Is the Escapist dying?

[KingsGambit_v1legacy]

I get the feeling that the forums have massively slowed down in the last month. Fewer threads hang around for much longer, instead of constant moving. We lost Jim a year ago and sometime recently the Unskippable/LRR guys have totally disappeared. On top of that, Gamefront shut down recently very quietly and with just two weeks notice (apparently). Something's going on o.o

 

[Redlin5_v1legacy]

All I know is I ain't going anywhere. My roots have gone a bit too deep to remove... <.<

 

[Guffe]

All I know is I ain't going anywhere. My roots have gone a bit too deep to remove... <.<

Pretty much this
I have no other Place to go. I have 4 websites + my email I visit on a daily basis, those 4 include: Escapist, Youtube and Facebook, so this is the only forum I have and have had. So until I someday click my Escapist bookmark and it sais something along the lines of "Kross destroyed TheEscapist forever", I will keep coming here.

 

[Trunkage]

I get the feeling that the forums have massively slowed down in the last month. Fewer threads hang around for much longer, instead of constant moving. We lost Jim a year ago and sometime recently the Unskippable/LRR guys have totally disappeared. On top of that, Gamefront shut down recently very quietly and with just two weeks notice (apparently). Something's going on o.o

LLR was lost within a couple of months of Jim, Movie Bob, while Miracle of Sound left even earlier.

Also, I called it in January. It's been dying for a long time.

 

[axlryder]

well, given that the doom and gloom seems to be a little more well grounded than before, anyone have any recommendations for alt sites if this place does kick the bucket?

 

[Pirate Of PC Master race]

This is the core about these threads that confuses me. I dunno what the result is supposed to be (I understand it was more of a curiosity thing at the start, but it's become close enough to be considered a doom saying thread based on previous responses)

If it is any comfort to you, I find this thread very interesting. Very sharp contrast of postings' "Mood" compared to ones from few months ago, don't you think?

 

[Drathnoxis]

Yes, because the site has been seriously mismanaged. Zero Punctuation is on Youtube, pretty much every problem stems from this. Look at the kind of views the latest ZP gets on Youtube, those are all people that are not coming to the Escapist. Heck, most of them probably don't even have any idea that there is even an Escapist to come to!

Back in the day, most people said that Zero Punctuation was what first drew them to the site, and I'd wager that would still hold true for what few people remain.

I just don't understand how management doesn't see this. Their main attraction is on someone else's site, how is that supposed to help them? People don't need to actually come here for ZP anymore and thus the site traffic has been steadily falling ever since 2011. I have numbers proving this, why doesn't management? The forums are a ghost town compared to what they used to be, why hasn't anybody fixed this blunder in the 5 years since it's been made? What the heck has been going through their heads all this time?!

Am I the only one this makes sense to??

 

[IceForce]

Look at the kind of views the latest ZP gets on Youtube, those are all people that are not coming to the Escapist. Heck, most of them probably don't even have any idea that there is even an Escapist to come to!

I watch Jim Sterling's channel rather religiously, and a common thing to see in the comments on his videos is "Hey Jim! I saw some of your old videos on another channel called 'Escapist' or some shit. Who the hell is that??"

 

[Fiz_The_Toaster]

All I know is I ain't going anywhere. My roots have gone a bit too deep to remove... <.<

Same for me too.

I really don't plan on going anywhere, and I actually like it here.

These sort of threads do tend to pop up every now and then, and, while it does tend to get annoying, I don't foresee them going anywhere.

So...

The Escapist is dead, long live the Escapist!

 

[Cold Shiny]

The escapist's woes don't really concern me, since I can keep it alive through sheer force of will.

 

[Sassafrass]

All I know is I ain't going anywhere. My roots have gone a bit too deep to remove... <.<

We shall go on a pilgrimage, and pray to the old Escapist users/gods for help in our upcoming battle against Defy's shitty practices. The gods will join us as "Legends" and we shall fight to defeat the evil that is Defy, then the "Forum Calm" will wash over us and the people of Escapia will rejoice. Sacrifices will be made and massive plot twists will be seen, but it would be a journey of epic proportions.

Then we'll do this shit all.
Over.
Again. Because we never learn.

Or we'll get a sequel where I'm in a bikini suddenly and we discover a greater evil lurking underneath the Basement.
Either works. No, I'm not playing FF X again, shut up.

 

[Epyc Wynn]

Did the site ever consider working together with content-producers such as Gamespot or KnowYourMeme to get more content promoted in a partnership? Perhaps show their news in a larger better formatted manner on the frontpage outside of just the RSS feed in the bottom left corner? Promote the forums more since they're filled with free content AND regularly contributed to? This seems like some obvious stuff they could be doing.

 

[StormShaun]

I keep hitting it with the shovel,
yet it just keeps moving.

I'm just waiting till Kross gets back with those bullets. Then I'll finally be able to drag ol' Sparky here behind the shed.

 

[StormShaun]

and we discover a greater evil lurking underneath the Basement.

You're right.
I've been down in the Basement before, and it ain't bad as you all think.

Yes, there may be the corpses, sex dungeons, and the countless lubed up slaves, but you get used to it after a while.
In fact, I somehow got crowned Overlord after the great literal Burning Man festival.

What we should look out for... ... is the sub-basement.
Now that's the great evil you're looking for.

 

[PureChaos]

All I know is I ain't going anywhere. My roots have gone a bit too deep to remove... <.<

Same here. While I don't come here as often as I used to or post on the forums as much as I used to I still like coming here and seeing what's going on and will continue to do so until, one day, I try to come here and it says the site no longer exists.

 

[DarthCoercis]

It seems to be more just part of the ebb and flow of general internet sites. Look, I've been lurking since 2008, back when I first saw Zero Punctuation previewed on G4TV. Over the years I've seen the escapist have high traffic, high content volume and low traffic, low content volume. I've seen innumerable threads on how "the escapist is dying", yet it seems to stick around long after those predictions have been made.

Do they need to find and hire new content producers? Absolutely. Was it a mistake to let a bunch of their talented content producers go? Definitely. Will this be the end of the site? Nah, unlikely. I've seen far bigger shitstorms than what's been happening lately engulf DEFY and the escapist in particular, and it's still around. I'd say it's got at least another couple of years of shelf-life.

 

[Programmed_For_Damage]

those of us that like the forum and the community, I made an emergency back up board. You can find the link to it on my website, under my name, above my avatar. Everyone is welcome to bookmark it and use it if these boards die.

I'll be squirreling that link away for later.

That said I've seen a lot of doom-mongering threads crop up over the years and The Escapist is still here. Sure it's not like it was in it's heyday, but there's still stuff that keeps me coming back.

 

[chozoone19]

Kinda feeling you on that account. Took a look through my profile a while back at old forum posts and even more so with the site achievement badge things, most of which were related to parts of the site that are not longer here. No more escape to the movies, no more lisa top fives, no unskippables, no...just a lot of different content creators, videos and comics. About the only thing that i keep coming to the site for is Zero Puncuation and thats it. So...yeah, sad to say but if the site's not dying then it's at least on the downward slope.

 

[DudeistBelieve]

those of us that like the forum and the community, I made an emergency back up board. You can find the link to it on my website, under my name, above my avatar. Everyone is welcome to bookmark it and use it if these boards die.

I'll be squirreling that link away for later.

That said I've seen a lot of doom-mongering threads crop up over the years and The Escapist is still here. Sure it's not like it was in it's heyday, but there's still stuff that keeps me coming back.

Please do, and share it with everyone who wants it.

I really rather love the community we have here, warts and all, I'd rather try and keep that no matter what.

 

[thebobmaster_v1legacy]

*points to join date* I've been here for a long time. Before Jimquisition, before GamerGate, before a lot of stuff. I was here when the RP board was created, never mind when it was split into RP and Games.

Why do I say this? Because there were cries of the site going downhill back then. When Eggo was banned, when Indigo Dingo was banned, when Darth Empyrean went totally crazy and got herself banned. The site's been dying for years. It's just that instead of latching onto high profile posters getting banned as signs of doom, it's now features that have come and gone.

I'm not going anywhere, and truly hope that the site goes for a while yet.