"Zero Punctuation" and "Dev Diary" by Ben "Yahtzee" Croshaw - The only thing worth watching on The Escapist

[Pissmaster]

He's not reading the thread, dude.

Cows read their own threads all the time

 

[The tired cat]

How are his books comedy wise? Is it comedy with drama or just absurdist humour?

His books to tend to re use lots of material from his ZP videos. Combined with Mogworld he tried to push the idea of the main character aka the Yahtzee self insert was the smartest guy in the room for calling out all MMO cliched while everyone is dumber than a sock of rocks

 

[wtfNeedSignUp]

His books to tend to re use lots of material from his ZP videos. Combined with Mogworld he tried to push the idea of the main character aka the Yahtzee self insert was the smartest guy in the room for calling out all MMO cliched while everyone is dumber than a sock of rocks

It always amazing how internet content creators always use the same tropes they constantly deride

 

[Fools Idol]

Ben Croshaw has that self deprecating narcissist thing going that Orson Welles recognized in Woody Allen.

Spoiler: Here's the quote

Watch Ben's old Drown Out series he did with his gay Australian ex-boyfriend to see it on display. The truth is that Ben is a unimaginably boring and mild mannered man, who isn't as smart as he thinks he is. That will be a point of contention with Ben I'm sure, but every pompous person I've ever met has clothed themselves in the thin veneer of humility. It takes a real piece of work to put yourself out there as God's gift, so most of them try to act modest, usually with the occasional joke at his own expense.

If you ask Ben if he considers himself to be intelligent and talented and he'd probably say yes, he doesn't think he's a genius, no that'd be vain. In his opinion he's just above average. Well I can confirm as an expert that Ben isn't just above anything, he's painfully normal. He's what happens when a guy of normal ability genuinely ties his hand at something. Sure, he gets proficient to make something that is at least competent, whether that's a video game or a book but that's all they are. Nobody is going to rediscover Jam, like they did Moby Dick. The Consuming Shadow is what you would expect from the labor of one man, nothing special. He isn't all that good at even playing games.

His love for Bioshock Infinite is something I point to when he's brought up. That game is loved by the intellectuals because it takes big complicated ideas and raps them up in a subtle plot that delicately addresses real world issues. Just joking, it's a mess of poorly used ideas by people who barely understand the concepts they are addressing, rapped up into an extremely straight forward plot that has the subtlety of a bull in a china shop. That and it's about as bog standard as it gets for linear FPS games. Bioshock Infinite is loved not by intellectuals but by pseudo intellectuals, who want something that strokes their ego by telling them that the incredibly simple is in fact complex. The Dunning Kruger effect reinforced by the game itself.

Another good example is his "love" for the Souls games. Yahtzee hated Demon's Souls, he found it to be poorly designed, obtuse and needlessly hard and you know what? He was right, his opinion of the game is completely valid. Fans of the game (me included) would argue that the good far outweighs the bad but as points of criticism there's nothing wrong with what he said. So it's very curious he loves Dark Souls, a game that is more or less identical to Demon's Souls and more importantly shears all of it's flaws. Well maybe he grew to love it over time right? No, because he still doesn't like Demon's Souls. The truth is that Dark Souls got a reputation as a hardcore game for hardcore gamers, despite the fact that total retards like DSP can stumble their way through it. Yahtzee likes having his ego stroked, so a game that only the real gamers play is right up his alley.

The one thing Yahtzee is good at is Zero Punctuation. Zero Punctuation has lasted longer than just about any popular show has and I think for good reason. His leaned heavily on the "snarky British Internet man" that catapulted the career of such towering name like Total biscuit and Jim sterling. The former spent over a year shitting blood (while having a history of bowl cancer in the family) before going to the doctor. And the latter is a man so thoroughly buck broken that he's resorted to larping as a fat woman to cope. I think what really carriers the show is the format, it's bite sized nature. It was really forward thinking when you look at the current direction things are moving in with shit like Tic Tock and the like.

 

[Aaron Costello]

I reckon Yahtzee would be like Linkara, and is sort of person who would get really angry if someone like Oney did an impression of him

btw im at the point where i dont like his podcast any more lol there is so only so much cynicism and whining I can take.

 

[Celebrate Nite]

I reckon Yahtzee would be like Linkara, and is sort of person who would get really angry if someone like Oney did an impression of him

Doesn't he strike/takedown videos that use the same cut-out paper people style as he does, even if the "iconic" imp isn't used?

I remember Teal Deer using that on one of his videos and the comments were warning him to be careful of Yatzee and his wrath.

 

[Gravityqueen4life]

so i watched his review of Gollum and i dont know if he was being sarcastic or serious but he honestly defended the game because it was the studios first "big game" and gamers just wanted something to hate this month. oh im sorry for being critical about a game that's broken as shit, only being 8 hours long and sold at 70 DOLLARS WITH DLC THAT SHOULD HAVE BEEN IN THE BASE GAME just because they were just that greedy!

"b-b-but i never encountered any bugs" no excuse when other people have you son of a bitch! god, this is the same guy that wanted to cancel a game just because it had the work of someone he didn't like personally.

 

[ShitLurker]

so i watched his review of Gollum and i dont know if he was being sarcastic or serious but he honestly defended the game because it was the studios first "big game" and gamers just wanted something to hate this month. oh im sorry for being critical about a game that's broken as shit, only being 8 hours long and sold at 70 DOLLARS WITH DLC THAT SHOULD HAVE BEEN IN THE BASE GAME just because they were just that greedy!

"b-b-but i never encountered any bugs" no excuse when other people have you son of a bitch! god, this is the same guy that wanted to cancel a game just because it had the work of someone he didn't like personally.

Contrarian got to contrarian. Yeah yeah, studio tried hard, sure, doesn't excuse the asking for a full fucking price and you having to pay to get the fucking goblin to say "My precious". Oney's lads made a good joke since getting him to say it was finicky that your purchase only allowed you to do it once and I could believe it.

 

[wtfNeedSignUp]

so i watched his review of Gollum and i dont know if he was being sarcastic or serious but he honestly defended the game because it was the studios first "big game" and gamers just wanted something to hate this month. oh im sorry for being critical about a game that's broken as shit, only being 8 hours long and sold at 70 DOLLARS WITH DLC THAT SHOULD HAVE BEEN IN THE BASE GAME just because they were just that greedy!

"b-b-but i never encountered any bugs" no excuse when other people have you son of a bitch! god, this is the same guy that wanted to cancel a game just because it had the work of someone he didn't like personally.

Would feel bad if it kills Daedalic Entertainment since they did some fantastic point and click adventure. But yeah the studio was in no way ready for such undertaking.

 

[SiccDicc]

Would feel bad if it kills Daedalic Entertainment since they did some fantastic point and click adventure. But yeah the studio was in no way ready for such undertaking.

I'm told Daedalic isn't even any of the original team and it's all diversity hires now. So don't be sad. Consider this a healthy rejection.

 

[Aaron Costello]

Watch Ben's old Drown Out series he did with his gay Australian ex-boyfriend to see it on display.

you know, it's fascinating looking at Gabes twitter. He comes across as a massive loser. This is a 40 year old man who doesn't have a job and doesn't seem to want one, despite being a trained teacher. Acts like a terminally online 14 year old, who spends all his time on twitter, and, he is obsessed with American politics and American Culture War stuff.

 

[God of Nothing]

you know, it's fascinating looking at Gabes twitter. He comes across as a massive loser. This is a 40 year old man who doesn't have a job and doesn't seem to want one, despite being a trained teacher. Acts like a terminally online 14 year old, who spends all his time on twitter, and, he is obsessed with American politics and American Culture War stuff.

He's a former druggie, if you didn't know. Fits his personality.

 

[Fools Idol]

you know, it's fascinating looking at Gabes twitter. He comes across as a massive loser. This is a 40 year old man who doesn't have a job and doesn't seem to want one, despite being a trained teacher. Acts like a terminally online 14 year old, who spends all his time on twitter, and, he is obsessed with American politics and American Culture War stuff.

Gabe is a weird one, he's always been a massive lefty but he never lost his sense of humor and was still somewhat realistic about life/the world. I don't know what he's like now but I do know that he streams with some troon so he's probably gone off the deep end like the rest of them. I remember Ben taking the piss out of him for being the eternal student, I think everyone in Gabe's life knew that the teacher shit was going nowhere.

Drown Out could've been a fairly successful "podcast" in it's own right, far more successful than the shit he does with the Escapist. Chemistry is what's important and none Ben talks to has any chemistry with him outside of Gabe. Ben is comfortable being a sperg around Gabe with both being able to call the other out for their bullshit.

It's weird that they never wanted to continue Let's Drown Out, the argument that doing a podcast over Skype, Discord or whatever wouldn't work is weird imo.

 

[God of Nothing]

Gabe is a weird one, he's always been a massive lefty but he never lost his sense of humor and was still somewhat realistic about life/the world. I don't know what he's like now but I do know that he streams with some troon so he's probably gone off the deep end like the rest of them. I remember Ben taking the piss out of him for being the eternal student, I think everyone in Gabe's life knew that the teacher shit was going nowhere.

Drown Out could've been a fairly successful "podcast" in it's own right, far more successful than the shit he does with the Escapist. Chemistry is what's important and none Ben talks to has any chemistry with him outside of Gabe. Ben is comfortable being a sperg around Gabe with both being able to call the other out for their bullshit.

It's weird that they never wanted to continue Let's Drown Out, the argument that doing a podcast over Skype, Discord or whatever wouldn't work is weird imo.

Also being a former drug dealer would probably do that.
his friend trooning out was so sudden i just stopped watching keepitclassy after

I think it's one of those things Yahtzee is autistic/neurotic about. Different time zone, different schedules, potential problems, and that weird feeling of someone missing from your side. Fits his character. Weirdly reminds me of the time he and Gabe got in an argument about what Game of the Year meant. Man went full retard and Gabe had no idea what the hell his problem was.

 

[Aaron Costello]

Also being a former drug dealer would probably do that.
his friend trooning out was so sudden i just stopped watching keepitclassy after

you made the right choice lol they suck! A really bad LP channel with no direction and Aaron bitches on discord about no views, while also begging for money all the time.

Drown Out could've been a fairly successful "podcast" in it's own right, far more successful than the shit he does with the Escapist. Chemistry is what's important and none Ben talks to has any chemistry with him outside of Gabe.

Slightly something else is weird. It's a combination of some decent discussions, but sometimes... well, most of the time, Ben thinks he's been super thought provoking (despite saying something super obvious), sometimes they don't actually say anything about a topic at all and then will go to super chats, while begging for money for their (Marty, Nick and other people) crap side videos. Give us money to decide if we play all the half-lifes!!!!, or watch Nick play all the metal gears and Personas!!!
Marty is also kind of a charisma vacuum who should really stop trying to be funny, and hangs onto bits way too long. LMAO DID YOU KNOW THAT I LIKE ANIME???? PERSONA AM I RITE FELLOW WEEBS????

 

[Moja Zemlja]

Drown Out could've been a fairly successful "podcast" in it's own right, far more successful than the shit he does with the Escapist. Chemistry is what's important and none Ben talks to has any chemistry with him outside of Gabe. Ben is comfortable being a sperg around Gabe with both being able to call the other out for their bullshit.

It's weird that they never wanted to continue Let's Drown Out, the argument that doing a podcast over Skype, Discord or whatever wouldn't work is weird imo.

Its important to remember that Let's Drown Out was a LP not a podcast and I think that is why it was decent, they obviously have good chemistry but having something in front of them to talk about probably helped a lot.

 

[Fools Idol]

Its important to remember that Let's Drown Out was a LP not a podcast and I think that is why it was decent, they obviously have good chemistry but having something in front of them to talk about probably helped a lot.

I can't remember them talking that much about the games. I remember it mostly being random/topical bullshit while they try their best not to kill each other.

 

[Spitz]

Yahtzee, like most people, is not funny off-the-cuff. That's why none of his livestreams are entertaining. Not the ones with Gabe, nor the ones with his girlfriend. The ones he does with Escapist can cure insomnia until Marty starts talking. His two good things were ZP and Judging by the Cover. The former is now gay and boring and the latter ended a long time ago. He cucked himself to some crazy, LA-type broad as well as an editor-in-chief that cucked the whole magazine to a bunch of corpo-speak bureaucrats that want to be on Larry Fink's good companies list. The views that matter will keep dropping and they'll pick up some tech trannies to make up the difference, until they disappear for one reason or another(41% probably), and then the company will be diced up and sold off to some other corpo-bureau like it did before. ZP had a good run of eight~ years, with the occasional video here and there after that, but it's really not worth checking in on them anymore. If Commander LardAss NoodleMoobs Sterling went back to The Escapist, their numbers would go up. That's how depressing it's become.

 

[Aaron Costello]

So this is Yahtzees game huh?.... it doesn't look horrible, but at the same time, imo, it doesnt look great. It looks like it'd get rather boring pretty fast.

also what's with the random anime school girl? She looks so out of place lol

 

[Timaeus Testified]

I noticed there wasn't a ZP last week. I chalked it up to maybe some holiday that Yahtzee was taking but as it turns out The Escapist is moving away from their old model of "publish the new episode first on the website, then a week later on YouTube" in favor of "give Patrons the episode a week early, then a week later on YouTube": https://www.escapistmagazine.com/ze...o-player-for-youtube-embeds-same-day-post-zp/

Spoiler: Opening few paragraphs in case the image doesn't load:

Hey folks!

This week, we are finally moving Zero Punctuation off of an on-site hosted video player and exclusively to YouTube. We have not made this change lightly, so let me explain our reasoning with the understanding that these updates will not please everybody, which is something we’ve been well aware of in making this change.

Starting with tomorrow’s episode, Diablo IV, Zero Punctuation will be released exclusively on YouTube just like the rest of our premium video output. This includes our other series like Extra Punctuation, Cold Take, Design Delve, In the Frame, and of course Adventure Is Nigh.

Going forward, the newest episode of Zero Punctuation will be released via early access to our premium subscribers, while the previous week’s episode goes out to the public. So for this week, YouTube is getting the Street Fighter 6 review, and Patreon + YouTube Membership subscribers are getting the Diablo IV episode.

So the only real change here is for those of you who do visit the website every week for the newest episode before it hits YouTube. Those who only watch on YouTube will most likely not even notice this change.

Nick goes on to list a couple of reasons for the change, most notably that "making content costs money" and that their 'premium' model "helps fund the kind of content we like to make, which is often ambitious and not exactly algorithm-friendly". He also mentions that ZP was the last series using their website's own video hosting service, so with ZP going to YouTube exclusively he's hoping the website will perform better from a technical perspective. This all feels very similar to the first time The Escapist shuttered its doors. Removing the perk of early ZP episodes is going to kill traffic to the site. I get the impression The Escapist is just going to turn into a bunch of YouTube channels with a website in name alone, kinda like That Guy With the Glasses.