Escapist heading in "a new direction"

[Saelune]

To address your second point: I wouldn't expect any changes to how things are currently run here on the forums for the next little bit. We're basically re-doing everything right now, and to make sure each part of The Escapist gets updated, we're doing it in chunks. The YouTube channel has mostly been cleaned up and we're starting to introduce new content there. Now I'm working on the website facelift and prepping for new content there. Then we'll move over here to the forums and get it all in tip top shape.

Safe to do it that way then do everything in all one big chunk because that's how mistakes happen and I don't think Escapist can afford anymore mistakes right now.

We'll do some feedback loops once we're ready.

Alright then.

I mean, what do you think was going to happen? Free Speech isn't actually Free. Part of Free Speech is taking on the responsibility of making your Speech worth listening to. Pretending to be Free Speech usually ends up leading to one echo chamber or another.

But then, control speech at least somewhat doesn't do that much better.

I think you're overthinking this. If we said, "Say what you want. You won't get punished." but then we start punishing people for that somehow, then yeah, Sanctuary would be pretending to have free speech, but that has never happened, and I've made VERY sure that that doesn't happen.

Either you can say literally anything you want, or you don't have free speech. That is what people who defend Nazis tell me anyways.

To do the mod thing:

Let's keep this thread on topic please. The feedback we're getting is helping and this stuff is way off topic

Maybe let the other users know.

 

[Bedinsis]

So I saw that the show The Game Overthinker has been canceled and The Big Picture has instead become a biweekly show. Any comments?

 

[Arnoxthe1]

To address your second point: I wouldn't expect any changes to how things are currently run here on the forums for the next little bit. We're basically re-doing everything right now, and to make sure each part of The Escapist gets updated, we're doing it in chunks. The YouTube channel has mostly been cleaned up and we're starting to introduce new content there. Now I'm working on the website facelift and prepping for new content there. Then we'll move over here to the forums and get it all in tip top shape.

Safe to do it that way then do everything in all one big chunk because that's how mistakes happen and I don't think Escapist can afford anymore mistakes right now.

We'll do some feedback loops once we're ready.

Alright then.

I mean, what do you think was going to happen? Free Speech isn't actually Free. Part of Free Speech is taking on the responsibility of making your Speech worth listening to. Pretending to be Free Speech usually ends up leading to one echo chamber or another.

But then, control speech at least somewhat doesn't do that much better.

I think you're overthinking this. If we said, "Say what you want. You won't get punished." but then we start punishing people for that somehow, then yeah, Sanctuary would be pretending to have free speech, but that has never happened, and I've made VERY sure that that doesn't happen.

Either you can say literally anything you want, or you don't have free speech. That is what people who defend Nazis tell me anyways.

To do the mod thing:

Let's keep this thread on topic please. The feedback we're getting is helping and this stuff is way off topic

Thank you for being polite. <3 I'll shut up now.

 

[bluegate]

Unfortunately with the site design you can't find it all unless you go to the latest tab lol, so I'm pushing hard to get this new thing ready so you can find the stuff we write!

Ah yes, I once brought up how it is counter intuitive for a website to have the same articles on its main page for days on end while "hiding" new articles under a second click on the website.

Good times, good times.

Yea...I've built quite a few Wordpress sites and when I got here and looked at the backend of this site I think I went back in time to a much darker place in history. We have to manually update the top of the front page to get new articles up there, and I can't reorganize any of the front page.

I think I've got OCD when it comes to website design and this one is causing me to lose sleep haha. New site design is much more modern and you can find everything easily.

I'm not sure if you're talking about the current V2 or the old V1, I didn't expect much else in case of the latter, but I'm morbidly shocked in case of the former, as it was set up within the last two years or so.

 

[Fiona Callahan]

....Transparency. Did the world just end and no one tell me? Damn.

Nick Calandra. Kudo's to you sir for being so transparent, please keep it up. We've had a few Community Managers who were transparent at first, but after a bit went silent and never were again.... Wow, that sounded alot more polite in my head.

I havn't been on for a while, First Wild Wasteland, then R&P, and the forum just generally slowly dying off at first, I kind of abandoned Escapist, ..I had an urge to come back and peak at things, and I find this thread and wanna go "Oh my god!"

 

[Drathnoxis]

Snip

Can the new direction include a separate subforum for Religion and Politics again? We used to have one but they axed it a couple months ago for reasons that were never explained to us. It's to the severe detriment of Off Topic to have the more active political arguments force other topics down the page and I don't think anybody here is really happy with the situation.

 

[Fiona Callahan]

I'm going to agree with Drathnoxis.

 

[Johnny Novgorod]

I'm going to agree with Drathnoxis.

And my axe.

 

[09philj]

Unfortunately with the site design you can't find it all unless you go to the latest tab lol, so I'm pushing hard to get this new thing ready so you can find the stuff we write!

Ah yes, I once brought up how it is counter intuitive for a website to have the same articles on its main page for days on end while "hiding" new articles under a second click on the website.

Good times, good times.

Yea...I've built quite a few Wordpress sites and when I got here and looked at the backend of this site I think I went back in time to a much darker place in history. We have to manually update the top of the front page to get new articles up there, and I can't reorganize any of the front page.

I think I've got OCD when it comes to website design and this one is causing me to lose sleep haha. New site design is much more modern and you can find everything easily.

A redesign or update to the site should definitely include First/Previous/Next/Last buttons for article and comic series, not just videos.

 

[Arnoxthe1]

This kind of involves the forum again, but if you can, make a thread in the forums for each content piece just as it was in the old days. This will allow you to not have to juggle two different commenting systems/communities at once and also drive traffic back to the forum again.

Oh, and the Badge system. That was pretty damn amazing and unique. I think everyone was sad to see them stagnate as they did.

 

[Elvis Starburst]

This kind of involves the forum again, but if you can, make a thread in the forums for each content piece just as it was in the old days. This will allow you to not have to juggle two different commenting systems/communities at once and also drive traffic back to the forum again.

Oh, and the Badge system. That was pretty damn amazing and unique. I think everyone was sad to see them stagnate as they did.

Honestly? The badge system is great. There's only 2 things I want to have carry over to the other forum for me personally. The amount of posts I have, and my badges. Losing all of those would mean I'm starting from 0, and I'd be rather bummed

 

[CheetoDust_v1legacy]

....Transparency. Did the world just end and no one tell me? Damn.

Nick Calandra. Kudo's to you sir for being so transparent, please keep it up. We've had a few Community Managers who were transparent at first, but after a bit went silent and never were again.... Wow, that sounded alot more polite in my head.

I havn't been on for a while, First Wild Wasteland, then R&P, and the forum just generally slowly dying off at first, I kind of abandoned Escapist, ..I had an urge to come back and peak at things, and I find this thread and wanna go "Oh my god!"

Thanks, Fiona! Communication will be a regular thing from me as we work to refresh The Escapist. I enjoy being part of the community and getting feedback, even if it's critical. I'd rather be doing this than spending time yelling at people on Twitter lol.

I'm gonna miss you with the next new direction.

 

[Avnger]

Snip

Just wanted to say good luck.

All of us who still use this forum are rather jaded about previous CMs and site management and their actions, so we can be somewhat blunt and quick to our guns when seemingly negative things happen; it's not personal against you.

You seem to be taking some good first steps though. I'd agree with the others that transparency about both the decision-making process for changes to the forums and the decisions themselves is the most important thing we're hoping for.

 

[Johnny Novgorod]

New Direction wishlist

*Bring back the polls
*Bring back the badges
*Bring back the notification lights
*Bring back the integrated forums
*Bring back the sensible front page

Make the site functional again before you start flaunting new thinkpiece columns. Put out the fire first, THEN hire new employees.

 

[Red Sentinel]

Nice, we're getting R&P back again? It's almost like I'm a clairvoyant...

Users: "Hey um, there's a lot of threads about religion and politics in the Off-Topic forum, enough for them to have their own dedicated forum in fact."

Staff: "That's a great idea!"

 

[SupahEwok]

New Direction wishlist

*Bring back the polls
*Bring back the badges
*Bring back the notification lights
*Bring back the integrated forums
*Bring back the sensible front page

Make the site functional again before you start flaunting new thinkpiece columns. Put out the fire first, THEN hire new employees.

The fact of the matter is the first 4 items on your list don't make the site money. Not in its current state, anyway. Which is why we've been neglected since the buyout.

Well, there's probably more reasons. The buyout had like 2 major updates to the site in the first month, and then nothing that we could see until now. What is that, 8 months? Despite assurances work is ongoing. Working on websites is tough, but it's not that tough. Escapist probably got shafted on funding when it didn't become the world's foremost (and most lucrative) gaming pundit site overnight.

The front page has to be fixed, its true, and that's the #1 thing the new guys can do besides content to get more dollars. It doesn't effectively display or organize all of the ongoing features. That's no way to catch and retain an audience.

 

[Johnny Novgorod]

New Direction wishlist

*Bring back the polls
*Bring back the badges
*Bring back the notification lights
*Bring back the integrated forums
*Bring back the sensible front page

Make the site functional again before you start flaunting new thinkpiece columns. Put out the fire first, THEN hire new employees.

The fact of the matter is the first 4 items on your list don't make the site money. Not in its current state, anyway. Which is why we've been neglected since the buyout.

I get that, and realize the don't look urgent, but the point I wanna drive in is we've had revolving door management for over a year now and every "new direction" seems to amount to "let's add more stuff!" instead of fixing the obvious, immediate problem: the site's architecture, which has been crumbling for quite a while. It's like worrying about interior decoration while the house's on fire.

 

[Abomination]

New Direction wishlist

*Bring back the polls
*Bring back the badges
*Bring back the notification lights
*Bring back the integrated forums
*Bring back the sensible front page

Make the site functional again before you start flaunting new thinkpiece columns. Put out the fire first, THEN hire new employees.

The fact of the matter is the first 4 items on your list don't make the site money. Not in its current state, anyway. Which is why we've been neglected since the buyout.

I get that, and realize the don't look urgent, but the point I wanna drive in is we've had revolving door management for over a year now and every "new direction" seems to amount to "let's add more stuff!" instead of fixing the obvious, immediate problem: the site's architecture, which has been crumbling for quite a while. It's like worrying about interior decoration while the house's on fire.

Or like investing in the best possible fishing rod, bait, and tackle... but your net has a gaping hole in it. Yeah, you'll attract new viewers, but you won't keep them.

 

[Satinavian]

I just wish that the site gets more people again. It is starting to affect the quality of discussions we have since since the last bunch like bastardofmelbourne left.

That is also the main point i am sorry that R&P is gone. Way too many posters stopped after that as they likely didn't feel welcome anymore. I am far from sure they come back even if the site is redesigned.


But well, so far the new new direction does not sound bad. Maybe it works.

 

[Saelune]

Please for the love of everything, lighten up the rules. They're so damn long and stuffy.

No.

Can the new direction include a separate subforum for Religion and Politics again? We used to have one but they axed it a couple months ago for reasons that were never explained to us. It's to the severe detriment of Off Topic to have the more active political arguments force other topics down the page and I don't think anybody here is really happy with the situation.

This is something I was discussing before, but if R&P makes a return, it won't be R&P, but something adjacent. There's nothing close to a final decision yet, but I have a skeleton of what subforums I would like to see included.

Either R&P is coming back, or it isn't.