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Giant Bomb |OT32| I've been meaning to love a boat

C

Catvoca

Banned
patapuf said:
I have lots of good premium (and non-premium) features to watch. More than ever before.

To the point that it's becoming difficult to watch even only the features I like.

I'm really struggling to see GB's crisis here.
Click to expand...

I feel the same. Compare now to this time last year when everyone was just content starved. GB is in a good place and is poised to get even better when the new video producer is hired.
 
H

hamchan

Member
The “East and West are the same website” thing, even though it’s true on the books, always seemed like just a way to handwave away criticisms that might only apply to one side.
 
H

hamchan

Member
Salarians said:
it looks like all the various versions of Fortnite on the PSN store have been rebranded to "Fortnite Battle Royale"

lol
Click to expand...

It is quite shameless how blatantly they’re leaning into the PUBG popularity.

Like, their main game isn’t even done yet since they’re still in early access right? They’ve spent years making this thing and now they’re quickly pivoting into Battle Royale. Hilarious situation.
 
P

Punchy4486

Banned
hamchan said:
The “East and West are the same website” thing, even though it’s true on the books, always seemed like just a way to handwave away criticisms that might only apply to one side.
Click to expand...


I think the main reason people complain about "GB West" is that people miss Jeff. He's surrounded by DOTA and Destiny and has nobody fun or exciting to play off of, which is when he really shines.

As a fan, in my opinion Jeff is at his best when he can have fun playing off of someone who is crazy or goofy. In the past, this has been Vinny, Ryan, and Dan. Jeff doesn't have the spark unless there's someone there to bring it out of him. Ben, Brad, and Jason have their style but it doesn't necessarily suit Jeff's in a fun way. You just get historical or analytical Jeff with them.

Vinny creates that spark on his own, which is why he was fine with Alex and Austin back in the day. But Jeff needs a partner to get that gold.

So I guess while fans of fighting games, and DOTA, and MMOs have a lot of content coming from West, everyone else is disappointed cuz there's no "fun Jeff" stuff anymore. I only really see that when he's doing cross-country QLs with Vinny these days.

Just spitballing here. Probably didn't articulate it well.
 
M

Megasoum

Banned
hamchan said:
It is quite shameless how blatantly they’re leaning into the PUBG popularity.

Like, their main game isn’t even done yet since they’re still in early access right? They’ve spent years making this thing and now they’re quickly pivoting into Battle Royale. Hilarious situation.
Click to expand...

It's just like H1Z1... Soon the BR mode will get a lot bigger than the original game and everybody will forget it even exists.
 
I

imBask

Banned
I don't know how I feel about devs having the possibility to sell a game in early access, and shift the focus of the game 180 degree after people have spent money on it
 
K

kambaybolongo

Member
East is pulling the weight big time. Yes, they’re the same website but there is obviously a major difference in how they approach content and scheduling.

Only so many issues that West has will be solved by adding a new producer. Ultimately they need someone energetic to drive new series/content ideas which they don’t have. The new series that they’ve tried recently like the call in slow (haven’t bothered to watch this), Dota, and Heartache (stopped watching this) aren’t exactly having the same impact as when East tries something new. Meanwhile series like Game Tapes, Demo Derby, and UPF have either languished or stopped altogether.

If you’re fine with those issues, cool. But I don’t think it’s unreasonanle to wish they put out more interesting stuff.
 
T

ThanksVision

Member
Idk I don't really mind the yin and yang of GBW stonerism to GBE waterfall of new ideas. GBW should just only do live streams pretty much, Tues bombcast, Thurs TNT, Fri UPF. All the crazy and incentive stuff can come from GBE. Then Monday they do cross coast stuff.

Like all I want to hear is Brad and Jeff talk
 
H

hamchan

Member
Also GB is definitely in a good place right now. I’ve already said that I would pay my sub just based on GBEast output.

It’s just that they have the potential to go from a good place to an excellent place. Who wouldn’t want that to happen? Just imagine if we had current GBEast level content of both quantity and quality times two.
 
O

oti

Banned
hamchan said:
The “East and West are the same website” thing, even though it’s true on the books, always seemed like just a way to handwave away criticisms that might only apply to one side.
Click to expand...

Yep. Next-best idiotic excuse is "you don't have to watch everything" or "your feedback doesn't matter cause I pay them to do what they want to".

I'd be totally fine with West being the serious side of GB. East is way better with the meta elements and just the general mood. West has Jeff with the knowledge of all video games that have ever existed in his head. I'd be totally down with them going all-in on that. Just try some new things out, West. And make it simple.
 
Z

Zaph

Member
Salarians said:
it looks like all the various versions of Fortnite on the PSN store have been rebranded to "Fortnite Battle Royale"

lol
Click to expand...

They just keep digging

Epic really need to ask themselves if Fortnite's success is really worth the reputation hit as an industry-leading engine provider.
 
P

Piston Hyundai

Member
patapuf said:
I have lots of good premium (and non-premium) features to watch. More than ever before.

To the point that it's becoming difficult to watch even only the features I like.

I'm really struggling to see GB's crisis here.
Click to expand...

I totally agree with you that Giant Bomb is in a good place, but you do realize why you have more premium features than ever, right? It's because East commits to a schedule. It's because East has fresh ideas for premium features almost every month. It's because East treats their Friday slot as an opportunity for Playdates, Blue Bombin', VinnyVania, and other features instead of having the same exact stream in the same exact format almost every single week for four years running. There's no crisis, but I haven't been interested in much of anything West has done since that Saturn stream they did, and a large part of that (beyond a dreadfully low amount of energy among the entire staff) is because the features that interest me can go for months at a time without seeing a single episode. West favors weeks and weeks of the same features like UPF and Murder Island (although that's cross-coast), and it gets stale. It's been stale for a very long time with no signs of change, and that's where most of my complaints come from. I feel like my premium subscription is validated with East's efforts alone, but does that mean I should be happy with West not holding up their end of the bargain?
 
W

Wunder

Member
oti said:
Yep. Next-best idiotic excuse is "you don't have to watch everything" or "your feedback doesn't matter cause I pay them to do what they want to".

I'd be totally fine with West being the serious side of GB. East is way better with the meta elements and just the general mood. West has Jeff with the knowledge of all video games that have ever existed in his head. I'd be totally down with them going all-in on that. Just try some new things out, West. And make it simple.
Click to expand...

lol why is it an idiotic excuse? West clearly doesn't think it's a problem, especially for as long as you guys have been moaning about it. If they do think it's an active problem then they would have put in motion steps to fix it. Clearly enough people think that it's fine as is, and if GB isn't worrying about it, why should random people on the internet be?
 
H

Human Trashcan

Banned
Punchy4486 said:
I think the main reason people complain about "GB West" is that people miss Jeff. He's surrounded by DOTA and Destiny and has nobody fun or exciting to play off of, which is when he really shines.

As a fan, in my opinion Jeff is at his best when he can have fun playing off of someone who is crazy or goofy. In the past, this has been Vinny, Ryan, and Dan. Jeff doesn't have the spark unless there's someone there to bring it out of him. Ben, Brad, and Jason have their style but it doesn't necessarily suit Jeff's in a fun way. You just get historical or analytical Jeff with them.

Vinny creates that spark on his own, which is why he was fine with Alex and Austin back in the day. But Jeff needs a partner to get that gold.

So I guess while fans of fighting games, and DOTA, and MMOs have a lot of content coming from West, everyone else is disappointed cuz there's no "fun Jeff" stuff anymore. I only really see that when he's doing cross-country QLs with Vinny these days.

Just spitballing here. Probably didn't articulate it well.
Click to expand...

Nah I think you're right on. Most all-time best Jeff moments involve Ryan or Vinny. Jeff's surrounded by mostly unfunny people atm. Nothing against anyone who works there, except maybe Ben who tries to be funny a lot and succeeds maybe 5% of the time, but they don't bring in the big laffs on the regular. This would never have worked without Vinny just being willing to go for it.
 
D

Data West

coaches in the WNBA
Played a little Ruiner

someone played Hotline Miami and someone played Crusader No Remorse.

Jeff and Dan will both love it I bet
 
O

oti

Banned
Wunder said:
lol why is it an idiotic excuse? West clearly doesn't think it's a problem, especially for as long as you guys have been moaning about it. If they do think it's an active problem then they would have put in motion steps to fix it. Clearly enough people think that it's fine as is, and if GB isn't worrying about it, why should random people on the internet be?
Click to expand...

I don't think "just don't watch it" is a meaningful response to someone criticising something. I'd believe that all criticism in here comes from a good place. We want GB to make cool stuff and they do, but they could do a lot better.
 
K

kiyomi

Member
wild_fire987 said:
Man, I would love for them to have a set up like west does. More room, green screen, etc...
Click to expand...

When was the last time they used the green screen? For a VR feature last year maybe?

For all those people questioning why some of us are a bit unhappy with West's content, personally I just want to see the site constantly improving and trying new things. Not a whole lot more to it than that.

----

Oh wow I've never seen the 'speed boost' thing in PT.
 
H

Harpuia

Member
It's almost as if the East has one more video person to help make good content than the West right now.

I love what GB is doing right now, and I've not tuned into a UPF, at least not regularly, since Vinny left, so I'm not exactly one of the "I love what we're getting right now!!" kinda guys. It's a bit of a vote with your dollars/views thing here. When we had the GB that made things like the dumb Too Human thing, or the GOTY CBS mini-series spoofs, I think these moments all had one thing in common: man power. It's one thing to come up with ideas (hence Vinny talking to Austin, which was about a year ago about XCORPS and only just this year getting around to executing on it). I do not think it's a surprise that East has gone full blast on making things as soon as they got Abby.
 
L

LurkerPrime

Member
I can solve all of Giant Bomb's problems. All we need to do is bring Kinect back. Or at least, motion controlled games.

The whole VR experiment isn't the same.
 
O

oti

Banned
Harpuia said:
It's almost as if the East has one more video person to help make good content than the West right now.
Click to expand...
Sure. The fact someone needs to move the sliders with an iPad on the couch is the problem here. Not West's uninspired and bad features or the lack of features.
LurkerPrime said:
I can solve all of Giant Bomb's problems. All we need to do is bring Kinect back. Or at least, motion controlled games.

The whole VR experiment isn't the same.
Click to expand...
Oh my god yes! Konami's weird dance Kinect game was amazing.
 
K

kiyomi

Member
Harpuia said:
It's almost as if the East has one more video person to help make good content than the West right now.
Click to expand...

They weren't exactly pumping out fresh content when Drew was around though. Maybe there was more, but they were still in their routine.

I think it's mostly the blend of personalities on the West team right now.
 
R

robotrock

Banned
GB west needs to go into the thunderdome. replace every stream with something random and new for a month. throw the spaghetti at the wall
 
T

ThanksVision

Member
i'd literally pay $50 a year just to watch jeff pick a random game out of his collection and talk about it for 10-15 min every other day. he has this historical, encyclopedia knowledge and i wish they had a show that tapped into that more. i'd watch that guy ramble for hours


sidenote: with 4 video producers by the end of the year i hope they go all out for goty vids. it's gotta be their most popular content, right? RIGHT?? it's all we talk about in here
 
W

Wunder

Member
oti said:
I don't think "just don't watch it" is a meaningful response to someone criticising something. I'd believe that all criticism in here comes from a good place. We want GB to make cool stuff and they do, but they could do a lot better.
Click to expand...

yeah but it's a creative problem. "Be funny" or "Be more enthusiastic" isn't a solution, you just don't really like that brand of humor or want someone to change their personality. I don't think most criticism here comes from a good place, which is why I don't really bother to respond to it anymore. Some of it does, sure, but what's the point of posting for the fifth time that Kingdom Heartache has low viewer numbers or that Beast in the East is boring and Yakuza is a bad game?

There isn't that many places I can go for decent GB discussion and this is slowly becoming a place I frequent less and less sadly
 
P

patapuf

Member
Piston Hyundai said:
I totally agree with you that Giant Bomb is in a good place, but you do realize why you have more premium features than ever, right? It's because East commits to a schedule. It's because East has fresh ideas for premium features almost every month. It's because East treats their Friday slot as an opportunity for Playdates, Blue Bombin', VinnyVania, and other features instead of having the same exact stream in the same exact format almost every single week for four years running. There's no crisis, but I haven't been interested in much of anything West has done since that Saturn stream they did, and a large part of that (beyond a dreadfully low amount of energy among the entire staff) is because the features that interest me can go for months at a time without seeing a single episode. West favors weeks and weeks of the same features like UPF and Murder Island (although that's cross-coast), and it gets stale. It's been stale for a very long time with no signs of change, and that's where most of my complaints come from. I feel like my premium subscription is validated with East's efforts alone, but does that mean I should be happy with West not holding up their end of the bargain?
Click to expand...

I find both, UPF and Murder Island entertaining. While i found Yakuza and MGS terribly boring.

I'm fine with people criticising shows they don't like but i'm not going to count what each office makes as if they are separate entities on an organisational level. One office "not holding their end of the bargain" is just an alien type of thinking to me. It's not a competition.

And with the site becoming bigger, i wouldn't expect to see Brad and Jeff in more content. If the back end eats up a lot of their time, having more people is not going to make that type of work diminish.
 
M

Meneses

Member
I'm struggling to keep my interest in GB, to the point where I said I was gonna let my Premium slip for the first time in a while (then I realized I have it until next year, so GB wins this one).

Right now I pretty much only listen to the Beastcast but even that's starting to lose me. Can't really watch anything from West. I don't enjoy any of the regular features (Xcorps is probably the exception and even then, not always), I don't like the new kids, stuff feels either too gimmicky or too "meh whatever" (which is a really broad complaint, I give you that). I think the attitude in general feels different but that's to be expected whenever there's a kind of "passing of the torch".

Still, for every one of me there's probably 3 people for whom there has never been a better time for Giant Bomb, so I'd say they're at a good place right now - I just think that maybe GB isn't for me anymore.

I did watch the NBA QL and it was great listening to Vinny losing it, so it's not all bad. Maybe it's just a phase for me.
 
P

Piston Hyundai

Member
ThanksVision said:
i'd literally pay $50 a year just to watch jeff pick a random game out of his collection and talk about it for 10-15 min every other day. he has this historical, encyclopedia knowledge and i wish they had a show that tapped into that more. i'd watch that guy ramble for hours
Click to expand...

Apparently Jeff was considering a feature where he'd spend a similar amount of time on every US retail NES game ever, but decided against it because
 
M

Mr. F

Banned
Piston Hyundai said:
They were making stuff like Blue Bombin', VinnyVania, This is the Run, and Beast in the East before they ever had a second producer.
Click to expand...

Exactly. Above all they just need someone to rally and get them excited to try shit, and I never get that vibe from West the same way I do from Vinny or Dan.

Edit;

Meneses said:
Still, for every one of me there's probably 3 people for whom there has never been a better time for Giant Bomb, so I'd say they're at a good place right now - I just think that maybe GB isn't for me anymore.
Click to expand...

I feel this creeping up sometimes but I think it's more a video games thing on the whole.
 
O

oti

Banned
Wunder said:
yeah but it's a creative problem. "Be funny" or "Be more enthusiastic" isn't a solution, you just don't really like that brand of humor or want someone to change their personality. I don't think most criticism here comes from a good place, which is why I don't really bother to respond to it anymore. Some of it does, sure, but what's the point of posting for the fifth time that Kingdom Heartache has low viewer numbers or that Beast in the East is boring and Yakuza is a bad game?

There isn't that many places I can go for decent GB discussion and this is slowly becoming a place I frequent less and less sadly
Click to expand...

Because they absolutely tanked Kingdom Heartache. That was the most hyped series in a while. We actually pointed out all the flaws right at the beginning and the prevailing opinion was "they'll sort it out". And they didn't. They just continued doing the same bad routine again and again and the numbers tanked. If that's not the perfect example of how frustrating GB can be I don't know what is.
 
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