Meet Yahtzee at PAX, Get Stuff

[Podunk]

Escapist, I love you, and I've decided for a while now to join the Pub Club as soon as I get some cash...

But still, the first thing that came to mind when I saw this is that one Penny Arcade comic:

And before anyone gets all outraged, yes I know it's not the same.

 

[Radelaide]

I mean... if all you're saying is "I don't think getting a poster at PAX is worth $20" or "meeting Yahtzee isn't worth X" or whatever, well, OK. Um...then you shouldn't participate. I personally think women's shoes are overpriced, but I don't get morally outraged at the idea that some women's shoes are $500.

http://us.christianlouboutin.com/shoes/platforms/bianca-botta-calf.html

Worth. Every. Penny.

Also more than my rent. Sigh...

If you're my shoe size, we can share them! You have them one month, fly them to Australia, I'll have them for one month and fly them back!

If I don't glue them to my feet permanently because they're so pretty *_*

 

[Micalas]

I mean... if all you're saying is "I don't think getting a poster at PAX is worth $20" or "meeting Yahtzee isn't worth X" or whatever, well, OK. Um...then you shouldn't participate. I personally think women's shoes are overpriced, but I don't get morally outraged at the idea that some women's shoes are $500.

http://us.christianlouboutin.com/shoes/platforms/bianca-botta-calf.html

Worth. Every. Penny.

Also more than my rent. Sigh...

Sorry to interrupt the moral outrage.

I am a man seeking a woman wearing these.

 

[LobsterFeng]

This thread is hilarious, I love how cynical everyone is here.

I actually don't think I'd like to sit with Yahtzee I mean even if he was joking, he doesn't exactly hide the fact that he can't stand us fans (and any other human beings for that matter) so sitting and chatting with him while eating just seems awkward to me.

 

[MaximillionMiles]

MASSIVE SNIP

This guy's post is long, but says it all, really. The only thing I would add is that the timing of this was really, really bad. With the two donation drives so close together, comparison between the Extra Credits and this offer is inevitable, although I appreciate how this kind of thing is a lot more obvious in hindsight.

The fact that extra Credits are ridiculously idealistic and wide-eyed, while Yahtzee is cynical and misanthropic (even if he is trying to change that image lately) may have been a factor too.

Still not paying anything myself, for the same reasons as many others. I can't afford a flight to Australia myself, much less help pay it for someone else, and the rewards are just too expensive and not that attractive. Then again I'm poor as a church mouse, so not the target of this campaign, certainly.

 

[Formica Archonis]

I think you mean sparse, though now I am having visions of Russ Pitts dressed as either Master Chief, or King Leonidas

Please, no, I'm still drinking to try forget the Russ/Lady Gaga thing (that was my fault to begin with). Oh, look, there's still a beer in the fridge. Come here, beer....

 

[ResonanceSD]

This thread has now taught me that next time I argue with my girlfriend about anything, I should have pictures of shoes and boots at the ready.

Shoes will fix a LOT, my friend.

I guess this means that Yahtzee is the Christian Louboutin* of the gaming world. ;-)

* Yes, I had to look that up too.

Wait. Everyone keeps bringing up the Allison thing. Wasn't most of the money that was "donated" to her surgery used for the EC guys to open up some indie game studio or something along those lines? How is this any worse?

The purpose of the donation drive was to raise money for Allison's surgery. However, fans gave much more money than was actually needed. Accordingly, Extra Credits are using the surplus funds to further innovation in gaming. Given that anyone who watches Extra Credits does so because of interest in that topic, there's absolutely nothing to which one could legitimately object.

I think it mainly boils down to nobody wants to believe their favorite, beloved website is broke. We associate ourselves with our hobbies, and a call for money can ruffle people's peace in the stability of the whole situation.

I doubt they are broke, they just put a job offer out for a new newswriter.


EDIT: Audition, still not the right word, but closer than "offer"

 

[Sixcess]

The dates for PAX Prime were announced in January. It's now July. If this wasn't thought up in the last couple of weeks why leave it to the last minute?

If it was thought up in the last couple of weeks then it's hard not to draw cynical connections between this and the Extra Credits thing. Like "holy shit, some of our members have a lot of money. Hey, maybe we can get some..."

If you'd pitched this two or three months ago, and in slightly different wording, I think it would have worked. As it is it looks bad.

And pimping out Yahtzee at ten bucks a question is just tawdry. I know that games have microtransactions now, but that doesn't mean gaming websites should.

 

[NecrolordGR]

If users were willing to contribute enough for us to publish The Escapist without ads, I can assure you we would be willing to run the site without ads. Perhaps we could do a $250,000 Rockethub project - if we hit the target we'll turn off ads for a month?

While the original post left me a little disappointed with the escapist, this for me seems worse. It seems to suggest that either:

a) The Escapist currently makes $250k a month by ads on average, but can't seem to put 20k together for the event, or

b) The Escapist makes way less than that, but likes the sound of 250k.

Am I missing something here?

 

[Virgil]

Am I missing something here?

Yeah, you're missing:

c) That's how much it costs just to keep The Escapist running for a month.

It's not something we talk about, but it is not cheap or easy to keep a site of this size running, and producing the amount of content that we do. We get by, we don't get rich, and we don't have piles of money laying around to do lots of fun extra things. Not sure why people think we do.

 

[puffy786]

To be honest, I don't think that Yahtzee is that funny IRL. He mentioned taking around 2 days to write a script for a review. I don't think that he is a person that can make entertainment while in front of fans. Also, I don't think that Yahtzee really wants to go, and that he is just being pressured by Escapist so that the site can turn a profit, and the fans that would appear would be very big and plane out annoy Yahtzee. He has mentioned his dislike of fans.

 

[Mausenheimmer]

I wonder who would pay $5000 to get their game ripped apart by Yahtzee >_>
Also, couldn't the $10-for-a-question thing lead to ridiculous number of questions?

Pretty interesting, and I really don't see anything morally offensive about it, but the cheapest reward relevant to my interests is $75, which I can't really afford to shell out for a poster

Amnesia: The Dark Descent saw a dramatic increase in sales once Yahtzee spoke kindly of it and Psychonauts became significantly more well known because of his review. So if it were a low profile indie game and Yahtzee liked it, then it could be viewed as a $5,000 advertising expense. That said, any indie game that is struggling to get recognition probably isn't going to have $5,000 to risk on Yahtzee liking it and causing sales to go through the roof.

OT: I think the timing of this promotion (i.e. so soon after the EC fundraiser, after PAX was already sold out) really hurts the Escapist's credibility. If this had been done in April, I think it would've been well received. But now it feels rushed & derivative.

 

[dyre]

I wonder who would pay $5000 to get their game ripped apart by Yahtzee >_>
Also, couldn't the $10-for-a-question thing lead to ridiculous number of questions?

Pretty interesting, and I really don't see anything morally offensive about it, but the cheapest reward relevant to my interests is $75, which I can't really afford to shell out for a poster

Amnesia: The Dark Descent saw a dramatic increase in sales once Yahtzee spoke kindly of it and Psychonauts became significantly more well known because of his review. So if it were a low profile indie game and Yahtzee liked it, then it could be viewed as a $5,000 advertising expense. That said, any indie game that is struggling to get recognition probably isn't going to have $5,000 to risk on Yahtzee liking it and causing sales to go through the roof.

OT: I think the timing of this promotion (i.e. so soon after the EC fundraiser, after PAX was already sold out) really hurts the Escapist's credibility. If this had been done in April, I think it would've been well received. But now it feels rushed & derivative.

yeah, I thought about that. But then, if Yahtzee says it's a bad game, it's kindof like ripping the guy off $5000, but if he says it's good, it'll just seem like the guy bought a good review. :\

 

[Exterminas]

I wonder who would pay $5000 to get their game ripped apart by Yahtzee >_>
Also, couldn't the $10-for-a-question thing lead to ridiculous number of questions?

Pretty interesting, and I really don't see anything morally offensive about it, but the cheapest reward relevant to my interests is $75, which I can't really afford to shell out for a poster

Amnesia: The Dark Descent saw a dramatic increase in sales once Yahtzee spoke kindly of it and Psychonauts became significantly more well known because of his review. So if it were a low profile indie game and Yahtzee liked it, then it could be viewed as a $5,000 advertising expense. That said, any indie game that is struggling to get recognition probably isn't going to have $5,000 to risk on Yahtzee liking it and causing sales to go through the roof.

OT: I think the timing of this promotion (i.e. so soon after the EC fundraiser, after PAX was already sold out) really hurts the Escapist's credibility. If this had been done in April, I think it would've been well received. But now it feels rushed & derivative.

yeah, I thought about that. But then, if Yahtzee says it's a bad game, it's kindof like ripping the guy off $5000, but if he says it's good, it'll just seem like the guy bought a good review. :\

Bad publicity is publicity as well.

Often people check out games to see if it is really THAT bad. Also called the Duke-Nukem-Forvever-Effect

 

[duchaked]

LOL make him wear funny hats

I heard LoadingReadyRun have quite a few

 

[sneeky033]

Good lord, what kind of fans are you?! I see all these people with imp avatars and ZP badges complaining that they're getting exploited to pay for a trip Yahtzee could pay for himself, but that's missing the point. I for one am glad to have an opportunity to pay Yahtzee back for the last four years of free entertainment. I'm glad that I can help the Escapist save a bit of money; money that they can use to keep the best gaming site on the web up and running. I'm glad that Yahtzee is taking the time to go to another country just to see some of his fans. My only regret is that I don't have more disposable income to give here.

Nobody's forcing anybody to give anything. That's the point of a donation. But I would be really sad if I had to be refunded because this project couldn't reach its goal.

 

[Kungfu_Teddybear]

1. A plane trip to-and-from PAX is not this expensive.

2. I know Yahtzee isn't a millionaire, but I also know he's made enough that he now owns a chain of bars around Australia. He really can't afford a plane ticket?

3. I have to donate at least $100 to be part of the meet-up? Are you fucking kidding me? Good luck making the "biggest fan meetup of all time!" with that rule.

4. It's good to know you could put giving Yahtzee free plane tickets all over your website, but couldn't do that for Extra Credits, who actually NEEDED the money.

The sad thing is, people will donate the money just to meet him. Yeah, sure, I'd like to meet Yahtzee it would be a good banter. But I'm not willing to pay that for it.

 

[Micalas]

Any chance of him still doing the Q&A with the people who donated $10 even if the project is a bust?

 

[Zulnam]

It's always fun to see a CEO reply to fans/customers. You can't help but wonder, is their way of thinking really that analytical, or do they have four advisers nearby, wearing black cloaks and whispering Satan's bidding in his ears?

 

[Raiyus]

The Escapist is, however, the only site I've ever seen where, when you click on a video, it sometimes replaces all of the rest of the window with an ad that's clickable everywhere which occasionally makes my back button not work.

THANK YOU SO MUCH. Someone else noticed... *sniffle* This is a giant pain in the ass. Well, just rather inconvenient really. Also, good luck with PAX and what-not.