Jan and Jess Appreciation Society

Bombathon bump! (this was originally posted the week before The Ritual, unexpectedly)

I wanted to start a Jan appreciation thread after listening to this week's Bombcast. Commented on there but I always like to see a bunch of people come together to give the staff some love. And it's been determined that Jess should be added here, so let's go.

Jan's been great, and he keeps getting better. At this point he's become a vital part of the site's identity. Early on, he had the task of dealing with dumb criticism like "well, he's not Vinny," and I include myself in that thinking.

But GB in 2022 has been putting out some cool shit, and Jan's been part of much of that. After 2021's departures, the crew had to scramble and it seemed like a tough year from the outside. Hell, listen to Jan's impassioned GOTY speech and take what you will from there. But they came out of that doing solid work and I feel good about neo GB nowadays.

And Jess, she's been a wonderful addition. Her first Hot Takeouts video had me going "hey, this person is neat." And soon after she came on board and my reaction was "oh, fuck yeah." She's been awesome on basically every video she's been in, and I find that some of her recent Arcade Pits resulted in my favorite GB videos of the year (give the guests some credit, but as the GB representative she sort of directs the vibe). Plus, she tends to speak out on the Bombcast and has no problems challenging a statement or an opinion if it's flimsy. So she changes the dynamic of the site a lot, I think, but in a positive way. I remember wondering what would happen if the site lost some core members and we'd have to adjust to new people that were just doing an imitation of what's expected here. But Jess came on, being entirely herself, and it's been fantastic.

Also, it was nice to hear that someone in Illinois was joining the site. GB Midwest has been understaffed since Patrick left.

So yeah, give Jan and Jess some props for their hard work!

Jan and Jess have both injected a healthy dose of energy into the crew and I wish I had any interest in Silent Hill so I could enjoy seeing them more. Jan's relentless positivity and good nature has been especially refreshing to me, there's only so much need for jaded scepticism about anything/everything and that's been covered for a while.

"Imagine whacking it off to Jizz Music"

Jan is my favourite.

Jan has put together some awesome production work in such a short amount of time and is only getting better every time he's involved! I always look forward to see more of his quality production and editing skills.

I don't keep up with the current podcast anymore, but if anyone is being mean to Jan, they'll have to go through me first 😡

Jan is the best. Big fan of the goofy stuff he manages to come up with all the time. Also managed to fill Drew's shoes swimmingly, which was very much not an easy thing to do. I'd say that's straightup impressive.

@daavpuke: Don't think anyone was mean, fortunately. Show was just running smooth, and I try to give people compliments on regular days now and then.

With all due respect to the Jeffs, when Jan hosts the podcast, he raises the bar.

Every Jan appreciation thread needs a reminder to this.

*** All credit belongs to @kone

Someone should do a remix of "Do the Bartman" as "Do the @janman."

Wotta guy!

Agreed. Jan is amazing. I love having him and Jason as counterpoints to the more critical (I say that with love) perspectives of some of the other crew. The balance and flow is coming back to the site and Jan's a big part of that.

He even offered to blow everyone that time.

Jan Ochoa appreciation society, for over four years the recognized symbol of excellence of games EN-TER-TAINERS.

Even before the exodus of people, Jan was taking the site on his shoulders the size of boulders. From day one he's been a great driving force and he really has great rapport with everyone (but his duo with Ben has to be one of the best duos in the history of the site). I miss all the impromptu stuff he would do in the office, heck even the Pokemon streams started like that and the low-key vibe was the best part of them.

I liked Jan before the pandemic, but he was the undisputed MVP of 2020 on this site. I would have watched him read the phone book from that point on. The silver lining to all the 2021 departures is that we get much more Jan all the time now.

Plus, he loves Chrono Cross, and I’m a card-carrying member of the Chrono Cross Apolgist Society.

Jan is a great showman with quick wit and energic delivery. He also seems like a genuinely good person. Hardworking, compassionate, and humble. If it weren't for his compulsive gambling tendencies, he'd probably ascend to a high plane of existence.

Yess! Especially when he recalls his "dirtbag Jan" days, showing that while he is very kind, he's also not to be messed with.

Yup, fully agree!

I just thought the same thing today, while listening to the Bombcast. Jan was always a cool presence, like his vibes with Abby were super fun too. But by now he is one of the main reasons this site is fun.

Jantastic!

@suzukagongen: Young Jan stories make my eyes open wide every time.

Agreed. Jan has managed to fill the Ben void pretty well in terms of off the cuff remarks and general humour. Easily one of the most entertaining GB guys.

"I gotta ask, but you put it away, right? When a police officer comes?"

Jan is a vital part of this team. If I'm laughing at GB these days, it's either because of Jan or Jess.

Y'all are FAR TOO KIND to me <3

Honestly, y'all here are the real superstars. I love being a member of this community.

Jan rules! I do miss Pokemon card chat, but a man can only have so many vices. Keep up the great work :)

Happy to sing Jan’s praises. Made my own thread about it months ago about him being the hardest working man in entertainment. All also add, Jan is fucking handsome as hell, in addition to being the concept of talent and charisma personified.

yeah jan is great , i hate to say it, its weird to say but i feel like these days hes the life blood of this site with how much energy hes brought in the last yr . i honestly feel a bit bad for him hes gotta be worn out from it behind the scenes specially with the tone of his goty post earlier in the yr.

Jan doing all the voice acting of the beginning hour of Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky is one my favorite videos ever.

I vote we make this a Jan and Jess appreciation stream. Seriously, their output on this site is so damn good.

@xolotl: Done!

@csl316: yayy!

I really like Jess. She is bold and entertaining on stream. Her editing is sharp and high quality. I greatly appreciate her perspective. I'm looking forward to more Hot Takeouts.

yeah jess is a good new hire i'd agree , shes still a bit rough around the edges but overall seems to be a good fit for the site , if only we had a few more new hires to take the workload off her n jan , i think the site would be better for it cause from the impression of things these days it feels like they've both been doing some pretty heavy lifting

Now imagine Vinny was still at GB... Mind. Blown.

We need Jan & Jess on Nextlander or Never Been A Better Podcast.

Since we’re expanding the scope of this thread now… I haven’t seen any other new hire fit in as immediately and seamlessly as Jess. That pre-hire Inscryption QL was awesome, and it already feels like she’s been here for years. Best prerecorded video editor the site’s had too, if TVOS is any indication.

Also: the Jess/Jason combo is incredibly underrated and I would like more of it on QLs and Playdates (if circumstances allow).

Jan is easily Giant Bomb's "glue guy". The heart and soul of the site. And such a great dude, the kind of guy one would definitely want to hang out and get a drink with. His chemistry with multiple folks on the site over time has been awesome, Ben and Jan might actually be my favorite two-person combo in the history of the site.

I have been following Jess for years, from back during guest spots on Retsupurae when she was simply a sentient burger, to her own (excellently done) Let's Play series on multiple Silent Hill games and projects with bobvids. She's always been a good egg. Er, burger.

Indeed, she is a goodburger!

I feel like Jan has really come into his own this year in a big way. He's been awesome. I think Jess has been an excellent addition to the crew as well. She brings a unique perspective on just about everything (and her relationship with Silent Hill is hysterical).

Jeff really hit it out of the park with these two hires. They've really kept the site afloat during the transition.

I haven't posted on the forums in a while (life has been BUSY) but hell yeah they're wonderful folks who slipped into the crew as if they'd always been here. As someone who watched a bunch of the Silent Hill stuff Jess made with bobvids, seeing her guide Jan through Silent Hill on here has been truly wonderful.

Jess and Jan are both absolute kings. Long may they reign!

I love the edited Quick Looks Jess has prepared. They're a great way to show the game and it allows the game to be shown off properly while talking over it in an entertaining and engaging way. Jess is killing it.

I really like Jan taking a more active role in stuff. I always liked Pokemonday Night Combat and anything he did with Ben. Having him gain confidence in being a main staff member and being enabled by Jess is great.

And Jess rules too. She's got creative energy the site needs right now. I would've loved seeing her do studio stuff.

While I like them both a lot, I worry about Jan because he is too cute and my girlfriend may seemingly have a crush on him. So, naturally he's an enemy of mine.

Jess & Jan along with the rest of the staff are what make me feel good about the future of GB.

Welp, with Jeff leaving, I'm glad we have a bunch of staffers here that we all like.

EDIT: I'm glad we have EVEN MORE staffers to like. That video today... even more props to Jess.

Props to Jan, really took charge and brought the energy needed to drive this story arc home on the podcast today

@mrfluke: His ending... "So many boats! This has been the Giant Bombcast. This is, has been, and will be, and forever be, GIANT FUCKING BOMB!" Gave me chills!

Jan's goal may have been to make Jess cry, but he certainly got me severely verklempt as well. Love this place!

I don't have much to add that hasn't been said already but I just wanted to add my voice to the support of Jan and Jess. I'm stoked about Dan coming back and the others going full-time, but I don't want that to overshadow the incredible work that those two have been doing. Jan was always great but really came into his own holding everything together over the course of the pandemic. Jess getting hired was the most excited I'd been about Giant Bomb in a long time; I'd enjoyed her Silent Hill Let's Plays years ago but knew nothing about her beyond that, but from her first appearance it was clear that she was a great fit. I've never seen a community basically demand that somebody be hired like that. She's hilarious, seems to genuinely love what she's doing, and has brought such a great energy to the cast at a time when it was badly needed.

I'm excited about the new crew, but even before that, I wasn't worried about the future of the site as long as those two were involved.

@lalilulelo: You know, given you only started posting on the forums since Monday in order to be vaguely toxic in a number of threads, meanwhile this thread was started before this week, I'd wager the one acting like a clown may well be you...

@broshmosh: Ignore them, it's a troll account. Flagged it.

I'm just bumping this after Jan's stupendous work, running the best damn GB show in a long, long time. But it might as well be a sticky post at this point since it always applies. The Bombathon's awesome, and Jan's a big part of it. Even if he's currently been freed to play some... Mario Party.

Considering GB hasn't had an in-person show in years at this point, it's gone so well. There have been random hiccups but they got fixed right away. For a marathon stream like this? Damn fine work.

And this is a Jess thread, too, and she ruled today. Kept that energy going all day, as we're currently hearing an excited story about an Elmo penis.

And props to Grubb for being down for ANYTHING. I liked him before GB but he's dived into this site with reckless abandon.

Totally agree. Kudos to everyone for making the Bombathon a success! What an ending to that Mario Party game amiright?

Jess and Jen are the Ace.

Big props to Jan, Jess, Jason, and whoever else for figuring out the production of the Bombathon event. I can’t imagine it was easy given the site doesn’t have a formal studio anymore, and they haven’t done an on-the-road sort of event like E3 since 2019.

Bombathon 2022 was fun, had great energy, and it was nice to see past and present GB staff and site friends get together after years of being remote. Also a nice gesture to video call a few of the people who couldn’t physically make it like Drew and Abby.

I will say it was a little odd that for how much they were tying stunts to arbitrary sub goals, they had basically no on-screen overlays tracking anything around subs, usernames, etc., just Dan hollering out whatever donations he sees on Twitch chat.

But reading between the lines, it sounds like this whole NYC thing was a team-building trip originally (or something?), that got updated into a “why don’t we stream for one entire day of it” thing partway through planning, and a lot of the prep work with making the hotel suite internet/TVs useable was done just in time, so not exactly months of prep time went into this.

Anyway, it was fun!

Jess really kept the show together on camera in my opinion. And Jan, Jan really has become some sort of embodiment of Giant Bomb spirit as a producer and on-screen.

Also, I have to appreciate everyone of Ochoa's Nine. The energy of the whole crew is uplifting. From Rorie's TMI stories to Lucy choosing violence in games.

Ps. That hoodie Jess had was the coolest ever. I wonder where it's from?