ThatPainting

Jeff bought some drinks in Reno, just to have a try.

@sethmode: Well, yes, the comments are going to be repetitive, but I doubt that everyone commenting has read the 800+ comments on these deliberations, and it isn't reasonable to expect that. And as for your point about the staff not needing a bunch of repetitive comments, that isn't entirely true. If there is a large portion of the community that feels the same way about something, making their voices heard is important for change.

I think that the most unfortunate thing about these podcasts was at the very end, when Brad was reading off the winners, that Abby felt compelled to literally boo NieR and PUBG. It came of as petty and childish. At times these discussions seem like they are getting away from the spirit of what I believe the GOTY list should be: a celebration of the games that people played that year, and that moment really drove home why I didn't enjoy this years deliberations as much as other years.

I do want to shout-out Ben. He really proved to me in these discussions that he is a good fit for Giant Bomb, he had detailed and non-obvious arguments, as well as a really good attitude about how he approached these categories in terms of being receptive to other peoples' arguments. I also think that Jeff was more open to other peoples' arguments during these discussions than previous ones, the prime example being Dream Daddy, which he explicitly stated that he didn't like, but was OK with being on the top ten of this stacked year based on the arguments presented.

I think that the most unfortunate thing about these podcasts was at the very end, when Brad was reading off the winners, that Abby felt compelled to literally boo NieR and PUBG. It came of as petty and childish. At times these discussions seem like they are getting away from the spirit of what I believe the GOTY list should be: a celebration of the games that people played that year, and that moment really drove home why I didn't enjoy this years deliberations as much as other years.

I do want to shout-out Ben. He really proved to me in these discussions that he is a good fit for Giant Bomb, he had detailed and non-obvious arguments, as well as a really good attitude about how he approached these categories in terms of being receptive to other peoples' arguments. I also think that Jeff was more open to other peoples' arguments during these discussions than previous ones, the prime example being Dream Daddy, which he explicitly stated that he didn't like, but was OK with being on the top ten of this stacked year based on the arguments presented.

Also, MOE-EYE WAS ROBBED.

I mean, sure, but if Abby isn't meant to talk critically about games, why is she a part of a site feature that involves 25 hours of arguing about the year in gaming?

Personally, I'm glad that Abby is a part of the deliberations; the more voices the better. However, her inexperience shows, and it can be difficult to listen to. This is perfectly understandable, as it's her first round of GOTY podcasts, but criticism is important for improvement.