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Giant Bomb #8 | It's a Hit!

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It's good to put that out there so it's perfectly clear where they stand when it comes to fans defending them from criticism. I'm sure there are some misguided folks out there that will actually do some self reflecting on this stuff but, unfortunately, the majority of the poisonous rabble couldn't care less. I'm convinced they a pure evil.
 
Posts like these scare the shit out of me. All I hear in my head is "Doomed to repeat it, doomed to repeat it...."

As i have said earlier i was taught World war 2 in MODERN STUDIES!! not History that was for victorian london. I had a choice to either learn about world war 2 or the scottish government.
 
It's amazing how he hit the nail on the head with this letter and it was delivered within a day of things blowing up.

Sign of a pro.
 
I sure do like that Gerstmann. He's always been a stand-up guy.

damn straight

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As someone who actively wanted the diversity discussion to happen, I'm fine with Jeff not speaking about the criticism in detail. Sure GB could use a bit of diversity or whatever, but the biggest issue here is the rape threats and other miscellaneous bits of hate speech. I think we need to address that before we can move on to more civil topics of discussion.

Navarro said earlier that they can speak to the hiring criticisms themselves, and separately from the shitstorm that happened after that. It's not unrealistic to imagine that they've talked to the people who raised the original concerns privately. I'm fine with that, because making that discussion public (and not whatever results from that conversation, which is a different thing) doesn't really do anything helpful at this point in time.
 
Good point well made. I think I'm curious just because I wanna skip to the part where we see those decisions being potentially made.

Change is addictive.
I hear ya. I can't wait for GB East to make their first hire. Vinny and Alex are great but I feel they need a third personality type to mesh together. Hopefully Robyn won't mind standing in for that person if she's got time.
 
I just caught this. Whatever happened to the ability to see who quoted your posts? Did they remove it?

Anyway, yeah, it's the best kind of dumb out there as far as I'm concerned.

Here's some more classic promo packages.

Money in the Bank 2011 - John Cena vs CM Punk

Wrestlemania X9 - Vince McMahon vs Hulk Hogan (The match ended up being WAY better than it had any right being)

Wrestlemania X7 - Stone Cole Steve Austin vs The Rock

Thanks! I'll check them out. To get into it beyond that, should i just jump into watching it when it's live?
 
To be honest I'm not blown away by his focus on inclusion when the criticism directed towards theme revolved around them not being inclusive. It's a well written piece and they no doubt had to address the things some of their fans said but I'm disappointed by the shitstorm taking focus from the genuine concerns their fans have. Still, there's plenty of time in the future for the site to respond to that; but as it stands I'm hoping for something more than an apology on behalf of people they have no control over.
 
Posts like these scare the shit out of me. All I hear in my head is "Doomed to repeat it, doomed to repeat it...."

Yeah, most of the people who started WW2 were well-versed on the events of WW1, having lived through it. World War 3 will not be caused by a guy on neogaf
 
Content of the letter aside, it's easy to forget how skilled Jeff is at writing. I wish he did it more often.

And its always interesting when he mentions that Brad is better than him (since Jeff's stuff is not bad)

No question. I also very much enjoy Brad and Alex when they are writing (I want Guns of Navarro back!) It's a shame that the only regular written content is solely from Patrick.

Indeed.

Sucks that it went away.
 
Yeah, most of the people who started WW2 were well-versed on the events of WW1, having lived through it. World War 3 will not be caused by a guy on neogaf

the reason we havent had a ww3 is because we actually did learn our lessons from ww1
for the most part
 
I'm glad Jeff took the time to write that and post it on the main page of the site, but is my memory fuzzy or did Ryan or Jeff post a "leaked" screen shot of a chat transcript where one of them called Leigh Alexander a psychopath (legit question. I recall seeing this posted but I can't seem to find it)? And, was openly mocking a guest on their livestream part of the "don't be a dick" mantra? Nor Ryan's "faggot" outburst in the last Running of the Lanterns? (Which, to his credit, he promptly apologized for, but still). Also, he wrote this letter without any mention of the context on what set it off, so for anyone who hasn't been following the issue that deeply, it just comes across as odd and sidestepping the issue that sparked this affair.

I guess I don't understand the letter other than to be a rallying cry about GB being inclusive (which it has a bit of a spotty record of being). I thought Patrick's E3 post on tumblr to be a little more focused and substantial, even if most of the complaints leveled against him (the rolodex issue) was brought up last year by a few of us. I guess if another year goes by without any sort of changes, do we just wait again and again?

I dunno. From both sides, this entire episode is just weird and crazy, and I can't help it's all Vinny's fault for leaving. :( traitor.
 
To be honest I'm not blown away by his focus on inclusion when the criticism directed towards theme revolved around them not being inclusive. It's a well written piece and they no doubt had to address the things some of their fans said but I'm disappointed by the shitstorm taking focus from the genuine concerns their fans have. Still, there's plenty of time in the future for the site to respond to that; but as it stands I'm hoping for something more than an apology on behalf of people they have no control over.
There's little they can do right now. They have their budget, and won't be hiring for at least another quarter, and more likely we're looking at six months to a year before more openings.

Even if they were to lay someone off to force an opening (which I doubt anyone wants) it's unlikely CBSi would let them immediately hire a replacement.

All they can do now is attempt to have more diverse guests.
 
To be honest I'm not blown away by his focus on inclusion when the criticism directed towards theme revolved around them not being inclusive. It's a well written piece and they no doubt had to address the things some of their fans said but I'm disappointed by the shitstorm taking focus from the genuine concerns their fans have. Still, there's plenty of time in the future for the site to respond to that; but as it stands I'm hoping for something more than an apology on behalf of people they have no control over.

What do you want them to do ?
 
nice letter from jeff and smartly actually avoids justifying the new hires, because that just plays more into the narrative that caused the gigantic shit show in the first place.
 
I'm glad Jeff took the time to write that and post it on the main page of the site, but is my memory fuzzy or did Ryan or Jeff post a "leaked" screen shot of a chat transcript where one of them called Leigh Alexander a psychopath (legit question. I recall seeing this posted but I can't seem to find it)?

Yeah, that happened. It wasn't completely unwarranted though. Ryan's comment was in reaction to Leigh who had been writing crazy stuff on Twitter and making weird polls and asking weird stuff from people that made it seem like it came from a litteral crazy person.

I wish I could remember the specifics though.
 
As terrifying as it can be I honestly think mutually assured destruction prevented WW3 at least for now.
Oh, definitely. Without nukes, either the Cuban Missile Crisis or the Berlin Airlift period would have led to open war in all likelihood.

Even though that is likely a false idea to begin with. I really hope we wouldn't destroy Russia or China if they launched a ton of nukes at us.
We totally would. In fact, we have several systems specifically in place to destroy anyone who destroyed us.

Then again, so do the Russians. Read up about Dead Hand.
 
Wait, why are you guys talking about World War 3 ?


Because Dan is going to cause it because he is ignorant to the Africa campaign from dubya dubya two.


Oh, definitely. Without nukes, either the Cuban Missile Crisis or the Berlin Airlift period would have led to open war in all likelihood.


We totally would. In fact, we have several systems specifically in place to destroy anyone who destroyed us.

Then again, so do the Russians. Read up about Dead Hand.

Wasn't there some high ranking officer recently who expressed doubt over whether or not the US would actually launch a huge nuclear attack if there were already a huge amount of nukes in the air? I can't remember exactly, I might be wrong.
 
What do you want them to do ?

Not ignore the issue? Make a statement on it? Have more diverse guest? Hire diverse free-lancers?

It's not my job to tell them what to do, it's their thought and opinions on the subject that matter, and I'm sure there's a multitude of things they could think of given they're much smarter men than I. However I don't think ignoring the issue until their next hire is a great idea.
 
I'm glad Jeff took the time to write that and post it on the main page of the site, but is my memory fuzzy or did Ryan or Jeff post a "leaked" screen shot of a chat transcript where one of them called Leigh Alexander a psychopath (legit question. I recall seeing this posted but I can't seem to find it)?

It was a conversation between Dave and Ryan, not sure who leaked it, nor the intent. It happened when Leigh was under attack, and counterattacked by lashing out at the entire GB community. That just made it escalate, and from the outside it kinda seemed like she was falling apart.

And, was openly mocking a guest on their livestream part of the "don't be a dick" mantra?

I don't agree that they did this.

Also, he wrote this letter without any mention of the context on what set it off, so for anyone who hasn't been following the issue that deeply, it just comes across as odd and sidestepping the issue that sparked this affair.

If you're not following this deeply, the message you get is: it's not okay to harass people who criticize GB for its business decisions. I'm not sure why you'd need more detail if you're not really following the story.

I guess if another year goes by without any sort of changes, do we just wait again and again?

Are you a premium subscriber? You could not give them money if you disagree with the direction of the website.
 
What do you want them to do ?

People want an explanation as to why the only people who have Dan Ryckert's qualifications and experience are white males. It's a combination of systematic, industrial, and cultural issues that existed long before GiantBomb and the game industry itself. An explanation as to why a different hiring practice wouldn't solve the problem could help. From there it would be up to the giant bomb community if they want to make a tradeoff to help alleviate the larger problem that needs to be solved

I mean, I personally don't to hear it, but I get the sense that it's the answer people are looking for.
 
nice letter from jeff and smartly actually avoids justifying the new hires, because that just plays more into the narrative that caused the gigantic shit show in the first place.

There are no way to disclose hiring decision without getting sue, how can you prove that one person fit the editors better? How do you prove one person had better personality? How do you prove you like one's "writing" more than another?

Beside, disclosing hiring decision also meant you have to disclose some of the candidate's private data.

At the end of the day, just like how you believe in their professional opinions, you just need to have faith in their hiring decision. Otherwise, vote with your click.
 
I know how oxbow lakes are formed, but am not 100% on all things World War II.

I know about drumlins, prevailing winds, and other glacial landforms too

I DO NOT KEEP POSTING IN THIS THREAD ABOUT IT
 
Not ignore the issue? Make a statement on it? Have more diverse guest? Hire diverse free-lancers?

It's not my job to tell them what to do, it's their thought and opinions on the subject that matter, and I'm sure there's a multitude of things they could think of given they're much smarter men than I. However I don't think ignoring the issue until their next hire is a great idea.

Giantbomb doesn't really hire freelancers. They have in the past but it seems like that's not a big part of the site anymore.

I guess they could have promised to bring more guests on, but that'd seem like an odd promise to make.
 
Good response from Jeff. I doubt he could really respond to the original issue anyway.

I think that's maybe one of the most important things to take away from this. There won't be a public response to this, nor should there be. Hopefully the duders will take the valid criticisms into consideration, but anybody expecting any kind of explanation or validation won't be seeing any. That's not how business works, I'm sorry. You can be happy or you can be bummed, but ultimately the finer details of private people's employment is not the public's business.

I hope everyone just continues moving on so we can just get back to enjoying our hobbies instead of fighting about them.
 
About all Jeff can do is apologise and crack down on their own forums - which is overdue. Not much more he can do about the crazies as they will just latch on to the next flashpoint and spread their hate under that banner. Just as the advocates will move on to their next perceived injustice.

I bet Jeff was privately livid over some of the initial criticism but that doesn't mean he wanted any part of a rabid defence force acting on his behalf - genuine or just in name. That extreme shit isn't ever acceptable.
 
To be honest I'm not blown away by his focus on inclusion when the criticism directed towards theme revolved around them not being inclusive. It's a well written piece and they no doubt had to address the things some of their fans said but I'm disappointed by the shitstorm taking focus from the genuine concerns their fans have. Still, there's plenty of time in the future for the site to respond to that; but as it stands I'm hoping for something more than an apology on behalf of people they have no control over.

The brunt of the criticism directed at GB was because they didn't speak out against the harassment that was supposedly being done in their names. You're right that it's not something they have control over, ultimately, but the calls for GB to do something about the way CousinDangereux was being treated were way, way way louder than the 'white guys' complaints.

Also, ultimately, I'm not sure I agree that Jeff needs to address people's criticisms about their hiring, at least not openly. He probably should keep this all in mind for next time, of course, but GB is not run openly, and their business decisions are not really open for scrutiny by the general public. People are free to comment, of course, but they're also not entitled to a response.
 
Thanks! I'll check them out. To get into it beyond that, should i just jump into watching it when it's live?

Well, now is a bit of a down period since they put the title on the ever hated "good guy," John Cena due to the legitimate injury of the guy that most people actually do love, Daniel Bryan, but yeah, I'd say give RAW a shot and see if you dig it. If the current product ends up not being your cup of tea, but you're still interested in checking the better moments like this classic, then let me know and I'll be glad to share.
 
Its a pretty typical corporate response. Distance yourself from all the anger and never address the heart of the issue. Its only funny because they've spent so much time making fun of publishers releasing similar statements of nothing.
 
There are no way to disclose hiring decision without getting sue, how can you prove that one person fit the editors better? How do you prove one person had better personality? How do you prove you like one's "writing" more than another?

Beside, disclosing hiring decision also meant you have to disclose some of the candidate's private data.

At the end of the day, just like how you believe in their professional opinions, you just need to have faith in their hiring decision. Otherwise, vote with your click.
even if jeff did talk about it, i don't think he'd get into the specific science of it where details would need to be disclosed.

more along the lines of "these guys were doing gb-style content and that gave them the competitive edge" style explanation.
 
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