The State of Premium

@awsunnydeefyeah: With regards to Dan Ryckert that describes almost everyone else.

Strange that I'm getting SO many more targeted banner ads on Giant Bomb once they flipped the switch today.

with the new crew $35/yr (on sale) still feels like a killer deal- stoked to see where this goes!

Well... I went from a hardcore 'NOPE' to a "lets see how this plays out."

Dan's Twitch streams alone have proven what he is capable of when he has creative control.

welp lmao

Well if you listen to today's bombcast you'll get some answers

So after taking in all the announcements, I am at once very, very cautiously optimistic about the future, but also, to return to the thread topic: currently I have no interest in premium as it was described on today's Bombcast. The only thing I care about is access to old premium content, and I can download the bits I care the most about before my sub expires in ~15 months. Otherwise, ad-free podcasts, a 10% discount on merch, "behind the scenes" stuff, and a Discord channel (plus more "tiers/levels" for premium... ugh) do nothing for me. Even if I end up really liking all the new video content, I'm not sure why I'd pay if I can watch it all for free regardless.

I wish they would actually drop some of the non-game experimental videos and focus on making quality game content first - or at least put that on a separate YouTube feed. For me, it's the main reason I'm no longer subscribed to the YouTube channel because it feels like dilution of the site's main strength and makes it harder to find what I want from them. Not that non-game content should never appear, but they need to nail the fundamentals first.

Well, this comment certainly didn't age well. The news of Jeff leaving broke right after I left this comment. And I'm so checked out from Giant Bomb that I didn't even know Jeff left until late last night, listening to the Nextlander Ramblecast. I can't say I'm surprised, a big concern of mine over the last year was how checked out and disinterested Jeff G seemed to be in anything that was happening around here.

As someone that stuck it out as long as I could because I loved Jeff, I'll be following him from here. Though I don't hate it, I just never warmed to the chemistry of the post-Nextlander crew, and most of the last year's content just wasn't my thing. And in a distant third, my interest in games coverage and video games in general is at an all time.

I wish the whole Giant Bomb family all the best, I actually think this is the shot in the arm that all the affected parties need. But seriously, and this is the last time I'll ever want or need to say this: I can't believe Albummer is still a show on this website.

@youeightit: Albummer rules.

@jesus_phish: That oven tier list stream is an all timer, its so good.

I feel many questions around here over the last two months got addressed in the latest Bombcast. Bakalar addressing issues with getting a response from staff stood out. Speaking about plans for Premium was the big meat of the stream and addresses the core issue of this thread. They also talked about the lack of games content and the live-to-tape Zoom call shift with most of their recent content. Most promising to me was that they produced a promo video that showed that they can still pull that off remotely if they have the time and the resources. As someone who started watching GB around the time of Special Report: Hunked for Life, I have missed that side of GB for a long time. We will see what happens next, but at least it feels as if they have heard many of the valid gripes and are addressing them. We shall see how it goes from here, but I find it promising that I know they are listening what we are saying and promising that they will change.

@mikachops: Same with any time Rob is buying anything. A potential purchasing of a phone turning into them looking at headphones turning and DACs & Amps was a wild ride. Whoever came up with the saying a fool and his money are soon parted never met Rob, because Rob Zacny is no fool... but is very particular in his spending.

This is how I feel. I'm looking forward to seeing what Dan will come up with, but in terms of premium, it looks like old content is the only reason I'll continue paying, if I choose to when my sub ends. That's in December 2023, so who knows what the site will look like then.

Biggest obstacle for me subbing next year is the plethora of gaming information outlets that intrigue me and a lack of time to fit them all in.

Just a few years ago, I'd read the IGN website and supplement those with podcasts from Giant Bomb. I didn't have time or, frankly, the desire to watch or listen to IGN podcasts.

Now, there's Nextlander, GB 2.0, Jeff's Patreon, and who knows what on the horizon. I know I won't have time for all of them, so it will come down to which interests me the most.

I'm gonna say something here controversial here, but I think Jeff G was someone was too old and cast too big of a shadow for what GB has grown into. It's always a bummer when core members leave a long-standing property, but I feel like the minute Jeff left suddenly GB had its own identity now that makes sense.

@ghost_cat: It i absolutely wild to me when people are like "this dude in his mid 40s is just too old for this industry."

Like what?

I grew up with Siskel and Ebert and Ebert remained a great reviewer into his 70s. There are all kinds of media and journalism where people keep doing fantastic work into their 50s, 60s, and beyond. The idea that games coverage all has to be done by 20 and 30 somethings just seems completely wrong to me. I like perspective and a more critical eye rather than young bright eyed people who are just happy to be there.

I understand that some people don't like Jeff and his style and that's fine but journalism and being a presenter are not pro sports. You don't age out in your late 30s when your body lets you down.

I guess the common misconception is that Jeff's some kind of jaded old man. I've never seen him as jaded because he clearly gets excited about games on the Bombcast. He's still into this hobby to the degree where he can't keep away.

And how many people still in the industry have a reach (in terms of knowledge, at least) as far back as C64/Atari/etc?

@shindig: The thing about Jeff is that he was always discerning and negative about stuff he didn't like even as a young man. He started this whole website because he got fired for not liking Kane and Lynch enough. He loves the stuff he loves and he dismisses the stuff he doesn't get and that's just who he has been at any age. If you listen to his new podcast you can tell he is still excited about talking about games, and maybe more excited because he doesn't have to do the management stuff he clearly did not like.

Anyway to get things back on topic...

The new direction in Premium is definitely not for me. I'm intrigued by where the website is going and I'll stick around to see the new shows and especially what Dan puts together but I'm just not interested in Discord stuff or behind the scenes stuff. Maybe if I get really into the new stuff I'll stick around for ad free.

Id be more into albummer if they made fun of music ive listened to

Lol this! I keep waiting for an album I've actually heard before. Our music taste must be impeccable is the only logical explanation.

@superslidetail: haha yeah-- thats it

next year will be my 10th premium yearly so I at least have to get it to there. Im mostly premium for ad-free and just to show support. its not a huge price and never felt the need to unsub. still well worth it for me

Im just glad Giant Bomb isn't subscribed to ME- so many changes, so few reasons provided.

Well now we know why it happened and what's going to change.

I do think in the future @rorie (and really any GB staff or whomever made the decision), that you never ever should materially change a service that people are actively paying for without an explanation and opt out prior to the change. Just because you can do something doesn't mean you should.

Doing it this way caused unnecessary speculation, hurt feelings and reputation damage to GB. It's just not a good way to treat your subs, likely caused you all many headaches and not consistent with what I think your personal and company values are. Frankly I think you are fortunate that blowback wasn't far worse.

That being said, I'm glad we now know why you made the changes and I think your reasoning makes sense.

@rorie are refunds possible for people not satisfied with the changes? My sub was extended to 2024 under a different value proposition

@ghost_cat: This is where I am. Still subbed so fast to his patreon but it was obvious he was stretched too thin here. It happens, we all get old and management can be crushing and life un-affirming. Glad he got out.

Pretty excited for what the future holds for GB tbh, just hope they start getting loose again. It’s been a bit too on the rails and predictable the last couple years.

Edit: Also, why not get fucking weird with the website? Give us something to come back to, leverage what is now one of the main unique propositions of GB - a dedicated website? Otherwise ya’ll should just go to Twitch.

@mikachops: Cool glad you get what I'm saying. Jeff is not someone who's ever too old for the industry, but I felt like he aged out of what GB was becoming, whether it was by his intentions or not. I'll always check in with ex-GB members, but I've been ready for GB to take this new direction FINALLY.

I did the discord link thing and looked around and it has zero value for me. Maybe when the behind the scenes / Q&A stuff starts there'll be something but I've no use for an off-site premium chat and I don't see why all that stuff couldn't just go on the site honestly. Ad free has never been a selling point for me, I simply won't accept ads and if I chose to go free I'd just block them or leave anyway.

That being said I've been getting nothing much to my tastes for my sub this past year and I'm just happy they have plans for more game content this year. I don't really care whether it's premium locked or not, I'm really excited to see the new stuff these guys do so I'll just continue to see it as a tip and be satisfied with that.

Still feel like not having premium anymore is the way forward. If I'm for some reason compelled to watch old content. I'll stump up for a month and binge it and then feel fine. Discord bonuses really aren't anything for me I'm a member of 6 discord communities and post on one....just no appeal at all. Ad free podcasts and site stuff doesn't bother me at all. Also behind the scenes stuff and promise of a say in the direction remains to be seen how true that is, having stuff available on Twitch and presumably instantly viewable is great tho.

I'm just glad they're actually communicating and starting to clarify things. I want to see the next few steps before I seriously consider resubbing, but it does feel like a dam has burst and things are finally moving again.

I'm not really interested in Discord either, but I also realize that's just where a lot of online communities are gathering these days so I'm sure it only makes sense to go hard capitalizing on that. As much as I'd like to see more done with the forums, and feel that they still have value, this part of the site is probably way past the point of relevancy for anyone other than people who grew up in the bygone era of Posting.

no idea what rorie will say but after the news broke the other night about jeff i lost the remaining bit of good faith i had taste for at the time n e-mailed asking for a refund myself or at least partial stating i wasn't happy in the past yr , wish i'd asked sooner cause i felt like i was sold on something i didn't get n such , .. replying support said (see below) .. at first i thought i might have jumped the gun seeing dan back , but i waited till a few hours ago to listen to bombcast n then read the changes to it n no .. i don't need to pay for that type of thing so i'm happy? with my choice .. if i were you i'd just go n e-mail support

Yeah, the fact that GB is a dedicated place is one of a couple of things that attracts me to it. In a world where everything is being consolidated onto massive platforms, it's a nice break from that.

The doubling down on Discord has me bummed in that regard. I kind of hate Discord, and the last 5+ years have seen it become the de facto choice for literally any sort of "community". In some situations it works OK, in others not so much, and in either case you're stuck within the confines of the platform. I get why people use it, and I'm probably not in the majority on this, but...yeah. I'm not excited by the idea of things ending up bifurcated between the site and Discord.

I've still got a ton of sub time left, so I'm just gonna coast on that while things develop. If they really push heavily into "Discord-exclusive" content, premium isn't going to be doing much for me other than as a method to support the site. Which, you know, I guess I don't really mind that if the site content keeps me going.

I'm just viewing Premium as a group Patreon, and it's a good rate if I think of it like that. If I can't do a Patreon I usually just block the heinous ads and leave the ones that don't bother me, because I know that's covering costs of the things I love. I don't really do big discords, I have an insane and tiring fomo compulsion to read literally every new post in every channel. I wish the discord likers the joy of it.

I had mixed feelings about Jeff's waning engagement. He seemed to only perk up anymore for arguments, but I think I understand a lot about why he felt disconnected and eventually left. He has children now, and his life priorities changing probably forced him to take a look at how his career was affecting his life balance.

I've seen time and time again people end up in management roles that keep getting more and more complicated and less and less why they got into an industry in the first place, and it wears away one's soul when you really don't want to be an organizer or facilitator. I imagine that's even worse when you got used to not having a corporation staring over your shoulder (which to most of us is a privilege we'll never get).

I'm excited to see the changes over the next while with the new crew and new perspectives in the creative aspects (and dread what Dan will bring in the same way you can't stop looking at an impending spectacular car crash).

So, I think at times this thread got quite a long way into 'the general state of Giant Bomb and its content' and correspondingly further from its core purpose, which was to discuss the state of Premium; i.e. what the content plans are, given that content was how GB traditionally value-propositioned Premium memberships.

So I don't know if the recent post (and related podcast discussion) closes or actually further opens this debate. But I felt it needed to be here.

For me, my main issue was a lack of communication, so this article does go a long way. It is actually helpful for me to weigh-up the value proposition going forward, which I appreciate.

For others, for whom the direction and type of content was more critical than knowing what would/wouldn't be in Premium, perhaps it answers some questions but not all. The announcement around who the 'core 9' are perhaps also helps signpost towards the type of stuff we might expect, but it does seem from the linked article that most/all of the actual 'shows' will no longer be deemed Premium.

And of course they would do tiers. I feel like that is subscriber service 101 these days.

Definitely a mixed bag, and mixed feelings to go alongside.

I'll just finally note that "Giant Bomb Staff" also put that diatribe together. Definitely feels like a different GB; "no 2.0" indeed.

EDIT: Oof, https://www.giantbomb.com/upgrade/ still lists UPF and other shows as perks for premium. Given announcement on the 8th was "Starting immediately" y'think they would have corrected/updated the actual upgrade page! It still mentions Playdates of all things!:

"Exclusive Video Features Unprofessional Fridays, Playdates, And More!"

yeah you would think they would fix that before they get ppl complaining about false advertisement unless their teir stuff makes that a thing in the future .. with the bombcast song and some of the new art poping up i'm wondering if we aren't looking at another impending site redesign. i thought i'd heard rumbling about one on something since the current clearly never worked as originally intended ( i think?). personally i know it doesn't function great and was what pulled me to looking at the forums after avoiding it for years in the first place so long as they keep the forums i'd welcome a change .

I only subbed to premium after listening to Dan Ryckert's story of how he made his father shit himself on his 50th birthday on Voicemail dump truck 026 lol what can I say, Dan is funny guy.

Access to the vaults is the only premium perk that interests me. I don't want preferential treatment in chat and discord, don't need a discount on merchandise.

The current price for premium isn't worth getting the just older content. Please consider something like a $10 plan that offers access to past premium videos.

General question... Has anyone else not gotten the Giant Bomb Newslettter in awhile? I think the last one I received was in February.

Jason mentioned they were switching systems in the Feb newsletter, curious if that is still in the works

@donaldb: You're in luck. There's a five-dollar plan.

@ragtagbag: That's per month. I'm looking for more basic plan that's just for vault access at around $10 per year.

i think i've gotten the newsletter maybe 3 times in the last X amount of years i've been subbed to it , no idea why and i've checked my spam before so no idea why i don't get it ( hotmail e-mail) as for recently tho i know the last 1 said something about having to do new staggered stuff to roll-out whatever new system they're using ....but i didn't get that memo , i read it on reddit . honestly you would think the newsletter would just be in the articles section of the site tho.

also update on the refund.. apparently that message was automated i got a e-mail from rorie saying ...fair i guesss that said they really shouldn't have changed the who thing with what they're doing without offering refunds for existing ppl given its totally different than when ppl originally signed up.

@donaldb: Indeed. Why pay for content you have no interest in?

how do i connect discord if im premium? i read there are special channels.

1. Join their Discord: http://www.discord.gg/giantbomb
2. Go to the channel called "#bot-linkdump"
3. type in "/premium connect"
4. An automated message will show up with a 6 digit code and a link to a page on GB. Go to the linked page and follow the instructions (basically put in the 6 digit number they gave you and click ok)
5. Back on discord, in that automated message there's a button that says "Verify". Click that and it will confirm that your premium linked successfully.

^^^^^
thanks!