Poll: Totalbiscuit

[treeroy]

People find his voice /soothing/? Really? Soothing? I hate to say it, but maybe that's an American thing, because to a British ear he has a voice I want to smash repeatedly in the mouth. I expect it's similar to how Steve Irwin could be quite grating to the Australian ear (at least until you realised Steve Irwin /wasn't/ putting on an act, and he really was the perenially jolly and slightly mental man-child he appeared to be).

And yes, promoting yourself based on nebulous national 'traits' is tacky as Hell: A little bit like if some Yank started doing bitchy LPs in their most put-on, overbearing tone and called themselves the 'Obnoxious American' to market themselves to British people. Whiny Brit might be more appropriate.

And you know what? Being divisive isn't /good/. It's not anything. It just is. Being divisive for the sake of it, however, is tired.

Yeah, I genuinely find his voice relaxing. I'm a fellow Briton, by the way. He has perhaps the only tolerable northern accent I've ever heard. It's really nice.

I honestly doubt he is putting the voice on. And with regard to being divisive - I think it's good. It creates arguments, and I love arguing.

 

[mike1921]

As in he portrays them as boring or what? Or just that he's generally somewhat calm? It's not meant to be incredibly entertaining it's meant to be informative.

His videos are neither informative nor entertaining. You can learn pretty much nothing from his videos that you couldn't figure out through watching gameplay footage without his commentary, or browsing somewhere else on the net, with greater detail.

1: he has content other than WTF is.
2: as his preferences on games tends to align with mine (Even console games he doesn't directly cover on his channel but mentions on podcasts/twitter) heavily I tend to value his opinion of how well something works and what is a big deal.

I would've never played Defense Grid Awakening for instance if it weren't for TB and at this point I'm wondering if I'd consider it my favorite Tower Defense game or favorite Strategy game period. And I probably would not have put as much thought into it if I had been exposed to it without his commentary.

And, yes, being entertain is MUCH more important. Because if you have the choice between watching something that is both informative AND entertaining, why would you choose something that is neither, which tends to be the case with this guy.

Here's the thing, attempts to be entertaining can also be annoying and definitely are more likely to be overbearing. I like to be informed of new indie releases I much prefer TB's style of mostly calm with the rare sarcastic/silly comment if i'm going to be watching it whenever a vaguely interesting indie game is released or whenever a game I just don't know all that much about is released.

Further more, I would suggest the reason Classic Game Room has less subscriptions, is because he's one of the rare video makers that doesn't rely on jumping on the hate and fear bandwagon. It's more than proven that the majority of people on the internet will keep returning to videos that they can spew their anger, hatred, and nonsense at, than say anything nice about. A lot of the time, it doesn't even come to anything remotely like a 'debate'.

I really doubt that even a significant portion of TB's million+ subscribers is from people who comment. It's not proven, he has a million subscribers and his last WTF is has 1,000 comments. A majority=/= a vocal minority

 

[Proto325]

I like his stuff, but I can't stand the way he says "obsurd" instead of absurd.

 

[masticina]

Nobody is forbidden to disagree with TB.

I like his videos, I like his style. Its his.. he made himself an own kind of style. And it works for him!

I like getting good information in a funny yet to the point way. Again you can disagree with him that is all allowed.

What is nice is that you get to really see if a game is worth it. Is a game good? Is a game decent and for who is it? There are many great games I don't play because they are not my type of game. Actually I don't play shooters.. that is about one of the biggest groups of games out there. Yet his videos mean I can see what these games have to offer, where they are going and what they are doing well.

Take or instance his Farcry 3 video, now I won't play this game but I am happy I can ses someone play it and point me out some of the things this game has to offer. Some videos I even repeat watch..

And yes I love how there are smaller games being played. Because really that is what I want to play, mostly I play relative small games. Guess what TB gives attention to those games, does a video, shows what those games have to offer. And I can say "mmm nah not for me" or "yeah like it put it on my list for steam"

Are there other people doing this yeah. TB's style just makes it very nice to watch. It is like you like some teachers at school and utterly don't other teachers. That and at least with TB I won't get the scream cam type of lets play.

In short TB makes some good content that really helps to see what a game has to offer.

 

[wizzy555]

I used to find TB annoying. In the old days he would just troll WoW players overconfident in his opinions etc. I found his voice annoying - even though I am British (I live in a different area, go 5 miles down the road and we talk different you know).

Now he provides consistent and reliable content and decent thought out opinions. He's probably my favourite games journalist at this point, except maybe Susan Arendt.

So yeah, thank god for totalbiscuit.

 

[roushutsu]

I've seen his stuff every now and again, mostly news stuff. I haven't really checked out his WFT series, though I've heard some good things. Overall, I don't mind the guy.

 

[Something Amyss]

Maybe you should.

In fact, find someone with differing opinions to sit in with you during the sessions.

Call it "Point / Counterpoint".

Keep it as abrasive as possible. Fill it with lots of wacky, noisy nonsense. And bam, you'll quickly become the next "big" Youtube star. God knows that's what many youtubers like...

I like the way you're thinking. Now all I need is someone to argue with childishly. If only my brother played video games.

Just make a web series where you single out posts on the Escapist and tear them apart.

I'd watch it.

Hmmm...I don't know. That would be such new territory for me. >.>

 

[qeinar]

well he is honest and outspoken so it's not really a shock some people hate him. I think he's a pretty good guy to, makes pretty good videos as well. I pretty much only watch "content patch" though and the tgs podcast.

 

[Zeterai]

I've a vaguely mixed opinion of him. On the one hand, I genuinely am thankful for the insight and information he provides about games that you just can't find outside of a knowledgeable individual's experience - there are a lot of "Let's Play" people out there, but I don't really categorize what he does as that, since he's actively trying to impart knowledge on the viewer rather than specifically to entertain. That's unfortunately rare in the games industry, and invaluable to have when you're trying to make a decision on whether to try a game or not.

On the other hand, watching him play through a lot of the things is tortuous at best. I understand that doing live commentary is extremely taxing on one's concentration, but he seems particularly unperceptive when it comes to actual gameplay. I don't think it's fair to compare him to anyone else that does Let's Play videos. Introducing an audience to games they may not have heard of, and offering thoughts on things they would have is in no way similar to just plowing through a game from start to finish and trying to be entertaining while doing so.

It gets me wondering, though. Jim Sterling, Yahtzee, and TotalBiscuit are all people whose opinions on games I give some weight to, and they're all British. Is the UK just full of people like this?

 

[Vigormortis]

Maybe you should.

In fact, find someone with differing opinions to sit in with you during the sessions.

Call it "Point / Counterpoint".

Keep it as abrasive as possible. Fill it with lots of wacky, noisy nonsense. And bam, you'll quickly become the next "big" Youtube star. God knows that's what many youtubers like...

I like the way you're thinking. Now all I need is someone to argue with childishly. If only my brother played video games.

On second thought, make sure the second person in your LP arguing duo agrees with your opinions.

Why? Because, if there's one thing the internet relishes in more than arguing, it's pointless arguing. And let's face it, there's nothing more pointless than arguing when you and the person you're arguing with share the same opinions.

 

[MetalMagpie]

Yeah, I'd say the thing that kind of puts me off to him is his sense of self-importance. Jim Sterling does it as part of a character. As far as I can tell Biscuit's not acting in his videos.

Well, he's certainly putting on the voice, so I don't see why he wouldn't be putting on much of the persona too.

What makes you think he's putting on the voice?
If he is, it's bloody impressive for him to keep up an identical voice for absolutely everything, whether it's live commentating or when he's being filmed in his normal life.

Mainly because I can't imagine him ordering a pint in a pub in that voice! To be clear, I don't think he's putting on the accent (I have the same one as him), just that he's using a "presenting voice". A lot of people do this without really realising they're doing it. They just go into "talking to a microphone mode".

 

[rofltehcat]

I like most of his journalism-related stuff (content patch, WTF), don't care much about commentary/shoutcast stuff. Chose the first option, overall I like his channel and style.

 

[porous_shield]

I like his videos for the most part but, just like many youtubers, I don't like him in large doses. I get motion sickness from some games but not as badly as he does so I appreciate that he puts some time into talking about FOV settings and work arounds for games that don't have those settings.

 

[TomWiley]

TotalBiscuit takes himself far too seriously, and while he's good at writing scripts.

 

[SpaceGhost]

TotalBiscuit takes himself far too seriously, and while he's good at writing scripts.

...I find it surprising that he never does."


.
.
.

Sorry...my OCD compelled me finish that sentence for you.

 

[Slaydoom]

I love his videos but I try to ignore his twitter half the time, him and Jesse seem to tag-team on the "fuck consoles" train a bit to much.

It actually kind of reminds me of this:

But Jesse has played console games on his channel D:

 

[Slaydoom]

I don't get how people can complain about "the PC master race" thing. The PC is objectively better, that doesn't make a console player less of a gamer though. TB knows this. The people who complain about TB are the ones who haven't watched enough of him, if they'd paid attention they'd know his stance on subject, and when he's joking.

I've been watching from his wow lore days and when he used to have his character dancing on a mailbox. So I have been watching for YEARS! I know what he's doing, he is never joking.

He says consoles are ok but only to avoid the flaming he would get from saying his honest opinion. His "I own every console" counter argument is wafer thin 'cos I know those things are just filled with dust ... lets be honest, if you gave TB an hour to play any game there is fuck all chance he would go to any console or handheld.

I'm not going to touch the rest of your post 'cos it's just bait.

He's named console games that he really enjoyed playing. The Darkness off the top of my head. Heck he even has done streams of him playing console games.

 

[DanDeFool]

Personally, I like TotalBiscuit. I think he's very well-spoken, intelligent, hard working, and genuinely wants to do right by his audience.

That said, he IS rather arrogant, particularly during the TGS Podcast. He frequently interrupts the other panelists, makes their points for them, and usually tries to get the last word in.

 

[lastcigarette]

I don't have a personal opinion about him because I've never met him or interacted with him. I'm a regular viewer because he provides content that I find informative and useful.

 

[Something Amyss]

On second thought, make sure the second person in your LP arguing duo agrees with your opinions.

Why? Because, if there's one thing the internet relishes in more than arguing, it's pointless arguing. And let's face it, there's nothing more pointless than arguing when you and the person you're arguing with share the same opinions.

Wait, so something like:

Them: DRM is crap.

Me: You are so stupid, dude. DRM is like the asshole of the industry! I can't believe you're such a fanboy!