Giant Bomb GOTY 2014 - Destiny Has Brought Us Here

EmCeeGramr said:
XCOM is GOTY 2012, it's barely ever mentioned again, nobody ever talks about playing it, or the phone/tablet versions, or the well received expansion, or the major fan mod scene with stuff like Long War, and Patrick is the only one who shows any increased interest in turn based strategy games (IIRC he actually called them out on this when they couldn't muster any interest in Fire Emblem).
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I think they're doing us a collective service by never mentioning that travesty of a top 10 list ever again.
 
EmCeeGramr said:
XCOM is GOTY 2012, it's barely ever mentioned again, nobody ever talks about playing it, or the phone/tablet versions, or the well received expansion, or the major fan mod scene with stuff like Long War, and Patrick is the only one who shows any increased interest in turn based strategy games (IIRC he actually called them out on this when they couldn't muster any interest in Fire Emblem).
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Maybe Destiny should have been #1 then.
 
LiK said:
Yea, sometimes you see all the flaws in a game and give it the score you think it deserves. And yet, you still love the shit outta it.
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Yep sometimes reviewers try their best to stay objective at times by scoring the game with the general public in mind. It's why we sometimes see the review text not matching the review score. Reviewer may love the game, but understand it has faults that many people won't like, so the review may gush at times or the reviewer will gush about it in other places, but the score will say otherwise.

And like I said before the person's opinion could change for better or worse after the review is posted. So it is feasible a game scores low but later becomes more appreciated for the things it did, even revered, or like in the case of GTAIV become less revered in many people's eyes after time has passed.
 
Yo who cares about GOTY 'fairly' tho

Giant Bomb GOTY. GIANT BOMB GOTY. "Fairly"... what are you thinking? What is this? This ain't democracy! This is GB, SON! If they glassed one another over games that would be more in line with what I expect than some kind of voting system
 
JayEH said:
Still bummed Wolfenstein didn't take number 10. It should have. I think everyone but Brad and Jeff thought it was a better game and Vinny had no opinion since he hadn't played much.

Listening to them debate is somewhat entertaining but I wish they would just switch to a voting systems for controversial games. Yeah it wouldn't make for good podcast material but it would settle things fairly. If Brad felt very strongly about Destiny and that's fine but kicking and screaming about it to be on the site's top ten list was unnecessary. Even Jeff at one point after thinking it through said it shouldn't be on the list. It felt like Vinny just wanted to move on and pushed for everyone to give Brad what he wanted.

Like in past years they've said "that's what personal top 10 picks were for". I mean Jeff and Vinny felt very strongly about Luftrausers but you didn't see them trying super hard for it since they could always personally put it on this list.

I guess I'm just frustrated since I just listened to a 4 hour podcast with a lot of it being an argument over the NUMBER 10 game on the list. Just feels like every year there's some dumb debate on whether a game that shouldn't be on this list should be there because of one person.
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But.. that's like ... the reason these deliberations are fun.

If they "voted" on the games or tried to be "fair" or whatever you'd have the list made in 30 Minutes and you would have a list just as full of compromise as it is now and a lot more predictable to boot.

People passionately defending their favorite games (or ranting about games they dislike) is what makes these podcasts fun. The argumentative stalemates and strategies to push a particular game are unavoidable.

I think some are way too emotionally invested in what the final list looks like. We know Wolfenstein was like 10-2. We heard what they think about the game. Does whether the game is on the list or not really change that much?
 
I guess I'm experiencing dissonance over the fact that 6 out of 8 participants disagreed with placing Destiny on the top 10 list at all, that it was a strong runner-up for Most Disappointing, and that, for all of Brad's passion for the game, it wasn't even his personal game of the year.
 
I listened to this second show last night, or was it the third? Anyway, it really stuck out how many times everyone said PROFOUNDLY DISAPPOINTING, I must have heard that exact phrase over 20 times. These guys are professional writers.
 
Never did pop in here and give my thoughts after listening yesterday. It was sort of a mediocre list mainly caused by the mediocre year. Few people had games they really wanted to fight for which made it a bit less interesting, then the biggest fight of all was over a bad game anyways. I went through the same process as Brad and Jeff. I invested the dozens of hours to raise my light level. Destiny is a bad game that does not respect its player base.
 
Dan kept saying that the Donkey Kong Country Returns games are some of the best platformers of all time, but Tropical Freeze didn't even make it into his Top 10. Did he just forget?
 
I am so glad Dan went all in on Mario Kart 8 and held the line against what Brad and Jeff thought about the game.

Honestly I'm stunned Brad so strongly defended Destiny despite the fact practically everyone there is so down on the game and has been since it came out. Brad has always come off as the one person who is like "Well this game is fun!".
 
The thing that made the Destiny argument so weird to me was that unlike the discussion over other games on the list, where the opponents of those games were mostly against them being on the top ten because they either hadn't really played them or were just indifferent towards them, everyone at that table had played Destiny and most of them actively disliked the game. Yet, Destiny won where those other games got cut.
 
EmptyCanO'wupass said:
The thing that made the Destiny argument so weird to me was that unlike the discussion over other games on the list, where the opponents of those games were mostly either against them being on the top ten because they either hadn't really played them or were just indifferent towards them, everyone at that table had played Destiny and most of them actively disliked the game. Yet, Destiny won where those other games got cut.
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Such is the power of Brad.
 
EmptyCanO'wupass said:
The thing that made the Destiny argument so weird to me was that unlike the discussion over other games on the list, where the opponents of those games were mostly either against them being on the top ten because they either hadn't really played them or were just indifferent towards them, everyone at that table had played Destiny and most of them actively disliked the game. Yet, Destiny won where those other games got cut.
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It was a war of attrition. At a certain point nobody wanted to hear Brad argue with Alex anymore. It's a strategy that someone employs every year and it gets annoying IMO. I've listened to too many of these.
 
I don't think Alex got his way a single time during these deliberations. That's weird and uncomfortable. (Because he seems like a decent guy and his bad arguments were no worst than the other bad arguments.)
 
Nymphae said:
I listened to this second show last night, or was it the third? Anyway, it really stuck out how many times everyone said PROFOUNDLY DISAPPOINTING, I must have heard that exact phrase over 20 times. These guys are professional writers.
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They weren't writing? They were were having long debates in a casual setting. Everyone has specific phrases and words they are going to end up repeating when they are engaged in long discussions in an informal setting.
 
AntiFacebook said:
Maybe he just likes other genres more.
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I considered that, but he had 3D World as his #3 last year.

http://www.giantbomb.com/articles/dan-ryckert-s-top-10-games-of-2013/1100-4811/

Maybe he didn't like it as much, but the way he talked about it on the Bombcast made it seem like it was his favorite platformer since Rayman Origins at least.

Edit: Going back to the yesterday's Bombcast, he says "I know it's definitely going to be on my personal top 10". It seriously seems like he had a serious change of heart or just forgot.
 
Zen_Arcade said:
First off, I'm not even talking subjectivity, I'm talking logical inconsistencies within their own deliberations. It makes zero sense that a game that got called one of the top three disappointing games of the year can get called one of the ten best by the same group of people. It makes zero sense that Far Cry 4 can get into the top three, when they had a whole section of the podcast shitting on the template that Ubisoft games use (And I'm saying this as a huge Far Cry 4 fan who would put it at least in his own top five of the year). Even within their own deliberations their logic doesn't follow. I'm not talking about my personal opinion here, their own logic for these lists makes zero sense when compared to each other.

Then they shouldn't even bother doing the list. If the groups frame of reference for the releases that came out this year is so small that they can't make a top ten list without using one of their own top three disappointing games of the year then they should just stick to their own personal top tens.
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Agreed. This was not a good year for GB goty stuff. Perhaps it's a reflection of the poor year for games in general. I hope this was the last year they do their goty stuff in this format. It doesn't work and these sorts of contradictions kind of gnaw at the site's credibility.
 
Aaron D. said:
(snip)
The compete failure to respect this process and it's participants boggles my mind. It's a fluid and scatter-shot process, informal and unpredictable. So much so that a relative unknown like Guilty Gear can make a last second entry/win in the Best Looking Game category. That's the beauty of it. The nominees and winners are infused with the site's collective personality.(snip)
.
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Your entire post was fantastic, but I just wanted to highlight this part. To add: it's just a joy listening to these guys go through a process that we're all going through as we make our individual deliberations about what affected each of us. I hope that people aren't using the GB GOTY talks as some kind of formal stamped validation of collective games media. It really is a celebration of cool shit, enthusiastically debated amongst friends who love all of this stuff anyway. Couldn't care less what number 1 is. We need more of this.
 
patapuf said:
But.. that's like ... the reason these deliberations are fun.
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I really enjoyed Days 1-4 but couldn't finish Day 5. There's advocating for your favorite games and forming tenuous alliances, and then there's 2 hours of throwing a tantrum about Destiny in the face of the rest of the staff's opinions. I'll reiterate that the best GOTY podcast they've ever done is the first one, specifically because it was such a positively minded and in depth look at the best games from that year. Now, even if there's some decent analysis to be found here and there, it's mostly just exhausting. I guess I just don't enjoy hearing how the sausage is made, at least when it comes to whittling down the final list of good games.
 
Rez said:
I don't think Alex got his way a single time during these deliberations. That's weird and uncomfortable.
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He's the main reason Jazzpunk is in the top 10 at least. Also, he was probably like, second most vocal about Mario Kart 8, and that ended up being on.
Also, Alex probably plays the most games and has more opinions because of it. There are long stretches where some of the other guys don't talk at all, but Alex had an opinion about most of the categories.
 
megalowho said:
I really enjoyed Days 1-4 but couldn't finish Day 5. There's advocating for your favorite games and forming tenuous alliances, and then there's 2 hours of throwing a tantrum about Destiny in the face of the rest of the staff's opinions. I'll reiterate that the best GOTY podcast they've ever done is the first one, specifically because it was such a positively minded and in depth look at the best games from that year. Now, even if there's some decent analysis to be found here and there, it's mostly just exhausting. I guess I just don't enjoy hearing how the sausage is made, at least when it comes to whittling down the final list of good games.
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The last day of the GOTY podcasts is always a slog. I almost never finish it.
 
Rez said:
I don't think Alex got his way a single time during these deliberations. That's weird and uncomfortable.
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Yeah, Alex surprisingly took the high road a few times by not wanting to fight for games only he seemed to have an affection for.

Brad on the other hand, will gladly take the low road and cut you with a knife if you get in his way, fool.
 
megalowho said:
I really enjoyed Days 1-4 but couldn't finish Day 5. There's advocating for your favorite games and forming tenuous alliances, and then there's 2 hours of throwing a tantrum about Destiny in the face of the rest of the staff's opinions. I'll reiterate that the best GOTY podcast they've ever done is the first one, specifically because it was such a positively minded and in depth look at the best games from that year. Now, even if there's some decent analysis to be found here and there, it's mostly just exhausting. I guess I just don't enjoy hearing how the sausage is made, at least when it comes to whittling down the final list of good games.
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MGS4 vs GTA 4 was a good debate. I think the year is best when there's two games that the staff is evenly divided upon like 2008 and also 2011 GOTY between Saints Row and Skyrim.
 
Is there a place where I can download the old GOTY podcasts? I want to listen to the Skyrim/Saints Row IV conversation again. And I don't remember the Red Dead conversation very well.
 
JayEH said:
MGS4 vs GTA 4 was a good debate. I think the year is best when there's two games that the staff is evenly divided upon like 2008 and also 2011 GOTY between Saints Row and Skyrim.
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GOTY discussion was always better when everybody played/finished the games they were arguing about.
 
Very frustrating series of podcasts as someone that loves Nintendo's output this year, hates Destiny with a passion, and doesn't understand how anyone feels strongly one way or the other about Mordor.

That said, I went to the store when I finished the whole ordeal, and I think this all might pay off for me in the end:

Bu3gL0K.jpg
 
Riskington said:
Very frustrating series of podcasts as someone that loves Nintendo's output this year, hates Destiny with a passion, and doesn't understand how anyone feels strongly one way or the other about Mordor.

That said, I went to the store when I finished the whole ordeal, and I think this all might pay off for me in the end:

Bu3gL0K.jpg
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Excellent
 
chogidogs said:
GOTY discussion was always better when everybody played/finished the games they were arguing about.
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Everyone liked Mordor though so that wasn't even up for debate. Destiny was the focal point of arguments but nobody except Brad had a strong opinion about it. They just didn't like it but weren't going to put the effort into tearing it down.
 
benicillin said:
Such is the power of Brad.
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Brad's "power" is that he gets genuinely emotional over this stuff and makes it personal (see his snide comment to Alex about getting 2 game onto the list) and the others would rather cave than risk real drama. Brad existing in a world of perceived slights is never more true than it s during goty time.
 
These deliberations really made me concerned about the future of Giant Bomb. Without Patrick to counter Jeff during these discussions or to bring in games as an editorial presence that none of the others would likely touch or advocate for, I'm worried that the site's scope actually narrows to what critics already claim it is: AAA Western developed games that cater to white and male demographic.
 
I think Mordor is a mediocre game that shouldn't have made it to number one, but I'm much more salty about Destiny sliding in at number ten because of the sheer amount of inconsistent arguments that got thrown around. You had 4 people shooting holes into Destiny and it still made number ten. smh

If I'm to be honest, it made the last podcast really sour. I know I shouldn't get so serious about this but it's how I feel :/
 
avengers23 said:
These deliberations really made me concerned about the future of Giant Bomb. Without Patrick to counter Jeff during these discussions or to bring in games as an editorial presence that none of the others would likely touch or advocate for, I'm worried that the site's scope actually narrows to what critics already claim it is: AAA Western developed games that cater to white and male demographic.
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I think that's taking the criticism too far. This is the site that put Velvet Sundown as a nominee for just about every category. They have plenty of quirky tastes individually and it comes through in the discussions, everything just gets homogenized when whittling it down as a group as things tend to do.
 
Rez said:
I don't think Alex got his way a single time during these deliberations. That's weird and uncomfortable. (Because he seems like a decent guy and his bad arguments were no worst than the other bad arguments.)
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Really? I feel like Alex probably got his way more than anyone. He dominated a lot of the discussion so he lost some but he also won plenty.
 
avengers23 said:
These deliberations really made me concerned about the future of Giant Bomb. Without Patrick to counter Jeff during these discussions or to bring in games as an editorial presence that none of the others would likely touch or advocate for, I'm worried that the site's scope actually narrows to what critics already claim it is: AAA Western developed games that cater to white and male demographic.
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There was a lot of love for non AAA stuff like The Fall, Luftrausers, Velvet Sundown and Jazzpunk.
 
FStop7 said:
Agreed. This was not a good year for GB goty stuff. Perhaps it's a reflection of the poor year for games in general. I hope this was the last year they do their goty stuff in this format. It doesn't work and these sorts of contradictions kind of gnaw at the site's credibility.
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No they don't, I'm sorry but I think that's a bullshit thing to say. It would be different if they had cut out the actual dilbertation. This doesn't hurt the credibility and it really makes me shake my head how you can say that.

I don't have an issue with any of the top 10 and I'm really glad destiny made it on the list. It's in my top 3 games of the year. I am surprised that wolfenstein didn't make the list but I still really enjoy listening to the 4 hour podcast.
 
Rez said:
I don't think Alex got his way a single time during these deliberations. That's weird and uncomfortable. (Because he seems like a decent guy and his bad arguments were no worst than the other bad arguments.)
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It doesn't help that he finishes every statement he makes with "I just wanted the game to be highlighted, but if no one else feels the same way, I'm willing to give it up"
 
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