Alright
I havent posted in either of the GT threads since things went down because its sucked so much I couldnt bring myself to (outside of a joke post after three people in a row posted about Huber streaming in the other thread because jollyness), which means Im a bit late to the party here, so forgive me if this sounds outdated, repeated or ranty.
Truthfully, I dont feel all that sad about seeing Gametrailers go. Like everyone else, I went to it a lot back in the day, and like a lot of other people, I faded away as the Internet changed. Even though it sucked seeing them get done in like that (particularly Brandon and with Blood on his fucking honeymoon *bottles anger for later*), the closing of the company itself wasnt especially heartbreaking for one reason: Im supremely confident in the prediction that all of the people involved are going to be moving on to bigger and better things (because how could they not after fucking Defy *bottles anger for later*). Its a longshot for everyone to be able to stick together in whatever comes next, but I wouldnt be surprised if a year from now I saw a tweet of Jones kicking ass in one of the toys-to-life studios or if I see a movie or TV show with at least a writing credit to Ian, or a news article about Don Casanova, International Man of Mystery. The point being, with the way the crew was treated over the last few months (*whips out nearly-full anger bottle*), this felt more like a graduation than a goodbye. And yeah, graduations are a little sad and a lot scary, but they open the door for talented people to move on to great things, and the GT crew, if nothing else, has an incredible wealth of talent.
After the aforementioned fade away from GT, I didnt get back to it until Bosmans big pre-Sony conference video, but even then, TFB was the only show of theirs I really watched until E3 2015. I wasnt super familiar with Twitch at the time and was just looking for any sort of coverage. The sole reason Ive watched any of their videos beyond TFB, seen the vast majority of their Twitch streams, and am posting here in this thread now is because at that moment in which I was looking for live E3 coverage they existed in the slim ambiguity between I know that outlet and I know that outlet is basically an extension of corporate PR. So I clicked.
Im pretty sure I was there for all of their E3 stuff, but the first thing I can pinpoint is the interview with the Larian guys and everyone floundering around because clearly none of them had played Divinity: Original Sin. It was my obvious GOTY at the time, and I remember thinking that I had seen enough of Bosman by then to know exactly what he would like about that game: goofy talking animals. So I ventured into Twitch chat for the first time ever to ask Larian a question about Animal Persuasion or whatever its called, and we got an interesting, hilarious conversation about the intricacies of implementing genius rats from one of my newfound favorite devs. And then I was hooked.
That sort of organic interaction sprouting into an entertaining, enthusiastic, and above all, genuine conversation is what instantly turned me into a huge fan, and those
I dunno, principles is a strong word.. those guidelines were never compromised in all my time as a viewer. Its not enough to say that the GT crew cared. Everyone in their field cares. You dont have a job as a game journalist in 2016 if you dont care. But there are scant few people out there, let alone entire outlets, that care more about being absolutely, unflinchingly true to themselves over pandering to some trending audience.
You feel that shit nearly everywhere any more, like some shiny Unreal Engine 3 vaseline smear, people acting like a B-tier sports radio host pretending to be old pals with every single caller. Even the legitimately great critics and journalists are out there alternating between real work and clickbait, bending their content to meet the demands of an audience segment that I would imagine is made up of the same type of people that go on Bioware forums to shout about how the most important thing is that they can fuck anyone and everyone. The aliens. All of them.
From the first Final Bosman through the hundreds of videos and streams (both scripted and not) to the final hug, I never got one ounce of anything but authenticity and electricity from everyone at Gametrailers, and thats what made them so amazing. They were pure enthusiasm, pure chemistry, pure jolly. They were, and still are, the best at they aimed to do: creating interesting, insightful, and passionate dialogue around videogames. They really were the (insert bad Last of Us switcheroo here).
Which is why instead of making me sad, the closure of Gametrailers made me fucking furious. Livid. Filled to the brim with disbelieving rage.
Okay, thats probably a little strong, but yeah, right at that moment, the biggest R I felt was Rage.
(HUBER SIDE-CHALLENGE: WHATS THAT PARAPHRASED FROM?)
Why? Because Defy found the golden ticket, and set that shit on fire. Someone in one of these GT threads posted an old Reddit comment from an ex-GT employee who saw the writing on the wall with how the corporate side of things was going. To paraphrase that comment: Executives would cut the budget in half and send notes back saying Do better. That feeling has been nearly omnipresent since that first Bosman PSX video I watched, from irregularities in programming schedule to lag in getting stuff on YT to the website itself to the office moves later on. Defy was saying, Heres much less, do much more. And thats well beyond unreasonable. Shit, thats pretty much impossible.
Unless, you know, you hit the lottery and spontaneously create a viral, iconic industry-wide image of happiness and enthusiasm recognized by both consumers and creators across the world.
Defys reaction?
Congratulations! We got you a present!
*Its a wall smudge*
*and a much smaller studio*
*and the fear of impending doom*
20 seconds on YouTube and I find a whole bunch of GT videos with 1 million views, 500,000 views, 250,000 views, and more. The problem? None of them are on GT channels. Theyre on channels with <1000 subscribers, most have far less than 500. What is that? What is Defy there for if not to play serious business to their properties consumer-facing entertainment. Their failure to read the giant flashing neon signs about GTs potential audience is an absolute indictment of their organization. Sony recognized it, Keighley recognized it, hell, if the last few days are anything to go by much of the industry and a solid audience core recognized it, but its apparent now that Defy had them written off from day 1.
And thats some rage-inducing dog rough gutter trash.
But theres a bright side to things. These people are now free to grow. We, as an audience, have the drive and reason to directly support them. The authenticity and ingenuity that we know and love will only become stronger, and the GT crews relationship with its audience is almost guaranteed to improve via a more intimate relationship (whenever this next thing, which Im assuming is a Patreon, goes live).
mother
fucking
tabletop adventures
all day erry day
But seriously. I know that a Patreon for 9 people in LA is well beyond reasonable hope, and that weve just seen the end of the era. It was a beautiful, glorious, and most of all jolly era that got me into videogame journalism, criticism, and (for lack of a better word) community-ism in a way that I never even knew existed, let alone thought would be able to seize my interest and brighten my day the way that every single one of you did on a regular basis. Whatever all of you from the GT crew move onto, I wish you nothing but the best, because thats what you are, and you deserve nothing less.
Never lose the jolly
Be true to yourselves.
Fuck nords.