Poll: Susan Arendt is gone...do you wonder if the Escapist is hurting?

[Basement Cat]

EDIT: Alternate theories about the Escapist in general have been raised:

What if the Escapist is doing a lot better than many of us had thought?
Is it possible that the Escapist is evolving before our eyes more than we recognize?

ORIGINAL POST:


I don't know who's been appointed to replace Susan, but do you, my fellow Escapists, wonder if her leaving is a BAD sign?

Susan was a mainstay of this site for years. She was one of the few Staff members who was active in the Forums and was a regular presence in the PodCat. Then she became Editor in Chief and ruled us from on high as our Nerd Queen.

But all good things come to an end. The position of Editor in Chief has been likened to the position of Professor of Defense Against the Dark Arts at Hogwarts--once you get the job you're DOOMED to lose it in one year.

Now she's gone. We don't know why (and frankly that's her business, and I think we should respect that).

On the plus side today she Tweeted some great news!

Susan Arendt @SusanArendt

Looks like my unemployment will be short-lived. I'm thrilled to announce I'll be joining Joystiq as Managing Editor next week. Exciting!
10:20 AM - 20 Jun 2013

I don't know much about Joystiq. I looked it up and there wasn't, well, it's not like the Escapist--I don't frequent other gaming sites so I don't know what to make of it. But since many of us know what it is like to be unemployed I think I speak for most of us by saying I'm glad she's found a new job so quickly. And it's one that's right up her alley.



Discuss.

 

[Colour Scientist]

Well, we do lose editors at an alarmingly rapid rate.

I don't know, she's been working for The Escapist for quite some time. A job change is always nice, especially when you have a year of being an Editor-in-Chief under your belt. I'm sure she just wanted a change of scenery or maybe an opportunity for better pay.

That and the community itself is completely different from when the Pretty Pink Ponies group was founded, maybe not entirely for the better, if that has any bearing.

 

[Zhukov]

Eh. Doubt it.

Don't get me wrong, she was cool and all and I loved her reviews, but I doubt her departure will make much difference besides the podcasts suddenly being a lot less lively and entertaining.

 

[Fappy]

This is just wild speculation, but I'm guessing it has something to do with their new corporate overlords. When you get sold to someone else, merge with another company, etc. stuff like this tends to happen. Maybe she butted heads with their ideas. Maybe they have some one else in mind that will do a better job taking the site in the direction they want it to go.

If you've noticed the site's journalistic operations have changed quite a lot: short news videos, E3 video interviews, etc. They have also been doing a lot of stuff with affiliated sites. Unless someone in the know comes out and says it I don't imagine we'll ever find out. I honestly thought she'd left for a job at Polygon when I first heard she was leaving.

 

[Doclector]

The site's less for her departure, but no well kept company falls apart with the departure of one person, no matter how great.

 

[Alfador_VII]

I hated losing Susan Arendt, but it may point at some more insidious issues. As others have pointed out, this site chews up editors and spits them out with alarming frequency.

I've also noticed the company name on the copyright down at the bottom has changed at least once recently. Things are definitely not right behind the scenes.

And on the site itself, much has changed with the content. Several good series have gone, and short news videos, and content mirrored from other sites has appeared.

 

[Jamieson 90]

So we're going to keep losing editors until we defeat Voldemort?

 

[MeChaNiZ3D]

The only things I'll miss are her reviews and contribution to the Podcast. And of course it was nice to have someone who would occasionally post things. But in the end, all it's resulted in is me not listening to the Podcast, the other content's still fine (although the ScrewAttack stuff is getting annoying, hope they finally do something with that slot).

 

[Smiley Face]

Nature abhors a vacuum. In one way or another, the chain of command will be reconstructed and things will take on a new life and flow, and hopefully it will be good, while somewhat different. That said, the place won't be the same without her.

As for the site structure, yeah, they've been screwing around with it a lot. The short video news segments jump out at me the most - I'll respect that; I prefer to read my news, but not everybody does.

 

[omega 616]

Wasn't a fan of her, some people have a monotone dull dreary voice which puts people to sleep ... Susan was at the opposite end of the scale, I just wanted her to chill the fuck out, take it down a couple of notches.

Now I can listen to the podcast on this site, which gives me more content to listen to, since 2 podcasts a week just isn't enough.

Glad she has work on a site I never go to now, shes employed and I don't have to tolerate her ... win win!

 

[tippy2k2]

Alright, before I go anywhere, let me just say that I love you Escapist. You know that, right?

With that said...it's harsh truth time (Note: this is just my theory, I have no clue if I'm actually right)!

The Escapist is not in trouble financially or anything like that. The Escapist has ALWAYS been a second tier gaming site (remember, I still love you). With a second tier game site, that means you are receiving second tier pay and this place is a stepping stone for many.

It's just like college basketball (stay with me, I'll explain and it'll make sense!). Every coach wants to get one of the BIG jobs (Louisville for example). However, there are only so many of these big jobs and you need to prove yourself before a big school will look your way. You then join up a smaller school with aspirations (University of Minnesota type place) and try to win with what you have.

Again, I love this place. They have to work much harder at the "User happiness" side of things (like a great Mod staff for example) because of their short comings. I don't think it's some grand conspiracy or management treating editors like dirt; it's as simple as The Escapist is a smaller site so you get a smaller paycheck. Once you demonstrate you can handle yourself at a smaller site, that's when bigger sites (like Joystick) will look your way.

 

[TheRightToArmBears]

Not sure. I like her, she was pretty great, but I don't think we really rely on any one staff member. Not take take anything away from the other staff members, but it was nice to see a staff member join in the forums.

 

[piinyouri]

Wasn't a fan of her, some people have a monotone dull dreary voice which puts people to sleep ... Susan was at the opposite end of the scale, I just wanted her to chill the fuck out, take it down a couple of notches.

Now I can listen to the podcast on this site, which gives me more content to listen to, since 2 podcasts a week just isn't enough.

Glad she has work on a site I never go to now, shes employed and I don't have to tolerate her ... win win!

Really?
I remember watching a few of her video reviews and her voice sounded rather low and very professional.
Then again perhaps she was only that way in the podcasts, which I haven't heard.

 

[Andy Shandy]

If I had my conspiracy theorist hat on, then yes I would say it's rather alarming the rate we seem to go through EICs. Especially with Susan leaving being the first of this new regime.

And I must say, like Fappy, I'm rather surprised she didn't end up at Polygon, what with Funk and Russ (side note: Funk and Russ would make a great WWE Tag Team) already being there =P Not to mention I think she'd fit in well there anyway.

It was always nice how she chatted around the forums quite a bit as well. Gave it a nice, personal feeling that not many sites have.

But I'm sure the site will survive without her (at least her being in charge anyway, I hope she comes to chat every now and again), and so long as the great content remains here, so will I.

Oh, and congratulations and good luck to her in her new job, even if it means I won't particularly see her work all that often.

 

[omega 616]

Wasn't a fan of her, some people have a monotone dull dreary voice which puts people to sleep ... Susan was at the opposite end of the scale, I just wanted her to chill the fuck out, take it down a couple of notches.

Now I can listen to the podcast on this site, which gives me more content to listen to, since 2 podcasts a week just isn't enough.

Glad she has work on a site I never go to now, shes employed and I don't have to tolerate her ... win win!

Really?
I remember watching a few of her video reviews and her voice sounded rather low and very professional.
Then again perhaps she was only that way in the podcasts, which I haven't heard.

From what I remember of her on podcasts it was always like a small kid on a red bull fueled talking session about his xmas presents. It was just very overly enthusiastic, it would range from squealing like a banshee to this rather deep voice for "teh srs bsns".

I was always thinking "will you just talk like a normal adult?", I mean it's great to be passionate and/or excited but you can still act like an adult while doing so.

Or maybe I'm just a grumpy **** who doesn't like to see other people happy haha

 

[O maestre]

Susan departure is insignificant... now if yahtzee left membership and viewership would decline significantly, hell most users only registered for ZP. So no unless you were very active in the community over half of the escapist probably didn't know about Susan. Best of luck to her but her departure or presence is meh (inconsequential)

 

[KOMega]

I rather liked her on the podcasts.
In my opinion everyone else's voices sounded really close to each other, but Susan's was definitely one that could be picked from the crowd.

I was always thinking "will you just talk like a normal adult?", I mean it's great to be passionate and/or excited but you can still act like an adult while doing so.

Maybe I just like hearing the passion in people's voices.
And what says an adult has to sound boring?
Someone can say they are "happy and excited" but it's something else when you can just hear it in their voice too.

 

[AlwaysPractical]

I'm very sad to see her go but also glad to see her moving on quickly. I don't think the escapist is bleeding, more ads haven't gone up, more good series have meanwhile popped up, I'm excited to see what the future holds. I liked her very much but I don't think the escapist is ruined now that she's gone.

But I will miss that adorable avatar.

 

[omega 616]

I rather liked her on the podcasts.
In my opinion everyone else's voices sounded really close to each other, but Susan's was definitely one that could be picked from the crowd.

I was always thinking "will you just talk like a normal adult?", I mean it's great to be passionate and/or excited but you can still act like an adult while doing so.

Maybe I just like hearing the passion in people's voices.
And what says an adult has to sound boring?
Someone can say they are "happy and excited" but it's something else when you can just hear it in their voice too.

Is that all there is? Boring or a puppy on red bull?

Watch some of this


You have Dodger and Lisa both passionately talking about E3 (which is like xmas to gamers) and they are still acting professionally. I just feel like Susan was a just a little too ... big ...

You know when you get a puppy and it meets somebody new and it's bouncing, running, spinning, rolling, jumping everywhere, the new person is trying to stroke it but it's just a little bundle of energized fur, that's Susan ... would just prefer a less bouncy version, not totally lifeless though.

 

[Bomberman4000]

Eh. Doubt it.

Don't get me wrong, she was cool and all and I loved her reviews, but I doubt her departure will make much difference besides the podcasts suddenly being a lot less lively and entertaining.

Pretty much this,

I always appreciated Susan's enthusiasm during Podcats, and while I enjoy READING the things other contributors write, it just doesn't translate as well to podcast audio/video. Susan had a good way of reeling everyone in when the conversation got too sidetracked, but now it seems like it's a bit of a mess.

To be fair, it does take time to adjust to new formats and moderating style (Greg seems less and less interested in the podcast each week, or is it just me?)

Also she's one of the only (now former) Escapist employees I follow on Twitter (along with Justin).


I don't know, maybe it's for the best. I like Joystiq's podcast and they post interesting stuff on Twitter so hopefully it'll be a good fit for her.