Board 8 > Giant Bomb Topic - Spring 2019

(+) Yeah! (+)

I got used to flying the ship pretty quick. It gets natural after a couple hours.
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Ive crashed into the sun 4 or 5 times, at least.

Is there a way to check how many cycles Ive done? Its definitely more than 18

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So my point is that branding matters. These first three discussions being branded as "Day 1/2/3 Deliberations" marks them (to me, at least) as being flagship content; essential listening leading up to the rankings in Day 4/5. The disconnect (and negativity) is coming from the fact that, well, they're not. They're appendices, DVD extras.

From a practical production point of view, I think the new format is a great change. From a "healthy workplace environment" point of view, it must be fantastic, and I don't think anything should actually change for those reasons.

The one thing that should change is that the "Deliberations" podcasts should be treated like the supplementary content they are. So here's what I think would help next year:

Days 4&5 (the ranked list days) are split into four podcasts of 2-ish hours each (or however long), and become Days 1-4 of the released content.

The day after the GOTY lists are all done, the current "Deliberations" days' podcasts are released, clearly marked as bonus content. People who want to can see how the sausage was made, and it has the added benefit of people not being able to guess 80% of the crew's final GOTY list based on the deliberations.

That's it, that's the fix. So nothing changes in terms of what's recorded, only how it's branded and released. Christ, this turned out long, but I think this would really help abate the negativity next year.

Yes they should do that

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Where was that?

Day 3 comment section

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The Fire Emblem dubstep moment was glorious, even if they sadly didn't play anything else from that game.

...Also this Later Alligator music is AMAZING!

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All the music they ended up torn on is good, mostly, but FE really is the winner this year. Even if you've dumped hundreds of hours into that game like me, it was kind of incredible just sitting back with that FLAC OST and a great pair of headphones and just swimming in it.

Hypnospace Outlaw is starting to look like the game this year that's getting way more than it should because of it's niche appeal to older GB staff. It's cool and all, but it should not be being this much play in these awards. I feel like this is one of the times where Abby giving most of the staff the OK Boomer stink eye is appropriate.

Hypnospace is a cool game though!

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It's a very cool game! Just not THAT cool.

Like...going hard on it for soundtrack? Really? Hypnospace is the game where you play Hot Butter Ice Cream as a gag and then cut it.

Yeah for best soundtrack! I actually tracked it down on Spotify and listened to it outside the game. I wouldnt say its better than Shadowbringers, and none of the made it to the end of AI Somnium Files so no one there heard the best song this year, but I think its a fair choice.

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The yearly tabletop beastcast is up.

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Holy shit wait, so it's really just 5 categories and the top 10 list? Yesterday was every category?

Last year they had 10, didn't they?

With all the time saved with shorter podcasts, they surely have lots of fun holiday videos, right? Hitsmas? Rock Band? Winter Games?

Right?

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Winter Games is coming out in a couple of hours, at least

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Last year was 10 yes. I like the recaps but cutting extra categories just seems excessive.

DeepsPraw posted...

With all the time saved with shorter podcasts, they surely have lots of fun holiday videos, right? Hitsmas? Rock Band? Winter Games?

Right?

They only had a week to do stuff. They got a lot more out than the last time it was like this (2015) at least! And yeah Winter Games is happening.

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I mean 10 last year was already cutting it in half. This is a quarter of the normal category count. Why even have GotY?

"Why even have GotY if they're just going to do GotY"

???

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All of the wacky categories are the selling point here.

The actual top 10 means very little.

Best WWE 2K face would have been a category in the old system, luckily Jeff did what he had to do to make it happen

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Me: how is there 40 min left with only 3 more events go to?
*next event is picked*
Me: oh.....who thought this was a good idea, because it was the best idea.

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Winter Games was great! The 20 questions section was hilarious

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since giant bomb doesn't play actual jrpgs I'd like to nominate Step Ahead for best music

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rPowTOEP4h4

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I now know Giant Bomb's Top 10 Games of 2019


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The final podcast is really good! I actually think having those earlier year overview discussions helped.

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I'm about an hour away from finishing Day 4.

I really appreciate the recaps and am glad they do it. It offers the chance for them to talk about games that people may enjoy that have no chance of winning any category they may do, and also let's them talk negatively about things without having to get into an argument of "this is worse than this" which can be fun to listen to but probably makes the tone of GotY more negative than they want. All that said, I just wish there was a way it could be condensed into two days rather than three. The categories are a fun part of their GotY model and I feel a split of two days recap, two days category awards, last day Top 10 would be a fantastic format.

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In case you were wondering, here is their final list:

Outer Wilds
Control
Apex
MK 11
RE2
Bloodstained
Ring Fit
Call of Duty
Disco
Judgment

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but what if we hit the button to invert the list

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ZaziGuado posted...

I'm about an hour away from finishing Day 4.

I really appreciate the recaps and am glad they do it. It offers the chance for them to talk about games that people may enjoy that have no chance of winning any category they may do, and also let's them talk negatively about things without having to get into an argument of "this is worse than this" which can be fun to listen to but probably makes the tone of GotY more negative than they want. All that said, I just wish there was a way it could be condensed into two days rather than three. The categories are a fun part of their GotY model and I feel a split of two days recap, two days category awards, last day Top 10 would be a fantastic format.

What I don't get is why they bother talking about the games they thought were neither bad nor good. Spending three minutes telling us "I played this for two hours and it was okay" is not interesting.
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The thing is, after this year, I'm pretty sure if they changed it to 3 category days we'd just be back to 10 again!

4 categories. God.

Im only near the end of Day 2, Outer Wilds slowed me down.

There are only 4 categories?!

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Yeah, day 4 is 4 categories, Day 5 is just GotY.

So I know no one cares, but I'll post some thoughts about this year.

This has been one of the weakest Giant Bomb years in awhile. I love the site, and will continue to support it for the years of enjoyment I've gotten from it, but this goty stuff really irked me. A lot of stuff this year has seem half-assed, for lack of a better term. The premium content is no where near as thought out or happening as often as before. It's almost like they are just throwing things at the wall and seeing what sticks. I don't think it's for lack of caring, but the crew is getting older and clearly have other priorities in life as opposed to trying to make the best content they can. There are always gems and I'm still entertained, but so many half assed ideas that don't come to fruition, so many "X member can't be here for this", etc. I think it all came to a head for me in this goty.

The short videos they did for goty are entertaining, sure, but I don't need a five minute talking head video when I already know their thoughts on games from listening to podcasts/watching videos over the course of the year. Most of those videos are them retreading ideas in a small, concise way, only to talk about it further in the three day 'deliberation' phase. I don't need to know what stories Dan finds confusing in five minutes, only to hear him talk about it for 30 minutes in the podcasts that actually matter. Then there is the cutting down the categories and actual talk about games in the last two days, essentially handing over awards to games they already crowned in the first three days. Overall it felt like them going through the motions just to have content for the end of the year, which is what a lot of what this year felt like - going through the motions. I miss being surprised by what rolled out of this site, where an accident would spark a feature, or someones love for a certain game would force others to endure (good or bad) their tastes.

Overall, I just feel like this is one of the worst years of Giant Bomb, ending with a disappointing GOTY segment which is what I look forward to the most. I won't cancel my subscription because I still support what they do, but this is the first time I've actually considered it.

also if this post is rambling nonsense full disclosure i'm like two strong drinks in.

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Giant Bomb as a whole has been circling the drain the last 2-3 years. They feel rudderless as a group, and a big part of that is Dan's move to the east coast. Dan was the person trying new things and consistantly pumping out the best new content (think Metal Gear Scanlon, Mario Party Party, etc). On the west coast he had a lot of people he could play off of, but the east coast crew seems less inclined to play ball. It doesn't help that Abby is by far the worst person ever on the website. I have a hunch that she single handedly killed the GotY format with her shrieking banshee voice, inability to recognize shes the only person in the room that plays the garbage "games" she's constantly championing, and I suspect pulled the "I'm a girl and I'm being DISCRIMINATED" card.

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yikes

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I say word for word this literally every year, but preemptively please do no associate my displeasure with BT's stances <_<

Those nancy drew games seem legit

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Imagine a hypothetical situation where someone has never been a premium member and now has 30 days of access to all of the premium content on the website.

In that hypothetical situation, what would be some great content in which that hypothetical person should watch, hypothetically?

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The Until Dawn, Life is Strange, and Contradiction Playdates are the series that I've always wanted to watch so I'll probably start with those.

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https://www.giantbomb.com/forums/general-discussion-30/new-to-premium-what-to-start-watching-1771096/

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davidponte posted...

Imagine a hypothetical situation where someone has never been a premium member and now has 30 days of access to all of the premium content on the website.

In that hypothetical situation, what would be some great content in which that hypothetical person should watch, hypothetically?

How familiar are you with the site? What free stuff of theirs do you most enjoy? Who are your favorite people on the site?
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Admittedly I haven't kept up much in the last two years or so, other than all of the E3 and GOTY content as well as the occasional quick look or two.

I definitely enjoy the content that makes me laugh the most, whether that be intentionally or not. I feel like GBE probably lends itself more to that with Dan being there.

More of a Jeff/Vinny/Dan/Alex guy, but everyone is cool.

Prior to the last few years there was a couple years post-Ryan there where I was watching most if not all of the non-premium features they put out.

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13 deadly sims is amazing.

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I watched this year's best of video and laughed like a lunatic the whole way through. No decline there that's for sure. However, it is no accident that 95% of the moments were either GB East or Jeff G.

I liked the GOTY content too. I just wish there was more of it.

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My favorite serieseses:

• All of Vinnyvania (the cv3 and rondo of blood runs were most fun, but they all are good) (maybe you have to like castlevania though)
• certain seasons of Breaking Brad (especially the Doom 2 run, everyone heckles him)
• Contradiction: Spot the Liar (quick look, the supplemental quick look, then the premium videos)
• This is the run (contra 1, and IMO altered beasts were most fun, but they are all good)
• metal gear scanlon (I mostly just like metal gear solid (mostly msg2) and enjoy dan's enthusiasm for it)
• the resident evil 2 playdates
• 13 Deadly Sims
• steal my sunshine
• eh pretty much any giant bomb east playdate especially if they're doing random party games like jackbox or warioware
• any nancy drew playdates

These are all pretty timeless and some of these I even actually rewatch from time to time, I've probably watched through vinnyvania like 4 times.

A lot of other gb videos make more sense to watch imo with others in giantbomb.com/infinite, which you don't need premium for. Demo derbys, unprofessional fridays, mario party party, the garfield playthroughs, old games shows, game tapes... I super enjoy "having those on" and having the chat window open to enjoy them with others, but they're not quite fun enough to sit down and stare at for the full video length. (ok, I have watched all the mario parties, but I don't think most people would be crazy enough to enjoy that.)

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Also as long as I'm listing favorite gb content I will say my favorite quick look is Motorbike https://www.giantbomb.com/shows/quick-look-motorbike/2970-13947/free-video

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Some of the hardest times I've ever laughed have been when watching the bad game show game quick looks from back in the day, which is how I actually got introduced to the site.
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the best content on the website is the Deadly Premonition endurance run(s)

shenmue was also pretty tight
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Mario Party Party is incredible, at least the first few. The last few are plagued with bad maps or game mechanics that kind of take the spirit out of it.

Vinnyvania, metal gear scanlon, steal my sunshine, 13 deadly sims, endurance runs, are all also great

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oh also any video where they play FMV games like Tender Loving Care and Phatasmagoria are all great
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Holy fuck, Jeff played through loops of Outer Wilds without knowing you could translate and read Nomai messages? I swear thats one of the things they force you to do once before you leave the planet the first time.

I could understand a complete newcomer to games not reading what the guy says when he gives you the launch code, or not noticing the button prompt to translate that pops up every time you look at Nomai text but Jeff really has no excuse.

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