i miss the escapist

[Fappy]

I got it like on Sunday XD

I was in the middle of an ESO binge, so I figured I'd wait for the hype to die down before picking it up. I just got to Novagrad, so I think that's like what? 1/3 or 1/4 through the game?

Depends on how much side content you've been doing before getting there. You're still pretty early in the game though. Lots of game left.

Liking it?

Yeah, it's great! While the story is pretty neat, I find myself more impressed by the game's aesthetic. I mean, no, it doesn't look as good as the original trailer but it still looks fucking terrific. Character eyes, facial animations, Geralt's animations in general, lighting (especially sunlight at dawn and dusk), wind and rain effects, some actual real clothing physics... the list goes on.

It's definitely not this super amazing thing that so many seem to think it is, but it's a damn solid game so far.

 

[BloatedGuppy]

It's definitely not this super amazing thing that so many seem to think it is, but it's a damn solid game so far.

GASP you shut your whore mouth, it IS super amazing!

Really though I was completely taken with it. Best CRPG I ever played, going back to the early 80's and the first Ultima/Wizardry games.

 

[Fappy]

It's definitely not this super amazing thing that so many seem to think it is, but it's a damn solid game so far.

GASP you shut your whore mouth, it IS super amazing!

Really though I was completely taken with it. Best CRPG I ever played, going back to the early 80's and the first Ultima/Wizardry games.

I'm too infatuated with Morrowind to ever let any other CRPG dethrone it. Honestly, the main thing holding it back for me is the fact that you play an established character. It's not a bad thing at all, and Geralt is actually quite interesting, it's just that I like to cultivate my own PCs in sprawling RPG worlds.

 

[BloatedGuppy]

I'm too infatuated with Morrowind to ever let any other CRPG dethrone it. Honestly, the main thing holding it back for me is the fact that you play an established character. It's not a bad thing at all, and Geralt is actually quite interesting, it's just that I like to cultivate my own PCs in sprawling RPG worlds.

Yeah it's a common complaint. I have a long time friend who refuses to even pick the series up for exactly that reason.

I do think you can do things story-wise with an established character (particularly one with two games and 5+ books behind them) that you can't with a blank slate. Your interactions with people and the world in general feel...more genuine? Less...gamey? While I felt some sense of ownership over, say, my Shepard, she felt like less of a person than Geralt did, and more of a construct of loosely related Awesome Protagonist Things.

 

[Fappy]

I'm too infatuated with Morrowind to ever let any other CRPG dethrone it. Honestly, the main thing holding it back for me is the fact that you play an established character. It's not a bad thing at all, and Geralt is actually quite interesting, it's just that I like to cultivate my own PCs in sprawling RPG worlds.

Yeah it's a common complaint. I have a long time friend who refuses to even pick the series up for exactly that reason.

I do think you can do things story-wise with an established character (particularly one with two games and 5+ books behind them) that you can't with a blank slate. Your interactions with people and the world in general feel...more genuine? Less...gamey? Well I felt some sense of ownership over, say, my Shepard, she felt like less of a person than Geralt did, and more of a construct of loosely related Awesome Protagonist Things.

That's totally understandable reasoning. I'm just the kind of guy whose imagination is constantly on the move, so I prefer to craft my own characters and stories. That's probably why I love the TES franchise so much in general.

 

[Cycloptomese]

Like a lot of you, I came here by way of ZP and was eventually exposed to Bob Chipman and Jim Sterling. I also enjoy Shamus Young's insight, as well as Critical Miss and Erin Dies Alone. I was pretty sad to see Bob and Jim go.

Anyway, I started lurking here about two months before the gamergate debacle and from my perspective, the difference between pre and post GG Escapist is night and day. People got a lot more hateful.

Also, Taco News. I forgot to mention that I really like Taco News.

Okay, I'm going back into my hole now.

 

[Silentpony_v1legacy]

Whenever I see these posts I'm always reminded of that image,

Spoiler

This one.

Not that the Escapist isn't fun, it totally is! Always a good place for an argument! But the Escapist of the now isn't that different of the Escapist of yesteryear. And I was looking at Forum posts and articles for years before I joined. So I'm not entirely sure when this golden age was.
Granted people argue more openly now, but that negativity has always been simmering just below the surface.

 

[Flutterguy]

Will a video of pugs dressed as Game of Thrones characters make you feel better?

Seeing the same pug in a different costume really breaks my immersion. 9/10.

 

[Strazdas]

I miss the content the Escapist used to have. Most of the really good content creators have left. Jim, Graham and Paul, MovieBob. I'm miss those guys.

We also got new content though. GoodBadFlicks is great. I also like the Men at Arms ones though thats obviuosly not for everyone.

For forum specifically? No. Someone else crunched those numbers. Alexa will show site traffic, but not forum specific traffic.

On a completely unrelated note, you probably shouldn't use Alexa for anything. I'm told it's very unreliable.

SO i guess you dont have a link to those. i would really be interested in looking at such.

Im aware that Alexa is not reliable, but i dont know of a better source.

What happened to Topaz Fusion?

At one point there was a patter of moderation that would lead one to believe moderation is biased. This resulted in trying to get community manager to look into it, and the response given was "There will be investigation". Few days after that, The Brovengers usergroup was made public by its owner, which has allowed outsiders to see what happened in there. Turns out, Topaz was abusing his mod powers to spy on other usergroups and share screenshots of their chat for what amounts to "point-and-laugh" purpose. On the same day Topaz Fusion stopped being moderator. On Reddit [http://www.reddit.com/r/KotakuInAction/comments/31w8yd/happenings_topazfusion_removed_as_moderator_on/cq5y5jo] Topaz claims he has left on his own will. There were no official statements from the escapist regardless either Topaz or the promised Investigation.

 

[sky14kemea]

snip

snip

snip

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It's been said before, but please take this subject to PMs or usergroups. This thread is not the place for it. Thanks.

 

[IceForce]

Topaz did in fact share screenshots out of the GG group,

Topaz was abusing his mod powers to spy on other usergroups and share screenshots

Evidence of this?

I've looked through the 8chan links (the only 'evidence' provided thus far), and saw no screenshots (or rather, no screenshots of screenshots, ... you know, evidence of what you're claiming).

In fact, the 8chan threads contain no hard evidence at all, even after people were shouting to "keep digging" and "archive everything" when they knew the group was about to be deleted, still no evidence was posted. Those 8chan threads consist of nothing more than hearsay, surmisings, and guesswork.

So I'll ask again, anyone got any hard evidence of "private screenshots being posted"? (or whatever the claimed misdemeanor is)

Because I'd rather not listen and believe, if it's all right with you guys. I'd rather see the evidence for myself.

 

[IceForce]

I think the thread even goes so far as take note of an attempt to burn off the evidence (since they couldn't delete it outright) by forcing the system to retire old posts... The group only had archives back to March at the time due to a buffer cap.

Wait, there's a way of "forcing the system to retire old posts"? First I've heard of it.
Someone is going to have to teach me that trick.

 

[Kenjitsuka]

I never left (yet), but I do agree many budget cuts and ownership changes these past 8+ years have been most, most unkind to the site. As long as Yahtzee is here I'm keeping a tab open at the news page, but most news gets covered wayyy earlier and better on Ars Technica etc. ...

 

[BytByte]

It is kinda strange how I used to be interested in one piece of content a day. Not as much now sadly, but I will admit I have not really looked at some of the new stuff.

Rathkor plz.

 

[Popido]

Never found use for usergroups. I thought people just pick a thread to chat in here. Theres constantly some 10k posters coming in threads to talk about themselves with their friends, even if the thread is about Turkey's political elections.

Then theres the whole forum game that turns everyone passive aggressive, baiting other users to get punished. This has been going on for years with The Escapist, too long to hope it will ever be addressed.

Otherwise, the sites looking better. Some culling was needed to stop it becoming stagnant.

 

[Sassafrass]

See page 3 of this thread?
Yeah, pretty much the entirety of that happened.

 

[Fappy]

See page 3 of this thread?
Yeah, pretty much the entirety of that happened.

Are you talking about the Witcher derail or the other depressing stuff?

 

[Snotnarok]

Ayup.

Forums were friendlier and busier, the staff were a bit more personable and there was a ton of content.

RIP.

The comedy of your statement is probably limited to me. I said the same thing about the forums on a similar topic to this one, that people were friendlier, would discuss opinions vs insulting & insisting how wrong you were in a passive aggressive way or even directly...Someone quoted me insisting I was wrong that events never happened (doesn't know me either), while insulting me.

The forums always held a bit of a snobbish mentality since it was better modded, had site created content, better topics, better rules. Now everything degrades into arguments about ...the world around games and irrelevant groups vs the actual fucking games. While ontop of all this, passive aggressive insults and being called wrong on opinions.

I lurk more now than ever because I just don't have the patience for the insane arguments or the endless topics about 2 groups that will not stop being brought up daily.


R.I.P.

 

[JemothSkarii]

I mainly just lurk, post in non-controversial threads and read articles. I like it, it's nice.

Besides, if I dig too deep in the forums I start getting headaches. Too much passive aggressiveness hurts and aggravates indigestion.

Has it been dying? I guess. But communities shift with content changes. People just don't like change.

 

[Zhukov]

Then theres the whole forum game that turns everyone passive aggressive, baiting other users to get punished. This has been going on for years with The Escapist, too long to hope it will ever be addressed.

Do people actually do that?

Because I've been accused of it multiple times and yet I know full well I've never posted something with the express intention of attracting mod-worthy responses.

I suspect people are trying to blame their own lousy impulse control on "baiting".