Something went wrong. Try again later

Moth_Pope

This user has not updated recently.

541 9 37 11
Forum Posts Wiki Points Following Followers

My thanks to Ryan Davis

I am not a blogger by any means and despite being a member here for a long time, I've also never been one for joining in on the forums or video comments. Today, however, I felt the need to write a little something. It's absolutely nothing people haven't already said, and I don't expect many views, I just wanted to put something into words. For my own sake, I suppose.

There are a lot of fans out there comparing today's tragic news about Ryan Davis to a celebrity death (essentially someone who you don't necessarily "know" in person, yet still feel very attached to in some way) and I completely agree.

I've been a huge Giant Bomb fan - a huge Ryan Davis fan - since 2008 and started a paid subscription when the service launched in 2010. I have to admit, I didn't follow the guys back in the Gamespot days but quickly learnt of their history when Jeff Gerstmann's infamous firing took place. I kept an eye on things ever since and was excited when Giant Bomb launched.

Watching their How To Build A Bomb episodes now is both incredibly sad but also very humbling. It shows a very uncertain start for a company, but a start with so much belief and passion from the guys to make it work. This was infectious and, as all of you guys know, the fan base grew rapidly. Deservedly so.

From reading various comments, a lot of people seem to think there are set rules to how upset you can be about situations like this. But I'll go on to say the following: I don't claim to be feeling anywhere near the same amount of emotion his family, friends, wife and co-workers will be feeling right now and for a long time, but on a completely singular note, I was hit really hard by this news. I've consumed 100's of hours of Ryan Davis entertainment over the last 5+ years. For a long stretch, GB was the only site I bothered with online; I've chosen to watch Giant Bomb videos over watching anything on actual television and have the Bombcast on at work almost every day (I'm oddly coming to the end of my second run through of all episodes), so it's going to be incredibly hard to accept this loss. And really, I don't want to.

When I was a kid, I couldn't grasp how my mum was so upset when Princess Diana died. She never did meet and never would have met this stranger, yet felt an incredibly strong connection to her and such sadness for a long time once she passed. I began to understand this reaction the older I got... but it isn't until now that it's really hit me. Ryan is my Lady Di, I guess.

I didn't cry over this, nor did I think I would... at first. But seeing all the tributes pouring in on various websites and Twitter, and the photos from his wedding just 5 days (5 days!) before he died where he was in such good spirits, I did shed a few tears. It was impossible not to.

Thank you for all the great times and laughter, Ryan. Despite the fact I never met you and you didn't know I even existed, your humour - along with the rest of the GB crew - got me through some tough times of my own (the Kinect Launch weekend got me through a particularly difficult period). I'm glad we live in an age of archiving as your legacy will literally live on forever. Although we'll never get any new content from RTD, there are 100's of amazing moments readily available to watch over and over again. And that's really comforting.

I have to admit, though... I was really looking forward to his opinions on the new consoles when they came out and the inevitable launch videos that would've come from it. I guess that's just one of many things we'll never find out about from this funny, caring man. A man taken far too young.

Wishing everyone the best during this insanely difficult time.

Start the Conversation

Quests...

So I'm not much of a blogger... infact this is the first - and perhaps only - blog post I've ever made anywhere. It's just never really interested me, yet when there are points to be had... it automatically becomes something I'd want to try out.
 
Don't hate me.

1 Comments