While only tangentially related to this blog, here is a Fable II screenshot to break up the text This morning was a morning that started out pretty much the same as any other. I woke up, had some breakfast (crumpets with jam, in case you're curious), played a little Fable II, and then powered up my computer to see what was going down in the digital realm. I checked into Facebook to Like a few of my friends' wise-cracks, briefly scanned over my Last.fm page to check my shouts, and then pootled on over to Giant Bomb. I was met with the aftermath of an apparent shitstorm that, much like an explosion in a town ten miles away, I seemed to have peacefully slept through. The carnage I refer to is, of course, the fallout over the announcement of an option to subscribe to Whiskey Media's sites. People had flooded the forums with threads of complaint, even going as far as to throw around words like "honour" and "betrayal". About a website. Overwhelmed by the tide of hate sweeping over the site, I closed my web browser and stepped away from my laptop. Sometimes, there is such a thing as too much internet.
 
After spending most of the afternoon in a hospital waiting room, during which time there was bugger all else to do but ponder such menial issues as this, I came home this evening and set myself up for a monthly Whiskey Media subscription. On the surface, this is bound to seem like a crazy move on my part, largely because I have nothing to gain from this endeavour. The lure of HD videos doesn't interest me, for a start. I consume Giant Bomb's video content because I find it to be informative and entertaining, not to admire its visual fidelity, and SD videos serve those purposes just fine. I'm not in possession of a mobile phone advanced enough to browse the net, so a mobile version of the site holds no interest either. As for the promise of a Friday live show, I live in the UK and have to be awake very early most Saturday mornings for work. I'm simply not going to be able to stay up to take advantage of that benefit. Pretty much the only tangible reward I could have got out of this deal is a T-shirt, and that perk is exclusive to the yearly subscription. 
 
"So Dan," I hear you say, "why not get the yearly subscription? You'll save yourself ten dollars AND you'll get the cool T-shirt!" 
 
The short answer is, I don't want the cool T-shirt, and I definitely don't want to save ten dollars. In case you haven't gathered, I haven't subscribed to Whiskey Media because of what I'll get out of it. I've subscribed because of what the crew at Giant Bomb (and, of course, all the other Whiskey Media sites) will get out of it. By setting myself up for this monthly subscription, I'm putting an extra ten dollars in their pocket every year, ten dollars that I feel these fine folk really deserve for bringing us so much information and entertainment. I think that is something that a lot of people have selfishly forgotten in this metaphorical hurricane that I seem to be deep in the eye of. Instead of thinking about whether or not the rewards are worth $5 a month, or $50 a year, try thinking about whether or not all the effort that Jeff, Ryan, Brad, Vinny, Dave, Drew, and everybody else on the Giant Bomb team puts in specifically for us, the users, is worth that money. In my opinion, the answer is yes, and that's why I'm more than happy to support Whiskey Media with a little bit of my hard-earned cash each month. If your answer to that question is no, then that's cool. You're under no obligation to pay, and you'll be no worse off for not doing so. This is one of those situations where everybody is a winner, no matter what their end situation. Why there's so much open hatred is beyond me.
 
I guess the last thing I should address in this blog is the splitting of the Bombcast. I'll come right out and say that personally, it doesn't bother me, probably because I'm a very infrequent Bombcast listener. I can understand why this would be an issue for a lot of users who come here for the Bombcast, and especially for those who've been following Jeff and Ryan since the days of Arrow Pointing Down in early 2008. To be honest, it seems an awful lot like an opening gambit of sorts, a means of strong-arming some faithful listeners into subscribing, which is a shame, because it's surely this category of people who would be more than willing to support the GB crew without that incentive. Either way, I can't see this scheme lasting for too long. Whiskey Media are famously in the business of not pissing off the internet, and I'm fairly sure that the backlash will be enough to make them rethink their strategy. All this aside, though, my view still stands - subscribe not because of what you'll get out of it as a user, but because of what Whiskey Media will get out of it as the providers of the content we all love so much. Thanks very much for reading, guys. I'll see you around. 
 
 
Dan 
 
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Currently playing - Fable II (X360)