What happened to Quick Looks (and maybe some other spontaneous formats)?

I don't doubt what your saying but is there a site to see the total hrs on avg over the years or any of the stats your citing? I'm not angry about GB seeing as how I'm still a subscriber but those numbers sound interesting.

Hi @yapapanda,

The project was ultimately abandoned as during the final phase of development, the news came about that the three members of the team were departing the company. It was felt the goal of the reporting was no longer relevant at that point.

The project scope statement was effectively:

Produce a visual report with varying style graphs and charts on a weekly basis, ending on Sunday including -

Hours of content per team member

Show title or podcast

Premium and not

Have those metrics roll up each month for reporting over time in order to plot trends per staff or show to illustrate peaks and valleys

Supply the same statistics for several years past for historical context

Output reports to a twitter account for public viewing - I think we set up @GBstats or something like that

Probably other things I've forgotten

Using the GB API to gather the appropriate fields in JSON provided the data. Then I was importing that into a SQL database for data cleaning, structuring and ultimately reporting. I think I was using SSRS for reporting, or maybe left it with Excel - I don't recall. The real issue was that the JSON pulled from the API had incomplete and incorrect field data, or was at the very least inconsistent. Then considerations for empty fields or misplaced data, excluding beast and bomb casts from premium since a free version exists and to not double count items, Derek Stones Best Of videos and the list goes on of other oddball items that would pop up and muddy the reporting. Basically it was a mess and sanitizing the data was a headache.

I probably still have some SQL and temp reports stored somewhere, but not any valid JSON dumps at this point. To my previous point of noticing drop off, that's still very true without having final shiny reports to point to, as the numbers were still generated and looked over, just without presentation anywhere.

I suppose unless I, or someone else wants to carry the torch and put a bow on it, my word will have to suffice. Otherwise, anyone that is a premium member can pull the data and look for themselves, it's all there.

Hope this answers your question, and apologies I don't have the final product to show for you.

Hugs,

Mr. Asshat

It seems like there’s so much going on in this thread but just one thing I want to point out is that things that seemed spontaneous on our end probably took some planning to execute on the staff’s end.

I know there’s things that are probably very quickly done but it’s rarely ever that simple.

I refuse to read 5 pages of comments to see if this joke was made already.

They moved to Twitch.

New GB is NOT old GB. Stop asking it to be.

While I don't have anything greater to contribute to the actual discussion, I will say I am disappointed but understand the lack of Quick Looks over the past several months. A bunch of games I think are really good or worth looking at barely got mentioned and never made into a video (Subnautica: Below Zero, Biomutant, and Griftlands 1.0 jump to mind). There's also some really cool stuff coming out this week (Tribes of Midgard, Chernobylite, and The Ascent) and, at this point, the most I expect to see is maybe 20 minutes as a UPF segment.

Within the first minute of today's PokeMonday Night Combat, Jan mentions how incredibly busy he is. I feel for him since what little they revealed to us sounds like a lot of work and Jeff has acknowledged they are currently understaffed. I just wish they were able to look at some new releases in the traditional GB way.

Personally, I despise Twitch on such a moral level. It's a company I really don't want to support in any way.

What's puzzling to me is that Danny seems to be the most productive staff member at the moment (Guilty Treasures, Bourne to Run, podcasts, UPFs), despite him only working one day of the week for GB. So I'm not surprised people question what all the other staff members are doing with their time.

@brakara: now that you mention it when i was complaining about output i didn't even think of the fact that frankly your right danny has been putting out the most and hes only part time. that just makes things even more disappointing.

don't get me wrong jan puts in alot too imo when hes around , hes been the brightest star energy wise this yr, sadly i'm not really into half of the stuff he puts out, but at least he tries.

also i know jason moved n all but where he been? i thought he was just taking a couple weeks off to move (valid) but he was in 1? UPF and nothing else since then. i mean i know hes suppose to be more of the production side but over the years hes gotten increasingly quiet in that stuff he is in if hes even in anything. with is move on top its a bit more worrisome not that he couldn't do whatever hes been doing from home for the past yr n a half anywhere hes lives they all could. idk that last point just makes it feel a bit more odd with there being lack of staff n all :/

I've been trying to avoid posting on this thread since I generally try to avoid venting on message boards, but today's PNC hit hard. I miss Jan and Ben as a duo so bad.

I, too, miss Quick Looks. What I'm not going to do is demand that these dudes account for every minute of their time like they're attorneys logging billable hours. I get that people in this thread care about Giant Bomb and I get that they miss the old Giant Bomb but this thread has really devolved from missing QLs into questioning the value proposition of the site for which there is, and always has been, one solution.

leaving feedback on the forum for said site?

@brian_: paying customers have a right to voice there concerns as much as they please.

It's hard to do quick looks with so few full time staff members. Solo quick looks aren't great, and it sounds like there's just too much work going around to reliably get at least 2 full time staffers on to talk through games. New GB has been focused on bringing people in for shows; it's not that long ago that people were complaining that there were too many quick looks and not enough shows. Give them time to hire more full time staff members.

You could not have proven my point more effectively even if you tried. Maybe read the thread before flippantly dismissing our concerns.

I gotta say, it's not looking good for the website portion of our program. It's likely never to recover to even Garfin' with Gerst levels again. That said, the podcast is still fairly energetic and spontaneous, and aside from the loss of certain voices, I am still surprisingly entertained by it.

I put a comment on here over 2 weeks ago, thought nothing of it other than what I said.

Now over 200 comments later and nearly 30k views there is obviously a lot of feelings and interest in this tread and what is being brought up.

I have been out the loop for a bit, not watched anything, not listened to a podcast for over 2 months now. Has this issue been brought up or torched on by at all by the staff ? Have they even acknowledged there is some concern within the community about the content or perceived lack of it ? This thread seems to be sticking around the top of the forums so someone must have seen it.

As many have said at the end of the day you are paying for a service and If you don't like what you are getting don't pay for it. I will be one of them who is moving on which makes me sad.

@drfat32: The best way to respond to complaints about a lack of content is to make more content. Suddenly there's Jan out there churning out some Pokemon Unite between work and them teasing out an upcoming collab with 2 Minutes to Late Night. But if you've straight up not watched anything they've done for the last 2 months i think you're pretty much out of love with the site and what it is right now. Keep an ear out for new shows in the upcoming weeks i guess. Maybe something there to tickle your fancy.

This has always been a personality-focused, subscription-based website, and the quick looks, podcasts, wiki, behind the scenes videos, and excellent Game of the Year content have been the underlying structure. Without the personalities, quick looks, wiki focus, and behind the scenes videos I really question what this site is going to offer besides YouTube and Twitch type of content. Without the staff, I wonder how Game of the Year content will go. I worry that without the underlying structure, they have no way of enticing people to subscribe and enjoy what they feel is their best content (although I guess several people question even that content's quality).

Personally, as that sounds 100% exactly like what I watch from my Twitch streamers and less creative than the YouTube channels I follow ... that will not be worth any money to me. I hope this business model is more sustainable than it seems in my head - for the health and wellness of the people working here that have families and loved ones to take care of. I also am just wondering where the RV funds are going, but not so much that I am going to threaten anyone or start speculating about the staff's motives. All I will say is that from the recent content I have seen (from the last year and a half), I have not felt the enthusiasm and excitement I am getting elsewhere and that I have felt here before.

@mellotronrules I feel you on your opinion about branching out to other mediums and interests. I have recently become more invested in comic books, books in general, and music. The unfortunate part of that is that I still watch video game-related content, but it is just not on Giant Bomb. Watching a Twitch streamer or YouTuber is often very engaging, because you can feel the interest and excitement in their hobby. It is similar to when I watch a musician or comic book enthusiast on YouTube. For some reason, that excitement and engagement is not felt here, personally.

@takayamasama Out of curiosity, how has Jeff interacted with the older fans in a negative way? I do not watch every piece of content, especially because I did not renew my subscription and there is almost no free content, and I am genuinely curious. If this is actually the case, that's kind of sad and not a great way to grow a subscriber base.

@grayfox666 Regarding your comment about Jeff being the most jaded and pessimistic on the site, I agree. It was never really an issue because there were people willing to have a debate with him about that stuff. Now, there really is not anyone left to check his comments, so it just comes off dismissive and short-sighted. I have never really connected with his attitude toward things, but I could usually respect the conversations that came from Ryan, Dan, and Vinny.

lmao, there is an underground GB resistance that might recruit me after I publicly voice my dissatisfaction with the site? That is fucking hilarious.

@clush: The way people talk about their consumer relationships with strangers on the internet is really something isn't?

Honestly I'm happy with the new shows GB is producing. Grubb snacks is entertaining, and Guilty Treasures is off to a fantastic start. Sure Id like to have more content like Game Tapes but I'm happy with what was made and am looking forward to what comes next. Still the way some of you are talking like your part of a rebellion is laughably over the top.

Was thinking of making a similar post. Used to come to Giant Bomb to learn about new games coming out but the content has morphed into a more social one. I often see “on this day in GB history” posts and get excited about the content before I realize it’s old.

I’ve aged out of Giant Bomb, been coming here for a long time just hoping for the content i used to see. But the site has changed, and that’s fine. They are going for a new audience.

I’ve aged out

Yeah, I'm a little sad that none of the three shows announced this week are gaming related. The part that makes me sad is the realization is that maybe a large chunk of Giant Bomb just isn't for me anymore. That's okay.

It's interesting to note Giant Bomb's transformation from gaming-related to not-gaming-related. I think it's been a more gradual shift than people might think. Sorry if this post ends up overly long, but you got me thinking about the topic.

• Early Giant Bomb (Whiskey Media era, 2008-2012) was all video games (and energy drink tastings). But they would crossover with other pop culture due to Ryan's TANG and also Whiskey Media in general. Ryan hosting the Whiskey Media Happy Hour certainly resulted in a lot of movie chats with Rorie/Alex at Screened, and comic book chats with Comic Vine People.
• Early CBSi Giant Bomb (2012-~2014)was still very video game focused. Maybe the most video game focused? I think the first couple years of CBSi acquisition have almost 100% gaming-related content from GB, other than the one CBSi Big Live Live Show Live, and I guess in the Mailbag videos where their desks were right beside the Comic Vine people. I guess Mailbag videos are always fuckaround videos that aren't really gaming-related, and cover nearly all eras of Giant Bomb.
• Mid-to-late CBSi Giant Bomb (~2014-2019), the premium content branches out to non-gaming much more. Mostly as a result of Dan and Drew, actually? The early Film & 40s podcasts were Dan and Drew, later it expanded to include others. Alt+F1 was Drew and Danny. Danswers was Dan and Danny. I don't know the origin of the Powerbombcast, but probably Dan was pushing for it. All Systems Goku came later, but was Dan and Jeff. 2014-2019 actually had a LOT of non-gaming content, but it was come and go, and it was almost entirely premium podcasts (featuring Dan).
• Post-Dan Giant Bomb (2020-April 2021) was actually very very gaming focused, though largely due to Covid and the end of the GB studio era, I guess? This era was really quite a lot of people sitting at home, streaming video games. The only non-gaming thing I can recall that was starting to become more regular in late 2019/early 2020 was Jan Can Cook (Ben Appetit). Nearly all content in the pandemic era has been gaming-related, except for a few one-off video podcasts organized by Jan, such as tournament-bracket-about-best-Toonami-anime or guest-podcast-about-Filipino-History-Month.
• Nu Giant Bomb (major staffing changes, May 2021 to present) is proving to be a real Wild West. The core GB gaming content of Bombcast, UPF, and very occasional Quick Looks/random livestreams is still there, though output is slow due to very low permanent staff levels. The premium content is really all over the map. They're trying out a lot of different topics (some gaming, some not), and the formats of the premium shows also vary a lot. The big change is that non-gaming content used to only be on very infrequent premium podcasts, but now major weekly premium video series are non-gaming. Also a big change is that instead of just having "special guests" ridealong on a series hosted by a GB permanent staffer, many of these series are hosted/helmed by freelancers and do not feature permanent GB staffers.

I must be forgetting some shows/podcasts here and there, so let me know if I've overlooked something major and long-running.

My takeaway is that Bakalar's content direction is either diversifying to other pop culture in general (Internet, Power Rangers, music) as an experiment that could get people's attention, or maybe stuff like All Systems Goku or Film & 40s secretly did really good site traffic/downloads/however they track success, meaning the GB audience has already demonstrated they're hungry for it. Armed and Rangerous is a pretty natural followup to All Systems Goku. On the other hand, The Very Online Show is pretty untested waters for the GB audience, but certain GB staff members generated an aura of Very Online in the past (Alex, Ben, etc.), and "explain Internet to Old Man Bakalar" is just a good premise, so it certainly has a solid chance.

We'll see what works and what doesn't.

What I'd like to see is more of a joint statement/overall site vision statement from Gerstmann and Bakalar of what the Giant Bomb output mix is going to be moving forward. I think they talked about this in vague terms back in May, and Gerstmann acknowledged that they just kinda keep doing things a certain way because they always had to keep the engine running and never had time to stop and think about reworking Giant Bomb. Since then the updates haven't been a very specific vision of the site, so much as they've been "Bakalar shows up to announce a new video show and who is doing it." Exciting, but not giving any update on the big picture.

Like, my main question would be: how much of the site's weekly output will be "traditional" GB coverage of video games (permanent staff do Quick Looks and livestreams of new games on or near launch day, reviews of games, ongoing features where they play some old-ass game/demo disc or watch an old press conference video, etc.), vs. "new" GB content (shows that feature freelancers doing all sorts of varied shit, minimal involvement from permanent GB staff)? So far it doesn't feel like they're massively shaking up "traditional" GB coverage, they're doing it the same way as always, just a very low quantity of it because Jeff absorbed all of Brad's job duties and GB East ceased to exist overnight. But basically all of the announcements have been about new premium freelancer content.

I'm really not sure what to expect the "traditional GB games coverage" vs. "nu GB variety premium shows" balance to look like, and it does affect my decision of whether to keep going with premium or not.

@bisonhero: yeah i think thats a good question at this point. don't get me wrong i'm all for new weird things but i come here for games stuff not 'pop culture' and aside from the stuff with danny in recent weeks none of these new shows are appealing to me. i guess we'll eventually see what they're cooking up with dan but as it stands i don't need this other stuff and frankly my good faith sub is making me feel kinda bad.

Just...somebody let me know when Giant Bomb finishes this "buy a Ferrari/date a blonde half my age/get my ear pierced/record Load and Reload" rumspringa phase that it's going through. Preferably after they launch the new Star Wars discussion show and Funko Pop collecting podcast and all that other stuff that feels inevitable at this point.

Quicklooks may be over, but there are some new shows that I think show promise. For example, I'm super excited for "Battle of the Beers" where Jeff Bakalar and some podcaster rank craft beers on camera for 90 minutes a week. Also cautiously optimistic about "Which Switch is Which!?" the game show where c-string gamespot writers try to identify mechanical keyboard switches by sound.

@youeightit: @pantsonfire: I hope you both realize the only thing that's keeping this thread up is the fact for the most part people are civil so if you wanna be jackasses then go ahead and get the thread locked.

@fugoy: You know what? You're right. My comment came off sounding meaner than I meant for it to. "Say what you mean, mean what you say, but don't say it mean" is a good rule of thumb and I broke that rule. It is frustrating to me that with every new thing that gets announced, the identity of Giant Bomb feels more confused and confusing; but I could have just simply said that with less salt added, and I should have.

@youeightit: I getcha. I do feel this is a tiny bit overblown cause the first three announcements we've had were in fact games related. Now we have three more that aren't really. I think guilty treasures, grubbsnax, and borne to run might not all be for everyone but they do fit the identity. Now we have the crazy part where we have almost all new people come in(with some gb people) and expand the identity a bit more. It might work, it might not, but I'm glad to see they're trying something new instead of trying to recreate something that seems next to impossible to recreate at this point in time. Who knows though, Rorie says we have even more announcements this week and next so we'll see!

@fugoy: To me, it's less about how video game related the new shows are, and more about how messy the transition from old Giant Bomb to new Giant Bomb feels. Growing pains are, unfortunately, the cost of doing business no matter what happens in life, and this is no exception, but everything feels so awkward right now and like nobody quite understands what does and doesn't work when it comes to "changing with the times" (hence my previous snarky Load/Reload Metallica reference). I understand that this period is difficult for everybody at Giant Bomb but I also know how it feels to be too close to something while in the middle of it to truly have the perspective it requires to successfully adapt, and it's a perspective I'm sure they won't gain until well into the future. I wouldn't be the least bit surprised if on a Bombcast two years from now we get comments like "you know, maybe the world didn't need another Dark Souls show" or "maybe explaining the internet to The Olds was funnier on paper than it was in practice." But in the present moment everything just feels messy and is, at times, sort of hard roll with.