Feed Jeff Gerstmann

Dave Snider sent out a call-to-arms just a bit ago via his Twitter account wanting to know what each of us would like to see in a Whiskey Media subscription service, and the idea sort of blew my mind. I know the community here has been discussing the possibility of such a thing off and on for a while now. I'm still a little iffy on the idea; I've never touched any of that weird give-them-money stuff that IGN and GameSpot have had going on for so long. But I have to throw some consideration Whiskey's way. This company is one of the most fluidly dynamic groups of people I've encountered with any organization within the greater media as a whole, and not just within the games press. They have been doing something genuinely unique over the last couple of years and I completely respect that. It even excites me that Whiskey Media could really take off and start a sort of shift regarding how people deliver and consume information, and it makes me a little nervous that there is still the very real possibility that they could fail.

The first thing I'd like to see from a Whiskey Media subscription service is quite simple: low cost. The problem with charging any site-visiting hobbyist any amount of money for web content is that dude, we're already paying for a lot of crap! We're buying games at $59.99 MSRP. Our internet costs us more every month than our car payments. We're paying for World of Warcraft accounts, Xbox Live service, Netflix, and extraordinarily overpriced AT&T wireless bills just so our iPod and phone can be the same device. Even the rich geeks are poor after all of these expenses, and the majority of us here are in college or high school, or working shit jobs just to get the bills paid. Money sucks, and so I hope whatever Whiskey has planned won't make in suck much harder.

My second pick is a feature I think the lot of us have been clamoring for since Giant Bomb launched. You guys need to get with the program and introduce HD quality to your video player here, and if charging me a modest subscription price every month or three months or year is what finally enables you to do that, then you have my money. It plays on my guilt-strings that I would rather hop over to YouTube and watch stuff like this amazing StarCraft II trailer in 1080p rather than service this site with an extra click. It would also do wonders for the fidelity of features like Quick Looks, where checking out the game is the primary objective of anyone watching.

Third, I'd definitely be interested in subscriber-only video downloads on Whiskey Media's original content. I think it would be all right for the downloaded files to be in SD, because we all know how expensive both streaming and offering direct downloading for HD content would probably be, and that alone might circumvent your subscription-collecting efforts. You might want to throw a brand-related watermark in the bottom-right corner (of the downloaded file only, not the streaming one) so dudes aren't throwing your videos up on YouTube or something.

A fourth feature that springs to mind is that paying subscribers could bypass the 5,000-point moderation barrier on Wiki Edits. This probably fits better with any new website prospects than the current line-up of brands, but I sure as hell don't even have 1,000 points on Comic Vine or Anime Vice. Getting past this limitation might spur more people to pay, and more people to edit pages. Then again, it could also inspire virtual graffiti all over your databases, so obviously this is one that would take require some serious consideration before implementing.

That's all that comes to mind for the time being. I'm anxious to see this company really take off, and I'm willing to lend a hand by whatever means my finances, waking state, or personal schedule (can I send you guys a portfolio and resume!?!?) will allow. Do this right and you've got my support. Do it wrong like, say, IGN of whatever, and you'll probably earn the scrutiny of many more users than just myself. Keep it clean, simple, and fresh, just like all of your sites are, and I'm sure you'll have done a good job. 

Dave Snider sent out a call-to-arms just a bit ago via his Twitter account wanting to know what each of us would like to see in a Whiskey Media subscription service, and the idea sort of blew my mind. I know the community here has been discussing the possibility of such a thing off and on for a while now. I'm still a little iffy on the idea; I've never touched any of that weird give-them-money stuff that IGN and GameSpot have had going on for so long. But I have to throw some consideration Whiskey's way. This company is one of the most fluidly dynamic groups of people I've encountered with any organization within the greater media as a whole, and not just within the games press. They have been doing something genuinely unique over the last couple of years and I completely respect that. It even excites me that Whiskey Media could really take off and start a sort of shift regarding how people deliver and consume information, and it makes me a little nervous that there is still the very real possibility that they could fail.

The first thing I'd like to see from a Whiskey Media subscription service is quite simple: low cost. The problem with charging any site-visiting hobbyist any amount of money for web content is that dude, we're already paying for a lot of crap! We're buying games at $59.99 MSRP. Our internet costs us more every month than our car payments. We're paying for World of Warcraft accounts, Xbox Live service, Netflix, and extraordinarily overpriced AT&T wireless bills just so our iPod and phone can be the same device. Even the rich geeks are poor after all of these expenses, and the majority of us here are in college or high school, or working shit jobs just to get the bills paid. Money sucks, and so I hope whatever Whiskey has planned won't make in suck much harder.

My second pick is a feature I think the lot of us have been clamoring for since Giant Bomb launched. You guys need to get with the program and introduce HD quality to your video player here, and if charging me a modest subscription price every month or three months or year is what finally enables you to do that, then you have my money. It plays on my guilt-strings that I would rather hop over to YouTube and watch stuff like this amazing StarCraft II trailer in 1080p rather than service this site with an extra click. It would also do wonders for the fidelity of features like Quick Looks, where checking out the game is the primary objective of anyone watching.

Third, I'd definitely be interested in subscriber-only video downloads on Whiskey Media's original content. I think it would be all right for the downloaded files to be in SD, because we all know how expensive both streaming and offering direct downloading for HD content would probably be, and that alone might circumvent your subscription-collecting efforts. You might want to throw a brand-related watermark in the bottom-right corner (of the downloaded file only, not the streaming one) so dudes aren't throwing your videos up on YouTube or something.

A fourth feature that springs to mind is that paying subscribers could bypass the 5,000-point moderation barrier on Wiki Edits. This probably fits better with any new website prospects than the current line-up of brands, but I sure as hell don't even have 1,000 points on Comic Vine or Anime Vice. Getting past this limitation might spur more people to pay, and more people to edit pages. Then again, it could also inspire virtual graffiti all over your databases, so obviously this is one that would take require some serious consideration before implementing.

That's all that comes to mind for the time being. I'm anxious to see this company really take off, and I'm willing to lend a hand by whatever means my finances, waking state, or personal schedule (can I send you guys a portfolio and resume!?!?) will allow. Do this right and you've got my support. Do it wrong like, say, IGN of whatever, and you'll probably earn the scrutiny of many more users than just myself. Keep it clean, simple, and fresh, just like all of your sites are, and I'm sure you'll have done a good job. 

Some cool ideas there, I especially like the video download suggestion. Of course you could do it before through add-ons with Firefox but it would be nice to go through a more official channel, as well as HD.

Agreed. 
That 's really all I have to say, lol.

How about a live webcam of the office? 

" How about a live webcam of the office?  "

" @The_Laughing_Man said:

" How about a live webcam of the office?  "

1. Pretty sure that'd be against the law, or at least their rules. 2. It's not all the time that entertaining stuff is going on there.  For the most part, they're actually working, which would be pretty boring to watch. "

" How about a live webcam of the office?  "

I would like to download the Kessler Kam... And all the TANG episodes too.

" How about a live webcam of the office?  "

" @The_Laughing_Man said:

" How about a live webcam of the office?  "

1. Pretty sure that'd be against the law, or at least their rules. 2. It's not all the time that entertaining stuff is going on there.  For the most part, they're actually working, which would be pretty boring to watch. "

" But what if someone was sitting in a corner of the room having a running commentary on the non-events in the room? "

How about...subscribers get first dibs on playing with the crew on TNT.

" @Azteck said:

" But what if someone was sitting in a corner of the room having a running commentary on the non-events in the room? "

24/7? "

Birdseye view uStream camera that is pointed straight at the floor.

I like your points, except the last one. I am glad there is a point limit because it filters legit contributors from harmful contributors. Unless you say, once you pass the limit on one site, you get "1 free pass" to bypass the limit on a sister site. Since the majority of users are probably interested in 2-3 Whiskey sites, I think this would be helpful.

I don't give a damn what they do. Just as long as I don't lose what I already have. That's right. I'm looking at you Activision and EA. I know Activision hasn't implemented it yet, but they're in talks.

" How about...subscribers get first dibs on playing with the crew on TNT. "

" @FluxWaveZ said:

" @Azteck said:

" But what if someone was sitting in a corner of the room having a running commentary on the non-events in the room? "

24/7? "

Of course. I wouldn't settle for any less than that. "

" @Azteck said:

" @FluxWaveZ said:

" @Azteck said:

" But what if someone was sitting in a corner of the room having a running commentary on the non-events in the room? "

24/7? "

Of course. I wouldn't settle for any less than that. "

Thats what the Kessler Kam is for.Theres one almost everyday. "

Let me just say what everybody's thinking: don't make the subscription feature deprive normal users of anything. I don't want to pay for quests or shit like that.

 No thanks. I like the guys, but I don't ever want to pay money to access stuff on a website. If they do go that route the first time that I can't watch a video, or need to wait X days before I can watch it, is the day I stop using the site. I realize that it costs money and all that, but I don't want to pay a monthly fee just to get access to the whole site. I personally don't think it's worth any amount of money beyond seeing an ad every now and then.
 
The HD video idea I could care less about as the High quality setting we have now is more then enough for me. For the subscribers only videos idea, as I said above, if I find myself clicking on a video only to be greeted with a "To watch this video you need to sign up for a Giant Bomb Platinum Account! Only $x.xx a month or $xxx.xx a year duder!" then I'm done with the site. Bypassing the wiki edit thing is just a bad bad bad idea. The reason it's in place is so that the mod's don't have to worry about idiots going in and editing stuff and adding in pictures of dicks or just copy pasting FUCK CUNT WHORE FAG JEW NAZI LESBIAN OBAMA all over the pages. The majority of griefs and trolls can't be bothered to take the time to write a couple good articles to reach the 5,000 point range so that they can do it, but if they just had to pay $5 a month you would see a lot of people doing it.
 
Just my two cents on the topic.

" @Interfect said:

" @Azteck said:

" @FluxWaveZ said:

" @Azteck said:

" But what if someone was sitting in a corner of the room having a running commentary on the non-events in the room? "

24/7? "

Of course. I wouldn't settle for any less than that. "

Thats what the Kessler Kam is for.Theres one almost everyday. "

But.. it's not 24/7.. "

" Would you pay  to get more KK? "

Also, if they ever locked away things like the Endurance Run videos behind some kind of pay gate then they may get into legal trouble as they are now making profit on a companies game that they are not giving back to them. Same thing could be said for the TNT segments.

I liked the 1UP show and I also liked Co-Op by the Area 5 guys, but now that they've moved to EGM Now and you need to pay to see their videos, I won't be seeing any worthwhile content from them any longer.

" @Interfect said:

" Would you pay  to get more KK? "

I wouldn't because that would make them seem more forced than they already are. "

None of that shit sounds worth 15$ a year.

" I liked the 1UP show and I also liked Co-Op by the Area 5 guys, but now that they've moved to EGM Now and you need to pay to see their videos, I won't be seeing any worthwhile content from them any longer. "

" True they are kinda forced. But they, IMO they are more entertaining then they are forced. What do you think Kessler should do to make them more "real" and overall better in your opinion? "

" How about a live webcam of the office?  "

I don't think I could pay a subscription fee to a gaming website and feel it justified the purchase.  I wouldn't mind paying $25.00 - $30.00 a year for an emblem by my profile name, indicating I contributed and maybe got a shirt out of the deal.

" @The_Laughing_Man said:

" How about a live webcam of the office?  "

This.  Can we get one in the bathroom too? "

"  No thanks. I like the guys, but I don't ever want to pay money to access stuff on a website. If they do go that route the first time that I can't watch a video, or need to wait X days before I can watch it, is the day I stop using the site. I realize that it costs money and all that, but I don't want to pay a monthly fee just to get access to the whole site. I personally don't think it's worth any amount of money beyond seeing an ad every now and then.   The HD video idea I could care less about as the High quality setting we have now is more then enough for me. For the subscribers only videos idea, as I said above, if I find myself clicking on a video only to be greeted with a "To watch this video you need to sign up for a Giant Bomb Platinum Account! Only $x.xx a month or $xxx.xx a year duder!" then I'm done with the site. Bypassing the wiki edit thing is just a bad bad bad idea. The reason it's in place is so that the mod's don't have to worry about idiots going in and editing stuff and adding in pictures of dicks or just copy pasting FUCK CUNT WHORE FAG JEW NAZI LESBIAN OBAMA all over the pages. The majority of griefs and trolls can't be bothered to take the time to write a couple good articles to reach the 5,000 point range so that they can do it, but if they just had to pay $5 a month you would see a lot of people doing it. Just my two cents on the topic. "

Photo sets of Brad photobombing and Jeff in a lab coat.

" @Interfect said:

" True they are kinda forced. But they, IMO they are more entertaining then they are forced. What do you think Kessler should do to make them more "real" and overall better in your opinion? "

I'm not sure there's anything that could be done to make them seem less awkward to me, in my opinion.  Other funny office videos of them in the past all had some type of "goal" (showing off what crazy stuff they got in the mail, doing dumb crap like the Surströmming video or the Coke drinking contest) but the Kessler Kams basically follow a formula that consists of the new intern showing how crazy it is working at Whiskey Media.  They just don't seem natural. "

I'll pay 60$ a year on the condition that once a month Brad sends me a voice mail containing sexual innuendo.

" @SoothsayerGB said:

" @The_Laughing_Man said:

" How about a live webcam of the office?  "

This.  Can we get one in the bathroom too? "

I just want one facing the bathroom door so we can see all the awkward walking in on people. "

" Makes sense. Kessler should probably start "accomplishing" or at least showing different things things on his kam. But what would you have him do or show? Besides eat nasty food for our entertainment. "

Good ideas. Offering peripheral features without depriving regular users of content is the best arrangement.
 
I'd also suggest (maybe in lieu of the edit restriction thing, which could go bad) exclusive access to giveaways of swag, drinks, and the like. They get a lot of crap in the mail that they could be giving away to people who would appreciate it more.

Let me get this straight. You'd pay money to watch a trailer in HD on GiantBomb, rather than just watching it for free on Youtube?
 
Subscriber only videos will not work, for many reasons. One of the major ones, is that there is nothing Whiskey could do to stop anyone from downloading the videos and uploading them to Youtube.

" @The_Laughing_Man said:

" How about a live webcam of the office?  "

1. Pretty sure that'd be against the law, or at least their rules. 2. It's not all the time that entertaining stuff is going on there.  For the most part, they're actually working, which would be pretty boring to watch.  And I really don't care about any of the points listed in the op, so a subscription would still not interest me. "

" Against the law? Wtf? "

" @Interfect said:

" Makes sense. Kessler should probably start "accomplishing" or at least showing different things things on his kam. But what would you have him do or show? Besides eat nasty food for our entertainment. "

Aside from random discussions that the Kessler Kams presently consist of, I'm not sure.  I don't dislike them as they presently are, don't get me wrong, but I definitely wouldn't pay for more of them. "

" I don't think I could pay a subscription fee to a gaming website and feel it justified the purchase.  I wouldn't mind paying $25.00 - $30.00 a year for an emblem by my profile name, indicating I contributed and maybe got a shirt out of the deal. "

I would like automatic entry for contests when something is being given away, and special chat rooms for the live videos like the TNT.  I hate having to use an external service.  And maybe some Ryan nudity?

Not gonna pay more than $20 a year, so just a heads up. 
 
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Finish the Fight.  07.27.10

Those are some nice ideas, but not any I really care about except for maybe HD video.