Several runs had the oxygen sucked out of them because every other sentence coming out of the runner was "HEY REMINDER IF YOU DON'T GET 100K FOR SCRIMBLO'S REVENGE BY THE END OF THIS RUN THEN IT WON'T HAPPEN! GET YOUR DONATIONS IN NOOOOW"
That whole shit with SuperHot VR and Bloodstained being removed because they ran overtime (mostly for stalling for getting incentives for runs met) and then when there was enough time to bring back at least one of them sticking the Pokemon failed incentive back in and resetting the donation count on it was just.
We're still in a pandemic, inflation's hitting record highs, some nerd screaming at Twitch chat about how the final run just won't happen unless we break the previous SGDQ record while they are in fact setting up the stage again and the stream team is pumping in every OverClocked Remix they can find of Hopes & Dreams to keep the HOOIYYYPE felt very cynical.
Like imagine if you went to a charity concert and the headlining band played a set and walked off so that the organizer could walk out and go "OKAY UNLESS YOU ALL GIVE US ANOTHER $250 BUCKS RIGHT NOW THE BAND IS LEAVING AND THEY'RE ON THEIR TOUR BUS AND THE SOUND GUY IS GONNA START PACKING UP WHILE WE DO THIS"
I didn't feel like a guy watching other people do their hobby and we raise money for a good cause, I felt like an audience being pandered to and demanded from in equal turns.
and the engineered hype and obsession with hype trains definitely felt like some attempt to appease a shareholder's demand for "MORE GROWTH, MORE NUMBER"
...especially that last-minute attempt to pile up donations after the Elden Ring AR% run. Trying to push for more donations to an OCRemix of the Ducktales Moon theme and i found myself embarrassed for them.
Truth be told after that I'm not sure if I'll be tuning into the next GDQ if we're going to have more of that
Because the live audience is caught up in the hype of finally breaking three million for SGDQ and the big screaming excitement and booming music and it feels like the big moment at the end of the 80's teen movie where they save the rec hall or whatever.
Because now actual names in the community are talking about it and it's notable that everyone who had a problem with it was runners who weren't at the event.
(Aside: I wouldn't have changed my opinion regardless but I feel vindicated to be on the same side of the issue as Authorblues and if RTs/likes are endorsements Spikevegeta and Trihex.)
a lot of it is worded better here then i could manage myself but im actually going to take a moment to focus on the online/in-person split, specifically
there was always going to be growing pains with the inevitable shift back into In Person being the core of the event, but that risks turning into an actual injury if they don't reassess expectations and management decisions
people have way less stupid fun money to burn and are less comfortable burning what they do have, and there's also like... a much lower general tolerance for supposedly fun things breaking kayfabe to demand money, i wanna say?
like as said, that's always been The Goal, raising money for fucking amazing charities, but.... the vibe was different towards the end of the week this year, nan
Yeah that is what angered me the most, they axed two runs for time, then when they had time for one if not both brought vack BDSP and reset its donation clock.
in any other situation and with any other group id call it outright ducking scummy, because it's nakedly a case of "hey it's Pokemon, y'all donate for Pokemon runs right?"
if a dude volunteers to quit a thing to help you out, and you later have enough time to fit the thing back in at no strain to yourself, it's polite to tag the guy who did you a solid back in?
like this is assuming they either didn't ask the cut runners or they weren't otherwise busy, but that's how it feels when paired with the late-week Number Go Up desperation
there was no community, the money was all that mattered
Truth be told after that I'm not sure if I'll be tuning into the next GDQ if we're going to have more of that