Returning Members

Canadamus Prime

Robot in Disguise
Jun 17, 2009
14,334
0
0
vallorn said:
What was old content you would love revived?
The Wild West
No thanks. I still think that's what 4chan is for (or 8chan or [whatever]chan).
Besides I still think the Wild West was rather ironically named because if I'm not mistaken the real Wild West was know for Frontier Justice which brings to mind the mods acting like sheriffs and gunning people down for the slightest offence.
 

Sanunes

Senior Member
Mar 18, 2011
626
0
21
The Lunatic said:
bluegate said:
I second Drathnoxis' banning comment.

Giving the site some technical upgrades would also be nice.
Given The Escapist Forum has remained in the same format for so long, I'm left to wonder if an entirely new forum, with this one archived might not be the worst idea.

Newer forums that have sprung up have various neat little features which The Escapist is simply too old for.
I agree about archiving the site, for the content that currently exists might not fall into the acceptable category of new management and a fresh start is sometimes needed if you are looking to reestablish oneself.



As far as things I would like to return, I do appreciate a good podcast that airs regularly.

I really cannot think of anyone I would want to return for its hard to remember the content the people that left created without just remembering the good parts.

When it comes to written and video content, I like a mix of both and using the medium that best works for the content being produced.
 

Saelune

Trump put kids in cages!
Legacy
Mar 8, 2011
8,411
16
23
vallorn said:
Redlin5 said:
What would you like to see happen here?
A complete reassessment of the philosophy behind the rules-heavy moderation stance, herin pertaining to the effect of passive aggression caused by said stance and the toxic outcomes from it.

What was old content you would love revived?
The Wild West

Written media or video content, what's more valuable to you?
Give it a mix. Video content can be consumed passively, while written content is consumed actively. Also, you forgot Audio. There should be someone capable of doing a podcast on specific topics.
The WW forums have been fully deleted now.
 

The Lunatic

Princess
Jun 3, 2010
2,291
0
0
Sanunes said:
I agree about archiving the site, for the content that currently exists might not fall into the acceptable category of new management and a fresh start is sometimes needed if you are looking to reestablish oneself.
Yeah, I think a clean slate could be good for that.
For getting new people, it's also a lot more friendly to have a clean slate of a forum than to join one that's almost a decade old at this point.
 

Marik2

Phone Poster
Nov 10, 2009
5,462
0
0
Saelune said:
vallorn said:
Redlin5 said:
What would you like to see happen here?
A complete reassessment of the philosophy behind the rules-heavy moderation stance, herin pertaining to the effect of passive aggression caused by said stance and the toxic outcomes from it.

What was old content you would love revived?
The Wild West

Written media or video content, what's more valuable to you?
Give it a mix. Video content can be consumed passively, while written content is consumed actively. Also, you forgot Audio. There should be someone capable of doing a podcast on specific topics.
The WW forums have been fully deleted now.
Shame
 

CosmicCommander

Friendly Neighborhood Troll?
Apr 11, 2009
1,544
0
0
I think a forum nuke would be a good idea. Create an archival dump of the old forum threads/posts that users can look at if they need to, but otherwise have a clean slate for the site culture.

Also think that people underestimate the appeal of good written content, so long as it's insightful. Shamus at TwentySided is doing great off the back of good written gaming analysis and critique. I think modern viewers gravitate towards longer-form content and podcasts/audio-heavy stuff. The site could make quite a niche by sponsoring, promoting, and hosting 'unique' content from established creators.

For example: YouTuber with a few hundred thousand subs who reviews and discusses games in genre X? Pay them to make a video/video series covering their interests that is hosted on the Escapist. They can direct their fans the site's way, and they get an opportunity to make some content that would have been economically nonviable or difficult otherwise (and have Escapist readers come their way).
 

Lil devils x_v1legacy

More Lego Goats Please!
May 17, 2011
2,728
0
0
I really liked Jim Sterling, but I know him returning is not likely to happen.

I also like more articles on Lego customs, Video game toys, cosplay, Retro gaming, MMORPGS,MOBAS, RTS, more PvP focus, player's stories and player POV.

I prefer Written content by far, it has to be really special for me to be willing to watch a video. Videos should always be accompanied by written content as well or chances are it does not tell me enough about the video for me to be willing to watch it.
 

Drathnoxis

Became a mass murderer for your sake
Legacy
Sep 23, 2010
5,433
1,892
118
Just off-screen
Country
Canada
Gender
Male
Saelune said:
The WW forums have been fully deleted now.
That really sucks! I don't see what the point was, since only pub club members could see it :/
 

vallorn

Tunnel Open, Communication Open.
Nov 18, 2009
2,309
1
43
Saelune said:
vallorn said:
Redlin5 said:
What would you like to see happen here?
A complete reassessment of the philosophy behind the rules-heavy moderation stance, herin pertaining to the effect of passive aggression caused by said stance and the toxic outcomes from it.

What was old content you would love revived?
The Wild West

Written media or video content, what's more valuable to you?
Give it a mix. Video content can be consumed passively, while written content is consumed actively. Also, you forgot Audio. There should be someone capable of doing a podcast on specific topics.
The WW forums have been fully deleted now.
Too bad, they were the only thing that moved the regular forums away from the toxicity many so often embody here. Ah well, I'm sure the people who decided to poison it by bringing all their R&P nonsense into there can sip fancy drinks and chuckle to how right they were to kill the only good thing in this place for years.

As to deleting the forums and resetting. It would need to be rebuilt from the ground up with a proper look at the rules which encouraged passive aggressive toxicity to brew behind the scenes. It's been pretty conclusively proven at this point that just sticking more rules on top of a broken philosophy of management doesn't fix the problems here.
 

Saelune

Trump put kids in cages!
Legacy
Mar 8, 2011
8,411
16
23
vallorn said:
Saelune said:
vallorn said:
Redlin5 said:
What would you like to see happen here?
A complete reassessment of the philosophy behind the rules-heavy moderation stance, herin pertaining to the effect of passive aggression caused by said stance and the toxic outcomes from it.

What was old content you would love revived?
The Wild West

Written media or video content, what's more valuable to you?
Give it a mix. Video content can be consumed passively, while written content is consumed actively. Also, you forgot Audio. There should be someone capable of doing a podcast on specific topics.
The WW forums have been fully deleted now.
Too bad, they were the only thing that moved the regular forums away from the toxicity many so often embody here. Ah well, I'm sure the people who decided to poison it by bringing all their R&P nonsense into there can sip fancy drinks and chuckle to how right they were to kill the only good thing in this place for years.

As to deleting the forums and resetting. It would need to be rebuilt from the ground up with a proper look at the rules which encouraged passive aggressive toxicity to brew behind the scenes. It's been pretty conclusively proven at this point that just sticking more rules on top of a broken philosophy of management doesn't fix the problems here.
If you just wanted a forum of forum games, there is literally one on this site.

If you wanted a forum of no rules, well, don't get mad that people don't follow your rules.
 

EscapistAccount

New member
Aug 18, 2017
91
0
0
Redlin5 said:
So one of the big problems the Escapist has is that a good number of its older and most loyal users actually got banned. If I was going to suggest one feature for the forums it'd be doing away with the unenforceable notion of a lifetime ban in nearly every case, because all it does is put loyal users off of visiting the site. Nearly no users here were banned for anything that would get a ban on Reddit or elsewhere, in a lot of cases they were banned for a series of modded posts that wouldn't even get moderated on other forums.

EDIT: For anyone who's used to the more exciting bans around racism or that one user who had an epic meltdown in like 2009 just take a flick through some 2010 threads and look at what users got banned for, normally if you ported it to a subreddit the mod reaction would be a shrug.

There's nothing wrong with wanting tighter moderation than Reddit but in my opinion enforcing a triple super-secret lifetime ban because some teen called the other a fucking bastard and enforcing it into their thirties is counterproductive, pointless, misses out on a potentially paying customer over what was normally a mildly abrasive manner and is utterly unenforceable anyway, honestly it's next to impossible to actually ban someone from a website.

EDIT 2: I can't for the life of me remember that user but his banning was the stuff of legends for a while, if anyone remembers let me know.
 

Redlin5_v1legacy

Better Red than Dead
Aug 5, 2009
48,836
0
0
To be clear, I'm not in a position to discuss moderation policies as they are evolving and past bannings would fall under 'Old Grudges' mentioned in the OP. So lets move on from that if its possible. My understanding is a review is taking place regarding the rules but its lower in the long list of things to do for management than getting written/video content rolling again and securing revenue. Patience on that is the most sensible course.

Wild West is gone. Russ hasn't made a statement on it but it was a work of the previous site owner before he left for other projects. There are plenty of 'rule free' forums on the internet as an alternative.
 

EscapistAccount

New member
Aug 18, 2017
91
0
0
Redlin5 said:
To be clear, I'm not in a position to discuss moderation policies as they are evolving and past bannings would fall under 'Old Grudges' mentioned in the OP. So lets move on from that if its possible. My understanding is a review is taking place regarding the rules but its lower in the long list of things to do for management than getting written/video content rolling again and securing revenue. Patience on that is the most sensible course.
Oh sure, it's just by way of showing a potential problem more for consideration than anything. Dollars to donuts I see a site-nuke and rebuild coming so I have a feeling almost everything will change anyway.
 

vallorn

Tunnel Open, Communication Open.
Nov 18, 2009
2,309
1
43
Redlin5 said:
Wild West is gone. Russ hasn't made a statement on it but it was a work of the previous site owner before he left for other projects. There are plenty of 'rule free' forums on the internet as an alternative.
That's as maybe but it still deserves to be talked about. It was the only thing that kept this site even slightly alive especially when bots were overriding the rest of the forum.
 

Marik2

Phone Poster
Nov 10, 2009
5,462
0
0
Redlin5 said:
There are plenty of 'rule free' forums on the internet as an alternative.
Yeah, but I like the layout and aesthetics of this place.
 

EvilRoy

The face I make when I see unguarded pie.
Legacy
Jan 9, 2011
1,840
537
118
EscapistAccount said:
Redlin5 said:
To be clear, I'm not in a position to discuss moderation policies as they are evolving and past bannings would fall under 'Old Grudges' mentioned in the OP. So lets move on from that if its possible. My understanding is a review is taking place regarding the rules but its lower in the long list of things to do for management than getting written/video content rolling again and securing revenue. Patience on that is the most sensible course.
Oh sure, it's just by way of showing a potential problem more for consideration than anything. Dollars to donuts I see a site-nuke and rebuild coming so I have a feeling almost everything will change anyway.
Im thinking you're right. The escapist isn't a bad site, but it and the forums are extremely outdated. An auto dealer can get away with that but an enthusiast site for tech based stuff really cannot. I cant imagine it being cost effective to fix the existing, particularly given the poor condition of the mobile site.
 

vallorn

Tunnel Open, Communication Open.
Nov 18, 2009
2,309
1
43
EvilRoy said:
EscapistAccount said:
Redlin5 said:
To be clear, I'm not in a position to discuss moderation policies as they are evolving and past bannings would fall under 'Old Grudges' mentioned in the OP. So lets move on from that if its possible. My understanding is a review is taking place regarding the rules but its lower in the long list of things to do for management than getting written/video content rolling again and securing revenue. Patience on that is the most sensible course.
Oh sure, it's just by way of showing a potential problem more for consideration than anything. Dollars to donuts I see a site-nuke and rebuild coming so I have a feeling almost everything will change anyway.
Im thinking you're right. The escapist isn't a bad site, but it and the forums are extremely outdated. An auto dealer can get away with that but an enthusiast site for tech based stuff really cannot. I cant imagine it being cost effective to fix the existing, particularly given the poor condition of the mobile site.
checks the mobile site out of curiosity
OH GOD MY EYES!
 

Marik2

Phone Poster
Nov 10, 2009
5,462
0
0
vallorn said:
EvilRoy said:
EscapistAccount said:
Redlin5 said:
To be clear, I'm not in a position to discuss moderation policies as they are evolving and past bannings would fall under 'Old Grudges' mentioned in the OP. So lets move on from that if its possible. My understanding is a review is taking place regarding the rules but its lower in the long list of things to do for management than getting written/video content rolling again and securing revenue. Patience on that is the most sensible course.
Oh sure, it's just by way of showing a potential problem more for consideration than anything. Dollars to donuts I see a site-nuke and rebuild coming so I have a feeling almost everything will change anyway.
Im thinking you're right. The escapist isn't a bad site, but it and the forums are extremely outdated. An auto dealer can get away with that but an enthusiast site for tech based stuff really cannot. I cant imagine it being cost effective to fix the existing, particularly given the poor condition of the mobile site.
checks the mobile site out of curiosity
OH GOD MY EYES!
It's what I've been putting up with for over a year.