Jim Sterling leaves The Escapist

salgor

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Oct 7, 2014
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Good his videos are terrible and I imagine his view declined after his views on GG there are plenty of up and comer youtubers who would love a shot and major exposer with the escapist.
 

thedailylunatic

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May 11, 2009
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This feels weird to say but... from everything I hear, I think I would have loved Jim Sterling if I had gotten to know his content before #GamerGate. However, because he chose to take a giant dump on my identity and the people I stand with, I have to say I'm glad he's gone from The Escapist. His behavior towards GG has been nothing short of reprehensible and his disingenuous claims of neutrality and apology contrast starkly with his fierce opposition to the gamers that drove his success.

Because of #GamerGate and the fact that The Escapist is the only major games site that has actually responded appropriately to it, it's going to be my ONLY source of gaming news. It's a shame that I never got to know the positive parts of Jim Sterling's work, but I'm glad to know he'll not be getting any more of my ad money.

See this:
JIM STERLING EXPOSED: SEXIST & ABUSIVE TWEETS REVEALED
http://theralphretort.com/jim-sterling-sexist-tweets-revealed/
 

Gunner 51

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Jun 21, 2009
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Wow, this is a bit of a shock for me. I know I didn't like Jim all that much - but hot damn, this is quite the upset. Personally, I think he made the right decision seeing how he was slowly taking over the Escapist especially how he was covering reviews, uncivil war, and his Jimquisition.

That's not to say that I disliked the guy personally - I just disliked his ego. I know it's all an act, but I just found it really embarrassing to sit through. (I much prefer Extra Credits, thoughtful bunch who can get their points across politely without resorting to shouting...)

Well, on the plus side - we'll still have Yahtzee (thae lovable little misanthrope) and MovieBob. They may have their flaws, but they always come across as human and people who don't seem to believe in their own hype. But all in all, I do wish Jim all the best.

Capcha: Hit the hay
(A bit mean toward Jim there....)
 

Dajmin

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Jul 18, 2008
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I'm surprised, but I can kind of understand it. He has been getting sick of "the machine" and because Escapist is driven by advertising I expect there have been conflicts along the way.

I reckon the Patreon thing is a bit of a gamble and I'm not sure he'll get the amount he's looking for. You never know. But I don't think that'll be a long term plan anyway. I know he mentions only a modest YouTube income, but that's probably mainly down to the fact most people watched his vids here instead. And I think Polaris will be interested in him soon too.

Good luck to him either way!
 

Batou667

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Oct 5, 2011
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Not sure how to feel about this. I rarely agreed with his views, and especially recently I felt that between him and MovieBob, they were attempting to turn The Escapist into a SJW-version of a Shariah Zone.

Still, I have the feeling I might miss the cantankerous old gasbag.
 

Redlin5_v1legacy

Better Red than Dead
Aug 5, 2009
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Ah, this is kind of fun to watch in a weird way.

When Jim joined the Escapist's video galleries, people quit saying he was the death of the site. Now people are leaving because he's the life of the site. Fickle, thy name is Escapist.
 

Khanht Cope

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Jul 22, 2011
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Takes me back a bit to what happened at destructoid. Used to be a kind of underground indie gamer-based outlet that started becoming more and more mainstream. Managing shifts, fall-outs and creators and personalities leaving meant Sterling was the one major OG attraction left, and it seemed like he was slowly taking over the site.... then within a few months he left, and I've felt no other reason to go back to the site since.

The escapist still has Yahtzee, for now, at least. But I wonder what the internal factors and power struggles looked like behind the scenes in these scenarios.
 

BeerTent

Resident Furry Pimp
May 8, 2011
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Zero Punc. Is good for a chuckle or two, Extra Punc. is an alright read now and then. I've begun to like Jim's stuff like I liked Extra Credits.

I have positively no interest in Bob, as I don't follow the movie scene at all. I have no idea if his content is good because for the most part, I have yet to see what he's referencing. for 80% of his show. I've probably seen 2 episodes of his that I was actually able to moderately enjoy.

So, yeah. Nnnoot~ much of a raeson to stayy...

Well, the forums are always a chuckle of a time-waster. If I had time with my life, I'd love to do lets plays and stuff for the Escapist, but I've returned to school. I simply don't have the time to dedicate between getting a job and changing careers.

EDIT: Jesus fucking Christ I wish I made 3k a month. I just looked at his Patreon page. The most I ever made a month was $1.5K/mo.
 

Andy Shandy

Fucked if I know
Jun 7, 2010
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While I'd still say there's plenty of good content on the site, the Jimquisition will be a huge loss. I intend to keep following him wherever he goes though (that sounded less creepy in my head) but I liked most of the content I enjoyed being in one place D:
 

Popido

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Oct 21, 2010
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Don't forget to give the white guy cut from your paycheck.

He needs your support to stay truly indepented.
 

Battenberg

Browncoat
Aug 16, 2012
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LostGryphon said:
- He was making about 72,000 a year?

Fuck me. He'll be fine.

Hell, that's more than my 20-30-year college professor father was making prior to retirement, only a couple years back, by about 10 grand.
Just a guess but I suspect he wasn't actually getting paid that full 72k. Given that he's going out on his own he'll have a slew of new costs to manage which will undoubtedly eat up a big chunk of that amount including the costs of designing and maintaining his own site(s?) and potentially having to buy a lot of the games he reviews as I suspect he'll find getting review copies harder now he hasn't got the backing of a major publication.


OT: Best of luck Jim! My initial reaction to this was intense dislike, probably out of a fear of change, but the more I think about it the more I realise it makes a lot of sense for Jim to do this. I imagine without censorship or anyone to answer to he'll either make his most glorious work yet or he'll take something too far and go out in a glorious red, black, and silver fireball. I'll be watching either way.

On a somewhat more personal note thank you for all the Jimquisitions so far. I've been playing video games for upwards of 15 years. It took the immense force that was Resi 4 to elevate that from a rainy day activity to a hobby I passionately enjoyed. Similarly it took all the heft of Jim Sterling (sorry couldn't resist) to make me take an interest in game journalism when I started watching Jimquisitions a couple of years ago. It was incredible to me to see someone disparage the actions of certain big publishers that other review sites seemed to grovel at the feet of and rally both to protect consumer rights and increase consumer awareness. Not just that but someone who would tackle all the other wider issues the gaming community have faced and present clear and concise arguments on each topic. The real eye opener was seeing that someone could tackle subject matter like this with serious viewpoints and still manage to make it an entertaining and engaging experience for the audience. Honestly Jimquisition made me want to be a game journalist and while I don't even know where to begin with a goal like that or have any expectation of achieving it I still feel better off for having something to aspire to. So thank you sincerely for the hours of entertainment, newfound interest in game journalism, and life goal Jimquisition has given me, you have a lifetime fan here wherever you choose to take it to next. Godspeed Jim Effin' Sterling Son!
 

putowtin

I'd like to purchase an alcohol!
Jul 7, 2010
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Sorry to see you go for the sake of fans....

but I've never been a fan of the Jimquisition and have stopped reading the game reviews around here due to his style.

However I will never wish anyone anything but good luck for the future. So Jim, take a chance, risk it all and enjoy where the path takes you.
 

Vendor-Lazarus

Censored by Mods. PM for Taboos
Mar 1, 2009
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I came to the Escapist for Zero Punctuation as many did I think.
While here though I found the forum worth lurking in.
I wasn't taken by Jim Sterling right away, his ..attitude, "ego", etc..the act he put on in other words, pushed me away.
At first at least, once I got past that I found a guy ripping AAA and being very consumer oriented.
Poem wars and Uncivil war was a nice bonus.
His stance in GamerGate not so much...

Both ZP and Critical miss have lost a lot of their touch over time, but they can still produce excellent pieces now and again.
I'm staying for them and the forum.

I wont even go near MovieBob...just saying.
 

TessaraVejgan

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Sep 3, 2014
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Well good riddance and good luck :). As for Patreon support, no, even if I had the money I wouldn't give it to him. Jimqusition may be entertaining and I will continue to watch it but some of his attitude about certain issues rubs me the wrong way.
 

Leonardo Huizar

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Jul 1, 2012
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Welp, Ive already stopped watching SocialJusticeBob. Came here for Ben Yahtzee then eventually Jim Sterling got me to hang around. Yahtzee goes then im sure i can start trolling around the screwattack forum or something.

Just hope this doesnt turn out like all those other Gaming journo show & sites that shut down or did heavy layoffs. Like IGN, Gamespot, Gametrailers, Rev3Gaming, G4... You know the heavy hitters as they were
 

direkiller

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Dec 4, 2008
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Battenberg said:
I suspect he'll find getting review copies harder now he hasn't got the backing of a major publication.
He is still part of Polaris
http://www.polarisgo.com/browse/talent/tag/jimsterling

so he should still have a rater easy time getting review copies, if angry Joe is any indication with roughly the same popularity.
 

leberkaese

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May 16, 2014
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I don't like Jim Sterling that much. Neither do I like his acted role in Jimquisition nor his 'real' personality he shows us.

But he's one of the few out there that tells the truth about the gaming industry and therefore I watch his show. Also I somewhat liked his shenanigans with Yahtzee, I hope they'll continue in some form.

Also, I didn't like his recent reaction to the dev of Slaughtering Grounds. Not every publicity is good publicity, but if the dev of Slaughtering Grounds sold only one copy because of the attention he got through Jim Sterling that would've been too much.
 

Mr Cwtchy

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Jan 13, 2009
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Oh dear, my box of fucks appears to be empty. How dreadful.

In all honesty, I'm not at all sad he's leaving. Jim's facade of being pro-consumer shattered when the whole GG mess kicked off, and with it went his credibility, far as I'm concerned.