Sargon

And I think that is a big part of the problem. So often now we have the rotating chair(s) of freelancers who I don't care about. No offense to those people, but often they just show up for one or more podcasts with very little introduction and the show goes on as if they were always there. While the other hosts on the show may already have a relationship with those guests, the viewers/listeners may not. It shouldn't be assumed that we have insider knowledge and are already familiar with the freelancers who are brought in. One key aspect that made the original Giant Bomb great was the relationship between the team members, and the consistency/stability that enabled the consumer to develop a bond with each of those members over time. With the way people cycle in and out now, it is difficult to make a connection with anyone. I can watch or listen to random people talk about video games anywhere.

You make a good point about in-person interactions. My company heavily embraced the at-home and hybrid work models well before the pandemic, and much moreso after the pandemic started. Just recently, we received a communication that they are working on a plan to start bringing a significant portion of that staff back into offices in some capacity. I definitely agree that something is lost by not having at least occasional person-to-person contact. I'm not sure how responsible remote work is for the downward trajectory of Giant Bomb, but it certainly hasn't helped.

After all the changes over the past several years, I think I have finally come to terms with the fact that Giant Bomb isn't for me anymore. I discovered Giant Bomb in early 2012 and have been a subscriber and listened to every single Bombcast (and Beastcast) over that period of time. I rarely interact with the video content and am almost exclusively a podcast listener, but the podcasts alone have been enough for me to maintain my subscription over all these years. Giant Bomb has weathered many blows over the years, from the loss of Ryan, to the departure of the Big 3 (Vinny, Brad, Alex), to Jeff's dismissal, and for the most part they have been able to soldier on. Jeff was the last link that really connected me to the site, but I still wanted to give the new talent a chance and I continued listening on a weekly basis. The podcasts weren't anything near the level that they had attained in the past, but there was still enough there to keep me coming back. Unfortunately, following the latest layoffs of Jess and Jason (among others), I feel the podcast has taken a huge step backwards and has not recovered.

I don't really know why I'm posting this or what I'm looking to get out of it. The obvious answer is, if you don't enjoy the podcast, just stop listening to it. It has taken me awhile to get to that point, but now I am finally there. I have fallen a little bit behind on the podcast and I'm listening to episode 775 as I type this, but I think that is going to my last episode. I will also not be renewing my subscription when it expires in December. The thing that feels really weird is the reluctance to sever the connection with the site that I have been a member of for over 10 years. I do feel a sense of loyalty to the site, even though so much of it has changed. I almost feel guilty for moving on, similar to a relationship that has flamed out but people stay in it because they are afraid of hurting the other person (I was always terrible about breaking up with people). I have come to the realization that it's time to get out, but that doesn't make it any easier.

Anyway, I still wish the best for Giant Bomb, and I hope other people are still enjoying the content. Hopefully the current team can find a way to stick around and evolve the site, and I'll leave the door open to giving them another shot in the future should things change significantly. I'm not expecting any big hoorah out of this post, but I guess I would just like to thank everyone who has been a part of Giant Bomb and has provided over 10+ years of enjoyable content for me. Good luck to everyone in the future!

I know this isn't your exact use case, but I regret buying the Switch Lite for my son instead of a full-on Switch that can be docked. Honestly, I would just get a carrying case for your existing Switch and use that on the go. It really isn't THAT much bigger than the Lite.

@ydross: It's a much different climate now than it was when Giant Bomb started. Starting a new site in the same vain as GB likely isn't financially viable at this point in time. Sure, people could get together and go the Patreon route like Jeff, Nextlander, etc. but even that feels like a saturated market. I think when this site is gone it will be gone, and there will never be another community like it.

He certainly will, but I wouldn't be shocked if he finds a way on his own terms sooner than later.

I have to admit that I don't really connect with any of the current GB team like I did the previous, but this still sucks. I liked Jason and Jess and didn't see this coming. It has been a slow downward slide for years though, and unfortunately it doesn't appear that things are going to get any better.

Is Ricky Starks supposed to be a face, because what part of repeatedly making fun of a guy's lisp is going to make him likeable? I have no idea what they are trying to do there.

I sympathize with this topic and I struggle with the same thing. I have a job that allows quite a bit of listening time while I work, so I have a wide range of podcasts that I listen to in order to fill the time - Bombcast, Nextlander, Gerstmann, Fire Escape, Completely Unnecessary, RetroRGB, Conan O'Brien, Dean Delray, Talk is Jericho - just to name a few!

The problem I have is that my mentality is such that I feel like I need to listen to every episode, in order, of every podcast on my list. Very rarely do I ever skip something that is on my list. In a typical week, I can usually get through most or all of my preferred podcasts, but all it takes is one atypical week to throw everything out of whack and start to compile a backlog. Add a few more atypical weeks and suddenly I'm behind multiple weeks on a dozen or more podcasts.

The answer seems simple, to focus on my absolute favorite shows and skip the rest when I don't have time, but for whatever reason that is easier said than done for me. At this point, I almost feel like I'm living vicariously through the hosts of many of these different shows, since I spend so much more time listening to people talking about gaming than I do gaming myself. At some point, I definitely think I need to flip that script and focus more on active participation in my interests while scaling back on who I'm following.

I'm having trouble taking ROH seriously with Jonathan Gresham as the champion. I don't know anything about the guy, but he is like 5 feet tall. The top of his head barely even clears the top rope when he's on the apron and Tony Schiavone towered over him in last week's interview. He may very well be a great technical wrestler, but having him as the top champion in the company just doesn't compute for me.