Jimquisition: The Adblock Episode

[Dragonbums]

I think the mods need to clarify that although one is allowed to talk about adblock and their usage of it on this forum just once, you yourself are not allowed to mention that you also use it on the Escapist itself without any hint that you are no longer using it on the Escapist.

Seeing too many innocent users here getting warnings for this.

 

[gmfaux]

Jim, you didn't encourage people to subscribe. Would you prefer that non-subscribers watch ads, or that adblockers subscribe?

 

[IceForce]

To ignore this and just throw everything on the user is lazy moderation and a demonstrating that people can't really have a proper dialogue on these forums because of the forum rules being too strict.

This just seems really paranoid, and chilling to proper discussion. Can you tell us how far up The Escapist's management chain this authorisation of warning for people simply admitting to using ad blockers in this thread went? Who was it that approved the terms of this supposed "armistice"?

I don't want to speak out of turn, but it's almost like the powers that be here are bullying people into turning off adblock.

EDIT:

I think the mods need to clarify that although one is allowed to talk about adblock and their usage of it on this forum just once, you yourself are not allowed to mention that you also use it on the Escapist itself without any hint that you are no longer using it on the Escapist.

Seeing too many innocent users here getting warnings for this.

That, yeah, that would be good.

Or lock the thread. Either option.

 

[Vivi22]

I have to agree with you here Jim. I try my best to turn adblock off on sites and for content which I regularly use and benefit from because I feel it's the right thing to do. When you, or Day[9], or any number of other people I watch are making content on a daily basis that I enjoy, I want you to make money.

But like you, I certainly can't blame those that do use it on a lot of sites. Even when you may support the person in spirit, sometimes the ads really are just so awful, as you say, that it's just too much. There have been times (more than a few if I'm honest) where the ads on the Escapist cross well over the line into what I feel is an acceptable level of intrusion for users of the site, and it's a shame too. Because I'm sure more people would be willing to turn there's off if that weren't the case. But as you said, there can be a double edged sword at work where people not viewing these ads results in more intrusive ads for those who don't, and I wonder how much control the site may actually have in the matter.

But I think that some of the people who adblock the site may do so simply because they forget to turn it off sometimes and it's just constantly blocking things. So hopefully, if nothing else, this video can serve as a friendly reminder for those who wouldn't mind turning it off on this site to do so. And maybe if more people do, the ads around here will improve somewhat. Or maybe just if we ask really nicely? Please?

 

[Dragonbums]

How about you just close this entire topic then. If you're just going to punish an entire point of view on the subject you might as well stop pretending you want any proper discourse.

I've complained about this before.

Had this thread been made by an ordinary user, it would've been locked on page 1 or 2.
But for some reason, if it's a content thread, it never gets locked (even in cases where a lock is quite obviously needed).

The annoying issue here though is that Jim specifically stated on page 1 that he directly talked to a mod to make this thread an amnesty so every single person on here doesn't get a warning/suspension/ban from talking about adblock. The problem now is is that you have a bunch of users talking about adblock, but they say one specific thing: "I have the Escapist under adblock/blacklist" once they say that, the mods bring down the warning hammer. This is going to be a real issues in this thread. Literally the first post in this thread got a warning for saying an honest opinion.

 

[Aardvaarkman]

People seem to have an issue with discussing something versus advocating something.

The rule WAS don't encourage or enable other people to block our ads.
It said nothing about discussing ad-blocking as a concept. Just don't say THIS IS AWESOME AND I DO IT AND SO SHOULD YOU and all should be fine.

It appears that The Escapist's mods currently also have an "advocating vs. discussing" problem. Many of the people given warnings in this thread, were only mentioning that they used Adblock. They were not advocating.

How is that an inappropriate thing to mention in this thread, of all places? People are just trying to be honest.

Of course, many people/children like to do the "so have you heard of Adblock *nudge* *wink*" which they like to insist is discussion rather then encouragement.

And you've turned that on its head with these bizarre rules, so we get the situation here where people are having to use *nudge* and *wink* just to have a simple discussion.

 

[Gaius Livius]

There is no problem with adverts on sites if they are for a genuine product/service. The problem is that most of them aren't and are just trying to give you a computer virus and or scam you. The worst way of going about it is to have many adverts on one page (Especially videos that automatically play with no input) since they often crash or slow down the browser significantly. The ones here are done well and so are the pre-video ads on YouTube (Mostly). The other YouTube ads are completely ridiculous though and pathetic attempts at fooling people.

It is worth noting that advertisements only really appear when you are using a free service and are therefore completely justified. I think there just needs to be tighter restriction on who can advertise on websites because there are far too many scams and virus giving ones about. I don't know about everyone else but I find that if a website is inundated with dodgy adverts on it I usually see the website itself as being dodgy and don't trust it entirely which makes me less inclined to go back to it.

 

[nightazday]

Even before Adblock the usual website gets cluttered with pop-ups, videos, and stuff that makes my virus and malware scan go off. I just don't trust ads anymore. Especially on the Escapist where the the page has advertisement on a particular AAA title all over the page and in every video, even the ones criticizing practices similar to that.

On public computers I don't bother to put on ad-block which is usually where I watch the escapist half the time if that means anything. I will consider whitelisting my favorite non-porn sites in the future though.

 

[flying_whimsy]

I'm surprised that the issue of security wasn't addressed more thoroughly (and forgive me for only reading about five or so of the pages of the thread); I've seen a massive decline in malware alerts ever since I started using an adblocker.

Funny story: I never heard of an adblocker until the escapist started banning people for posting about them. At first I stayed away from the things, but I typically have multiple tabs of the escaptist open (columns, threads, etc.) and when my quad core computer ground to a halt from the ad induced load I had to start using one. I also started getting some really nasty adware hits from here, so I wasn't happy about it but I had to turn on the adblocker.

I'll join the pub club at some point, there are just some...circumstances. Jim's appeal really did hit home, though, and I'm glad he's at least understanding of where people that use adblockers are coming from.

 

[Neta]

You didn't really make the distinction between blocking harmless images with adblock and blocking intrusive malware-ridden javascript ads with noscript.

 

[Insangitas]

For both pub club and amazon.com I would need a credit card. I don't have one, and I don't want one.
I feel like supporting you and your work, or the other escapist staff, but I won't get a credit card just for you.
Same with Kickstarter.
There are enough other ways to pay online than using a credit card, and as long as the payment model doesn't change that's that.
The Escapist is currently whitelisted, but the ads and the end of each video, waving their membership in front of me in a lound and fairly annoying manner is really grinding my gears.

 

[Dragonbums]

Wait! You actually thought I was DEMANDING something about clickbait?
NO. I was mentioning one huge aspect of an issue that you constantly talk about but ignore that aspect.
I was offering constructive criticism about the fact that you have never mentioned punishment other than talking at ALL male gamers, in a tone similar to yours on this show.
I am sorry if I hurt your feelings(even if you have hurt mine several times in the past) or if you thought I demanded something.

You can see my post history. I only had ONE warning before that thread and have always tried my best to be polite and follow the rules even when feeling personally insulted and being extremely angry. Now I have 3 warnings and am on probation and I took it knowing the rules full well to get a response about clickbait and I used that product's name to get your attention.

And I followed through on my promise and have disabled it on the Escapist and will continue to keep it disabled as long as don't find clickbait again. And at that point I will cease coming here as I have with Cracked and Kotaku instead of enabling it and visiting again. Because at that point you will prove your willingness to do anything to keep people arguing here instead of enjoying your content and allowing them to leave.

He said he was going to make this topic eventually anyway. Your bragging about using adblock on his videos because you don't like his content just reminded him of it. It has nothing to do with that 2 page argument you had with him on the other thread.

 

[Moth_Monk]

The Escapist doesn't even support HTML5 and that means I can't watch anything on my Google tablet from this site. So I can't really blame the audience for using NoScript etc.

 

[SilverUchiha]

Here's my thing with ads, hate me if you will.

I generally block them because on most sites, as you stated Jim, they are fairly intrusive. But when someone from the site, like you have here (or did on Destructoid not long ago) humbly asks for me to disable it to enjoy content, I generally go along with it because of the way the approached the issue. I did so for the destructoid when you asked... and then brought it back up after you left, the subscription service they introduced started, and the ads got even more intrusive than ever, sometimes even getting in the way of the content outright, which is (to me) detrimental to the experience itself.

Then there are sites or groups like RoosterTeeth who I block, but I also buy a lot of their content as DVDs, clothes, posters, etc. They may not make a lot of money off me, but I've given them a fair bit for all the great entertainment they provide.

So, in response to this, yeah, I'll turn my adblock off for this site. Only to revert back to on should the ads get insanely terrible or should I start having a larger income and be able to buy products or the subscription service for this site as well. Not necessarily because I want to, but because I respect the work you do and the effort made to ask us to cease with the adblock.

 

[MindFragged]

I've felt a little guilty about using adblocker recently so Bravo Jim, you spurred my apathetic rear into action. Also, I think I'm going to whitelist some sites.

 

[WeepingAngels]

Looking at the first page it's obvious that we can't have an honest discussion about this.

 

[ProZack]

Like some others here, I watched this video while I had adblock, and then, like 20 seconds in I turned it off for this site and will no longer use it for the site. I started using it because of Facebook and Youtube when all of the music I listened to on there had some annoying ass sound ads on the side, but I now realize the error of my ways. Thank God for you, Jim. Thank God for you.

Now I just feel bad for not turning it off for this site a long time ago, lol.

 

[Remus]

It appears that The Escapist's mods currently also have an "advocating vs. discussing" problem. Many of the people given warnings in this thread, were only mentioning that they used Adblock. They were not advocating.

Admitting and advocating is both against the rules.

I'll link the relevant section again, for convenience:

[HEADING=2]Use Our Forums Appropriately[/HEADING]
Ad Blockers - Do not link to, advocate, or admit to using ad blockers

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/codeofconduct

Fell free to lock the thread then because everyone here has mentioned adblock in one form or another. It's hard to have an opinion on the topic if you don't have personal experience with the topic. This was a video posted by one of the site's own paid contributors. Why are people receiving warnings for participating in the discussion?

 

[vallorn]

Well I'm a long time user of Addblock after Youtube started it's massive autoplay adds but, thanks to Jim I've turned it off for The Escapist like I used to have it (before I installed it and forgot to whitelist things to I just ignored all ads by default.)

I really hope that I don't get bombarded with autoplays like some people have been saying because by the eye of terror I'm pretty sure that autoplay add's that pop up in the bottom corners of obscure websites in your 51st out of 100 firefox tabs are THE WORST thing to deal with (Especially if they loop). So yeah, I'm not trying to make threats just, It's essentially the same arguments as game piracy because of DRM. People pirate games like Sim City because the pirates give a better end user experience than the official experience and that, in the end is true for Addblock users too. If add's become more intrusive then Addblock becomes a better end user experience so more people use it... It's a horrible horrible loop.

So thanks Jim for reminding me to turn it off here, I only hope that it pays off for the both of us.

(PS. 2 warnings on the first page for explicitly discussing things in this thread? wtf?)

 

[SirAroun]

I have to use adblock for deviant art, but for other site I am more open.