MovieBob leaving The Escapist

[RedDeadFred]

And as far as the "meh meh meh, Bob's political agenda soapbox wwwwhhhhaaaaaggghhhh" well, as you can see it never really rubbed me the wrong way. I looked at some of the "here's what Bob said on Twitter" crybaby links during several of the political arguments that broke out and wafted around the Escapist. None of it offended me. Ooh, someone on Twitter has an opinion... my stars! I never really saw the point in getting worked up about it. It's not like there are a couple million assholes with opinions ranting on Twitter or anything.

Can I like buy you a drink for this statement here? Seriously. Rock on.

People do get passionate about stuff and clearly Bob is one of those people that wears his emotions on his sleeve. He's never made it a secret that he dislikes the kind of culture that was born of the Xbox LIVE era and was genuinely sad about the state of gaming. God forbid someone rant and rave on the web about something. Its like totally unrealistic.

Yeah he engaged in name calling but its not like he's doing it behind people's backs. If anything about these past few months he just found that A) Many people follow him just to debate him because they don't agree with anything and B) Several of his previous followers don't share his opinions on many things and frankly if I were him I'd essentially like to sort through the trash as it were. Get the people you wouldn't want following you anyway out and get new people in if you can. Besides the thing about the Big Picture wasn't that basically given to him as a soapbox show anyway? He could literally talk about whatever he wanted for like 5 minutes so I don't get why people would get mad at him for expressing his political opinions there.

Though what I do find funny is people getting mad at him putting his politics or whatever into movie reviews. I mean this is mostly a gaming site and clearly people aren't aware that movie critique evolved into something beyond "is it good or bad?" way before Bob started doing it. Gaming still hasn't gotten there yet unfortunately and several people appear to not want it to get there but him trashing on Amazing Spider-man or Man of Steel again and again to make a point or bring up troubling metaphors is something other movie critics have been doing for years. He will be missed. Hopefully if he could only maintain one show I'd like it to be The Big Picture. That way I can at least get my trivial nerd knowledge that won't benefit me in any way shape or form in the real world.

I dunno, for me, it wasn't so much that what he said offended me (it didn't, especially since it very clearly wasn't meant for me -even if had been, one guy on Twitter is not going to cause me to lose any sleep), it's that what he did was incredibly unprofessional. This is the kind of thing you expect from teenagers on 4chan. If I went on a raving Twitter rampage like he did, I'd absolutely lose my job. If this did in fact cause him to lose his job, I honestly think justice was served. He was poorly representing his field of journalism which is exactly what they didn't need at that time. It made me respect him less and as a result, really turned me off of his work.
As for his political stuff encroaching on his reviews... eh. It annoyed me (even though I share most of his political views), but it certainly didn't stop me from watching his stuff.

I should end this by saying that I don't think he's a bad guy. I just think he made a mistake. If that mistake is in fact at least part of why he's now job hunting, I hope he learns from it. I wish him good luck in his future endeavors.

 

[Spider RedNight]

Time to rename "The Escapist" to "Zero Punctuation [font color=gray](and stuff)[/font]"!

It's the positives that count!

Exactly! Highlight the positive! Otherwise we'd rename it "The Escaping"! Because that's what the content is doing... XD

I just have to mention that I think I've loved every single thing I've seen you post on the various threads I find on here. Just thought I should tell you xD

OT: I too used to like his stuff until he got a little bit... insane-y. Or maybe less insane and more just... opinionated and fanboy-y; I hated when he used his "I'm an 80's kid and I know better than you and the 90's sucked and this that and the other about how right I am and how wrong everyone else is because they weren't tortured like me!" schtick. I'm reminded of the Dragon's Keep DLC where Lilith was a dick to Torgue for not "suffering for his geekdom" like she did. I dunno, I just didn't like it.

Ah, well. Like with everyone else, I guess the only reason I come here now is for ZP and to check on the random threads I feel like interjecting in... and this website is one of the few that I know of that lets me have a .gif avatar this big.

 

[The Wooster]

While I clashed with him quite often on various subjects, Bob was always a huge inspiration to me. His crazy worth ethic, particular obsessive focus, his wider cultural knowledge and the rock-solid confidence with which he voiced his opinions makes him a fantastic critic. The Escapist is far weaker having let him go.

Spoiler: A recent picture of Yahtzee, Cory and I

 

[Ratty]

Can someone post some of his 'bad twits'?

I only hear about those, I don't use twitter (seems like a dumb site), I went there to check boobs twits, but there's too many stuff, I can't find the supposedly 'bad ones'.

Eh he posts way too much to find all of them but here's one from a day or two ago with him calling those that disagree with him politically "subhuman shits" https://twitter.com/the_moviebob/status/565922265280544769

Funnily enough it was only after people started explicitly pointing out that "subhuman" was a slur used by Nazis and the KKK that he decided to "go over day old tweets" and decide that he needed to "find a better insult".

His infamous quote from October in which he said
"Here's something you should know about me: I "believe" that there is (almost) no such thing as a bad tactic - only bad TARGETS"
i.e. he decides when "the ends justify the means" which is rather a totalitarian and authoritarian thing to say https://twitter.com/search?q=%40the_moviebob%20only%20bad%20targets&src=typd

There's also this

Personally I stopped following his work months ago so I won't miss him.

 

[madwarper]

I have been a fan of Bob for a long time, back before he was picked up on any site and only had his GameOverthinker videos and one Sex in the City 2 movie review on youtube. The GameOverthinker series went to shit after he thought it was a good idea to other characters and try to act, instead of just presenting his case. I was glad that he got picked up on the Escapist for Big Picture and Escape to the Movies, and while I may not have agreed with everything he said over the years, I can't help but admit that he was very knowledgeable about comics/movies and their inner-workings and could coney that information in an interesting manner. Save for that one Big Picture episode where he tried to cross promote the GameOverthinker.

Now, I don't "do" twitter, so I really haven't been keeping up with his supposed antics, and frankly I couldn't be arsed to investigate just so I could be disappointed on the chance that he has done half of what he's been accused of doing. Ignorance being bliss and all. Though, from the small snippets I've seen posted, I can tell I wouldn't agree with Bob's stances on social issues and most certainly wouldn't condone the level of vitriol with which he spoke on those issues.

Still, I have to think this is a shame. Content is getting pretty bare bones around here. I wonder what, if anything, they're going to have CJ Miozzi do to try fill this TV/MovieBob sized hole in the schedule.

The worst movie directed by Clint Eastwood.

Really? Granted, I haven't seen American Sniper... But, can it really be worse that Blood Work? Granted, I was a fan of the book (I read A LOT of "dad" novels when I was in the service) and the film butchers the plot completely, but I always thought that the movie was just plain bad on its own merits as well.

 

[SoranMBane]

Huh. Now it looks like Yahtzee is just about the only reason I have to keep coming back to the Escapist. This site has just been getting worse and worse this last year, between all the content creators I follow migrating to greener pastures and the forums turning more toxic. This all makes me genuinely sad.

 

[Verlander]

There's a very clear direction this new "positive" Escapist is going in, and it's not really that positive at all. I used to check in here every day for content and discussions, was the first place I'd head to on the internet. If it continues it's current, loudmouth pleasing, direction, it looks to become the last place I'd visit. Very disappointing

 

[laggyteabag]

I honestly never really watched any of his content, so it wont have an impact on my time at The Escapist. That being said, this site is definitely leaking talent now, and the only original content that I look at is ZP and Critical Miss. Of course I stay for the forums and the news, but I feel like this site is getting smaller and smaller; creators are leaving, members stop visiting, and I cannot imagine that many new people will be joining unless we get something new.

It is a real shame.

 

[Zhukov]

Jesus Escapist, just how much content are you going to jettison?

I don't know the reasons behind Bob exiting stage left, but that's three regular updates struck from the list.

What's left exactly?

Yahtzee is obviously still doing his thing. There's Critical Miss.

Then what? I love Shamus Young and Robert Rath's colummns, but somehow I doubt they pull in much traffic.

The podcasts went to shit when Susan left, and spreading them thinly didn't help.

You don't have any reviewers of note since Jim left. Besides, the reviews aren't worth a damn in an environment where I can look up any slack jawed idiot on Youtube and get all the same information plus actual un-edited gameplay footage.

You haven't been able to attract any new talent of a calibre comparable to that which you have lost.

Might as well change the website to zeropunctuation.com and start praying that Yahtzee doesn't get any ideas.

 

[anthony87]

Try and watch the hostility guys. He may be leaving the site but that doesn't mean he's open season for insults.

Also:

if only we knew someone already active on the website that could do movie reviews... [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/groups/view/2-50-Reviews])

I feel a bit rash about saying this so soon, but I second this. Marter's reviews are pretty darn good and I'd like to see them get more attention.

Thirded.

I don't comment on them or anything but I'm always quick to read his reviews whenever they're up.

 

[Casual Shinji]

*bum bum bum... b-bum bum bum b-bum* And another one gone, and another gone... Another one bites the dust.

The escapist is just losing cornerstones now they're like skinflakes. Looks like you're holding all the power now, Benny.

And yay for another Top 8. How about 'Top 8 contributers that left the Escapist'?

 

[Zykon TheLich_v1legacy]

Can't say I ever watched his stuff, our areas of interest don't really cross over, but with the recent loss of Jim, laying off Greg Tito et. al and now Moviebob going, I can see how people might be getting a bit speculative about the sites future prospects.

 

[Zhukov]

Where's this idea coming from that this site can't survive without Yahtzee? You do know The Escapist pre-dates ZP by two years, right?

Yeah, but they were tiny back then. Tiny and struggling. Hell, that wasn't long after they dropped the magazine format.

I really doubt the bosses and beancounters want to return to those days.

 

[TKretts3]

I used to come to this site for so much stuff, now so much of what I liked it going away. Extra Credits left a few years ago, Top Five With Lisa Foiles came and went. Now Jim and Bob leave pretty much right after each other; Jim was the only reason I came to the site on Mondays, and his cross-overs with Yhatzee were always enjoyable. Now Bob is leaving and taking away one of the big reasons I come to the site. I may not always agree with him but his videos always encouraged me to visit the site on Tuesdays and Fridays, and his articles for HD, Intermission, and Agents reviews were always pretty nice. Even the forums have become less appealing to me, what with R&P getting butchered by dumping all of those GG and GG-related threads in there.

At this point I really only come to the site for Zero Punctuation, Critical Miss, and the occasional Extra Punctuation and Experienced Points. From what I hear Critical Miss is also looking to abandon ship, if Yhatzee leaves too then I'll really have no reason to come to this site anymore. :/

 

[SilverUchiha]

So, realistically speaking, the only thing worth a damn on this site now is Yahtzee. (No offense to LRR or the No Right Answer Team). How long will it be until they decide to can him too? All that being said, Jim seems like he's doing better on his own and I can only hope that Bob and whoever else this happens to manages to find that same level of success elsewhere too. Last thing I'd want is for any of the people here who've entertained me throughout the years to go jobless when they are actually quite intelligent or talented and have much to offer.

 

[mjharper]

Well, that's pretty much it. Lisa, Jim, then Bob. There's still Yahtzee, Robert and Shamus, but I can't really justify a subscription any more.

 

[major_chaos]

Everyone I like here has either left for less shitty forums

Like what for example? I have yet to find a forum better than this one. Although /v/ is fun for the occasional blowing off steam in a nearly moderation free environment.

OT: can't say I'm sad. He clearly had vastly different taste in movies than me so BP wasn't much use, his views on games can be summed up as "Nintendo is god, everything after 2001 sucks, and all CoD players are drooling mentally challenged ape men", and his twitter just made him that much more impossible to like. Hopefully the escapist can find someone less acidic to replace him. Assuming a replacement is in the cards that is.

 

[Salad Is Murder]

Everyone I like here has either left for less shitty forums

Like what for example? I have yet to find a forum better than this one. Although /v/ is fun for the occasional blowing off steam in a nearly moderation free environment.

OT: can't say I'm sad. He clearly had vastly different taste in movies than me so BP wasn't much use, his views on games can be summed up as "Nintendo is god, everything after 2001 sucks, and all CoD players are drooling mentally challenged ape men", and his twitter just made him that much more impossible to like. Hopefully the escapist can find someone less acidic to replace him. Assuming a replacement is in the cards that is.

I know, right? Besides the [completely objective] fact that Super Mario 2 is the finest Super Mario game and he went and wrote a stupid book about SM3. Oh, and the whole twitter rants n'stuff and whatever but really the Super Mario thing was a big deal with me.