Escapist is ranked 6th best Video Game Website

Ezekiel

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Yeah, no.

It's sad. Probably largely because of the ban waves on V1.

The other video game forum I go to:

Members online 119
Guests online 194
 

Nick Calandra

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Yeah, no.

It's sad. Probably largely because of the ban waves on V1.

The other video game forum I go to:

Members online 119
Guests online 194
You do realize the vast majority of our traffic is on YouTube? And we have a Discord with over 2000 members now too that we periodically open to filter more people through.

The forums are a tight knit community, but most new people have been in Discord over coming here.
 
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Drathnoxis

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Baby steps. Turtle in the back until we can sneak up on Gamespot first. But you have my thanks for not letting the forums become ResetEra.
What's wrong with ResetEra? I've on occasion thought about going over there upon hearing how active it is, but beyond opening up a couple of threads once, I know nothing about it.
 

Drathnoxis

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You do realize the vast majority of our traffic is on YouTube? And we have a Discord with over 2000 members now too that we periodically open to filter more people through.

The forums are a tight knit community, but most new people have been in Discord over coming here.
Not meaning to be rude, but in my opinion all of that counts as Youtube and Discord traffic. If they don't actually come to the site it doesn't count. Probably doesn't matter to you on a bottom line perspective, though.

I still wish the Escapist had the forum integration that it used to 10 years ago. Most people would sign up to comment on articles or on the threads listed in the latest post box(which is now a Disqus box) displayed next to all videos and articles, but Facebook, Disqus, and Discord have long since siphoned off nearly the entirety of our new blood apart from the stray bot once and again. Hosting the videos on Youtube was the beginning of the end for the forums here.
 
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Chimpzy

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What's wrong with ResetEra? I've on occasion thought about going over there upon hearing how active it is, but beyond opening up a couple of threads once, I know nothing about it.
Full disclosure, I have an account on Resetera (and Neogaf), but rarely ever post, mostly using it as a news aggregator.

Some years ago the site owner of Neogaf was the center of a MeToo scandal. This caused a userbase split, with the leftist part largely going off to found a new similar forum ie Resetera, tho in part also because they were sick of the general toxicity (no entirely unwarranted, the Escapist at its all-time worst is rosy compared to how much of an angry git they can get at the Gaf).

Thing is, they sort of went in the opposite direction, into what I could describe as more or less an ultra sanitized echo chamber where saying anything that can be remotely construed as not 100% zealously in support of the site's far-left leanings is likely to earn you mod wratch, if not a permaban. Many Escapist users, even the most lefty ones, would not last long there if they posted there as they do here. For example, I once posted in a thread asking how the Republican party could be salvaged, replying that they could start by sucking less neonazi, christian fundamentalist and corporate dick. They slapped me with a 6 week ban for that, for 'promoting homophobic rhetoric', the only ban I've gotten anywhere.
 

Drathnoxis

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Full disclosure, I have an account on Resetera (and Neogaf), but rarely ever post, mostly using it as a news aggregator.

Some years ago the site owner of Neogaf was the center of a MeToo scandal. This caused a userbase split, with the leftist part largely going off to found a new similar forum ie Resetera, tho in part also because they were sick of the general toxicity (no entirely unwarranted, the Escapist at its all-time worst is rosy compared to how much of an angry git they can get at the Gaf).

Thing is, they sort of went in the opposite direction, into what I could describe as more or less an ultra sanitized echo chamber where saying anything that can be remotely construed as not 100% zealously in support of the site's far-left leanings is likely to earn you mod wratch, if not a permaban. Many Escapist users, even the most lefty ones, would not last long there if they posted there as they do here. For example, I once posted in a thread asking how the Republican party could be salvaged, replying that they could start by sucking less neonazi, christian fundamentalist and corporate dick. They slapped me with a 6 week ban for that, for 'promoting homophobic rhetoric', the only ban I've gotten anywhere.
So it's pretty much just political discussion problems and that's all? Just another reason to support my idea that the world would be a much nicer place if talking politics was banned in most places.
 

Chimpzy

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So it's pretty much just political discussion problems and that's all? Just another reason to support my idea that the world would be a much nicer place if talking politics was banned in most places.
Mostly, but not exclusively. It's just really easy to get banned in general. Like the Escapist' moderation at the most draconian it's ever been, but even more so in some respects.
 

BrawlMan

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Some years ago the site owner of Neogaf was the center of a MeToo scandal. This caused a userbase split, with the leftist part largely going off to found a new similar forum ie Resetera, tho in part also because they were sick of the general toxicity (no entirely unwarranted, the Escapist at its all-time worst is rosy compared to how much of an angry git they can get at the Gaf).
I remember parts of that. Did the guy try to have sex with a teenage girl, and sex chatting with her?
 

Chimpzy

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I remember parts of that. Did the guy try to have sex with a teenage girl, and sex chatting with her?
No. The guy, Tyler Malka, was on a road trip with a woman, drinking in a hotel room when she got really sick. She went to the bathroom to throw up, then got in the shower to clean up. Apparently he took that as a signal she was DTF, and approached her from behind buck naked to get in the shower with her. However, she was very much not DTF, told him so, and he apparently didn't take that well, cuz he was allegedly pissy for the rest of the trip. She initially posted the story without mentioning names, but people put two and two together, and it went viral. Malka responded by saying there was mutual sexual interest between them beforehand, but things turned sour and she became hostile and suffered nervous breakdowns, and the accusation was false, and a cry for attention from someone with mental issues.

Classic "he said, she said", but I'm more inclined to take her side than his, since he has a history of being kind of a creep who liked boasting about his sexual conquests, at one time bragging about how a girl came onto him at a club and asked for a drink, so he grabbed her ass to show he wasn't going to be taken advantage for free drinks. He tended to come down hard on any discussion of these things on Neogaf, removing threads and banning users left and right, if they didn't take his side.

Anyway, the shower ambush thing proved to be the last straw, and about half the mod team and a sizeable chunk of users up and left, forming the base for Resetera.
 

BrawlMan

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No. The guy, Tyler Malka, was on a road trip with a woman, drinking in a hotel room when she got really sick. She went to the bathroom to throw up, then got in the shower to clean up. Apparently he took that as a signal she was DTF, and approached her from behind buck naked to get in the shower with her. However, she was very much not DTF, told him so, and he apparently didn't take that well, cuz he was allegedly pissy for the rest of the trip. She initially posted the story without mentioning names, but people put two and two together, and it went viral. Malka responded by saying there was mutual sexual interest between them beforehand, but things turned sour and she became hostile and suffered nervous breakdowns, and the accusation was false, and a cry for attention from someone with mental issues.

Classic "he said, she said", but I'm more inclined to take her side than his, since he has a history of being kind of a creep who liked boasting about his sexual conquests, at one time bragging about how a girl came onto him at a club and asked for a drink, so he grabbed her ass to show he wasn't going to be taken advantage for free drinks. He tended to come down hard on any discussion of these things on Neogaf, removing threads and banning users left and right, if they didn't take his side.

Anyway, the shower ambush thing proved to be the last straw, and about half the mod team and a sizeable chunk of users up and left, forming the base for Resetera.
That is messed up. The douchebag didn't get any charges at all? And is he even still involved with the site now? I really hope not. Dude should be on the sex offenders list.
 

Chimpzy

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That is messed up. The douchebag didn't get any charges at all? And is he even still involved with the site now? I really hope not. Dude should be on the sex offenders list.
Malka is still the owner of Neogaf, and still active. No charges that I know of.
 

BrawlMan

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Malka is still the owner of Neogaf, and still active. No charges that I know of.
At least the story is out there. I pray no woman ever encounters this jackass, and stay as far away from him as possible.
 

Drathnoxis

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No. The guy, Tyler Malka, was on a road trip with a woman, drinking in a hotel room when she got really sick. She went to the bathroom to throw up, then got in the shower to clean up. Apparently he took that as a signal she was DTF, and approached her from behind buck naked to get in the shower with her. However, she was very much not DTF, told him so, and he apparently didn't take that well, cuz he was allegedly pissy for the rest of the trip. She initially posted the story without mentioning names, but people put two and two together, and it went viral. Malka responded by saying there was mutual sexual interest between them beforehand, but things turned sour and she became hostile and suffered nervous breakdowns, and the accusation was false, and a cry for attention from someone with mental issues.

Classic "he said, she said", but I'm more inclined to take her side than his, since he has a history of being kind of a creep who liked boasting about his sexual conquests, at one time bragging about how a girl came onto him at a club and asked for a drink, so he grabbed her ass to show he wasn't going to be taken advantage for free drinks. He tended to come down hard on any discussion of these things on Neogaf, removing threads and banning users left and right, if they didn't take his side.

Anyway, the shower ambush thing proved to be the last straw, and about half the mod team and a sizeable chunk of users up and left, forming the base for Resetera.
Why didn't she lock the door?
 

Piscian

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I still wish the Escapist had the forum integration that it used to 10 years ago. Most people would sign up to comment on articles or on the threads listed in the latest post box(which is now a Disqus box) displayed next to all videos and articles, but Facebook, Disqus, and Discord have long since siphoned off nearly the entirety of our new blood apart from the stray bot once and again. Hosting the videos on Youtube was the beginning of the end for the forums here.
This is one argument I agree with. I think the lack of traffic on the forums is almost explicitly due to the fact that the website article discussion doesn't link back to the forums. Having those two tied creates a pipeline for an ecosystem of growth. LTT pushes their forums pretty hard for that reason. It's difficult to have any in-depth discussion about escapist content on the front page as the articles come and go. If the articles and review discussions linked back the forums it would increase the likelyhood of follow up discussion and in turn increase traffic to the frontpage. There also lies the possibility of discussion creating inspiration for expanded content or reaching an untapped demographic.

I promise I'm not making this up. I'm a certified product manager which includes training on primary and secondary market research.
 
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Leg End

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Why didn't she lock the door?
Beats me, but I'm guessing too busy puking and being shitfaced to notice it wasn't.
That he didn't take her puking her guts out as a sign she may not be down to fuck is just astounding.
This is one argument I agree with. I think the lack of traffic on the forums is almost explicitly due to the fact that the website article discussion doesn't link back to the forums. Having those two tied creates a pipeline for an ecosystem of growth. LTT pushes their forums pretty hard for that reason. It's difficult to have any in-depth discussion about escapist content on the front page as the articles come and go. If the articles and review discussions linked back the forums it would increase the likelyhood of follow up discussion and in turn increase traffic to the frontpage. There also lies the possibility of discussion creating inspiration for expanded content or reaching an untapped demographic.

I promise I'm not making this up. I'm a certified product manager which includes training on primary and secondary market research.
Yeah, for whatever reason, I gotta say that V2's site design kind of feels like the Forums are segregated from all the Featured content and vice-versa. Might be the lack of that little recent posts thing on the front page is why, or that we don't really have threads anymore that come along with the content/webcomics, but it feels like even with the forum button up there on the front page, this place is wholly it's own entity to the rest of the stuff.

EDIT: Actually we do have a little thing like that, but it only leads to direct article comments with Disqus. Which means we have interaction split between the Discord, article comments, and the forums which all seem to have their own communities that interact with each other.
 

Piscian

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That he didn't take her puking her guts out as a sign she may not be down to fuck is just astounding.

Yeah, for whatever reason, I gotta say that V2's site design kind of feels like the Forums are segregated from all the Featured content and vice-versa. Might be the lack of that little recent posts thing on the front page is why, or that we don't really have threads anymore that come along with the content/webcomics, but it feels like even with the forum button up there on the front page, this place is wholly it's own entity to the rest of the stuff.

EDIT: Actually we do have a little thing like that, but it only leads to direct article comments with Disqus. Which means we have interaction split between the Discord, article comments, and the forums which all seem to have their own communities that interact with each other.
While not to downplay the other contents popularity I recall specifically yahtzees content forum threads created a lot of traffic to the site on their own. I bet if that and the something slightly different videos linked back to the forums for discussing this place would blow up. Even speaking personally I rarely comment on content because it's just random discus users, there's no community so I feel like I'm sorta shouting into the void.
 

Gyrobot

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Full disclosure, I have an account on Resetera (and Neogaf), but rarely ever post, mostly using it as a news aggregator.

Some years ago the site owner of Neogaf was the center of a MeToo scandal. This caused a userbase split, with the leftist part largely going off to found a new similar forum ie Resetera, tho in part also because they were sick of the general toxicity (no entirely unwarranted, the Escapist at its all-time worst is rosy compared to how much of an angry git they can get at the Gaf).

Thing is, they sort of went in the opposite direction, into what I could describe as more or less an ultra sanitized echo chamber where saying anything that can be remotely construed as not 100% zealously in support of the site's far-left leanings is likely to earn you mod wratch, if not a permaban. Many Escapist users, even the most lefty ones, would not last long there if they posted there as they do here. For example, I once posted in a thread asking how the Republican party could be salvaged, replying that they could start by sucking less neonazi, christian fundamentalist and corporate dick. They slapped me with a 6 week ban for that, for 'promoting homophobic rhetoric', the only ban I've gotten anywhere.
Lol and I thought Informed Tankie was bad enough with even diehard communist supporters. But yeah, Resetera was bad about this, even for games in general. Fanservice Weeb Gamers had it the worst especially after Pete Davision from Ricedigital got banned for trying to commend Resetera for civil discussion. Since then they had a blanket ban for anything from Senran Kagura.
 
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Ezekiel

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The forums are a tight knit community
Because management and the moderation made it so. Plenty of other forums are still thriving.

Not meaning to be rude, but in my opinion all of that counts as Youtube and Discord traffic. If they don't actually come to the site it doesn't count. Probably doesn't matter to you on a bottom line perspective, though.
Yup. Besides, the discussions I've had on Discord and YouTube have been a poor substitute for good old forums.
 
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Trunkage

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Look, not going to lie Nick, I don't come here for the articles. But, I only started coming here for ZP. I never really read the articles. Started posting after the ME3 ending. Stayed on even after I stopped watching ZP after he decided a certain side of the Event that Shall Not be Named by calling the other shit.

Wish you well on the articles/website, Nick. But I enjoy talking to people on the forums here, even the ones I disagree with
 
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