Patrick Klepek leaves Giant Bomb

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Patrick Klepek said:
Haha. I'm not going to Nintendo, and I'm not becoming a community manager. :)

I'm also OK saying I'm not going independent and opening up a Patreon, either.

I did want to stop by and say hi, though. NeoGAF was one of my first homes--people forget I was a moderator way, way, way back in the pre-NEO days. You've treated me very well during my tenure at Giant Bomb, even when we haven't seen eye-to-eye. Thanks for that.
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You'll be missed at GB. If there's a spot opening up there, I'm going to apply.
 
Mushroomer25 said:
Giant Bomb has been great so far at creating a team that has a wide reach. Between the guys, just about every big genre & big game gets attention. They've got an excellent blend of personality types, which makes their content so exciting to watch. Part of the reason that Patrick was successful at the site, was because he didn't always fit in. He'd cover new subjects, and try to cover every angle. Diversity is the smart move for Giant Bomb. That doesn't mean hiring somebody that can't relate or work well with Alex & Vinny, just because they're a new opinion. But it needs to be considered.
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I don't really care that Giant Bomb have created their own insular bubble, but to hear that their fans think their coverage is even remotely comprehensive is crazy to me. If anything, they've been upfront that they don't feel the need to create exposure for games they aren't interested in.
 
Emerson said:
I don't give a shit who they hire or what their demographics are as long as they fit well with the rest of the group, and I trust that they'll do so as they always have so far.

In my view saying they have to/should hire a man or woman specifically are two equally inane statements.
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This isn't some massive, faceless corporation, this is a website with a small core on-air group of what 7 or 8 people, not including Danny or Mary or the visitors? They need to find someone who fits into the cult of personality that the site encourages.

While a female representative would be cool, as would an African American or Asian American or gay person, etc, I'd rather have another Ryckert who fits in than them trying to awkwardly fit someone in.
 
Dragon said:
Someone like Jason Schreier would work very well here, considering he already lives in New York I believe. And he would fill that niche pretty well.
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I'm not sure IIRC, but wasn't there an argument between Schreier and Jeff/Alex regarding Patron and Kotaku's policy? A bit of a divergence, this isn't related to the hiring discussion.
 
So, I read the first half of this thread and skimmed through some of the rest but couldn't find this (and I think this is a basic question): why will he be so missed at Giant Bomb? Everyone keeps saying stuff about the podcast and OK, but then there's comments about how great his work was.

What I'm saying is, would anyone care to link some of his notable work? I'm not a Giant Bomb guy and I'd love to see it if it's as good as advertised.
 
dimb said:
I don't really care that Giant Bomb have created their own insular bubble, but to hear that their fans think their coverage is even remotely comprehensive is crazy to me. If anything, they've been upfront that they don't feel the need to create exposure for games they aren't interested in.
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Why would you want to see someone who's not interested in a game cover it? If I don't like sports I'm not going to become an announcer.

Good luck to you Patrick. I wasn't feeling you at first but you became one of my favorite bombers. I miss you on the bombcast.
 
That's a real shame, Patrick provided some nice critical thinking skills when he talked about games and it was always cool of him to go out of his comfort zone and try different genres. I wish him well on his new ventures, and thank him for everything he's done on the site.

I didn't watch a lot of his videos, and really, it felt like he kind of left after he moved back home. I just started getting into his and Alex's podcast this year, so that's a bummer to hear that he's going. His articles will be missed too, as they at least felt like GB was still kinda holding on to some journalistic side.
 
jholmes said:
So, I read the first half of this thread and skimmed through some of the rest but couldn't find this (and I think this is a basic question): why will he be so missed at Giant Bomb? Everyone keeps saying stuff about the podcast and OK, but then there's comments about how great his work was.

What I'm saying is, would anyone care to link some of his notable work? I'm not a Giant Bomb guy and I'd love to see it if it's as good as advertised.
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He did a lot of solo streaming stuff for the site (Spookin' with Scoops and Spelunky) and his radio show with Alex (Bombing in the AM) was pretty great too.
 
Deadstar said:
Why would you want to see someone who's not interested in a game cover it? If I don't like sports I'm not going to become an announcer.
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I never said I disagreed with the policy, but there are huge gaps in what Giant Bomb covers. I don't think the staff has very rounded tastes.
 
It feels like yesterday that Patrick was just hired on, and the cool thing to do was shit-talk about how supposedly poorly he fit into the group. Ah, how things change.

Best of luck, Patrick. I have no doubt you will continue to do great stuff, whatever that stuff may be.
 
What!? That's a massive shame, that guy is one of my favourites of the crew. I actually interviewed him very briefly to help me with a journalism assignment and he was so incredibly pleasant, I can't believe he's leaving.

Love Spookin' with Scoops, Bombin' on the AM, etc. Hope the guy does great at whatever he does next, I'll definitely listen to that Bombcast.
 
antigoon said:
Her viewpoints and perspectives on things due to her status as a queer woman have certainly made Idle Thumbs more interesting to me.
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Sure, some of those anecdotes have been interesting, but her being a homosexual female is not why I find her interesting or enjoy listening to her. I like her personality and what she has to say is all.
 
Scoops will be missed. Enjoyed his content and his podcast.

That news editor position for the NY office makes lots more sense now though. So I guess that's the silver lining. GBEast is getting bigger.
 
jholmes said:
So, I read the first half of this thread and skimmed through some of the rest but couldn't find this (and I think this is a basic question): why will he be so missed at Giant Bomb? Everyone keeps saying stuff about the podcast and OK, but then there's comments about how great his work was.

What I'm saying is, would anyone care to link some of his notable work? I'm not a Giant Bomb guy and I'd love to see it if it's as good as advertised.
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He broke the story on the XBO losing Kinect, I remember that was a big thing at the time. He gets some great scoops when he can.
 
Zefah said:
Sure, some of those anecdotes have been interesting, but her being a homosexual female is not why I find her interesting or enjoy listening to her. I like her personality and what she has to say is all.
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I think it's understandable to think that perhaps large parts of her personality are shaped by her being a female, and by being homosexual. I think it can also be bad to say "I like her personality, and her personality has nothing to do with her gender or sexuality." Those things shape who we are and how we act and I believe it's okay to acknowledge it being a relevant factor.
 
Wow... big news.

Sounds like he has something big lined up. Congrats!!!

Wonder if they plan to hire someone to replace him. Dan was a homerun hire....dont see them topping that! Dan has made it my favorite site.
 
Damn, thanks for the laughs Patrick and the articles, gonna miss you.

As for who they hire, I don't care if its an alien as long as they fit in and are on par with what we expect from Giant Bomb then I'm good.

It's annoying to see people get so worked up about who they hire next, rabble rabble we want a woman because of gamersgate. Please just stop, if they fit the mold they will be hired, man, woman or even alien - Jeff and company know what will fit best for them.
 
Smash88 said:
Damn, thanks for the laughs Patrick and the articles, gonna miss you.

As for who they hire, I don't care if its an alien as long as they fit in and are on par with what we expect from Giant Bomb then I'm good.

It's annoying to see people get so worked up about who they hire next, rabble rabble we want a woman because of gamersgate. Please just stop, if they fit the mold they will be hired, man, woman or even alien - Jeff and company know what will fit best for them.
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indeed m8
 
Destiny in top 10 list does that to people.
Good luck Scoops. Enjoyed his work, I have to say he is a damn fine writer who can express his though in a clear and concise way.
 
Alo81 said:
I think it's understandable to think that perhaps large parts of her personality are shaped by her being a female, and by being homosexual. I think it can also be bad to say "I like her personality, and her personality has nothing to do with her gender or sexuality." Those things shape who we are and how we act and I believe it's okay to acknowledge it being a relevant factor.
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I guess I don't really agree with that. I mean, of course those traits and others will influence how a person experiences life, but it seems wrong to focus on them. I don't think anyone would say that they are a fan of Jeff Gerstmann because he's a straight white home-owning male in his 30s and that he is the person he is today because of those things.
 
dimb said:
I don't really care that Giant Bomb have created their own insular bubble, but to hear that their fans think their coverage is even remotely comprehensive is crazy to me. If anything, they've been upfront that they don't feel the need to create exposure for games they aren't interested in.
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Comprehensive might not be the best word. But from my perspective, they cover a wide range of genres, tastes, and opinions - especially for an 8-person operation. Patrick specifically went out of his way to try games that the rest of the crew would never invest time into (Roguelikes, Visual novels, horror games).
 
MrWakes said:
Since everyone seems to be yelling names I can't help but dream of a day where Brian Altano works there, I love that man.
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After Dan's blatant ignorance on anything (other than games) made me unsubscribe from the podcast, Brian Altano joining the team would absolutely make me listen again, without a question. Listening to more of Dan would be a small price to pay for more of Altano's comedic genius.
 
joey_bone_bomb said:
After Dan's blatant ignorance on anything (other than games) made me unsubscribe from the podcast
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What in the world? Why would his ignorance bother you so much? He might not know much about a lot of things, but I don't see how anyone finds him offensively ignorant. He's proven multiple times to be very open minded and willing to try things. He's really a pretty humble guy.

Hating (or being disgusted at or whatever) a person because they don't know things seems really intolerant to me, especially when that person is happy to learn new things.
 
Zefah said:
What in the world? Why would his ignorance bother you so much? He might not know much about a lot of things, but I don't see how anyone finds him offensively ignorant. He's proven multiple times to be very open minded and willing to try things. He's really a pretty humble guy.

Hating (or being disgusted at or whatever) a person because they don't know things seems really intolerant to me, especially when that person is happy to learn new things.
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I won't rest until I see him lick a snail trail !
 
Zefah said:
I guess I don't really agree with that. I mean, of course those traits and others will influence how a person experiences life, but it seems wrong to focus on them. I don't think anyone would say that they are a fan of Jeff Gerstmann because he's a straight white home-owning male in his 30s and that he is the person he is today because of those things.
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I... Kinda... Would say that.

Maybe not in those words, but I'd say that
 
joey_bone_bomb said:
After Dan's blatant ignorance on anything (other than games) made me unsubscribe from the podcast
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WTF. While he might have some weird gaps in his knowledge of the world, he's like the sweetest dude ever and knows his shit when it comes to games. He has awesome stories as well and is quite entertaining. How anyone can hate on Dan is beyond me.
 
Alo81 said:
I think it's understandable to think that perhaps large parts of her personality are shaped by her being a female, and by being homosexual. I think it can also be bad to say "I like her personality, and her personality has nothing to do with her gender or sexuality." Those things shape who we are and how we act and I believe it's okay to acknowledge it being a relevant factor.
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Bingo.
 
Mushroomer25 said:
Comprehensive might not be the best word. But from my perspective, they cover a wide range of genres, tastes, and opinions - especially for an 8-person operation. Patrick specifically went out of his way to try games that the rest of the crew would never invest time into (Roguelikes, Visual novels, horror games).
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This is exactly why I really ended up liking Patrick in the long run. I thought it was great how he started venturing into some Japanese games that the other duders wouldn't touch with a 10 foot pole. Hearing Patrick bring up Danganronpa quite a bit in the GOTY podcasts was a "HE REMEMBERED AND HE LIKED THEM" moment for me. Plus his venture into more horror games, and more visual novels like 999 and VLR.

I'm basically saying I hope the next new hire has or is willing to get into games that the others won't get into. Which at this point just seems to be most of what Patrick used to cover aka Japanese games and horror games. Dan and Jason are fantastic new hires because they all very different games from the rest of the crew. Jason is into fighting games, and with Dan there's finally someone who actually likes whatever Nintendo is putting out. Dan's general upbeat and positive attitude is one of the best things to happen to Giant Bomb.
 
I stopped listening and watching GB content a few years ago, right before Ryan passed, but I always enjoyed Patrick and wish him the best.
 
Risible said:
WTF. While he might have some weird gaps in his knowledge of the world, he's like the sweetest dude ever and knows his shit when it comes to games. He has awesome stories as well and is quite entertaining. How anyone can hate on Dan is beyond me.
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Seriously. Dan is such an affable and entertaining guy. Perfect addition after Vinny and Ryan left.
 
Risible said:
WTF. While he might have some weird gaps in his knowledge of the world, he's like the sweetest dude ever and knows his shit when it comes to games. He has awesome stories as well and is quite entertaining. How anyone can hate on Dan is beyond me.
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Sweet probably isn't the word I would use, but he's definitely a likable guy.
 
1. Dan is fucking awesome. He, Drew, and Jason carried GB on their backs this year.

2. Are we even sure they are hiring another person? I like Patrick a lot but I can't say that that has anything to do with the news or articles he's posted on the site. I get my news from GAF+Twitter long before its ever on Giantbomb.
 
jholmes said:
So, I read the first half of this thread and skimmed through some of the rest but couldn't find this (and I think this is a basic question): why will he be so missed at Giant Bomb? Everyone keeps saying stuff about the podcast and OK, but then there's comments about how great his work was.

What I'm saying is, would anyone care to link some of his notable work? I'm not a Giant Bomb guy and I'd love to see it if it's as good as advertised.
Click to expand...
Patrick Klepek TED X talk about Discourse in the Internet Age: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ydw__QSy8pE

Bombin' The AM with Alex Navarro, basically a morning radio show with many notable guests.

Podcast interviews with game developers in Dumptruck:
http://www.giantbomb.com/podcasts/interview-dumptruck/

Patrick Klepek articles which were insightful reads:

Our Internet Empathy Problem (Flappy Bird and hatred)

Not Everyone Wants to Be a Pilot (on horror game audiences and how some people prefer watching others streaming than playing)

The Collusion of Money, Drama, And Pride (Fighting Game Community collusion)

A Conversation With Wolfenstein: The New Order's Jens Matthies

How Making a Video Game About Your Life Can Get You Fired (about David S Gallant's telecomm game)

Everyone has to Make Their First Game (Ring Runner devs)
2522200-rr+-+steam+sale.jpg


Facebook, Oculus, and Trust

Gaming's Women Raise Sexism Awareness With #1reasonwhy Movement on Twitter

The YouTube Snake Is Eating Itself

The Evolution of Death in Games (Shadow of Mordor)

Some World Records Happen at 3AM (Spelunky and Bananasaurus Rex)

Our Relationship With Physical Media Is About to Change

Kinect Died in the Uncanny Valley

Nothing Can Stop Spelunky

The Little Fighting Game That Could (Skullgirls costs)

The Very, Very Large Black Bars of The Evil Within

Raising Mental Illness Awareness Via Games

Suddenly, Big Budget Games Love Horror Again

Learning to Praise the Sun (Dark Souls)

The Unpaid Bill That Launched a Thousand Starships (EVE Online where he went to Iceland, great travelogue video here)
iJXFXEd014XTE.gif


So, Fez II

What Happened to [Blank] Horror Game? (updates on SOMA, Routine)

Crowdfunding's Secret Enemy Is PayPal

The Blair Witch Project Interview

David Vs. Goliath (Monster Hunter)

Whoah, didn't realise I had read so many articles over the years :P

Oh and Spookin' for Scoops where he plays horror games.
2670066-spookin.gif

One of the best moments was his run in with the Oculus Rift: http://www.giantbomb.com/videos/spookin-with-scoops-10-01-2013/2300-8023/
Twice! http://www.giantbomb.com/videos/spookin-with-scoops-10-09-2013/2300-8058/
 
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