Ben Pack Appreciation Thread

Man, I enjoyed Ben's energy and humor when he was in a feature. In the end, you have to look out for yourself. I wish you well in your future endeavors :)

Missed the live podcast today, time to take a big swig of coffee and check this thread all about one of my favorite Giant Bomb personalities Ben Pack.

Gonna miss you on the Bombcast, looking forward to seeing whatever your next endeavor will be!

Just finished listening to the podcast, looking forward to not hearing from you much at all and hoping you're comfortable out of the public spotlight!

Ben, you will be sorely missed. Thank you for all of the laughs and insight and energy over the years, and wherever you end up, they'll be lucky to have you. Take care.

@noboners: it's this one for me. Ben is the guy I resonated with the most

Oh... Fuck.. Everyone's leaving huh :/

Thanks for giving the site a millennial voice Ben :). Gonna miss hearing you on the bombcast every week and hearing your amazing laugh. The street fighter 2 quick look for switch has one of my best moments of that!

To quote a wrestling goodbye, good luck in your future endeavours whatever that may be :). Oh, I almost forgot, I’m sure your ranking of fighters lab coat will be on its way to you shortly as it’s well deserved!

Much love to Ben Pack, the OG GlenTennis on here, and the only one willing to defend Smash Bros honor against Jeff G. I'll miss the shit out of you big fella.

Ben - You will be missed! It's a bummer to hear the news, but very excited to see what you will do next!

Hey Ben,

just wanted to say thanks for all you did while you were here. I really appreciated how much effort you put into GotY in particular.

I hope your new opportunity gives you what you are looking for!

Banks, Then.

D'oh!

I love Ben and my name's Ben and this stinks. Harumph.

Good luck, can't wait to see what's next!

Ben, the way you talk about games comes from a place of genuine love for the medium. I've always enjoyed your insights and criticisms. You often take the time to keep conversations positive and lighthearted, even in contentious discussions. I just wanted to say thank you for all the laughs, and best of luck in the future!

Thanks for a very fun tenure Ben, I'd be lying if I said it didn't suck to see you go, but it'll be exciting to see what comes next. I'll fondly remember a bunch of your content, but my favorite has to be the playthrough of Godhand you and Jason did.

This would be a bad time to get Giant Bomb trending on twitter again.

Thanks for your time Ben, I hope your next job has more lab coats available.

Man, this sucks! Ben is by far the most skilled videogame player out of everyone on staff. I always enjoyed watching him tackle all of those insanely hard games. He will be missed greatly.

I'm gonna miss you Ben :( happy times ahead dude sorry your last year had to be working from home. You and Jeff's aftershow is definitely a thing that kept me here when I joined. I haven't known GB before you going to be as weird as Abby and Dan leaving.

Good luck out there duder. <>

@obeast: idk but the op says they don't want speculation here so I'm not going to engage in it

Ben was such the "glue guy". He could work with any of the staff on a feature and that ability is so rare. Thank you for the Asura's Wrath playthrough, truly the highlight for me in 2019.

Best of luck with whatever is next.

His name is Will Carle and he is great. I miss him greatly.

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Where is the bombcast mentioned here located? I can not find it.

@obeast: Ben and Abby both said specifically the new company has nothing to do with them leaving.

Definitely can't blame anyone for wanting to bail out of the social media treadmill that Internet fame now requires.

Good luck, Ben. I'll genuinely miss the dumb jokes.

@royalghost: I deleted it (or had it flagged to be deleted). Sorry, I didn't see the original post about that part.

I never knew him nor did I ever see him on any GB content, but he seemed super cool on that episode. I might have to listen to it to remember a lot of his advice on getting into programming since I feel like I've hit a writer's block of sorts on what to make.

Very good point!

Sorry to see you go, Ben! I really enjoyed your content, your ideas, your energy, and your input. If you start up another podcast I'll be one of your first listeners. Enjoy the peace that comes with not having your every action scrutinized 🙏 .

@demonsoul: Giant Bombcast 669: I'm Always in Pose 6 - Giant Bomb

Thank you for all the great work you've done Ben!

Did Dan also leave in 2020 or was that actually in 2019? Either way that's three exits and no additions; the team feels like it's shrinking! Still excited for the future of GB!

Just a reminder of what the original post said: "The other mods and I will not tolerate any wild speculation about new hires or the "real reason" why Ben or other staff members have left."

Good night, sweet Pack x

The final Mario Party Party was on Jan 3, 2020, and I think that was Dan's last day if I remember correctly. That one came way out of nowhere since he didn't announce him leaving until that day.

Shoutouts to you, the OG 3am boi! Gonna miss you loads Ben, you’re a really inspirational guy, thank you for your openness about all aspects of health and speaking your truth, you’ve made this community a better place for it! I hope you can enjoy obscurity like the rest of us

o7 <>

Ben was the last one on staff that regularly uses Twitter and he was great at it. RIP GB staff tweets feed.

I'll really miss Ben with his willingness to commit to the bit and "young" guy energy. Poor Jan is gonna have to play all the anime stuff Jason and Jeff wont touch now.

Kinda wild to hear I was sure Ben was a lifer - best of luck in the future.

I'll miss Ben a ton - he has an almost unique ability to find the perfect energy to click with anyone else on the crew. It doesn't matter who he's with or how they're approaching the thing; Ben always finds exactly the right tone to make it work. He has a slightly different vibe depending on who he's riffing with and it brings out some of the best in all the other GB staffers.

I also always admired that he's never afraid to just toss ideas or goofs out into the world and see what sticks. It's easy to be cautious of trying new stuff in case it doesn't work but Ben has an enthusiasm that just goes for things and sees how it pans out. Sure, sometimes the shows end up drifting into nothingness, but they're always interesting experiments and some of them end up becoming something great.

Thanks for all the content, Ben. It's much appreciated! Hope you're able to enjoy taking some steps back from the spotlight for the time being, and best of luck with whatever you do decide to go onto after this. You'll be missed on GB, hope you can check in here or there on at least the odd occasion!

Ben was genuinely one of the funniest members of the crew and brought a lot to the table. Really sad that he's leaving, and I wish him the best of luck in the future.

Thanks for staying until the end of the year talks are over, you'll be missed.

Hope you find something new that keeps you happy.

@noblenerf said:

o7 Ben Pack. I wish you the best in your future.

Thanks for all the memories duder!

This picture is the first thing I thought of when I saw the announcement, as I loved Ben and Abby's "My First E3". Instead of being sad, I'll try to remain happy about the great moments he brought to the site.

Thanks!

Thank you, Ben.

Take it easy Ben, keep in touch! I'll miss your take on games, your sense of humor and enthusiasm -- you brought a lot of color to the content you've be on.

You sir, are a threat. :benmoves

Man, this hurts. Ben has been a perfect addition to the crew, and provided so much entertainment and hot takes on games. All the best in whatever you do next, I'll miss you a bunch, duder. <>

Ben,

You were an awesome presence on every aspect of the site. Thank you for all your hard work, best luck in whatever you do next!

Thank you for everything, Ben. You are awesome and will be missed, and I wish you the best with whatever you do next!

thanks for the laughs here, always enjoyed the map games you did. simple, chill, and fun. wish you the best.

Big man with a big heart. Thanks Ben and best of luck!

I'm a diehard Gerstmann fan that will be there watching as long as he is there, it sucks to see when people move on. When Dan and Drew left I had the same thoughts as some I've seen on here. I get that, but somehow someway GB always find something new and fun. Either with new people or new shows. I'll be honest I can't say I've been the biggest fan of Abby and Ben but I also understand they helped GB appeal to a broader more diverse audience, and I appreciate their time and work at GB. I also loved Abby's PT playthrough lol.

Dan, and Abby are both streaming on Twitch now, moving towards more independent personalities type shows which is nice cause they can always drop in and say hi either on the bombcast or weekly shows!

With Ben getting off entirely I can only hope he's ok and wish him the best!

Long live Giantbomb!

The Aftershow and Breakfast ‘N’ Ben were big favorites of mine. Ben’s skill with Super Mario Maker levels also was a lot of fun to watch. Best of luck, Ben.

This is such a bummer, I feel like I need time to collect my thoughts. Where will I get my Mahjong and Rogue fixes now??

Anyway, I love Ben's energy and personality and wish him the best, even if I am selfishly bummed that he's on to bigger and better things.