My thoughts on the website. What does everyone else thinki?

TL;DR.

Giant Bomb was influential and amazing in the beginning, but it seems to have waned in content and originality these last few years. I hope the crew still has the drive to play, review, and make fun of videogames because I can't stand super big websites talking about Game of Thrones all day, or streamers who have no clue what they are talking about control the information flow of gaming journalism.

Hello everyone,

Like most here, my thoughts on the early giant bomb are extremely fond because they made a better website than the former. I loved the personality and style of Giant Bomb because it was something not being done at other gaming outlets: the podcasts, quickplay videos, endurance runs, and general aesthetic of the website is still something to be cherished. The balance of written and video content was great because you could write and are intelligent! Further, I liked the selective approach to covering games because I was able to play most of the things they mentioned. Most importantly, the topics and things discussed in the content was refreshing. It was stuff not being talked about elsewhere; whether the design decisions behind games, the politics of DLC and online play, or whatever decisions, its like we got a secret tour of the gaming industry. Now, it seems like everyone has taken a slice of that nowadays: everyone watches a selective twitch stream, and a lot of games websites focus on stuff that interests them.

However, after recent years, it seems that there is not the same love in making content as before. Or maybe its because we as a community are getting older (I’m 29 and about to get married. Since most of the staff is over 30 and has kids, it may be a factor). I even have to ask the question of if this is a radioshow or a games podcast because it seems like the game discussions are an afterthought now; instead, the monologues are taking up more and more time (which may be done by choice). The GOTY podcasts are frightening because it seems that the staff is embarrassed to stand behind GOTY's of the past. Why does everyone trash on Skyrim yet most everyone voted for it in 2011? It does not make sense. Further, it seems that the louder the personality, the more likely they will get their way rather than through a reasoned discussion of which game to choose (see the politiking Dan did to get stardew valley on the list. Or Jeff and Dan with Super Mario Maker). Its like the GOTY podcasts are done out of necessity and have lost their zeal to fight for certain games on the list. I find myself listening to the Giant Beastcast much more because they talk about videogames more often. Further, I think the website has grown stale. I hardly see written articles anymore. Instead, its all videos and stuff that I could get by watching a twitch stream . While video may bring in more traffic, there was something about the writing that I missed from Giant bomb.

I don’t mean to sound negative, but I see Giant Bomb as the last bastion of a good gaming press that doesn’t have to have TV shows, comic book movies, and other crappy news to survive the digital age. Why does every gaming website talk about Game of Thrones?!?!!? I really hope streamers don’t take over, because they will never have the gaming experience you guys do. They can’t tell you about the Nintendo 64, NES, or Commodore because they don’t know what that stuff is; however, Giant Bomb does.

Anyways, just a thought from a listener who was there from the beginning. Have a good one!

I respect your opinion but having not been around GB from the beginning (I only started frequently visiting just a few years ago) I like what I saw then, and what I see now. I kind of miss Patrick and Austin's written content from time to time, but find the audio/video content in other realms just as entertaining. I think the Bombcast for me has become interesting because Jeff has a little bit of a picture to the "why" of decisions or at least likes to really think about that stuff. Why were the changes in Destiny 2 made the way they were, why clickers and COD play on reward feedback - I like his analytical mind, and his flashes of cynicism are typically measured and when he's wrong he owns it. I appreciate that instead of the hype-casts or the bummer-casts I've heard from other outlets. It seems like a lot of content is either super up or super down on the entire medium and the Bombcast does veer off the rails from time to time, but I still think the meat of the cast is definitely the discussion. Just listening to the latest today on my commute their chat about Destiny 2 was on point and even Jason going off about MVC and Monster Hunter was interesting if they're not games that I'm going to pursue.

I'm 31 and in tech and very interested in business in general so I'd love to see some deep dives into that side - I'd love to hear Dave Lang come on and talk about the challenges and energy he gets from being a CEO, or (doubt this ever happens) but have Sean Murray come in with a post mortem on year 1 of No Man's Sky and just talk about where it is and where it was. My favorite content of the past few years have actually been the sit-downs at E3 with Phil Spencer. I can't get that anywhere else and Jeff truly is a great interviewer (honorable mention to Ryan at IGN who has a few good chats with him but also doesn't pander too much). Overall I think you're going through a phase I did when getting deep into the content where I started to get really bummed out by Alex and Jeff in particular, and felt they were cynical about everything. I don't know what changed but I still see flashes of it but I think my approach to consuming their content is just different now because I kind of understand their perspective a bit better.

GBE is killing it lately, so I haven't had any issues with content feeling stale. But I really have no idea why GBW is sitting on so many great features (Game Tapes, Demo Derby, Ranking of Fighters), Jeff seems to give nebulous "we want to do that but we can't" answers every now and then, which isn't exactly a great look when they haven't been able to get Jeff and Jason on a couch to play a fighting game for an hour in almost a year.

GOTY is still some of my favourite content this site does, second to the E3 streams. It can get a little repetitive and inane with all the "it probably doesn't hang here" and "I just wanted to say my piece" comments, but for the most part it's still the best place to hear them talk passionately about games (and this year is shaping up to be one of those long war types).

I don't think I've ever read an entire article on this site.

The site is real good right now thanks to GBE. The worst time was the period after when Ryan passed. There's still a Ryan shaped hole for me, but it's always entertaining.

I have problems with the community around the site more than anything over time. I think GB used to be great in that area so it's too bad, but it has happened to every other site out there so no surprise.

I find myself listening to the Giant Beastcast much more because they talk about videogames more often.

You're entitled to your opinion. But fucking what? What's actually happening is GBEast is moving further away from a video game focus, becoming more of a general comedy group with video games as a theme. GBWest is still talking a lot about video games and the industry behind it, which apparently most fans now consider dry and boring.

Also, GOTY is the worst thing to get worked up about. The actual rankings don't matter and it's just a good way to get everyone together to talk about video games and the year. Also opinions on games can change over time.

Enjoyed reading your post, so well done on on that. There is no arguing that GB has seen a tonal shift since Ryan passed away and Drew left. But things change when big personalities and super competent people pass away or leave for other pastures. Nothing you can really do about that.

But i do miss how GB once was, i still like the site today i just don't consume the same amount of content from it as i once did. But that just comes down to the stuff they offer right now, and for me personally most of it just isn't compelling. I wish they would resurrect some of the series that they just stopped doing. That would help a lot.

@kingbonesaw: or they like Skyrim better.

I think the site and the content is as good as it's ever been if not better. I guess it just depends on what you're looking for. I don't come to this site for hard hitting articles or coverage of the latest video game news, nor have I ever. Hearing about the current goings-on in the video game world is a side benefit to me but I'm here because I enjoy seeing and hearing these people interact with each other, often through the lens of games.

The site took a bad turn when not only Ryan passed away, but Vinny was looking to move and Patrick Klepek was already gone from the office and later gone completely. I feel like Dan Ryckert singlehandedly kept the site alive with his brand of wrestling character humor until the GBEAST offices were up and running for real. I think the site is in a pretty good place right now, all things considered.

There's no way to beat the early seasons of three really funny people(and one nice, deep-voiced dude) in a single room just talking about games. Like, there have been a ton of GB employees(and Bakalar) in the videos and podcasts. But in my opinion, the only people that have been regularly funny have been Vinny, Jeff, Ryan, Dan and Abby, with Vinny and Jeff as a team being just incredible. Not to take away anything from the contributions of Brad, Rorie, Alex, Austin, Patrick, Ben, Drew, Jason etc, they've all done stuff I liked here and there, but I essentially use GB as a comedy video game site. And the balancing of comedy and video game coverage has varied. GBEAST Is really funny right now, because it's got two of the most funny employees(Abby, Vinny), an outrageous character(Dan) and one very good straight man(Alex). But everything they do turns into an unstructured podcast because they don't have much to say about the games themselves. Meanwhile, GB West is more focused on the games, but the only funnyman left is Jeff, and he can't do it all on his own. He's also the only main staff member I can think of that hasn't done a long-form let's play of some kind since like 2012, meaning the best commentary on the site is exclusive to liveshows, podcasts and quick looks.

I recognize that's not helpful criticism, almost all of the changes to the site came because of a combination of personal tragedy(Ryan and Patrick's father's passing) and starting a family(Patrick's kid, Vinny's kid), and it would be cruel and stupid to blame any of the people involved for that. And overall I'm happy with how the site has been for the last few years. After how awful 2013-2014 was to them, they've gotten back on their feet and made tons of new, quality shows and podcasts. They're still the best I know about in terms of a Youtube Personality kind of entertainment show but with the maturity(or lack of shrill screaming and jumpcuts) that come with age as well as knowledge of the industry, proper studios and the ability to invite funny guests from the industry. I can't just watch GB anymore, but it's still a quality site with people I like, the only site that I pay for, and that I visit every day.

GBE is great, GBW is kind of a bummer.

East side seems to be coming up with new ideas and staying consistent to those ideas, The Giant Beastcast is still entertaining to listen to.

As for the west side, the only new reoccurring series they came up with seems to be Kingdom Heartache, which i could skip to be honest, and occasionally Rorie or Ben will do a community play date but that's not a consistent series. I think it happened a total of three times between them. I use to catch the Giant Bombcast live, but now i could just as easily skip it altogether.

For me personally, Giant Bomb has never really been about video game news coverage. I play a lot of PC games and they never really cover that side of gaming unless Rorie,Dave or Drew stopped by to bring in some odd PC game here and there. Brad sticks with the popular PC gaming fads you are already aware of and Rorie's more into MMOs than i am. I come to GB for the personalities and currently i don't feel GBW has enough diverse interests to bring out those personalities. It's a room full of people mostly agreeing with each other and moving on to the next topic where they mostly agree with each other.

The good ol' days of Whiskey Media worked for Giant Bomb because they had a more diverse set of people from the other departments that they could play off of. The CBS days of Giant Bomb still had that with a few people in the Gamespot offices but a lot of the people you want to as guests from Gamespot have left. GBW is in a dry spot right now and really needs to expand or draw in more guests where they can.

As far as content, as a subscriber, GBE is killing it but i have no idea what this website looks like to a non-subscriber. Quick Looks have been pretty weak so i imagine the free content is pretty stale.

I've actually been skipping most of East's content lately. I'm not sure how to articulate it exactly, but it all kinda feels like wacky streamer hijinks? I don't know, it's hard for me to describe. Not genuine maybe? I will say that West could be a little better about consistency in content but I feel it more closely retains that classic GB flavor I know and love.

Everyone in this thread has a different opinion on the same subject.

So I know the show Misfits went to shit after the first few years, but Giant Bomb these days kind of reminds me of the character on that show who, under times of stress, would split into two versions of himself - one confident, brash, and jovial, the other anxious, quiet, and more than a little depressed. The exact comparison obviously doesn't line up, but "a person split into two halves lesser than the whole" is how I've felt about Giant Bomb ever since "Giant Bomb East" became a thing. I still like the site, I stay subscribed to the site, but it will never feel "right" to me that the staff is separated from one another, because they're so much greater united than they are apart. The West lost a cheery energy while the East, while being great from an entertainment perspective, can sometimes get lost in themselves (particularly when Austin was here) and even though Vinny gets along with Abby (and did with Austin) the chemistry he has with Jeff is just unrivaled and it stings whenever they're together at different parts of the year and work so well together, knowing they'll just split up again soon.

I fell off of doing this around the time I was getting married earlier in the year and haven't gotten back to it yet, but I started the task of re-listening to all the regular Bombcasts from the very beginning, getting sidetracked in the early 2010 episodes, and lemme tell you - a lot of people who say "this site is just as good as it used to be!" "never been a better time to be a fan of the site!" "oh please, they haven't changed at all!" are crazy. This site is still great and has so many good hours of entertainment every week, but things sure have changed, not always in great ways. There are things I very very much miss, but like @redhotchilimist mentioned, so many of the changes on this site were born from horrific tragedy, and are hard to hold against it. It's a victim of circumstance. Even so, in my wildest dreams, I would love for the staff to unite on a single coast again. In the meantime, GBE knocks it out of the park while the West coast seems to have still not found its groove after Dan moved.

GOTY is a weird one, because Jeff clearly takes it more seriously than people who defend against critics of the segment think he does. If they didn't take it at least somewhat seriously they wouldn't spend so much time on it and they wouldn't become so animated in the discussions themselves. I've always felt like Ryan's take on the process was the way to go - personal GOTY lists are where you put your "favorite" and the group GOTY list is where you argue over the "best." This is how we ended up with Skyrim over Saints Row, though, so lately the distinction between the irrational personal favorites and the debate on quality has blurred, and GOTY feels like its fast becoming "What game did we play the most on the site this year?"

I also miss some of the written articles, and it would be nice if some features were more regular. But I just don't see how anyone can say that the site has waned in content. Maybe less content that you are interested in (and I get that, I didn't watch a single Hitman video last year), but they're making a ton of content in the last few years. I'd like to see the raw numbers of just hours of video released each year. I'd be shocked if it hasn't consistently gone up.

Remember, Giant Bomb was at the forefront of doing video game content in video form. The entire games press industry has shifted that way, and that's probably why we see more of that here. As for getting what you get here on a Twitch stream, that's fine. But remember Twitch and YouTube are all about the personalities involved. That's why people follow them. That's why people follow Giant Bomb.

Oh good, I was wondering when we'd get the "Giant Bomb is not the same thing it was nine years ago and I don't like it as much" thread that we do every few months.

@redhotchilimist: Very well said. I agree with pretty much all of it. Change happens. Austin could have been on GB and been great for years but he wanted to do his own thing. It's life so I also don't want to sound like a jerk talking about this stuff like they aren't people also, but I agree with pretty much everything you said. Right now I am excited the site is getting bigger.

Yup. I about once a year go through a period listening to old Bombcasts so personally it's something I am often reminded of. Ryan was such an amazing host. They don't talk about games the crew is playing in detail enough on the show anymore at all, IMO, which is one thing they used to do more. That's an example that comes to mind to me immediately. They kind of have an attitude it seems that they talk enough about the games elsewhere but the podcast suffers. Ryan was good about digging into that and asking people interesting questions. Ryan kept things funny while also having more meat to just about every part of the show (great game talk, news, and off topic bullshit and e-mails). And was hilarious to boot.

welcome. thanks for adding a post to the thread.

@artisanbreads: as someone that came to the site in a post-Ryan world, I always respected him but never truly appreciated him. Would old Bombcasts be the way to go if I wanted to try to get a bit of a lens? I joined premium around Metal Gear Scanlon 2 so I'm well behind but sometimes the Tuesday/Friday schedule of casts is spaced out just enough that I finish and don't have much else to listen to so I check out other sites/unrelated non-gaming casts.

Stuff changes, it's been 10 years. There will always be some people that like "the good old days" and never want things to change, but that's never going to happen with anything ever.

East has been absolutely killing it this past year. The addition of Abby has only furthered that.

There is certainly content from back in the day I'll point to as some of the best on the site, and while I'd agree there have been ups and downs, I think currently the site is definitely in the 'up' end of that. If West began doing more regular content, all the more.

Less content? Recent months have been an embarrassment of riches, as far as content. You may or may not like all of the content but it's there. GBEast has two live streams per week, West has at least one per week and are now recording podcasts live. The west doesn't do as many live streams but they also have a lot of features. A lot of different series' going on right now means we don't get all of them consistently but boy are we getting a lot of variety. Exquisite Corp, Steal My Sunshine, Murder Island, Blue Bombing, Kingdom Heartache, All Hero Challenge, GBEast Megadate, UPF. Oh yeah, Quick Looks are getting posted constantly for so many different games.

I just can't begin to understand how something thinks there is a lack of content, right now. I try, but I can't.

Edit: if anything, the one thing I can see people wanting more of is consistency and structure on the West Side. This is something the East have been great at.

I have been consistently entertained since 2008.

@joe_mccallister: yeah definitely. He was great on camera but just podcast wise we are talking one of the best I've ever heard for sure. He was just a natural at it (not that he didn't keep going at it and getting better over time). If you're willing to listen to a time capsule basically (where they're talking releases from some time long ago you may not really care about) then it's a great listen. You can always seek out certain episodes about games you liked maybe. If you're into Fallout 3 for example they talked that a lot (to the point where it was a joke lol). Saints Row and XCOM come to mind as two games that would be fun to hear Ryan gush about. Like I said before, I think Ryan talked games in a better more thorough way too. If you like MGS4, the spoilercast for that game also rules and Ryan is great on it.

I also highly recommend the This Year podcast collections by @zanzibarbreeze . If you want a big old file of the best moments of a year, pick one Ryan was on and enjoy. He even did a Ryan specific one too. Super well done.

Yeah for sure. I do wish they did some different things though. Even as much as I like GBE stuff, I would love more say FMV game type play through stuff inside of watching them play another NES game ever basically. I enjoy them most reacting to stories and things like that. But it's still enjoyable and they do stuff like that still, just a little less than I'd like.

Marriages, babies, health issues, etc. As garrosh hellscreen would say...

I think I should preface what I'm going to say with, I love this site and the people behind it and will always love some of the content they put out.

I guess my feelings are similar to someone watching an indie band they like grow more and more and more famous and producing content that appeal to the most people possible. The last part might not be fair as The Exquisite Corps seems to be something Vinny wanted to make for a long time, so who am I to shit on it? It's excellently done for what it is, it's just not what I think is or was the best thing about Giant Bomb. Yet it's a good example of what I'm talking about, it's very well produced, but seems to center heavily around GB east and their personalities, highlighting them through the game they are playing, where as I think the best content is the one where they make the game stand out with their humor and insights. It's not always the case, but the best content is really the stuff with as little production as possible, no face shots of reactions and all that shit which is hugely popular nowadays, but I just find distracting and unnecessary. Others may disagree, but I don't think excellent features like Flight Club, Random PC Games and the Endurance Runs would have been better with reaction shots at the bottom of the screen.

I guess the site of old felt like a bunch of friends/co workers just playing games and having fun at the games expense or with it. Now a lot of it's become faux wrestling events, or content produced with some gimmick in mind (Steal My Sunshine, The Exquisite Corps), personality worshiping panels. I guess the website just feels larger now and it's studio this and studio that. I would to say I like the new hires, they both seem funny and one was hired as a video person, so I can understand if she doesn't have to be a video games encyclopedia or hugely passionate about them, I don't think Drew was either, but he became more knowledgeable about games in general by just working where he did. Dan is also extremely personality driven and I think even that is an understatement, but you can't deny that he loves video games and knows a lot about the industry, but I feel like the new and older hires show how important it is for Giant Bomb to be funny and that personality now seem to drive the show in some ways intentionally rather than a by product of them just standing out from content they made.

I guess I should end this by saying, I don't expect the content to change nor do I think it should from just my long winded comment, and as crazy and bipolar as it sounds I don't want them to change. Giant Bomb should make what they love and want to make and I think thats what they are doing, it's just not all in my taste, so what. Yet I'm sure thousand of people find enjoyment in it every week too. And it's not like I don't enjoy any of the content now, it might not rival some of the old but features like Beast in the East, Demo Derby, Murder Island, and the Shenmue Endurance Run, Blue Bombing, is all great stuff and I've been looking forward to at least something every week. I guess I just miss the more low key aspects of GB at times. But such is life, things change a little, but the core of what it is, is still there.

GB East is absolutely killing it. With Waypoint and GB East I am more than inundated with good, fun, critical games media.

GB West is up and down for me. I love Ben Pack and his enthusiasm but find that when the West crew has to sit down and talk they all get bogged down by repeating the same few points over and over. They lack the energy and playfulness to really have dumb fun but also don't really have the depth of knowledge on game design, dynamics & development to give insightful criticism, I find.

So I don't know, I still listen the Giantbombcast religiously. But, other than that yeah, I found myself getting video game coverage and discovering interesting new games in other places.

I mean found the Totalbiscuit coverage of games more interesting these days than Giantbomb's... and I don't really like Totalbiscuit personality. But, hey dude does a good job of curating good games.

I think over the years people have consistently talked about the site going downhill. A lot of people didn't like Patrick and thought his influence on the identity of the site was taking it downhill. A lot of people said that the GBE crew creating a kind of split in roster for the content was taking the site downhill. But really the site hasn't changed too much except for your (totally correct) identication that GB doesn't really have a "news" person right now.

It's actually kind of interesting how, not in a literal sense but in a 1-for-1 sense, they replaced Drew on the west coast with Ben, who is not video crew but more of a content guy, while they replaced Austin, who was a content/news person with Abby, a video producer. I still love everyone on the site but I think this might contribute to the complaint about GB West not doing more individual shows like Ranking of Fighters and the like. GB East just has the advantage of having more video crew, which will hopefully be remedied soon. I've been saying for years how much I wish Thursday Night Throwdown came back, but this site is better when they just do what they feel instead of feeling obligated to continue things they aren't jamming with.

I think the site is great, and I think the implication that it's going downhill is tough to prosecute when so much of what made it good at the beginning is still here, as well as a bunch of new people and series that make it even better!

I've found myself going back to more of the fundamentals: bombcast, quick looks, UPF. I come to the site for reasonable non-asshole people talking about video games, whose individual beings I've also taken a shine to.

Unfortunately the current slate of features aren't especially enticing to me personally, which made it seem for a bit there like there wasn't much content for me. I just don't care to watch playthroughs of the Dota 2 all-hero challenge, PUBG shenanigans, Mario Sunshine, Kingdom Hearts, or XCOM. I'm also not the most on-point with podcasts, so the Beastcast is something I very often just forget about listening to (along with others like the Tested podcast unfortunately), and then feel bad thinking that some imaginary backlog is growing to an unwieldy amount. The Bombcast is pretty much the only podcast I ever cared to tune in to regularly.

So then I remembered "oh yeah, GB bread n butter," and now I'm happy again. It's fine if the current premium stuff doesn't all do something for me, I'm sure there'll be others down the line. I might check out that XCOM thing though, now that I think about it.

The site's just not what it used to be!

I used to look forward to those half hour mailbag videos we'd get every other week!

Y'all apparently need to send them more shit!

It's as good as it's always been.

The months after first moving to the CBSi offices (spring/summer 2012) was the worst GB has ever been. Impossible to be that low with everything they're doing lately in a week.

This idea that Abby and Drew aren't hugely passionate about games is ridiculous. Drew literally left the site to pursue a career that explores people's relationships with games around the world. Abby talks about games on the Beastcast all the time. Hell, she even appears to be making an effort to play everything relevant to this year's GoTY discussions.

I am just gathering my impression from exactly her being overwhelmed by having to play so many great video games this year for GOTY (it's almost like it's her job or something) and not having a great deal of knowledge about video games. as for Drew, he was hired as a video guy, I'm not even sure he was meant to be on camera when he got there, I think he might have worked for a video game company doing some form of art if i'm not mistaken, so thats where I make the comparison from, he wasn't the most knowledgeable guy in the beginning. As to what he's doing now, it's like he's combining something he knows intimately now with something he's even more passionate about, traveling. It could be that I'm wrong and that video games is one of the most defining and important parts of their lives, but the fact is, it does not have to be, but thanks to your selective quoting it comes across as something I'm deeply upset about, when it was only meant as a minor point to where they seem to be taking the website. More improv humor personality driven stuff, which is fine, but not what I enjoy(ed) most about this site personally.

GBE is some of my favorite stuff they've done in a long time. They are really killing it. GBW on the other hand is preeeeeeeetty bad. The content is rote and they haven't done anything new in a long time. Even stuff like demo derby, game tapes, ranking of fighters et cetera, haven't been consistent for ages. The only new thing really has been Kingdom Heartache and that has been pretty bad, mostly because of how boring Kingdom Hearts is to watch, and the fact that there aren't consistency in guests, it's just someone new every episode who has no idea what is going on. I could see if GBW is all you consume that it's lacking, but GBE is so good right now.

@tothenines: The thing is, everyone on staff has talked about feeling like they don't have enough time to finish games for GoTY at some point. It's a thing that is brought up by at least one person on staff every year around this time. I think the whole "knowledge" about games is kind of subjective. I dunno, I just find it a stretch to think that people who don't have a passion for video games would go to work for a video games website. It makes absolutely no sense to me.

I agree with everyone in this thread, in this way:

Giant Bomb West is fantastic. Their historical perspective on games, they're interest in specifically talking about whatever's new and doing so for several minutes at a time, their ability to analyze the news in a way that's neither hysterical nor aloof, and their roster of series are my favorite the site has to offer. I find their podcast both imformative and comforting, UPF to be another great podcast that happens to have interesting gameplay attached from time to time, and I think they generally pick more interesting (and more entertaining) games to Quick Look. They are also generally more insightful and incisive in their game discussions and thus I look forward to watching them play and listening to them talk about games a lot.

Giant Bomb West is awful. They don't actually do any of my favorite series ever, and since Vinny and Ryan left (though this has improved since Ben joined the site) Jeff was in the awkward role of dad to Dan which he wasn't built for, and he was more in line with Brad as a Serious Gamesman. Especially when Drew left and no one was there to at least indulge Dan the way Drew and Vinny did, there just wasn't a dynamic dynamic to the crew. I still get one of the Jeffs I want, but not both Jeffs. For all the talk about being a place industry insiders can go to feel safe and vent their secrets and old stories, it happens so rarely that you start to wonder if that dream is holding the team back from doing the things they could do so well on their own constantly trying to make those things happen behind the scenes.

Giant Bomb East is a delight. I can never expect what's going to happen next, and yet their consistency is unparalleled in Giant Bomb history. I know XCOM is Monday, Super Mario Sunshine is sometime in the next three days, and some sort of free form Playdate (that, unlike UPF, still involves being highly unprofessional and polishing off delicious bourbon) that might also be very not free form and just be Vinny and Austin (or was it Alex?) or VInny and Abby discussing The Witcher 3 or Prey for a couple hours while Vinny hides from his responsibilities at home. The podcast is unpredictable, the videos are unpredictable, but I know when and where I will get that unpredictability. Next to Desus & Mero and MBMBAM, easily my #3 source for consistent happy fun times. And despite this reputation they've earned for being a hilarious comedy troupe, Vinny and Alex can address very serious topics with a very level head when needed.

Giant Bomb East is a frustrating mess. Dan is a wonderful entertainer but he was never given such free reign to sow chaos on the West Coast, and his rogue spirit often sullies the fun shenanigans of whatever is going on. This is particularly true for the XCOM series, which we all already know is hard as hell and doesn't need three (four) separate brains playing an hour at a time. Their ramshackle, freewheeling approach to things also means that sometimes good ideas are harpooned for other reasons. Vinny is far too loud an influence on the actions during the XCOM series, and their conversations often don't reach a true end point so much as they run out of riffs to throw on a given topic. Bring Your B-Game was a good video example of this, and Steal My Sunshine can be as well - there is as much discussion about whether they even understand what they're doing as there is just doing the thing.

In summary: Giant Bomb is the best website on the internet! Giant Bomb is the worst ever! CHINA DON'T CARE

@bladeofcreation: I never said they weren't passionate about video games in general, It's not a black or white thing. I watch a lot of tv shows to use a dumb example, but I'm not hugely passionate about them and don't know every show and every actor/actress. Like to use an example Abby didn't know who Kojima is, which is fine, because it's not why she was hired, I imagine she was hired because she's funny, unique, knows video stuff and can help out Vinny with said video stuff and happens to play video games. So I understand it.

But my original criticism was not about the staff but more the direction of the content. :)

@tothenines: Ah, I see what you mean! Makes sense. Sorry if I came across like a jerk.

I've bounced on and off GB a few times. Usually it has a lot more to do with what games are out and being played. Definitely have felt a change in UPF in the last year since Drew and GameSpot friends Danny and Mary left. Ben has been a good addition but don't think GBW have found a good rhythm yet. Felt similar for a time after Vinny left for NYC. GBE has been killing it though with their live streams for me. Overall I really don't want from lack of content, but could see where the yearly changes can affect what people get out of it. That being said I really hope Vinny/Abby play through more Nancy Drew point and click adventure games sometime, and Jeff keeps playing old games and providing historical context of said old games.

Yeah. I think we're all getting old.

Change is inevitable and it's a must for any company to survive. Anybody who thinks the site could just continue to do what they did 9 years ago exactly and continue to be successful isn't being realistic. There's been staff changes, the original guys themselves are older with all the life changes that come with that, their competition is incredibly different and let's face it video games themselves are different.

Personally I'd prefer more emphasis on quicklooks/info/reviews than they seem to put out these days, but it's 100% clear to me based on the 6 years I've been active in the forums that majority of their subs really love the comedy angle first and foremost. So it 100% makes sense to emphasize on that with Let's Plays etc. You gotta do what your customers want. And I think especially since they got back to full strength with the new hires they are doing a better job collectively putting out that sort of content on a regular basis than they maybe ever have. Do I personally prefer what I consider the golden era of the Wild Wild Whiskey days with the high energy,deep industry knowledge and dynamic chemistry that seemed common place? Yeah, but I think the current lineup can recoup that magic once they've had time to gel. About the only real complaint I have about their video and audio content is the occasional lack of transparency and communication about the status many of the series. That shouldn't be info that's only mentioned once offhand off site or something like that. But I think any fair analysis of what they are doing this is probably the best year for GB video content since 2011.

Where I think the site has really declined and never recovered is the social functionality the website itself used to be equally about. The Wiki, quests, Guides, achievement tracking, the blogging community that kinda stuff. The Mods do a herculean job promoting that stuff but there's only so much they can do without engineering help to bring the platform back where it needs to be to be attractive (and to continue to iterate on that). That aspect of the is why I personally bothered to de-lurk in the first place, why I used to sub and largely why I don't now. But I'm not sure any of that makes sense for them anymore financially after the way the CBSi acquisition went down and I get that. Maybe it's not possible for any website to be that anymore in 2017 since the social media giants just monopolize everything, I dunno. It's not like anywhere else is doing what GB used to do either.

I don't want to comment on the GoTY podcasts but one thing I do miss incredibly about the earlier days of Giant Bomb is those long-form videos like Brad's trip to Korea or the behind-the-scenes E3 stuff, even though I understand why it may have become impractical to continue producing them. I also miss having someone in the crew like Patrick or Austin who would speak about the medium on more of a media studies level. Of course, any website is also not going to feel as fresh and new ten years in as when it and its concepts were first established, but I disagree that lack of content is a problem. We have an east and a west coast office now, multiple weekly livestreams, multiple weekly podcasts, and way more video series than back in the day, and I think we still get taken down a lot of different rabbit holes. The Exquisite Corps series or Murder Island are just two of the new and somewhat experimental things that the site is doing and the staff telling personal stories or talking about things that aren't video games has been happening for its whole history. Check out how much of the early Giant Bomb was dedicated to weird snacks and drinks or how many of the "classic" moments from the Bombcast involve someone telling a story from their life.

A fairly well reasoned discussion which I take some issues with:

- GOTY discussions: Politicking has always been a part of it, and the 'loudest voices' have always had more sway. Jeff has always had more influence (intentional or not) on the way that GOTY talks go, the main thing keeping him in check early on was if Ryan had a game in opposition to him, this was more of a fair discussion. That has changed a bit, because the other 'louds' like Dan won't necessarily confront Jeff in the same way, whereas when they're on the same side they'll fight for things a bit more. I think GOTY is mostly the same.

- There has been a changing nature in the content, particularly I think the Bombcast - but this is in part due to the different personalities that are now on it. I think for the most part the enthusiasm is still there. There are always ups and downs - try working in any job for 10 years, there's bound to be highs and lows, I think GB is the same way.

- They still crank out A LOT of content, which I think mostly has the flavour of GB stuff from times gone past. GBE are the frontrunners at the moment in terms of content, but there's still a bit coming from GBW as well. Again, things like UPF have a different dynamic to what they used to, but that's how things happen.

- Age (from everyone involved) is also a factor. I've been a member/follower of GB since follwing the Hotspot over on Gamespot, to Jeff and Ryan leaving, Arrow Pointing Down, to now. I am now 31 with 2 kids - a lot different to 10 years. Everyone is older. Some things that GB do don't click with me the same way they used to but that's cool.

- I'm an unashamed fan of Dan Ryckert. I also miss Ryan Davis to all heck - he was really the heart and soul of just everything.

- I don't feel as connected to you guys (the community) as much as I used to. What I mean by that is there are some threads that I'm pretty actively involved in and that are pretty cool. There are a whole bunch of new threads that come along that I just shake my head at. I think there's far more vitriol than there used to be. There's also much more 'dead/down time' where people aren't contributing to threads at all than there used to be. I miss the "Hamburger" thread.

But yeah, I can see how some people feel that there's been a change, and that may be perceived as negative. I still think Giantbomb is a pretty cool place