What happened to the Escapist?

ForumSafari

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TopazFusion said:
Really? That's interesting. Because nowadays, most of the time, people just don't seem to give much of a shit.
In the past people took more pride in their community membership and badges, people felt known and so took pride over protecting their identity and ability to post as their recognized avatar.

Nowadays there's no point so people view their accounts like accounts on most other forums; disposable.
 

Verlander

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Josh123914 said:
Well ever since Gamergate started advertisers have been in a bit of a pickle.
Gaming websites targetted at gamers suddenly were blasting their own demographic, with thousands within that demographic e-mailing said companies NOT to support said sites.
In a climate like that, websites will take whatever ad revenue they can get, which usually means less money. Now, this wouldn't just affect Polygon, Kotaku and Gamasutra, no. With a few big guns going cheap, and no guarantee other sites wouldn't start posting the same economically suicidal stuff it drives the entire market of game site ad revenue down.

Defy Media..... is a whole other story upon itself, but suffice to say they are willing to cut the fat when need be. If the Escapist wasn't breaking even before the "restructuring", then it is now (or at the very least preparing for worse ad deals). Some of IGN's crew leaving last month was no coincidence. I'm predicting that bigger sites are preparing for a cold snap of bad ad revenue, with other sites not (presumably hoping to wait it out), but those like The Escapist and IGN letting people go before things get too bad.

So I think this is what's happened to the Escapist. Basically, the "Gamers are Dead" articles set off a lot of e-mail campaigns and boycotts, which baffled a lot of advertisers, who either pulled out or demanded they pay less for ad space.
This left many sites with less revenue (despite whether or not your site has been the one publishing them) and so gaming sites with ambivalent owners deciding they should save money and fire people now rather than wait for things to get worse.

How's that? Can someone with a degree in Economics or Finance let me know if I'm in the ballpark here?
*Waves hand*

It was never all that profitable to begin with, in all honesty. That's why content providers are on freelancer contracts, and was the source of the Extra Credits debacle - there's no money in it.

In terms of ads, I think that a certain browser tool hurts site revenue more than complaints, and the demographic that uses sites like this are more likely to use aforementioned tool. I don't use it, but right now there's only one small ad on the page, for an entertainment multipass thing. I've heard that in other countries the ads are often inappropriate or intrusive, which says to me that the people you'd expect to be advertising on this site already weren't. I doubt that angry young men emailing companies to pull advertising had that much effect in the long term.

I think the days of gaming websites and the larger community are mostly at an end now. There's a lot of toxicity around the subject, and both sides put each other off, while the on-the-fencers just want to avoid the discussion. The Escapist, in it's vague attempt to be neutral, tried to please everybody and ended up pleasing nobody.
 

Nimcha

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shrekfan246 said:
The scorched wasteland is a pale reminder of times long past; hollow, blasted pits are all that remain of the places we once called "home". The war changed everything. Splinter groups of "SJWs" were known to be hiding here, and the People's Militia of Reddit aligned themselves with the anarchic 4channers in an earnest attempt to salt the earth. To bring about a new beginning through reckoning. We fought, some would say bravely, as we tried to defend the honor of our home.

We lost.

Now, with our leaders fallen and removed from power, most of us have been driven into hiding. We fear the retribution that will be brought down upon us if we dare show our faces again. Cowed into silence, most of us wish only to be allowed to eke out our meager existences. A few speak up here and there, but inevitably they are beaten down by the Moderators, those beleaguered law-keepers who restlessly preside over this forsaken stretch of virtual space. Still the war rages along the outskirts, with more casualties every day. The central hub has been allowed a respite, but the fighting merely gave way to rioting. The chaos is even taxing to the Moderators themselves as it seems they are no longer the final word of law in these parts. Judge, jury, and executioner have been superseded by a power even they fear, a corporation which holds their reigns tightly.

As we kneel before our posters of Anita Sarkeesian each night, praying for the strength to get through tomorrow, we will forever know this purge as "GamerGate".
Such a well versed piece of prose deserves a quote. :D
 

Thaluikhain

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Eh, I'm not seeing things as being that much better back then. We just had different things to complain about.
 

SecondPrize

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What happened is the browser plug-in that prevents advertising. The way online video games press gets paid for what they do is pretty straightforwards. When you're a trade press catering to a population that is far more likely to be tech savvy and using that plug-in, then things are not good for you.
 

Zhukov

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Dec 29, 2009
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In the past whenever a show got canned or whatnot, a bunch of people would say, "That's it, I'm done here, this place is going to the dogs."

I would always roll my eyes at them for being so melodramatic.

Now I'm one of them, doomsaying like there's no tomorrow. (Hurr hurr.) Maybe it's just an inevitable part of the forum member life cycle.

...

The end is nigh! The end is nigh!
 

Thaluikhain

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Zhukov said:
In the past whenever a show got canned or whatnot, a bunch of people would say, "That's it, I'm done here, this place is going to the dogs."

I would always roll my eyes at them for being so melodramatic.

Now I'm one of them, doomsaying like there's no tomorrow. (Hurr hurr.) Maybe it's just an inevitable part of the forum member life cycle.

...

The end is nigh! The end is nigh!
Huh...if the doomsaying stops, does that mean people would leave and the site would die?
 

JoJo

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Verlander said:
Josh123914 said:
Well ever since Gamergate started advertisers have been in a bit of a pickle.
Gaming websites targetted at gamers suddenly were blasting their own demographic, with thousands within that demographic e-mailing said companies NOT to support said sites.
In a climate like that, websites will take whatever ad revenue they can get, which usually means less money. Now, this wouldn't just affect Polygon, Kotaku and Gamasutra, no. With a few big guns going cheap, and no guarantee other sites wouldn't start posting the same economically suicidal stuff it drives the entire market of game site ad revenue down.

Defy Media..... is a whole other story upon itself, but suffice to say they are willing to cut the fat when need be. If the Escapist wasn't breaking even before the "restructuring", then it is now (or at the very least preparing for worse ad deals). Some of IGN's crew leaving last month was no coincidence. I'm predicting that bigger sites are preparing for a cold snap of bad ad revenue, with other sites not (presumably hoping to wait it out), but those like The Escapist and IGN letting people go before things get too bad.

So I think this is what's happened to the Escapist. Basically, the "Gamers are Dead" articles set off a lot of e-mail campaigns and boycotts, which baffled a lot of advertisers, who either pulled out or demanded they pay less for ad space.
This left many sites with less revenue (despite whether or not your site has been the one publishing them) and so gaming sites with ambivalent owners deciding they should save money and fire people now rather than wait for things to get worse.

How's that? Can someone with a degree in Economics or Finance let me know if I'm in the ballpark here?
*Waves hand*

It was never all that profitable to begin with, in all honesty. That's why content providers are on freelancer contracts, and was the source of the Extra Credits debacle - there's no money in it.

In terms of ads, I think that a certain browser tool hurts site revenue more than complaints, and the demographic that uses sites like this are more likely to use aforementioned tool. I don't use it, but right now there's only one small ad on the page, for an entertainment multipass thing. I've heard that in other countries the ads are often inappropriate or intrusive, which says to me that the people you'd expect to be advertising on this site already weren't. I doubt that angry young men emailing companies to pull advertising had that much effect in the long term.

I think the days of gaming websites and the larger community are mostly at an end now. There's a lot of toxicity around the subject, and both sides put each other off, while the on-the-fencers just want to avoid the discussion. The Escapist, in it's vague attempt to be neutral, tried to please everybody and ended up pleasing nobody.
I agree, putting on my cynical hat for a moment I wouldn't be surprised if the Escapist has been only marginally profitable or even just breaking even since the Extra Credits days. It would make sense with what's happened when you think about it, the selling to Alloy Digital (later Defy Media) in 2012 was presumably because the property wasn't turning much cash for Thermis Media and they wanted to offload it, Defy hoping to turn around the site's fortunes and expand it's audience, bringing in the heavy profits. That's where the site redesign and expansion to cover wider geek culture came from, and I'm guessing that didn't work out since the site is now trimming off the high-cost assets and extras to reduce running costs and make the site small but profitable. Anyone's guess whether that tactic will pay off in the long term though, or whether this will become another Warcry.
 

sky14kemea

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BathorysGraveland2 said:
People say the mods here are harsh. I say they're the most generous, soft moderators with the most lenient rules on the net.
S-soft?



I was going for f-fluffy. Q^Q
 

Story

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I'm just a nooblet on the forums, but I've been larking since 2010 and with that in mind I think Defy Media/ Alloy was the start of all this. Things like Patreon and GamerGate probably didn't help much.
 

Neonit

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Meh, in my experience people were always complaining about SOMETHING.
I recall the times that R&P was filled with discussions about bestiality and such. Yet we are still here, the world hasn't ended....

People come and go. Grasping at the "ye olde, better times" is the first sign of getting old.... I know, i catch myself doing the same from time to time, and im still pretty young.....
 

wizzy555

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I think the escapist is a colder place generally because gaming media is a colder place.

Originally they knew what they were, they were here to promote gaming and give their readers a childish fun time with trivial nonsense, then they weren't satisfied and they wanted more (or possibly just wanted the tumblr market). So they did "serious" social issue pieces, but didn't want to lose their own fun "we're all friends here" attitude so people were forced into agreeing with everything or being cast out. Which is not how you do proper adult media, you have to agree to disagree.

The end result is that they are neither mature and serious nor childish and fun.


Of course this may be economically motivated by falling profits, I don't know.
 

Hoplon

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Josh123914 said:
Figured GG was a catalyst of some sort given the..... questionable put out by major sites.

And do you have any links for that thing about declining revenue?
I'm not accusing, it actually sounds quite interesting.
Unfortunately all I can find is anecdotal opinion pieces as apparently Google et al don't publish what they are paying people (probably for sound reasons i am sure) Sorry, guess 've been reading it so long guess I've just adopted it as true.
 

BathorysGraveland2

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sky14kemea said:
S-soft?



I was going for f-fluffy. Q^Q
Dear Spiderman-moderess. I meant no disrespect. I understand that you are fluffy. Not rough, not brutal, not tyrannical, not even soft, but fluffy. As fluffy as our wombats here in our Aussie land! Cuddly wombats. Hmm. Yes, you are not the spider, but the wombatman-moderess. Yes.

Wombatman-moderess. That should be your title. Much better than spiderman.
 

sky14kemea

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BathorysGraveland2 said:
Dear Spiderman-moderess. I meant no disrespect. I understand that you are fluffy. Not rough, not brutal, not tyrannical, not even soft, but fluffy. As fluffy as our wombats here in our Aussie land! Cuddly wombats. Hmm. Yes, you are not the spider, but the wombatman-moderess. Yes.

Wombatman-moderess. That should be your title. Much better than spiderman.
What a great idea! I should be a cute, cuddly wombat.

Awww, what a cute li-



-ttle Oh MY GOD WHAT THE HECK IS THAT THING?!
 

Scars Unseen

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sky14kemea said:
BathorysGraveland2 said:
Dear Spiderman-moderess. I meant no disrespect. I understand that you are fluffy. Not rough, not brutal, not tyrannical, not even soft, but fluffy. As fluffy as our wombats here in our Aussie land! Cuddly wombats. Hmm. Yes, you are not the spider, but the wombatman-moderess. Yes.

Wombatman-moderess. That should be your title. Much better than spiderman.
What a great idea! I should be a cute, cuddly wombat.

Awww, what a cute li-



-ttle Oh MY GOD WHAT THE HECK IS THAT THING?!
Okay, so wombats are out? Hmm... what else is fluffy...

 

sky14kemea

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Jun 26, 2008
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Scars Unseen said:
Okay, so wombats are out? Hmm... what else is fluffy...

Awwww, what an adorable cthulu nose it has!

[sub][sub]What the feck is that thing....[/sub][/sub]

I'd rather be something more people friendly, like this guy!

 

Banana Cannon

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Jun 15, 2010
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You know why I liked There Will Be Brawl? The heroes were hashed out, the world was full of noir & the grit from a past suffering no one should experience, & innocence was sparse when confronted with what dark pits of the human condition existed, that some individuals could come to represent.

Samus was also a pole dancer & Captain Falcon was a flamboyant & badass homosexual. I never considered that might be the case for the latter, but I digress.

No, I liked the feature because just like one's 1st campaign in Dark Souls, it was an arduous path full of adversity & soul-stressing defeat, yet no matter what it did to you as a person & no matter what covenant you fell into, you faced the demons of what was left over from your time with weapon in hand, & in both stories, the pure conviction to unravel those forms of influence upon the world was the deciding factor of victory.

There is an end to all things, but a resurgence comes from that end. How we proceed from here is up to us. Just know now that our demons are named from this point on, our crime bosses & psychopaths in this macabre story are obvious. But we also know now that the very source of all our conflict or disinterest is a force much more abstract & insidious.

So, are ye as badass as Luigi, the suffering protagonist that'll see it through to the end, regardless of the outcome? And will you be able to do what's truly right when faced with it?