GameOn Cancelled. Cards Against Humanity to blame.

Kickstarter for Glenn Rubenstein?

Or for Cards against the Humanity to hire all the people they got fired...

Or maybe I'm confused?

It's been a weird month even by internet standards...

@Drebin_893 said:

Fuck me, it's always weird that people actually get offended by games and T.V. shows. Blows my mind, how do these people survive in the real world?

This is an exception. The kind of vulgarity (which I don't have a problem with, I loved the TNT) involved in CaH is about as extreme as it gets. They should have known better, it was a fucking stupid thing to do. They aren't Giantbomb, they aren't cursing and swearing and they don't have Vinny making filthy jokes. You have to be aware of yourself when you are broadcasting, even on the internet. If the organization you are a part of isn't on that end of the spectrum, and they pay the bills, you have to see this coming.

This falls under the jurisdiction of "Tragicomedic". Cards Against Humanity is the kind of game you play with your dirty friends and still feel like you're all terrible people afterwards (in between bouts of laughter). They probably should have known better, as I have trouble thinking of anyone I know that wouldn't be offended by some of the cards or card pairings in that game.

@damnable_fiend said:

mm, I think it's perfectly fine to be offended by rape jokes and the like.

The offended individual didn't start a movement to get the show banned. No governmental, parental, or social advocacy groups intervened.

She expressed her opinion to the creator, and the creator made a decision.

If anyone hates that fact, then bring it up with the person who acted upon a single individual's opinion, and stop whining about her right to have and offer her opinion.

The show was bleeding money on a weekly basis and Leo was looking for a reason to cancel it. He found one.

He probably could have handled it better, but whatever. It was his decision to make. The connection to Cards is practically irrelevant.

@MB said:

The show was bleeding money on a weekly basis and Leo was looking for a reason to cancel it. He found one.

He probably could have handled it better, but whatever. It was his decision to make. The connection to Cards is practically irrelevant.

The impression of a lot of viewers is that it was more of a "straw that broke the camel's back" event. That is, the show wasn't having enough positive financial impact (it takes a long time for these shows to build up an audience) to weather the hassle of such events or complaints, so it was an easy reason to pick to just say "that's it, we're done".

However, as more was aired today, it appears that the show was going to be axed no matter what and the timing of the Sunday event was just coincidental. The network needed to meet certain financial numbers and since Game On / Shut Up And Play was by far the most expensive production on the entire network that wasn't bringing in money, it was the logical cut to make. Seems to explain the sudden change from "we're extending the show's probation from 12 weeks to 18 weeks" to "it's canceled" literally within a period of two or three days.

I didn't realize it was only a 12-week project. I assumed it was part of the TWiT family and had been around for however long everything else they do has been going. I had fun watching the episodes with Gerstmann and Whitta. That show gets pretty blue, too. The CAH thing seems like a pretty thin but convenient excuse to call it quits, especially if it was bleeding as much money as it may have been.

it was money, leo doesnt care to much of offending people hes been in broadcasting most of his life so that will be a given. It was all a money game, which he has mention several times before

@Turambar said:

@Drebin_893 said:

@Turambar said:

@Drebin_893 said:

Fuck me, it's always weird that people actually get offended by games and T.V. shows. Blows my mind, how do these people survive in the real world?

I'd say the material Cards Against Humanity revels in is not really acceptable according to any societal norms in the real world. Hell, there was stuff in there that even offended the GB staff and they're pretty damn vulgar in the grand spectrum of things.

But it's the fact that it's a card game. I don't understand how people get genuinely offended or disgusted by a card game. Better yet, a card game on a T.V show.

Well, what's your bright line on what medium is proper for people to be offended by and what isn't?

None. Do not get offended by a medium, unless it very much affects you in real life.

@Turambar said:

@Drebin_893 said:

@Turambar said:

@Drebin_893 said:

Fuck me, it's always weird that people actually get offended by games and T.V. shows. Blows my mind, how do these people survive in the real world?

I'd say the material Cards Against Humanity revels in is not really acceptable according to any societal norms in the real world. Hell, there was stuff in there that even offended the GB staff and they're pretty damn vulgar in the grand spectrum of things.

But it's the fact that it's a card game. I don't understand how people get genuinely offended or disgusted by a card game. Better yet, a card game on a T.V show.

Well, what's your bright line on what medium is proper for people to be offended by and what isn't?

None. Do not get offended by a medium, unless it very much affects you in real life.

@Turambar: But isn't Racism hatred directed at another person because of racism. I didn't really consider that to involve a medium.

@Turambar: But isn't Racism hatred directed at another person because of racism. I didn't really consider that to involve a medium.

Besides the CAH thing it is Leo's responses on Twitter that irk me the wrong way:

"RT MisterPuck: "If you want to do a gaming show get some people who are actually gamers..." and this is why we don't do gaming shows."

https://twitter.com/#!/leolaporte/status/188412115214811136

AND

"The previous tweet is why I can't do a gaming show. There is no gaming "community." Just a bunch of warring parties."

https://twitter.com/#!/leolaporte/status/188412592245579776

The GB gaming community is counter example to his view that is no gaming community. And he didn't even take the critique about the hosts as constructive well. Veronica and the other guy are nice and do play games but they came off trying to do a X-Play/G4 act. Also I rather have more experienced gaming press. It would have been better to do a gaming show more in the vein of the 1UP Show if doing video or something less flashy.

I used to like all the Leo Laporte stuff back when TechTV was still on, but that was back when there wasn't long form video on the Internet and stuff like Giant Bomb. I've listened to some of his stuff nowadays and he comes off like an old fogey who just happens to know a lot about technology.

This is silly. I never heard of this show but its lame that we are still worried about people being offended by bad words to the extent that an internet show even gets cancelled. an internet show, on the internet the home of horrific porn and death images. BUT BAD WORDS. bugga bugga bugga!.

It's juvinile and assanine to pretend that there are no such thing as bad words.

Yes, words are just sounds and it is ridiculous to think that sounds can be "bad" or "evil" or shouldn't be made. But words are what we use to communicate. They're the very backbone of the way we interpret the world and teach others to interact in what we call "society".

So in that way, it makes EVERY BIT OF SENSE that there would be people who are concerned with handling that responsibly. Just beause you don't care about something doesn't mean no one should.

I haven't played CAH, and I'm sure it has it's place in the world, but it's hardly against Leo to say that place isn't on his bandwidth.

The show had its moments, but it's not as if I was a big fan. As others have said, it seemed too much like something on G4. Although I will miss LAN Party and Grudge Match if it means we don't get any more videos like this:

Makes sense. CAH is a vulgar game that shouldn't be played on shows that at least try to hold some sort class. I'm sure Leo or whatever suit that's in charge has a right to not be okay with the kind of stuff. It seemed the this GameOn thing wouldn't last seeing as it was so expensive and not that popular on the internet. This makes business sense to me so I'm not mad at all really.

Leo's always been against gaming in general and I think CAH was his scapegoat to shutdown GameOn.

@shoddyrobot said:

I have a feeling Leo might have used this as an excuse to cut the shows. I think there may be another reason and he just saw this as a good opportunity. It seems like he's done that before ala the erik lanigan controversy:

erik also had a late night show. I think also leo just gets weird about what happens when he's not there.

I don't go to Twit and have no idea who this Erik guy is but I remember Leo Laporte from Tech TV days and found the whole video and drama fascinating. I feel for the Lanigan guy because I've had a situation or two when a boss kinda turned on me and then flipped the whole issue around and that never feels good - especially when you yourself have given nothing but respect and hard work in return.

@shoddyrobot said:

I have a feeling Leo might have used this as an excuse to cut the shows. I think there may be another reason and he just saw this as a good opportunity. It seems like he's done that before ala the erik lanigan controversy:

erik also had a late night show. I think also leo just gets weird about what happens when he's not there.

I used to respect Leo a lot but after he dumped his wife and got in bed with his boss, rammed Erik on air, and throwing GameOn! under the bus within (it seems) a couple of months I couldn't think less of him. As Ryan said, fuck him.

Like some people have already mentioned - it's fine to get offended if that's your thing, but don't force your sensibilities on other people.

• Find a TV show offensive? Turn the TV off.
• Is the book you're reading offensive? Close the book and throw it away.
• The person next to you is being offensive? Walk away.

Do not get up in arms and complain about something that is entirely personal and affects only you. I don't give a fuck that you're offended, so don't go about trying to ruin my fun.

There's a difference between a racist and someone telling a racist joke. Both may offend you, but only one of them deserves your scorn. Just because I laugh when Jimmy Carr references necrophilia, pedophilia and rape in one joke, doesn't mean I approve of any of them. Just like being gleeful when I decapitate people in videogames doesn't mean I would like to see that in real life.

Imaginary things can't offend me. And I really wish more people could distinguish the difference between what is real and what is not.

As for the TWiT thing - I don't really care one way or the other. It wasn't something I was even aware of, before this thread. I did go and watch through the CAH game they had - it was reasonably entertaining. Though the lone drunk guy did ruin the thing a bit, especially since everyone else was relatively sober - more annoying than amusing by the end, as drunk people tend to be.

@Branthog said:

So, Game On and Shut Up And Play have been canceled. Originally given twelve weeks to prove itself as a viable set of shows, they were recently extended for another six weeks. But almost immediately after that (as of a couple days ago), they were both cancelled. Based on comments from Leo during Security Now's recording and the events of the LAN party a few days before, it seemed to viewers that it was due to the possibly unwise playing of Cards Against Humanity (a game that generates some vile phrases) which offended some (or one?) late night viewer(s).

Leo is pretty open with the audience about behind his business and has since explained that the sudden cancellations were entirely financial. The show is the most expensive one on the network to produce (by a large factor - $25k to $50k/mo) and didn't yet have enough of an audience to bring in a positive flow of money, so it was the logical choice to chop to meet financial needs. I'm sure the events on Sunday didn't help things, but it sounds like it was being axed no matter what. :/

As per his comments on Twitter, today, "it was too expensive to produce; not enough people watched" and "gaming isn't for twit".

I still hope the LAN party broadcast idea becomes a "thing" elsewhere, though. It was a blast, even when you weren't participating in the LAN and were just watching late hours on a Sunday night, when you were trying to extend the weekend as long as possible, before the Monday drudgery reared itself.

Here are two justin.tv links. You'll have to skip ahead to the exact time codes once you load them up:

• (video) During the recording of Security Now, Leo Laporte discusses what happened: http://www.justin.tv/twit/b/313843444 18h38m00s
• (video) The actual incidents that were broadcast: http://www.justin.tv/twit/b/313257033 Starts around 82h27m00s ends around 85h26m00s
• (reddit) Announcement: http://www.reddit.com/r/TWiTGameOn/comments/ruphj/fun_while_it_lasted_goodbye_gameon/

Can you give me another link for the "incidents" that were broadcast?

@GiveUpNed said:

@Branthog said:

So, Game On and Shut Up And Play have been canceled. Originally given twelve weeks to prove itself as a viable set of shows, they were recently extended for another six weeks. But almost immediately after that (as of a couple days ago), they were both cancelled. Based on comments from Leo during Security Now's recording and the events of the LAN party a few days before, it seemed to viewers that it was due to the possibly unwise playing of Cards Against Humanity (a game that generates some vile phrases) which offended some (or one?) late night viewer(s).

Leo is pretty open with the audience about behind his business and has since explained that the sudden cancellations were entirely financial. The show is the most expensive one on the network to produce (by a large factor - $25k to $50k/mo) and didn't yet have enough of an audience to bring in a positive flow of money, so it was the logical choice to chop to meet financial needs. I'm sure the events on Sunday didn't help things, but it sounds like it was being axed no matter what. :/

As per his comments on Twitter, today, "it was too expensive to produce; not enough people watched" and "gaming isn't for twit".

I still hope the LAN party broadcast idea becomes a "thing" elsewhere, though. It was a blast, even when you weren't participating in the LAN and were just watching late hours on a Sunday night, when you were trying to extend the weekend as long as possible, before the Monday drudgery reared itself.

Here are two justin.tv links. You'll have to skip ahead to the exact time codes once you load them up:

• (video) During the recording of Security Now, Leo Laporte discusses what happened: http://www.justin.tv/twit/b/313843444 18h38m00s
• (video) The actual incidents that were broadcast: http://www.justin.tv/twit/b/313257033 Starts around 82h27m00s ends around 85h26m00s
• (reddit) Announcement: http://www.reddit.com/r/TWiTGameOn/comments/ruphj/fun_while_it_lasted_goodbye_gameon/

Can you give me another link for the "incidents" that were broadcast?

Justin.tv doesn't provide links directly to slices of time. The closest you can get is every 2hrs or so. The link is within a few minutes of the weirdness beginning and it is pretty much hilarious through the entire card game.

Also, Leo came out and talked with everyone finally on Sunday and explained that cancellation really was one of numbers. The show had a lot of viewers and that would be a successful show compared to anything else on the network . . . but the cost of production is so great that they needed to double the audience to stop bleeding money. As of this point, he tweeted out (and confirmed on the show) that if this last episode happened to get 50k downloads, he would definitely change his mind and give the show a little longer to prove itself again.

The Shut Up And Play events may also return at some point, because he stated that the LAN party "costs nothing" (essentially) to run and is a really great experience. So . . . that, at least, is some very awesome news (the LAN produced some truly enjoyable moments over the last few months).

Whatever. Laporte can run his business the way he wants to. They never should have played that on his network when he gave them rules and stipulations to follow; its as simple as that.

I really don't think CAH killed the show. I do believe that just not enough people were watching it. I know I wasn't. I like Twit Shows, I like Veronica and Brian, and I even like their writer JRY, but I just didn't like the show (or watch more than three episodes) for some reason. The first couple episodes were borderline embarrassing to watch.

Maybe I'm doing something wrong, but the link to the incident is not showing the Cards Against Humanity game but a show about a guy named Chris Tobin speaking about broadcast compagny.... then Ipad and Iphone. It's the episode 122 of Radio Tech.

@Radar said:

As Ryan said, fuck him.

Pretty much. Mr. Laporte sounds like a class-A asshat who'll find any excuse for his incompetence rather than addressing the core issues. Hope Erik lands on his feet with more competent people.

@LiquidS said:

@GunslingerPanda said:

What the fuck is TWiT?

I'd like to know that as well. I feel like we're not part of the cool kidz club.

@Enigma777 said:

@LiquidS said:

@GunslingerPanda said:

What the fuck is TWiT?

I'd like to know that as well. I feel like we're not part of the cool kidz club.

Based on what little TWiT I've seen/heard since learning about this, I feel like we're what's left of the cool kidz club. It's awful.

Looks like TWiT might have deleted the Cards Against Humanity Part 1 and 2 videos from Justin.tv

Part 1: http://www.justin.tv/twit/b/313915014

Part 2: http://www.justin.tv/twit/b/313916136

@SoothsayerGB: I didn't really like Game On all that much, but the Bart Simpson fellow you're talking about is Brian Brushwood, and he's actually a pretty cool. He and Justin Young (dude who wrote the Game On script) have another podcast/show on the TWiT network called NSFW, which is pretty awesome. Haven't watched it in a while, but it's definitely worth checking out. Some really funny moments, and they get away with a lot, considering the network they're on (though, because of this they'll probably be one of the next shows for the chop on TWiT).

@Branthog: The videos were taken down so you might as well edit them out of your post. Seems like they are taking a "cat's defense" where if you can't see them then it never happened.

Just as long as it's not a slam against Brushwood and not an indication to the other Twit shows he's on (which NSFW isn't all that tech oriented at times just saying), I can live without GameOn. As for blue, if fair warning is given, I don't see the problem for the adults to have their late night run, even television gets a break after a certain hour. Towards game shows, notably X-Play, I stopped watching the network it's on due to the network itself. It certainly was no longer TechTv, and hardly the G4 it began as, so it's not like I and some others had it in our minds to watch its gaming show . . and probably eight hours worth of cops....

As for Twit, it's only got me for me for two shows now, FrameRate and NSFW . . . heck I haven't hung around Revision3 since Diggnation dug a hole and buried its dead body.

I didn't like this show and, in a way, watching a classical geek-centric cast like TWiT get into the much more 'bro' world of video gaming was a bit like watching the TechTV-G4 trainwreck in reverse. But on the other hand, Leo is spending thousands of dollars on podcasting and supposedly making money. He's selling Ford cars while other people are sponsored by 99 cent iOS apps at a much lower rate.

This gaming show came on right after This Week In Tech, their flagship show where you can see guys who remember Steve Jobs' ORIGINAL run at Apple talking about network security and debating how strongly we need privacy in a digital age. Going from that to two hours of multiplayer gaming, on the other hand, eh...

As for the swearing, in free-form podcasting it's a common thing but in more structured shows it's less common.

Only shows on TWiT I watch are Tech News today if I've been too busy that day, and Triangulation if there is a guest I'm interested in (it is getting really rare). Watching it makes me feel like my dad watching CNN when I make too much of a habit of it. Just one of the more successful TechTV fragments, though to be honest, I'd rather check out Chris Pirillo more often than Leo.

Was always a big fan of TWiT. I can't imagine any show on that network playing Cards Against Humanity.

Okay, so I just read about this Leo Laporte affair business.

He was always so vanilla that he seemed geninue. Mr. Rogers-like, even.

Knowing that he did this kind of thing makes him seem completely on the ohter end of the scale. I find him kind of creepy and suspicious now...

@JazGalaxy said:

Okay, so I just read about this Leo Laporte affair business.

He was always so vanilla that he seemed geninue. Mr. Rogers-like, even.

Knowing that he did this kind of thing makes him seem completely on the ohter end of the scale. I find him kind of creepy and suspicious now...

I'm not sure I understand what you mean. In general, he wants the network and brand to be family friendly, though the live-stream portions are sometimes extended a little lee-way, within reason. Being unhappy with very risque content would seem to be consistent.

Especially in-between shows, Laporte can get pretty risque if the mood and caffeine strikes, but it's usually just infrequent light swearing and the occasional innuendo. Only rarely does that ever actually make it into the finished podcast product though (only something like 10% or less of their views are via the live stream).

I'm talking about the divorcing his wife and having a romantic liason with his CEO.

@Drebin_893 said:

Fuck me, it's always weird that people actually get offended by games and T.V. shows. Blows my mind, how do these people survive in the real world?

Most People in the "real world" above the age 40 (before growing up with n64+) Go home, walk the dog, watch dancing with the stars and go to bed. They also think hobbies like playing games, creating anything artistic (music, writing etc..) is a waste of time and generally stupid.

I seriously can't wait for the day when we're 55 and if you don't know how to write an email (like most 55 year olds I work with and know) You're pretty much on the street. Or be like "remember Skyrim?" and almost any guy will remember back to 2011 and talk about a character they had.

@JazGalaxy said:

I'm talking about the divorcing his wife and having a romantic liason with his CEO.

We in the business like to call that "having balls (and potentially an ego) the size of Texas."

Why are people so offended these days? It wasn't like this 10 years ago................ I don't think. Ah well.

@Drebin_893 said:

Fuck me, it's always weird that people actually get offended by games and T.V. shows. Blows my mind, how do these people survive in the real world?

It depends on what is said. I admit there are a few things that someone could say anywhere that, perhaps wouldn't offend me, but would piss me off to no ends.

@Liber said:

I don't like twit.tv, the shows feel like they are intended to old people.

hear hear.

They cater to an audience that would never buy, read or even look twice at CAH. Twit was the wrong home for a show with great potential. Sucks when things get shutdown like this, but at the same time, what the hell were they thinking having that in the lineup to begin with. "YouTube (Twitch) money!" haha.

@Deltan: That post was made 9 months ago.

@Deltan said:

@Liber said:

I don't like twit.tv, the shows feel like they are intended to old people.

hear hear.

They cater to an audience that would never buy, read or even look twice at CAH. Twit was the wrong home for a show with great potential. Sucks when things get shutdown like this, but at the same time, what the hell were they thinking having that in the lineup to begin with. "YouTube (Twitch) money!" haha.

The person you're replying to could be dead by now.