Quick to judge, quick with the scathing speech but I hear rarely folks on these forums with any sense. There are a few, yes but for a large part, at least vocally, all I read is knee-jerk reactions of folk who seem not to use whatever intelligence they seem to think they have. Overjudge their own worth, underappreciate the worth of others. Sad, it is and also makes me wonder why these folk stick around if they deem this site so bad.
I've not heard of her, but most of the people who've contributed here in the past I've not heard of either. The folks from LRR were complete unknowns to me, and they (and the LRR community that they foster) are some of the nicest, least judgmental folks as well as being comedy gold. I feel richer in having spoken to them by way of chat, twitch and IRC and even had I not had any of those chances, I'd still yet feel richer just having experienced their work. Jim Sterling was a name I was not aware of prior to him coming to the Escapist and since his arrival and departure, I feel again richer as a person for having experienced his unique viewpoints. Maybe I don't always agree with him, but I do value him as a source of information, and as a person.
Miracle of Sound, Gavin Dunne, was a complete unknown to me as well, but thanks to Escapist hosting his work until his own self-departure, I feel my life has again been enriched.
Ben "Yahtzee" Croshaw's work is what drew me here in the first place and while I didn't always agree with his reviews, I value them all and am happy he has decided to continue.
Critical Miss, Shamus Young... all things that have made life better for me in ways I can't rightly explain
The Escapist, in my experience, for the past 7 years I've been coming here, has enriched my life with their content for the most part. And even some of the forum members, those who are open to discussion without being jackasses about it, have enriched my life. I've been here since Greg Tito, Susan Arendt and their predecessors, though in part lurking rather than being active prior to Susan's predecessor who's name unfortunately escapes me at the moment and I am not looking it up.
So many other contributors have enriched my life, the part of it that has to do with gaming and the surrounding culture, and a lot of them have come from this site.
I remember the fallout with Extra Credits, I did not depart because of it. Business is business and what happened between them and Escapist Magazine is not mine to judge.
I welcome new talent, new voices with open arms. I hope Trisha Hershberger has a voice that will also enrich my life and the lives of others who come and dwell here.
To the rest of you who've more cynicism than optimism, I feel sorrow for you and wish you only the ability to grow as a person and give people a chance before you immediately write them off, and subsequently this site itself. It has not died, and does not seem to be dying as of yet, and I'm of the mind that it is only changing forms and evolving. If that means its dead to you, then by all means leave the "corpse" to rot and find elsewhere to bray your cynical words. They help nothing, add nothing, and detract from the experiences of the rest of us, be us few or many I cannot say.
So again, I say welcome to this new contributor, wish her all the success and well-being I possibly can and hope she lives up at least to her predecessors. Beyond that, we'll see what happens.
Shame though on the rest of you pre-judgmental folk. Shame upon you and your family names for not even giving a person a chance to speak before you bring forth your rotten tongues to speak ill.
I may be fast becoming one of the elder gamers, though for my age I shouldn't feel that way, but I do. I've seen things born, grow, evolve, die, ashes forge anew... and I still remain positive for the future, not just for this site because it is but one piece of a whole that is the gaming community. I'd wager that a lot of you folk weren't here for the initial rise of internet gaming sites and the purge that happened nearly seconds (in a macro-view) after their births. Many rose, few remain, and of those few some are yet again dying off. It is the way of things, especially in digital terms, for things to change and grow or die off and be purged but I've yet to see the signs that this site is nearing its end-cycle.
I've hope for the future, and faith in the people who remain and contribute. And those who remain and do nothing but detract, naysay and downcast what comes forth, you folks are a cancer and rot and I hope you end up reaping exactly what you've sown if you choose to continue down such a path. If not, if you've the courage to look forward, have some hope and faith and not just choose the ease of cynicism, then perhaps as people you can grow too. I hope, for your sakes you choose growth.
Anwyay, welcome ma'am, hopefully your stay is pleasant and engaging and fear not the vocal cancers, they shall rot and fester themselves into oblivion with their own futility.