What happened to the Escapist?

Sleepy Sol

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Fappy said:
As a side note I chose that Avengers Forever image for the Brovengers homepage like forever ago. It's kinda funny seeing it plastered on some conspiracy theory poster XD
I'm on to your evil schemes, you bastard.

YOU CAN'T FOOL ME.

Ah...um. I mean. Yeah, I'm really not a fan of the tin-foiling that went on and sometimes still goes on over there.
 

Trude

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I prefer the heavily moderated nature of the forums since it contributes to its overall perceived IQ.
 

CrystalShadow

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I wish I could say something here, but the current issues, whatever caused them just seems like history repeating itself to me.

I've been here long enough to see massive shifts in style and content, people come and go (both in the forums, and amongst the site management)

It's just... One of those things that just seems to keep happening.
I'm still around, so... Meh.

I miss the old video content. The story based stuff, rather than debates and facts and rants and the like, but we haven't seen any of that in so long I doubt it will ever come back.

Why would it?

The whole GG thing is a barely comprehensible mess that I have no desire to be in any way involved with, but it's undeniable how much it has been getting mentioned. Here, and in lots of other places online...

I still feel some connection to this site.

Even if it's not what it once was.
The forums are the forums. Maybe the proportion of groan inducing negative topics have increased, but I saw my fair share of controversy and loud, vicious arguments right from the start, so it's nothing new to me...

Of course, most of my original friends and recognisable people from those days are gone, but... I've made new friends. Probably closer to the new ones than I ever was to the old ones in all honesty.

Stressing over what the content on the site will be in the future is something I gave up on many years back.

My only concern now, if any is whether the site is doing badly enough to collapse outright. Because in spite of everything, that would seem like a pity to me.
 

Colour Scientist

Troll the Respawn, Jeremy!
Jul 15, 2009
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Fappy said:
Colour Scientist said:
Fappy said:
Colour Scientist said:
Fappy said:
As a side note I chose that Avengers Forever image for the Brovengers homepage like forever ago. It's kinda funny seeing it plastered on some conspiracy theory poster XD

Yes, conspiracy theories, keep up the facade.

It's actually hilarious that someone thought BroChat would have the organisational skills to "plan raids" of GG shit. XD
No one there can even organize a steam playdate. Christ.

I think we played TF2 like once... I know I played LoL with Shrek a few years ago.
Y u no play garmes with me, Fapster?

Huh?

Am I not good enough? D:
Get Gaystar to play a game with me for once and we can do a double date with Caroline too!
Gaystar belongs to DOTA 2, it has taken him.

He will never love me the way he loves Axe. :(
 

SupahEwok

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A lot (read: everyone) in this thread's lamenting the decline of video content on the Escapist. I'm not in the same boat. For me, the Escapist has been on the decline since they cut the newsletter (that nearly always had something interesting to read) and the numerous columns. Know how the Escapist has Shamus Young and Robert Rath writing columns? Back in the day the Escapist had at least 5 going at once that I can recall (including Shamus), along with a joke one. (that I can't recall the name of now; the writer's name was Marion or something?) All of them usually had something thoughtful and smart to say.

All of that starting getting the axe near the end of Russ Pitt's run, I think. It's probably why he left.

And those articles and columns covered the gamut of games criticism, positive and negative. A lot of them showed a love for games and the people who played them, not a desire to tear them down that has become a prevailing attitude over the past two years.

I miss that website. And I hate that the archives for the site it is today have absolutely horrible archives for anything that goes further back than a year, so I can't even find examples of what I'm talking about since I don't remember the specific names of articles and columns.
 

Fappy

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Colour Scientist said:
Fappy said:
Colour Scientist said:
Fappy said:
Colour Scientist said:
Fappy said:
As a side note I chose that Avengers Forever image for the Brovengers homepage like forever ago. It's kinda funny seeing it plastered on some conspiracy theory poster XD

Yes, conspiracy theories, keep up the facade.

It's actually hilarious that someone thought BroChat would have the organisational skills to "plan raids" of GG shit. XD
No one there can even organize a steam playdate. Christ.

I think we played TF2 like once... I know I played LoL with Shrek a few years ago.
Y u no play garmes with me, Fapster?

Huh?

Am I not good enough? D:
Get Gaystar to play a game with me for once and we can do a double date with Caroline too!
Gaystar belongs to DOTA 2, it has taken him.

He will never love me the way he loves Axe. :(
Fuck Dota 2!

We should all play Thorchlight 2 together!
 

13e thr33

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Shanicus said:
Snip snap
You seem to be venting, fair enough, that's what the internets for.

One thing though, you talk about the toxic environment after/during GG with disdain yet you are being incredibly toxic in process by targeting people and dragging that argument along with you, it's like you didn't get a chance to say your bit when it was going down.
 

Sleepy Sol

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TopazFusion said:
Solaire of Astora said:
I would like moderation to be more strict in the megathread, but honestly at this point it should be a user group. Some would even say that when all this shit began.
I think a usergroup would suit GG to a T.

Group members have complete control over who posts in the group, and what they post. (So no more "gotcha" posts, or whatever)
Important updates and links can be posted onto the frontpage of the group, rather than being buried and lost in the megathread, never to be found again.
And random chatter/banter and sharing of links can take place on the group's chat page.

Usergroups were originally invented specially for topics just like GG. -- Topics that cover a broad rage of things, but that only a 'niche' group of users wish to talk about. Topics that they wish to talk about without annoying other forum users, (or being annoyed by other forum users).
What makes a user group more appropriate to me is the fact that it's been around so long that many people are well-established in where they stand already. Very few new people are going to come shuffling in the megathread, if any. It hasn't resulted in much audience growth at all (I find this to be a fault with both people who actively parade around their GG support everywhere and also those who bring their grievances with GG everywhere on the forum). I'm not sure how many people in the megathread would agree with me, but there really is not much new blood coming around to support or argue against them. So I don't see why there would be any major objections to a usergroup.

The only people who care enough to support or actively go against it have been rather pre-determined for, I'd say, months at this point. Moving the discussion to a usergroup makes R&P happy, I feel like it would make the rest of the forums happy, and I'd hope that it makes GG happy. Or at least content.
 

Louzerman102

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I really don't understand why people are saying "GG thread killed the escapist." The Escapist is a video content and game review website. They have had revenue problems for years, anyone can type up the prepared PR statements that publishers give out, and why read a game review when live Twitch streams and Youtube let's plays exist.
 

Padwolf

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I don't know. Methinks many are being dramatic. True that the site has not been the same for a while but things change and move on. I just think all the threads about the end of the escapist and "omg likr this person left so i am gonna leave with a huge dramatic thread that no one is actually gonnacare about and no onr actually knoes me" is just a tad bit too far and a tad bit too melodramatic. Sounds like peoplr being negative for the sake of being negative and edgy.

But hey... the end is upon us! That is what everyone seems to be wantig and hearing, right?
 

Kyber

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Can't really answer what happened to the site, but I can say what happened to the forum, the same thing that happens to every forum that has usernames and grows popular.

People start thinking they're better than others and their opinions are more important than the opinions of others, because they have more posts or they've been here for longer.

Also this forum, in my opinion, died when people were posting 90% about GG, SJW, sexism, racism, and so on, and 10% about video games. Now if you don't happen to be a fan of video games, or did not come here for the reasons of escapism (which could be a bit funny since this is, or at least was The Escapist), this isn't a problem, but if you are like me, and many that left are, you don't want to spend time here anymore.
 

Silentpony_v1legacy

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It was #GamerGate, wasn't it? Right or wrong, it polarized the gaming community worse than all the console wars combined. There used to be a tongue-in-cheek rivalry and snarkiness between gamers, especially when the PC gaming master race got involved.

Now its straight-up verbal warfare, to the point neither side can stand to give hits to sites occupied by the other. And The Escapist tried to stay neutral. It didn't, not really. But it tried, and that was enough to garner hate from pro and anti #GGers. And people like Jim and Bob say the writing on the wall; loss in ad revenue meant cuts, and neither were willing to face that when they had so many fans(Though MovieBob seems to have been run out of town rather than drop out for moral/financial reasons.).
People are leaving. The gaming community is fracturing into smaller and smaller echo-chambers.
 

wizzy555

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I really don't think gamergate did anything to do this place. It was the same long before that. I had a blacklist of websites over a year before gamergate, I had decided not to renew my escapist subscription as they were circling the same old stuff week on end.

In fact the gamergate interviews published here was the only reason I changed my mind and renewed my publishers club. It wasn't fun and it was too serious but at least that was journalism, publishing conflicting opinions in a systematic manner. And a brave thing to do given the inquisition of the twitterati.
 

Owyn_Merrilin

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Supahewok said:
A lot (read: everyone) in this thread's lamenting the decline of video content on the Escapist. I'm not in the same boat. For me, the Escapist has been on the decline since they cut the newsletter (that nearly always had something interesting to read) and the numerous columns. Know how the Escapist has Shamus Young and Robert Rath writing columns? Back in the day the Escapist had at least 5 going at once that I can recall (including Shamus), along with a joke one. (that I can't recall the name of now; the writer's name was Marion or something?) All of them usually had something thoughtful and smart to say.

All of that starting getting the axe near the end of Russ Pitt's run, I think. It's probably why he left.

And those articles and columns covered the gamut of games criticism, positive and negative. A lot of them showed a love for games and the people who played them, not a desire to tear them down that has become a prevailing attitude over the past two years.

I miss that website. And I hate that the archives for the site it is today have absolutely horrible archives for anything that goes further back than a year, so I can't even find examples of what I'm talking about since I don't remember the specific names of articles and columns.
You and me both, brother.

The good news is, I've got some actual examples of the articles you're talking about here:

<url=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/video-games/columns/reliable-source/7286-Reliable-Source-I-Sometimes-Shoplift-From-GameStop>Marion Cox's "Reliable Source" column

<url=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/video-games/columns/experienced-points/6003-Dice-vs-D-Pad>Shamus Young's "Experienced Points"

<url=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/video-games/columns/ask-dr-mark/8726-Dating-Sims>Mark J. Kline's "Ask Dr. Mark"

<url=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/video-games/columns/firstperson/9763-On-The-Other-Side-of-Videogame-History>Dennis Scimeca's "First Person

<url=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/video-games/columns/view-from-the-road/7822-View-From-the-Road-Where-Everybody-Knows-Your-Name>John Funk's "Views from the Road

<url=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/video-games/issues/issue_8/50-Death-to-the-Games-Industry-Part-I>some
<url=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/video-games/issues/issue_273/8145-Confessions-of-a-GameStop-Employee-Part-One>representative
<url=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/video-games/issues/issue_312/8978-The-Games-People-Don-t-Play>articles
<url=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/video-games/issues/issue_292/8619-Ad-Wars>from
<url=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/issues/issue_225/6702-Notorious-R-O-B>the
<url=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/issues/issue_157/5023-The-Age-of-the-World-Builders>weekly
<url=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/issues/issue_156/5006-The-Force-is-Strong-in-This-One>issue
<url=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/video-games/issues/issue_96/538-Hero-Worship>era.

Bonus: an actual useable <url=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/newsletters/archive/1?news_searchsort=date_sent+desc&news_searchpage=1>archive for the weekly issues.

This is the kind of thing that drew me to this site. It was a celebration of a shared hobby. Ever since Extra Credits, though, this site has been moving away from that. In some ways I can't blame the management for following the money there, but unfortunately it looks like the whole self flagellation schtick isn't bringing in the cash anymore, and a lot of the people from the old days have been scared off because it's just not the site they joined. I really hope the site can recover.
 

13e thr33

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Shanicus said:
Snippty snappty
I lurk because internet arguments aren't my thing.

That passion thing was to someone trying to make guidelines, you can be passionate when not trying to make neutral terms XD

Nice talking to you.