John Bain (Totalbiscuit) has passed away

Started by Dr. Pezus, May 24, 2018, 11:41 PM

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Dr. Pezus



Rip.
So sad. Just 33 years old.

Xevross

Man, I used to really like this guy. This is so sad, cancer really sucks. I hope he ended life fairly peacefully.

Dr. Pezus

Man, I used to really like this guy. This is so sad, cancer really sucks. I hope he ended life fairly peacefully.
Yeah I really liked his wtf vids back in the day. Got me interested in loads of indies

the-pi-guy


Kerotan

I thought his god of war bashing was bad and I know he's said nasty things like wishing cancer on people in the past but we all make mistakes so rip.

Xevross

I thought his god of war bashing was bad and I know he's said nasty things like wishing cancer on people in the past but we all make mistakes so rip.
Yeah I don't know if it was as a result of his cancer, but the last few years I didn't really like him. He became very negative and salty, also very PC master race and all that. But I don't want to blame him for that, I have no idea what effect being told you only have a few years to live can have on your mental health. I just choose to remember him for when I liked him and used to watch him a bit. He did a lot of good, and its always a shame for someone to die like this.

Ludicrous Speed

May 25, 2018, 12:35 PM Last Edit: May 25, 2018, 12:39 PM by Ludicrous Speed
Oh, I was wondering why GAF/Resetera hated him. Criticizing Sony games certainly explains it.

Can't say I've ever seen a single one of his videos, maybe I have and don't remember, but cancer sucks. My Dad passed because of it, what sucks most is the progression, it can seem like there's hope, then you're on your deathbed. That's what happened to TB.

Xevross

Oh, I was wondering why GAF/Resetera hated him. Criticizing Sony games certainly explains it.

Can't say I've ever seen a single one of his videos, maybe I have and don't remember, but cancer sucks. My Dad passed because of it, what sucks most is the progression, it can seem like there's hope, then you're on your deathbed. That's what happened to TB.
Yeah he constantly criticised exclusives for just existing. Most recently he dismissed any notion that God of War could be good because its a console exclusive with no FOV slider and all that. I never understood what was up with him.

Yeah it is awful, three of my grandparents died from cancer, although two of them brought it upon themselves by smoking way too much for a lot of their lives. It was slower for all of them and we knew it was coming, so it wasn't too hard to cope with. I can't imagine what it would be like to lose someone so suddenly and so young.

Kerotan

Oh, I was wondering why GAF/Resetera hated him. Criticizing Sony games certainly explains it.

Can't say I've ever seen a single one of his videos, maybe I have and don't remember, but cancer sucks. My Dad passed because of it, what sucks most is the progression, it can seem like there's hope, then you're on your deathbed. That's what happened to TB.
He criticised xbox a lot too. Basically he was a pc fanboy and part of the master race. You'd think he would chill from all that being told you've only a short while left to live but he actually doubled down on it. But as Xevross said cancer could have messed him up mentally especially with all the drugs he'd been taking.

I actually like him years ago but the last few years didn't watch him at all.

Dr. Pezus

He criticised xbox a lot too. Basically he was a pc fanboy and part of the master race. You'd think he would chill from all that being told you've only a short while left to live but he actually doubled down on it. But as Xevross said cancer could have messed him up mentally especially with all the drugs he'd been taking.

I actually like him years ago but the last few years didn't watch him at all.
Steroids probably had an effect on him. Can make people a bit crazy

Xevross

Steroids probably had an effect on him. Can make people a bit crazy
Yeah, that's why I don't want to judge him for anything he did recently. I used to like him a lot and that's the guy I'm choosing to remember.

Xevross

Its been amazing to see how well known and respected he was. I watch quite a lot of different twitch streamers and youtubers, and every single one of them was not just aware of what happened but was quite upset and had a lot to say about him and what he meant to them.

He was a very big and influential figure in the industry, but that's only really become apparent to me in the last week. Its such a shame.

Xevross

Totalbiscuit/John Bain's wife Gemma thanks the community. (Reddit) | ResetEra

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Not sure if this would fit here or in Etcetera, but since this is John Bain, lets share something positive for once!

 I got this from a Discord which linked to a Reddit. Here it is:

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Thanks to everyone who contributed to the funding operations run by GoFundMe, Chrono.gg, and the Developers of WFTO for my family (myself and Orion). I feel the need in this instance to state the severity of our debt to the IRS so that people do not see this as me receiving more support than required to make amends with previous debts.

 I currently owe the IRS an amount more than 675,000 USD due to several errors over our careers. It all began with me hiring a CPA that required me to sign a piece of documentation that stated I would never seek legal recourse, and then continuing to do business with said person and his contracted bookkeeper and knowing little with what it takes to balance self employment taxes in combination with royalties (youtube) taxes. In short, my CPA was not fully fit for the position, but never let on just how badly things were when we hired him in 2011.

 In 2012, our income doubled or tripled, yet my monthly salary (as arranged by the CPA) remained the same, forcing me to often take distributions from our business account in order to afford the lifestyle that John required to carry on his career. He desperately wanted a rental property where we could have dogs as he had grown up with them all his life. As a person who would never deny a man his dog, I found a rental property that had all the things I believed a man with his early stages of cancer could want in terms of relief... a pool, spa, sauna, and rooms where we could both have offices. At the time, we also housed my mother in the basement of our home which was fitted out as an in-law suite.

 After more than a year of renting said property at a more than modest rate of $3200 per month, excluding utilities, the owners of the home had requested our departure as they meant to sell the property. By this point in time, John had full blown cancer and refused to leave the home which he so loved. I was charged with finding a way for us to keep this home which led to an agreement where we placed down $75,000 on the property directly with the homeowners, took on all property repairs, with the understanding that we would come forth with the remaining $500,000 within a year's time. We believed with John's income and my investment schemes we could certainly obtain a mortgage that could cover such a home purchase.

 Sadly, we were informed by a newly hired CPA in the area that our taxes had not been paid adequately beginning in 2012 and onward as if you fail to pay yourself a salary that scales with your businesses income, and you take distributions from the company instead, it leaves a lot of personal taxes to rack up over time, and interest charges from 2012 on top of the debts seemed impossible to tackle at this time. It was impossible for me to obtain a mortgage through any of the typical means : banks, credit union, etc. due to the housing crash that occurred during the recession. We even went so far as to try a loan that was based entirely on our monthly bank statement at an interest rate that would've buried us. It all hinged on one thing, an installment agreement from the IRS. Yet, the IRS refused to give us one based on the fact that they knew it would be impossible to recoup over half a million dollars in ten years time which is the frame in which they have to obtain all collections before they must give up and erase all outstanding debt.

 Maker Studios, just on the cusp of becoming owned by Disney helped us out when we were in quite the jam. We were coming to a crossroads where we would either lose our $75,000 investment in our home and have to move despite John's failing health and weekly chemo/radiation treatments, or accept an advance in payment that would basically leave us without an income until the debt was paid. This advance loan was in excess of $100,000 which took us over half a year to repay. I had to throw everything that I had at the payment for the house at the time. All the money from our business ($300,000) and liquidated all of my investments which made up the rest of it. We purchased the house outright in cash and were what is termed as "house poor". We had our home so John could rest easy that he could now live and eventually die in the comfort of our own home.

 However, we knew the IRS would not go away. Many of you might ask at this point in the story as to why we didn't just take the money we had in our business account and the loan from Maker and just throw all that money at the IRS so they would go away. That is the solution that would have made the most sense wouldn't it? I would have agreed with you wholeheartedly except for one reason and one reason alone, love. I knew if I forced my husband to move from what he saw as a physical representation of all of his hard work, his health would decline and while the IRS debt would've been satisfied (nearly, but not quite) I would've felt a never ending guilt that my husband would have given his health over to depression. The potential of losing him years before his time was unbearable... so I chose the house, knowing that it would be me that would have the burden of debt after his death for the rest of my natural life.

 I hired a new CPA as soon as I realized my mistake in the previous one. Sadly it was all a bit too late. The penalties racked up against us were monstrous. Letters had been written to the IRS, even letters from John's doctors explaining that he was terminal and that any income we did have often went to medical bills and to costly treatments each week, as well as surgeries and in-hospital stays for operations. The Starcraft team that we owned, Axiom unfortunately had to go as the realization of the $20,000 down payment we had to make to even rent the house in Seoul, the player's salary and transportation costs for tournaments were sinking us further into debt. We tried to find sponsorship wherever we could, but we had come into eSports at a time when Starcraft was on the decline. We didn't want to let our boys down as they had become family. Upon disbanding the team, we let them have the $20,000 from the rental down payment in order to fund their future endeavors so they were not simply cut off with nothing to show for it, apart from being the reigning GSTL champions. I tried my best to find new teams and places for them, but for most, their dream of our family team had ended.

 Fast-forward to about a year ago where we had to sign an agreement with the IRS that said we would not contest their right to put a lien on our home with the right to take it and sell it in a year's time to recoup what we owe them. I knew John would not have long, so I knew he would not have to endure the embarrassment of losing his beloved home. He had to sign the agreement as well, so he was not in the dark about the matter. His solution was always, "I'll find a way to make the money" and my rebuttal was always, "You'll still have to pay taxes on any money you make so I doubt that will be possible." Still, until the end, he refused to take donations of any kind. He would never ask for anyone's hard earned money. We both grew up as children with limited means and knew what it would mean if we asked for money from people from those same circumstances... we knew we would get the money, but at what cost to those who live paycheck to paycheck just as we did for a very long portion of our lives?

 Now, onto today... Thanks to everyone's efforts, there is an excess of $300,000 available to me to help me start again. I cannot even begin to express my gratitude to those who know me and those who are complete strangers giving their hard earned money so generously to benefit someone who has since last year had their own battle with endometrial cancer. I never mentioned this until now because since April of this year, I am in remission. Because my cancer outlook was so much more positive than John's, it felt wrong to rub it in his face publicly. He knew about it and it brought him great stress to know that both of us might leave our son, Orion an orphan. Several times we found ourselves side by side in bed, both having poison pushed into our veins for hopes that we would be better, healthier people able to do our respective jobs for the company we had built together shortly after we met 12 years ago.

 While the amount raised by the GoFundMe is not enough to erase the debt that we accrued over the years due to pure ignorance of just how the American tax system works. I have come to terms with the fact that leaving this house is the best option for me. I doubt very much that I will be able to fetch the amount I initially paid for it, but perhaps it will be enough to get the IRS to leave me alone for a time. Whatever they require from the GoFundMe funds, I will give them so that for the first time in several years, I might obtain a good night's sleep knowing I owe no one anything. Being brought up in the midwest, I never owed anyone anything because it just wasn't done. The sheer stress of this debt hung over my head every day causing no end of pain and anxiety. With the death of my father 7 months ago, and my own husband dying in my arms 2 weeks ago... I am a shell of a woman with no means of her own income.

 Money certainly doesn't buy happiness, but your money so graciously donated might just buy me a respite from the daily stress that I have lived with for more years than I can possibly remember. All I can promise in return for your generosity is that I will do my best to carry on with John's wishes that I participate in the co-optional podcast as much as my grief will let me. I will share whatever I can to ease the grief of others as mourning the loss of my husband has impacted more than just myself and my son. The gaming community as a whole is in mourning, and I find so much comfort in the fact that my husband will be remembered not just as a great man, loving husband and father, but as a beacon of truth in an industry that desperately needed guidance to produce the best possible gaming experiences for both developers and consumers.

 Thank you all. <3 Genna
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EDIT: This was added in afterwards, which ill put in a seperate quote so it has the best chance of read in correct context:
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Edit : Some of you expressed concerns that most of the debt was accrued in lieu of John's medical expenses. Well, that is also true. I've posted some screenshots on my twitter to show his medical expenses for the years 2016-2018 in order. Obviously the results for 2018 are not entirely final as they are still running claims for his week long hospital stay and operation close to the end of his life.Click to expand...

 Health expenses by year:

2016:

(​IMG)

2017:

(​IMG)

2018:

(​IMG)


Personal thoughts:
 Its a lot to take in, obviously. But i think this should be said, whether one was a proponent of TB or an opponent, this story is a seperate one. Atleast i am glad that in all the sadness, a slight flower of positivity has arisen.  
This is really heart breaking and upsetting to read. America is such a harsh country to live in for so many reasons. I really hope Gemma can find happiness in some way, but she's been through so much. I admire her for keeping on going.

Over $800k in two years on health expenses though. That's absolutely fudgy awful. How on earth do americans not do something about this?