Andy Shandy said:
Let me get this straight, if I've read this correctly you honestly believe that Grey and Cory are purposely tanking their successful comic as some sort of pseudo-promotion of their new comic?
I mean, this wasn't my favourite CM, but come on.
I'm talking about the last few weeks, not today's specifically but as a series of direct attempts to rile up their standard audience. People against school shooting [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/comicsandcosplay/comics/critical-miss/13596-New-Xbox-One-Controller-Comic] Their attempt to offend has grown significantly beyond anything I recall in the past. This is why I'm asking if this range of offense is typical. I've heard of some pretty legendary pieces they've run that got people all hot and bothered but from what I understand, there is usually a buffering between them.
Anyways, from a business perspective this makes sense if they are planning on striking out on their own. They have a patreon running that has nearly reached their desired amount. If people jump ship from CM to EDA then that should only support those endeavors.
However, I generally find the cartoons I linked funny. Today was a bit much but not personally offensive the other ones have been pretty humorous and not anything I care about. I'm just postulating about the possibility. The idea that this could be a savvy business move banking on the idea that making CM less enjoyable will elevate EDA as a comic. I have to admit, it is working on me. I am starting to look forward to EDA and not really looking forward to CM as of late.
Sorry if posing the question/scenario frustrated you in some way. But in the college of business I saw case study after case study of successful business practices that looked dumb from the outside but ended up playing out flawlessly by directing their consumers to a new target. This is practically textbook if so. It's most commonly seen when companies are trying to get their consumers to transfer to another more expensive service they also produce.
It looks like from their Patreon page that they are concerned about the possibility of the Escapist firing them and them having nothing to fall back on. That's a very understandable fear. Would I consider something like this were I in their exact shoes? Hmm... probably not. I probably wouldn't produce inferior art on purpose. I don't really see them doing that either now that I think about it. They generally stick to their own values and anyone else be damned. so that's a pretty strong point in the premise I'm presenting being wrong.
MarsAtlas said:
Lightknight said:
The problem is that this creates a conflict of interest. They are minimally invested in keeping Critical Miss going and are motivated to have viewers migrate to their own series.
Yes, its not like they make money off of Critical Miss or anything. Besides, even if they were, having a stable income as an artist is overrated.
Perhaps they are planning to leave anyways. Tanking CM to push their new IP would provide more stable ground for the move. If the CM creators are upset with the Escapist over the way GamerGate went down then this isn't a stretch to imagine.
On the other hand their Patreon confirms that they have no desire to stop producing CM. So as I've been stating, I could just be entirely jaded about this. If I were a betting man, I'd most likely bet on me being wrong or not bet at all. The hallmarks are there for this to be a concern.
Lightknight said:
The only problem I'd point out is that Erin could be considered a Critical Miss character and this spin off could be considered part of the franchize that the Escapist already has rights to.
They worked this out before the first EDA was published. The artists own everything about EDA. EDA Erin =/= CM Erin
They worked out an agreement with the Escapist regarding an IP they own? If so then they're in the clear. If not then there's still a potential issue.