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Anthony Burch leaves Gearbox, becomes head writer for new original series from Hulu

Cartman86

Banned
It may seem weird, but Rocketjump does seem to be (like PewdiePie) a real success and part of the future of television on the internet. Was hanging around with some friends I hadn't talked to in about a year and they randomly asked if I watched VGHS. I have seen one episode and did not like it. I don't know what it was, but I was cringing a lot and I really dislike that feeling. I like a lot of Freddie's short videos though. I'm just not a fan of nerdy video culture we find ourselves in. No matter how authentic the creators are.

Also people fucking love Borderlands 2's humor and characters. I thought it was okay, but outside GAF it's really popular.
 
http://giantbomblr.tumblr.com/image/62316487603

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Ryan may be gone, but his sick burns will last an eternity.
 

TheSeks

Blinded by the luminous glory that is David Bowie's physical manifestation.
Some of y'all are really mean. A lot of people liked BL's writing, too.

Anyway, I hope he'll have more successes at his next job :)

Who are these people!? Where do they come from!?

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*groan*

ItsThatAsianBoy said:
The writing in BL1 and TPS sucked, quite liked his work in Borderlands 2.

Oh, so he isn't the writer of Boredlands 1. Just Boredlands 2. Still same shitty humor, though.
 

Sephzilla

Member
If we are going to pretend that the that was the only reason not being a better video games with more interesting and popular characters, to degree in which shit like the prequel happens. Sure, yes BL is is the sole reason it did well.

Not it being a better video game and most people agreeing. Yes, lets live in the gaf pretend and.

Also... your statement assumes that, just because a 1st game did well, doesn't mean sequels can do worse. DMC2 would like to have words... and 3 and that game was actually good. Whats your logic here?

A good video game has a sequel that doesn't screw up the good gameplay of the first game. DMC2 didn't do this.
 
Worst character in all of gaming. The sections of the game with her were the worst.

I don't think you can say something like that considering so many people love her.

She even got her own DLC... and in my opinion, it was the only DLC worth playing.

I'm actually not sure why so many people are showing up to this thread hating Anthony. I don't get it. I didn't find Borderlands 2 as funny as Bordelrands 1, but the overall story was definitely better. And I attribute that to Anthony.

I also watched every damn episode of HAWP. He seems like a cool dude?
 
If you're a teenager or you enjoy extremely lowbrow humor then yes it has always been good.

Different strokes and all that.

the game is set in a world where you kill a billion people and collect guns to kill more people.

people like seth rogen films and they dont have to be teenagers just because its low brow/dick and fart jokes
 

Sciz

Member
I didn't realize Burch was up there with Phil Fish and John Romero in terms of having such a dedicated hatedom, Jesus.

BL1's writing was a half-formed mess consisting of the occasional clever NPC and a lot of incomprehensible nonsense left over from before the game was rebooted, and it wasn't until the DLC and web cartoons that they figured out a direction for the series, which 2 ran with.
 

Mononoke

Banned
I didn't realize Burch was up there with Phil Fish and John Romero in terms of having such a dedicated hatedom, Jesus.

BL1's writing was a half-formed mess consisting of the occasional clever NPC and a lot of incomprehensible nonsense left over from before the game was rebooted, and it wasn't until the DLC and web cartoons that they figured out a direction for the series, which 2 ran with.

Surprised myself tbh. I get people not liking his work or even taking issue with how he's respinded to criticism. But dancing on his grave so to speak and celebrating him leaving his current job seems so mean spirited.

At the end of the day, he's a person that is leaving his job to tackle a new job. I don't even care for his work per se, but I still wish him well. I still see him as a person that is taking a chance with his livelihood and thus hope it works for him.
 
I haven't played Borderlands 2, but isn't crass, lowbrow humor basically what the first game consists of?

Also, the aggressive comments are reminiscent of typical reactions towards new writers who ruined established story and characters. Which is kind off weird because as far as I remember there was hardly anything to ruin to begin with.
 

Orayn

Member
I haven't played Borderlands 2, but isn't crass, lowbrow humor basically what the first game consists of?

Also, the aggressive comments are reminiscent of typical reactions towards new writers who ruined established story and characters. Which is kind off weird because as far as I remember there was hardly anything to ruin to begin with.

BL1 was kind of indecisive between wacky humor and dark humor. BL2 was a major swerve toward wacky and also included a lot more pop culture/internet references and some really divisive characters.
 

Tagyhag

Member
the game is set in a world where you kill a billion people and collect guns to kill more people.

people like seth rogen films and they dont have to be teenagers just because its low brow/dick and fart jokes

Hence why I said "or". :p

It's not like the humor is subtle. Borderlands wasn't funny either but at least it didn't try so damn hard. I still enjoyed playing the games but the writing will always be seen as crap to me and a mark of the kind of maturity that the general gaming populace has.
 
Less meme bullshit and dumb jokes in Borderlands 3 then, hopefully. Tales From the Borderlands was actually hilarious, they should get the TellTale guys in from that to write 3.
 
K

kittens

Unconfirmed Member
Aw man, that dude was such an asset to Gearbox. I'll miss his influence. Yeah, the memes shit was too heavy in BL2, but if you follow Anthony on Twitter you'll know that he's not always like that. He's really funny, cool, and genuine.
 
Hmm, I always got the impression he would've liked to work on something a bit less linear than Borderlands. Too bad he didn't get the chance.
 

Syril

Member
BL1 was kind of indecisive between wacky humor and dark humor. BL2 was a major swerve toward wacky and also included a lot more pop culture/internet references and some really divisive characters.
Yeah and towards the end of the main story BL1 wasn't sure if it was even trying to be funny.
 

Metroidvania

People called Romanes they go the house?
Hopefully, it means less reliance on memes.

The dark humor probably won't return, but we can always hope for a bit less of the wacky-for-no-other-reason-than-to-be-wacky factor.
 
What do you mean by that?

I think he's referencing the whole thing with him and his sister, and problems with his wife/girlfriend(?) that arose recently.

But that has nothing to do with the quality of this work, which I found to be shit. Hopefully it works out better in his newest endeavor.
 
Hence why I said "or". :p

It's not like the humor is subtle. Borderlands wasn't funny either but at least it didn't try so damn hard. I still enjoyed playing the games but the writing will always be seen as crap to me and a mark of the kind of maturity that the general gaming populace has.

BL1 was utter boring shit and turned me off from BL alltogether because everytime I played BL when it came out, Id get sleepy.

I only got BL2 on a steam sale because it was ridiculously cheap and was pleasantly surprised and actually fell in love with the series/characters
 

QaaQer

Member
bl2 made a lot of money and and a lot of fans. Guy deserves this break, as do the other creative leads on the game--not sure where all the hate comes from, sega maybe?
 
Hate Borderlands 2's humor all you want (I know I do), but the fact that it was able to fill the major plot holes from the first game was very impressive.

Edit:

But it wasn't as impressive as this (not for the faint of heart or those at work):

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Or this:
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Or this one (probably my favorite tbh):
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Or this:
image.jpg


Or this: https://vocaroo.com/i/s0Jbms93CfaF

Or this:
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Or this:
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Or this:
DM76elYW0AAucc3.jpg


Or this:
TyHIPdy.jpg
 
bl2 made a lot of money and and a lot of fans. Guy deserves this break, as do the other creative leads on the game--not sure where all the hate comes from, sega maybe?

If it made fans, it was because of the gameplay, and less so because the characters. Except the Tiny Tina DLC, that was probably the best written thing because it didn't rely on taking memes or making references.(Although it did make references, but not as bad as the main game. Essentially, the DLC was a parody of BL2.)
 

Teeth

Member
I find it odd that people call the humor full of memes. I mean, there are some of them there, but in a 40 hour game, there are probably ten or twelve internet references in there (aside from some quest or loot names).

Honestly, it was all of the writing outside of the humor that I found to be quite good. When they weren't making jokes, the dialogue mostly sounded like actual people talking to other people, rather than quest designer proxies or lore hoses. The moments of gravitas amongst the wackiness were well done too.

As far as the humor goes, a lot of it was pretty obvious or loud or 'big', but it occasionally landed. The quest line with the robot who wanted to become human was probably the highlight of incidental dialogue.

If it made fans, it was because of the gameplay, and less so because the characters. Except the Tiny Tina DLC, that was probably the best written thing because it didn't rely on taking memes or making references.(Although it did make references, but not as bad as the main game. Essentially, the DLC was a parody of BL2.)

What are you talking about? The entire thing is references in the same way that the main game was. It has quest lines reference to every generic fantasy trope, a Dark Souls parody, and even a billboard sized questline about ISN'T STUPID THAT BOOB-ARMOR EXISTS!!!! HERE'S A REWARD FOR PICKING THE CORRECT ARMOR!!!!

There's the bored, disaffected hipster girl tree, the trope inversion of the big strong guy (but deep down he just wants to be included with everyone), you name it. If it's been criticized/joked in culture, it was in that DLC too.

It's literally the exact same tone, writing style, and humor as the base game.
 
Burch's writing was great for the Borderlands fanbase. Borderlands fanbase.

I couldn't stand it. But I'm sure some people ate that shit up.

Ashley Burch seems like a cool person but Tiny Tina was just insufferable. But they knew what they were going for and they fucking nailed it.
 

Screaming Meat

Unconfirmed Member
You guys make it sound like BL2's writing is a crime against humanity. It's not Gears of War or Army of Two levels of bad.

Who are these people!? Where do they come from!?

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I quite liked the writing. It kept me pretty entertained. It may not be Monkey Island or Portal 2 levels of funny, but I often cracked a smile. It's fun and breezy with the same kind of approach to its humour as something like Police Squad or Airplane: if you don't find one gag funny, panic not, because there is another one around the corner. I thought it was pretty sweet in places too (Roland and Lilith played out nicely). Plenty of likeable characters and an amusing, more interesting than most antagonist.
 

ItsTheNew

I believe any game made before 1997 is "essentially cave man art."
Great. Hated the writing in borderlands and hopefully they bring a different slant to the humor vs memes and "monkey cheese".
 
If it made fans, it was because of the gameplay, and less so because the characters.

I would disagree that it was JUST because of the gameplay, if that's what you're suggesting.

I mean, the gameplay is basically backing up and shooting while doing ur ult every now and then.

It's why the Original Borderlands use to put me to sleep, because the gameplay was so simple and the world/characters/story wasn't compelling/interesting enough to keep me intrigued....

whereas in Borderlands 2, while engaging in the same gameplay which again was constantly approaching enemies then backing up and shooting over and over...a story is unfolding, and characters are being developed to you via that Communications link a great deal more than in BL1 while being far less bland.
 

Iorv3th

Member
I don't think you can say something like that considering so many people love her.

She even got her own DLC... and in my opinion, it was the only DLC worth playing.

I was just really annoyed by her. Me and my wife both play together, she is a teacher and I work at a school as well. Deal with kids all day. Go to play the game and relax and have an annoying kid rambling through the game with nothing that makes any sense. Just was old, or maybe it was just the voice. Whatever it was I didn't enjoy it one bit.


However the D&D DLC was good, but I think it being more a fantasy world thing worked better with the character.

Angle (the A.I) was the only thing I liked about the game. Sir hammerlock is a maybe, but that's just me.

Remember, Angels put Gel in their hair.
 
Are his tweets indicative of his writing?
The liberal use of non-words like "uh" and his incorrect usage of the word "literally"... And that's only two tweets.
Just going by his Twitter, actual writing is the last thing I'd associate him with.
 

The Foul

Member
Cringed hard during VGHS, still watched it w/e, now its kind of lost that effect on me. Watched the whole lot and could not tell you one thing that happens in that show. I far prefer FreddieW's other outputs.

As for Burch, not a fan, sure he'll do fine. Hulu show looks better than gearbox game on the ol resume. His sister was good as Miss Pauling that one time.
 
What are you talking about? The entire thing is references in the same way that the main game was. It has quest lines reference to every generic fantasy trope, a Dark Souls parody, and even a billboard sized questline about ISN'T STUPID THAT BOOB-ARMOR EXISTS!!!! HERE'S A REWARD FOR PICKING THE CORRECT ARMOR!!!!

There's the bored, disaffected hipster girl tree, the trope inversion of the big strong guy (but deep down he just wants to be included with everyone), you name it. If it's been criticized/joked in culture, it was in that DLC too.

It's literally the exact same tone, writing style, and humor as the base game.

Oh, you're right. The writing was just as bad in the DLC. I guess the writing was woven in a way that it gave you the illusion of being good.

I would disagree that it was JUST because of the gameplay, if that's what you're suggesting.

I mean, the gameplay is basically backing up and shooting while doing ur ult every now and then.

It's why the Original Borderlands use to put me to sleep, because the gameplay was so simple and the world/characters/story wasn't compelling/interesting enough to keep me intrigued....

whereas in Borderlands 2, while engaging in the same gameplay which again was constantly approaching enemies then backing up and shooting over and over...a story is unfolding, and characters are being developed to you via that Communications link a great deal more than in BL1 while being far less bland.

I disagree. If anything, having claptrap talk to you, or really anyone, was annoying. I never once said 'Boy I want to see what Jack is up to.' Likewise, the story followed the same formula as the first one-Get the key, oh no the key really is the key for the secret alien at the ened, kill the alien, get the loot.

Not to mention BL2 is one of the only games that has managed to make me hate the beginning. Having to go through that bullshit hour over and over to even try another character? Get the fuck outta here with that boring stuff. The whole first few hours of the game drag on. In fact, the whole story aspect of it just keeps you from playing the game. I don't want to listen to the story ad nausem after the first time. Just give me the side quests and let me be able to play the game how I want.

Borderlands 2 is the only game that has made me dread going through the story just to play the game. Like, holy shit. No other game has done that to me.
 
I disagree. If anything, having claptrap talk to you, or really anyone, was annoying. I never once said 'Boy I want to see what Jack is up to.' Likewise, the story followed the same formula as the first one-Get the key, oh no the key really is the key for the secret alien at the ened, kill the alien, get the loot.

Clap Trap barely talked to you once you got to the Major City area. But my point is if you didn't like the writing that's one thing...but to claim that the game only made fans because of the over simplistic gameplay is false.
 
Clap Trap barely talked to you once you got to the Major City area.

Doesn't invalidate anything else I said. And yes, he talks to you for the first hour or so, then talks to you sparingly after that, then he becomes a literal plot point about half way in, until you can ignore him for the rest of the game.

The writing is just..bad.
 

njean777

Member
Oh, you're right. The writing was just as bad in the DLC. I guess the writing was woven in a way that it gave you the illusion of being good.



I disagree. If anything, having claptrap talk to you, or really anyone, was annoying. I never once said 'Boy I want to see what Jack is up to.' Likewise, the story followed the same formula as the first one-Get the key, oh no the key really is the key for the secret alien at the ened, kill the alien, get the loot.

Not to mention BL2 is one of the only games that has managed to make me hate the beginning. Having to go through that bullshit hour over and over to even try another character? Get the fuck outta here with that boring stuff. The whole first few hours of the game drag on. In fact, the whole story aspect of it just keeps you from playing the game. I don't want to listen to the story ad nausem after the first time. Just give me the side quests and let me be able to play the game how I want.

Borderlands 2 is the only game that has made me dread going through the story just to play the game. Like, holy shit. No other game has done that to me.

It wasn't that bad, the hyperbole you are spitting is ridiculous.
 
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