Escapist heading in "a new direction"

[Silent Protagonist]

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

*Rogal Dorn voice* yay. Validation

In all seriousness I'd like to contrast Nick Calandra's replies in this thread to Kyle Gado's. Personally, I like Nick's approach better as he seems to understand how you say something can be just as important as the contents of what you say. But to be fair to Kyle, sometimes the more blunt approach is needed, and it's also a lot easier to be patient when you are fresh faced to the community and haven't been worn down by all the nonsense here and having to do a thankless job.

I'm also glad to hear that R&P is(probably) coming back, even if we have to call it something different so we can pretend closing it in the first place wasn't a bad idea.

 

[Armadox]

How are account transfers going to be handled, if at all. I figure shifting the membership would be a pain in the ass and might not be feasible, but are you going to have some way to save an email to lock in preexisting accounts. If everyone has to reregister, I can see that being a war zone of trolling as some unscrupulous members try to snipe names. (i.e- If I am fast enough what stops me from registering Zontar or Saelune before they get the chance?) Also, there has been a lot... A LOT... of members who requested a self ban in protest of this place being a tire fire at the end of Defy's run. Will there be a way for them to have that lifted when the new forums open, or are they plain shit out of luck and you're just going to port over the ban list as is? There have been a lot of people who would probably return if they could have their accounts unlocked.

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.

From the wording he's chosen, I'm betting that there'll be a "R&P in Gaming" like board where discussion can be had on R&P so long as it pertains to things like "lootbox legislation", but that raw discussion like how the R&P board was handled will just be outright locked.

If it was me though, I'd just have R&P on a password protected subforum that is hidden off the forum list, and have in the rules if you want a link to the subforum and the password you have to contact a mod. It's hidden from view of the normal users, nobody that doesn't want to be there had to see it, and all discussion of R&P on the main forum can just be locked outright because there's a place for that still. Though, whatever mod draws the short straw and gets control of that subforum I hope they're paid to watch over it.

 

[Lil devils x_v1legacy]

How are account transfers going to be handled, if at all. I figure shifting the membership would be a pain in the ass and might not be feasible, but are you going to have some way to save an email to lock in preexisting accounts. If everyone has to reregister, I can see that being a war zone of trolling as some unscrupulous members try to snipe names. (i.e- If I am fast enough what stops me from registering Zontar or Saelune before they get the chance?) Also, there has been a lot... A LOT... of members who requested a self ban in protest of this place being a tire fire at the end of Defy's run. Will there be a way for them to have that lifted when the new forums open, or are they plain shit out of luck and you're just going to port over the ban list as is? There have been a lot of people who would probably return if they could have their accounts unlocked.

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.

From the wording he's chosen, I'm betting that there'll be a "R&P in Gaming" like board where discussion can be had on R&P so long as it pertains to things like "lootbox legislation", but that raw discussion like how the R&P board was handled will just be outright locked.

If it was me though, I'd just have R&P on a password protected subforum that is hidden off the forum list, and have in the rules if you want a link to the subforum and the password you have to contact a mod. It's hidden from view of the normal users, nobody that doesn't want to be there had to see it, and all discussion of R&P on the main forum can just be locked outright because there's a place for that still. Though, whatever mod draws the short straw and gets control of that subforum I hope they're paid to watch over it.

I am not sure how you gathered that from the wording, considering they already stated they did not see any issue with what was being discussed here already and have participated in discussions themselves so not likely they would want to alienate a good portion of the community like that. From the wording, I gathered they may just rename it "Current events" or something else along the lines of "Real life stuff" and allow for the discussions that already take place to take place there.

I have seen nothing said thus far that would make me think they would limit R&P the way you suggested, but rather they would moderate it to where hatespeech, insults and otherwise demeaning behaviors would be more strictly moderated. In addition trying to hide it further as you stated would also alienate a good portion of the community as well and discourage participation leading to further dwindling of the community. If the objective is to grow and bring the community closer together, stuffing the members of that community into a closet and hiding it away would have the opposite effect.

 

[IceForce]

If everyone has to reregister, I can see that being a war zone of trolling as some unscrupulous members try to snipe names. (i.e- If I am fast enough what stops me from registering Zontar or Saelune before they get the chance?)

Oh shit, that's a good point. It'd even be possible to snag up a few mod names too, that could be disastrous.

 

[Red Sentinel]

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

Probably some internal discussions need to happen, as there seems to be a bit of disagreement or a difference of opinion there.

From the wording he's chosen, I'm betting that there'll be a "R&P in Gaming" like board where discussion can be had on R&P so long as it pertains to things like "lootbox legislation"

They already had that. It was called "Game Industry Discussion".

And it was awful.

 

[Lil devils x_v1legacy]

If everyone has to reregister, I can see that being a war zone of trolling as some unscrupulous members try to snipe names. (i.e- If I am fast enough what stops me from registering Zontar or Saelune before they get the chance?)

Oh shit, that's a good point. It'd even be possible to snag up a few mod names too, that could be disastrous.

Yea and people disappear for long periods of time and come back, as I have done repeatedly, especially when I was travelling with MSF so coming back and not being able to log in or figure out what happened would likely disorient people. If there is a means to transfer the user base would solve the problem though.

 

[IceForce]

From the wording he's chosen, I'm betting that there'll be a "R&P in Gaming" like board where discussion can be had on R&P so long as it pertains to things like "lootbox legislation"

They already had that. It was called "Game Industry Discussion".

And it was awful.

GID was nothing more than a containment dumpster to toss every thread into that pertained to the subject we can't talk about anymore.

Oh, they tried to dress it up to be something more than that, but it was obvious to everyone that they were just trying to put lipstick on a pig.

 

[Armadox]

I have seen nothing said that would make me think they would limit R&P the way you suggested, but rather they would moderate it to where hatespeech, insults and otherwise demeaning behaviors would be more strictly moderated.

Current Events doesn't exactly work, as that'd be better for like, news and stuff in what the forum's actually for. Like, I can see a G2A punching bag being current events. R&P is broad and doesn't qualify as that. As for moderating it with an iron fist, no mod has the kind of time to deal with that. It'd just be a constant war of attrition as everyone flags each other over the dumbest shit. R&P is already a ban sponge as it is now. I have no dogs in this fight, personally. I'm on record for R&P to be removed from the forum, and I stand by that statement. However, if it has to exist choking up on the rules will only weed out those with lesser skill in wording their posts. The people who've been at this a while already manage to skirt by with passive-aggressive garbage.

Edit:

Let's not speculate on this stuff. There's no hidden meaning behind our wording. It's in the back of our minds, but it's not a priority right this second till we get the front page sorted out.

I don't think there's hidden meaning. I think you're damned if you do and damned if you don't. However you run R&P, it's going to be a ban sponge.

Speaking of banned members haunting this place from beyond the grave. Can we kill the "motto of the moment" thing at the top of the screen? There is no filter on that thing, so you sometimes get "Bleached dicks for Zontar! motto of the moment: Fox12" on it.

 

[tippy2k2]

Speaking of banned members haunting this place from beyond the grave. Can we kill the "motto of the moment" thing at the top of the screen? There is no filter on that thing, so you sometimes get "Bleached dicks for Zontar! motto of the moment: Fox12" on it.

You can turn that off

Profile > Subscriptions & Benefits > Motto Panel

 

[Armadox]

Speaking of banned members haunting this place from beyond the grave. Can we kill the "motto of the moment" thing at the top of the screen? There is no filter on that thing, so you sometimes get "Bleached dicks for Zontar! motto of the moment: Fox12" on it.

You can turn that off

Profile > Subscriptions & Benefits > Motto Panel

Huh. Neat. I actually didn't know that. But I haven't checked the options in years.

 

[Saelune]

How are account transfers going to be handled, if at all. I figure shifting the membership would be a pain in the ass and might not be feasible, but are you going to have some way to save an email to lock in preexisting accounts. If everyone has to reregister, I can see that being a war zone of trolling as some unscrupulous members try to snipe names. (i.e- If I am fast enough what stops me from registering Zontar or Saelune before they get the chance?) Also, there has been a lot... A LOT... of members who requested a self ban in protest of this place being a tire fire at the end of Defy's run. Will there be a way for them to have that lifted when the new forums open, or are they plain shit out of luck and you're just going to port over the ban list as is? There have been a lot of people who would probably return if they could have their accounts unlocked.

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.

From the wording he's chosen, I'm betting that there'll be a "R&P in Gaming" like board where discussion can be had on R&P so long as it pertains to things like "lootbox legislation", but that raw discussion like how the R&P board was handled will just be outright locked.

If it was me though, I'd just have R&P on a password protected subforum that is hidden off the forum list, and have in the rules if you want a link to the subforum and the password you have to contact a mod. It's hidden from view of the normal users, nobody that doesn't want to be there had to see it, and all discussion of R&P on the main forum can just be locked outright because there's a place for that still. Though, whatever mod draws the short straw and gets control of that subforum I hope they're paid to watch over it.

Let's not speculate on this stuff. There's no hidden meaning behind our wording. It's in the back of our minds, but it's not a priority right this second till we get the front page sorted out. As of this writing, there's not a laid out plan for the forums aside from that we want to modernize it and are looking at how to do it safely to not lose traffic, the archive of content, etc.

As I said in previous posts, when we're ready to communicate changes and ask for feedback we will, but gonna need some time to get everything sorted, not going to happen overnight.

Your concerns are being noted though.

Speculation is all we got, and with the history of people 'saving this place from ruin', well, you have to understand our point of view.

 

[Saelune]

A lot of what v2's forums will allow will be dictated by how customizable the forum software ends up being. We can have ideas until the cows come home, but we're ultimately limited by that.

We're trying to make the best decision for everyone here, including us. Our priority is to offer you a good, safe home with a thoughtful and fun community that not only you can integrate well into and feel comfortable, but also integrates well with our website and our image.

Not sure how many of you have ever walked a tightrope, but this one has raging fires on one side and a pool full of alligators on the other.

I still have all your feature requests from the poll earlier in the year and they're cataloged and everything. You've been heard and I'm always listening. Promise. My position is not just making the best decisions for you in our community, but being an advocate for you when you have concerns or ideas.

That said, you can always get at me by email. I'm your primary point of contact for everything.

The Escapist Forums are surprisingly unique I feel. They are so nice looking compared to most forums. I also like the lack of clutter. I am glad signatures never became a thing here.

I think it is very easy to follow a conversation, to understand who is replying to who.

I really don't think the core of what we want (though I can only truly speak for myself) is -that- much, the biggest thing is most of us want to be able to partake in what we enjoy without what we don't enjoy getting crossed into us.

I also think it is foolish to discount the popularity of R&P. Yes, plenty of users wish they could just put their fingers in their ears and not have it be here at all, but R&P was very active.


Also again, I must keep reitierating the value of transparency. That rope will be less treacherous if we are kept in the loop, can provide ample feedback in advance, and if those in power genuinly consider our feedback.

Like, if you guys want to perhaps, remove R&P, you tell us in advance, explain why, try it out, take feedback, then act on that feedback, instead of just suddenly doing it and never explaining why, and never altering to feedback.

 

[Elvis Starburst]

The Escapist Forums are surprisingly unique I feel. They are so nice looking compared to most forums. I also like the lack of clutter. I am glad signatures never became a thing here.

I think it is very easy to follow a conversation, to understand who is replying to who.

Agreed, I hope it stays this simple. Reddit's version, for example, is a bit of a cluster fuck (At least with the old Reddit. The re-design makes my eyes bleed)

Also again, I must keep reitierating the value of transparency. That rope will be less treacherous if we are kept in the loop, can provide ample feedback in advance, and if those in power genuinly consider our feedback.

Like, if you guys want to perhaps, remove R&P, you tell us in advance, explain why, try it out, take feedback, then act on that feedback, instead of just suddenly doing it and never explaining why, and never altering to feedback.

This was the biggest problem I had with the way that decision was handled. This push for transparency is a big step in the right direction!

 

[bluegate]

I am aware. Feature requests are fine and all that, just try to keep the speculation on what decisions we "might" make to a minimum. The forum users will in fact be getting an early look at the new site design to provide feedback before anyone else does in the near term.

Same thing will happen with the forums too.

Prepare for a lot of "This doesn't look like the old site D:" in both a literal and figurative sense 😜 Looking forward to it though.

 

[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.

If we do end up moving to Xenforo, I do know for a fact they have a badge system, so that should be an easy implement.

XenForo has a trophy system, but it is sadly not at all on the scale of the Badge system that the Escapist has. Now, there ARE purchasable add-ons that will add badge functionality, but as said, you'd have to purchase them.

Now having said that, poking around the XF settings, I think one could maybe jerry-rig a badge system together. but it would definitely take a bit of coding. You'll also have to create an entirely new quiz system to link into it.

 

[Saelune]

Hey all!

As an update on this, it looks like we'll be able to implement the updated site design...this weekend! Was originally planning on doing it Sunday night, but gonna do it tomorrow night so we're not dealing with any issues Monday at the start of a new work week.

The site will go into maintenance tomorrow night (Saturday, July 27th) at 10 PM CST and will remain in maintenance until the update is completed.

We'll be using Sunday as a feedback day and to fix any issues you guys might find with the site, make updates as needed.

Thanks all, see you then!

Havent won me over yet, but you're atleast saying the right things.

 

[Something Amyss]

Another new direction? We're going on quite a few of those lately, there can't be many left XD

If this doesn't call for a "hold my beer, I don't know what does.

 

[bluegate]

Post some preliminary feedback in the other topic;

https://v1.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/703.1057253-New-Website-Design-Being-Implemented-July-27th

 

[Jonluw]

Ok, so I've been away since... Let me see...
I last came to visit when Russ Pitts announced he would try to resuscitate this site. It seems like his attempts went approximately how you'd expect CPR on a bloated rotting corpse to turn out.

At least the forums are still alive dangling here (it would seem our ever-shifting rulers want to keep this insular little island community of weirdos in their net until they can figure out how to monetize it). Would anyone care to give me a little recap of what's been going on?
I feel like my head is spinning trying to deduce recent events from forum posts like some kind of neckbeard Nancy Drew.

It's so weird to see such an integral part of my teenage years going through all of this. To think my entire MLP phase played out in here.

 

[Jonluw]

Ok, so I've been away since... Let me see...
I last came to visit when Russ Pitts announced he would try to resuscitate this site. It seems like his attempts went approximately how you'd expect CPR on a bloated rotting corpse to turn out.

At least the forums are still alive dangling here (it would seem our ever-shifting rulers want to keep this insular little island community of weirdos in their net until they can figure out how to monetize it). Would anyone care to give me a little recap of what's been going on?
I feel like my head is spinning trying to deduce recent events from forum posts like some kind of neckbeard Nancy Drew.

It's so weird to see such an integral part of my teenage years going through all of this. To think my entire MLP phase played out in here.

Sept 2018 - Escapist V2 launch

Feb 2019 - Russ Pitts leave of absence after events

June 2019 - I become Managing Editor of Video / we sent Yahtzee to E3 and he had a lot of "fun"

July 2019 - Site design refreshed, new content direction announced, Gameumentary becomes part of Escapist

August 2019 - I'm announced as Editor in Chief, Yahtzee doc on the way, Insurgency doc on the way, new video games show with new personality in development, more news added to our line-up, lots of feature write-ups on games and other interesting topics.

September 2019 - More new content.

Thanks. It's been a bit of a hobby of mine to come have a look at the escapist once a year or so ever since things started going downhill. It's quite fascinating how long the site has been able to stay alive in its ghost town state.

I'm being snarky for the fun of it, but I do actually wish you the best of luck in your endeavor. It would be really cool to see the site restored to its former glory.