This was...somehow not expected. Damn. Literally this evening I explained to a friend how when I was in high school Dan‘s internet content (first with the GI people, now here with Vinny, Abby, and Alex) served to make my isolated and depressed-ass life a little less isolated, depressed, and ass. I say this not to be the bummerest of bummers (though I have undoubtedly achieved this regardless), rather to say that as much as Dan gets passed off as a joke or nuisance (rightfully so often enough) just by virtue of being a stand-out Internet personality who actually (seems?) genuinely happy, he’s had a real impact. All that to say congratulations you ridiculous man, please continue to pump all your points into luck and that dark souls stat “resistance” that had zero reason to exist.
So Control... Ok, I’ll just say my experience in an attempt to explain why people’s take on it confuses me without invalidating their perspectives. Without having heard of it, I saw it on the PS4 store and looked up trailers and reviews to see what it was like. Everything I saw of that game seemed up my ally, so I bought it, played it in great quantities for the next four days, and with every intention of picking it up again on the fifth day, just didn’t. By the sixth day, I struggled to remember anything about it.
I swear I obsessively read every bit of lore I could find and I don’t remember anything. I have never had as little to say (good or bad) about a game I played so much of and the one thing I remember is struggling harder and harder to motivated to finish, which is just so weird because people are passionate about it and I like listening to people about their interests, and Control is interesting enough on paper that I do like hearing people have to say about it, I just wish I understood what everyone saw in it.
I only joined this community in 2014, and I remember I’d been enjoying the GoTY podcasts til I made the mistake of reading the comments. It was the year Destiny came out and everyone was absolutely miserable about it and Dan had been hired months prior so people complained about him a ton as well, especially in comparison to Ryan, and the general tone (sometimes implicit but more often not) was that it was a train wreck and there was a great deal of lament for years prior, which made me upset that I had somehow missed the “golden years” of Giant Bomb GoTY. Somehow, 2015 was worse, something-something Mario Maker, something-something Austin Walker, and Fallout 4 too I think? Don’t really remember, people hated it tho, to the point everyone was begging them to change the format.
After that, I went back to an older GoTY discussion to get a glimpse of the site in its heyday, (forget which one, so feel free to check them all I guess? Maybe 2011 tho) and saw people lamenting the choices for the various categories, the general energy of the crew and such. I wasn’t as much a part of the site from 2016-18, but according to the comments, last year at least was exactly the same. Here’s the thing: it isn’t so much that the crew didn’t listen to the community, it’s that they already did that last year (everyone was begging for some kind of change, even if what they got wasn’t it) and that for the first time, it was actually a pleasant experience for literally ANYONE, and it just happened to be themselves (I.e. the people creating the content). I understand if you don’t like the GoTY deliberations , I’m never a particularly big fan, but usually I attribute that to the community, not the crew. Just...I dunno, remember the past I guess? There’s a difference between valid criticism and baseless nostalgia for something that never actually existed in the first place.
I'd say that that the ratio of good advice to bad advice is better in this episode than it has been in the past. The main correction I would make is to the depression question. Exercise is actually a very good method for dealing with depression (It provides energy, gives you attainable goals, etc,), but it should never be the ONLY method employed. You should always find a therapist, get a support group of a few close family members and friends, and try to find things you enjoy participating in . If you decide to exercise and meditate as well, than that will certainly help.
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