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by A FRIEND 01/08/2012, 2:35pm PST |
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So what did you get banned for?
James Johnson wrote:
Tom's decline is years in the making. Sure, there were some watershed moments like Hurt Locker, Avatars, and Elemental, but those are mostly symptoms of the problem in my opinion. Here's my take:
Back in the Shoot Club days, everyone would gush and grovel at Tom's amazing writing because "above average" looks pretty damn good in the era of stupidly shitty gaming journalism. Those were basically his forums. Praise Tom when he updated the front page, discuss quietly amongst yourselves inbetween. Game Developers (with capital letters) showed up there because... well I don't really know why. Because Tom was one of the few not-idiots in journalism at the time and paid for a forum? I don't know the history that far back.
Time passed and gaming journalism grew up. There were more options to choose from. Intelligent people started writing real things about games and Tom wasn't the shit anymore. His name was dropped alongside some of the rising stars at first, but they eclipsed him pretty damn fast.
Don't get me wrong, Tom was ahead of his time, no doubt. But when that time actually came and Tom's gimmick -- the novelty of proto-New Games Journalism -- was rendered irrelevant, he was another face in the crowd. That had to hurt.
I think that's the point he started to slip. He mostly fell back on reviews, which became increasingly infrequent and of poorer quality. Then he got Fidgit or whatever that miserable thing was. Then that fell apart, which must have been awful for him. Then he returned to reviews, but by this point they were largely troll articles. The internet gave him the reputation of the contrarian, so he played on that. Tom, once the only show in town, had been reduced to a single act on a side-stage.
He started to take shit out on people from the forums. Bullying, trolling, whatever he could do to get you to flinch so everyone else kissed his ass in fear of collateral damage. Oh, and he kept score. If you had ever said something that pissed him off, he remembered it.
Then there was the new front page which really wasn't all that more popular than the old front page. Little Big Planet 2. Every. Day. Bite sized chunks of who the fuck cares. Links to his reviews. The podcasts were cool enough (I don't care for podcasts in general but I listened to a few and thought they were well done) and the angrier posts from guest writers were great (I think Bill did a "this week in the forums" once that was funny), but the rest was essentially fluff.
Finally we get to the Tompocalypse and the Three Month's Peace. Man, this had to hurt. Ditch your own forums in disgust because they're not about you anymore, but not before opening all the jail cells out of spite. That'll show those sociopathic nerds. Except... it didn't. The forums were the best they'd ever been. We were fine without him. We were better without him.
That had to be the last straw. After he decided he was done taking notes on everyone in secret for months, he returned with a bang, rounding up all the dissidents and putting on a show trial that showed just how benevolent he could be. This was, of course, totally delusional. He lied about giving anyone fair warning, or a chance to discuss anything, or even the form letter he said he sent out.
Essentially, the man saw his creation get older, turn into a rowdy teenager, but then prove it could be independent. At the same time, his career faltered and his significance to gaming journalism dried up.
Like Blackadar said, this is a man that's got issues. As condescending as this will sound, I really do feel sorry for him. I think he'd be wise to re-evaluate his emotional state and get some help. |
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Tom Chick Returns, Vows to Carry Out Hit List of Bannings by Qt3 Reporter 12/26/2011, 11:47pm PST 
Re: Tom Chick Returns, Vows to Carry Out Hit List of Bannings by forum racist 12/26/2011, 11:56pm PST
Re: Tom Chick Returns, Vows to Carry Out Hit List of Bannings by i_hate_goons.vbs 12/26/2011, 11:58pm PST
Re: Tom Chick Returns, Vows to Carry Out Hit List of Bannings by fgpckt 12/27/2011, 3:15am PST
Welp, there we go. by fgpckt 01/03/2012, 12:36pm PST
"infraction system" lol by Fullofkitttens 01/03/2012, 1:25pm PST
Look at jerri blank, banning deputy, advising a guy to lay low for a while! by Fussbett 01/03/2012, 10:48pm PST
This is great by Souffle of Pain 01/03/2012, 11:13pm PST
Re: Welp, there we go. by Mysterio Hive Mind 01/03/2012, 3:48pm PST
Just in case you missed it by Tom Chick 01/03/2012, 8:51pm PST
Re: Just in case you missed it by Lorini 01/03/2012, 9:53pm PST
Re: Just in case you missed it by ndd 01/04/2012, 1:32am PST
Re: Just in case you missed it by Ice Cream Jonsey 01/04/2012, 7:38am PST
Re: Just in case you missed it by ndd 01/04/2012, 8:10am PST
Re: Just in case you missed it by Ice Cream Jonsey 01/04/2012, 11:46am PST
SA is horrible for many reasons by skip 01/06/2012, 3:39pm PST
Re: SA is horrible for many reasons by jeep 01/06/2012, 6:44pm PST
Re: Just in case you missed it by Mysterio 01/04/2012, 8:13am PST
Re: Just in case you missed it by ndd 01/04/2012, 8:26am PST
Re: Just in case you missed it by Mysterio 01/04/2012, 8:33am PST
Re: Just in case you missed it by ndd 01/04/2012, 8:47am PST
Re: Just in case you missed it by Shredder 01/04/2012, 11:48am PST
Shredder, you idiot by Mysterio Hive Mind 01/04/2012, 11:48am PST
What part of "tldr" didn't you understand? NT by Jerry Whorebach 01/04/2012, 9:34am PST
Conversations fork. Threaded discussion is the only kind that matters NT by Entropy Stew 01/04/2012, 10:54am PST
didn't even think of that. thread crapping as an architecture problem masqueradi by ndd 01/04/2012, 11:10am PST
Re: didn't even think of that. thread crapping as an architecture problem masqui by laudablepuss 01/04/2012, 1:20pm PST
well now you know NT by ndd 01/04/2012, 2:47pm PST
Re: didn't even think of that. by jeep 01/06/2012, 6:56pm PST
Concur by N 01/04/2012, 6:14pm PST
A lot of forum software seems to shit up after X number of active threads by Entropy Stew 01/04/2012, 9:57pm PST
small note by jeep 01/06/2012, 6:55pm PST
The "you're in my house!" analogy is the dumbest thing ever. NT by Joe Chill 01/03/2012, 6:50pm PST
OK, thanks Joe Chill NT by asshole 01/03/2012, 7:06pm PST
And THEN he says NO! Can you IMAGINE???? NT by laudablepuss 01/03/2012, 10:34pm PST
Fuck YOU. NT by Thomas Wayne 01/04/2012, 10:10am PST
Re: Tom Chick Returns, Vows to Carry Out Hit List of Bannings by Arbit 01/05/2012, 4:45pm PST
Re: Tom Chick Returns, Vows to Carry Out Hit List of Bannings by Mysterio 01/05/2012, 8:04pm PST
Upon thinking some more by Arbit 01/09/2012, 2:19pm PST
Thanks by Lizard_King 01/07/2012, 7:04pm PST
Lum has a post about this by jeep 01/08/2012, 10:52am PST
Lum starts Qt3 refugee camp! by Qt3 Reporter 01/08/2012, 2:33pm PST
This was a good write-up of what Tom must be thinking. by A FRIEND 01/08/2012, 2:35pm PST
ha ha by fabio 01/09/2012, 6:06pm PST
wtf is a yenta thread by jeep 01/08/2012, 8:00pm PST
Re: wtf is a yenta thread by Souffle of Pain 01/08/2012, 8:08pm PST
I bet it's a hilarious thing about gamerdads or moms or whatever horseshit NT by jeep 01/09/2012, 5:14pm PST
Are you also too cool to Google to word yenta? NT by Ask Jeeves it? 01/08/2012, 8:50pm PST
i'm not typing "yenta" into google. jesus by Souffle of Pain 01/08/2012, 9:25pm PST
Sir you sir, sir you take that back sir NT by 'Them', who do you mean 'them' 01/08/2012, 10:13pm PST
Your continued ignorance will surely show them!!! NT by rrrrgh 01/08/2012, 11:25pm PST
My mental image of a bunch of Jews dancing is better than the real meaning can p NT by Entropy Stew 01/09/2012, 12:30am PST
motherfucker I don't need to be looking at whatever anime thing that word is by jeep 01/09/2012, 5:19pm PST
You've invested more effort into screaming about how you don't care by Arbit 01/10/2012, 10:01am PST
There's other new and shitty forums as well. by Souffle of Pain 01/08/2012, 3:23pm PST
Caltrops' domain name should be permanently changed to NT by WeToldYouSo.com 01/08/2012, 7:26pm PST
Re: There's other new and shitty forums as well. by jeep 01/08/2012, 7:52pm PST
Re: There's other new and shitty forums as well. by A FRIEND 01/08/2012, 9:51pm PST
Time to whip out your wallets, everyone! by Arbit 01/09/2012, 2:17pm PST
caltrops should also do the paypal thing by jeep 01/09/2012, 5:24pm PST
of course you would say this jeep, you're overpaid and don't have a mortgage NT by jeep 01/09/2012, 5:24pm PST
If ICJ wants some donations to pay for costs I'd pony up. by Fullofkittens 01/09/2012, 5:41pm PST
well we're small enough that this model works by jeep 01/09/2012, 6:31pm PST
The genius of Caltrops is that those people would never post here. by Fullofkittens 01/09/2012, 8:21pm PST
i tried this once by ndd 01/09/2012, 7:31pm PST
5% of every dragon statue Binro sells goes towards Caltrops upkeep NT by Entropy Stew 01/09/2012, 10:14pm PST
Dead boyfriend of coworker life insurance policy NT by fabio 01/10/2012, 8:59am PST
The Financial State of Caltrops by Ice Cream Jonsey 01/10/2012, 10:51am PST
That's a funny post but, I hope, unduly harsh on Ray!. NT by Gutsby 01/10/2012, 11:10am PST
On Ray? Oh no! Not my intent! by Ice Cream Jonsey 01/10/2012, 12:23pm PST
I think it's a Jhoh/Sassy joke? NT by But he mixed up Jsoh and Jhoh? 01/10/2012, 12:33pm PST
Hmm. NT by Gutsby 01/10/2012, 12:47pm PST
We're getting trolled by two men nowhere near this thread. NT by A FRIEND 01/10/2012, 2:21pm PST
Ha ha ha NT by Last 01/10/2012, 3:18pm PST
whatever happened to her? I wondered off at about by Oom Shnibble 04/05/2012, 3:57am PDT
Re: Tom Chick Returns, Vows to Carry Out Hit List of Bannings by i_hate_goons.vbs 03/30/2012, 9:14pm PDT
I guess Athyrn hasn't seen Aliens. NT by Eurotrash 03/30/2012, 10:24pm PDT
Forget the part where Ripley uses her boobs to nurse the Alien Queen to death? NT by Mischief Maker 03/30/2012, 10:56pm PDT
Does my ass count in Alien? NT by Ripley 03/31/2012, 11:39am PDT
Re: Does my ass count in Alien? by This is Chris's Blood 03/31/2012, 1:12pm PDT
heh, Athryn NT by The "heh" guy 03/31/2012, 6:48pm PDT
Re: Tom Chick Returns, Vows to Carry Out Hit List of Bannings by Oom Shnibble 04/01/2012, 7:51am PDT
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