In defence of the Escapist - from a contributor.

MiracleOfSound

Fight like a Krogan
Jan 3, 2009
17,776
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Hi guys,

Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Gav or 'Miracle Of Sound' and I do an eponymous bi-weekly musical segment here on the site.

As most of you are aware, there has been some controversy relating to contributors getting paid. I have had a lot of people ask me what I think about this situation so I'm here to give you my thoughts, on the forum where I have spent so many good times and felt at home on over the last 3 years.

I can only speak for myself, my opinions and thoughts in no way represent or have anything to do with the Extra Credits team, the Escapist staff or any other contributor.

I have only been working with the site for a short time, but in that time I am happy to say that the staff of the site have been very honest and transparent with me about the situation they are in and how it affects me. I never once felt I was lied to, mislead or treated dishonestly. I have been told exactly what I am owed at any given time, in a direct and simple way that is easy to understand.

Obviously I cannot, and do not wish to, go into detail about the internal business dealings here. I'm just here to say that I think they are good people who work here. They have done me a couple of big favours at very short notice and helped promote my songs in numerous ways (Russ Pitts even spent a great deal of his personal Vacation last week making a video for a song because I urgently needed one for Bioware at Gamescon).

My opinion on the situation in question is that neither side is inherently bad or to blame, but that there has been a massive communication breakdown somewhere down the line.

I certainly do not believe in airing personal disputes on Twitter or in any other public forum, I do not believe in torches and pitchforks and I feel like we would all do well to avoid knee-jerk reactions.

I wish both parties the best and I hope it all gets sorted out and resolved in an amicable way.

Thanks for reading,

Gav (Miracle Of Sound)
 

Saelune

Trump put kids in cages!
Legacy
Mar 8, 2011
8,411
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Nice to hear from someone who is not going batshit crazy and threatening to boycott the site.
 

killbotrix

New member
Jun 14, 2011
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I appreciate you writing this. It seems like the whole issue has been blown out of proportion, with people rushing to one side or the other. I love this site and am glad to hear that maybe the escapist isn't as bad as they've been made out to be over the last couple days.
 

de5gravity

New member
Apr 18, 2011
295
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It's good to know. I am not taking a side but other contributors have come forth saying they haven't been paid, which even if it's none of our business, tends to make me believe EC's side of the story. We shall wait and see.
 

Elec0

The Master of Fractals
May 29, 2009
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Indeed. I'm sure that if everyone keeps their respective heads, everything will work out fine.
 

Jenova65

New member
Oct 3, 2009
1,370
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Very sensible post, thanks for that, dude, you always have been a voice of reason here, I don't visit as often as I used to.... but it is nice to know that people like you are still around :)
 

Prof. Monkeypox

New member
Mar 17, 2010
1,014
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Glad to hear you are having a good experience on The Escapist.
Of course, I will reserve judgement until I hear everything both sides have to say.
I don't think EC is lying, exactly, but I also doubt The Escapist is evil.

Thanks for contributing your opinion.
 

IKWerewolf

New member
Jan 13, 2011
201
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Thank you very much, I'm glad to see that there are some other level headed people around here.
 

aldowyn

New member
Mar 1, 2010
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This seems to be the response from several of the contributors, from Movie Bob to Jim Sterling. I've heard issues with some of the less well-known contributors in the past day or so, but it seems for the most part the Escapist has been pretty clear about the problems. Extra Credits is just a special case because... well, it's Extra Credits and the whole Rockethub thing.
 
Apr 28, 2008
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This echo's Jim Sterling's [https://plus.google.com/u/0/108707773649336345504/posts/FoWugkV4rHY] thoughts on the matter.

*sigh* This whole things just sucks. The more I look over it, the more it just seems like a misunderstanding gone wrong that could have been prevented if both sides signed an actual contract, instead of just going on each other's word.

As for others who haven't been paid/took a long time to get paid, I just don't know.

I just don't know.
 

Neonbob

The Noble Nuker
Dec 22, 2008
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I'm glad you're having a good experience with them, Miracle!
I hope this whole situation comes to an amicable end.
 

Sevre

Old Hands
Apr 6, 2009
4,886
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Good luck at Gamescom next week bro, thanks for weighing in.

Jim Sterling has also weighed in, not to hijack this thread or anything but I'll link his opinion if anyone wants it.

He even uses Google+ [http://is.gd/aCXAMo]
 

MiracleOfSound

Fight like a Krogan
Jan 3, 2009
17,776
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Jenova65 said:
Very sensible post, thanks for that, dude, you always have been a voice of reason here, I don't visit as often as I used to.... but it is nice to know that people like you are still around :)
Thanks buddy, I was worried my post might upset a few people but I wanted to be as honest as I could.
 

Jack and Calumon

Digimon are cool.
Dec 29, 2008
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MiracleOfSound said:
I wish both parties the best and I hope it all gets sorted out and resolved in an amicable way.
My god, I want that so much. Too much bad blood circling around, might split the community which would be bad. Other sites are already splitting over who's in the right and in the wrong (the sites that look at the internet from afar, like Reddit) and I don't know who is, just so long as it is all resolved and everything can move forward. Extra Credits is one of my favourite shows on the net, and The Escapist is one of my favourite websites, so I don't want to hate either party. I just want both of them to go out for the better. Escapist with money troubles and EC with the... money troubles.

Man, money really does cause shit.

Calumon: If you really don't like it, then I can have it! :3
 

Solfleet

New member
Aug 2, 2010
6
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Glad to hear your opinion on the matter Gav.I will take what you say into high account, not going to boycott the escapist over one matter. I too hope everything can get sorted out in a good way. One things for sure, I will still support the escapist as well as extra credits(wherever they go from here).
 

eximista

New member
Aug 7, 2011
37
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I would also defend them - if they would pay me money like they do it to you...
You realy think that what they did was "good" or "honest". My boss never owned me 20k of my salary.
 

MiracleOfSound

Fight like a Krogan
Jan 3, 2009
17,776
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eximista said:
I would also defend them - if they would pay me money like they do it to you...
You realy think that what they did was "good" or "honest". My boss never owned me 20k of my salary.
Like I said in the OP, I can only speak for myself here, not for other contributors.
 

trollnystan

I'm back, baby, & still dancing!
Dec 27, 2010
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I was so angry last night, but I've slept on it, read up on other peoples feelings and thoughts - people who have a better business sense than I - and I've calmed down considerably. And hearing your thoughts on the matter, being someone who is on the other side side so to speak, helps too.

It's good to hear that the core of the Escapist is still good. I may still believe that they should've thought twice before hiring on new talent when they were already struggling to pay the ones they had, but I'll never regret them hiring you, Gavin.

Thanks.
 

rokkolpo

New member
Aug 29, 2009
5,375
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Thank Thor there are still people without issues, that long list I saw on the other thread really had my concern.

I really hope The Escapist can make it's name and honour back among it's members.
It just sucks to be in this kind of situation.