeedcodybrown: "J3ff" was right there, duder.
@asylumrunner: holy shit this is the best way to describe it.
@nickm: I'm confused. You're bummed about the output they put out but they literally announced that May/until their announcement was going to be slow because of behind the scenes stuff. It's not like they're pulling a fast one over on you.
I'm happy that GB finally got to announcing something along the lines of what many expected. It's going be fun to see GB transform to have a more diverse roster and have more varied content.
I'm also a bit alarmed. While I don't want to ruin the mood too much in the afterglow of this announcement, I find it incredibly weird that this news is being publicized by a GB community member. This announcement should be plastered on the homepages of GB and GameSpot, but instead it's relegated to the same forums as the Nextlander announcement.
It sounds like there are more changes coming over time. Pretty exciting stuff. He said that depending on response they might create a wrestling website (which they almost did) or whatever else makes sense. Seems like Giant Bomb is going to continue to evolve.
So your saying there's a chance that The Undertaker might pick up the twisty rockets?
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