Legendary Reviewer, Caster, Youtuber Totalbiscuit dies at 33

[Jedi]

An unfortunate bit of news has hit us here in the gaming community, I figured i'd post this here so people can collectively both find this out and pay whatever respects they may have. 

Rest in peace, I didn't always agree with you, but you were very entertaining and a likable guy. I hope your friends and family can find peace in this trying time.

As far as I know the cause was cancer, but I'm not 100% sure of the exact type or anything, so i'm sorry. 

Edited May 24, 2018 by Jedi

[Captain Karnage]

God, I thought he had gotten over the cancer a while ago.

I used to watch him a lot back when I was in high school. All I can say is I hope his family can make it through such a rough time.

[Fabulously Olivier]

He fought hard, and he will be missed. Totalbiscuit seemed to always be honest and likable from my perspective, and I never understood why he had a hatedom. He was much less of a firebrand than other youtube personalities and would usually take a centrist perspective. 

 

Regardless, best wishes to Genna. Hearing them together was always a happy experience, and I can't imagine what she's going through. No amount of preparation can soften that kind of loss.

[Etrurian emperor]

Its a shame. Since I'm not a PC guy there wasn't a lot of overlap between my interest and the stuff he covered but when those aspects did meet he proved to be an interesting guy with interesting things to say. He seemed to be a talented and pretty respectable guy.

Its not entirely surprising though. I hadn't watched his stuff in a while and when I watched his top games of last year I was startled at how weak his once very deep voice had become. 

[Tryhard]

I did watch his stuff from time to time and I thought he had great production qualities, spoke about much of the same games I was interested in on PC and even if I didn't agree with him on several occasions, he was definitely a great entertainer in my eyes. Very sad to hear the news.

For those who don't know, one of the well-known general emotes from twitch is taken from an image of him - I actually didn't know this myself.

 

Edited May 24, 2018 by Tryhard

[Dragoncat]

Wow, I hadn't heard of him I don't think, but this is sad! 33 is pretty young...

I'm sure he will be missed in the LP/Youtube gaming community.

[Slumber]

I disagreed with him on a lot of stuff, but I always felt that he was an overall positive force in what he did. 

When he said the cancer treatments were no longer effective a few weeks ago, I thought there'd be maybe a few months for him. 

RIP

[Sire]

I started watching TotalBiscuit back in the World of Warcraft: Cataclysm days. He was my gateway into hardcore PC gaming and Steam as well as Youtube (introducing me to people like Jesse Cox and the Yogscast). While I no longer watch his content regularly as his attitude towards his viewerbase rubs me the wrong way, way back when I remember the fun times I had watching TB mess around with his friends while also delivering solid first impressions and other content. I always saw my opinion of him being "I dislike TotalBiscuit, but John Bain seems an all right guy."

Either way, I will be missing him and what he has done for the gaming community. To think he was going to retire about 20 days ago, and then suddenly he passes away. I hope his family and friends will remain strong despite his passing.

[Ertrick36]

I used to watch him a lot, and I actually did learn of his illness through watching him back a few years ago...

Yeah, I definitely might've had disagreements with his opinions and reviews, but I think that is actually better than me agreeing with every word he said.  Can't say for sure, but I'm willing to wager he wanted there to be some disagreements, as they tend to enrich the mind.  As such, I can't help but feel what he did was always for good, even when he was ripping a game apart for not running at 60 FPS or giving him shoddy FoV sliders.  Plus, he helped me to become a more open-minded individual.

He may be gone, but he left an impact on many that will stick around for quite a while.  Rest in Peace, John Bain.

[Dr. Tarrasque]

RIP.

I enjoyed his "WTF is..." videos back when Humble Bundle was at its 3rd or so iteration of the original bundle.

[Anacybele]

I've never heard of him, but I saw the news on Twitter and I can only think, man, that is way too young. Poor guy.

Btw, it was colon cancer. Article on Twitter said he was diagnosed with precancerous masses in his bowel and it later became terminal. Just to point out since the OP wasn't sure.

As for why some people didn't like him, apparently he drew controversy with a comment he made about some feminist lady who got death threats. He said the threats weren't credible because she wasn't dead yet and I guess some took that the wrong way. I kinda think that's a bit of a wtf thing to say too, honestly.

Edited May 25, 2018 by Anacybele

[Florete]

I knew it was coming soon. Sad. I've been watching most of his content for a few years now, so I was aware of the situation.

Rest well.

[Wanderer-Of-Fates]

I didn't know him or his stuff I don't think, but I'm sorry to hear it nonetheless. My heart goes out to his family and fans. Rest well indeed.

[Retyl]

.

Edited September 6, 2018 by Retyl

[Slumber]

48 minutes ago, Retyl said:

Wait, seriously? This so surprising. I thought that he didn't have cancer anymore. I never watched his WTF series or other videos but I would listen to the co-optional podcast every now and then in 2016 and 2017.

Rest well, TotalBiscuit.

Yeah, his cancer came back and the treatments didn't work anymore. He announced this about a month ago, and was retiring from game commentary because he didn't know how much time he'd have left.

[NoirCore]

I'll be honest; I admittedly don't know the guy. But with that said, he sounds like a guy that-although his past has some blemishes-devoted himself to be a good person, and it sucks that he had to pass away so early thanks to this rotten disease. Heck, he's the second big YouTuber I've heard die from cancer, the first being Edd Gould of Eddsworld fame.

May his family and friends hold him in their memories, and continue to live happily for his sake.

[Samias]

TB was always a huge consumer advocate in the PC market with his stellar Port Report series of videos. Even if you'd never watched his videos, he was a huge influence on YouTube, on PC gaming, and games criticism. Despite what some may say about him being a divisive person, he always pushed for game companies to do better. To stop being lazy. To treat consumers with respect. He gave exposure to many good causes, uplifting many great, smaller projects while lambasting lazy ports, lawsuits issued in bad faith, and the growing low effort, asset flip cesspool. He will be missed.

And for those who don't know, one of TB's greatest regrets was not following up on his health issues as soon as they occurred. By the time he found out he had colon cancer, it had already spread to his liver and spine. So while he was a PC gaming advocate first, never forget that surviving cancer often revolves around early detection and intervention. It was something he talked about in his very frank videos about his own health care. Unfortunately, while TB survived far longer than most people in his position, his time here was already known to be so much shorter than someone so positively influential ever deserved.

[Water Mage]

It’s weird feeling when a internet celebrity dies. They seem immortal for some reason. Perhaps because to many, they’re usually just  disembodied voice, but one that actually can interact with you, so they give this feeling of “close, yet far”.

My deepest condolences to the family. I know what’s to lose a family member to cancer, and one you thought they’re surprassed. Seeing it come back is a horrible feeling, even worse than finding out for the first time.

I do wish his would just shut up. To me, one of the most disgusting things a person can do is mocking the dead. They aren’t here to defend themselves, and you won’t ever have to interact with them again, so why mock them?

[Tryhard]

11 hours ago, Anacybele said:

As for why some people didn't like him, apparently he drew controversy with a comment he made about some feminist lady who got death threats. He said the threats weren't credible because she wasn't dead yet and I guess some took that the wrong way. I kinda think that's a bit of a wtf thing to say too, honestly.

He's always been abrasive and he's also said some very dumb things at times, as a human does. Most of which he's apologised for in the past. It eventually was at the point in which he gave up social media and reading comments for a time because he felt it was too toxic and he felt compelled to respond.

In that specific case, he's a popular public persona that has written about how you absolutely should not publicise death threats as he undoubtedly received many of them. It's likely to be the reason why he was so annoyed - but the point he was trying to get across is that these threats are empty and you should not show yourself to be fearful of them by publicising them, or try to play them up, it encourages the same behaviour because the people sending these threats are after one thing, a response, and to give it to them is not advisable.

1 hour ago, Water Mage said:

I do wish his would just shut up. To me, one of the most disgusting things a person can do is mocking the dead. They aren’t here to defend themselves, and you won’t ever have to interact with them again, so why mock them?

It's easy to talk shit on the internet. Many of them get wrong the facts on what they are hung up about and why they dislike him in the first place.

Edited May 25, 2018 by Tryhard

[Anacybele]

37 minutes ago, Tryhard said:

He's always been abrasive and he's also said some very dumb things at times, as a human does. Most of which he's apologised for in the past. It eventually was at the point in which he gave up social media and reading comments for a time because he felt it was too toxic and he felt compelled to respond.

In that specific case, he's a popular public persona that has written about how you absolutely should not publicise death threats as he undoubtedly received many of them. It's likely to be the reason why he was so annoyed - but the point he was trying to get across is that these threats are empty and you should not show yourself to be fearful of them by publicising them, or try to play them up, it encourages the same behaviour because the people sending these threats are after one thing, a response, and to give it to them is not advisable.

I see. Yeah, I do get the point, but yeah, it's not advisable to say such a thing.

[RJWalker]

Man, it certainly sounded from the post announcing his retirement a month ago that he had more time. The post made it seem like he was going to take a backseat in the coming months while his content creation (especially his podcast) transitions over to his wife and people he trusts  (so people like Jesse Cox and Dodger for his podcast). It sounded like he had a few more months at least. Does going off treatment for terminal cancer really make it progress that fast? That's... rough. The gaming world will never be the same without him.

[Etrurian emperor]

38 minutes ago, RJWalker said:

Man, it certainly sounded from the post announcing his retirement a month ago that he had more time. The post made it seem like he was going to take a backseat in the coming months while his content creation (especially his podcast) transitions over to his wife and people he trusts  (so people like Jesse Cox and Dodger for his podcast). It sounded like he had a few more months at least. Does going off treatment for terminal cancer really make it progress that fast? That's... rough. The gaming world will never be the same without him.

I have the feeling that was the plan but that things suddenly went really wrong really quickly. 

[Slumber]

13 hours ago, Water Mage said:

I do wish his would just shut up. To me, one of the most disgusting things a person can do is mocking the dead. They aren’t here to defend themselves, and you won’t ever have to interact with them again, so why mock them?

Then I advise that you don't read the comments on the Kotaku article about his death. 

A lot of people are hung up that he didn't put up with Brianna Wu's bullshit, and that he was one of the people that got latched onto when GamerGate picked up Steam... Even though he denounced those people, said that GG went far beyond what he was trying to say, and spent the rest of his life fighting Nazis, the alt-right, and in general the crowd that Gamer Gate attracted. And they use these things to essentially say "He deserved this" or "Why should I care that a piece of shit nobody died". 

As a liberal, I hate liberals sometimes. A lot of them preach tolerance and empathy, but the moment somebody does something they disagree with, they're less than human in their eyes and deserve to die. Rapists and people who blurt out something inappropriate once or twice are tossed into the same fire. TB spent the last 5ish years of his life on the side of these people, and they're upset that he called out a hypocritical human pomeranian and that he started an idea that eventually spiraled out of his control. It really is frustrating. 

I wouldn't even wish cancer on actual Nazis like Richard Spencer. I want him to live a lonely, miserable life in obscurity. But not cancer. 

Edited May 26, 2018 by Slumber

[Etrurian emperor]

Its annoying that lots of people feel the need to bring that whole Gamergate up as an excuse to be petty. Didn't Gamergate die down years ago?

Gamergate was a fascinating display of career and social suicides on both ends of the spectrum but it wasn't nearly as big as the people involved like to pretend it was. And portraying TB as some sort of grand architect for this eeeeeevil sexist conspiracy seems even more silly.  Wasn't his contribution limited to saying that they have a point when it came to the journalistic complaints and calling everyone with far right political complaints an idiot?

[Tryhard]

1 hour ago, Etrurian emperor said:

Its annoying that lots of people feel the need to bring that whole Gamergate up as an excuse to be petty. Didn't Gamergate die down years ago?

Gamergate was a fascinating display of career and social suicides on both ends of the spectrum but it wasn't nearly as big as the people involved like to pretend it was. And portraying TB as some sort of grand architect for this eeeeeevil sexist conspiracy seems even more silly.  Wasn't his contribution limited to saying that they have a point when it came to the journalistic complaints and calling everyone with far right political complaints an idiot?

I think the main thing is that TB held those beliefs long before Gamergate was even a thing, and yet he was portrayed of a ringleader of some kind when he was clearly not. Even if he did temper his opinions of it, he did get a lot of shit for tepidly supporting it at the time, though.

If anyone would like to give John/Totalbiscuit a little back for what he's done in his career, there has been a gofundme set up for the behalf of Gemma Bain. As you can imagine, it has already received a huge amount of support in this short time.

https://www.gofundme.com/TotalBiscuit

Edited May 26, 2018 by Tryhard