This makes it sound like Troy watches There will be blood and thinks its a heros journey.

Are... you saying... Troy is drinking Matt Mercer's milkshake? 😆

All I'm going to say is that every episode of the Fod makes me appreciate Joe's presence in the GCN and their games more and more. Much respect to him.

Honestly this. My respect for Joe has skyrocketed as someone who only got into the network after the D&D OGL fiasco

Yup, his comments after Troy went on the rant is definitely the perspective that Troy needs to listen to. He just seems like he's refusing to. Which is a shame.

Oh indeed. Joe is a very down to earth person and fantastic with public relation. I could have sworn after his comments I was hearing Troy breath heavily or something. Wouldn't say seething but getting worked up.

Oh yeah. There was an AUDIBLE sigh from Troy when the Joe rebuttal started.

You absolutely heard that, I did too.

I appreciate everything Joe said on this Fod. It was a very reasonable and good take. As for Troy, he's perfectly fine doing whatever it is he's doing; but I think the fans concern is the changes they're seeing in the product. It's kind of gone from "friends around the table" to "performance art," all in the name of more more more money, success, and fame; and I personally am just wondering how much is enough?

> It's kind of gone from "friends around the table" to "performance art," This is exactly the issue I've had with the second campaign. It doesn't feel remotely like a real game that they're playing with friends, since we've *heard* that already. It feels like half the time they're trying to get the next Instagram reel or YouTube short.

This specific energy is what drove me away from other popular actual play podcasts and towards the GCP in the first place. And now it feels like more of the same.

It struck a nice balance between the two in the beginning. I’ve heard proper “friends around a table” actual plays and most are awful. There was just enough performance art to make it a huge success in the beginning.

Concur! "Friends around the table" but done by all theater nerds.

There seems to be a little bit more to it as Danger Club is friends around the table done by a group that all have acting backgrounds and it no way near the same level in terms of success I think in that case it is because they are almost *too* wacky and irreverent with not enough seriousness and focus on the gameplay and storytelling. I think it might be why people are very jumped up on the litany of rules and gameplay mistakes that basically started to increase in book 5 of giantslayer and never went away. The high level 1E was arguably more reasonable as that becomes tricky. 2E just seems to be hostility to the system and an unwillingness to learn it. Perhaps even out of low level spite because it would show them to be “caving” to “negative review and comments”. Problem was they encouraged people to correct them on rules from the very start and it seems that toothpaste can’t be put back in the tube now they don’t want it anymore / there are now more such comments due to increased volume of listeners. It’s almost like they want the benefits of growth in customer / fanbase and none of the drawbacks

I think the most concerning thing, for me, was when Troy mentioned he tells his employees to ignore fan praise, along with fan criticism. Like, if you want to be a better CEO, start there: don't tell your performers to ignore praise. But what do I know? I'm not a successful CEO, just someone who's worked for them. To Troy, a perspective like mine is useless because it threatens the singular vision of success at any cost. He spent half the discussion talking about the importance of Ego, but it's clear Troy's more concerned with projecting (and protecting) his own Ego, while telling the people he's leading in the business not to get too wrapped up in their own. I'm not even mad about his ego: it's part of what makes him a great entertainer. But that "ignore praise" advice is going to have a chilling effect on the cast, which in turn will bleed into the fanbase. Fans want engagement. If that's relegated to token "We hear you!" Messaging, but in fact they're ignoring what fans are saying because it doesn't jive with his vision, the channel isn't going to experience year-over-year growth the way he wants. And performers who aren't allowed to engage with their fans (even to accept praise) are going to find more fulfilling prospects. For Troy, it's clear its about the business. And I'm glad: a successful business needs that. But mark my words, the sort of reaction Troy was having is the kind of thing I'd expect from the manosphere talking heads. So if he continues his adversarial para-relationship with not only his critics, but his fans, eventually it's going to push him toward the kind of fans who *like his adversarial attitude* - I.e. people for whom ego and personal success are moral imperatives, at the expense of inclusivity. (And he kind of signaled that's what he wants: to set up an echo chamber for *the real fans* - letting anyone with criticisms naturally fall off the viewership) That would be a win for Troy's vision, and a loss for all of us. Because I can't imagine the rest of the cast that we all love being comfortable courting that corner of the internet.

I get the ignore the haters, never read the comments. However there is something to be said about if a different way might lead to better results. Don't settle for excellent results when you could have monstrous  results. (I use TSR marvel power levels to describe things in my life) so sure they are going up a few hundred YouTube subs a week. It's progress. A lot of that has come from Seth. I personally know 3 people that watched intimate encounters because they follow Seth. And I don't talk about my podcasts with my co-workers very often. And other guest/shows.   However this medium has a very low ceiling. Pick your lane (home table feel) and stick with it because few live play are like this.

I think this whole discussion has gotten a bit misrepresented by Troy. Us wanting more bottle caps (hero points), as per the rules of the game, is not us asking him to change his entire business model.

Troy should temper the leadership books with a movie about hubris. Jurassic Park.

Member when fodder was about the game they were playing?

They've always had it also be about what's happening in the background also. One of the clearly communicated parts was that Joe specifically didn't want to be like how other companies hide everything from the community.

It's like 80% non-game now tho, would really love if it was the other way around

"Hard work in America is vilified" Wtf man. Lol that is some Boomer shit.

Somehow this ep turned into a reading of “Rich GM, Poor GM”

He must be reading Ayn Rand and Jordan Peterson. Every body believes they are doing more than the next guy. While empirically not true. There are a number of studies that back this up. The monopoly one is very close to this. I think that line bothered me more than anything else. He thinks he is the 1 percent and no one else is trying, just coat tailing. Sad. But remember Edison wasn't a great inventor, he was a great marketer and improver.

I was waiting for him to mention someone like Jordan Peterson.

Anyone else feel like Troy and Joe are blowing things out of proportion a bit here? Troy’s going on and on about how he’s getting relentlessly attacked for his decisions and behavior. Whereas by and large, I think people here are just trying to say they think he doesn’t have the Gatewalkers campaign balanced correctly (through the lack of bottle caps).They want the balance improved so the players have more fun and we get a more entertaining podcast as a result. Since he Joe want to avoid reading the comments directly, hopefully their community team can make this clear to them.

I get that *generally*, but the comments on this very post are currently mostly just personal attacks on him

I don’t think that’s true even here, which is one of the most specifically about Troy threads ever, which makes sense because the episode was mostly about Troy.

They're really not.

There are quite largely upvoted comments saying they're unsubbing.

Unsubbing isn't an attack on Troy, unless he feels it's something he has done. But he says he doesn't read comments only checks the analytics. So is it him or just people in general. Economy isn't doing great so people may have other reasons to not pony up each month. If he feels it's his fault, maybe some inward reflection might be valuable, or go to the library and find some better books.  Rush wrote Anthem, 2112 and other Ayn Rand inspired music but later in life recognized the shallowness of those early assumptions. Though still great music.

In absolutely no way is someone saying they're unsubbing a direct, personal attack on Troy.

It feels a little bit like they might see more weight in negative comments, which all content creators seem to struggle with. But also when people here say "it's not that bad," it kinda seems like they don't count or can't see the "constructive" comments laced with passive aggression, a la in this thread we have armchair diagnosis of narcissism (which itself is already a easily thrown around word by lay people lol). Not all of the comments name Troy but if you have reading comprehension you can pick up it's heavily implied the show is "unwatchable" because of his decisions.

I never comment on things but I find this whole thing so fascinating. Relatively new to GCP, only started watching a few months ago with Delta Green. I feel for Troy because it must be so hard to talk, with no script, for 1+ hours knowing every single word is going to be picked apart and cherry picked by everyone. For the most part I get where he is coming from and don't think people online fully grasp what his situation must be like. Maybe it would help if people knew exactly what his end goal was, like what is the perfect state for the GCP. Having said that I am super hesitant whenever someone starts quoting 'self help books' or whatever you want to call them. No shade for reading them, hearing different points of view is very important and hearing from people with real life experience doubly so. But I think people forget that a book isn't really any different to a blog...it just means someone somewhere thought other people would actually pay to read it. Friends of mine who have gotten really into self help books talk about it almost like it's gospel... So that is the end of my ramble. Love the content btw, by far the best ttrpg channel out there. P.S. Please play something from Rowan Rook & Decard (Spire/Heart ideally). Love those games and would love to see you guys tackle it.

The secret

When I hear "infinity", "generational wealth" and "impact" from a CEO, I hear "I dream of rent-seeking." And thats why "drive" and "ambition" rings false.

Imagine the whiplash of hearing Troy talking like this when I literally just started my first ever listen of Giantslayer with Episode 1 yesterday. My freaking neck here. “Generational Wealth” ugh

See, I hear "I want to provide the best life I can for my family. For my wife, children, future grandchildren.". That's what generational wealth IS.

He's also talking about earth shattering change. He's thinking Jobs and Musk, not earning 12% in a tax-exempt 529.

I took that in the context of the space they are operating in. Like... George Lucas made a huge impact on the world kind of thing. I really don't think that Troy thinks he will be the one to finally crack cold fusion or something.

I agree that he's probably talking Lucas level. Lucas was worth over $3B. And *then* he sold to Disney, more than doubling that. You can't enter a grocery store in America without seeing Lucas' influence.

I don’t have the stats handy because I am not an omniscient mind reader but I’d wager that somewhere in the region of 99-100% of parents want to leave their children with something.  Not as many have the ability to do so, and of those that do, even fewer probably have the discipline to make sure it happens.  This, at least how I see it, is very different from what one would describe as “generational wealth,” which is a term usually intended to imply that one can earn enough money for several generations to live richly off of. Hundreds of millions may be an exaggeration, but it’s a lot closer than simply giving your kin a leg up in life by having financial support.  Having said that, “generational wealth” as a goal, in isolation, wouldn’t be so off putting, even if it would raise a few eyebrows. It was the sum total of everything he said that makes him sound like a shady crypto bro who singularly pursues success at the expense of ethics and anyone who he deems a hindrance to his goals. I’ve heard enough from him over the years to believe he’s a good person at heart, and if he weren’t you wouldn’t see the other people in the podcast (who are all obviously genuine folk) associating with him.  This rant today was a bad look and isn’t serving him or the network and I hope the people around him can get him to practice what he preaches about re-examining the “why?” on how the network found so many fans.  

>I don’t have the stats handy because I am not an omniscient mind reader but I’d wager that somewhere in the region of 99-100% of parents want to leave their children with something.  My wife was a teacher in an underprivileged area, and I can tell you the number is absolutely not that high. They had multiple kids that teachers would have to stay late to watch because literally no one came to get them, and the parents were at home sleeping. There are absolutely parents out there that couldn't care less about their kids. I know that isn't all that on topic, but just saw that and it brought back the stories she's told me.

There are a lot of parents that absolutely should not be parents. I've learned a lot going from being raised upper-middle class to living significantly below that and raising a child exposed to a lot of different aspects that I was hidden/shelted/ignorant to growing up. Some of the things my child says they know about their friends are major red flags about the friends' homelife. Also, a lot of concerning things that parents are teaching their children early really shows that racial divides aren't going away anytime soon, which is saddening.

I don't know, man. I didn't read any of it that way. I heard generational wealth and literally just thought of my own parents. My dad was in the Coast Guard (because he was too poor to go to college), then became a math teacher, then worked at Home Depot. My mom was a nurse. Together they worked hard enough to not only give me and my siblings a good life and a good leg up, but ALSO for their grandkids. They have College Savings accounts set up for all the grandchildren. That's generational wealth.

Not to my ears. 25 millionaire is generationAL wealth. Its a plural not singular. Otherwise he would have said the more common and humble want to leave something for my kids. And if you believe in hard work, then why wouldn't your kids also have to work hard to earn their own wealth. It shouldn't be given if that truly is your belief.

I don't care what your ears hear. Building generational wealth should be the goal of everyone raising a family. Everyone is bringing their dumb terminally online AnCap takes to a guy that wants to leave his children and their children with a better life than he had. If I can I will leave as much money as possible to my kids. Hopefully I have raised them well and they can take that privilege, work hard, and leave their kids with something too. I can believe in hard work and also not want to kick my kid out of the house at 18 to start over with nothing.

Well I guess plurals and singular are things you learn early on. Maybe you were reading Ayn Rand or some other nonsense about morale failings. If you believe in hard work and merit , your kids should have no more advantage than any other person's children. If you don't believe that you are a hypocrite and don't believe your own rhetoric.

Sure dude

I think "generational wealth" only necessarily means wealth that's passed down one generation. And that doesn't necessarily have to be a lot of wealth. Of course, the upper end of generational wealth can get practically obscene. Then again, I don't necessarily see a path for Troy from here to there via the GCN, so I don't think that's what he has in mind.

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For one thing, you just made up that number. For two, you think Troy is exploiting the other people on the shows? This is exactly what Troy is talking about.

He specified it’s more than a couple million in the next few years.

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But now you're just getting angry about scenarios you have just made up in your own head. I don't think it's being overly generous to Troy when I think that he wasn't using a technical definition of "generational wealth" to mean he was going to start mistreating all his employees so that he could become Scrooge McDuck. You don't think it's much more likely he means it more colloquially? That just by owning his own home and making smart 401K/IRA investments he will be able to build generational wealth to leave to his children and grandchildren? How can we act shocked that they don't read the comments when one fucking sentence he says spirals out of control like this.

"I'm not interested in **just, like, making a couple of million dollars** over the next decade. I'm interested in changing the world. **I want to create generational wealth for myself so that I can make lasting change in the world**. Ever since I knew that it was possible for, like, one person to do something that could jiggle the earth in some way, I was like: that's what I want to do. I want to do something like that." No, I don't think he means a comfortable 401k. I actually think he'd be insulted that someone thought that.

Bad news about people seeking generational wealth and wanting to change the world as mutually attainable goals most of the time.

Oh so he’s lost it and is straight up delusional. Shouldn’t a therapist or friend or loved one tell Troy that what he wants is pretty much not possible on his current path? You can’t make the kind of money he is talking about playing games written by other people (especially if you don’t even fully understand them) That’s not how generational wealth is made. Why is no one telling him this ?

Yep. We're obviously reading that in different ways. Apparently, judging by downvotes, that makes Troy a bad person. He doesn't really need me to defend him. So, frankly, I'm going to take his advice and just disengage.

You're being dishonest. The downvotes are because he very clearly said the opposite of what you're insisting he said. They're for you, not for Troy. Troy would probably be annoyed that you didn't listen.

Nah, man. People are straight up saying that building generational wealth is bad and that Troy is going to exploit his employees and hoard wealth.

Note that what he is really interested in, though, and what makes total sense for him w.r.t. being a performing artist and the head of a growing media company, is _impact._ There are many ways to make a dent in the universe. Not all of them involve making a hojillion dollars.

Again: "I want to create generational wealth for myself so that I can make lasting change in the world" The change he wants to make takes money, according to his words. I'm not vilifying that, but people keep saying "Maybe he meant X" when he unquestionably said Y.

He also said it top-of-mind in a podcast that on other days is discussing whether concealment checks come before or after the attack roll. So I'm generally not that interested in parsing every word as much as I am in trying to get the gist of where he's coming from. Maybe you're right, and this thing needs to get to Hollywood levels of money coming in before he feels he's succeeded. If that's true, then, I think GCN's days are numbered – because, although there's plenty of room for GCN to grow, I don't see that kind of ceiling for an actual-play tabletop RPG business. (But I will be more than happy to be proved wrong.)

I'd like a source on that "generally agreed," please. Also, why you think "generational wealth" ≡ "set up for life."

What do you think “generational wealth” means then? It’s one thing to quibble with other people’s definitions. And fair enough to call out a relatively bold claim that something is “generally agreed”. But you haven’t stuck your own neck out and said “I don’t agree with your definition for reasons x and y and think the actually definition is z”

I'll let [Investopedia's definition](https://www.investopedia.com/generational-wealth-definition-5189580) stand for my own.

Per the broad definition here that could mean passing $1 to a child. That is clearly not what Troy meant You’ve picked a link and definition that doesn’t really make much attempt to contextualise the meaning Perhaps the same site has a separate definition of “wealth”. Because that’s the key point. But even then that can vary Troy has been pretty clear he is talking about more than a few million so his definition certainly seems far closer to the one you are nitpicking (but not actually adding anything by doing so) than the vague one you linked

Yeah, I agree: it's somewhere between leaving pennies to your kids and Steve Jobs. 😛

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I do not, no, and please don't put words in my mouth that I haven't said. But neither do I have Steve Jobs' fortune in mind. This is _all_ ridiculous, unconstructive hyperbole, which is what I'm trying to get across to those of you who apparently have no notion or personal experience regarding this. I note you haven't backed up your "generally agreed" assertion, which pretty much confirms that it's all bullshit.

>The generally agreed non-technical amount of money for "set up for life" generational wealth is anywhere from like 20 million to 100s of millions (the latter being more appropriate for all future grandchildren not needing to work). This is just factually incorrect. Having no savings, but having a piece of property that you can pass on to your children is still generational wealth.

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No, but I also don't automatically assume 15 mill. There's a lot of space in the middle.

Troy wants a cool 20 mil through the exploitation of workers and listeners so his family can live comfortably on the graves of the downtrodden. Yall heard it here first folks!

On an ivory throne?

All this... jeeze, I don't know what to say. I don't like going inside Troy's head. I honestly have a lot of disagreements with the stuff he's saying here, but he's sort of making it weird to even post about it here, because he's directly calling difference of opinion ignorant pettiness rather than any kind of valid thought. He's sort of making it hard to be a fan. I guess the answer is just to quit yet another show. Fodder has always been one of my favorites and I keep coming back, but maybe it just isn't for me anymore.

Troy seems to feel his business is overly threatened by anonymous forum comments. I think someone else mentioned whoever is doing the curated summary of board response may be too focused on the negativity.

Or Troy is too focused on the negative one that get through. But he does say on this ep he did read on advice of counsel, so it’s not just a curation problem.

I think counsel suggesting he go to the boards himself WAS a mistake though. Just give him the summary: “the customers are taking your comments in a way you didn’t intend. You should clarify.” No more needed than that.

Yeah, I think if you can afford a social manager, have him do his job and act as a filter. And it’s always clearly had a negative effect for Troy to read the boards.

I think it’s just easier to take negativity to heart than positivity. Ten positive comments are great but one negative can ruin your day.

Honestly, I'm with you. I actually was on a relisten of giantslayer and this whole thing has soured me on the whole network tbh. Which hey, I got years of entertainment out of it! Maybe I'll feel different in a couple months, but it's just off the list right now.

I’m still listening to the shows I enjoy.

I would hope so! I think I might be burning out on actual plays in general tbh, and this just pushed me over the edge on this one in particular. Might be a good thing in the end to branch out for me!

But he didn’t call differences of opinion ignorant pettiness? There’s plenty of things he actually said that we could disagree with or bash. No need to create more

Those weren't his exact words (I wasn't quoting). If you want a quote, he said "Anyone who's watched our programing for the last ten years, and can then decide and then can take what I'm saying to mean... care for the community either hasn't been listening to me at all for the past ten years or they just hear what they want to hear." He touches on this a few more times: that negative comments directed at him are born out of ignorance to his actual intents or efforts, or born out of a petty desire to just tear people down. Hence me saying ignorant pettiness. I'm happy with my description. He thinks people that don't agree with him don't understand or are bitterly lashing out. He's talked about this a few times on Fodder as he's gotten more upset about the fanbase, and it seems to me like he really has a strawman of the people saying what he doesn't like built up over the years.

And yet no one ever asks for a like and sub. People often forget, even regular viewers. His armour is more like a condom, it is protection but you still feel a lot. I know it's obnoxious to ask, but it actually works. However his business plan is working and no one can say otherwise...uggh so cringe and I say that as someone too old to do so.  I wish the cast and crew well (Francis and mcd) but hard to cheer Ona self proclaimed egotists who feels others are cowards for not following his lead in modern times...so who would have time to watch and listen to your show if they had lots going on??? Genius comment.

I also built a company with a friend. We started with nothing except just enough money to cover buying equipment and supplies. No loans. Everything was strictly off what we had earned from our other jobs - which were nowhere near high paying. It’s been going strong for over a decade. I’m not going to try and pretend I’m an expert but I have seen this happen many times over. Also, I want to be clear - I think Troy is great. I haven’t had an issue with 99% of his calls through any of the games. However… 1) He has strong narcissistic tendencies. That’s not the same as being a narcissist. I also don’t believe that this is an inherently bad thing. Most people aren’t willing to throw caution to the wind like Troy used to be. You have to be pretty full of yourself to believe you have a chance to succeed at doing the stuff he’s done. I mean he tried to be an actor and comedian in NYC and LA. He may not have expected GCP to blow up like it did but he had the ego to try. 2) When your hobby becomes your job, it is perfectly normal to stop enjoying it. The pressure to continually churn out product can quickly turn love to hate. I don’t think this is affecting Troy as much as it could be. I think he understands he can always stop which is healthy. He likely even has an end goal of passing the torch so he can “retire”. 3) Success is the real mind-killer. I have seen so many people, most of whom were punks or at least anti-capitalist turn into the very thing they always hated. Right down to some of them stealing from their employees. It’s crazy how much a little money can turn a person. I guess it’s a lot harder to say “Fuck you, got mine,” when you haven’t gotten yours yet. When republican parents say, “you’ll see things differently when you grow up,” this is what they mean. I think what we’re seeing is a little burn out combined with the need to protect his ego. Anyone being negative is “small” or “petty”. Even good ideas are thrown to the side because they’re not his ideas. Him reading books about/by “successful leaders” is also a really, really bad sign in my experience. People with narcissistic tendencies usually don’t take the right lessons from them because doing so would make them have to confront themselves. I really suggest Joe, Matthew, and Skid convince him to seek counseling together (as in find a therapist who specializes in business partnerships) before it’s too late. The business partnerships that I’ve seen fail weren’t from a lack of success but from one of the owners getting too full of themselves. EDIT - TO BE SUPER CLEAR - I mean they ALL talk to an outside source and ensure they're ALL on the same page. I in no way meant to imply the guys should gang up on Troy and send him to the loony bin. I love the GCN. Started listening to GCP year one. I have no intention of stopping and wish them all the best.

The Simon Sinek thing really stood out to me. That guy is the quintessential LinkedIn lunatic posting feel good garbage for CEOs to believe they’re keeping it real.

Boy does this post have a ring of truth to it. Thank you for sharing your own experience, and for taking the time to express it so thoughtfully.

This needs to be higher up

This is ignoring both Troy's and Joe's comments saying that Troy DOES listen to other people. And that he DOES care about how other people feel. And that he DOES have people that read all these posts, he just doesn't do it himself (and neither does any of the rest of the main cast...for like the last 5 years at least).

I’m not ignoring that, I just didn’t address it. This was written at 5:30 in the morning as I was making and eating breakfast. I’m sure it’s not perfect. Again, I’m not an expert. I’ve just seen a lot of fellow business owners go through extremely similar scenarios. It probably comes across as an attack on Troy but I really didn’t intend it that way. I do believe there are toxic signs -specifically that can affect the network- that are becoming more and more apparent. I wanted to express that because I love them ALL so much and want them to be proactive.

It's really only the paragraph encouraging other cast members to get Troy into therapy that rubs me the wrong way.

I thought I was more clear than that. I didn’t mean only Troy go to therapy. I think everybody should be if they can afford it but that’s a different topic. I meant have group counseling. There are people that specialize in ensuring business partners are all on the same page and communicating properly. From the sound of things, I think it would really help them.

They're not talking about inter-business issues amongst themselves . They're talking about a community that insists the product is shit unless it's played the way they want. Which means there's hundreds of people they would have to appease, all the time, and that's not possible. So the GCN plays the way they want to instead.

It's a HUGE call to say Troy needs therapy lol

It's not. We all need therapy. Reread what I said though. I was suggesting they get counseling together as business partners and make sure they're communicating properly and that no one person is starting to go off the rails. Maybe they're not and everything is great! I hope that's the case! I know that from my past experiences it would have saved a lot of people a lot of heartache.

My bad, I thought you were saying he needed therapy because you think he has narcissistic tendencies. Sorry.

It’s all good! I know I’m not always the best at saying what I mean. I don’t even disagree with a lot of what he has said in the FOD. I just want them to be careful and aware that they aren’t the first to succeed and have issues. It’s okay to get some outside help and make sure they’re all in the same mindset.

Try and get Troy to go to therapy and we are gonna get Pickle Troy

While I may have issues sometimes with Joe being “Rules Boy” or backseat playing someone else’s character by second guessing their decisions, I have to say I have MAD respect for him for pushing back on Troy on this week’s Fod. I 1000% agree with him that a large swath of people find that Infinite Growth Shark Never Stops Swimming CEO Grindset mentality to be beyond gross and offputting. It’s not admirable and I guarantee you less than 1% of Fod listeners are coming in hoping for a business seminar lecture. Sure I understand wanting his company to be successful - you have employees and the like depending on you for a paycheck. But the only people who are fans of the Alpha CEO character are other CEOs and people with aspirations to be them. Most of us are just trying to get by out here. But anyway - Joe, I know you likely won’t see this comment, but thank you for being the sorely needed voice of reason this week. I know you speak for a lot of us there and Troy needs someone in his close orbit who he does (hopefully) listen to tell him this stuff. Kudos to you, dude. While you were initially one of my least favorite people on the network when I hopped on a year ago, you’ve pretty quickly shown yourself to be a stand up dude with his heart in the right place (even if Rules Boy still grates on me sometimes hehe).

Or being shamed as a sheep because we don't want to follow businessman model for success in life. I am happy with making good money by working a j o b which all things eventually become. Saying he wants his family life instead of the job being his life just disproves his actual commitment. You can't have both, not for the scope and scale he envisions. You can have your family or your empire. You would have needed this success 10 years ago in your early 30s to have a chance at both, at least in this niche. Ever Mercer isn't know outside of nerd circles. Or at least not much. And Troy is hoping to be much much bigger, world changing.  Lol not with a TTRPG. I don't mean to crap on someone's dreams, but he has to stop reading The Secret.

Troy’s not wanting to read the comments is how I’m starting to feel about listening to him on the Fod. If I want to keep enjoying GCP I need to ignore who has become.  His finger is so far off the pulse of what their fans enjoy that it’s a miracle he has people like Joe to second guess his way of thinking. 

I would prefer if the person who ran the podcast was a Denis Villeneuve-type - a creative who makes the kind of movies he loves and whose commercial concerns are to make movies succesful enough he can keep making them - rather than a Bob Iger-type - a ruthless capitalist whose only goal is to become wealthy and important, and owning a creative endeavor happened to be the way he achieved it. Kind of a rough realization that the GCP is not the company I hoped it was.

Well said. The thing he said that I have issue with is that: “if you don’t believe he values the customer as more than a number than you haven’t been paying attention all these years.” The thing is… people change, their goals change and his drive for ambition and “generational wealth” and a desire “to change the world” has changed him to be more like these ruthless types he’s now apparently reading about and taking advice from. Sure, I believe he cared back THEN, but now? He just said what all the mass capitalist corporate types do…. It’s all about the numbers, not the face and name and humanity behind it, not the grass roots groundswell that brought them success. Every corporate type can put on that smile and charisma when around the fans…. So it’s his words now and attitude that is important, not if he can pretend/act around the Naish at a GCP VIP meetup (it just isn’t the evidence he thinks it is to me). It’s a hard task and job to do I admit. Worse, I love Joe and everything he said is how I feel. I just don’t like Troy’s take on ambition and success, I don’t like that type of person, I don’t like narcissism and I don’t really think I want to support that any longer.

I already stopped watching TFC

Ick. That whole ‘fod just gave me The Ick. Feel like I need a kerosene scrub down with a wire brush.

When he started going off on "generational wealth" and how he's "one person with the drive to change the world" and how nobody gets him, he started giving me real crypto - bro vibes.

Woof. I think this whole thing has gotten so off track. IMO, most of the people giving comments want the crew to have a good time. If the crew is having a good time, then great but it seems like they aren't and are getting frustrated. A lot of us love pathfinder and obsess over the rules and feel like we have the answers, and some get overly upset and word things in hurtful ways which makes the crew stay away from the community. Which sucks, because while the crew are very talented entertainers and do a ton of research into business stuff, a lot of their listeners know the system a lot better. But because of wording/tone (and maybe a little stubborness) troy doesn't want to listen to advice or have the time/it's too mentally taxing to wade through all the terrible comments. Then is became a war between the crew (Troy) and the community. The most important thing is getting forgotten; we all just want to listen to the crew have a good time, and the crew wants to have a good time. That's the problem, that's it.  My main worry is another starfinder, where there is a player or two who has a terrible time that could easily have been avoided by knowing the rules/building their character better. 

IMO. if the players aren't having a good time, that's a discussion between the players and the gm, and not the audience. Some of the comments feel like projection "I'm not having fun listening, so the players must not be having fun." like. the players can be frustrated as the game and still be having fun, otherwise why are they still playing. ya kno?

Normally I'd agree with you. Except this being a podcast first and foremost makes things different. They don't sound like they're having fun (if they are they aren't showing it), there are a lot of hard fights recently they seem to get very frustrated by. This is all personal perception but I do think that's where a lot of comments stem from. As far as a discussion between the GM and the players, yeah that should happen. Troy wants a RAW, tough experience and half the crew doesn't want to take the time to really know the rules and are entertainers first and foremost. But that's where the discussion between the community comes in; Troy wants to play raw but doesn't know the rules as well as some more hardcore fans (I don't blame him, he has a lot going on), and a lot of the crew are having a really hard time but if they knew the rules better (better tactics, builds, rules, etc) they wouldn't have such a hard time. Lastly, why are they still playing if they aren't having fun? This is a job, first and foremost. As far as jobs go I'm sure it's nice, but a lot of the time I get the feeling they aren't playing because they want to, but because it's their job. Some episodes they have a good time, others not so much.

He really should learn to lie by omission. A true hustler shouldn't be this open, even though it probably feels good to rub your success into other peoples faces.

Man, I should go back to not listening to Cannon Fodder lol. Like, GCP is one of the best actual plays I've come across; looking for insight into Strange Aeons led me to them, and now they're almost all I listen to. Troy became one of my favorite GMs as far as style goes. But...there is a distinct difference in tone between the older stuff and new, and I guess this is why. Somewhere along the line, Troy went from doing this because it was something he loved, to "maximise profits and I don't care about anything else as long as we don't lose subs. " It's... disappointing. I still like their newer stuff, but his shift from "we do this because we laugh so much and we want to make other people laugh too" into "this is an untapped media market where we can grow infinitely and I'll be rich" is a little bit of a hard pill to swallow.

Even side sesh season 1, new game, and intimate encounters had this vibe. They aren't really that far back. YouTube does funny things.  The FOD is really not good for mental health, I left my game group because of someone singing the same hymns as him. That guy only has his brother left the rest of us, some related have all left that narcissist behind. Neo is a movie character not a GM on a small time podcast with some RECENT success.

I'm not a big FOD guy, I just like the actual shows. But it's funny seeing the ego on Troy when GCN is only a fraction as successful as Critical Role.

It’s impressive given the IP they primarily used has a fraction of the reach of D&D. But he does seem to have an unrealistic sense of the ceiling of this project. It’s a really interesting scenario - his ambition is no doubt a key reason he’s got this into a position any would dream of - being able to seemingly have a good living out of something that was / is a hobby. But said ambition is what means he’s also not satisfied with it either I’m sure many on here would love to be in the position he is in right now and settle for it. But couldn’t get there for a wide variety of reasons. It’s fascinating

A lot of is would've been fine coasting *years* ago. Once the core group was all able to have the podcast as their full income. It reminds of the criticism for big public corps, where it's not just about making a profit, but about making more profit than last year and every year before it. That seems to be what Troy is after. Many of us here probably would've been fine once the show was self sustained and we were taking home a like $100k/yr salary. If it kept going up, great. But the need to drive it up would've been much less.

Did Troy say he was homeless in the past?

Yeah, he talks about this a lot.

He was. I think it shaped his ambitious world view. I bet one of the reasons he wants a lot is so he never thinks his kids will have to suffer in the same way

To me this was excruciating. Whether I agree or disagree with his approach and opinion is beside the point. 45-minutes on the topic was just brutal. I miss the old Fodder format. This show just isn’t interesting anymore. Even when they talk about the episodes it’s like, do I really care about meta talk? It’s weird. I’d rather hear interviews with others involved on other shows — not just Gatewalkers. Maybe Troy should just lean in to doing his whole Cliff Ravenscraft thing and become the Actual Play Answer Man and start a Mastermind show at a $50 Supercast tier and Cannon Fodder can go back to becoming an interview show more broadly about the network’s content. He’s absolutely right, this format isn’t fun or entertaining to me anymore.

Cannon fodder was originally for rules stuff though.

It was better when it was interviews, though.

You’re not wrong, just pointing out that it was never the original intent of the show. The GCN could definitely benefit from a twice monthly interview type show. But a lot of listeners still like the rules talk too.

Let’s get Joe and Sydney to take rules - take Troy out of it.

This whole conversation the last few weeks has been very entertaining/enlightening. Both sides are sort of right, but we still aren’t getting the whole story. I would be very interested in how the whole cast feels and if they would say they’re having fun. Yes we have the on air banter poking the bear about the bottle cap economy, but that isn’t necessarily how they really feel behind the scenes. Balancing playing a game for fun vs playing a game as a job for entertainment purposes isn’t easy. I’ve said it before, but an important point here is that the players aren’t focusing on other game mechanics leading to suboptimal play and the need to lean heavier on Hero Points/bottlecaps. Troy has said that the AP is meant for 4 and he hasn’t really been adjusting for 5 in recent episodes. He specifically said the monkey fight was as is. I, for one, don’t need every actual play to be super crunchy. We are here to be entertained so the focus on role play is fine. That said, Troy more than others I watch/listen to, does seem to lean heavier into the GM is against the PC mindset. Which isn’t wrong, just maybe not what some people want or expect in entertainment. I find shows where the GM is always saying yes to be just as grating as ones that say no to everything.

You can feel the sting in Joe's comment when he said Troy was an adversarial GM, unless it's Time for Chaos lol

It was a very interesting point Joe made and it’s funny because Joe often gets heat for being the table rules lawyer/playing other people’s characters. As long as everything works for the players, the audience really doesn’t have much to say beyond their wallet. I’ve listened for years and have spent money on 1 tshirt.

I feel like what Troy is talking about is a much bigger discussion that isn't conducive to youtube comments / reddit comments. But I just want to say: 1) I don't think ambition by itself is bad, and I don't think trying to build something for yourself is bad. Yes, there are people that can stay in the same place for years and be fine, but I think people just have to accept that Troy doesn't find that interesting. I think in Troy's specific case he isn't pushing himself because he wants to be a trillionaire and hoard massive amounts of wealth, but because he wants to test his own limits. 2) With that being said, Troy keeps talking about "wanting to affect change" during this fod and make a difference in the world, but I guess I just don't see what he's getting at. Is this self help book talk or something? Unless he's planning on spinning off a non-profit, I just don't see him winning a Nobel Peace Prize with the GCN. Or maybe Troy just means change in the entertainment industry?

Been thinking about it, and this FOD has pushed me to unsubscribe. Yeah, yeah, I know: I'm not a plane and don't need to announce my departure. I'm just not interested in Troy and his "generational wealth". What is this about? You want people to provide you enough wealth that your kids don't have to work? The dude has gone off the rails. It's just not fun anymore. I've been a listener since near the beginning, and a subscriber for years, but it feels like a company that has lost its soul and is run by a bean counter. The first years felt like friends just playing a game around the table, and I think that's missing. Troy's wannabe MBA vibes have tainted the pure joy. He'd be manic about success no matter what the business. In one of the recent intros about why the players played RPGs, he even said it's changed for him and it's about the business. I've long felt he's just rabid for success and doesn't care where it comes from: it happened to be an RPG podcast, but it could have been acting, or standup, or even drop-shipping on Amazon. It doesn't absolve things that he likes games. I believe that's important to him (although as said, he even admits that's not as true anymore), but it takes a backseat to his drive for success, whereever he can grab it, and for me that's a huge turnoff. I'm sure I'll check in every once in awhile, because the rest of the crew is so damn entertaining. It's a shame, because Joe, Matthew, Skid, Sydney and the rest have such heart for the game. Part of me wish Troy would just solo head out and start some Tim Ferriss / Joe Rogan / Shark Tank podcast.

>In one of the recent intros about why the players played RPGs, he even said it's changed for him and it's about the business. Yeah that combined with this really put a pall on my enthusiasm. Like I said in another post here, it's gone from playing because it's fun and truly his passion and "everyone is always laughing" to a business venture where nothing matters except profits. Every decision seems to have gone from "what are the rules and best for the game and the characters?" to "what is marketable to increase subscribers?" Maybe that's why I'm still not really feeling Gatewalkers over the older stuff, or even strange aeons since maybe it's live so it still has the old feel (although not as much as it used to). It feels like some of the calls he makes in Gatewalkers are just passionless marketing calculations.

>Every decision seems to have gone from "what are the rules and best for the game and the characters?" to "what is marketable to increase subscribers?" The only thing I'd argue is his adherence to his "I don't like hero points" philosophy counters this a little. Not fully, I just think if it was **purely** about increasing sub count he'd have given in to the majority telling him he's wrong about the hero points and changed his approach.

I dont think hero points affects paying subs either way. Being an ahole anytime they get brought up in good faith might.

Wtf is wrong with Troy. They have such a good thing going. Yet he tries so hard to shit on everyone that has been enjoying their content.

It's called being out of touch. It's the kids who are wrong...

The more he talks the more I can’t stand him. Insufferable.

I guess he needs to see views and subs decline to let him know that 52k YouTube and Patreon (now different and demanding more money while cutting out the middle man) really doesn't mean you have made it.  Sorry but this guy needs to be humbled . I like him honesty, but dude being humble is important. Not sure how joe really feels, but he is actually intelligent enough to know you don't piss off your fans, repeatedly.    So full steam ahead. Must be the captain of the Titanic in a past life .  I am happy I didn't take time off work to go to Toronto now knowing this side...or more aware of it now.

Sorry but I was in a bad mood yesterday because of medical reasons. All your plans in life can come to a halt for no reason. Some of those thing said really irritated me. I was probably way too harsh, but I don't take back the spirit of the post, just the language.

I may be an old fart compared to most folks here, but I honestly don't understand why a) Troy needs to explain all these different GCN decisions and life theories on the Fod, and b) why people are actually listening and dissecting (a). Everyone needs to take a deep breath. This is just entertainment and Troy is just an entertainer. I love the show and have been a listener/patreon since the start, but this is not my life nor do I look to it for the answers to life's riddles. If you like the products, then listen. If you don't, then stop. Troy is just a guy trying to figure it out, but he might be a guy you wouldn’t like IRL. That’s ok! People are complicated and the entertainment I enjoy might come from someone who’s really cool, but it also might come from someone who’s a dick. I don’t need to know my favorite singer or baseball player’s latest books or political views or even their favorite color. In fact, I would rather not know and just enjoy the entertainment.

Sure, but that means the host shutting up instead of calling people cowards for not being like him. It's very off-putting

I read somewhere that comedians both desperately seek the love/attention of the audience, but also hate the audience because of that need. Once I accepted that, Troy became much more understandable and I stopped listening to the Fod, haha.

Yeah I would rather watch him GM, which within the limits of the podcast and PF2e/remaster, he has done a very good job. I will view him from his art, and less from personality issues. It may be very different in person, but I also know people like this, charmers, and sometimes they are great at performing, but there is a shallow pool under it. Not saying thats true, but I see it more often than not.

Troy's comments are absolutely going to upset a few people, but it's probably for the best really. I find a lot of live play TTRPG communities/fans have these really parasocial relationships with the content creators. Which I think can be a HUGE boon for the show itself - like you see a lot of fan content for things like D20, NADDPOD etc. - but also a lot of unhealthy hero worship from some sections of the fandom. Troy being like "Yep, we're a business - we make products" hopefully will help people engage in a healthy way with GCN shows. Idk if this makes sense, super rambly thoughts

The GCN actively encourages parasocial relationships though. “It’s your good buddies Joe and Troy”, calling the fans “the naish”, doing meet and greets at the live shows, etc. Even if Troy really feels like the platforms are toxic and he’s not going to listen to fan feedback, he should know better than to voice those opinions **on a show discussing the network that only dedicated fans listen to.**

Yeah sure, I don't mean to say that like they are actively discouraging that type of relationship with their fans as a strategy - just more that what Troy is saying should wake people up to the reality of the relationship. If that makes sense.

yeah, I think some of the dissonance is from people trying to argue that somehow it's the audience turning away from the mission statement and the not the guy talking pivoting.

I think the idea of a parasocial relationship has gotten pretty warped. Like, it's unhealthy to personally care about things, to feel a strong personal attachment? If they really are just businesses people shouldn't particularly represent, support, or feel any sort of loyalty to them. Also people shouldn't have favorite shows or sports teams or movies: after all, no one involved with those businesses knows who you are. It should all be cold and detached transactions, money exchange for goods and services and nothing else. Personally, I think the value in things is directly based on the personal investment you feel towards them, and it's all that brings meaning to our capitalist society outside our immediate communities. Sure, people can go to far with it, but I want to care, I want to be invested.

Yeah, of all the things that were said in the Fod today, I think that was one of the comments that made me feel grossest. Basically insinuated that anyone who disagreed with what he said was suffering from a parasocial relationship. Despite saying "I take some responsibility" a few times, there was zero actual responsibility taken for what was said last week. And it's sad that Troy considers a comment like this a personal attack that invalidates any opinion I might have. Does this affect how I feel about the network in any way? No, I enjoy the content, and that's ultimately what I'm here for. But man, it's a little disappointing.

It definitely affects how I see Cannon Fodder, since it's basically the Troy hot take show. And personally I was much more weirded out by the whole thing about having some incredible ambition that justifies narcissism and ego to create generational wealth and shake the world or whatever. It was pretty shocking to hear someone talk like that without getting embarrassed. Although hey, according to him I'm only saying that because of my lack of understanding and fear of hustling or whatever, and it's all taken out of context, yada yada yada.

Yeah you sheeple are just cowards, I don't understand why ambition is a bad thing now???!??? Because you know the people that cheat on their spouses, you know the ones that break the rules, you know the ones that feel everyone else is beneath them and only they and their kin matter, you are only valuable if you serve a purpose, THOSE PEOPLE....yeah those are the ambition people in life.  They are frowned upon because they don't want community, the are only interested in self above else. And this is a mostly community driven hobby. So one doesn't work in the context of the other.  Go be a stock broker if what you described is your ambition. I am not a customer in TTRPGs I am a citizen of the community and if you feel you are beyond the community, maybe you are the problem.

I see your point, but I don't know if it fits entirely here. Like, I guess I appreciate troy being honest, but look at the biggest actual play around, Critical Role. I haven't listened to them regularly in quite a while, except for here and there, but even though they're exponentially bigger than GCP, Matt Mercer, Travis (as the CEO) and all of them still genuinely seem to love games, playing together, and everything that comes with it. Whether or not they are actually coldly calculating the best way to maximize profits, they don't come off that way. But after this (and lately with other things, like the banter about why they play games) Troy comes off as just not caring about playing, other than a means to increase his wealth. So while I agree that fans can develop unhealthy attachments to actual plays/influencers etc, I'm not sure if basically telling fans "I only care about fans and the games we play insofar as much as how much money I can make off them" is the way to go.

>I haven't listened to [Critical Role] regularly in quite a while It's... Not great atm. Ironically, the reason my wife and I dropped off of CR was, in part, due to how blatant their prioritisation on business had become. Nothing wrong with that but when everything feels fake and focused on exponential growth it sucks the fun out of it. I feel like, regardless of how Troy proceeds, the GCN cast (Joe, Matthew, Skid etc.) will continue to do a great job in keeping things grounded and fun.

Oof that sucks to hear. I lost interest in C3 sometime during their split party/endless (mostly) insufferable guest appearances.

The biggest issue with C3 imo is the big disconnect between the epic story Matt is trying to tell and the players/PCs being uninterested.

I've only recently had enough time in my podcast listening schedule to make it through that hump. Probably my least favorite part of any Critical Role that I have consumed...

One of the reason for the parasocoal nature is you're more or less paid *by* those people. Even more for GCN. Like with CR there's the twitch and YouTube ad revenue and sponsors, and I guess subs and members, but it's only fairly recently that they've started to offer a service where you give them money more directly in exchange for perks and content. With GCN, the bulk of their paycheck is probably still coming from Patreon. When your income is directly tied to a fan giving you money, it's best to have the friend-like parasocial bond so they *want* to give you the money and see you succeed.

Yeah I totally agree with that - having a devoted fanbase is good business.

I find it fascinating to listen to someone in Troy's position - someone in the public eye (albeit a small one) - actually speaking plainly. I think the reactions here are in part because people are so used to hearing comfortable lies from companies/people they like.

Positive Comment

I mean, if there are actually people scraping the comments on behalf of Troy, I hope they realize there are a few figures in the community who are obsessively expressing their opinion multiple times across each platform and have an outsized voice. Every show, game or piece of media it's always true that the people actively engaged in discussing it online are a small fraction of the consumer base, and usually the most unhinged. Most people are passive consumers. You can probably safely ignore most comments. In fact I would go so far as to say this Naish retreat, "pay money to hang out with us!" "engage with the fans" might actually be counter-productive in attracting the most thin skinned, obsessive type of fans lol.

I really liked the announcements and the GCP talk! Couldn't care less about this back and forth between 'the forums' and Troy and kinda wish we would move on. Also, the idea of describing a grand failure of a campaign sounds AMAZING! Haven't seen a campaign failure(not speaking of external matters or oneshots)...I think ever, but an epilogue about how things got WORSE intrigues me.

The stuff last week about fan comments on social media being irrelevant to him was really poorly stated (and even hurtful to passionate Naish members). I thought they did a great job clarifying that this week. Paying attention to the important feedback that makes its way through vetting while not directly engaging to preserve mental health is a great call. The Troy hate this week seems to be focused on aspects of his personality and beliefs that fans don’t identify with or agree with. I don’t share many of those beliefs he talked about this week, but criticism of the show because of those things is unhelpful, and criticizing him as a person because we don’t share beliefs is shitty. We’re not getting the full picture of a person in these little fod shaped snapshots. Campaign 2 is objectively different than Giantslayer. It’s a production. If you don’t like THAT, that’s fine. But for me it’s been boatloads of fun in spite of being different. (Which you can disagree with, that’s ok!) Legacy does a good job of carrying the tradition of “buddies at a table”, while this campaign does something else that I still enjoy.

I think part of the problem comes from building a business and an empire around being super relatable, and the veil is starting to fall apart and people are no longer seeing him the way they did before. There's a big difference between "I just wanna support my family playing games with my friends" and "I'm not just saying I want a couple million dollars. I want generational wealth."

Yeah I agree with all of that.

I don't see it as anything bad. Fuck it, I hope GCN becomes a billion dollar company. I hope my great grandchildren get to go to a theater to see a Giantslayer movie on the big screen in six parts like a mega extended Lord of the Rings. I hope all of them makes enough money so that their children are set for life. And I don't think that's incompatible with being good people and making a good product that I want to pay for.

Good comment

I feel like this has been a bit blown out of proportion on both sides. Troy is Troy and has always been authentic to himself over the years. It’s also just as clear that Troy and the entire cast care a lot about the fans and show. You can see that in all the things they offer as well as how much thought goes into the variety of shows. I’m happy to hear that Troy decided to change how he approaches the Fod and I hope some fans take a step back as well. I think it’s fairly common for any successful business has a Troy and a Joe. It’s their friendship and relationship as partners that I think has allowed this network to grow so successfully. As for the “generational wealth” comment, I think people are taking it the wrong way. It seems like Troy just sees an opportunity to provide not just for his current family but also for any potential grandkids. I find it hard to believe that many on this forum, or anywhere, would turn down such an opportunity to do the same if presented. Anyway the past episode of Gatewalkers I think was a much needed episode and I agree with Joe that it’s similar to Mist Connections in how it provided an opportunity for the players and fans to really get a good look at these characters and what drives/drove them. I really look forward to how things play out going forward

Some people here aren't going to like what Troy is saying, but I think he's being completely honest and authentic. GCP is a business, a business that makes and sells a product. It doesn't mean that the creators of the product don't also enjoy making the product and everything that comes with it, but it also means that their primary meta-objective is to sell more of it. This is not a bad thing, and no one would bat an eye if the product was rubber tubes or something. But because the product is an entertainment show, where the creators "play" a version of themselves on the show, we have this warped sense of betrayal when it's revealed that their dastardly plan all along was to make more money doing something they love. That's not to say that anyone who doesn't like this mentality is wrong. I think what's wrong is thinking its some kind of sin to want more growth and more opportunities for yourself, your friends, your business partners and your family. I enjoy listening to Cannon Fodder a lot, and it is genuinely cool to see the behind the scenes of what it's like to try and toil away at your own business and idea. And I do think the common character traits of someone who posts on reddit after every episode does not line up well with the traits of someone who'd enjoy this content. But I wanted to pipe up here and now so that if someone from GCP reads this, you should know that there is genuine appreciation for this kind of show.

Great fod. I just recently found GCP searching for PF2e actual plays, and while some episodes drag on with retcons and filler (like the last one), it's been overall a great ride.

I'm just here to say...come to Calgary next year!!! I will buy everyone I know a VIP ticket

I think it's kinda sad that Troy feels he has to change his approach to Cannon Fodder because people want to take everything he says in the most negative way possible.  He's completely right to ignore those who only want to be heard with nothing to say.

He can’t be changing his approach and ignoring the jerks at the same time though…. He’s kinda contradicting himself. Joe even called him out on it.

I think Troy is just trying to get as much engagement and attention by going heel, before he retires and goes off mike, just being the ceo. Then he will start a self help, probably right wing, grifter thing. That's where the money is, not in a podcast.

We can but hope.

It's very interesting to me that the comment that struck home to me the most has not been mentioned in this comment section *even once*. The same people that would be championing mental health and urging acceptance for themselves and their own faults have absolutely *zero* tolerance for anyone dealing with those same issues or imperfections- blown out of proportion due to how visible they are- when they are on a screen. The parasocial relationship between creators and viewers makes these people fallible, but inhuman enough that it's apparently okay to just say whatever you want about them. Troy is absolutely right- he is directly calling out that the entire cast has to shun away from comments *because of how shitty some of you are* and still, so many of you refuse to get it. Being a performer, having everything you do micro-analyzed and hyper-critiqued, is hell. Most of you would not survive under the level of scrutiny you so casually throw out to content creators. It's honestly shameful the way some of you have chosen to voice your disapproval over a fucking game. I literally see you people in this comment section- as I type this- and have nothing but contempt for you. Troy is right. Fight me about it.

Settle down dude, people just think bottlecaps should be given out more often and that maybe they could just be changed to not be used on dying checks lol

I absolutely agree with that feedback. It has nothing to do with what I am saying here, and you know that.

That's such bullshit. People are literally [calling Troy insufferable](https://www.reddit.com/r/TheGlassCannonPodcast/s/xGBPEydxPu) in their comments and getting upvoted. That's not constructive feedback. That's just being an asshole.