Tag Archives: TotalBiscuit

Tough news on the YouTube front.

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Well, fuck.

For all of those you might not know, I have been a longtime viewer of popular YouTuber “TotalBiscuit” and his content, even dating way back to the WoW Radio days.

In April of last year, he dropped the news that he was suffering from colon cancer and would be undergoing treatment. Fast-forward through chemo-therapy and other forms of treatment where, in May of this year, he was declared cancer free.

Much rejoicing and cause for celebration, right? Until now, yes.

This week, he went back in for a routine CT scan to check on his condition. Today, he has announced that while the cancer hasn’t returned to his colon or bowels, he has spots on his liver. Doctors are saying they are inoperable and are giving him an average of 2-3 years life expectancy.

He has vowed to keep fighting, saying, “Fuck this stupid disease. The average is going up after I’m done with it.”

This is bitter news for me, since cancer has claimed two relatives and two pets from my family in the past five years. That said, I am holding out hope that TotalBiscuit will stay strong and fight on for as long as he draws breath. The man is nothing if not incredibly stubborn and resilient.

Advancements in medical science are continuing rapidly, hopefully opening up some options for TB’s treatment.

In times like this, I am reminded of a poem by Dylan Thomas that many are familiar with.

Do not go gentle into that good night,
Old age should burn and rave at close of day;
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

Though wise men at their end know dark is right,
Because their words had forked no lightning they
Do not go gentle into that good night.

Good men, the last wave by, crying how bright
Their frail deeds might have danced in a green bay,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

Wild men who caught and sang the sun in flight,
And learn, too late, they grieved it on its way,
Do not go gentle into that good night.

Source: https://www.poets.org/poetsorg/poem/do-not-go-gentle-good-night

My continued support will remain with John “TotalBiscuit” Bain, aged 31. My best wishes also go out to him and his family.

When enough is enough.

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I have a video I’d like you guys to see before you continue reading onward.

 

 

You know … I really want to play Aliens: Colonial Marines. I really, really do. However, I will ultimately be refusing to pick the game up since it’s published by Sega. This also goes for any future Creative Assembly titles such as the Total War series, and even their possible work with Warhammer, along with any other title that Sega is affiliated with.

There seems to just be some serious disconnect between some developers/publishers and the people they want to buy their products. If you swat, bite, or piss on the hand that feeds you, that hand might just hit you back.

We’ve had Capcom completely derail the Resident Evil franchise, then argue that the relationship between them and their players was like two bickering parents. Now we’ve got Sega, seemingly in an attempt to improve their latest announcement’s SEO, causing a massive amount of problems in, if not outright damaging, the lives of some YouTubers.

Some people forget that such individuals as John “TotalBiscuit” Bain and Jesse “OMFGCata” Cox, amongst many others, actually make their income and living off of royalties off of YouTube ad revenue – though, admittedly, the mentioned topic isn’t being monetized in most cases.

Another often looked fact is that some people will buy games entirely because someone made a Let’s Play or other form of video about it. Other games, no matter how much PR they get from straight-up gaming websites, might be forgotten by a gamer unless a YT channel showcases it in a good light.

A good example of this is Hell Yeah: Wrath of the Dead Rabbit, a game that Sega published; I never would have heard of this title except for TotalBiscuit‘s first impressions video of it. I was intending to buy the title before, but now will not until Sega changes their conduct.

Sega‘s actions hurt everyone all the same; YouTubers won’t cover their titles, some players might not buy the title, then not only does the publisher not make back their investment, but the developer loses a sale on a product they worked their asses off over. Nobody wins, unless the guilty party actually learns from their mistakes and maybe doesn’t try to make amends, but at least stops trying to beat everyone down.

One commonly overlooked fact is that, whether independent or mainstream, all publishers and developers answer to their audiences. Neither would sell or provide anything if the people are against them. That goes from as large as Sega to as small as myself.

There’s also the fact that, in some cases, what Sega is doing is flat-out illegal. Flagging videos for copyright infringement when said video only contains someone talking about their time with a game title? Such practices are not a valid form of copyright infringement, so enforcing a punishment on the video’s creator is a complete and total lie and fallacy of the worst kind.

So, ladies and gents, I hope you’ll join me in boycotting Sega and their titles from any purchases you make. I’ve already gone through my upcoming titles list and cancelled my orders for titles such as Aliens: Colonial Marines, which Sega is publishing, as an act of protest. I refuse to aid a company which violates copyright laws and punishes its own consumer base.

State of the Crazy.

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It’s like the State of the Union address, except for the demented thoughts in my head!

In all seriousness, I thought I’d give an update as to what’s going on. It’s been a little while, some things have come up, and I’ve been working on my vanishing act for the last week or so. Needless to say, I owe you guys something.

First off, I’ve been trying to stay busy with the writing, though the day job is kicking my ass six-ways-from-sunday. I’ve been squeezing in my writing during the lunch breaks, but by the time I get home, I wind up crashing on the couch. Trying to fix this, and it should pass come the middle of next week, but it’s hampering me at the moment.

I have, however, not stopped on progress. I’ve actually – just recently – submitted a short story into Fireside Magazine. They ran a Kickstarter for their second quarterly issue – and beyond – but also recently opened to submissions.

Fireside’s been exclusively an invitation-only publication, featuring such writers as Chuck Wendig, Tobias Buckell, Ken Liu, and more. Needless to say, I feel like I’ve thrown myself to the wolves with this one. I wrote this entry with the intention of putting out a great story, but I’m keeping my expectations being picked quite low.

Because of Fireside’s submission guideline, as well, a welcome challenge was created. You see, with eFiction Magazine, the word ceiling is at 10,000 for a short story. With Fireside, however, it’s 4,000. Breaking my normal ceiling and working under the constraint having a limit that was less than half of my prior works was a rather exciting and fun challenge. I even managed to go under their limit, having the story clock in around 3,100 words.

Take that, adversity!

Secondly, are you familiar with King of the Web? Maybe you are, maybe you’re not, but hear me out. It’s essentially a popularity contest with internet personalities. It doesn’t cost anything to participate, but the rewards can be pretty substantial.

TotalBiscuit, one of the largest YouTube gaming commentators – if not the largest – out there, is currently running in King of the Web’s “Battle Royale”. Here’s the thing, he’s running with the intention of donating his entire prize to Charity: Water. C:W, in short, is a charity designed to provide clean water and wells to third-world nations and their people.

TotalBiscuit has a history with C:W, having already managed to raise and donate over $20,000 to them before with his earlier KotW campaign. I’m going to be voting for TB in this Battle Royale – and through him, Charity: Water.

If you want to help chip in with King of the Web, check out his campaign page. As I said before, it’s all free and shouldn’t take you more than a few minutes to setup and vote.

Personally, I’ve followed TB for a number of years and recall listening to him during the first run of Blue Plz! on WoW Radio. Seeing him willing to take on this contest explicitly for charity makes me happy, so I want to continue to support him.

Thirdly, progress for Crimson Sands. The word count is lower than I would have liked to be at, but I’m continuing regardless. Things are accelerating in the story and the characters are being fleshed out, so that helps. Introductions have never been my strong point, so here’s hoping it’s smooth sailing from here.

I am aiming to be sending it off for editing by the end of the year, so that’s my deadline that I’m sticking to. That means completing the first draft, getting some beta input, going over and fixing as many grammatical mistakes as I can find, ect.

Ideally, I’d love to be able to publicly release Crimson Sands next year alongside Under a Falling Sky, my planned NaNoWriMo novel. Let’s face it, it pays to come out of the gate swinging.

Fourthly, I’ve been having a slightly awkward moment when dealing with my social media feeds. It used to be that, back when I got started with writing seriously, I was actively searching for publications and magazines to try and submit to. Now, after having submitted to eFiction for some time and just having recently submitted to Fireside, it’s changed.

I’ve now noticed some publications and magazines seem to search for me. I now see multiple magazines and publications find and follow me. Just today I got followed by World Weaver Press over on twitter. Hell, I found out about Fireside Magazine simply because they followed me on twitter. There’s been a few more, but it’s giving me a strange feeling.

Oh the times, how they are changing.

Anyways, I’ll keep busy with the multitude of projects I have to work on for the moment. I’ll also keep you all as informed as I can – within reason, of course.

Now where did I put my straight-jacket …