Most review sites have links to purchase (Pitchfork, Polygon). I don't think that it's a big deal and the battle against that was lost long ago. I rather GB get that bag then us pretend they are some beacon of ethics or strive to be. Chill.
@heatdrive88: Fans of the site have been saying this for years and guess what? Most have moved on. Which is bad news for people like me that want in the very least for the site to continue to survive. Viewership is not great on YT/Twitch -- it was sad seeing Nextlander and Jeff pull in much bigger audiences when GB itself streamed at same time, not great splitting same audience 3-ways. Every video once had tons of comments and now very few. It's like G4 all over again.
I have no problem with this video and other content. There has always been stuff I skip on the site but they have neglected their core base and the audio quality has gone down as a whole so continuing to pay for more contractors is just dumb -- just as G4 blowing what little budget they had on more contractors was a dumb move.
At this rate, I just hope they allow fans to pay for the hosting itself for old stuff or at least share it out properly. This site really is a goldmine and it'd be sad if it vanished entirely which has happened to too many sites over the years. I would love if they found new audiences to continue to support it and even enable wierdo content but it just feels out-of-touch that of the few new things they added this is one of them in recent months since buyout.
@mrplayersix: I think they're trying new things, trying to generate new revenue, attract new users and be entertaining to the most new customers - especially without a site without a valuable premium subscription anymore - don't forget they were just acquired.
Not sure what it is, but it's different. if it's better or worse is for you to decide. I'm fairly certain it's a 100% cold hearted business decision though.
This is such a slap in the face for longtime fans. They can't mix their audio right anymore but give this person money for their show on GB? This isn't going to generate anything. No way. Most people won't sit through more than 3 minutes of this.
Go back and watch any random video from a decade ago and tell me what you see. Chemistry, genuine clever well thought out comedy bits, cutting-edge live shows they still aren't replicated (check out the XCOM one where they have a guest, multiple live feeds, 3 in-person setups, all cut together seamlessly with great audio -- impossible now).
I hate these myths of "they have to try new things and see what works" when they stopped doing what used to work and are seemingly incapable of it. Mods have been trigger happy for so long silencing any negative feedback in fear of upsetting the site staff at reading it but it's really just gone so far where the product is nowhere where it used to be. All I could ever hope for now is being able to see the old stuff before all that vanishes when the site goes under (Jeff didn't even believe in his own site anymore...)
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