Why you MUST not use an ad blocker - unless you want to pay for content

[Voodoomancer]

This doesn't really matter for me, because most of the things advertised are products not available in my country

Also, I tried an adblocker some years ago, but I didn't see any difference in performance, so I've never installed one after that.

Then again, I've found quite a few awesome webcomics by following Project Wonderful ads on another webcomic's site.

 

[RobfromtheGulag]

I don't care about adds on the sidelines. Sure google's home page looks slick without them, but I don't mind them, and I might even click through a few.

However pop ups were definitely no good. Those ads that take over half of the page you're viewing, or insert some little animation directly into the paragraph I'm trying to read are annoying.

And of course the key reason to use ad-blocker is the hoping in vain that it will stop some fraction of the spyware and cookies being thrown around willy nilly.

 

[Lady Kathleen]

Escapist, stop being douchebags about ad blockers.
Your users don't owe you anything.

And the Escapist doesn't owe you thousands of hours of free entertainment. The Escapist is not a non-profit organization that exists to provide people with entertainment. I do not use time I could be working, sleeping or playing video games to dance for your amusement.

Why do people feel so damned entitled to free entertainment, they refuse to do anything to compensate it's creators - wether it be refusing to pay for merch, refusing to watch ads or outright stealing it?

 

[Lady Kathleen]

I also think it's important to note that the point of my original post was "people who make quality content you enjoy for free deserve to be compensated for it."

I never said "ads are great and perfect and if you don't watch them, you stink", but unfortunately until the internet finds the best way to support itself, advertising is the primary way that the wheels turn, so to speak.

There are many ways to compensate creators. The concluding sentence of my post had several suggestions such as "buy merch, give them money, buy pub club memberships, watch the ads on their site, etc."

 

[ImprovizoR]

I don't block ads because I like all the pretty colors. I do block pop-ups no mater what they are.

 

[infohippie]

I hate ads with a passion. My adblocker is never going away. However, for sites that I particularly like and visit regularly, if they have ads that aren't really obnoxious and annoying, I will selectively deactivate my adblocker FOR THOSE SITES ONLY.
So, the Escapist gets to show me ads, as does Penny Arcade and a few other sites. For general browsing, though, I love my adblocker like it's family.

 

[Kimarous]

I also think it's important to note that the point of my original post was "people who make quality content you enjoy for free deserve to be compensated for it."

I never said "ads are great and perfect and if you don't watch them, you stink", but unfortunately until the internet finds the best way to support itself, advertising is the primary way that the wheels turn, so to speak.

There are many ways to compensate creators. The concluding sentence of my post had several suggestions such as "buy merch, give them money, buy pub club memberships, watch the ads on their site, etc."

Unfortunately, things got garbled along the way and the whole "ad" portion became heavily emphasized. Know that the majority of us have no qualms about giving creators their due compensation. We appreciate you addressing the issue to us and this user, at least, has taken some pause to think on the matter. That said, I will give the Escapist it's due and disable my adblocking for this particular site.

 

[guntotingtomcat]

But they're soooooooooooooooooooooooo annoying :'(

 

[snakeakaossi]

Dear ms Kathleen,

I am not a regular here on this forum, so you might not even read this post and what I'm going to say might already be said in the thread, but I don't have time to read it all, so here goes.

There are two misconceptions here. First: TV is not free. Where I live you pay the cable company who also pays the TV stations for broadcast. That is income for the station without having to give any quality at all besides advertising. Second: not every add is blocked. I am using a quite popular add blocker and I still see adds, especially at videos that were just released.

The reason I am using an add blocker is not because I want to be snobby and have a clean browser, but because seeing the one and same add (I can strangle the one who came up with that horrible totino's add, I don't even live in the USA, I can't even buy it) every ten minutes is kind of emberassing when you have someone watching videos with you. What is worse, when there is a hiccup in a server (I am refering to a site other than the escapist) and the video is interrupted(having an add blocker or not), I have to watch the corresponding add again without getting to see the whole video and no guarantee I will ever get to see it. If a TV station did that, they'd be out of business very fast.

I understand you are from a party that is duped by add blockers, but your fandom can suffer from adds that are too anoying. The adds here at the escapist are tolerable, so that should be OK, but there are a lot of sites who get the advertising wrong. It is not a simple matter of "watch adds, it pays me and it doesn't harm you", because I still have nightmares from that horrible Totino's add from another site. I think the internet just needs to find a new way of advertising along the lines of "Have I mentioned I wrote a novel and you can preorder it from Amazon? Well, I wrote a novel and you can preorder it from Amazon." That was not an overly anoying add.

I'm sorry to disagree with you, since you are one of my favourite actors in LRR, I just think you are taking it too simple.

Yours sincerely,
Snakeakaossi

 

[smithy_2045]

I only block ads when they cause popups, or are otherwise obnoxious in some way.

 

[Iron Criterion]

Is this a trap?

 

[superbatranger]

As long as the ads I find are not obtrusive, full-screen, distracting, pop-ups, I leave them be. Most sites I visit don't have that problem, so most of the time I rarely use an adblocker. In fact, with sites I want to support, i.e. The Escapist, I don't use one at all. Hear that? I don't block your ads, OK? I don't want to be accidentally reported for something I don't do. Just wanted to be sure we're on the same page.

 

[Kraiiit]

First off- I respect the escapist, and I'm going to try turning off adblocker just for this site, see how it runs.

In the past, I didn't mind ads. I would sit through them on the television- hell, sometimes, I'd even notice something. On the internet, however, advertisements have evolved to become annoying, useless trash. Not only do they impede the browsing experience, some of them outright attempt to trick you into clicking on links. Ads are tend to be flashy, loud, and slow to load.

Ads have become their own downfall. The majority of ads rely on brute force and volume to convey their message. If they used wit, less bandwidth, and were less obtrusive- in short, if advertisers actually cared about the feelings of the target audience- I would happily uninstall adblock plus. Unfortunately, that doesn't appear to be happening anytime soon, so fuck 'em.

 

[Xelien]

Huzzah for the Publishers Club, but in regards to other sites and mediums....

No I don't use an ad blockers on the interwebs, because I know what they do for free sites so I put up with them. As for television commercials....yah I avoid them as much as I can, either by recording a show, or just by flipping channels. But I do support the majority of the shows I watch by buying merch of it.

The biggest problem is that not everybody has that luxury to buy box-sets of shows or online subscriptions to sites like the Escapist. In a perfect world everybody who's not willing to pay with moneys will do so with patience, but that not the case. Hopefully a few people here will listen to Kathleen and other supportive escapists are talking about.

 

[MattAn24]

It's absolutely insulting that you find their trade so meaningless that you suggest they do it for free.

Thank you.

I've said my view to Kathleen personally, but as far as this thread is concerned. What Wolfenbarg said. Many what Wolfenbarg saids.

Sure, block intrusive/malicious porn ads, etc.. But by blocking EVERYTHING, you're basically ruining any content creator, even the YouTube partners like =3 and the Yu-Gi-Oh! and Dragon Ball Z abridged series sites.

LittleKuriboh and TeamFourStar have merchandise like shirts and such, much like LoadingReadyRun. If you PAY direct to them to support them by purchasing shirts/DVDs/swag, then good for you, you're still helping. Hell, I NEVER purchased any merch from online content creators before.. Then I discovered LRR. I bought the hell out of their shirts. Because they not only DESERVE my money more than I do, but they're incredibly talented at what they do.

Demanding that they simply dance for your amusement is fucking rude and inconsiderate. LRR is their FULL-TIME JOB. How dare anyone abuse that..

...I'm done. I think. Also, eat a bowl of dicks, Escapist forum community. <3 Escapist staff and content creators. I may not like certain content or web series, but hey. They DO put their souls into it. And their sleeping patterns.

 

[hooksashands]

Sometimes I link Espacapist vids to my friends. They can't see them due to the video being embedded in a pop-up, so they disable their blocker and watch them anyway but it still leaves a sour taste in my mouth.

I'm also slightly agitated that the same ad needs to play at the start of every single video. Can you guys make it per page visit?

 

[lockeslylcrit]

I keep adblock off of sites I like, like The Escapist. If I don't like a site, then there's no need to support them.