Is it alright to ask why people trust Jim Sterling?

[Vespian]

I mean, a moderator will probably not like this but as for why I dislike him...

He's SUCH a SJW (understatement) and the fact it dictates what he thinks of a game over anything else (including gameplay) reminds me of Kotaku, and his incessant complaining and overwhelming negativity bears an uncanny resemblance to Darksydephil. I mean he never says anything positive about a game as I've observed for a long time unless it's some pretentious walking simulator like Gone Home. His antics on videos that I also can't last through for very long is so cringe and tryhard like Angryjoe.

It's hard to avoid him because of the attention he gets in news coverage so I think it's fair to just spit out why I really am not fond of him and why people can bear with him.

The fact that he's an SJW is true, but what matters to me, is that I can agree with people that might differ in opinion on some subjects. And that's because I consider myself a wholly objective person. When we say NMS is a piece of shit, it's because we can prove it. When we say that x,y,z action is because of female hating middleaged white men without jobs, that's something you can't prove. Stick to believing the things he says, that can be proven and you're fine.

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Absolutely not. As an avid consumer of Sterling's content, I have never seen an instance of his 'SJWness' 'dictate' what he thinks of a game. Would you care to share an instance of this occurring? Because I certainly can't come up with one.

Absolutely so, he was an outspoken SJW during the initial backlash of it all.

If I'm not mistaken, the reason he's no longer with Escapist is partially due to that, because he voiced his opinion using his feature on there. But..grain of salt. I just personally recall skipping a few of his vids there after cringing-out-loud during one of them.

[icedwarrior]

Absolutely so, he was an outspoken SJW during the initial backlash of it all.

I don't see how Sterling being an SJW in general refutes what I said. When I'm looking for video game reviews, for example, I don't care if someone is an SJW, a Republican, a Libertarian, a Vegan, whatever. It doesn't matter to me... their opinions and the reasons why they feel what they feel is what's important to me. What you quoted was me asking "When has Jim Sterling reviewed a game and, solely on the basis of being an SJW, dictated that something is X, Y, or Z?" I am not asking if he is an SJW. To me, that is irrelevant. If you feel that him being an SJW (and that being the sole factor) has "dictated" a game being X, Y, or Z, please list an example.

According to his Patreon, the reason he left is because:

[...]I've been reviewing videogames for roughly eight years, and I've served as host of popular webseries The Jimquisition for quite a few of those years. Until recently, my work has been hosted within the confines of "traditional" videogame media - established outlets that use advertising networks and, increasingly, sponsored content, in order to pay their creators.

And I have grown to dislike it. Significantly.

The ad-supported model is the default model, but it can give undue power to people who really don't care for, or indeed know much about, videogame criticism. I've grown tired of the perpetual fear that one day I'll be asked to say, "Today's episode of Jimquisition is brought to you by the refreshing taste of Mounting Doo!" I've always considered myself fortunate enough to maintain a lot of distance between myself as a content creator and the marketing departments cutting their brand deals. I'm afraid that the distance, however, is getting smaller and smaller, regardless of my efforts. There are media powerhouses out there that are struggling, and their struggle is leading to changes in business that I am not comfortable with. I don't want to be under the shadow of corporate entities, and I don't want to feel my criticism of the games industry exists by their good grace. [...]

You're free to speculate if something else contributed, but that's his input.

[Vespian]

I don't see how Sterling being an SJW in general refutes what I said.
According to his Patreon, the reason he left is because:



You're free to speculate if something else contributed, but that's his input.

Agreed, I re-read and apparently misread what you said initially. That's also what I'm saying in my statement. I haven't seen any games where his opinion about GG (example) manifest in a different kind of review.

About his leave; Let's just say his departure coincided very conveniently with the GG email campaign to websites that 'housed' vocal SJW.

[Deleted]

I'm enjoy Jim mostly because a lot of his views on gaming align with mine.

[Slybak]

I'm pretty certain there are people that dislike him just as much as I do (no need to go into detail there)

The wind up...

He's SUCH a SJW (understatement)

... and the pitch.

[thewallofsleep]

I generally like Jim Sterling, but his style can get a bit grating at times. I have to be in the mood for his videos, as they can be extremely loud. I disagree with the SJW tag above, as Jim Sterling uses a lot of politically incorrect humor, which is not common with people who are labeled SJW's.

Jim seems to come from a place where he has the consumer in mind, which is why people trust him. Such a big focus on consumer advocacy and pointing out the scams developers try to pull seems to be a very British thing, as there is a lot of consumer protection efforts in the UK. In the US our media doesn't typically focus on that type of thing (especially our games media), so pundits like Jim Sterling or Totalbiscuit have niche.

I don't agree with Jim's opinions on everything, but I still respect his opinions (same with Totalbiscuit).

[bbr]

Id vote him for president over hillary or trump... XD

And the Digital homicide debacle surely showed some interesting stuff :P

[dope_danny]

He's walking talking clickbait that once in a while breaks through his veneer of false ego persona and heavy internal politics to say something truthful and sincere which reels people back in.

[KaPe]

And the Digital homicide debacle surely showed some interesting stuff :P

I liked some people's reaction back when he got sued by them. "That fat asshole deserves it for shaming poor indie developers through Youtube". At that time, it was just another random opinion on the internet. However, considering what DH did recently, it's pretty funny and paints quite a different picture. Seems like "poor opressed developers" actually were petty assholes who couldn't take negative reviews and used them to improve their games.

As for Jim himself, I can't say I "trust him" completely or anything. There are times where I feel he goes a bit too far with his persona, but I realize it's just that - a persona on the Internet. He has pretty good insight on the gaming industry and it's a nice thing to watch. I'm largely indifferent to the "SJW" aspect. It seems pretty mild to me, at least compared to the supposed dangers of that "movement".

[Fencers]

Reader or viewer trust in any critic is based upon specificity and consistency of critique. Volume and consistency are important to the legacy of a critic.

Not liking someone's voice, writing style or their hat is totally inconsequential nonsense. Disagreement with a given critique is likewise, meaningless.

It is as I explained here flatly.

[Wondercrab]

I'm largely indifferent to the "SJW" aspect. It seems pretty mild to me, at least compared to the supposed dangers of that "movement".

I'm curious to know where this perception of Jim comes from. I can only imagine it's something that must've happened a few years ago that I missed, because I haven't seen a shred of it in all of his content I've consumed (which is mostly stuff from the past year or so, and a few smatterings of it here and there prior to that). The impression I've gotten of him is that he's simply a very open minded individual who enjoys diversity in his games when he comes across it. He has a tendency to poke fun at those who use the dreaded ess-jay-doubleyew word, but overall he seems to be pretty critical of the people who blow this stuff out of proportion on either side of the argument, as I think most sensible individuals are.

[Uoyredrum]

He's SUCH a SJW (understatement) and the fact it dictates what he thinks of a game over anything else (including gameplay) reminds me of Kotaku, and his incessant complaining and overwhelming negativity bears an uncanny resemblance to Darksydephil. I mean he never says anything positive about a game as I've observed for a long time unless it's some pretentious walking simulator like Gone Home. His antics on videos that I also can't last through for very long is so cringe and tryhard like Angryjoe.

Why's he an SJW? I guess I hadn't heard about that, and I've watched a bunch of his videos. The fact that it's not something that's immediately obvious but you claim as some sort of undeniable and apparent fact makes me question it. Also, I've seen him be positive about a bunch of games that aren't walking simulators. There's a lot of reviewers that are generally far more negative than him, he just happens to spend a lot of time talking about Konami's bullshit and reviewing terrible games so he probably comes off as more negative due to that. That being said in his actual reviews he's pretty positive.

It's hard to avoid him because of the attention he gets in news coverage so I think it's fair to just spit out why I really am not fond of him and why people can bear with him.

I can understand people not liking his style. I don't watch angry joe for the same reason, since I find his videos pretty annoying. That being said, I watch Jim's reviews because he seems to have a pretty good idea of what makes a game good or bad and I usually agree with him. That's it. I don't really care about much else tbh.

[unholytestament]

I liked some people's reaction back when he got sued by them. "That fat asshole deserves it for shaming poor indie developers through Youtube". At that time, it was just another random opinion on the internet. However, considering what DH did recently, it's pretty funny and paints quite a different picture. Seems like "poor opressed developers" actually were petty assholes who couldn't take negative reviews and used them to improve their games.

As for Jim himself, I can't say I "trust him" completely or anything. There are times where I feel he goes a bit too far with his persona, but I realize it's just that - a persona on the Internet. He has pretty good insight on the gaming industry and it's a nice thing to watch. I'm largely indifferent to the "SJW" aspect. It seems pretty mild to me, at least compared to the supposed dangers of that "movement".

Even as someone who dislikes Jim Sterling I still have a hard time believing there was ever anyone that was on Digital Homicide's side.

[KaPe]

Even as someone who dislikes Jim Sterling I still have a hard time believing there was ever anyone that was on Digital Homicide's side.

I assume it's people seeing someone making money through YouTube/Internet, thinking it's not a real job and thus believing the other side must be in the right. After all, it's some fat lazy asshole against a Hard Working Game Developer. Clear cut case. Nevermind that releasing barely functional asset flips can hardly be called a "real job".

[Orby]

If you don't like him don't watch him? I don't like alot of people on Youtube, I dont go around making threads about them or care why other people like him. Sounds to me OP has some deep emotional baggage ot works for Digital Homicide...

The fact you even use the term "SJW" as a reason to hate him, a word that has lost all meaning (a stupid word that needs burning from the minds of internet users everywhere) has totally thrown the validity of this topic and discussion out the window.

Waiting for thread to get locked. As there is nothing to discuss here outside OP's own personal reasons for Jim Sterling burning down his or her house and murdering his or hers pet goldfish

[Skayaq]

Even as someone who dislikes Jim Sterling I still have a hard time believing there was ever anyone that was on Digital Homicide's side.

There are people who literally (real literally) believes inde devs can do no wrong ever.

[draykorinee]

He's not an SJW at all. I like most of his videos ams his persona.

[grandpab]

The man knows his shit...

[Heathy]

well hes very full of himself but most of his videos have been reasonably informational in a gaming sense. I don't generally watch him unless someone posts a video of his. I usually only watch yahtzee's lolreviews and form my own opinion on whatever game it is.

[Silverware]

He's a fair weather opportunist who is anti-consumer until the public opinion has shifted into a certain direction and it's "safe" to say certain things. Which is exactly why people trust him - he is a loud and pompous coward who says things we already know, and people like it when "celebrities" validate their own beliefs. "EA is bad" is not a groundbreaking statement, but one that he held off on until the gaming community came to that collective conclusion. He does nothing but play the PR game and pick easy fights, and I don't think his viewers will ever know how he TRULY feels about certain topics.

That said, he'll go down with his own ship. There are certain topics and people *cough cough* that he'll never criticize even when they damn well deserve it, and attacks other people who fall out of line. It came as absolutely no surprise when he gaslit the Tranny Gladiator dev.

The Niero incident and the way he's treated Total Biscuit for the last two years is the perfect example of how he turns on friends who take an unpopular opinion. He was one of the loudest critics when gaming sites began considering adding disclosures to their articles where appropriate, only to about face once it started becoming the norm.

You want a flip flopper, I give you Jim Sterling. He says what you want to hear, and that's why people who only see him at a surface level like him.