Since the move from Whiskey Media, what do you guys think of GB?

GB has dry spells every now and then - often due to release schedule or other big events. It'll sort itself out in time. And with this weeks ILM, we got a pretty good look at their situation and future plans - it's all coming along.

And since they announced there would be a BLLSL this year as well, they can pretty much count on me resubbing for 3rd time.

I find myself watching less Quick Looks than before. I'm still excited for the Bombcast every week, though.

I think they are still settling in to the new (old) ways of doing things. Give a month or 2 they will be back to the same great site we all know and love. Also i bet their E3 coverage will be much better this time around :)

I always give six months to a big change and then start to wonder if things are better or worse. I remember when they changed offices, I didn't know what to think. Six months later, I had seen so much great stuff from these guys that I knew they were still going to crank shit out with that "GB Crew" flavor that I adore. Hopefully, the same thing happens this time.

That said, I think the site is doing pretty well content-wise considering the huge move and cut in resources, lack of worthwhile games coming out, and the one-two punch of PAX East and (fucking!) E3 happening.

It seems like there are less reviews and quicklooks, which sucks because that's really the only content on the site I pay attention too. 
 
but overall I haven't noticed a decline in quality

Can't help but feel they've been making excuses for the last 2 years.

It seems like the typical modern "bigger is better" mentality. They seem to constantly want to be "bigger", but seem to forget that they built their fanbase in a god-damn basement.

I was disappointed with all of hte new video stuff (besides quicklooks) because their setup seemed kind of gimped compared to the old base.

However, with today's Alex hates Tuesday's video showing Vinny's plans for the studio, pretty much all of my worries were put to rest. They better let Vinny knock down those walls, or I will mail them a sledgehammer.

@Seroth said:

I find myself watching less Quick Looks than before.

Probably because there's less Quick Looks to actually watch. And most of them are Ryan and Patrick. Not hating on them, but a little variety is nice.

I personally think the quality of content is still pretty good, there just hasn't been enough of it. I don't blame them for it, it's just unfortunate. Hopefully they can turn it around after E3.

I agree with the majority, hate that there is a dry spell but understand the reasoning behind it. New Owners + E3 = little content to be made. I am sure Vinny is filling out a crazy number of purchase reqs for some corporate procurement team. It is a shame the whole deal was rushed so nothing could have be pre-purchased/built to shave every one some time.

I miss Norm, Will and Rorie hanging around with the GB crew. Their office space looks as messy as my apartment. Stuff bunched up against the walls. I wished they would find a better place for the alcohol bottles on their desks.

From the recent AHT's video, things will start rolling more after E3. They have a bunch of new equipment and they'll be getting a new space. Their current QL area is pretty much a tiny box room with some tvs in it. I'm surprised the Kinect actually works with so small a space.

@PopeShabooda said:

You know what I miss? The couch. I really loved watching the interaction between the group in that 'living room' set... it made me feel like I had an awesome group of friends I could secretly hang out with when I was supposed to be working.

These days I have one or two friends I see occasionally through cell phone cameras. Now they're not hanging out anymore... they're in cubicles, being grumpy.

This

I was always a big fan of the Happy Hour, but these things happen.

Once the team get everything set up regarding studio space and such, then I'm sure we'll get more varied content.

@NoelVeiga: I've worked for several large corporations as well and the idea of "it's been two months and things are barely off the ground so far" is cringe inducing. I can't imagine working in a place where things just don't get done and the blame is shifted on "email strings" and how things must take a long time because it's a big company. Things take a long time when you let them take a long time. There are tons of ways to expedite processes. I guess we just worked for different corporations.

I honestly thought that after three months coming up they'd be more used to the old GameSpot place, especially after working there every day. I also get a sense that Jeff genuinely missed GameSpot because even with the recent video Alex Hates Tuesdays, you get an absolutely genuine excitement from him when he's just touring around and showing Alex the place, and Jeff gets to see that office every single day.

It's a side I haven't seen before, and it was kinda surreal, but GiantBomb was designed in a way where they wanted you to know the staff and who they are. They're real people not just personalities for your entertainment. And I feel like I've come to understand Jeff a little better than I ever would've because of this move.

I could just be completely over-analysing this though!

It has been a feast or famine of sorts, I think it would be pretty boss if they did some videos of the office rehab and such. I know the site is video game centric but I find that the day to day stuff just as compelling. Like the jars videos. I find the subscription to be well worth it and I really am looking forward to the upcoming months.

@BPRJCTX said:

@big_jon said:

I have been a bit worried, the site seems to have less assets, and be making less quality content. In the days of Whiskey Media I was all for subscribing, but now, I am not really sure it is worth the cash... I really want to subscribe again, I just need a compelling reason to.

What do you guys think of the resent months of our loved Giantbomb.com?

Regardless of the quality of the site now, versus back then.

They're with CBS now.

You might as well trow your money out the window.

Back then, if was around here, I'd probably subscribe just to support the guys, but now...

They don't need your money anymore.

Evryything you give to this site, is going directly into CBS's large ass pockets.

I don't understand why everyone doesn't get this. Seriously, you are donating to a multinational corporation and no amount of delusion that it will make the GB crew more independent by your "donations" will change that. I am not criticising the crew or saying you should stop loving them, but I am sure CBS didn't buy it for your donations. With a big company behind them, they shuld stand or fall on what they deliver - if your donations get you exclusive content you are happy to pay for, then it is all good, but blind loyalty is sad.

I wish there was more Random PC game, but I understand Vinny and Dave are busy and they're moving their stuff and everything.

Overall, it's better, bigger green screen = better.

I think they're still pretty damned busy what with E3 coming up and still adjusting to the move. I mean, it's hard moving a company of any size, even a relatively modest one like GB. I'm guessing they're going to do nightly podcasts and impressions about E3 like they did last year, so the content will be flowing. We'll see in a few weeks or so.

@dudeglove: @Clonedzero: Completely agree with Clonedzero the analogy of moving house is not a good example you have to remember people have payed money therefore expect a certain level of content/quality just moving isn't a good reason otherwise the question becomes well if you are unable to provide content as expected by your customers due to your move why the hell did you move.

For me at least i am certainly questioning whether I'm paying money for the guys to cover video games or for them to play video games.

Not enough content and whatever content there is now, it feels like little effort or thought is put into it.

One thing I missed was video reviews, which are long gone now.

@SargeGulp said:

At least it's not Tested.

or screened, both have gotten worse

@jmood88: Yeh great, hate on your consumers/customers because they question your quality of service. I believe that's what they they teach on the first day of how to run a website. Marvelous attitude.

Not as good when it comes to the quality of the content but i'm hoping eventually they go back to how it was before. I also miss Will, Norm, Gary and Rorie. If they go back to making consistent, quality content then I will certainly consider resubbing.

People do love to complain. Give it a year, then you can complain as much as you want.

It's beem ok. The transition has been terrible though. Quick Looks have been fine, Radio shows have gotten better I think and Jar Times are the same as ever. Essentially the site has been run on those 3 pieces of content. The only other video thats been regular is TNT but almost all of them have been terrible besides the Diablo one which was pretty awesome.
 
I do miss the old office though

Besides from missing the random drop-ins from Screened (read Matt Rorie), Tested and even Comic Vine, Giantbomb seems as solid as ever. I've been enjoying this settling phase with all the office videos being posted, not to mention Vinny & Drews explorations during TNT. Really looking forward to their E3 coverage this year too which is right around the time corner.

Still love the site.

Bombcast alone is worth my $5 a month, since I listen to it on the way to work/while playing Diablo, and 3-4 a month is nice. Yeah thats technically free content, but it's still nice to support it.

In terms of other paid/sub content, as well as Quicklooks, yeah, I'd like to see more stuff, especially some of the PC titles that have been releasing/soon to be releasing that they seem to be skimming over ( Warlock ( Ryan would love it. ), the rerelease of Arcanum ( Vinny or Dave ), Endless Space ( It's the best 4x since MoO2, Ryan would go nuts over it. ) ), but I realize that every week now something has come up for at least two of them, with the only one still being able to do things on a daily basis being Patrick. Having been under crunchstyle situations like that, I'm willing to give them a bunch of slack to put things back together before I start bitching.

Now if it's early July and the only sub content is still Jar Time, and we still only get a few Quicklooks a week, then yeah, I'll start to get a little worried for the site.

@jmood88: Yeh I can agree on some of those points i just do not believe they have been (on the whole at least) represented on this thread.

I honestly liked the Sausalito vibe way better. Them in a basement, a crummy couch, and luchadeer. Even with Whiskey, it seemed like it got too big, or too involved, and I really hope, other than Giancarlo there is no Gamespot crossover. I tried watching a video a good year ago from Gamespot just to see what it was like back there, and I couldn't even finish watching it. I wanted to stab my eyes out, and stuff hot dogs in my ears. The entire GameSpot staff just seems so dopey now. I was no part.

@megalowho: And I am only adressing those people. I always find it weird when people take offense because you address the whiners while pointing out that not everyone is a whiner. It's an online forum, I can't talk just to them. That doesn't mean I think everyone is one of them.

@mnzy: I don't disagree that being able to keep business as usual until everything is set up in the new place sounds like a good idea, but I can absolutely see how everything from leases to the fact that Whiskey split in multiple pieces and people had to go on to do different stuff immediately absolutely prevented it.

The North Korea video justified any subscription for the next 5 years.

@Humanity said:

@NoelVeiga: I've worked for several large corporations as well and the idea of "it's been two months and things are barely off the ground so far" is cringe inducing. I can't imagine working in a place where things just don't get done and the blame is shifted on "email strings" and how things must take a long time because it's a big company. Things take a long time when you let them take a long time. There are tons of ways to expedite processes. I guess we just worked for different corporations.

Dude, two weeks from the move every other video included dragging someone out of a meeting, people were joking about having to spend time in training and HR stuff which, if you're being treated as a new hire, can take days at a time in any law-abiding corporation. They have to buy new stuff and make modifications to the building. I don't know which magical corporation you've worked for, but in all of the ones I've known shit like that requires budgeting and approvals, not to mention negotiations or just simply figuring out what you need, which is no easy task if you're plopped into an already running office where what you need may already be there in some way but you don't even know where.

I find it ridiculous that with the level of access these guys give their audience anybody who has worked for anything even close to the size of CBS would find a couple of months to go from being purchased to building a whole studio and acquiring material, all the while *continuing to output hours of content every week* to be "lazy".

Let me put it this way: had they completely shut down, no podcast, no videos, no news, no coverage, then yeah, maybe I'd see them being done by now to be a realistic target. As it is, with the current output, the run-up to E3, their own admission that they'd like to have been able to get things rolling a bit faster and the fact that one of them has actually reproduced in the interim? I honestly think you're being a bit of a dick.

@Contrarian said:

@BPRJCTX said:

@big_jon said:

I have been a bit worried, the site seems to have less assets, and be making less quality content. In the days of Whiskey Media I was all for subscribing, but now, I am not really sure it is worth the cash... I really want to subscribe again, I just need a compelling reason to.

What do you guys think of the resent months of our loved Giantbomb.com?

Regardless of the quality of the site now, versus back then.

They're with CBS now.

You might as well trow your money out the window.

Back then, if was around here, I'd probably subscribe just to support the guys, but now...

They don't need your money anymore.

Evryything you give to this site, is going directly into CBS's large ass pockets.

I don't understand why everyone doesn't get this. Seriously, you are donating to a multinational corporation and no amount of delusion that it will make the GB crew more independent by your "donations" will change that. I am not criticising the crew or saying you should stop loving them, but I am sure CBS didn't buy it for your donations. With a big company behind them, they shuld stand or fall on what they deliver - if your donations get you exclusive content you are happy to pay for, then it is all good, but blind loyalty is sad.

I assume that with "donations" you actually mean "purchases", right? Were you under the impression that they were a charity before? Because "everyone" may not be the side that's deluded here...

Content has been slim with nothing really unique going up, but I also know they don't have any equipment yet. Then again, that didn't stop them from doing dumb stuff when the site was first going up. They've been spoiled.

@NoelVeiga: I'm not trying to be a dick about anything really. I'm not going to get into a whole WELL WHERE I WORKED we did things differently! Every company has their own ways of doing stuff - I'm not doubting that CBS might have a ton of red tape about everything right down to the purchasing of pencils. They were able to acquire a bunch of new TV's and XBOX's fairly quickly so I assume it's not that bad unless the xbox and TV budget is totally separate from the other budgets. More or less I'm fine with how things are going. I wish I Love Mondays was back to the old format instead of guerrilla YouTube quality vlogs, but thats not a huge deal. My only real beef so to speak is the dichotomy of complaining about the lack of games to cover, and a drop in the quality of editing and organization all around. It would seem they would have more time to do that stuff now, since no games are coming out. Yet TNT's come around and they're like "well we totally forgot to even think of something to do for this week" when it would seem with all this extra time when theres no games to cover they'd be coming up with some cool ideas for TNT. Once again, not a huge deal cause when the Bombcast comes around I enjoy listening to it and Quick Looks with Jeff/Ryan/Vinny are usually a hoot - just you know, whats the deal with all that?

As someone who has fallen out of love with the Bombcast there isn't really that much else for me to go on. Some of the things they say on there now are just stupid, I don't know how to articulate it any other way than that. Not the stupid fun we all know and love, just plain stupid. I don't say this as a troll or to be incendiary, just as a disappointed fan. I find it incredibly hard to ignore the negativity (mostly if not all from Jeff) and inaccuracies, I used to be able to but even Bombcasts of old, which I often still listen to, were not like that. So far in 2012 I think I have only enjoyed 3 Bombcasts.

@meaninoflife42 said:

They gave us TWO lost Time Trotters episodes. That alone makes this move worth it.

I will give you that! That definitely made me happy.

TNT is pretty much the only thing left I get excited for, but even the Gods have not been kind to TNT lately. It's a slow time of the year. I'm just excited for all that studio space and all that equipment. Even so. I miss interaction with Will and Norm, I miss Rorie, I miss sofa's, I miss armchairs. I miss brick walls hell I miss wood panelled walls. Time will tell I guess.

@Humanity said:

@NoelVeiga: I'm not trying to be a dick about anything really. I'm not going to get into a whole WELL WHERE I WORKED we did things differently! Every company has their own ways of doing stuff - I'm not doubting that CBS might have a ton of red tape about everything right down to the purchasing of pencils. They were able to acquire a bunch of new TV's and XBOX's fairly quickly so I assume it's not that bad unless the xbox and TV budget is totally separate from the other budgets. More or less I'm fine with how things are going. I wish I Love Mondays was back to the old format instead of guerrilla YouTube quality vlogs, but thats not a huge deal. My only real beef so to speak is the dichotomy of complaining about the lack of games to cover, and a drop in the quality of editing and organization all around. It would seem they would have more time to do that stuff now, since no games are coming out. Yet TNT's come around and they're like "well we totally forgot to even think of something to do for this week" when it would seem with all this extra time when theres no games to cover they'd be coming up with some cool ideas for TNT. Once again, not a huge deal cause when the Bombcast comes around I enjoy listening to it and Quick Looks with Jeff/Ryan/Vinny are usually a hoot - just you know, whats the deal with all that?

Well, yeah, I don't disagree that the quality of the studio stuff has dropped. I'm just saying I understand how doing the studio stuff without a studio you know how to use and a group of people to man that studio could be hard. Those things take time to get themselves ironed out, and clearly somebody also made the call to prep a full blown site redesign at the same time, which I imagine is taking time away, too.

Like you said, the core "two guys in a room with a video feed of a game" stuff is still fun, but that's impacted by the lack of games, and the podcast still works.

So yeah, as a subscriber I can see how the lack of sub-only stuff, which has always been overflow stuff can make you feel like you're paying for nothing, but I can also see why it's taking a while to get back to an output where "and here's the bonus stuff" is a sentence that even makes sense.

Seems to me some of the staff are just downright burnt-out and bored with what they are doing. Brad and Jeff seem completely bummed out most of the time. Not enough Dave and Vinny having a kid has also had a really adverse effect on content. I guess that's why I like Patrick so much, he is the most enthusiastic of the lot.

I tried to stay optimistic about the change but I can't deny that I'm seriously bummed out about the lack of subscriber content. I love the banter and interplay between the duders so Jeff's Jar Time just doesn't do it for me. Take that out and then what's left?

Running of the Lanterns was awesome, as was Drew's story of his trip to North-Korea, I enjoyed that waaayyyy more than I thought I would but where's the Breaking Brads and Load Our Last Saves and Random PC Games and Brad Takes on the Darknesseses(es?) and Flight Club and... I get that there are major changes and responsibilities in their personal lives but the basic crew is a seven-headed beast, surely SOME of them can band together and act silly. There's plenty of games both old and new to make fantastic content with.

On the plus side, talk of a Magicka TNT and Marvel Ultimate Alliance TNT make me giddy and perhaps another Scrub League is due, together with their GameSpot colleagues or something.
 

Regardless of how everything turns out though, I'm in it for the long haul. I'm a premium member till september 2013 :/

Honestly Giant Bomb hasn't changed for me at all. I do miss seeing random Whiskey Media people show up for live stream events though.

@NoelVeiga said:

@Contrarian said:

@BPRJCTX said:

@big_jon said:

I have been a bit worried, the site seems to have less assets, and be making less quality content. In the days of Whiskey Media I was all for subscribing, but now, I am not really sure it is worth the cash... I really want to subscribe again, I just need a compelling reason to.

What do you guys think of the resent months of our loved Giantbomb.com?

Regardless of the quality of the site now, versus back then.

They're with CBS now.

You might as well trow your money out the window.

Back then, if was around here, I'd probably subscribe just to support the guys, but now...

They don't need your money anymore.

Evryything you give to this site, is going directly into CBS's large ass pockets.

I don't understand why everyone doesn't get this. Seriously, you are donating to a multinational corporation and no amount of delusion that it will make the GB crew more independent by your "donations" will change that. I am not criticising the crew or saying you should stop loving them, but I am sure CBS didn't buy it for your donations. With a big company behind them, they shuld stand or fall on what they deliver - if your donations get you exclusive content you are happy to pay for, then it is all good, but blind loyalty is sad.

I assume that with "donations" you actually mean "purchases", right? Were you under the impression that they were a charity before? Because "everyone" may not be the side that's deluded here...

Quite

@NoelVeiga said:

@Contrarian said:

@BPRJCTX said:

@big_jon said:

I have been a bit worried, the site seems to have less assets, and be making less quality content. In the days of Whiskey Media I was all for subscribing, but now, I am not really sure it is worth the cash... I really want to subscribe again, I just need a compelling reason to.

What do you guys think of the resent months of our loved Giantbomb.com?

Regardless of the quality of the site now, versus back then.

They're with CBS now.

You might as well trow your money out the window.

Back then, if was around here, I'd probably subscribe just to support the guys, but now...

They don't need your money anymore.

Evryything you give to this site, is going directly into CBS's large ass pockets.

I don't understand why everyone doesn't get this. Seriously, you are donating to a multinational corporation and no amount of delusion that it will make the GB crew more independent by your "donations" will change that. I am not criticising the crew or saying you should stop loving them, but I am sure CBS didn't buy it for your donations. With a big company behind them, they shuld stand or fall on what they deliver - if your donations get you exclusive content you are happy to pay for, then it is all good, but blind loyalty is sad.

I assume that with "donations" you actually mean "purchases", right? Were you under the impression that they were a charity before? Because "everyone" may not be the side that's deluded here...

You say tomayto I say tomarto.

Taking longer to get settled in then I expected so at this point the lack of content is starting to become more of an "issue" than it was previously.
 
I know they'll be back to their usual content schedule once they've got everything sorted and when E3 etc is out of the way, just wish there was slightly more content in the mean time, but oh well.

They say moving house is the most stressful thing in the world, so imagine moving company! Give them time and the content will come.

@Gizmo said:

Seems to me some of the staff are just downright burnt-out and bored with what they are doing. Brad and Jeff seem completely bummed out most of the time. Not enough Dave and Vinny having a kid has also had a really adverse effect on content. I guess that's why I like Patrick so much, he is the most enthusiastic of the lot.

I agree, if we're talking about Jeff, but Brad still seems to like what he does a lot.

Trials Evolution, Diablo 3, Asura's Wrath, Minecraft, just to name a few, he still gets excited about games.

Now, Jeff, i don't know what happened to the man, he's just so depressing to listen to now, he's always so meh about everything.

It´s still the same. Although it pisses me off how slow the site has been lately. I know E3 is down the road but man. It´s been like this for months. They should stop being so lazy.