Whatever you do, keep lists out of the magazine. Leave those for the weekly columns by the various awesome writers you employ. If you like lists, then stay away from best-of or favorite or subjective things. Those really don't do a lot.
What Do You Want to Read in The Escapist?
- Thread starter Jordan Deam
- Start date
I know, you should have an article asking what--
DAMNIT
Um... free cake tuesday?
Most discussions usually sprout up from contoversial things, or idiocy, so controversial idiots?
DAMNIT
Um... free cake tuesday?
Most discussions usually sprout up from contoversial things, or idiocy, so controversial idiots?
This is a great idea for a thread, looks like the community is bristling with ideas 
I for one would love to see more interviews with people actually IN the industry. Not necessarily the big names at the top of the food chain (though that would be nice) but the people who actually do the work. Artists, Actors, Programmers, Designers... What choices they have to make and why they make them. What inspired them. What they like. What their motivation is. etc
That kind of stuff would interest me.
Further, I'd like to read an article about stuff I don't know about. Seriously, broaden my horizons. I know a fair bit about game mechanics and sound design, but I know next to nothing about game localisation, marketing or physical production. How much planning is involved? What portion of the budget goes on what?
The actual nitty gritty process behind making the game would interest me.
That and pirates. Avast!
I for one would love to see more interviews with people actually IN the industry. Not necessarily the big names at the top of the food chain (though that would be nice) but the people who actually do the work. Artists, Actors, Programmers, Designers... What choices they have to make and why they make them. What inspired them. What they like. What their motivation is. etc
That kind of stuff would interest me.
Further, I'd like to read an article about stuff I don't know about. Seriously, broaden my horizons. I know a fair bit about game mechanics and sound design, but I know next to nothing about game localisation, marketing or physical production. How much planning is involved? What portion of the budget goes on what?
The actual nitty gritty process behind making the game would interest me.
That and pirates. Avast!
PC/Mac programs (like interesting freeware/stuff that costs money and does nifty things) would be nice for some of us techie kids.
I was talking about a specific list as an example, that list could easily have been written as a regular article but the message is the important thing: The parts of gaming that just plain suck and hurt the customer. Things that actually affect us directly like not being able to actually buy games, instead renting them on a service that can be revoked at any time.oneplus999 said:
That's a bit vague. Maybe narrow it down to one of the following:Spirultima said:
- Compare driving games to real life (sort of like Top Gear did with the Honda NSX at Leguna Seca)
- Why people of driving age still play driving simulators
- Driving sims as the last genre where striving for absolute realism is a good thing
Or some other related topic.
Perhaps something about the interaction between gaming culture and other subcultures (For example, is there anything "punk" in gaming?) Does gaming have any impact on other subcultures, and vice versa? The folklorist side of me would also like to read more about video games as forms of storytelling.
...Yeah, something like that. I´ll just leave my two cents in here. You can keep the change.
...Yeah, something like that. I´ll just leave my two cents in here. You can keep the change.
I would like the Escapist to touch upon Free to Play games and Pay to Play games. Even though Free to play games is most likely to fall short incomparison to Pay to Play games.
Even the communities are quite different.
Also, there's emulations that's rampant around as well. That would be a good issue since emulation is popular with MMOs.
Even the communities are quite different.
Also, there's emulations that's rampant around as well. That would be a good issue since emulation is popular with MMOs.
Yeah, probably Top Gear style, combined with games perhaps, like have a proper Top Gear show that is basically testing a new car on...say...Gran Turismo ever week.Avaholic03 said:
Hey I know I'm pretty new (First post and all ) but why not try doing some stuff on game programming processes or development. How about a step by step on how to go about making your own first game. Even if no one else read it I sure would, and isn't that what matters?
OH OH! I just got another idea, pointless gadgets. Everybody loves pointless gadgets!
) but why not try doing some stuff on game programming processes or development. How about a step by step on how to go about making your own first game. Even if no one else read it I sure would, and isn't that what matters?OH OH! I just got another idea, pointless gadgets. Everybody loves pointless gadgets!
I actually would like Escapist to stay on target and just cover games. You already have been branching out into loosely related stuff that I'm not interested in. It's nice to have a focused news source, and I feel like I am losing that. If I wanted to read about random happenings, I might as well go read CNN or Slashdot.
In short, you risk losing your audience.
In short, you risk losing your audience.
It has been running a little low on personal stories, such as the one of the sales clerk and I really enjoyed reading each of those.
I don't know, I kinda miss what the articles that the escapist originally produced. I'm not sure why but the stories seem to get lost in the daily news on the website. Before I used to print them out and read them in the train. I have a whole binder full of old escapist issues, where I kept the best stories.
I don't know, I kinda miss what the articles that the escapist originally produced. I'm not sure why but the stories seem to get lost in the daily news on the website. Before I used to print them out and read them in the train. I have a whole binder full of old escapist issues, where I kept the best stories.
Games as Philosophy - explore the way in which some games can give us a different way of thinking about our own world, much in the same way science fiction does in literature. Example: I once based a Philosophy of Art paper on the Nanoreplicator quote from Alpha Centauri.
Are Sequels Really So Bad? - Discuss the possible benefits of sequels and look at their effects. Example: Are sequels really responsible for the decrease in new ideas, or have they simply risen to fill a vacuum?
Is Virtual Reality Good for Gaming? - Realism vs. Fun keeps coming up as an important dichotomy, and there are many criticisms of motion control as requiring gamers to get up and move around. Given that, could games work with full VR technology? Example: would it make a difference if you had holodeck-style environment simulation vs. Matrix-style plug-in-and-leave-your-body simulation?
Are Sequels Really So Bad? - Discuss the possible benefits of sequels and look at their effects. Example: Are sequels really responsible for the decrease in new ideas, or have they simply risen to fill a vacuum?
Is Virtual Reality Good for Gaming? - Realism vs. Fun keeps coming up as an important dichotomy, and there are many criticisms of motion control as requiring gamers to get up and move around. Given that, could games work with full VR technology? Example: would it make a difference if you had holodeck-style environment simulation vs. Matrix-style plug-in-and-leave-your-body simulation?
If it hasn't been done before, then an issue on user created content. More specifically mods and how they can effect the appeal of a game and how they can greatly expand a games life.
Plus since more and more console games are slowely adding map creators/editors to the games, it seems to be getting bigger and bigger.
Plus since more and more console games are slowely adding map creators/editors to the games, it seems to be getting bigger and bigger.
There was a thread about The Escapist Awards, an official whatchamacallit of that would be pretty sweet...
I'd love to see more about Game Studies - rhetorical aspects of video games--featuring works like Ian Bogost and the other emerging Game Studies theorists out there--one of which I hope to someday be