I'm Sad, You're Sad, Let's Chat Here and Share Good Times

I have made video games my professional academic pursuit. I don't think I would have done that without this website becoming a major part of my life when I started my Ph.D. program in 2008. Timing matters. There is a thread about the announcement, but I just want this to be a positive thread recalling all the good times we have had, and maybe sharing stories that will blow each other way (P.S. Jan and Jess, you are killing it).

I'll start: Patrick Klepek introduced me to Slender Man. I am a horror baby, and I have sleep paralysis. Specifically, my nighttime terrors are triggered by tinnitus-like ringing in my ears, because I am a light sleeper and have to sleep with a variety of devices that I have tried through the years. Of course, that is the same sound our favorite slender gentleman makes before killing. So, after those features on GB, not only did I have my regular demon in the room coming to get me while I cannot move experiences, but I had the specific image of Slender Man to imagine being there. I told this to Patrick when they did the "judging" of Rock Band contests at PAX East, and he proceeded to buy me a beer while apologizing. Ryan Davis, next to me through the whole conversation, just goes "Fuck yeah, the power of video games!" (and had a nice chat with me). That was the same year we basically shut down a Boston bar because there were hundreds of us in line to join the party the day (before?) their panel.

I was in LA on vacation for a few days, and heard about Jeff and Dan's anime watching thing outside Anime Expo. Somehow we were right there the day of, and I convinced my gf we HAD to go to this thing.

And we did, and it was super fun.

@paul_tillich: FWIW tried to PM you but I guess you don't accept PMs from users you don't follow. Was interested in finding out more about your academic work in games, partly because I started a PhD program around the same time you did, in religion (I certainly know who Paul Tillich is). My own work mostly focuses on another old dead white guy named Alfred North Whitehead.

To the topic at hand... I've never met any of the crew in person like you apparently have, but I did end up playing the Monster Hunter World demo on-stream with Jason and Ben, which was definitely a cool experience. Playing something with the crew had been on my bucket list, so that was a neat thing to be able to do. I got in to their "room" as "Keigo Onishi," a name I stole from the anime Texhnolyze, along with one other person. Together, the four of us took down Anjanath, and then even managed to hunt Diablos with almost no time left to spare.

It was pretty surreal for me at the time. I remember keeping the stream on another screen as I hunted, and of course there was a massive delay for me between the game and the stream. But it couldn't have been a better game for me to play with the GB duders, since I'm a big MH fanatic and have been playing it since Monster Hunter Freedom Unite on the PSP, and hence did pretty well. In fact, there's a brief fraction of a second at 1:09:53 (Jason sped past it on his screen) at which you can see that I got all four end-of-hunt "cards." Ben then commented on it by saying to Jason, "You know, this screen might say otherwise, but I feel like you and I were definitely the stars here." Jason responded: "I skipped past it in embarrassment."

So, yeah. Incredibly cool moment for me. I wasn't on-mic with them or anything, but it was still really amazing to be able to play something with the guys. I'll always remember that one.

The good times for me have been watching everyone GROW. Their examples has taught me that leaning into YOU - true, authentic YOU - is where you should always strive to be. Clothmap, Waypoint, the WWE & a resurgent G4 are all examples of authentic, purpose driven lives (and there are SO. MANY. MORE) and we should all aspire to find the courage this team has over the years to try something new.

@atheistpreacher: COOL! I don't know what my settings are here. Sorry. That probably means I am teetering between the young/middle stages of my career when I don't keep up with that basic stuff.

My work on games (existentialism, religion, and games): https://www.baylorpress.com/9781481315463/playing-as-others/

The heart of the rest of my work, which is not about games, but about putting Whitehead in dialogue with opponents (to put it too simply for the purposes of this post): https://sunypress.edu/Books/G/God-the-Created

@paul_tillich: Fucking hell. OK, we definitely need to talk. Please either follow me or just change you PM settings so we don't need to bore everyone else with this philosophical and theological geekery (see attached screen if you can't figure out how to do it). But suffice it to say: dude, I know John Cobb. I went to Claremont School of Theology. He lives in a retirement community a few blocks away.

@atheistpreacher: Done, duder

I've been rewatching 2012 content every week. Thought it would be a fun nostalgic trip but it's actually still great entertainment. Will probably keep doing this for years to come now. The classic GB stuff really holds up and it's fun hearing them all speculate about what's to come when you already know. I forgot how sharp and funny Gerstmann was back then, like all the dang time. Ryan was just the perfect host. I even love Patrick. So sad seeing like 40% of the comments slamming him but I bet old fans would love if he were there now. Definitely give the old stuff a watch or rewatch sometime. You may be surprised.

I was lucky enough to be at the first Paxamania and it was such a good time. Dr. Tracksuit, Dirty Dan, The Wolf...truly an amazing event.

More importantly, I am grateful to Jeff and the crew for getting us through the pandemic. I went through some dark stuff and they helped me through it. Much thanks. 🤘

@mikeotron1980: Hell yes. The very first Paxamania was the best. We were truly there before it was "cool"

@atheistpreacher said:

It's worth repeating to everyone that Giant Bomb accounts are set to not allow PMs by default. If there's a redesign soon, I hope this is something that's changed.

There is a pretty clear throughline from watching the Giant Bomb Unplugged Pathfinder stream feat. V-Bomb to me meeting my future wife, so that was a pretty cool good time.

A little over a year since the Nextlander exodus, the timing seems a bit odd. Jeff leaving and the day after 4 new hires are already lined up.

I haven't been able to catch up on everything in this weird situation. Have they mentioned an official reason for why Jeff didn't get a sendoff stream or a chance to write goodbye? Or like... Anything?

I'm not sad at all! After seeing the crew and Jeff doing their things today, all parties seem to be doing alright. That's really all I need to know and that's really all that matters. Change isn't easy, but that doesn't mean it's bad. I've been celebrating GB today, and reading all of y'all's memories is a part of that.

@zephyer: no, and we don't need one. Jan mentioned respecting people's privacy twice during the bombcast, and that's all we need to know. If Jeff wanted to say something, he would have, and every single person on the crew would have helped make it happen. maybe that time will come later, maybe it won't. I think it's so easy to see things from our side and start making assumptions about falling outs and betrayal... but that helps nobody. We don't know exactly why Jeff left, but since they made new hires and new plans and jeff had his patreon set and ready today, it clearly wasn't made in a rush. We aren't owed an satisfying answer. Even for us subs, we pay for the content they put out, not access into their personal lives.

Times change. People change. The past two years have forced a lot of change already, and will force a lot more. That's okay. And it will be okay even if we never get a "why".

I don't care how RV handled the departure or how good the new team is, the current team should have fought to have JG on for a send-off show. Really bad taste that he was just gone with no send off. He founded the site. He made Giant Bomb what it is today and it's disgraceful how this was handled. Even Jan's uplifting speech seems hollow and disappointing because of how the departure was handled.

Just sad.

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@acornactivist: agreed. I don’t think anyone we see here or on Jeff’s stuff has bad blood. I really don’t. If there is a big bad thing, it was probably with people up the ladder that never wind up on a video anywhere.

I’m in wait and see mode. And I kicked Jeff some patron cash too. Will be weird for a while everywhere, I’m sure, but it’ll even out. Or it won’t. Who knows.