Robert Rath's "Critical Intel" column leaves The Escapist

IceForce

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(Apologies if this has already been posted. I couldn't find anything about this, unless it got merged/locked/buried in another thread.)

Sad news for readers of Critical Intel, as Robert Rath has voluntarily left his column writing position at this site.

https://twitter.com/RobWritesPulp/status/570034400173252608

Thoughts? Any Critical Intel readers here?
 

Jux

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Sep 2, 2012
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I wasn't a regular reader, but the stuff I did read I found pretty enjoyable. It's a shame to see him go. I'm curious as to what specifically prompted his quitting, though I suppose those in the know will be mum about it, at least for a good while.
 

Vault101

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Sep 26, 2010
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honest question...does anyone else suspect the recent exodus of site producers (sans jim..but even then) was "politically" motivated? that escapist is taking a more...shall we say "GG friendly" stance?
 

Elfgore

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I only read his "Why the storm troopers suck at shooting" article, but I enjoyed what I read. Never really could get into the rest of his stuff, but it's always a shame to see one less thing in featured content.
 

IceForce

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Vault101 said:
honest question...does anyone else suspect the recent exodus of site producers (sans jim..but even then) was "politically" motivated? that escapist is taking a more...shall we say "GG friendly" stance?
It's possible.

And by that I mean, it's possible there are likely a number of (now former) content creators who wanted to distance themselves from GG, and have therefore decided to distance themselves from this site to achieve that.
 

Sleepy Sol

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Vault101 said:
honest question...does anyone else suspect the recent exodus of site producers (sans jim..but even then) was "politically" motivated? that escapist is taking a more...shall we say "GG friendly" stance?
First question, no. If Bob didn't go ballistic over it I doubt any of that sort of situation was the case.

Second question, absolutely. If doing so is so inherently awful to people I'd say they should vote with their time/clicks/wallet/whatever. And many already have. However, I wouldn't let any of that unfairly tarnish the potential of upcoming content contributors. Yes, one of them is not looking like a good fit for the user base at all. But the others seem fine.

OP: I had only read one of Rath's columns, and it was actually very recently. I definitely enjoyed what I read and wish I would have looked at his stuff sooner. Not having his columns is a definite loss here. Hope he's able to find somewhere else to write.
 

Teoes

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Jun 1, 2010
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I am sorry that I didn't read more of his columns here - every single one was fantastically written, most enjoyable and superlative informative.

I wonder why that happened? The timing is most curious.
 

Vault101

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IceForce said:
It's possible.

And by that I mean, it's possible there are likely a number of (now former) content creators who wanted to distance themselves from GG, and have therefore decided to distance themselves from this site to achieve that.
I wasn't exactly clear where escapist "stood" on GG (pre exodus) and didn't really care...but from what I can remember it was a sort of appeal to the "neutral" side while still courting GGer's?
 

Vault101

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Solaire of Astora said:
Second question, absolutely. If doing so is so inherently awful to people I'd say they should vote with their time/clicks/wallet/whatever. .
[img/]http://media1.giphy.com/media/aDzkjI0HVLEje/giphy.gif[/img]

oh sorry I tend to scream incoherently whenever I see that phrase...along with all the other "rhetorical equivalents of flaiing ones arms" cause I just can't cope anymore
 

Sleepy Sol

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Vault101 said:
Solaire of Astora said:
Second question, absolutely. If doing so is so inherently awful to people I'd say they should vote with their time/clicks/wallet/whatever. .
[img/]http://media1.giphy.com/media/aDzkjI0HVLEje/giphy.gif[/img]

oh sorry I tend to scream incoherently whenever I see that phrase...along with all the other "rhetorical equivalents of flaiing ones arms" cause I just can't cope anymore
Oh god, what have I done?!

I DIDN'T MEAN IT!

But yeah, there are tons of phrases and clichés that tend to get...overused in recent times.
 

Soviet Heavy

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My best guess is that the Escapist's cutbacks to their staff also means they can't afford to pay content producers. It's certainly not the first time it's happened. Extra Credits worked for peanuts for a few months when the Escapist was in financial trouble, and more recently, the D&D with Porn Stars people were going to do more I Hit it with my Axe apparently with a reduced budget (before they said no and refused to work with the Escapist after they hired the transphobic guy).

Site bleeding money, company owners downsizing and cutting costs, the content producers are the first to go after staffers.
 

Colour Scientist

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Soviet Heavy said:
My best guess is that the Escapist's cutbacks to their staff also means they can't afford to pay content producers. It's certainly not the first time it's happened. Extra Credits worked for peanuts for a few months when the Escapist was in financial trouble, and more recently, the D&D with Porn Stars people were going to do more I Hit it with my Axe apparently with a reduced budget (before they said no and refused to work with the Escapist after they hired the transphobic guy).

Site bleeding money, company owners downsizing and cutting costs, the content producers are the first to go after staffers.
I thought I Hit It with My Axe said they were offered a larger budget this time around?

Maybe I misread.
 

IceForce

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Vault101 said:
I wasn't exactly clear where escapist "stood" on GG (pre exodus) and didn't really care...but from what I can remember it was a sort of appeal to the "neutral" side while still courting GGer's?
Well, The Escapist is (supposedly) heading towards a more "apolitical" stance on news and articles, which would seem to align with GG's goals, yes.

So that presumably means no more articles like this.

(Yes, there did actually used to be a column called "Social Justice Warrior")
 

Vault101

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IceForce said:
Well, The Escapist is (supposedly) heading towards a more "apolitical" stance on news and articles, which would seem to align with GG's goals, yes.

So that presumably means no more articles like this.

(Yes, there did actually used to be a column called "Social Justice Warrior")
oh yeah :(

that was nice while it lasted
 
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Damn, I really liked Rath's work; he was widely traveled and well read, and he brought all of that to some really on-point discussions.

And does every thread on this site have to get into political conspiracy theories immediately? A person can't just leave his job without it being some political statement against Gamergate or against somebody who doesn't even work here yet. These people are writers, folks, they'll tell you why they left if they want to and otherwise you shouldn't ascribe ulterior motives to them. Let's use the thread about Rath leaving to celebrate the work he did, not make him into a martyr for our pet causes.

With that in mind, here's a few of his pieces that stood out to me:

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/video-games/columns/criticalintel/12610-You-Have-to-Earn-Your-Apocalypse-and-Call-of-Duty-Doesn-t-Always I really like apocalyptic literature, and I appreciate looking at it as something beyond an excuse to shoot people.

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/video-games/columns/criticalintel/11840-Why-Games-are-Terrible-at-Water Closer to an Experienced Points than a CI, but still really interesting.

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/video-games/columns/criticalintel/11380-Lies-Adults-Told-Me-About-Games Silly, stupid stories about what video games would do to impressionable young children.

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/video-games/columns/criticalintel/11232-The-Senator-Yee-Affidavit-Bribery-Triads-Drugs-and-Arms-Deals You want reporting? Here it is, actual newsman type stuff.

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/video-games/columns/criticalintel/10661-Three-Historical-Settings-for-Your-Zombie-Game Rath is great at putting twists on old ideas.

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/video-games/columns/criticalintel/10451-Modern-Warfare-is-a-Comforting-Lie He did a lot of pieces on war games and the opportunities they present (and squander). This is one of the best.

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/video-games/columns/criticalintel/10201-Hoth-The-Failure-of-Imperial-Military-Doctrine Something that's reasonably stupid, but incredibly entertaining; taking apart Hoth as an act of military strategy. His Endor Insurgency one is good too.

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/video-games/columns/criticalintel/10256-Gamifying-Guns For someone who never goes to conventions and knows little about real-world guns, this was both enlightening and terrifying.

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/video-games/columns/criticalintel/10351-GMing-From-The-History-Book
http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/video-games/columns/criticalintel/10302-I-Hate-Magic
I love tabletop games, and these two pieces resonated with my and my ideas about how to play them right.

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/video-games/columns/criticalintel/10039-Conflict-Minerals-and-the-Game-Industry-The-Problem The article that started it all... actually it's a few articles into his column, but it generated a lot of interest in it's time, and it's still very relevant to how our games and machines are made.
 

Davroth

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MarsAtlas said:
Yeah, would we should be doing is emailing all of the advertisers and telling them that they're hiring unethical journalists! That'll show them!
Step one would be not to come here anymore. No matter what you do, your presence here helps their metrics. If you really want to show them, leave, and then email advertisers.
 

Fat Hippo

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Damn, I really liked Rath's work; he was widely traveled and well read, and he brought all of that to some really on-point discussions.

And does every thread on this site have to get into political conspiracy theories immediately? A person can't just leave his job without it being some political statement against Gamergate or against somebody who doesn't even work here yet. These people are writers, folks, they'll tell you why they left if they want to and otherwise you shouldn't ascribe ulterior motives to them. Let's use the thread about Rath leaving to celebrate the work he did, not make him into a martyr for our pet causes.
Definitely this. We don't have to drag politics into every damn thread. Unless you're in the Religion and Politics section, obviously. Hell, I think we should force all the GG discussion to go over there.

Rath is a great writer, and he will be missed here, like many of the great content producers that have been leaving The Escapist recently. I really hope they find something to fill these (rather gaping) holes.