Asking Sterling Question Time!

Just gonna ask this here since it’s still unlocked, have you considered doing more live watch-a-longs for spin-off doctors via twitch like you did for Pixels?

Do you think Jonathan could become the Irish Backstop and decide who comes and who goes? This would solve Brexit and make him a star on two continents.

Did you tell ‘em so?

Sean Riley

Hey Jim. I was introduced to your work a few years ago by Colin Moriarty and became a big fan. You are the only 2 personalities in gaming that I follow and when you have collaborated in the past it has been a real treat. Since he left Kinda Funny though, I haven't seen any interactions between the two of you. Did you fall out? And if not, is there any chance of further collaborations down the line?

Oliver

Hello Jim. I like you are trying to plug-in smaller, less popular indie-games that deserve some attention in your recent Jimquisition videos. I really enjoyed 'Sticks & Bones'. The presentation of silent comedy in it was quiet impressive. Is there any chance for 'Boglinwatch' to comeback in such form?

If you run out of ideas for the movie boy's I can recommend a few movies. One is your name In which a boy living in the city and girl living in the country side would switch bodies on a daily bases. 2 is space balls , 3 is airplane and 4 is detective Conan number 6 The Phantom of Baker Street, In which a murders happens and the victim leaves the word jtk . Jack The Ripper, this leads canon to believe their could be a clue to the murder in the vr scenario of Sherlock homes. Full disclosure Sherlock Holmes only appears twice in the movie.

Hello it's me again. I thought of another question and wanted to get it in now, or I'd forget when the next Asking Sterling came around. Anyway. I've been wanting to meet you for awhile, at like a con or, preferably, a PWE show. I know the conventional wisdom is to never meet your heroes but conventional wisdom can go fuck itself. The problem is I live in the Northeastern US and would need a lot of notice to travel to such an event. I want to go to Mississippi anyway for other reasons, but God knows I wouldn't be lucky enough to be in the area during a match or something. You probably have an idea of my question by now but here it is anyway: How far out are your convention or wrestling appearances scheduled and where can I go to catch announcements?

Are you a fan of Kim Justice by any chance? Being a supporter of her myself, a recent video of hers about a ZX Spectrum license game for (of all things) <i>Auf Wiedersehen, Pet</i>, inspired my following question - along with a steadily increasing roster of video reviews for other weird British TV licensed games from that era. Ignoring all of the obvious and depressing reasons why we never see license weirdness like this anymore in games - if you could have any British TV show (old or recent, obscure or well-known, etc) get a license game with a Triple A level budget, what show would you choose and what style of game or genre would you want it rendered? I'm personally holding out for an open-world GTA style game for <i>Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em</i>... :3

Freakish Uproar

Why the recent use of Bee Quiet and Bee Have?

Matthew Foweraker

Hi, Jim. What's your all time favorite television show theme song, regardless of the quality of the show itself? I'm awfully partial to "Danger Bay", myself.

The Irony Giant

Hey Jim, sorry if this question has been asked before (only just able to start pledging again!), I was recently playing some games with some of your old steam game first impressions playlist on in the background and I was just wondering how come you don’t seem to do these anymore? I love your brand of comedy in these videos, as well as the little tangents you would go off on!

Hello again! I try to watch all your content but I'm still not sure if you talked about this somewhere. - Do you remember the game Miskatonic? (You mentioned you were backing it on Kickstarter.) What are your thoughts on the final product and the developer's decision to turn it into a visual novel in the end?

St.Balderdash

I have seen in your videos you are also a fan of the unstoppable force of nature known as Rik Mayall. Or at least I have seen him and references to him and Ade threw out the years. Just wondered if you could talk about your experiences with their comedy (If you do have any) and what it meant to you. Love your stuff keep being awesome!

Do you have any remaining contact with Ben Yahtzee Croshaw? I can't help but wish for another 'Uncivil War' series to pop up.

Empo

I had since edited one of the statements so that it made actual sense.

Alex

Do you happen to remember any of your Willem Dafoe pitches after you spout them out? If so, what is your least regrettable one?

Faye

Is there a "Loive soooorvice" game you think executed the premise well while being a standard "pay up front" title? Or do you think the well was so poisoned early on that no one managed to get it right? We're excluding MMO's here since they dabble in a bit of different territory

Harry Moore

There was an idea of "single-A" producers a while back, headlined by ACE of "Zeno Clash" and to a degree continued by the now self-backed Ninja Theory in "Hellblade". Do you get the impression this remains a viable path and space, and if so, are there particular studios that stand out in your mind?

Kraken

Did EA learn (human) resource management by playing really shitty resource management games or by playing Darkest Dungeon?

Dorkvania

Hello Jim, what is the current status of PAWGs, I noticed that there was not a pawg of the month last month, and I was wondering if you were going to continue making new designs. Also, if you are going to continue them, have you thought about adding an automatic monthly subscription for them.

Squatlock (Connor Look)

Jim, what's is up with company and crunch periods lately? Is it because employees are getting more fed up that these news are starting to come out? Also, will you ever return to porn review? Those were a blast to listen to and thank you for those recommendation as well. edit: on behalf of shmatt from reddit: He was wandering do you no longer review games?

Seriously, fuck EA. Having their Origin site go down and the inability to play DA: Inquisition offline just made me want to say that statement. What is the purpose for doing that bullshit? Had I bought the game on Steam (and its not), and that site went down, would be able to play fairly easily. Why is a continuing connectivity necessary for a single player game?

Alex

What do you think the most important aspect to your favorite games is? For me, it's most certainly audio, due to how much it can lend to an experience. ie; atmosphere, immersion, and drive. Among other things.

What are your thoughts on games made back in the early 80s before the video game crash? Have you played them more on emulation, collection rereleases or on the original machines, if at all?

Joshua Tarchala

Hello Jim. With all the discussion about store cuts on game sales (with Epic challenging the Steam 30%), I am hearing a lot of people comment how high the steam rate is without adding any context for their judgement. Prior to Steam it was nearly all only retail sales and publishers sure as shit weren't getting 70% + then. It was the publishers that jumped on the Steam bandwagon eagerly for the savings, to the point that buying a PC game in a store is just buying a steam code in a hard case. Now as the retail market is in its death throws to be calling out Steam as too expensive seems more than a little two faced. Do you think this is yet another aspect of caaapitalism trying to bully and pressure the market or do I have the history/context of it wrong? (note Epic games has games on iOS as well, and I have heard a similar 30% cut for apple as well but no decrying calls have been made about them that I see, I have no idea what cuts the consoles take)

Ian Wright

Hi Jim. If you had a dollar for every time someone told you to make your "conversation more balanced", how many Boglins could you buy?

So you're sitting down to have a bit of relax. You decide to play a game. What do you reach for?

Theo Caro

Hello Jim! Since coming out as bi last year I've made quite a few LGBTQ friends, and an interesting topic in terms of representation in games has come up when talking with them, particularly regarding Fallout as a series. In Fallout New Vegas, factions like Ceasars Legion are openly homophobic, and you can discuss how different factions treat LGBTQ people with various LGBTQ characters, with more in depth conversations taking place if your character is LGBTQ themselves. Some of my friends love this while others think games that treat gay relationships the same as straight relationships are the better type of representation and I was wondering what your thoughts are about this. As a side note, if youre looking for a good look at how crunch damaged Obsidian employees during NVs development, look up the Fallout New Vegas the Cutting Room Floor youtube documentary by Trianglecity. The crunch was so bad one dev now threatens to quit his job if the word crunch is so much as mentioned.

Hey Jim, good to see you love the film Event Horizon as much as I do, my question is are there any other scifi horror flicks you would recommend besides that and the Alien films. p.s. you wont need eyes to see this question.......

Are there some games you enjoy(ed) that nobody else seem to know about?

Rikika

Hi Jim! I've snuck in in the past between 2 posts so I'm happy to be on time for this one! I've got 2 questions: What's been your most memorable experience before going into games journalism? If the consumer-crowd listened to everything you said like the GOD you are, what would you preach them? (No preorders, avoid lootboxes at all costs, Randy Pitchford is a jerk, if there's an error in a JimQuisiion it's Chips fault, etc.) Thanks for all the good work - the Jimquisition / Podquisition is something I'm usually looking forward to the whole week :)

What is a logical fallacy you would love to see disappear from discourse? If you cannot choose one, I'll give you up to three fallacies you would like to get rid of. <br><br>Ex: I'd personally would love to see the balance fallacy die in discussion as it brings up positions/arguments that never should see the light of day like creationism, climate change denialism, or "Git Gud".

noxamillion

You originally lived in England. Correct? What, if anything, could ever get you to go back and live there?

Sean DeMarco

Hello Jim! Before the New Year, I discovered that Microsoft had renewed the license for a certain 'Lost Odyssey', personally I'm hoping that the license can be shared for a Switch version, as it's one of my favourite games of the past 2 generations. However, do you personally feel that a sequel would be exciting or, like me, not necessary?

Good Day Jim, Thank you for all of your work. I feel that is very important especially your coverage of the working conditions of game devs. Your work is very educational. My question is more serious in nature... I have noticed some rather toxic behaviour on some of the comment boards for the smaller platforms that you use for your content like Soundcloud. The behaviour ranges from "comment bombing" to mischaracterizing and repeatedly attacking people with even slightly different points of view. I understand (and sadly have come accept) that that is just "the internet." However, is there anything that you or Justin can do to address the issue? If not, I understand and I thank you for taking the time to read this question (even if it is not read allowed on the podcast). Keep up the great work Sir. Thank you for your work.

What's the craziest adventure you've went on?

Oh Shaun, real quick, before I forget, we're watching Clannad next week, right

Alright, Jim! Apologies in advance if you've been asked this before, but do you think there are any subjects in comedy that are off limits? Of course, it goes without saying that jokes that are transphobic, racist, ableist etc., just aren't jokes. Hope you're keeping well!

Heya! What are you playing for fun instead of work lately? Got any good recommendations?

Gosh, I'm so happy that you've done another Asking Sterling so soon after the last one. I have so many questions, but I'll only leave two. Is there a genre of games you wish you could get into but just can't? Also, what was the inspiration behind Nitpick Theater? I was rewatching them all recently and got curious.

Sayaka's Soul Gem

After see the "PC gamer master race" go from a joke making fun of the "PC gamers are superior" attitude to being used by those same people it was making fun of, and git gud going from a joke to being taken seriously. Do you fear the same will one day happen to Duke Amiel Du H'ardcore? That one day he'll be used by the most txoic people of the gaming community to spout their "elite gamer wisdom" and alt-right bullshit?

Derek Nagy

As someone who also has social anxieties and in particular a strong aversion to confrontation, I'm curious about how you manage to keep broaching topics that you know will cause extreme backlash and resentment from certain segments of the internet. And also how you were able to take on the Digital Homicide "interview" with Robert Romine.

Ben L.

I agree the the gaming industry needs to change. Like unionize and things. But what you think I, as an individual, can do to help change the gaming industry? and thank god for you.

Hi Jim. What was the worst job you ever been employed at, how did you leave the job, and how do you feel now about it and the idea of never having to work there ever again?

Sam J. (chrlorez)

Hello Jim, not too long ago you mentioned that comments would go up on videos with politically motivated titles seconds after the video goes live. With this in mind, have you ever considered making a 'red herring' video in which you have a vaguely controversial topic title but with a totally disconnected subject matter to catch out people who don't pay attention to arguments whilst trying to have arguments themselves?

Gavin Ironside

what is a game genre that has disappeared or faded out that you would like to see make a comeback?

Xanni The Blue

What would be your no. 1 game to be remade (from any console generation) and what would this remake look like?

Lara

Also, for an actual question you may get asked a lot: Is there any chance we may see your written reviews again?

Jim! You MAGNIFICENT PRICK. I love you.

Dear Jim, What’s with the shrimp? Sincerely, Zlafanart

A guy like me can't help but wonder, what keeps you on an even keel? Mental health rituals? Self care routines? Sneaking into Randy Pitchford's bed when he's not at home and cramming fistfuls of crackers into your mouth, so many you can barely close it, and whistling as you try to chew, blowing cracker crumbs everywhere for him to inexplicably find later?

Thomas Halpin

Do you ever intend to play Deep Rock Galactic and do a video on that, perhaps as an exactly (a very rare example) of early access done "right"? (If you feel early access could ever be done right) And whats your favorite breakfast food?

How do you mitigate creator's block?

I appreciate your ongoing series into aaa crunch and how exposes the damage it’s doing to people and game design in general. Which developers, if any, do you think should be held up as model for the rest of the industry?

First of all thank you for your advice before when it came to dealing with toxicity online, it helped a lot (: I have sort of a follow up question, should video game companies be held responsible for the actions and toxicity of their fan bases and if so, when should it be applicable and what should be considered fair actions. You've mentioned before the danger of developers and companies exploiting hype culture before and how that can create toxicity, but their other examples such as when devs/publishers ignoring issues with toxic online chat and abuse both in-game and their own forums (or left their staff unequipped to properly handle it), when Devs fall into the trap of listening to a loud minority of fans and change the game whenever they have a problem with it thus creating overblown egos and elitism and toxicity from that group and in the case I experienced first hand, when companies like Capcom Division 2 (the fighting game devs not the Resident Evil or MH people) deliberately played into creating hyper loyalty to the brand with fans by claiming that say stuff like their £19.99 "Pro Tour" yearly DLC (aka just a bunch of skins, a stage etc) is "supporting the community" and paying for the prize money of the winners at the pro-tour or constantly going the SFV is for the Competitive fans which well as said last time, I felt the toxicity firsthand from those fans.

TheGreenGarden

In the last few years with more access to information, consumers have become wiser and more conscious about their purchasing decisions. Surveys have shown people would rather pay more for products from companies who have shown to be socially responsible. It has become easier to purchase ethically sourced goods such as garments, coffee, chocolate, dairy, meat, produce, energy, diamonds and jewelry etc... How long will it be until consumers finally demand “ethically sourced” video games? At the very least, any studio that slaps a “this studio is part of Union Local xx” label on their games would get some positive publicity.

I live in Western Colorado where there's not much going on but I can still get DVD Movies at the library from the 1920s to now. However, video games are pretty limited with only PS4/Switch/Xbox games and even major titles arbitrarily missing. (for example they don't have Anthem or Persona 5, but do have some obscure imported Japanese games). Do you think we will ever see better access to the history of video games?

Would you consider doing a bit on the Jimquisition sometime in the style of a WWII Radio Announcer?

Iochannon

Have you and Laura met in person yet?

What are some conventions you regularly attend?

VenatorJo

What is your favorite Vampire the Masquerade clan?

David

What do your real life friends and family think of your internet work?

I really like the indie recommendations you've been putting in the Jimquisition lately, will they continue? Cheers

What is your opinion of the Fatal Frame series and do you intend to cover that series in the near future?

How can we suggest ideas for Boston's Favourite Son? I hear often you go over community suggestions, and I have a fair few. Also, I've got into DnD for my cousins lately, and heard you had/have been involved in it too. Do you have any funny DnD stories you could share?

You've mentioned multiple times of Richard Herring being a big influence on your humor and was wondering if you were willing to answer a few questions from his podcast: 1. Have you tried sucking your own cock? 2. What would you have a hand made out of ham (the hand regenerates after a week) or a tit that dispenses talcum powder (bout a small bottles worth a week) 3. If you were the center of a human centipede who would be at the front and end? 4. If only your finger could travel back through time, what would you do with it? 5. Have you ever seen a bigfoot?

We need more discussion on open sourcing parts of the game industry. Ideally with the GPL, or a game industry specific license keeping engine code open source, but game specific code closed. AAA contracts often prevent programmers explicitly from committing code to GPL projects. I think the usual AAA contract allows the company to decide whether code written at home is theirs or not. Open source vastly improved the wider software industry for everyone. Games needs their Linux equivalent. How can we go about changing AAA culture to embrace open source? Unions have been hit on pretty hard lately, any options other than just unions?

How old is Bartleby?

Sayucchi

If you were in charge of Epic and had to answer to TenCent, etc what would you do next? Release a game based on Marc Laidlaw's Gertrude Fremont character? See if Bungie wanted to drop the Battle.Net launcher and go free to play with Destiny on Epic? Sharks with frigging lasers on their head?

Beech Horn

You mentioned on more than one occasion that you'd like to make more positive videos sometimes, but people end up not really watching them at all (even when you do have a positive topic), compared to the more negative stuff. I also think you've said that you don't do more videos that are Boglin-adjacent or about wrestling for similar reasons (and also because that's not what your main audience comes for). I understand views and algorithms and Youtube being Youtube makes it a necessity to tailor what you make to the audience. But, I'd love to see more positive stuff. Boglin/wrestling stuff not so much in my case, but I'm sure that has fans as well. Here's my question. Would receiving more money on Patreon potentially give you more freedom in choosing what you make videos about? Views are important, but your less-viewed videos surely have an audience as well. I, for one, would consider giving you more money if it meant you had more of a choice of what you cover and had to worry about algorithms less. I'm sure some of your Patrons feel the same way. Is that viable? Is there a threshold on Patreon past which you'd consider making more videos that are unlikely to get many views? (I'm not trying to push you into any particular direction. I just think it'd be cool if you didn't have to worry about Youtube statistics as much, and I'm wondering if there's a way your Patrons could help with that)

Michał Sporzyński

You mentioned a few times that a lot of material is brought to you via (often unsolicited) e-mail. Is that something that helps your work, or would you rather be left alone on that front?

Can I have a biscuit?

Follow-up to this question, given all of the companies ducking out of E3 and the plethora of failures from companies this past year, how do you think E3, as a whole, will play out this year?

44KPanda

What is the best thing about your dog?

Are there any horror franchises you think would well as video games (Saw, Evil Dead, Puppetmaster, etc) What ideal form would they take for your enjoyment, and what are the essential elements they would need to translate to be successful?

How do you like to zone out and relax? Are you the type who can zone out under a tree or is it something else?

ChrisLion

Will you attend gamescom 2019?

Tim Albers

What game are you most excited for that is releasing this year and why? I'm personally most excited for DOOM Eternal.

Hey Jim, good evening from Japan. So now that we have the Detective Pikachu movie. Who should play Special Agent Ekans in the totally obvious successor to the Pokémon movie franchise? Thanks for answering my previous questions and I hope you have a great week!

The Memory Card

How is that Official Licensed Jim Sterling Game coming along?

Boss Fascist Smasha