Rooster Teeth

I looked into vids and Discovery channel had assault by a producer against a child happened under Zaslav’s watch and that was swept under the rug till relatively recently.

I called it with how bad Zaslav is early and it still went worse, somehow

Which of RT's shows are the least graphic or profane? Asking for myself, cuz even though I'm a grown man I still prefer shows more like "The Simpsons" (which are more tame than most "adult shows")

There's Nomad of Nowhere. I think that show was pretty tame. Then again I haven't seen that show in forever so I might be wrong about it being tame.

I'd say RWBY.

They're selling, but I wonder who'll be buying. RvB's status as a machinima has to make most companies uncomfortable, RWBY has always cost too much, and nothing else they have has been particularly successful. ...RWBY might be worth rebooting in some other medium

As I mentioned earlier, I suspect that if anyone is buying the rights to RvB, Microsoft will probably get the right of first refusal (and might well snap it up on principle) because of the machinima factor.

It's also assuming they do sell. In the corporate world it can be plenty valuable to just sit on an IP so no one else can make money from it, and you can make something with it when it might be nostalgic down the line.

I'll be real that while I didn't feel lot's of emotions about it I will be honest when I say that I do believe the staff who works there are hopefully doing fine since they might lose their jobs after that.

On the other hand, WBD is drowning in debt, they need cash in hand now.

They've cancelled stuff far more valuable than anything Rooster Teeth has without selling or licensing it.

Like, don't think Rooster Teeth's assets would make much of a dent. To say nothing that they can keep profiting of those I Ps without producing more.

RWBY was bigger in Japan than it was in the West IIRC, it even go into an Arcsys game. So they might have some luck selling it to a Japanese company?

Im still not sure who would buy RWBY.

A show so tied to a deceased creator. Like... would you even try to reboot that? What would the reaction be to a re-imagining of RWBY divorced from its creator? I suppose not starting with several seasons of meandering plot would be a plus, but so much of RWBY's identity is tied to Mounty Oum and Rooster Teeth it'd feel like any attempt to make a new one would be doomed. You can try to buy it and continue it but that comes with its own issues. Not least the amount of time that passes before such a sale happens.

Like, I never was a fan so maybe im reading the room wrong but it seems like the kind of show I have trouble seeing someone throwing millions at WB to buy.

Rv B has the issue everyone already mentioned, so that's like, Rooster Teeth's two biggest shows that are awkward sells. What's left, Deathbattle? You can make a show identical to Deathbattle without buying the IP. Why would you bother. It's not like the characters of Boomstick and Wiz are big merch movers. And Deathbattle's already a show that exists in a legal grey area due to using characters WB didn't own.

Edited by Ghilz on Mar 6th 2024 at 7:54:17 AM

RWBY and RVB both had a lot of their elements inspired by Rooster Teeth. Flynt Coal was a meme from the company. Several characters were voiced by a rotation of in-house actors.

I think a lot of the talent they lost was due to poor relations with Rooster Teeth, like Glynda's VA, Shane Newville, Gray Haddock, whoever the creator of Nomad of Nowhere was, that Joel guy who voiced Caboose, so this might be good for the show.

A reboot would be laughable. We're 9 seasons in with no resolution, ain't nobody going to have time for that. Then again, we've had the manga and the anime retell the story to us twice now.

The only question I have is what happens to Monty's notes that habe supposedly been guiding the show since his passing? I don't think legally those notes would be included in a buyout?

As for the people working there, I don't really have any empathy for people I've never met and whom an unknown number of whom may have contributed to a hostile work environment - but it is shocking to look back and see how far Rooster Teeth fell. End of an era.

Maybe Channel Awesome will be next. Maybe we're entering a whole new wave of independently owned entertainment?

Edited by FOFD on Mar 6th 2024 at 8:50:24 AM

Technically Channel awesome is already independent unless someone convinced Michaud to sell after i stopped caring. Pretty sure the only time they'll stop is when Doug drops dead.

Hahaha, no.

God I wish it were true.

Back when I was a kid I remember

• Smosh
• Nostalgia Critic
• Machinima
• Rooster Teeth
• Newgrounds
• Tobuscus
• E3
• The Game Station
• Screwattack
• Team Four Star

It seemed like way too much content for me to absorb... and most of those are gone now. It feels like the era of hobbyist/community-made content for nerds is over unless you're into breadtube.

Edited by FOFD on Mar 6th 2024 at 9:08:15 AM

That's just patently not true though. There's a ton of people doing stuff for nerds. Heck half the stuff you listed is more like... platforms. Like, I guess if you mean there's less platforms, yeah that part's true, they are all on youtube or tik tok. But people doing stuff for nerds that's still going strong.

Joined the RT fandom kind of late, 2017, but it was possibly their most productive period, as I moved from RVB to RWBY, and then many other original shows (never followed much the Let's Plays, podcasts and such). As the new decade started it all came down: the exposes of the toxic work environment, the pandemic, and corporate complications first slowing down productivity and ultimately killing the company altogether. Sad to see them go out like this.

Regarding "Monty's notes", he developed RWBY with Miles and Kerry, so just by hiring them whoever buys the show would get everything that was planned. And I don't see why they wouldn't be brought in, shows continuity and respect with the property, and they don't have their names tarnished like Gray Haddock (who has seemingly vanished after all the controversy he caused).

I'm sad to see the company go. But yeah, unfortunately the writing has been all over the walls. RT has been struggling for the past few years. I think the Ryan and Adam incident and the previous big round of layoffs lost them a large chunk of their audience, and they never were able to recover from that, not by regaining their old fans or expanding to any new audiences. And financially, RT has often made bad bets, investing a lot of money in projects that did not pan out.

All company specific stuff aside though, the big problem is that there is an economic chill. A lot of online content was reliant on the culture of free money in the tech sector when interest rates were at zero. This is the reason many streaming services have started raising prices and cracking down on account sharing, why Vice is being shuttered etc.

I really feel for Grif and Mando though, I've been a big fan of the new RTP, and Mando just moved to Austin. Mando of course still has Cult Podcast, which while it is on the Roost, is a show that existed for years independently before the acquisition and doesn't require much to make.

Dillon Goo, founder of an indie animation studio of the same name staffed by former RT animators, is interested in buying RWBY.

Not sure how feasible that is for them — especially with how WBD has been acting and the potential price tag — but it's probably a far better prospect than most other options.

Edited by Karxrida on Mar 7th 2024 at 3:47:01 AM

Will this effect Tales of the Stinky Dragon or was RT just their host? That podcast/show was the most fun I've had with a new Rooster Teeth property in half a decade, I hope they don't die just as they were getting started.

Also wonder what will happen to all the lesser IP's like Nomad of Nowhere, Camp Camp, and others that aren't likely to get bought by someone. While I could care less about Gen:Lock (except a full reboot) and I know some of these have been dead for years I'd hate for them to be just gone.

If Microsoft buys the RVB IP... then honestly, I personally would have overall benefited from this whole thing, which is weird.

Like, I don't actually imbibe any RT media now, but I do have fondness for RVB, and if it gets bought by Microsoft then at least we'd probably start seeing official RVB figures at Target made by Mcfarlane which... would be kinda cool.

There was a stream last night, I only caught the early part because of time zones, but there's a text recap of most things said here and a re-upload of the VOD here (can't guarantee that one stays up)

Basically, the company still has about 60 days before they officially dissolvvre. RvB and Camp Camp will finish their last seasons, RTP will keep going until the end and no without any filter. There's talks taht the talent will get to keep the youtube channels. F**kface is apparently going to change their name.

Of the part I saw, I was heartbroken by Barbara's first turn on the mic. She was devastated, and no wonder, because as she said she has worked at Rooster Teeth longer than she has done anything else.

Dang.

How's Hero Hei doing with this news? I just thought about him. Dude's not going to have a channel if he can't talk about how RWBY is garbage anymore.

Dude talks about vtubers now and is still the same asshole as ever.

Edited by terumokou on Mar 12th 2024 at 7:06:06 AM

Huh. Glad he found a new niche I guess.