Poll: The Yahtzee Bubble

[YeOldeMunger]

It occured to me recently that I've never seen anything negative on the internet about our friend Yahtzee. Now, I'm not going to pretend that I know all the goings on in the internet community, but I think I'm fairly in-touch. Much like an oft-visited cousin. Anyway, it just suprised me how he has generated such universal acclaim.

But these things tend not to last. It's human nature to get bored with things and want something more. It just got me thinking about would happen to Mr. Croshaw over the next few years.

It's familiarity that does it. He's a familar figure, and it might soon reach the point of him having made fun of enough people (general public, industry-professionals, Americans) that if someone says something bad about him, no-one will care to defend his well-deserved honour.

So anyway.. the point of this thread. The poll is there just for funsies mainly, but as a long-time fan I just wondered how he fared in the eyes our our illustrious readership and fancied starting a good ol' discussion.

(Oh, and I realise the people that read this might be a biased sample group.. but I'll factor that in. Edit: I just realised that I posted this in the wrong section, sorry about that.)

 

[Logie--bear]

Oooh Dunno... There were alot of people angry about The Witcher "cutscene Theatre" section and the censorship in the GDC video.

Personally I think he's great, love all his stuff. (Though the beeping of the swear-words irked me until Yahtzee admitted he felt like putting them in)

 

[RST]

He's a one trick show realy, does what he does well, but no one will care in a year i think

 

[RichardM5422]

I think at the moment he's got the balance right for this website. He publishes one 5 min review once a week, and after a week has passed his brand of humour and put-downs has dulled slightly in your memory and it feels fresh after reading other stuff for a week.

I think the danger for him is that the acclaim etc means that he starts producing more and more reviews and features and that over-exposure (i.e. too frequently) will hurt rather than help him.

However Yahtzee seems like a deeply bitter and cynical bloke about a lot of things, and I think he's shrewd enough to have seen this kind of thing happen to other individuals and companies and to avoid it himself.

 

[Logan Westbrook]

He's a one trick show realy, does what he does well, but no one will care in a year i think

At the risk of sounding like a foam-mouthed Yahtzee fan boy, are you aware that he is also lauded for the adventure games he creates? I heard about 5 Days a Stranger YEARS before Zero Punctuation ever existed.

 

[Saskwach]

My view on him isn't really encompassed by any of the options. I watch all of his ZPs but either he's become less funny or I've grown a resistance to his humour. The second one seems more likely.

 

[LainiWeiz]

I think he's hilarious, his voice is awesome and he is a total hotty too!

 

[Dectilon]

He's a one trick show realy, does what he does well, but no one will care in a year i think

If his plan works he'll be designing games in a year or less, so I think you're right there. In two years though... ^^

I picked "He's Funny...", but I think the final option is flawed. I mean, shouldn't that option be above "Love him. I've read everything on his site. Can't get enough."? Once you get above that you go into the "If I can't have him no one else will"-state ^^

Sometimes I have to watch a ZP twice to get all the jokes, but that's okay. Not every single one is a belter either, but no one hits only homeruns.

 

[YeOldeMunger]

Looking at him weith tthe hat really made me lose all respect for him. The man looks like a chimp.

Really, it was his appreance that put you off him? Surely that couldn't have been the deciding factor in your opinion.

And his writing isn't all that bad.

 

[Jonny Plissken]

He's a one trick show realy, does what he does well, but no one will care in a year i think

At the risk of sounding like a foam-mouthed Yahtzee fan boy, are you aware that he is also lauded for the adventure games he creates? I heard about 5 Days a Stranger YEARS before Zero Punctuation ever existed.

Exactly: I count at least three tricks that pony's done so far: he's gone from designing excellent adventure games (not rabid fanboyism, they speak for themselves), to being a sometimes funny general internet ranter and now he's a consistently funny games reviewer.

I think his longevity depends largely on what people are coming to ZP for: if they're looking for a few cheap laughs, they'll get bored of his brand of humour and depart. If, however, they're looking for a frank and disturbingly perceptive review (with cheap laughs an added bonus), then I think he's got a long career ahead of him. Because even if you take away the swearing and poo jokes, the reviews are a damn sight more helpful than most of the dross regularly pumped out by most magazine reviewers.

 

[CarrierII]

I think his finest was the orange box review... "Now, Team Fortress 2, Liverpool 3 - Ok, I'll stop that now..."

I love that so much I watch it every month or so.

It's got to be difficult to find so much to say about one game (Esp. given the average quality of games these days) in just a week. He does better than most reviews. He's the first reviewer I've frequently gone to. But then again, I've only been on the net for a few years, and gaming for only 5.

Overall, so long as he keeps trying (And gets a game that lends itself to being reviewed...) I think he'll remain. You're right, once a week is plenty.

Edit - Oh yeah, Angular Mike, YTOTW and Featureless white Jeremy are made of win. So that gets my vote.

 

[Fire Daemon]

Looking at him weith tthe hat really made me lose all respect for him. The man looks like a chimp.

Really, it was his appreance that put you off him? Surely that couldn't have been the deciding factor in your opinion.

And his writing isn't all that bad.

No, it was really the straw that broke the camels back. Its hard to take the opinion of someone who looks like that seriously.

Your joking....right. Its pretty shallow deciding to dislike someones writing because of their appearance. But judging by your other posts I think the true reason might be because he gave Uncharted a bad review.

 

[Cousin_IT]

Given the choise between Zp's humourous, punchy review & general commentry style; & gamespots rambling, often boring rince & repeat diatribes (the only two internet game reviews I watch; I know which Ill be favouring for a good while yet

 

[Gavaroc]

Yahtzee Croshaw is a man expressing his opinions via the internet, just like every single member of this forum. His method is extremely humorous, detailed and currently popular. But there's no use in people getting angry over anything about Zero Punctuation because it is, after all, an opinion. I don't agree with every word that comes from his mouth, but I do agree with a fair deal of it.

It'll last as long as the Escapist allows it; I'm sire anyone like Yahtzee isn't going to stop unless he wants to, whether loved and celebrated or hated and shunned. Right now he has an excellent editorial and although nothing lasts forever, I believe that fact will remain true for quite a while. Good luck to him.

 

[YeOldeMunger]

Edit - Oh yeah, Angular Mike, YTOTW and Featureless white Jeremy are made of win. So that gets my vote.

YTOTW! God I loved that. I read through the whole thing again recently, and it's just great. The ending makes me laugh every time I think about it. "The end...? Yes."

 

[Asymptote Angel]

I think ZP is funny, and I love the stuff he's written for fullyramblomatic. He doesn't influence my buying or not buying of games very much, but I have no problem with him brightening my Wednesdays.

I'm interested by how willing the people on this site are to brown-nose him. I mean, I love his stuff, but I doubt he wants to be my friend simply because I look at stuff he posts on the internet. Oh well, I'm cynical.

 

[Meliz]

as long as he does what he does best, i'll be looking at his stuff, cuz he's good at it.

 

[Easykill]

He's kind of funny, but I find the extent of his popularity distressing.