Jimquisition: The Adblock Episode

[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.

 

[moose7]

I would rather pay for content like through your members club then see or hear ads.

I wonder if any one has tried to create a reverse ad system. Where you pay a subscription that then automatically pays sites when you visit them while blocking ads. Sort of like buying out the ads spaces when ever you visit a site.

 

[WhiteTigerShiro]

I can say, with at least some pride, that I've made it this far without even looking into AdBlock almost specifically because I get it. I don't like ads, but I get why they exist. That said though, as you said Jim, I also get the other side of it. GameFAQs alone has done a lot to test my patience with the way that they've forgone pop-up ads (which most browsers block by default these days) to just smother the website itself with a massive ad; seemingly trying to trick me into clicking on it with the way that it'll pop-up conveniently just as I'm about to click on the link for the forums or the FAQs or the search bar or just whatever I'm there to check. GameFAQs is also notorious for allowing such intensive ads that it will actually lock-up my browser in the worst of times, and make it a sluggish mess to navigate their site in the best of times.

Thus far I've held onto my will and simply not gone to their website for a while when they pull that bullshit. Rather than insisting that I'm entitled to their content for "free" (if we're willing to count my mere presence as a form of payment), I simply don't use it. I'll look up a guide somewhere else, or go make conversation on someone else's forums. So I guess that's another reason I don't use AdBlock; I get why ads exist, and on top of that I have no qualms taking my business somewhere else when the ads DO drive me to the brink of wanting to use such a program.

 

[Marter]

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?

We don't lock official content threads. So that's not going to happen. (IceForce, that goes for your continued requests, too.)

People are receiving warnings for advocating the usage of ad blockers and admitting to their usage. You do not need to say "I use adblock" in order to share your opinion on the subject.

 

[PuckFuppet]

AdBlock, and things which offer similar functionality, exist. Fighting them isn't going to change it but at the same neither is accepting them as commonplace. Unless users of those add-ons are given a clear context for what the alternative is.

As to the discussion as to whether or not AdBlock should be used as "weapon" to "punish" content creators, that is absurdly childish and I doubt it is the norm. That said surely it is just as potent a tool for those content creators to use against the people who handle their advertising, the real problem.

 

[IceForce]

I'd just simply call it what it is. This is an example of censorship. What is worse to me at least is that websites and forums like to go above and beyond the law. They end up trying to control what is allowed to the point where it comes a site of self affirmation preventing all criticism and disagreement.

To be fair, locking this thread would also be an example of censorship. But that's still preferable to banning everyone, I guess.

I'm still puzzled about why that rule even exists. Do they think they'll scare people away from using that software?
Is banning people from your site really the best way of dealing with people who block your ads?

 

[Gutsripper]

I don't use adblock because (working in multi-media design myself) I know how important income from advertising is on the web.
But I must say that some adds are becoming progressivly intrusive. Mainly the video adds on the side that autoplay with sound and all and give me no option to stop, pauze and/or mute the bloody thing. For those things I simply refresh the page and then I get a non-video add.
That said I do understand why people would use adblock.

 

[WeepingAngels]

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?

We don't lock official content threads. So that's not going to happen. (IceForce, that goes for your continued requests, too.)

People are receiving warnings for advocating the usage of ad blockers and admitting to their usage. You do not need to say "I use adblock" in order to share your opinion on the subject.

You only want people who have never used adblock to be discussing this?

How about we have a conversation about beef and only allow vegetarians to talk?

 

[Dollabillyall]

Whitelisting this site. I've been happily browsing without ads for years, but for the sake of the content creators I will try it out for the escapist. I do hope though... that the ads will not be obtrusive. The ones with sound are the worst, but the banners that scroll into your screen or take forever to load are also unacceptable. The type of ads shown will definitely determine wether I will keep this site whitelisted or not.

 

[Marter]

You only want people who have never used adblock to be discussing this?

How about we have a conversation about beef and only allow vegetarians to talk?

I didn't say that. I said you have no reason to admit that you're using an ad blocker. To my knowledge we've not warned anyone who said they did use adblocker and then stopped. Past history isn't getting people warnings. Current admission is.