With Zero Punctuation puttering--will the Escapist survive?

[Gazisultima]

Two reasons why this downward trend is possibly happening. 1. ZP is on youtube so a lot of potential site traffic could be from there. 2. The data shown so far does not show actual traffic, but the Escapist's rank compared to other websites. Other websites could be getting more popular as opposed to the Escapist losing popularity. Not enough context is shown in the data for it to be relevant.

 

[repeating integers]

On an actual forum related note:

I still love the Escapist. I have some trouble with the content, as great shows like "Doraleous" (I have no idea if that is spelled right), Unforgotten Realms, ect. are being replaced by more and more Moviebob (ugh...), No right answer, and other garbage. Yahtzee and the news feed are basically the only reason I come here anymore. G4 is gone (though it was never very good to begin with...) and Kotaku is constantly filled with some of the dumbest nonsense stories I've ever seen.

If Escapist goes down... I might give up on the internet.

I'm loving Critical Intel so far, though, so there's that.

 

[Patrick Buck]

I dunno, I still think it's funny to be honest. I still look forward to wensdays because of it, and think it may not be as funny as it was when I first found it, but that's mainly due to being used to watching them, so I'm more desensitezed to what he's saying, and can predict what he's going to say about a game he's reviewing.

 

[DustyDrB]

I admit I'm less a fan of the site now than ever, but it's due to me changing more than The Escapist. Jim and Justin and the only content providers who really "click" for me. That said, I'm sure people are forgetting the other factors that may contribute to the site receiving less traffic (if that's true): Youtube and competition in general. There's just a lot more competition nowadays. I can't even name all the people on Youtube who provide terrific content on gaming. And then sites like Giant Bomb have really hit their stride (I actually find myself around there more these days. Their GOTY podcasts were wonderful. It's all about gaming there, and I love that). I don't think The Escapist is in any immediate danger of going under. The small decline just seems natural given the circumstances.

 

[RobfromtheGulag]

Yahtzee's stuff started out with a huge stable of games to look at. I'm not going to go check, but I'd bet the games he was reviewing at first were not released week after week. Now that he's doing primarily cutting edge new titles every week, you can't expect him to have novel stuff to say about each one of them. He has some genres he likes more than others, and it's hard to whip up a witty commentary on something like Super Mickey or Mario Galaxy. Those games don't warrant a lot of critique, they just are. Nobody's competing with Mario for best platformer in outer space. Meanwhile on the opposite end of the spectrum military shooters are getting so bad that I honestly couldn't tell you which game a screenshot is from. The jokes are only really funny the first time.

Anyway, what I notice most on the Escapist is this seemingly huge turnover of featured content. It makes me a bit sad to think of these people who were probably contacted, thought 'oh this'll be great', then got booted out the back door when they didn't rake in enough viewings or forum posts or whatever shows their draw.

 

[CrazyGirl17]

...Zero Punctuation is in decline? Can't say I ever noticed...

 

[TheDrunkNinja]

While it's true I don't wait in anticipation for noon to roll around on Wednesdays as I once did, I have yet to see anything that I would call "stale routine" when it comes to Yahtzee's material.

Hell, even this most recent review had me audibly laughing quite a number of times. There will come a time when Yahtzee will need to step down gracefully, but that time has not yet arrived.

 

[disgruntledgamer]

Yahtzee's really the only reason I come here, he's still funny so I don't know what your talking about. It does help to have played the games he's reviewed tho maybe that's it.

 

[Evil Top Hat]

Yea, all I'm left with as far as Ben Crowshow is concerned is his old FullyRamblomatic written material and his freeware games. Between his misogynistic Sims 3 rant, his racism, and his coiningings of the terms "PC Gaming Master Race" and "spunkgargleweewee"(Ben, this isn' the 2nd grade...) he lost any and all respect I ever have for him or his opinion on...well, anything.

First off, I have absolutely no idea where you pulled "racism" from, and secondly, the term "PC gaming master race" is used by him to MAKE FUN of people that see themselves as superior because they play on the "better" system, Yahtzee himself has never once trying to make out that he in any way thought of PC gamers as a "master race". It's called a joke, and it was used against PC gamers, not in support of them.

It's fair enough that you don't like ZP, but wishing failure on a man and accusing him of being "racist" and "misogynistic" is the sort of thing that you kind of need a bit of evidence to support, and you at least need to have some kind of basic grasp of what is and is not a joke, especially seeing as Yahtzee makes jokes about everybody and everything and means almost none of them.

 

[The White Hunter]

Everything ultimately becomes mundane. Deal with it. It's hardly the end of the Escapist.

And here's another fact; Even the Escapist will one day go the way of the dodo. So enjoy it while it lasts.

[sub]I think I just depressed myself - I need to go change my underwear.[/sub]

YOu shouldn't spend so much time with your candy canes that's whats depressing you! : D

OT: Meh, I still watch, though it's not so hilarious to me anymore it's still entertaining and gets a smirk out of me, it's ebcause I'm used to it more than anything. As for spikes in post count you'll find that the comments tend to pile up when you discuss really popular things with large fan bases. Like COD, pokemon, smash bros, metal gear, etc.

Thjere's a tonne of other great shows here, in particular I'm a big fan of the Jimquisition.

Incidentally, does anyone know if Cliffy B replied to Jimothy?

 

[Tom_green_day]

I think the late middle of last year there was a lul, but at the end with reviews like Far Cry 3, XCom and Blops2, that is probably the funniest I've seen him.

 

[Evil Smurf]

I need a hug

Don't worry Coopper Zen, my friend. ZP will die eventually, you still have a fantastic forum environment however.

 

[Jonluw]

People have been saying that "zp has been getting worse lately" since practically two weeks after Yahtzee first joined the escapist.
For this to have been true, that the quality of zp has been steadily declining for years, each zp episode should have been nothing but Yahtzee yelling incoherently into a microphone for 5 minutes by now.
This leads me to believe zp is not, in fact, getting worse. Like everything else, zp has had its good episodes and its less good episodes, but all over the series is as good as ever. It's just not novel anymore, particularly since Yahtzee has more or less found the form to stick to.
This coming from someone who has been watching zp since 2007.

I do miss the old song snippets though.

If you want to know what it looks like when a show actually does get shittier over time and it's not just the fans whining, go find the Unforgotten Realms archives and watch the entire series as it aired on the Escapist.
It should be somewhere on here still.

 

[Evil Smurf]

Incidentally, does anyone know if Cliffy B replied to Jimothy?

<spoiler=yes he did>http://i.imgur.com/Lp3Uh.png

This is why I like twitter.

 

[TheDoctor455]

I haven't noticed any decline in the overall quality, I think Yahtzee's still as funny and insightful as he's ever been

Actually, I think he's quite a bit better than he used to now that he's matured a bit and has stopped going straight for gay jokes, scat jokes, and other immature jokes.

A lot of the analogies he's come up with more recently, I think, are much funnier than his older ones.

 

[The White Hunter]

Incidentally, does anyone know if Cliffy B replied to Jimothy?

<spoiler=yes he did>http://i.imgur.com/Lp3Uh.png

This is why I like twitter.

D'awww. If they get married are we all invited? Nice to see a happy ending.

I like twitter, I need to use it a bit more, I even have a smart phone now I have no excuse!

 

[Lugbzurg]

Well, of course Yahtzee needs someone to send him some indie games that need attention one way or another. You know of many new games coming our any time soon? Most stuff comes out in the later half of the year. You can't really expect there to be much to chose from this early on. It's only January.

 

[Evil Smurf]

Incidentally, does anyone know if Cliffy B replied to Jimothy?

<spoiler=yes he did>http://i.imgur.com/Lp3Uh.png

This is why I like twitter.

D'awww. If they get married are we all invited? Nice to see a happy ending.

I like twitter, I need to use it a bit more, I even have a smart phone now I have no excuse!

I'll come as Jazz Jackrabbit.

 

[holographicman]

What do you think about ZP's slow decline and the Escapist's development/survival?

Prove it first then we'll discuss the ZP's slow decline.

There are some good and there are some bad episodes. There's nothing wrong of with a bit of variety.

what a lovely poster.
sorry.

um, zero puncuation is still freakin awesome.
like every series ever in every other form of mediablahblahblah it has had awesome and merely good episodes from the start.
still brings a little hypo of joy to my wednesdays blahblahblah

as far as other shows go I hope we get another series like unforgotten realms/apocalypse lane/neebs and associates dropped on our heads someday.