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[GitarooMan]

I don't understand how the hiring of two people for GB became such a controversy. We have no right to assume anything about the hiring process and I'm disappointed that what should be good news is being dragged through the mud.

Yeah, two weeks ago it seemed everyone was pumped when the new hires leaked; a couple of tweets later and it's become a battleground. I don't get it. In any event, I think in a few days or so the dust will settle. From my perspective, these two guys are a great fit and I think we'll see a lot of great content, I'm looking forward to it.

 

[Jimmyfenix]

Cool! I think it's great how they're combining a meticulous physics model with arcade-y action like that. They could've easily gone the boring sim route.

It is a damn shame not that many people bought Flatout.

 

[EmCeeGramr]

That's exactly the argument you're making with that Zoe Quinn story. Don't try and hide from it.

...

You ridiculously implied that women aren't discouraged from participating in this industry. I mentioned a very recent and relevant anecdote from a person commenting on Giant Bomb, about their own extreme experiences. It was not "all women are being sexually harassed in games."

You are being incredibly disingenuous right now.

 

[Otnopolit]

I really do like your avatar and think Psych is a great show. That being said, your last paragraph is pretty bad.

Thanks, but concerning the last bit, what about it do you disagree with? The point I was trying to get across was that Jeff deemed two people were the best for the position, and they happened to be white males. I hope I didn't offend anybody.

 

[1upmuffin]

Alex said he and Vinnie are in the office Tuesday and Thursday this week, so maybe we'll get a live show from them today.

 

[Brashnir]

Zoe Quinn was literally talking the other day on Twitter about how she's been borderline sexual harassed (or had her sexuality and gender brought up repeatedly for no reason) at multiple studio interviews, and I've seen sentiment from multiple women that people like her and Phil Kollar follow mentioning that they don't even bother applying to a lot of jobs anymore because of it.


Seriously, did you miss the whole #1ReasonWhy movement?

Are you suggesting that that happened with this position? Because that's a pretty gigantic projection if so.

And if not, what's the problem exactly?

 

[Curufinwe]

this is this biggest cop out ever man

Still waiting for you to address why you think every industry has to be 50% male and 50% female.

 

[kvk1]

Hah, of course she deleted her tweets...

These types of "complaints" aren't encouraging any form of proper discussion.

Things have devolved into baseless slander condensed to fit the 140-characters-of-rage format.

This is the cause (a legitimate and urgent one) eating itself inside out.

 

[Ketch]

This thread is bonkers lately. The rampant speculation just does not stop.

I wonder what they're doing right now, as I type this. I bet Drew's eating a healthy breakfast and planning out a long day of training the new hire on video stuff. That way once Jason gets through the HR welcome video he'll have plenty of time to get ready for Thursday's new live show featuring Dan's new ER of classic playstation wrestling games.

Also, I bet the reason Patrick hasn't really been talking about women's rights lately is because he knew they were hiring two white guys and he was hoping we'd all forget about it. #notthistimepatrick

Giant Bomb OT9: Where we decide what they're really up to.

 

[GavinGT]

so people familiar with the new dudes, what are their 'stats'?

as in least/favorite genres/foods/etc?

Ryckert wrote a book called Air Force Gator. I think that pretty much speaks for itself.

I wonder what they're doing right now, as I type this. I bet Drew's eating a healthy breakfast and planning out a long day of training the new hire on video stuff..

I see Drew meticulously drawing up video production instructions in his notebook.

 

[V_Ben]

I sually enjoy reading her tweets, like the ones about Robin Thicke earlier today.

I don't really understand where she is coming from with the tweets befouling the GB community though...surely she still can't be salty about the time she made an arse out of herself during an E3?

I mean, the community was completely ridiculous to her for a super long time after that, so to be honest I can completely understand her opinions on the GB community. I mean, even mentioning her here seems to sometime bring forth people who still can't get over things she said.

I feel like communities have grown up a little since then, but shit like that will stick with people.

 

[Antiwhippy]

I wouldn't be surprised tbh, at least regarding audience (i.e. twitter, stream monsters, other misc. reactors who are vocal about whatever they feel etc) reactions

While I can see some element of that, having listened to those leigh episodes she was so much louder, talked over other people so many more times, as well as being more weirdly obstinate (750 million? Though to be fair that was hilarious), than greg miller was this year.

The way the community treated her was dumb and bad, but let's not treat those as equals.

 

[Jimmyfenix]

Alex said he and Vinnie are in the office Tuesday and Thursday this week, so maybe we'll get a live show from them today.

More Robyn please. I need to know about Vampire Diaries.

 

[Curufinwe]

Are you suggesting that that happened with this position? Because that's a pretty gigantic projection if so.

He's being ridiculously disingenuous.

 

[Megasoum]

no doubt, but then again greg miller made an drunken ass out of himself and got away with it so maybe there is some sexism going on

maybe it was because vinny gave him a goofy voice

i dunno

Personnally I thought Greg Miller was as annoying as Leigh was 4 years ago.

 

[daydream]

It is a damn shame not that many people bought Flatout.

I may go back and play it, actually (not that that's going to change anything retroactively, lol). There's only a limited amount of Burnout games out there, sadly.

 

[Fevaweva]

no doubt, but then again greg miller made an drunken ass out of himself and got away with it so maybe there is some sexism going on

maybe it was because vinny gave him a goofy voice

i dunno

Yeah its weird, I didn't like Giant Bomb (or at least, hadn't heard of them) back then so I don't know what the immediate reaction was. Maybe its because Greg is a bit more of an more endearing drunk?

Wheres Jason from ? Minneapolis ?



Are you saying you do not find SS clothing sexy ?



I think i heard Bugbear say if Next Car game gets enough support console versions would be supported.

Not usually, but a slutty SS costume word during Halloween/New Years? Sure I could be convinced

 

[PBY]

Still waiting for you to address why you think every industry has to be 50% male and 50% female.

I never said that. What I did say is that if there is lopsided gender numbers- its shitty to look at women themselves rather than the industry.

 

[Jintor]

I mean, I understand that some people who are disappointed with the hiring results are going overboard, but that doesn't mean you have to stick your fingers in your ears and pretend there's no legitimate room for discussion about the generalised homogeniety of games media

The way the community treated her was dumb and bad, but let's not treat those as equals.

Two drunk people on two e3 streams being annoying seems like a good comparator to me, what with it being difficult to quantify amount of annoyingness

 

[sneaky77]

...

You ridiculously implied that women aren't discouraged from participating in this industry. I mentioned a very recent and relevant anecdote from a person commenting on Giant Bomb, about their own extreme experiences. It was not "all women are being sexually harassed in games."

You are being incredibly disingenuous right now.

It came across as you equating what happened to Zoe, to the giantbomb hiring process to be honest..

Personnally I thought Greg Miller was as annoying as Leigh was 4 years ago

I agree.. but just like 4 yrs ago I didn't care all that much because well.. drunk people.

 

[BearPawB]

I think Leigh is way off base. I think there are plenty of women who would love to work at GB. I think women almost always (with the exception of Leigh) bring out the best in the rest of the team.

 

[Otnopolit]

Personnally I thought Greg Miller was as annoying as Leigh was 4 years ago.

I agree Greg was pretty overbearing during that E3 Live Show. I recall shaking my head when he knocked all those beer cans off the table onto the carpet.

 

[bigwinnerx]

Coming more to the belief the whole thing was a Catch 22. Especially this firestorm, it'd be exactly the same size just from other people if they went another direction.

 

[EmCeeGramr]

Are you suggesting that that happened with this position? Because that's a pretty gigantic projection if so.

I was answering a question from someone implying that women aren't put off from applying to games jobs. I brought up women talking about being discouraged from applying to games jobs.

You'd have to be rrrrrreally stretching to somehow assert that I was claiming that sexual harassment was the sole/biggest reason for a lack of women in games or that it meant that similar things happened at GB's hiring process.

 

[FluxWaveZ]

I mean, I understand that some people who are disappointed with the hiring results are going overboard, but that doesn't mean you have to stick your fingers in your ears and pretend there's no legitimate room for discussion about the generalised homogeniety of games media

Especially when that's the thing Patrick Klepek's been known for criticizing.

 

[GavinGT]

Personnally I thought Greg Miller was as annoying as Leigh was 4 years ago.

Or even twice as annoying, if we're going solely by nipple count.

 

[V_Ben]

Personnally I thought Greg Miller was as annoying as Leigh was 4 years ago.

That's the thing, he was just as drunk and abrasive. Actually, perhaps even more so. I went back and watched Leigh's GB appearances, and Miller is actually disruptive in a way she kind of wasn't. I mean, she was just drunk. He was throwing shit around and coming back to wipe chicken shirts on John Drake, except this time it was apparently endearing.

 

[Curufinwe]

I never said that. What I did say is that if there is lopsided gender numbers- its shitty to look at women themselves rather than the industry.

Why do you feel women being comparatively less interested in the videogame industry than men is shitty for anyone?

 

[Beelzeboss]

Leigh is kinda right though a talented woman writer would be wasted at Giant Bomb

They're all about the video now.

 

[daydream]

I think Leigh is way off base. I think there are plenty of women who would love to work at GB. I think women almost always (with the exception of Leigh) bring out the best in the rest of the team.

She was referring to the community, not the team, I think.

Still a really unfair assessment.

 

[Dragon]

Thanks, but concerning the last bit, what about it do you disagree with? The point I was trying to get across was that Jeff deemed two people were the best for the position, and they happened to be white males. I hope I didn't offend anybody.

You're arguing from a point of view that simply doesn't exist. I don't disagree with your point of view at all, I actually feel the same way. I just don't think arguing about the fact they could be green aliens isn't relevant really.

 

[KingKong]

The only thing I want from the new hires is to be funny and work well with everyone else on quick looks/videos. If they could somehow hire Hannibal Buress or Kumail Nanjiani that would have been really cool, but I don't know enough about the industry to know if there are people of color or women who fit Giant Bombs personality.

It's kind of hard to tell from the podcast what they're like, I think Dan (was he the one that made the Dr. Seuss joke?) was good, the other guy not so much but this was basically their first 'content' so who knows

 

[funkystudent]

She's still feeling the hurt of many e3s ago, with a whole community hating on her. But that post about Giant Bomb not being a good place for women to work, kinda feels like she's speaking badly about Jeff and co, since that's who any potential worker will mainly be talking to :-(

Oh I think she deleted it.

Did she actually say that? I cant believe that. I mean really? REALLY?

Right. We have hit rock bottom. I am not talking about this issue anymore.



Got a free day and I am going to bring the dog for a nice long walk and listen to the podcast.

 

[PBY]

Why do you feel women being comparatively less interested in the videogame industry than men is shitty for anyone?

Why do you put it on the women though? Why are they less interested? There has to be a reason for that.

 

[Brashnir]

I was answering a question from someone implying that women aren't put off from applying to games jobs. I brought up women talking about being discouraged from applying to games jobs.

You'd have to be rrrrrreally stretching to somehow assert that I was claiming that sexual harassment was the sole/biggest reason for a lack of women in games.

Fair enough, but I'm not sure if that did or didn't happen here, and we (thus far) have no evidence that it did, yet we have a seeming abundance of belly-aching over the situation nonetheless.

What specifically happened here that is worthy of criticism? If hiring a white man in and of itself is worthy of criticism in someone's eyes, it says a lot more about them than it does about the hiring situation.

 

[Odrion]

Maybe its because Greg is a bit more of an more endearing drunk?

Not really no.

 

[Antiwhippy]

I mean, I understand that some people who are disappointed with the hiring results are going overboard, but that doesn't mean you have to stick your fingers in your ears and pretend there's no legitimate room for discussion about the generalised homogeniety of games media



Two drunk people on two e3 streams being annoying seems like a good comparator to me, what with it being difficult to quantify amount of annoyingness

Fair enough on the subjectivity, but I felt that his annoyance came in bursts rather than being sustained like leigh's was.

 

[Jimmyfenix]

Leigh is kinda right though a talented woman writer would be wasted at Giant Bomb

They're all about the video now.

I can't listen to writing while i am doing my exercise. I would welcome an all Podcast/Video future.

 

[popo]

Did nobody make a bombcast thread this week?

 

[hamchan]

Did she actually say that? I cant believe that. I mean really? REALLY?

Right. We have hit rock bottom. I am not talking about this issue anymore.



Got a free day and I am going to bring the dog for a nice long walk and listen to the podcast.

Not exactly, I got it wrong. She said that no woman would want to work at Giant Bomb and that they would be wasted there. I think someone took a screencap a couple of pages ago.

 

[Megasoum]

Did nobody make a bombcast thread this week?

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=847082

 

[OnlyWonderBoy]

I mean, the community was completely ridiculous to her for a super long time after that, so to be honest I can completely understand her opinions on the GB community. I mean, even mentioning her here seems to sometime bring forth people who still can't get over things she said.

I feel like communities have grown up a little since then, but shit like that will stick with people.

Yeah, that's a good point. She probably experienced the worst this community had to offer, and people still harbor ill will towards her.

 

[daydream]

LOL @ Danny cycling to the office only to have a better download speed for his X1 update.

 

[hamchan]

LOL @ Danny cycling to the office only to have a better download speed for his X1 update.

14mb/s, I'd go in just to download stuff too!

 

[OnlyWonderBoy]

She was referring to the community, not the team, I think.

Still a really unfair assessment.

Well someone replied to her tweet and called Giant Bomb a home for old guard game journalists who weren't ready to retire and she said something to the effect of "yeah, with one exception."

 

[Jintor]

What specifically happened here that is worthy of criticism? If hiring a white man in and of itself is worthy of criticism in someone's eyes, it says a lot more about them than it does about the hiring situation.

I don't think it's necessarily about this specific event so much as it is about structural inequality, this event which just so happens to make apparent still exists - not necessarily by GB hiring these duders, but perhaps moreso by the plethora of people coming out of the woodwork to say 'what are you guys complaining about' or 'they just hired the most right people for the job' or 'they're the most qualified and they're known already!'

i mean that stuff really grinds my gears

 

[daydream]

Well someone replied to her tweet and called Giant Bomb a home for old guard game journalists who weren't ready to retire and she said something to the effect of "yeah, with one exception."

That's low, if true. Wow..

Ageism is fine, apparently.

 

[Patryn]

Yeah, two weeks ago it seemed everyone was pumped when the new hires leaked; a couple of tweets later and it's become a battleground. I don't get it. In any event, I think in a few days or so the dust will settle. From my perspective, these two guys are a great fit and I think we'll see a lot of great content, I'm looking forward to it.

I suspect that after the lack of diversity on the E3 panels caused such a (justifiable) furor, there was more of a spotlight on Giant Bomb when it comes to diversity issues, especially given Patrick's desire to address the problems facing the industry in that regard.

Couple that with this hire, along with the fact that, as EmCee pointed out, GB has never hired a woman or POC and we all had a powder keg waiting to explode.

The match was likely the fact that they publically announced they were hiring and accepted applications when it's conceivable the position was already filled right from the start, although that may be more due to them having to abide by CBSi hiring practices.

I don't expect Jeff would ever want to go into details, nor do I think he'd be allowed to, in terms of this hiring period but I wouldn't be shocked if he would have rather avoided the whole public announcement and application process and simply quietly hired Dan and Jason, Patrick-style, but was prevented from doing so.

Blah Blah Twitter Stuff

I don't want to backseat mod, but people should recall that earlier EmCee declared it a thread rule that you shouldn't post Tweets and the like for the sole purpose of disparaging a person.

 

[Jimmyfenix]

That's low, if true. Wow..

She needs to watch her sodium in take.

 

[Brashnir]

I don't think it's necessarily about this specific event so much as it is about structural inequality, this event which just so happens to make apparent still exists - not necessarily by GB hiring these duders, but perhaps moreso by the plethora of people coming out of the woodwork to say 'what are you guys complaining about' or 'they just hired the most right people for the job' or 'they're the most qualified and they're known already!'

i mean that stuff really grinds my gears

While I'll acknowledge that some of the defenders may be a bit abrasive, they wouldn't be "coming out of the woodwork" if the criticism hadn't started before they did so.

I ask again - what specifically about these hires is worthy of criticism other than the fact that they are white males? If that's the only thing anyone has to criticize, it's pretty pathetic.