Editor's Note: Changing with Change
- Thread starter Steve Butts
- Start date
Congrats on getting the job! I'm also pretty curious to see what these new ideas you've got are...
Intriguing...
Intriguing...
It's best not to dwell in the past.
The Escapist is happy to welcome you as Editor-in-Chief, Steve Butts. I remember reading some of your past articles, and they weren't half-bad. I'm sure the Escapist will continue to blossom and thrive under you.
The Escapist is happy to welcome you as Editor-in-Chief, Steve Butts. I remember reading some of your past articles, and they weren't half-bad. I'm sure the Escapist will continue to blossom and thrive under you.
I'd say welcome to the Escapist, but as you have mentioned, you've been around for a while now and you know what the deal is. Changes are scary, especially the ones that we don't what they are. But change can also mean a step back. Change can mean bring back insightful commentary of Shamus Young or the shamelessly slapstick Doraleous and Associations (Johnny Ethco and Co.).
Let's see where you lead us, Captain.
Let's see where you lead us, Captain.
I think most of us will miss Pitts, but I could not think of a better replacement. I look forward to seeing how good a job you do.
On the downside, though, does this mean you won't be writing anymore stuff for the newsroom?
EDIT: Just realized; we're going from Pitts to Butts. *juvenile snicker*
On the downside, though, does this mean you won't be writing anymore stuff for the newsroom?
EDIT: Just realized; we're going from Pitts to Butts. *juvenile snicker*
Well Steve I can't wait to see what you will bring here, and I'm all excited.
And congrats on the new job!
And congrats on the new job!
A fellow student of military history as the EiC of The Escapist? Wonderful!
Which era of military history do you enjoy most, Fearless Leader?
Which era of military history do you enjoy most, Fearless Leader?
See, some of this is is concerning me. Before I go on let me say that this is more about the state of 'gaming' that Steve reflected on in the last few paragraphs, and barely at all about Steve's ability as an editor. Steve--I look forward to the direction the site takes under you.
Moving forward: I feel like "gamer" needs a new word. 'Moviegoer' can, also, apply to anyone. Someone who catches the latest Sandler flick when they remember to is just as qualified as a rabid fan of Nicolas Winding Refn who will go out of their way to catch a midnight showing of Drive (Projecting? nah). I'd also say they're equally qualified as good people, but I'd call only one of them a cinephile, and therein lies the tiny, semantic problem. I feel like readers of The Escapist are the cinephiles of our medium, rather than just the moviegoers.
I feel (and this may be my preference, far be it from me to tell you or anyone else how to run your site) that The Escapist resembles Film School Rejects [http://www.filmschoolrejects.com] more than, say, Variety or Entertainment Weekly. I say this mostly because The Escapist and FSR are the only entertainment publications I regularly read, and both of them for very similar reasons. They're both thoughtful and entertaining sites that give much more time to craft and inventiveness than hype and economic weight, and every time I read that we must give equal thought to the Angry Birds and Farmvilles of the gaming world, I'm put a bit at unease.
Angry Birds is a game, and a well made one at that, just like Eat, Pray, Love was... Okay, bad analogy, but they're both the popcorn fodder of their worlds. Angry Birds provides joy and distraction for minutes at a time until I hit a structure I can't knock down. I put the game down and am left unmoved and unaffected. And honestly, there's not too much more to say about it. It's certainly not shit [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/videos/view/jimquisition/4081-Angry-Birds-Is-Not-Sh-t], but it's no Shadow of The Collossus either. There's room for Angry Birds and SOTC in the world of gaming, just as there's room for the discussion of both. I've always felt that the Escapist valued the latter much more than the former, and that's why I've been going to this site for--Christ--almost 3 years now.
This may just be fretting, but I want to be able to come to the same place and to the same people--to a degree, obviously--for the insight I've valued for those years.
Moving forward: I feel like "gamer" needs a new word. 'Moviegoer' can, also, apply to anyone. Someone who catches the latest Sandler flick when they remember to is just as qualified as a rabid fan of Nicolas Winding Refn who will go out of their way to catch a midnight showing of Drive (Projecting? nah). I'd also say they're equally qualified as good people, but I'd call only one of them a cinephile, and therein lies the tiny, semantic problem. I feel like readers of The Escapist are the cinephiles of our medium, rather than just the moviegoers.
I feel (and this may be my preference, far be it from me to tell you or anyone else how to run your site) that The Escapist resembles Film School Rejects [http://www.filmschoolrejects.com] more than, say, Variety or Entertainment Weekly. I say this mostly because The Escapist and FSR are the only entertainment publications I regularly read, and both of them for very similar reasons. They're both thoughtful and entertaining sites that give much more time to craft and inventiveness than hype and economic weight, and every time I read that we must give equal thought to the Angry Birds and Farmvilles of the gaming world, I'm put a bit at unease.
Angry Birds is a game, and a well made one at that, just like Eat, Pray, Love was... Okay, bad analogy, but they're both the popcorn fodder of their worlds. Angry Birds provides joy and distraction for minutes at a time until I hit a structure I can't knock down. I put the game down and am left unmoved and unaffected. And honestly, there's not too much more to say about it. It's certainly not shit [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/videos/view/jimquisition/4081-Angry-Birds-Is-Not-Sh-t], but it's no Shadow of The Collossus either. There's room for Angry Birds and SOTC in the world of gaming, just as there's room for the discussion of both. I've always felt that the Escapist valued the latter much more than the former, and that's why I've been going to this site for--Christ--almost 3 years now.
This may just be fretting, but I want to be able to come to the same place and to the same people--to a degree, obviously--for the insight I've valued for those years.
Honestly my only real changes would be, reverting to a non-numeral based scoring system for reviews (screw metacritic, I used to tout the Escapist to my friends because they didn't use numbers... that changed), and reigning in the misleading 'news' headlines (and snide bias remarks in articles) that department puts out far too often.
Welcome, lord of us.
Treat us well, and the same will be done to you... or the other way around...
Treat us well, and the same will be done to you... or the other way around...
"From the ashes, a fire shall be woken. A light from the shadow shall spring. Renewed shall be the pen that was broken. The crownless shall now be king"
Slightly modified for suitability reasons.
Slightly modified for suitability reasons.
grats on the promotion steve! i remember back when you started here, writing news and articles. i could tell you were gonna be good for the site. the escapist picked a good replacement for russ.
...not to mention you both have last names that make for great jokes. ;-)
...not to mention you both have last names that make for great jokes. ;-)