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Kinda Funny Community Thread | The Fire Rises, Brother!
- Thread starter MattyG
- Start date
ST2K
Member
Personal summary of the announcement for the day:
- C&GL is now the Kinda Funny Morning Show. Same thing, different name so they can change the hosts around more.
- They've hired a Community Manager, Joey Noelle, so they can communicate better with fans.
- They're working on hiring an editor.
- They hired the Kinda Funny Doodles guy.
- They're changing up the Patreon tiers/rewards.
- Monthly Q&A is now not a live show and is instead a "submit questions and they'll make a show out of the answers" thing.
- They're making more bonus episodes of the Animated Series to apologize for the delays.
- KFL2 is up now for Patrons, will be up in a month for everyone.
- They've shrunk the file sizes of their podcasts per community request.
- Patreon now has a premium RSS feed for people to use.
- Future monthly bonus episodes for GOG and KFG will go live to non-Patrons a month later.
I think that's everything. Generally I think it's positive, but it doesn't seem like the core problems with KFG are being addressed. I'll likely drop my pledge quite a bit as a result.
- C&GL is now the Kinda Funny Morning Show. Same thing, different name so they can change the hosts around more.
- They've hired a Community Manager, Joey Noelle, so they can communicate better with fans.
- They're working on hiring an editor.
- They hired the Kinda Funny Doodles guy.
- They're changing up the Patreon tiers/rewards.
- Monthly Q&A is now not a live show and is instead a "submit questions and they'll make a show out of the answers" thing.
- They're making more bonus episodes of the Animated Series to apologize for the delays.
- KFL2 is up now for Patrons, will be up in a month for everyone.
- They've shrunk the file sizes of their podcasts per community request.
- Patreon now has a premium RSS feed for people to use.
- Future monthly bonus episodes for GOG and KFG will go live to non-Patrons a month later.
I think that's everything. Generally I think it's positive, but it doesn't seem like the core problems with KFG are being addressed. I'll likely drop my pledge quite a bit as a result.
Maklershed
Member
Possibly a (very) stupid question but does this mean their podcasts will jive with iTunes now?
uncleniccius
Member
What do you see as the problems? I haven't paid as much attention to KF of late.
An editor and community manager in particular seems a step in the right direction and will hopefully allow them to spend more time focusing on the content.
All of the changes seem great, and the hiring of an editor and community manager will certainly be beneficial to everyone.
Also pumped that they are finally getting a private RSS feed for the early Patreon podcasts. Not having them on Pocketcasts makes them essentially useless to me, so I was happy to hear that.
Also Colin Was Right today was really good. Still seems to be settling into the format, but it was a marked improvement over the pilot.(s)
Also pumped that they are finally getting a private RSS feed for the early Patreon podcasts. Not having them on Pocketcasts makes them essentially useless to me, so I was happy to hear that.
Also Colin Was Right today was really good. Still seems to be settling into the format, but it was a marked improvement over the pilot.(s)
Icyflamez96
Member
I've seen all of the episodes and this official first one is easily the best as far as his performance is concerbed. I thought the 3 pilots generally got better and better as they went on. His delivery in the pilots was better than it was in the intro video too.
Im gonna go back to watch them all at some point to make sure it's not just me getting used to his scripted stuff, but I'm pretty sure it's not
Im gonna go back to watch them all at some point to make sure it's not just me getting used to his scripted stuff, but I'm pretty sure it's not
It's a shame Colin and Greg Live as we know it is gone. That was by far my favorite content that they did, and yeah, I know it's going to be a very similar thing but the spirit of the show has already been slowly phased out recently so I get the gist of what's going on here, and I'd rather the earlier versions of the show. (Older studio, pair of Colin and Greg more often, etc.)
I also see where they're coming from with this, it's just personal preference.
I also see where they're coming from with this, it's just personal preference.
EdReedFan20
Member
If you remember, there was an even earlier version of the show (like only the first handful of episodes) where each episode began with them playing a game (usually a competitive one). I remember the first episode they played Super Smash Bros. That seems like another age.
Sauce Marlow
Member
I think the guys believe hiring a community manager solves all their problems with the community, but in reality it doesn't solve anything. The big problem is they don't listen to any criticism at all and any criticism tis immediately shot down by fanboys. How long did people have to complain before they finally acknowledged their ad reads were getting ridiculous? Literally the entire first page of comments on every video was about the ads, yet it still took them a month+.
Other problems people have like Colin & Greg seeming disinterested in the Gamescast and the Gamescast generally not having a great format are not going to be solved by having a community manager. Maybe the guys will be more likely to listen to criticism if it's coming from an employee? It just seems they're incredibly tone deaf when it comes to what the community outside of the hardcore fanboys want.
Other problems people have like Colin & Greg seeming disinterested in the Gamescast and the Gamescast generally not having a great format are not going to be solved by having a community manager. Maybe the guys will be more likely to listen to criticism if it's coming from an employee? It just seems they're incredibly tone deaf when it comes to what the community outside of the hardcore fanboys want.
ST2K
Member
The KFGcast is kind of perpetually poor, because it's hamstrung by the topic approach that GOG takes. News isn't topical, game discussions are usually one guy talking about a game, a lot of repetition from other shows, and the topics themselves usually aren't that thought-provoking, amusing or inventive. Colin and Greg seem to mail it in for this show more than any other content, and I don't say that lightly because I know how hard they hustle to do a bunch of shit. The show is in desperate need of a refresh, format change, or something else.
There's also the problem of Greg and Colin completely settling into themselves and not stretching outside of their comfort zone with games at all. This is further hurt by the fact that the guys know each other so well. That's usually a good thing, but it can lead to very routine conversations about games that even semi-longtime fans can predict all the bullet points of. They could improve this by actually making a point to go out of there way to dive into unusual games (unlikely, especially with Colin), challenging each other more (doesn't seem to be their thing, and I respect that), or by bringing in more guests more often to change the dynamics of the conversation (seems like this should be uncontroversial, but they've expressed opinions before about PSILY/Old Beyond being just them). Not only have they not shown any signs of resolving it, but they don't seem to acknowledge it at all. Or worse yet...
...They appear to lash out at people giving them feedback who care about them the most. There's a lot of bad vibes around negative feedback in any creative outlet, understandably. But what makes it worse with KF is that there's very much a "don't like it, tough shit" attitude coming directly from them. I don't honestly believe they think that and their intentions I believe are to take in criticism when they can, but every time you don't address feedback, you make it appear like you're ignoring it. Combine that with every time you call out someone who's usually being a dick and tell them to "get the fuck out, we don't want you" you're just encouraging hostility to people who have a more reasonable negative opinion.
This problem is further exacerbated by them seemingly being stuck in an echochamber of a particular brand of Kinda Funny Best Friend™ who never say anything negative about anything and ignore or shout down anyone who does. Greg seems to think a big problem with his community reach out effort is that he doesn't give enough shout-outs to people, which seems absurd to me personally. They should be doing less shout-outs and instead be inclusive and try to address the community as a whole more. Shout-outs by name, when you hear the same handful of people over and over, makes things clique-ish and excludes people.
Admittedly, the community manager position addresses this conceptually. You bring in a person who's job it is to round up all the community opinions and deliver it to them, it should address the problem, right? However, the reality that they hired Joey kinds of brings that hope down a bit for me. I don't personally follow her on Twitter or anything, so I won't claim to be super knowledgeable about what she brings. But she does not strike me as someone who's going to challenge the guys and say "No, a significant part of the community really thinks you're fucking this up. Don't ignore this." And she's also unquestionably one of the "in kids," so I think naturally she's not going to go out and seek to reform the clique way the whole community is working right now. Nothing against her personally obviously, she's been nothing but nice when I've seen something she posted. But if these things don't change, constructive criticism doesn't get back to the guys, things get ignored, people get upset and/or leave, and before they know it they've either got a community full of followers who will enjoy anything they get, or no community at all.
So yeah, tl;dr I think Kinda Funny has some systemic cracks in the foundation and no one seems to notice/care and that's kind of a bummer.
KZXcellent
Member
So did they actually do their Patreon milestones? He mentions they dropped the milestones for the History of Playstation and Mario because "it's not the content you guys want!" but given that these were goals they had set when KFG's Patreon launched it seems like they never did them and decided to remove them under the guise of "We only want to do what the community likes!". Seems pretty suspect but please correct me if I'm wrong.
Also I have to agree with ST2K. The guys at KF seem utterly unwilling to broaden their horizons and try new games and treat any criticism as white noise. It's not something that I expect to change either. I recall Greg recently passing off all User Reviews for No Man's Sky as "basically YouTube comments" and acted as if nobody should care what they think.
I find myself preferring the Easy Allies group when it comes to podcasts simply because they have more people (who are cycled out semi-regularly) which allows for different perspectives. Kinda Funny Games needs more new blood, or at least more guests.
Also I have to agree with ST2K. The guys at KF seem utterly unwilling to broaden their horizons and try new games and treat any criticism as white noise. It's not something that I expect to change either. I recall Greg recently passing off all User Reviews for No Man's Sky as "basically YouTube comments" and acted as if nobody should care what they think.
I find myself preferring the Easy Allies group when it comes to podcasts simply because they have more people (who are cycled out semi-regularly) which allows for different perspectives. Kinda Funny Games needs more new blood, or at least more guests.
The one thing I would say is this: If the so called in-kids and people directly surrounding them (e.g. KF Forum participants) are in fact sustaining KF as is and they are the one's who provide the money (I suspect removing 2000 love/hate fans wouldnt change much, dunno tho)... I can see why you would adress their concerns first and foremost and "ignore" GAFs really small community. Ps I Love is surely another thing, because it operates on a higher scale presumably, but that on is also less about the KF infrastructure so to speak.
For "us" that is more frustrating, but... eh. You can do only so much.
For "us" that is more frustrating, but... eh. You can do only so much.
ST2K
Member
You're correct in that they just kinda dropped them without really giving the community a taste to vote yay or nay on. But to be fair, he mentioned that virtually no one asked about them and some those have been due for years. I don't think it's entirely unreasonable to assume that not a ton of people are going to be pissed that they're not doing it.
I mean, I don't want to come off as a braggart or anything, but I have financially supported Kinda Funny for a while. For not an insignificant amount of cash. I assume I'm not the only one here who's done so, but I could be wrong. Our opinions are just as valuable.
And to be clear, that wasn't a "GAF gets ignored!" rant. There are plenty of communities all over the internet that get ignored, even in places like the forums. Honestly, I barely consider myself a GAFer because of how ridiculous this place gets sometimes, but that's another discussion entirely. =P
What issues are you seeing now with iTunes? I haven't noticed anything not appearing for all 3 podcasts.
Maklershed
Member
I was under the impression the early and patreon exclusive episodes weren't available on iTunes, only soundcloud.
Yeah but that's done on purpose, there's no way to have a hidden/private podcast on iTunes for the early people. Now they'll be moving the podcasts to a patreon RSS feed so you can just add the feed to your podcast app of choice.
speedomodel
Member
The Morning show being released in mps/podcast form is the best news of this. Missed out on literally 99% of it and was always bummed about that.
Tom Nook Sawyer
Member
Can't that RSS link still be freely shared though? (or is there someway to have a true private RSS?)
Greg just answered someone on Twitter saying they're coming but they're running late on that stuff currently after yesterday
So I guess getting stuff out on time starts next week? LOL
EdReedFan20
Member
So any guess on who the editor hire is? They said it was someone cool. I wonder if it is anyone they worked with at IGN.
Sean Twister? Alfredo?
EdReedFan20
Member
I think we can rule out Alfredo. He's a camera presence type. The editor hire would be behind the scenes.
I wasn't sure what his role was when he worked at IGN. Maybe it's someone who is getting ready to leave IGN?
Sean took a job at IGN recently. I feel they would've made him the community manager if that didn't happen.
My editor prediction is Kinda Funny Best Friend Tom Hawkins, but I could be way off.
EdReedFan20
Member
That seems plausible. Isn't he the one that always cuts together the best moments? Problem is, I think he lives in England. Then again, he wouldn't necessarily need to move to America to edit things for them. It would probably make things easier, though.
bananafactory
Banned
Sean Finnegan?
EdReedFan20
Member
That crossed my mind. He's a big video guy, I think, so editing is definitely his purview. And he and the guys are quite close. Others I though of were Mike Aransky or Fran Mirabella.
That's a good call. Probably more likely than Hawkins.
bananafactory
Banned
Yeah I mean no offense to their community guys but they aren't going to hire an amateur to be their dedicated full time editor. Especially with how they're looking to grow and improve.
If it's not an IGN dude it'll be someone else with experience
If it's not an IGN dude it'll be someone else with experience
Cool Greg.
Maklershed
Member
He loves hiking.
EdReedFan20
Member
What about Alexis Pence (a lot easier to spell!)?
Sauce Marlow
Member
This really highlights how Greg just doest get what the problem is. When there was a huge backlash from the community his biggest takeaway was that he doesn't give enough shoutouts? Really, Greg? That was literally the opposite of what people were complaining about. People were unhappy because it felt like there was a cool Kilq of fans who were the only people the guys paid attention to, so somehow Greg sees the solution to this being to shoutout the same 4 or 5 people (who they were already shouting out mind you) even more?
My biggest problem with Kinda Funny is that they're just completely tone deaf. Maybe a community manager will help, but the fact that she comes from the cool Kliq doesn't exactly inspire confidence. Is it just me, or does it seem really strange that they always go on about how they want to hire from the community? Wouldn't you rather give the job to the person who is most qualified and best suited, rather than whoever kisses up to them the most?
ST2K
Member
Yeah, Tim's great. He really wears his emotions on his sleeve and you can see how special that whole thing was. Shout out to him putting in so much work to that vid too, it showed.
As a side note, Colin calls out the PSILY thread again in GOG. It's a shame that thread got so toxic and drove them away.
TheCowboyPoet
Member
Toxic? You mean Colin faced valid criticism that wasn't the ass kissing from the Shawn Finnigan, Joel Noelle, etc core of fans, and he overreacted and ran away? How is that toxic?
ST2K
Member
Let's not exaggerate man, there's plenty of not ass-kissing in this thread and it's never gotten that bad. That's not saying there was no legitimate criticism in that thread, there was. But there was also a lot of dog-piling, name-calling and shitting on Colin specifically for pages and pages.
Meh. In that specific instance he was wrong. You can pick the bad apples and take that as a reason to bail, but than it would be hard to do anything on the net. The amount of valid criticsm in that instance was a large part of that thread leading up to his rant and bail.