MovieBob leaving The Escapist

[Lono Shrugged]

*Pet peeve: Josh and I are not "new management". I wrote the Escapist's original business plan, raised the money to launch it, came up with name, and hired and managed all of its EICs. Josh, the new EIC, has worked for Themis-Alloy-Defy since 2004. So, yeah.

That does not mean that you are known by the community like everyone else was. To many, there is no one manning the wheel house right now and no one knows what is happening and why. A lot of people who were trusted by what they said or did are now gone. Yahtzee is the hermit who lives in a cave by the beach and delivers his column and videos without really getting involved.

To say that we should accept this gutting of staff in such an arrogant and combative way really communicates that the site has seriously deviated from why a lot of us started coming here.

To say that we care about this site is an optimistic supposition. Most people here came for the contributors and almost all of the ones from the last 4 years are gone. They are all on their own pages and the fans will visit them and pretty soon it's the death of a thousand cuts.

Brand loyalty only goes so far, people are loyal to content.

 

[Ickabod]

Don't know what happened, don't really care. What I do know is that I have a couple less reasons to come to this site during the week. Which stinks.

 

[Carrots_macduff]

*snip
To say that we care about this site is an optimistic supposition. Most people here came for the contributors and almost all of the ones from the last 4 years are gone. They are all on their own pages and the fans will visit them and pretty soon it's the death of a thousand cuts.

Brand loyalty only goes so far, people are loyal to content.

well said. i couldnt care less about the escapist as a business now that the people who originally hooked me are no longer attached.(see my earlier post about big personalities and how the escapist has tossed them aside without a care)

im confident that anyone still making worthwhile content for you could find another platform to give it to us, one that will give them their due and not kick them out without so much as a fond farewell

 

[SilverStuddedSquirre]

Pfffff I pity those of you who got offended by anything Bob ever said or did; the real world will chew you kiddies up and spit you out mercilessly.

Goodbye to Bob, I'll follow you where you choose to post your content. I thoroughly enjoyed all your stuff - even when we dis-agreed.

@ EscapistManagement: Hurry, there's still time to get rid of Bionic Trousers (LRR), Yhatzee and Firefilm (No Right Answer)thus completing your Quest to become a contentless wasteland of second hand news.

Looks like Ross Linciln is going to have to hold this website up on his own pretty soon, or did you want him gone too? I noticed he swears once in a while, that makes Jesus cry you know. Seriuosly, I enjoyed listening to my "Bob / Ross podcast" blast you!

 

[Carrots_macduff]

Looks like Ross Linciln is going to have to hold this website up on his own pretty soon, or did you want him gone too? I noticed he swears once in a while, that makes Jesus cry you know. Seriuosly, I enjoyed listening to my "Bob / Ross podcast" blast you!

Ross went at the same time as Tito, i dont blame you for not noticing since there was nothing on the site about it as far as i know

 

[Tsun Tzu]

Snippety Snip

Appreciate your candor, sir.

To say that we should accept this gutting of staff in such an arrogant and combative way really communicates that the site has seriously deviated from why a lot of us started coming here.

To say that we care about this site is an optimistic supposition. Most people here came for the contributors and almost all of the ones from the last 4 years are gone. They are all on their own pages and the fans will visit them and pretty soon it's the death of a thousand cuts.

Brand loyalty only goes so far, people are loyal to content.

...That was "arrogant and combative" to you? Were we reading the same post?

 

[SilverStuddedSquirre]

Looks like Ross Linciln is going to have to hold this website up on his own pretty soon, or did you want him gone too? I noticed he swears once in a while, that makes Jesus cry you know. Seriuosly, I enjoyed listening to my "Bob / Ross podcast" blast you!

Ross went at the same time as Tito, i dont blame you for not noticing since there was nothing on the site about it as far as i know

What the everloving %^&#%^& ??? Tito too? At least we know they have some REALLY good drugs at head office....


Captcha: well isn't that special? Well played again Captcha *slow clapping*

 

[Lono Shrugged]

...That was "arrogant and combative" to you? Were we reading the same post?

*Pet peeve: Josh and I are not "new management". I wrote the Escapist's original business plan, raised the money to launch it, came up with name, and hired and managed all of its EICs. Josh, the new EIC, has worked for Themis-Alloy-Defy since 2004. So, yeah.

Perfectly willing to accept I am being overly harsh. But I work in media and when someone feels the need to so explain how important and senior they are as opposed to actually actively engaging the communities' concerns I tend to be unimpressed.

You will notice he never even mentioned Bob's name or wish him luck even though this thread is about Bob. He really came in to settle down everyone who is talking about leaving or cancelling pub club accounts by talking about new pitches, new content, mobile sites and other things that are irrelevant to the the concerns raised in this thread. Putting a lid on it is all that post felt like to me.

The "So, yeah" came across combative because it assumes I should be impressed or automatically give him the same credit I would give to Susan, Russ or Greg. I am not impressed by titles or corporate speak.

Not meaning any personal offence.

 

[Phil the Nervous]

snip

Thanks for sharing this, really looking forward to what you guys have planned.

Wait... old veterans? Shanks?
oh please let it be Shanks

 

[Lono Shrugged]

I was checking out Bob's faq and I came across this quote:

To have it end all at once, after such a long partnership, was a shock to the system, deeply disappointing and (while the parting was indeed entirely amicable) has left me very shaken and terribly sad - I don't handle change very well, and earlier today I was having a conversation where the subject of movie screenings happening this week came up, and it took a moment for it to occur to me that I had no reason to care what the big movie for this weekend was going to be because there'd be no Escape to The Movies on Friday or ever again... and I don't mind telling you it was a mildly devastating moment to have creep up on me.

This sums up what I had become to dislike about Bob. He "does not care what the big movie is" I had articulated this in some posts I made before I stopped watching. He never seemed to actually love movies. He loved talking about them but he often complained about his job and the quality of the movies he watched. He always seemed to have such a limited appreciation and often would complain about movies as opposed to accepting that people had different tastes.

It was a real turn off for me. I love the movies. Even terrible ones. I saw 50 shades of Grey in the cinema and I thought it was garbage. But I still felt that glow of excitement at a new film to experience to analyze and digest. I may not like a movie. But I inherently have a love and respect for all movies. I don't get that feeling from him.

 

[lordofhyphens]

Currently reconsidering my publishers club membership.

 

[Shaidz]

Soo yeah, Jim's gone, Bob's gone, LRR has finished...all that's left is ZP and Feed Dump. Escapist, i have been coming to you every day for like the last 5 years and it seems our time together is coming to a close, oh well.

 

[Gizmo1990]

I was checking out Bob's faq and I came across this quote:

To have it end all at once, after such a long partnership, was a shock to the system, deeply disappointing and (while the parting was indeed entirely amicable) has left me very shaken and terribly sad - I don't handle change very well, and earlier today I was having a conversation where the subject of movie screenings happening this week came up, and it took a moment for it to occur to me that I had no reason to care what the big movie for this weekend was going to be because there'd be no Escape to The Movies on Friday or ever again... and I don't mind telling you it was a mildly devastating moment to have creep up on me.

This sums up what I had become to dislike about Bob. He "does not care what the big movie is" I had articulated this in some posts I made before I stopped watching. He never seemed to actually love movies. He loved talking about them but he often complained about his job and the quality of the movies he watched. He always seemed to have such a limited appreciation and often would complain about movies as opposed to accepting that people had different tastes.

It was a real turn off for me. I love the movies. Even terrible ones. I saw 50 shades of Grey in the cinema and I thought it was garbage. But I still felt that glow of excitement at a new film to experience to analyze and digest. I may not like a movie. But I inherently have a love and respect for all movies. I don't get that feeling from him.

Could not agree more. I still watched his reviews as they were still helpfull from time to time but I am not going to make the effot to follow his work now he is gone. Also reading the faq I noticed that when he askes people to keep coming to The Escapist to support the people who are still here he lists everyone but Yahtzee. Think I am reading too much into that or does he have a problem with him?

 

[Lono Shrugged]

I noticed that when he askes people to keep coming to The Escapist to support the people who are still here he lists everyone but Yahtzee. Think I am reading too much into that or does he have a problem with him?

I think you hit the nail on the head. He, Jim and Yahtzee used to do that discussion column from time to time and he used to never seem to have the well rounded argument. Jim and Yahtzee had their poetry competition and he was not invited to that party even though he is technically a writer.
I could not find any mention of Bob leaving on either of their twitters. Not even a "best of luck" let alone a plug for his Patreon.

Usually when someone doesn't like someone they just say nothing. I also get the feeling that Jim and Yahtzee don't take themselves too seriously and Bob takes Himself WAAYYY too seriously: https://pbs.twimg.com/media/B-FNGxoCAAACK_x.png:large (from a twitter post by @phonyphantomR)

 

[The Bucket]

I was checking out Bob's faq and I came across this quote:

To have it end all at once, after such a long partnership, was a shock to the system, deeply disappointing and (while the parting was indeed entirely amicable) has left me very shaken and terribly sad - I don't handle change very well, and earlier today I was having a conversation where the subject of movie screenings happening this week came up, and it took a moment for it to occur to me that I had no reason to care what the big movie for this weekend was going to be because there'd be no Escape to The Movies on Friday or ever again... and I don't mind telling you it was a mildly devastating moment to have creep up on me.

This sums up what I had become to dislike about Bob. He "does not care what the big movie is" I had articulated this in some posts I made before I stopped watching. He never seemed to actually love movies. He loved talking about them but he often complained about his job and the quality of the movies he watched. He always seemed to have such a limited appreciation and often would complain about movies as opposed to accepting that people had different tastes.

It was a real turn off for me. I love the movies. Even terrible ones. I saw 50 shades of Grey in the cinema and I thought it was garbage. But I still felt that glow of excitement at a new film to experience to analyze and digest. I may not like a movie. But I inherently have a love and respect for all movies. I don't get that feeling from him.

Could not agree more. I still watched his reviews as they were still helpfull from time to time but I am not going to make the effot to follow his work now he is gone. Also reading the faq I noticed that when he askes people to keep coming to The Escapist to support the people who are still here he lists everyone but Yahtzee. Think I am reading too much into that or does he have a problem with him?

He doesnt mention Miracle of Sound either, who he's retweeted a ton of stuff off previously and seems to get on well with. I wouldnt read too much into it personally

I noticed that when he askes people to keep coming to The Escapist to support the people who are still here he lists everyone but Yahtzee. Think I am reading too much into that or does he have a problem with him?

I think you hit the nail on the head. He, Jim and Yahtzee used to do that discussion column from time to time and he used to never seem to have the well rounded argument. Jim and Yahtzee had their poetry competition and he was not invited to that party even though he is technically a writer. I could not find any mention of Bob leaving on either of their twitters. Not even a "best of luck" let alone a plug for his Patreon. Usually when someone doesn't like someone they just say nothing. I also get the feeling that Jim and Yahtzee don't take themselves too seriously and Bob takes Himself WAAYYY too seriously: https://pbs.twimg.com/media/B-FNGxoCAAACK_x.png:large (from a twitter post by @phonyphantomR)

The only time I remember him mentioning Yahtzee is when people asked him about his whole rebuttal to the master race controversy. I cant remember what he said exactly, but it was more or less "I dont know what his politics are, I dont agree with him but i've always found him a good bloke" to paraphrase I think.

 

[Lono Shrugged]

snip

Well that's a fair point. To clarify, I don't think they hate each other. Just that they are not exactly mates either.

 

[Johnny Novgorod]

Also reading the faq I noticed that when he askes people to keep coming to The Escapist to support the people who are still here he lists everyone but Yahtzee. Think I am reading too much into that or does he have a problem with him?

I said this exact same thing in an earlier post: every time he talks about "the excellent content-producers of The Escapist" he mentions everybody bar Yahtzee. I get the impression that Bob doesn't care much for him, even if his schtick is basically to copy Yahtzee's non-stop cadence with a Boston accent. It occurs to me it's because of Yahtzee's unusual silence regarding... well, everything Bob blabbers about on Twitter. Yahtzee keeps quiet and does his thing while just about everybody else - Bob chief among them - wastes time lambasting one another on social media. Maybe Bob considers Yahtzee's neutrality harmful to his cause, seeing as how Yahtzee holds the largest fanbase of them all yet doesn't rally them in any particular direction.

Were I in Bob's shoes I would envy Yahtzee. He gets all the fame and none of the hatred (at least his detractors seem to be more indifferent towards him rather than outright hateful, unlike Bob's). Also Yahtzee has kept his show relatively "pure" if you will. The guy is about videogames. Period. He doesn't muck about with politics or social media issues, he doesn't champion internet celebs or condemn public figures. Most importantly, he's not that invested in convincing you about anything. Whereas Bob wants to talk about everything to everybody all the time. He wants to sell you his favorite shows, and his favorite movies, and his favorite comics, and his favorite games, and his favorite people, and fuck anybody who doesn't agree with him.

 

[Random Gamer]

As founder of the site, and publisher since Day 1*, I want The Escapist to succeed and grow. I think it is smarter to restructure now for the future that's fast arriving than to wait until it's too late. That means painful decisions now. That was our January and February: 50 days of pain.

Well, hopefully the days of painful decisions are entirely over now.
Good luck to all of you!

 

[KazeAizen]

That's an economic fallacy and ideological bullshit. There are no better newer people. If you mistreat group A group B will not line up to be your customers. It's a basic customer service and sales concept. "Don't accuse the customers as a group of rape". The only way to get better newer people is to treat the people you have with courtesy and respect and provide them with the service they are looking for. There is no winning strategy in tossing away your existing consumers in favor of some imagined holy grail better customer. Many businesses have tried. They generally fail horribly and quickly.

See the problem is the "internet asshole" schtick only works while you are getting paid on a per click basis. People will watch assholes. People will be outraged, but they will still watch. But the pool of people who will actively pay for assholes is far smaller and already stretched to capacity. Bob can survive on a site like the Escapist because he is part of a broader mixed offering. Different views, different opinions, an amalgamation that people find value in as a whole. But for Bob or Jim or any producer to provide value to an audience directly paying for them and only them, well the first thing they may find is the limiting factor on being an asshole.

Now you are tossing out the buzz words and there is literally no faster way for me to not care about what you have to say when those start being trotted out. Actually there are better and newer people. People find web personalities all the time and while I will admit that in this case "better" is very subjective there is such a thing. Like say someone who gets offended at any of those comments decides he doesn't want to follow Bob anymore however another person who has never heard of him stumbles across the article and goes "You know what those aren't exactly bad or wrong accusations. I like this guy's stuff." Now he has a new follower that is "better" in that its someone open to thinking about things beyond mere words on a page.

You are assuming though that that is all Bob and possibly Jim have when you make that statement and that is blatantly false. People just like to amplify the times they are "assholes" and usually when they are "assholes" to the consumers its because the consumers that they are talking about are indeed assholes. Everyone with a brain knows who they are talking about when they talk down to people in GG or whatever the movement of the week is. If you partake in that sort of harassment or general nastiness they are talking about you. If you don't they aren't talking about you.

 

[Caffiene]

We're getting lots of great pitches, some from old veterans

Would this be an opportune time to mention that 5 years later (...wow) I still have a number of your Check For Traps articles bookmarked?
Just saying.