Support NeoGAF

[Keyser Soze]

It's been a good run...

I'M HOTLINKING FROM GIANT BOMB OH NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

 

[elrechazado]

So much for everything on the site being the same and the subscriptions just adding content.

yep, eff that.

 

[falastini]

 

[StuBurns]

Monetizing the bombcast is insane. I can see why they'd try it of course, but I think it's a poor idea.

 

[GoldandBlue]

Yeah this is taking away something instead of giving.
Giant Bomb guys, if you're reading this, THIS IS NOT A GOOD IDEA!

Seeing how bad the reaction is already looking at a ton of twitter comments getting sent to them, I'm sure they're gonna get the message.

While listening to that I was all cool with it up until the Bombcast split. I really hope they reconsider that one.

 

[hamchan]

Y'know what, if they really want to monetize the bombcast I'm very willing to accept ads between segments instead of splitting it up.

Anyone else prefer something like this?

 

[STG]

and bye

 

[eznark]

I was going to pay anyways, but splitting the bombcast doesn't sound very good :/

I was going to pay (as I said in the thread when this first came up) but this changed my mind completely.

Love to hear them rip xbl or ps plus now.

 

[Ignignort]

Sorry guys, splitting a podcast in two isn't cool. Do it over a couple of days and release it on Thursday or something like that.

Unsubscribed

 

[OMG Aero]

I'll bite.

First gaming site sub I ever pay for.

Are they shipping tee's internationally? I'm in Australia.

They said if you pick the yearly membership and you live outside the US it costs an extra $10 for shipping.

 

[ShockingAlberto]

I love giant bomb, but that is straight up bullshit, hopefully there is enough backlash here, and there actual forums for them to realize how fucking stupid that is.

I think any backlash is going to be totally outweighed by the people willing to pay money for it.

They seem pretty willing to sacrifice listeners to keep the ones who don't mind paying.

 

[Zeliard]

Wow, this is absolutely crazy...

But, these guys deserve support as they give me more entertainment than the video games themselves. I'll certainly sign up for the yearly.

Someone had to move to a subscription base for podcasts, I actually wish a lot of them did it a long time ago. If they did we might still have the best podcasters in the business still podcasting. GFW, Idle Thumbs, classic 1up Yours...

This is going to be a fucking shit storm though. Worlds will be split in half, the internets will explode. The Giantbomb dudes are going to be inundated with abuse.

This is really not to the way to create a revenue stream out of videogame podcasting.

The podcasts are what you're supposed to put out there to familiarize listeners with your main staff and as an incentive for them to visit your site in the first place. From the site is how you make money via memberships (that don't involve monetizing podcasts), special offers, advertisements and so on.

 

[Nemo]

Anyone do a 60 dollar joke yet?

 

[Havok]

Y'know what, if they really want to monetize the bombcast I'm very willing to accept ads between segments instead of splitting it up.

Anyone else prefer something like this?

They discuss that briefly in the podcast, but dismiss it because there's no easy way to report the number of listens, just downloads, to advertisers.

 

[Rodhull]

Very strange move this. Sure they're not technically taking anything away but instead they're just gonna make one of the site's major attractions less enjoyable and more of a hassle to listen to.

Really can't see it doing anything but annoying people. Real shame.

 

[Basileus777]

Wow, this is way worse than I could have ever imagined.

 

[criesofthepast]

These guys are full of themselves. You did this GAF. You worship these guys and now they think they can pull this kind of shit and get away with it.

It's a podcast for fuck sakes.

 

[Mrbob]

Lol, never diss Playstation Plus again guys. What a disaster.

 

[Helmholtz]

# the bombcast is now being cut into two parts...same amount of time, but just categorized into two parts.
# the full two hours will only be available to subscribers, HOWEVER, that first hour will still be free to everyone.
# in that first week, that full two hours of the bombcast will only be available to members. However, that following week, we will make that free to everyone. yes, that 2nd hour will be put up.

Um, this is actually a fucking disgusting practice. I was a major fan of the site, and avid listener of the cast, but I think that's about to change unless they scrap this awful idea.

 

[HamPster PamPster]

Count me among those who will pay just because I love the site... but splitting the bombcast?

They should have done what GWJ did and added extra content for those who pay... not cut off half the podcast for a week

I'll miss the weekly bombcast threads

 

[kylej]

The funniest part is they create all this backlash from monetizing the Bombcast in the hopes that it'll convince people to pay for a membership.

Whiskey Media, this is the internet. If you make someone pay for your video game podcast the full version will be up on Mediafire 30 seconds after you publish it.

 

[Zombie James]

They said if you pick the yearly membership and you live outside the US it costs an extra $10 for shipping.

So it'd be $60 for the first year for me... damn.

 

[TheFatOne]

Are these the same guys who were dissing playstaion plus :lol

 

[h3ro]

These guys are full of themselves. You did this GAF. You worship these guys and now they think they can pull this kind of shit and get away with it.

It's a podcast for fuck sakes.

y'all.

 

[Power and Glory]

Reminds me back years ago when Gamespot started their subscription thing and had "locks" on a bunch of stuff that would unlock days later for non paying people.

That didn't last long for obvious reasons. I would have thought Jeff who worked there back in those days would see the reason why this is not a good thing.

People will just search the stuff out through other means to listen to the other hour of the podcast.

 

[StuBurns]

These guys are full of themselves. You did this GAF. You worship these guys and now they think they can pull this kind of shit and get away with it.

It's a podcast for fuck sakes.

Get away with it? I doubt it.

 

[Kabuki Waq]

These guys are full of themselves. You did this GAF. You worship these guys and now they think they can pull this kind of shit and get away with it.

It's a podcast for fuck sakes.

yea its surprising they are still getting a free pass here. I mean cmon pay podcast?

 

[firehawk12]

Honestly, it would have been better for them to just record another podcast and make that subscriber only.

I don't know how I feel about this. If they had a 10-20 dollar podcast only thing, I might pay for it. I just don't use the rest of the site to make it worth it.

Maybe if they made the videos podcasts as well?

 

[Aquavelvaman]

Splitting the podcast is dumb, but like Jeff said: after the first week you still get 2 hours of bombcast free every week. The second half just comes later for unsubscribers. Still dumb.

 

[Lunchbox]

bombcast was one of the only things i still listened regularly, now thats fucked too

fuck video game podcasts

 

[hamchan]

yea its surprising they are still getting a free pass here. I mean cmon pay podcast?

What free pass?

I'm a huge fan of Giant Bomb and even I'm giving shit to them for this.

 

[eznark]

Count me among those who will pay just because I love the site... but splitting the bombcast?

They should have done what GWJ did and added extra content for those who pay... not cut off half the podcast for a week

I'll miss the weekly bombcast threads

This scheme sort of kills anything I liked about the site and the persona they were trying to cultivate.

I don't begrudge them trying to make money but honestly this tactic is a complete turn-off.

 

[h3ro]

Welcome back to my #1 spot, Garnett!

 

[StuBurns]

bombcast was one of the only things i still listened regularly, now thats fucked too

fuck video game podcasts

Dude, 8-4 are launching theirs in like two weeks, this is no time to quit.

 

[Spookie]

They are doing what? Really? What fucking moron thought this was a good idea?

 

[hamchan]

Splitting the podcast is dumb, but like Jeff said: after the first week you still get 2 hours of bombcast free every week. The second half just comes later for unsubscribers. Still dumb.

I guess people are still getting it the full thing eventually but it's still dumb.

Bombcast threads will never be the same. This is fucked!

 

[Barrett2]

This really is insane. Could they not just record a second, paid-only Bombcast later in thte week and give that to paid members? Maybe focus on in-depth discussion of a few games or somethinng?

 

[Stealth]

Always a good idea to segment your user base when you're catering to a portion of the niche audience of hardcore, podcast-following gamers. Not that I was a devout fan or anything, I just find paygates on content anywhere to be really questionable as a savvy business practice.

 

[criesofthepast]

What free pass?

I'm a huge fan of Giant Bomb and even I'm giving shit to them for this.

Yeah I'm actually really happy to see GAF giving them hell about this. I know they are loved on here so I expected the defense force to be in full effect.

 

[WrenchNinja]

Why are they ruining the bombcast? WHAT THE FUCK?

It was the best podcast on the internet. FUCK.

 

[daycru]

I pay 10.99 for a pro wrestling website of all things, so I have no issue with paying for things online. The new Bombcast format significantly downgrades the show for me. "Hey, give us some money. By the way, the thing you like the most is getting worse." Total bummer. Will be subscribing next time I get paid though, I figure $50 for a shirt and supporting guys I really like is a fair deal.

 

[Zombie James]

Here's an alternate idea...

Free: Bombcast with ads.
Paid: Bombcast without ads.

 

[Gomu Gomu]

Y'know what, if they really want to monetize the bombcast I'm very willing to accept ads between segments instead of splitting it up.

Anyone else prefer something like this?

Absolutely.

 

[AcridMeat]

After talking about it for a bit, I'm convinced this is a troll. It just has to be.


Not against the subscription in any way, no really, not against the idea of that. But to go ahead and fuck with the greatest part of GiantBomb has to be a huge joke they're playing on everyone.

After years of talking mess about companies' silly subscriptions and DLC plans and crap, they go ahead and announce this?

 

[Havok]

This really is insane. Could they not just record a second, paid-only Bombcast later in thte week and give that to paid members? Maybe focus on in-depth discussion of a few games or somethinng?

I was hoping for something like that, but more news-focused, since the news section of the podcast is so light. Maybe I'm in the minority, but I enjoy their talk about the industry at large more than individual games.

 

[Kabuki Waq]

hmmmm did Activision stealth buy Giant Bomb ?

think about it!

 

[LCfiner]

man, splitting up the bombcast is pretty risky (as evidenced by the reactions here)

I just can’t help but feel that the community surrounding the podcast with threads here every week will go down the shitter, since the large majority of listeners won’t be getting all the content the first week.

plus, y’know, discontent among the masses.


welp, I’m in for a yearly membership but I have a feeling that the podcast decision will end up backfiring on them more than they expect (they must be expecting some backfire)

Here's an alternate idea...

Free: Bombcast with ads.
Paid: Bombcast without ads.

they talk about this. no one wants to advertise on a podcast except audible.com. impossible to get reliable listener numbers. :/

 

[AmericanNinja]

wow, cheaper and better content than XBL? sign me up!

 

[firehawk12]

You guys are overreacting a bit though?

Lots of people are charging for podcasts, it's just that GB is the first game site to do it. Given that the alternative is for them to censor themselves so that they sound more like "Mommy-Blogger" websites, I'd prefer this even if that means I can't listen to the second half for a week.

Edit: Ah yeah, they added some protection to the FLV files so you can't just easily download them anymore. Expected, since that's a pay feature, but oh well. I'm glad I have my P4 ER archive anyway. :lol

 

[no angel]

Lol pay for a podcast? If their new pay model succeeds it will be despite this not because of it. Personally it feels like a dick move, I hope it falls on it's arse.