A Note From Your Friendly Neighborhood Editor in Chief
- Thread starter Encaen
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Any word on who is taking over for Ross Lincoln? also, are the podcasts he helmed still going to continue? I only as because the "Comics and Cosplay" podcast as instrumental in helping me to begin reading and embracing comic books, and I enjoyed the hell out of the "Movies and TV" podcast, so I would be incredibly bummed out if those were no longer going to be produced on a weekly basis. With that said, good luck Mr. Vanderwall, I'm pulling for you.
Maybe it's the British in me, but saying you're going to define your site by promoting positivity over negativity seems like a cynical move to silence people with unpopular opinions.
I'm getting bored of trying to follow Twitter conversations (I'm an old man, can't follow that nonsense), or reading between the lines of comments on here. I don't visit any other sites, I don't see the wider context of these firings. If this is The Escapist coming out on one side of the GamerGate nonsense, just raise a flag and run with it. I preferred the place remaining neutral, but fuckit, if you're going to make a stand, do so honestly. If Tito was pro-GG or anti-GG, and that's why he was shitcanned, just say already.
I'm getting bored of trying to follow Twitter conversations (I'm an old man, can't follow that nonsense), or reading between the lines of comments on here. I don't visit any other sites, I don't see the wider context of these firings. If this is The Escapist coming out on one side of the GamerGate nonsense, just raise a flag and run with it. I preferred the place remaining neutral, but fuckit, if you're going to make a stand, do so honestly. If Tito was pro-GG or anti-GG, and that's why he was shitcanned, just say already.
They think we're going to suddenly embrace positivity?
Please. These forums have barely been a step up from a YouTube comments section for the past several months. Unless you're suddenly going to require people to use their real names and post all their contact info, you're never going to get polite, civil discourse on the Internet without HEAVILY moderating conversations.
Please. These forums have barely been a step up from a YouTube comments section for the past several months. Unless you're suddenly going to require people to use their real names and post all their contact info, you're never going to get polite, civil discourse on the Internet without HEAVILY moderating conversations.
I guess this is what getting old feels like: watching old friends "pass away". Russ and Steve and Susan and Jim and Paul and Greg and any number of others we've lost over the years were my little internet friends who said things that made me laugh and wrote things that made me think. When they went, I'd always say "Well at least there's still X" Now, the Xes are getting to be in short supply. No offense intended to the brave folks who've stepped in the gaps left behind, but I don't have the history with you yet. I don't have years of podcasts and reviews and editorials to get to "know" you. Perhaps in time I will. For right now I'm just a little sad to see yet another of my internet friends "move on." I find it sad that a site that has taken some fairly gutsy stances and made bold moves in the past year, would start this year with series of weak corporate decisions. I know they are at times inevitable, but when more than a third of your staff has had to "move on" in the past 2 months it makes me wonder about how much consideration is given to the community and how much is given to appease corporate overlords (who may have no vested in this site other than its ability to turn a profit)
I'm sorry if this all sounds a little negative, I feel a little hurt. Silly thing I know, for an internet site, but still. I hope the very best to Josh and the new folks and look forward to seeing what they have to bring to the table.
I'm sorry if this all sounds a little negative, I feel a little hurt. Silly thing I know, for an internet site, but still. I hope the very best to Josh and the new folks and look forward to seeing what they have to bring to the table.
Have they been caned? I know people who will pay good money for that video. Thank you Archon please may I have another ....Archon said:
Seconded. I'm not British but I think their newspapers generally consider 'objective journalism' an impossibility and so instead make clear their stances. So you get The Guardian with a right-wing editorial bias and The Economist slanting left? I am _loath_ to have something titled The Escapist get mired down with partisan stuff of any sort but I don't think glossing over what happened with 'No more frowny-faces' is going to cut it.*Verlander said:
Tito caught an unanticipated cultural fastball in the teeth. I think the guy meant well but clearly something did not please The Powers That Be. You are the editor now Mr. Vanderwall, sir.
Articulate dat shit.
* I'd like to say it's because we're too smart but maybe we're just too cussed.
Pyrian said:
yeah, that's what i was thinking. ZP is the embodiment of the negative curmudgeon, and the only reason for half the traffic on this site. seems a dangerous move, and if anything, one that should have been made when EC was still on The Escapist, as it would have been a great fit.
Speaking of comedy, that got a chortle out of me. Well played sir.albino boo said:
OT: Congrats to the new overlords! I like the sound of this positivity thing you're pushing. As for the negative comments towards your vision, haters gonna hate I guess. Hopefully less negativity around our hobbies will inject some joy into the forums and the discussions had there. On the other hand many of us use the forums to vent frustrations, so that's useful regardless. Anywho, congrats on the new positions. The King is dead, long live the King!
This sounds like a fantastic change of course. I think this is a great way to distinguish the escapist from the other sites. It's sad that people lost their jobs but I certainly understand the decision and think this will be the best for the content and its consumers.
A focus doesn't mean the other things aren't going to be discussed. But it certainly means we should be getting some more pro-gamer articles that don't call men out to all be rapists in waiting or gamers out to be women haters or whatever. Shaming articles that are just taking potshots at readers they aren't accountable to. Things that of course [/sarcasm] gamers need to be told for some reason.
It's a seriously unhealthy business model and I'm glad that the Escapist is going back to the basics in that area.
This may be in direct response to the sort of sites who would claim something like "gamers are dead" like it's a good thing. Instead of focusing on what's wrong with society or some other imagined topic, instead turning to what there is to be excited about and what sort of things are real issues.CaitSeith said:
A focus doesn't mean the other things aren't going to be discussed. But it certainly means we should be getting some more pro-gamer articles that don't call men out to all be rapists in waiting or gamers out to be women haters or whatever. Shaming articles that are just taking potshots at readers they aren't accountable to. Things that of course [/sarcasm] gamers need to be told for some reason.
This is the problem I think the Escapist is trying to change. There are a lot of gaming websites that are actively trying to change and even accuse its community in attempts to change into whatever they think they should look like.Scars Unseen said:
kind of pisses me off when taken at face value. Because what it sounds like is that the previous EiC was trying to redefine the community rather than letting the community define itself. Now that could be a total misinterpretation. What he might have meant is that he was trying to introduce new content and articles that might attract more people with different viewpoints, and that's totally fine. But because this is Twitter, there's no way to tell for sure what he actually meant.
It's a seriously unhealthy business model and I'm glad that the Escapist is going back to the basics in that area.
Pretty much exactly what I'm looking for from my geek enthusiast online hub. Curb the manufactured nontroversies and manipulative clickbait. Focus on the many things that make gaming and associated hobbies great rather than the few faults that are inherent to ANY space where people gather and interact anyways.
Captcha: my sources say no....
Captcha: my sources say no....
"Pessimist is well informed optimist." -Some dude.
Why I come to this website? Yahtzee, Jim, LRR and Critical Miss
Jim is gone, LRR stopped their shorts (thankfully Unskippable and FeedDump is still present)
Now some doesn't like Yahtzee?
I suspect soon I'll come only for leftover of LRR and Critical Miss.
Remove those and I'll stop coming.
P.S. Well, I guess there always are tubes.
Why I come to this website? Yahtzee, Jim, LRR and Critical Miss
Jim is gone, LRR stopped their shorts (thankfully Unskippable and FeedDump is still present)
Now some doesn't like Yahtzee?
I suspect soon I'll come only for leftover of LRR and Critical Miss.
Remove those and I'll stop coming.
P.S. Well, I guess there always are tubes.
This is a very interesting point. If we're not going to be getting any controversial and/or negative topics on the official side of the site because, hey, enthusiast means having to be positive, what does that mean for the user created side of the site? Are we going to start seeing the ban hammer falling if the forums or, god forbid, the official comment responses to a story start getting into negativity? If a major story breaks that is pretty much nothing but negativity (be it another GG or just another sloppy buggy AAA release) is the site just going to ignore it as if it never happened?WarpedLord said: