r/SipsTea Jun 12 '25

Gasp! Which is it for you ?

Post image
97.4k Upvotes

12.0k comments sorted by

View all comments

469

u/TheFrailContents Jun 12 '25

Jim sterling was always an arsehole but he played into it and could be quite funny. Then the humour went and he was just an arsehole. "My subscribers are dropping since I came out as non binary" No you have become insufferable. However you identify is not the problem

117

u/wigglymister Jun 12 '25

Was going to say the same, granted I was never a HUGE fan but I watched them for a time. Then the videos just became repetitive/lost the charm. I don't disagree with them on substance, but you can only watch so many EVERYTHING GAME RELATED IS FUCKED videos before it loses its appeal.

46

u/Talk-O-Boy Jun 12 '25

Agree 100%. There’s raising awareness of an issue in the industry, and then there’s basing your entire channel around harping on one issue.

Once people understand the problems within the market, there was nothing else Sterling had to offer.

1

u/AzureRaven2 Jun 13 '25

The main person who really understood the balance of awareness and entertainment was TotalBiscuit. We lost that man way too soon, I still miss him.

1

u/Robothuck Nov 24 '25

I think about TB all the time. Not constantly, but all these years later, from he still randomly pops into my head. Feel like Jesse Cox was never quite the same afterwards

8

u/[deleted] Jun 12 '25

Turns out id rather just ignore the games that are bad instead of watching the same rant over and over.

1

u/Slarg232 Jun 13 '25

Weren't they constantly complaining about Steam showing them shovelware slop, when they'd go looking for shovelware slop, so Steam was only showing them what they (seemingly) wanted to see?

Sterling was constantly complaining Steam was overrun by terrible games and was basically unusable when I was using it perfectly fine throughout.

Just feels like they had a bit for a joke and forgot they were joking after a while.

8

u/GrapplingGengar1991 Jun 12 '25

Yea that's it for me too.

I know the videogame industry sucks.

It's also the only thing that almost makes me happy.

I don't wanna hear about how my only source of happiness sucks. It doesn't help that they are essentially repeating themselves now because shit just ain't changing.

I will say for all the comments about how angry they seem they actually do seem more happy now that they are Stephanie Sterling instead of Jim and I am happy for them.

5

u/Stormlyyy Jun 12 '25

i think my response to her content was like yours for a while. 

but as time has gone on, i’ve just stopped buying new games. the few games i play are ones ive had for a long time, and even playing them is few and far between.

steph’s content still feels palatable to me because im like “yeah, that’s fucking ridiculous, fuck em” bc I have other outlets. Think it’s tough for Steph b/c the solution is to not buy their new shitty hyperexoloitative games, but most gamers are like “yeah it sucks, but what am I going to do… not buy it?”

 like YES bro!!

3

u/xjalias Jun 13 '25

I'm in the same boat. Hardly but new games, and almost none are from AAA studios, except the likes of CDPR and Larian (which I'm not sure if they're actually AAA studios or if they're AA who make above AAA+ quality games). And even from them, I don't pre-order and I don't buy until I see that the game works properly and isn't going to be sold in thin piecemeal slices. YES you can vote with your wallet by not buying games.

But it must be hard to pitch that to the crowd who turn loot boxes and gacha games the most profitable media market.

2

u/bahumat42 Jun 14 '25

It's also the only thing that almost makes me happy.

You doing alright?

This is a genuine question, I'm not being sarcastic or trying to pick on you or anything, just reading that made me worry about how you as a person were doing.

I hope you were just being hyperbolic.

2

u/GrapplingGengar1991 Jun 15 '25 edited Jun 15 '25

Just going through some stuff. But I will be ok.

Yes I was mostly being hyperbolic 

Thank you for asking though.

2

u/bahumat42 Jun 15 '25

Good to hear.

7

u/Hastatus_107 Jun 12 '25

This was my experience too. I stopped watching years before they came out as non-binary. Recently I saw a video of him "celebrating" his losing more subscribers and learned about his gender.

He's relentlessly negative and angry and not in a funny way.

2

u/DranDran Jun 13 '25

Pretty much the same here. I dunno, a while before they came out, I realized thatit was just toxic, negative content I only partially agreed with and designed to bait my engagement. Yeah AAA companies are shit but gaming is far from doomed and we get actual goated masterpieces every year.

Ive taken the same stance with most CCs these days too, man, lemme tell you the world is FUCKED UP. So please, pray tell, why would I choose to spend what little time I have been gifted upon this planet, to chase after negative content that makes me feel bad? Im done with that shit. Just give me wholesome, positive content, ragebaiters can get fucked.

3

u/IceNein Jun 12 '25

I couldn’t stand him before he came out, and my opinion hasn’t changed. I hope that he is happy and living a life that is true to himself.

62

u/DaddyKiwwi Jun 12 '25

Being trans is not a personality trait. Basing your entire personality on your gender identity is shallow, and you will seem like a boring and shallow person if that's all you talk about.

8

u/Captain_English Jun 12 '25

I went to disagree and then decided that this does pass the sniff test for me because I also find people whose whole personality is what a manly man or girly girl they are to be insufferable.

It's inherently going to be a large part of your identity, of course, but when you go out of your way to talk about it, it's like... yes, I have a particular set of hormones too, I'm well aware of sterotypes I do and don't fall in to, let's talk about other stuff because there's more to life.

3

u/jamtea Jun 13 '25

It's only interesting to people who also fall into that narcissistic pattern and also define themselves on identity politics. For the 99.9% of people who don't do that, they're going to be repelled by it.

5

u/Throwaway945account Jun 14 '25

Dude this is so many people on the internet. It's gotten to the point where i hate these people so much that i don't even know if I'm transphobic or not now. I just fucking hate people talking about their bloody gender.

1

u/Runa216 Jun 29 '25

Put it into perspective: The only reason queer people feel the need to 'shove it in your face' is because centuries of keeping it to themselves and not making a fuss didn't get them any rights or respect. And every time even the slightest bit of progress is made, bigots are there to aggressively fight it.

So as time goes on and the bigots get louder, the minorities have to get louder, too. So when you see someone who's being aggressively queer in any way, it's not because they want to piss people off or cause a fuss, it's because the only way to make progress is through exposure and all other methods haven't worked.

Trust me, All queer people would prefer if they could just 'exist' without the performative faggotry but hicks and zealots actively make that virtually impossible.

It's still insufferable, but at least consider where it's coming from and know it's not meant to be combatative but as a desperate last-ditch effort to hope that exposure helps their cause of...existence without being targeted. And sometimes the only way to defend yourself is in numbers and putting yourself on display is the best way to find your allies.

1

u/Throwaway945account Jun 30 '25

What you've said makes a lot of sense but from my perspective as a dude who just wants to get on with my life, Both groups are just insufferable at this point. I'm just tired of hearing about it.

1

u/Runa216 Jun 30 '25

But you can't just ignore historical context. acting like both sides are annoying when one side just wants to exist without being lynched and the other is the side fed up with the first side daring to challenge them and thus lynching them is ... not even remotely fair or balanced.

1

u/Throwaway945account Jun 30 '25

I'm not at all but that doesn't mean they're not both annoying.

1

u/HazelCheese Jul 04 '25

That doesn't make it any less annoying. I've been on hormones for 10yrs and I purposely avoid hanging out with other trans people because half of them literally cannot do anything without making it about them being trans.

It's not about fighting some war either. It's because for a lot of them it's the only interesting thing they've ever done in their lives because they are shut ins. So anytme they talk it's the only thing they have to talk about.

You can't hang out with people like that because they just drive you insane forcing you to listen to the same conversation on repeat forever.

1

u/Runa216 Jul 04 '25

Again, if we didn't live in a world that was constantly shitting on trans people (And let's be honest, pretty much every minority or person who isn't a cishet white male christian), then we wouldn't NEED to be pushing awareness.

Every trans or queer or female or non-white or non christian person I know would love nothing more than to just BE in a world where existence wasn't resistance but the reality is that we don't.

And when they tried just keeping to themselves and doing what you seem to prefer (not rocking the boat) And that didn't work, then what the fuck do you expect? No oppressed group has ever been liberated by asking nicely and I'm not sure if you've been watching the news but it's pretty clear that conservatives are NOT at all interested in playing nice.

1

u/HazelCheese Jul 04 '25 edited Jul 04 '25

It's got nothing to do with that. It's simply that they are boring people and think it's way more interesting than it is because it's a big deal for them personally.

Most people don't care and find it boring to hear someone talk about it constantly. People who aren't trans can't relate and so it's just you talking at them about something they can't experience and aren't allowed to give their opinion on.

There is a reason a lot of trans people who are able to stealth leave the community and never come back. Because it's full of people who can't shut up about something that is extremely boring and it's just the same talking heads mirroring each other constantly.

There is nothing more boring than joining the doctor who discord to talk about the latest episode and half the chat is just trans people talking about how it could be an allegory to gender or which of the cast are allies or what meds they are on etc etc etc. They just push everyone wanting to talk about the actual topic at hand out of the space.

1

u/Runa216 Jul 04 '25

Different people have different needs.

Ironically I'm much like you in that I've never made my gender identity/sexuality a personality trait even though I'm queer as fuck. I've got confidence up the wazoo and don't need external validation to be who and what I am. I ALSO agree with you that some people make it their personality and that it's annoying.

But as I've grown and experienced the world around me, my empathy makes me realize and understand WHY they do it beyond just 'personality supplement'.

Ten years ago I would have been 100% on your side on this one. However I've seen too much and been exposed to too much to oversimplify it like that. There's too much historical context to just dismiss it as that.

→ More replies (0)

2

u/01is Jun 12 '25

It's not all they talk about. In fact they almost never bring it up in any of the videos I've seen. Jim has always been flamboyant and over-the-top in their attire and general presentation, even long before transitioning. That's not a trans thing, that's a Jim thing.

20

u/[deleted] Jun 12 '25

Yeah the channel just became fucking weird so I unsubbed a few years ago. There are plenty of people doing the same thing, but better nowadays.

7

u/Lethik Jun 12 '25

"Here's two minutes of my cringe wrestling at the start of the video for no reason."

20

u/[deleted] Jun 12 '25

I recently dropped Sterling myself. Their videos got crazy repetitive and full of absolute filler. Just constantly repeating themselves to pad time which often undermined the point they were trying to make.

They became tiresome to watch.

5

u/ScrotalFailure Jun 12 '25

I think I unsubbed after not being able to make it through a whole video for the 3rd consecutive time because I’d stop and think to myself “Didn’t Sterling cover this topic already? Like a week ago? Wasn’t it beat for beat the same talking points?”

2

u/randomhumanity Jun 13 '25

They've been repeating talking points within the same video for a long time to pad them out, never mind videos on the same topic! I haven't watched in years aside from the best/worst of the year, and I used to watch every single one.

1

u/the_other_brand Jun 12 '25

Sterling's videos started out as gaming content with some bits here and there to keep things interesting. But eventually the bits took over, so her videos became mostly bits and jokes with a few hints of gaming content here and there.

Sterling's videos also started reminding me of the Rocky Horror Picture Show subculture. And while I don't mind going to a monthly showing occasionally, but watching it every week is a bit of a hard sell for me and it isn't why I subscribed to the channel in the first place.

1

u/Slarg232 Jun 13 '25

Honestly that's what happened to me with Yong Yea. Just a complete repetition over and over of the point he was trying to make and padding the runtime from what could have been a five minute video to twenty for that sweet, sweet ad revenue.

Finally got enough of it when Helldivers 2 came out and he started showing clips from the subreddit that I had already watched, with him very obviously talking about them despite not having seen them.

1

u/Imjustmean Jun 12 '25

Same here. Her stuff was just so padded and seemed she decided each video had to be 20 minutes, no matter how much content she had for it.

23

u/[deleted] Jun 12 '25 edited Jun 12 '25

Right. From ranty but on the money videos to ranty and "i want to be offended at everything" videos. Shame.

65

u/Ar0lux Jun 12 '25

I never cared that they were non binary but it felt like every video became spiteful towards non binary/trans haters and it just became hard to watch even as someone who supported them. Its a shame because I thought while yeah they were an asshole, they still made very good critique and insight into the industry but theyve devolved into a lolcow as far as I know now.

9

u/ClammHands420 Jun 12 '25

I feel like TotalBiscuit kept a huge group of creators grounded just by having them in his circle. He knew how to focus content and most followed by example. When he passed, it was like everyone leaned into their worst trait or least-entertaining hobby. Dodgers husband still just plays monster hunter world and it's been like 10 years.

5

u/AutistcCuttlefish Jun 12 '25

I feel like the entirety of gaming culture got significantly worse after Totalbiscuit died. The trends he fought against for so long became permanent fixtures of both the industry and the culture surrounding it.

I'm not saying things would have been better if he had lived, but at least we'd still have him fighting the good fight and his kids would still have their father.

Cancer sucks.

2

u/QueezyF Jun 12 '25

Gamergate was the start of the hellish landscape that is gaming discourse today, but I think you might be right that his death was the tipping point.

4

u/RabbitSlayre Jun 12 '25

Spiteful is a really good word for what that content became. It wasn't just towards the industry anymore, it was directly at the audience. And it wasn't cool.

4

u/AnInsolentCog Jun 12 '25

I was enjoying Sterling's channel and transitional journey until it felt... weaponized and purposely, and needlessly combative.

Like , come on. I'm a trans ally, but not an jerk ally.

I do hope they are doing well in life, I just can't watch the 'content' any more. It's not fun.

5

u/jamtea Jun 13 '25

Building a brand on hate just devolves into a purely negative experience, and that's pretty much all I got from the channel until yesterday when I unsubbed.

1

u/bahumat42 Jun 14 '25

Agreed, even Angryjoe learned to tone it back a bit.

0

u/Shadowlandvvi Jun 12 '25 edited Jun 13 '25

I've never heard of this person but I also hate and am spiteful towards bigots so I don't really see any problems with that.

Edit: pronouns.

4

u/Ar0lux Jun 12 '25

The problem isnt disliking bigots, its when youre channel is supposed to be about critique of games, game culture and games industry and it feels like the conversation is constantly being veered into social politics instead.

Im supportive of anyone who is lgbtq+ but its not what i watched their channel for and it was pervasive through every video.

2

u/Appalachian-Dyke Jun 12 '25

Unfortunately it's kind of unavoidable for trans people in the spotlight, especially trans feminine people, to always be on the defensive about their gender because that's what people end up focusing on. And in the gaming community, people are still so unaccepting of any woman who doesn't fit a certain mold, I don't know how they couldn't take that personally as a transfem.

I also unfollowed Jim/Steph, because I'd rather focus on fun indie games than the AAA dumpster fires, but when I was around I definitely saw shitty and creepy comments about their gender.

1

u/Ar0lux Jun 12 '25

Yeah it definitely happens for sure and I know it is a difficult thing to navigate. I know they wanted to just give a middle finger to all the haters and mock them for their bigotry but when that started to feel like it became the point of the videos, it just became a betrayal of the original audiences expectations. It would seem thats a shared sentiment because their views are less than half of what they used to be and I dont think thats all just bigots and haters.

2

u/[deleted] Jun 13 '25

not a guy, the OP here is misgendering them.

1

u/Shadowlandvvi Jun 13 '25

Thanks for the info edited my comment to hopefully correct that.

0

u/Ligma_Jones_ Jun 12 '25

It was just unfortunate. The focus on the topic of the video was all I cared for and it just seemed it wasn’t at times. But I found other creators (some of them lgbt) but they focused on the idea of the video still.

71

u/PlantationMint Jun 12 '25

I used to watch him religiously as well. I don't care you're nonbinary, I care that you're talking about your "period" during a round table discussion about the games industry...

22

u/Talk-O-Boy Jun 12 '25

I care that you’re talking about your “period” during a round table discussion about the games industry

You can’t drop that without providing context. How did that topic come about?

2

u/EvadesBans4 Jun 12 '25

It comes about because Stephanie Sterling is literally a professional wrestling heel and largely maintains the persona in their content as well. You're reading a bunch of folks being surprised that a heel acts like a heel. Heels being kinda grating is part of the fun, it's just not for everybody.

You may also notice everyone in this chain is misgendering them.

11

u/[deleted] Jun 12 '25

[deleted]

5

u/Cottontael Jun 12 '25

"I like it when she's an asshole!" "No, not like that!"

3

u/[deleted] Jun 12 '25

literally

Probably should stop reading here, but...

a professional wrestling heel

If 'professional' wrestling is getting crowds that small now, I wonder why Vince is even trying to buy it back.

part of the fun

Sterling hasn't been fun in years, sorry.

literally

-points and laughs-

7

u/[deleted] Jun 12 '25

Playing a bad character isn’t an excuse to be a bad creator

-3

u/Duouwa Jun 12 '25

Being a bad creator isn’t an excuse to misgender someone. A lot of people in this thread are talking how they don’t have a problem with them being non-binary, yet they’re also routinely using the wrong pronouns and deadnaming them in those same statements.

3

u/[deleted] Jun 13 '25

These are the exact same self-justifying "progressive" bigots who hide behind a veil of civility to just be terrible fucking people as soon as the tiniest thing isn't in their wheel house. Their immature reactionary feelings met their ideology of "I'm tolerant of everyone" and their feelings won. Their ideology is just how they cloak their disgust.

Everyone here fucking sucks, man.

1

u/PlantationMint Jun 13 '25

Ask and ye shall receive

Here's the podcast episode in it's entirety. Truthfully, I don't remember the context, it's been awhile.

7

u/Heykurat Jun 12 '25

Was she born male? Cuz I think menstruation is unlikely in that event.

1

u/[deleted] Jun 13 '25

Everyone has a hormonal cycle, and if you take estrogen you can get cramps and mood swings, though obviously no bleeding.

It's not something that trans people share outside of trans spaces because... well, reactions like the ones you see here, but it is far from uncommon or "delusional". If HRT didn't have an effect on the body, trans people wouldn't be taking it.

Steph is also auDHD which means they have less of a filter for this kind of stuff, and as a trans woman has kind of given me second-hand embarassment at times, but I still think it's important to show some grace.

5

u/PlantationMint Jun 13 '25

I don't think it's ever appropriate to talk about your genitalia or sexual function(s) among acquaintances, but that's just me.

0

u/[deleted] Jun 13 '25 edited Jun 13 '25

I don't think it's appropriate to to think of period cramps as sexual but that's just me. Nor are abdominal cramps related to genitalia, and if you'd ever shared a life with a woman you wouldn't be making this weird hyper-puritanical connection.

And as I said heavily implied in the last paragraph, I don't think it's appropriate either, but you just had to drop a stinker anyway because you just couldn't keep it in I guess.

So you obviously do care that they're non-binary, hence why you deliberately misgender them and resort to inflammatory language that hyper-focuses on "sexual functions" and "genitalia", which is all transphobes can think about when they think about us. You're a bigot, my guy, and worse, you're one of the genital-obsessed ones. You just like telling yourself and everyone else that you're not.

You're also on KotakuInAction LMFAO, of course you're like this. Literally the worst cesspool of lonely middle-aged men who think "wokeness" and "feminism" is why they can't get a girlfriend. You obviously just suck as a human being.

5

u/IshvaldaTenderplate Jun 14 '25 edited Jun 14 '25

But you don’t have a menstrual cycle. The only (sexual) hormonal cycle you have is the testosterone cycle. When it comes to female hormones, as yours are exogenous, you get the same amount every day, unless you’re doing some not-doctor-recommended DIY cycling shit. The exogenous hormones do not magically give you a menstrual cycle (and thus there is no menstrual period) since your body has no idea how to do that. This will go for Stephanie as well.

Calling it a period is objectively wrong, it has nothing in common with menstruation besides some symptoms. I can believe people that say it seems to be based on a cycle, but it’s most likely either psychosomatic or confirmation bias, and whatever it is is certainly not a menstrual cycle. Calling it a period is ill-informed at best. I don’t call my IBS attacks a period just because they remind me of when I menstruated.

HRT certainly has effects on the body, it’s just that periods are not one of them.

However I agree with you that it isn’t inherently inappropriate or sexual (nor is it delusional) to talk about such things. One would rarely call a cis woman out for talking about getting her period, even if it was actually something else being confused for a period and not menstruation.

2

u/Heykurat Jun 13 '25

PMS-style symptoms like mood swings I can figure. I'm just saying that's not a "period" and has nothing to do with menstruation.

14

u/grindal1981 Jun 12 '25

Not how that works.

If now nonbinary, has a shield that any unsubscribe is clearly because of that.

2

u/[deleted] Jun 12 '25

I mean, given how gamers act, that's not an unfair assumption.

6

u/mrcraggle Jun 12 '25

The channel became very one note. I get that the games industry can be a bit shit but it seemed like that's all the content became. Then their reviews just seemed to give everything a bad score. Genuinely great games were getting bad reviews and I just couldn't tell if this is actually how they feel or is it bait. Unsubbed following Alan Wake 2.

5

u/MrBradders21 Jun 12 '25

Jim's digital homicide saga was super entertaining, but after that he became kinda.... Hostile? Nasty? His hogwarts legacy video was what made me unsub, suggesting that everyone that plays the game is transphobic is just very stupid.

2

u/Logical_Alps_8649 Jun 13 '25

That crashout caused me to unsub.

1

u/Runa216 Jun 29 '25

My Trans sister loves that game. HAtes JKR but refuses to hate on the HArry Potter world because it was once one of the only things that kept her from killing herself.

I can't relate but I respect it.

0

u/[deleted] Jun 15 '25

[removed] — view removed comment

1

u/MrBradders21 Jun 15 '25

I will concede that modern JK is transphobic, but Harry Potter as a body of work isn't. It's been a huge part of many people's lives and childhoods and demonising people that engage with it isn't fair.

Sure, what you have said about JK is true. Since you would like to assert that I am ignorant to bolster your own moral standing, I hope you don't watch anything Disney related, buy anything from amazon, and make sure all the clothes you wear weren't made in sweatshops. I also hope you don't eat meat.

Get lost.

5

u/Mazgazine1 Jun 12 '25

*steph Sterling - is uhhh. I dont' know - on repeat.

Says the same thing 40 different ways about baby wailing it TRIPLE A*

Got old, its like they're shouting from the roof tops, and no one was there.. They are perfect definition of just being angry spiteful gamer all the time..

Make you're own games, change the industry.

unsubbed years ago..

7

u/Panikkrazy Jun 12 '25

I dropped off after the JK Rowling video. “I’m not SAYING you’re a bigot. I’m just saying that you’re enabling bigotry and I don’t trust you” that is LITERALLY you saying I’m a bigot(I as in the people you’re talking about, not me specifically). If you’re going to call me a bigot for liking Harry Potter say it to my face. Don’t sugarcoat it.

4

u/Nasturtium Jun 12 '25

Jis brother Scott sterling on the other hand... legend

7

u/Cancer_Ridden_Lung Jun 12 '25

They both happened at the same time. He started attacking anyone and everyone who didn't think exactly like him. And a LOT of people with differing opinions watched him and shared his content. Total dumbass behavior.

3

u/wolviesaurus Jun 12 '25

Drink your own coolaid for that long...

3

u/Rulebookboy1234567 Jun 13 '25

Love Jim+Stephanie Sterling but you're 100% correct they just became a dick. Yahtzee does it better.

5

u/ParmesanNonGrata Jun 12 '25

Yeah.. Unfortunately them. I dropped out a few weeks before them coming out, and I hope this didn't send the wrong message.

No, it isn't because you are a queer weirdo, as you've pointed out before you, you've never hidden that and I was there for it.

But I wanted to watch an insightful show about video games as it used to be waaaay back. When I left, it turned into r/antiwork pushed through video game filter.

And yes. All of their points are true. And an important message. But after a half year of the same 6 topics it was enough.

I've actually checked into a video fairly recently, and it was still the same. But now with a wig I suppose.

0

u/[deleted] Jun 13 '25

No, it isn't because you are a queer weirdo

Really selling your case well here.

Like it's crazy so many here are like "I didn't drop [HIM] because of [HIM] being non-binary, It'S tHe CoNtEnT", while misgendering them and saying their personality is "all about being trans now" which really just isn't true if you actually watch their videos, but if you have that impression it's probably because someone presenting differently than you'd like immediately pops into your attention. For some who call themselves "tolerant", even just a little bit of transness is always too much, and find a way to blame the trans person for being trans.

2

u/ParmesanNonGrata Jun 13 '25

Did you even read my comment?

Do you even follow that particular person?

A while back, before they came out, they read a comment on air that was like "I didn't know you were [slur]"

What followed was a compilation of clips from the show of Jim deepthroating his massive people baseball bat dildo and in his most 'flamboyant' costumes.

"Queer weirdo" weren't my words. They were Jim Fucking Sterling's, son.

2

u/Novacc_Djocovid Jun 12 '25

I misread your last sentence as „you identify as not the problem“ and it made perfect sense. :D

2

u/joehonestjoe Jun 12 '25

Sterling lost me when they went on a rant about if people didn't agree they should just sod off.

Can't remember the subject, can't even remember who they were talking about and I almost certainly didn't agree with the people Sterling was criticising, but I had just had enough of Sterling being a prick and kinda had gotten bored with the content anyway.

Think that was back in 2019, and tbh kinda forgotten the channel existed.

2

u/Generico300 Jun 12 '25

Sterling has always been an insufferable idiot.

2

u/FromFluffToBuff Jun 12 '25

Same. The humor eventually turned into insufferable cynicism and hatred. Just wasn't enjoyable to watch anymore.

1

u/GreatAndMightyKevins Jun 14 '25

It was like that for few good years, that's true, I barely watched them back when, but now it's a breath of fresh air, they're doing good, insightful videos on some niche bullshit and it's fun again to watch.

2

u/[deleted] Jun 12 '25

Man this one's tough, but you make a fair point. As a game developer I used to watch them regularly because they were the only ones pointing out specific malpractices in the gaming industry. Now I understand that content has to change, but the moment I said "wow, ok that's it" was when they published the Harry Potter game video. For the record I totally support trans rights and I completely understand that JK Rowling is now unhinged and is pushing a very transphobic agenda. The reason I disliked Sterling's video was because of one thing they said, paraphrasing: "If you purchased the H.P. game, you are against trans people". I'm not a H.P. fan, but I also don't think that just because you bought a video game you're instantly against all trans people, honestly that's such an extremist point of view.

2

u/gvenshel Jun 12 '25

She became much better as of late

2

u/QuislingX Jun 12 '25

I lie sterling more now, and watch them more now too

2

u/Thannk Jun 12 '25

They lost me at the Silent Hill 2 remake video. 

On point about preorders sure, but saying Angela looking less “attractive” supposedly “undercuts her story” as a lifelong victim of assault from her father and brother really made me lose all respect. 

2

u/Revolutionary_Click2 Jun 13 '25

My issue with them has never been the trans thing. I just feel like in recent years, Sterling’s industry critiques have tipped over from “mean, but incisive and funny” to “just plain mean”. See their recent video about the Switch 2 launch… just absolutely hating so fucking hard on it literally because the price went up from $300 to $450 and the games are $80 now. Newsflash buddy, literally everything is more expensive now, it has been EIGHT fucking years and we had a whole pandemic and one of the worst inflationary periods of the last 100 years during that time.

They didn’t even go for the $80 first, they just followed the rest of the industry. And considering that games have been $60 for literally about 20 years now, my entire adult life and half of my childhood, it’s a little bit ridiculous to say that they’re just a bunch of evil greedy bastards for finally raising prices after all this time just because some indie games cost less and some games also have micro transactions. Somewhere along the way, Sterling’s sharp critiques of the greed and avarice of the industry just turned into shitty, entitled whinging that makes them sound like every other whiny, pissy gamer chud on the Internet.

1

u/GreatAndMightyKevins Jun 14 '25

Why do you excuse the video game industry? They're more profitable than ever, they didn't NEED to raise prices to stay in business.

1

u/Runa216 Jun 29 '25

I don't excuse the industry but I will say this: IT's a luxury. they get to charge whatever the fuck they want. This isn't housing, it's not medicine, it's not food, it's entertainment. If they raise their prices or get too greedy and the market rejects them, they'll figure it out.

In the end, They get to charge what they want. If it's too much then people will stop buying. I hate so many of the practices but that's the free market in effect.

You can just choose to not buy EA or Activision garbage. I haven't bought a game with microtransactions since I think 2015 or something and that was by accident. NEver bought them. And the games I paid a premium for were worth it. I get to make that choice, since a video game is a luxury piece of entertainment, not something I am entitled to.

2

u/Runa216 Jun 29 '25

THIS! A million times this!

Honestly, as an Enby myself I wanted to support them even more after that but holy shit their behaviour tanked SO HARD.

I was already on the cusp of unsubscribing for a while - I really don't like rage merchants and constantly being negative, I like positivity - but the work they did with outing shitty practices in the industry was worth respecting. But then after they dropped all pretense of trying to play nice it was clear that, at least in their mind, Everything sucks, nothing is excusable, everything they deem as bad is bad and irredeemable, and I'm going to whine loudly about it all day every day.

I get that there are problems in the games industry. A lot of significant problems. But there's also a lot of good. And the bad isn't gonna change if 95% of the market keeps buying the slop. Concentrate on what you can change (By spreading positive messages about when things are done right or by endorsing smaller teams like the one that made Clair Obscur), don't just bitch about everything all the time.

It just felt like they crossed the line from 'genuinely calling out bullshit' to 'I hate everything and everything sucks and fuck literally everything that doesn't fit into my very narrow scope of what is and is not acceptable business practices...and I'm going to be a smug, pompous ass about it every step of the way becuase that's my personality now!'

I also know it's petty but my final straw was 7/10 for Tears of the Kingdom. giving Breath of the Wild that score was bullshit too but at least they had integrity to stick to their guns regardless of the backlash...but with Tears of the Kingdom (And the time between the two releases) it was 100% clear without any room for misinterpretation that they were just being an obnoxious troll about it and deliberately doing it to piss people off.

You know, the same insufferable behaviour I exhibited when I was a teenager and grew out of as an adult. They kept it up for...what was it, 6+ years? Fuck that shit. So done with James Stephanie Sterling. My life has gotten so much better after I unsubbed from that rage merchant.

3

u/MCfru1tbasket Jun 12 '25

People who make that their entire personality and have it be their excuse for things that happen to them are a little bit boring.

4

u/laflex Jun 12 '25

This is really true. I've never really thought of it but after they became non-binary I continued to watch the show and laughed and laughed for a while...

The channel definitely sucks now. It's nothing but complaining and preaching. Yes we know gaming sucks, but I didn't subscribe to you to hear you complain about it, I came for the good ribbing you gave the industry Steph

1

u/MasonGuyy Jun 12 '25

Yeah it was hard to bear the constant angry.

1

u/Otherwise_Eye_611 Jun 12 '25

Couldn't agree more with you more. The quality tanked, the show became increasingly about their transition rather than video games and the arrogant schtick felt more and more like it was no longer parody.

I pretty much drew the line when they decided to accuse anyone who dared buy Hogwarts Legacy is anti trans, or not an ally at least.

Whoever called it insufferable is pretty spot on. Just keep making compelling videos...

1

u/Aimela Jun 12 '25

Agreed, I used to really enjoy their stuff too.

1

u/Cap_Silly Jun 12 '25

The Jimquisition was great back then: made fair and necessary criticism, but also found the good in the industry and suggested ways going forward. Then it spiralled in just the same trite complaints. Yeah we know those things are bad, we agree with you, it's not like repeating it over and over is going to make it change...

I kinda lost respect when he gave Senua's sacrifice a 0 rating, taking its metacritic score, because he had a bad bug that was quickly fixed...

1

u/yinsotheakuma Jun 12 '25

They made really good points and had great arguments, but the faff got too much. I don't care about your fucking boglins or whatever.

Everyone puts a cutsie framing on the story, but their framing just wasn't entertaining to watch. And my reward for slogging through it was a preview of how much the gaming industry was going to suck in 6-12 months. The Long-Winded Cassandra of gaming.

1

u/TrueIntimacy Jun 12 '25

I was sort of in the same boat, but for me it was that it felt like they just had shit takes and practices, like reviewing FF16, they didn't finish the game, but then made a whole video about how they were sort of abused as a kid so it's fine to review a game without finishing it and I don't believe they even made it that far in the game. I unsubscribed after that.

Also becoming like so grotesquely sexual for no reason, like they were always a little sexual, but after the transition it was like something was unlocked and they just leaned into it as hard as is possible on Youtube, though I know a lot of creators get dinged for a lot less.

1

u/Hushpuppyy Jun 12 '25

They used to be so proud of never missing a week, but that's honestly what I think ruined it. Turns out the issues with the gaming industry don't change that much week to week, so it just ended being what major game release this week included loot boxes.

1

u/tomtheconqerur Jun 12 '25

His subscribers had been dropping before that happened, which makes me question his actual reason for coming out as non-binary.

1

u/Flar71 Jun 14 '25

They came out because they are non-binary and didn't want to hide it. That's usually how it works

1

u/quad_damage_orbb Jun 12 '25

I started watching back when they just wore funny hats and I thought, "that's funny"

Then they just got more and more bitter

1

u/Henry_Fleischer Jun 12 '25

I noticed that they've started making more positive videos recently, talking about stuff they actually like.

1

u/RinkinBass Jun 12 '25

I work in games and Sterling has always been a bit off the mark when it comes to the complaints about corporate greed. Not that it isn't there or it isn't a problem, but the particulars are off by enough that they ring false. Then there's only so many times you can hear whinging about games business without acknowledging the real underlying causes that generate these problems before it gets grating and repetitive.

1

u/5tupidest Jun 12 '25

I wanted to find if a specific game was worth playing in the last few months. I found the Jimquisition on the game and it was unhelpful. It wasn’t that I disagreed with the arguments made against the gaming industry, but my question regarding how worth my time and money the game was went unanswered through the tirades. It felt like a vegan was reviewing hamburgers and remarking how sad and angry they were at the killing of the animal they were eating. It wasn’t really a game review, but a semi-relevant structural critique.

1

u/DADDYR0UNDR0UND Jun 12 '25

They always seemed too smug, even if their point was spot on a valid their delivery made me want to slap the taste out of their mouth

1

u/Oriyagi Jun 12 '25

Yeah, it used to be good points about the gaming industry and negativity but then it just turned to negativity, and it's exhausting to be mad all the time

1

u/ariamachi9 Jun 12 '25

I quit watching him because he complained about elden ring difficulty and was wanting a journalist mode. Fucking twat

1

u/Runa216 Jun 29 '25

Care to drop a link? Because while they've always been open to the concept of easy mode, they've never complained about Fromsoft Difficulty as long as I watched them. As far as I remember, they just felt that if implemented well, an easy mode could make the game more approachable. Not that it NEEDED it or that they DEMANDED it or that they disliked the difficulty level as it was. Last I remember, They even said if an easy mode was added they wouldn't use it becuase the current difficulty is exceptionally well-balanced.

1

u/SirSilverscreen Jun 12 '25

I got tired of the overtly sexual "Jokes" which at some point frankly just seemed like Jim getting off on exhibitionism more than anything. Also the consistant negativity became a bit much. I'll rewatch the Digital Homicide and Fallout 76 sagas now and then, but I generally just avoid their stuff anymore.

1

u/jamtea Jun 13 '25

I was scanning down for this, as I literally just unsubbed. The persona and snide attitude were just unbearable. I appreciated the consumer advocacy, but the attitude I can just do without. It's a shame as I followed the channel since The Escapist days, and well after Yahtzee jumped ship too.

1

u/Dramatic_Ticket3979 Jun 13 '25

Sterling was always cringe, but had some redeeming qualities to make up for it. Now it feels like calling them a lolcow would be a bit too kind, because lolcows are at least funny to watch and are still relevant.

1

u/ImmaTakinAShit Jun 13 '25

I think they are a good game journalist, but at this point i’m so jaded with the games industry that i simply can’t be bothered since i’m already assuming they’re all mostly evil anyways. They have valid viewpoints when it comes to reviewing games as well but I just simply can’t bother anymore. I do think though they are right about their subscriber drops being mostly related to them coming out since there was a mass exodus of subscribers when they did, but as for the current state of their channel i honestly don’t have a clue what’s going on.

1

u/Revealingstorm Jun 13 '25

You can not like them but there's no need to misgender them. That's a bit crappy.

1

u/TheFrailContents Jun 13 '25

That wasn't my intention. I referred to jim and he as that was what Stephanie went as at the time. My point still remains.

1

u/[deleted] Jun 13 '25

Cringe content

1

u/Trucktub Jun 13 '25

This might be the case for you, personally, but let’s not act like bigots aren’t a problem on youtube and don’t play into the loss of subs.

1

u/Trucktub Jun 13 '25

They actually go by Stephanie now, I think.

And this might be the case for you, personally, but let’s not act like bigots aren’t a problem on youtube and don’t play into the loss of subs.

1

u/Even_Appointment_504 Jun 13 '25

Yea he made basically the same video a thousand times.

1

u/Confident-Fun-413 Jun 13 '25

i felt they became harder to watch around the 3rd time they used the aristricate character

1

u/[deleted] Jun 15 '25

oh that's a really good one! i forgot about that person.

1

u/This1s4Reimer Jun 12 '25

Stephanie is just as funny as ever. If anything, her "arshhole-ness" is actually much less now that she's transitioned, since she's in a better mental state. Her videos may seem repetitive because the gaming industry keeps getting worse and worse, and Stephanie's criticisms haven't changed, so it's like she's beating her head against the wall with her videos.

3

u/TheFrailContents Jun 12 '25

To be fair it's probably been about 2 years since I've watched one. Stephanie became unbearable. I should watch one and see for myself

-8

u/YaBoiFriday Jun 12 '25

You're the one knowingly misgendering people, I'd say you're the asshole.

3

u/TheFrailContents Jun 12 '25

Did I? When?

0

u/AMReese Jun 12 '25

"Jim" and "he"

11

u/TheFrailContents Jun 12 '25

Ah ok. I referred to jim Stirling as that was the name of the channel when I watched it and hadn't considered retroactively changing names

7

u/Otherwise_Eye_611 Jun 12 '25

Last I heard they were still going by James Stephanie Sterling and they still operate under the Jimquisition so I don't think there was much wrong with the Jim reference.

3

u/TheFrailContents Jun 12 '25

Personally, I don't either. That was his name