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Giant Bomb #6 | You'd be hard pressed to find 10 better threads this year.

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If you can't stand up to abuse then you're a coward.

If someone was verbally abusing a family member would you sit idley by? If yes, then you're a coward with no dignity or integrity. There is a tactful way of course but standing up for oneself or others is not a shameful thing.

Everyone is a keyboard warrior but in person, you really get to see the difference.

These equivalencies, man.
 

Mesoian

Member
If you can't stand up to abuse then you're a coward.

If someone was verbally abusing a family member would you sit idley by? If yes, then you're a coward with no dignity or integrity. There is a tactful way of course but standing up for oneself or others is not a shameful thing.

Everyone is a keyboard warrior but in person, you really get to see the difference.

But you will never meet these people in person. Ever.

And if you defend that person on the internet, the abuse becomes hotter, the number of participants greater. You find yourself out numbered very quickly. And then your words start to become meaningless against the horde of faceless voices that are calling you...things.

So...what then?

Keep saying it's not okay.


It's not something that's going to be a quick fix, however, just letting these hurtful voices be the only voice heard isn't good for the present or future of how we engage with each other online.

There's truth to this...but it makes me wonder if it's not just shouting into the sea. When one of the best mantras you can have regarding the internet is "don't read the comments," I don't see how acknowledging these people helps, especially when giving them attention is the only thing they require to participate, right or wrong.

In a perfect world, I'd wish for people to simply take more time and explain themselves better, write more, take the ambiguiousness out of the argument.

But it's easier and "funnier" to just go "lol go die fag, you're a retard." I don't see how we can come back from such a fundamentally low point.
 

Dany

Banned
We need to push those assholes away, and that can only happen if we actually tell them to fuck off. No one should be given a voicecall all like that. Having a thick skin doesn't equal ignoring the trolls.
 

Mesoian

Member
How does it? We are explicitly not condoning that behavior.

Because the people who are engaging in said behavior don't care that we do not condone it, and when challenged they become more numerous and louder. Every time, no exceptions.

If you're saying we should ban them, then great, yes, I agree. Except how do you bring that mentality to something like facebook? Twitter? How do you do that without being called an advocate of censorship?
 

Zornack

Member
Because all they're looking for is a reaction and when you tell them to fuck off you're telling them that they have made you upset which is what they want.
 

demidar

Member
Because all they're looking for is a reaction and when you tell them to fuck off you're telling them that they have made you upset which is what they want.

A punch to the face would solve that attitude pretty quickly. Can't do that over the internet though.
 

Mesoian

Member
A punch to the face would solve that attitude pretty quickly. Can't do that over the internet though.

I used to break this whole thing down into simple terms: Simple and Complex.

Real life is simple. I'm 6'3", 240 pounds, if I'm walking down the street with my friends and some random dude jumps in my face and insults them, I can hit that person and he will go away. That is not the best solution, but it is a quick, easy solution that acheives the end result. Simple

Dealing with the internet is more difficult because the only weapons you have are words. You can smith those words to the best of your ability but at the end of the day, they have their limits. So when someone insults my friends on the internet and I try to jump in front of it all and absorb some of that damage, not only do I find myself limited in effectiveness, but my actions can easily be turned around on me quite easily as the people I'm fighting both don't care whether they're right or wrong and are pleased by the fact that someone is giving them attention. Complex.

Now that I'm older and I've experienced more about life, I've been able to break things down in different ways, keeping an emphasis on excluding the complex.

If some random dude jumps in my face and starts badmouthing people I like, I walk past him. Simple.

If some random dude on the internet starts badmouthing people I like, I close that page. Simple.

Because the complex outcomes of both real life and digital life both are ineffective and more harmful to me and those people I care about than simply ignoring the haters. That isn't satisfying, but that's the only way to diffuse this stuff. Deflect. Thick skin. That kind of sucks but...that's the way it is.
 

Van Owen

Banned
Okay, who posted this rant on the GB forums? It was you Funky wasn't it :p

Giantbomb gone off (like rotten eggs)

http://Www.giantbomb.com/forums/gen...ntbomb-gone-off-like-rotten-eggs-1471630/#117

I do wonder what they do for most of the week.

Like they say they're short staffed and Drew and Vinny are busy with video stuff, but how many man hours does that actually take? It's long form video that basically needs an intro screen and fade out and everything else would be pretty automated as far as compressing and uploading. They haven't actually had to film and edit a video review in years.
 
But it's easier and "funnier" to just go "lol go die fag, you're a retard." I don't see how we can come back from such a fundamentally low point.
It has always been a part of society in some form or fashion.

I'm not saying it will or even necessarily should go away entirely (getting into some Clockwork Orange territory), but people change. I would like to at least hope that there are some people out there that will grow out of it, and there are some that will realize that their words have weight and should use it better. What Patrick and others do might or might not always be a great way of bringing attention or desired change to these conditions. However, I think turning a blind eye is a worse way to handle it.
 

Mesoian

Member
I do wonder what they do for most of the week.

Like they say they're short staffed and Drew and Vinny are busy with video stuff, but how many man hours does that actually take? It's long form video that basically needs an intro screen and fade out and everything else would be pretty automated as far as compressing and uploading. They haven't actually had to film and edit a video review in years.

Business stuff. I don't know how their inner workings were, but with Whiskey, the business end of everything seemed to be pretty clockwork while the business end at Gamespot seems to require a lot of very real face time with people who may not have a full understanding of what goes into a website like theirs.
 

xxracerxx

Don't worry, I'll vouch for them.
I do wonder what they do for most of the week.

Like they say they're short staffed and Drew and Vinny are busy with video stuff, but how many man hours does that actually take? It's long form video that basically needs an intro screen and fade out and everything else would be pretty automated as far as compressing and uploading. They haven't actually had to film and edit a video review in years.

Do people really believe they are just resting on their laurels?
 

Van Owen

Banned
Business stuff. I don't know how their inner workings were, but with Whiskey, the business end of everything seemed to be pretty clockwork while the business end at Gamespot seems to require a lot of very real face time with people who may not have a full understanding of what goes into a website like theirs.

I guess, but that doesn't seem like it should be a daily thing...

I think it was a big mistake letting two staffers work from home at the other end of the country. The sad thing is Alex and Patrick actually put out consistent content, it's just that watching their google hangout isn't content I really care about.

Do people really believe they are just resting on their laurels?

Not really, just wondering wtf they do all day. I mean, it doesn't sound like they play a ton of games during that portion of the bombcast...
 

Mesoian

Member
I guess, but that doesn't seem like it should be a daily thing...

I think it was a big mistake letting two staffers work from home at the other end of the country. The sad thing is Alex and Patrick actually put out consistent content, it's just that watching their google hangout isn't content I really care about.

There are days where I have 4 hours of straight meetings. It can be tough to produce.
 

demidar

Member
I used to break this whole thing down into simple terms: Simple and Complex.

Real life is simple. I'm 6'3", 240 pounds, if I'm walking down the street with my friends and some random dude jumps in my face and insults them, I can hit that person and he will go away. That is not the best solution, but it is a quick, easy solution that acheives the end result. Simple

Dealing with the internet is more difficult because the only weapons you have are words. You can smith those words to the best of your ability but at the end of the day, they have their limits. So when someone insults my friends on the internet and I try to jump in front of it all and absorb some of that damage, not only do I find myself limited in effectiveness, but my actions can easily be turned around on me quite easily as the people I'm fighting both don't care whether they're right or wrong and are pleased by the fact that someone is giving them attention. Complex.

Now that I'm older and I've experienced more about life, I've been able to break things down in different ways, keeping an emphasis on excluding the complex.

If some random dude jumps in my face and starts badmouthing people I like, I walk past him. Simple.

If some random dude on the internet starts badmouthing people I like, I close that page. Simple.

Because the complex outcomes of both real life and digital life both are ineffective and more harmful to me and those people I care about than simply ignoring the haters. That isn't satisfying, but that's the only way to diffuse this stuff. Deflect. Thick skin. That kind of sucks but...that's the way it is.

I can totally understand that viewpoint, however I don't believe people just grow out of that behaviour with age. That is to say, they don't mentally mature on virtue of getting older, they mature by suffering through mistakes and reaping the consequences while they just so happen to grow older. Unfortunately, since the internet is becoming a bigger and bigger part of people's lives, and the internet is really good at letting people slip the consequences of their actions (through willful maliciousness or unintentional ignorance), people will only continue with their horrid behaviour. There are some people that need that forced to understand their actions, and without consequences they will never learn their lesson and just move on to the next target. Ignoring a problem does not make it go away, it just passes the buck.
 

sixghost

Member
I doubt it. I think they wanted them to be stupid, like... uh... creeps, as you so eloquently described them.

I guess I just don't understand their purpose beyond making the battlefield seem more populated than it actually is. The entire draw of competitive multiplayer shooters for me has always been playing against opponents with the ability to think and adapt. That fact that they give you a gun that auto aims and instagibs the AI makes it seem even more pointless.
 

xxracerxx

Don't worry, I'll vouch for them.
Not really, just wondering wtf they do all day. I mean, it doesn't sound like they play a ton of games during that portion of the bombcast...

Tis that time of year where shit is still under embargo and there isn't much out in the first place. March is going to be nuts.
 

obonicus

Member
And thats not to say people don't have a right to be angry, they absolutely do.

I'm not even sure people have the 'right' to be angry. I'm not saying indifference is the answer, but anger seems like a very extreme reaction to something that you're not even directly involved in (supposing you're not directly involved, of course). People on the internet don't seem to have any reaction BUT to get angry, and that seems to lead them to blow every topic way out of perspective. There's nuance, no empathy, no attempt to understand the other side's perspective (even if just to concede that not every dissenting viewpoint comes from a position of pure shitheadedness), just vitriol tossed back and forth in ways that mostly aren't even interesting to read.

Patrick isn't quite like this; he's more clear-minded (even if he does tend to refocus every issue in terms of himself) but a lot of the people in his twitter circles seem to be unable to not fight every single battle, and do so poorly and ineffectively. I mean, Courtney Stanton (maybe two-three steps away from Patrick) recently berated Jeff on tumblr because she completely misunderstood his joke about porn.
 

Visceir

Member
Do people really believe they are just resting on their laurels?

Yes, at this point they have a rabid cult following that would eat up anything they put out.

Someone on tumblr asked Vinny what his typical day at giantbomb looks like, his response was the following:
10 - 11: Answer emails, make sure the studio is still standing. Go over the production calendar, say hi to folks, laugh about something/complain about something.

11 - 2: Setup studio, prep and record Quick Looks. Meetings.

2-3: Process Quick Looks, answer emails, stop corporate takeover.

3-3:30: Setup for live streams (Thurs. Fri. Sometimes Wed)

3:30 - 6:00: Live Stream (non-live days are usually meetings, archiving, maintenance, studio management, and planning. A lot E3/budget/trip planning happens here)

6:00 - 7:00: Process live stream, break down studio.

7:00 - 8:00: Catch up on any missed emails during the day, review calendar, start fires to put out tomorrow, misc.
 

mattiewheels

And then the LORD David Bowie saith to his Son, Jonny Depp: 'Go, and spread my image amongst the cosmos. For every living thing is in anguish and only the LIGHT shall give them reprieve.'
I don't know what shocked me more: hearing that Jeff spent $100 on Pocket Planes, or that Drew was born in 1986. I figured he was a little older.
 

dan2026

Member
I think Giantbomb's main problem is they just don't have enough guys.

They should really look into finding some more personalities who would be a good fit for the team. They have been more than a few on Scoops and the Wolf who I think would fit in.
Whether they would actually join though, I dunno.
 

npa189

Member
I do wonder what they do for most of the week.

Like they say they're short staffed and Drew and Vinny are busy with video stuff, but how many man hours does that actually take? It's long form video that basically needs an intro screen and fade out and everything else would be pretty automated as far as compressing and uploading. They haven't actually had to film and edit a video review in years.

What does Brad do beside sleep (and bitch) and play terrible iOS games? He doesn't bring a lot to the table anymore, and his contribution to the bombcast is minimal at best. Vinny, Drew and Jeff carry him, Alex is here and there, and Patrick does the most work of all.
 
I hate to ask a question about actual GB content and not meta stuff, but I've downloaded Jeff's recent jar video a couple of times, and each time it has been corrupted or wouldn't play for me. It's the only video on the site that does this, so I assume greatly that the problem is on my end. Question is, was there anything of note or interesting in the video? Any good questions or tidbits? I could always stream it from my phone if that's the case, but I don't want to use up bandwidth of it is not worth it.
 
What does Brad do beside sleep (and bitch) and play terrible iOS games? He doesn't bring a lot to the table anymore, and his contribution to the bombcast is minimal at best. Vinny, Drew and Jeff carry him, Alex is here and there, and Patrick does the most work of all.

Brad often goes to preview events.
 

Emarv

Member
Yes, at this point they have a rabid cult following that would eat up anything they put out.

Someone on tumblr asked Vinny what his typical day at giantbomb looks like, his response was the following:

This is neat to read. I wonder what that's like for Jeff & Brad, as they're mainly "editorial" (?) and not necessarily news or video producing.
 
What does Brad do beside sleep (and bitch) and play terrible iOS games? He doesn't bring a lot to the table anymore, and his contribution to the bombcast is minimal at best. Vinny, Drew and Jeff carry him, Alex is here and there, and Patrick does the most work of all.

He does almost all of the interaction with developers and publishers, I believe. Getting games, working out schedules and all that.

He also edits all of the reviews and articles.
 
Jeff puts money into things we only think about putting money into. He is method acting the role of an impulsive consumer willing to purchase the ridiculous products they are trying to sell to see how ridiculous they are. Jeff gets "Best Deal!" so we don't have to.
 

Visceir

Member
Eh, that sounds like work...

Yeah, wasn't denying that.

It just seems like they could do more but whatever passion they had for this is long gone and they do the bare minimum to get by. Rather than coming up with cool new features or things to do they just stagnate away.

But they seem to be doing well enough and the fans are content so it doesn't really matter.
 

mattiewheels

And then the LORD David Bowie saith to his Son, Jonny Depp: 'Go, and spread my image amongst the cosmos. For every living thing is in anguish and only the LIGHT shall give them reprieve.'
Jeff puts money into things we only think about putting money into. He is method acting the role of an impulsive consumer willing to purchase the ridiculous products they are trying to sell to see how ridiculous they are. Jeff gets "Best Deal!" so we don't have to.
Yeah, when he explained himself about being a guinea pig for IAP with that I didn't think it was so crazy, it was actually good for investigative reasons. But when I first heard it I did a double take.
 

erawsd

Member
What does Brad do beside sleep (and bitch) and play terrible iOS games? He doesn't bring a lot to the table anymore, and his contribution to the bombcast is minimal at best. Vinny, Drew and Jeff carry him, Alex is here and there, and Patrick does the most work of all.

Honestly, its none of your business.

If there isn't enough content for you then don't subscribe but its not our place to sit here and decide who is/isn't working hard enough.
 
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