You all miss the Escapist's glory days, what are your ideas for how could they come back?

[Wareve]

So, as the other thread ( http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/18.941103-Who-here-misses-The-Escapists-Magazine-format-and-old-content#23735671 ) demonstrated rather fully, you guys all miss the Escapist as it once was. Active, full of life, fun, and interesting.

From your experience and perspective, how do you think the Escapist could come back?

And this isn't here to be a collection of "They can't." I mean, if you had the money, if you had the contacts, and you had the power, what changes would you make to make the place better? More fun? More interesting? More monetarily sound?

What shows would you bring back? What new content would you create? What creators would you want to bring on board? What writers would give new perspectives and analysis? What shifts in focus would you implement?

I, for example, would have them put up their back catalog of shows more clearly. Unforgotten Realms, Unskippable, Movie Bob, ect. So they could generate views off of old content. And I would also have them go back to their magazine format with weekly editorials, which are a rare find these days in games journalism.

But those are just some ideas, how would you facilitate the restoration of The Escapist?

 

[Wareve]

Also, I would more blatantly label the Arcade section of the site, cause right now that's just sitting there doing nothing. I've probably managed to visit this site a hundred thousand times over the past few years and literally never even clicked on that tab till I was thinking about how I would fix up the site and was like "Huh, I've never noticed this before..."

 

[Bobular]

Also, I would more blatantly label the Arcade section of the site, cause right now that's just sitting there doing nothing. I've probably managed to visit this site a hundred thousand times over the past few years and literally never even clicked on that tab till I was thinking about how I would fix up the site and was like "Huh, I've never noticed this before..."

There's an arcade?

And next to it is a store, I never knew they were up there. I would do something with that, get some more shirts and stuff sold, I would say some none Zero Punctuation stuff but that would require more regular creators on the site, they could have had a load of Jimquisition, Unforgotten Realms & Movie Bob shirts as well but I never saw them because I didn't know there was a store.

 

[Catnip1024]

Well, as the SAS say, "grab them by the balls, and their hearts will follow". So you need to produce a ball-grabbing machine.

On a more serious note:
A wider range of reviews? Like, I know there are a stupid number of games released these days, but I never seem to hear about the better ones. I got RimWorld last weekend purely by chance, and played it non-stop for 10 hours. A set of reviews filtering out the good low-profile games from the crap ones would be nice.

Other than that, I dunno what could really be done. Let's plays are stealing views, twitter is stealing the flame wars. You just need to be better than the competition, you know.

 

[Barbas]

Just open a wormhole to the dollar dimension, pour lots and lots of money into this thing, and do shows where everyone gets out their tits and Steves. Hella views.

 

[DefunctTheory]

Just open a wormhole to the dollar dimension, pour lots and lots of money into this thing, and do shows where everyone gets out their tits and Steves. Hella views.

So basically pay Penn and Teller to revive their BULLSHIT! series and host it exclusively on the Escapist?

I'm game. Anyone want to start an Escapist lottery pool?

 

[DudeistBelieve]

...if the site ever does go down, I made an emergency back up board. It's only my website (check my profile), everyones welcome if this place ever does go belly up (hope not, I love the forums)

Ya know, why not look at the staff they still have instead of spreading themselves too thin.

Grey Carter has personality and his own opinions about things. I'd like to see him do a column or a video series.

 

[Stewie Plisken]

Nuke Youtube.

That's about the only thing that'll work. This is a dying business. The Escapist got big, primarily because of its video content; the type of which no competitor provided. It can no longer keep up with Youtube and crowd-funded seris and no matter how many news articles and editorials it puts out, it can at best survive on ad revenue from its loyal audience. Which is to say, the glory days won't come back, but it won't necessarily die. It probably should look to becoming an alternative to the likes of IGN, without going full moron like Polygon. Good luck finding the silver lining there, though.

 

[PainInTheAssInternet]

Realistically, it can't happen. The Escapist got big based on a market that doesn't really exist anymore. Videos are the current thing and who does that better than YouTube? Even big shows with their own websites still operate channels on YouTube with maybe a week's delay on releasing content on there which really won't bring people back to their own website. The Escapist can likely still operate, though pouring money into it is likely a bad idea. I'm under the impression that the parent company is buying up a lot of similar sites. With the recent shut down of Game Trailers and the subsequent migration of that community onto here, I'd imaging that'll be the trend. Consolidating what resources are left and hoping something will stick.

I also imagine that a catch 22 will arise. Anyone new big enough to attract people to this site will wonder why they are on this site and leave it.

Is the banjumper going on about people being bitter?

 

[tippy2k2]

As a couple have already said, the Escapist of old is not ever going to come back. That type of website just can't sustain itself in today's internet with so many more options for videos that generally will pay the creator more money. Really, a site like The Escapist MIGHT be good for a new video series that needs a platform to become established but even then, I would think there are other sites (like Youtube) that would be better for even that.

What a site like The Escapist can still latch onto and is something I'm surprised we are not seeing is written content. There are always going to be young writers looking to get their stuff published on mainstream websites that don't have the clout to make it on their own. I'm assuming there is a reason behind it not happening that I don't fully understand (whether it is people are not submitting or the site being that down on funds) since it seems like it would be the most logical step for the site to take...

 

[bluegate]

I would put some effort into redesigning the front page and several sub pages of the Escapist.

As it stands now, the front page is one giant chaotic mess; there is a lot of information, all over the place. It is pretty difficult to find out what the focus of the Escapist actually is, what services it offers to its visitors, where its core lies.

A lot of sub pages, such as review pages, feel cluttered, confined and messy. Some effort ought to be put into designing parts of the website to be clearer in the presentation of their function, especially for new members.

 

[jklinders]

I'd update the headline feed more than once a week. Seriously, the top article section at the top of the site that should be showcasing new material stays static for most of the week. If you don't know where to dig then it looks like nothing happens here more than once a week.

Right now it looks like the editorial staff has zero fucks to give but I know that's not true as they are putting new articles up daily but their gutted tech team is routinely failing to sine the spotlight it needs.

 

[Nurb]

Escapist produced/hosted some amazing video content that became popular like Rebecca Mayes Muses, Extra Credits, Space Janitors, Miracle of Sound, Jimquisition, they of course launched Yahtzee to public awareness, but they lost them for one reason or another and that always bummed me out.

Reddit is eating up a lot of gaming website forum goers because of its size and ability to post content.

Though I miss written content as well.

The only thing I could suggest would be using Youtube to act as a hub for produced content by content creators, similar to Yogscast and weave that into the site, which generates revenue for the creators and support the Escapist website so it can retain popular talent and invest in more. The streams are a good start though.

 

[FalloutJack]

Slowly, I would say. They've lost alot of steam and we all knew that their system wasn't perfect. It needs to rebuild itself, brick by brick. There's no easy way, because I believe the Escapist exhausted all of its easier fixes in trying to maintain themselves at a higher level than they had support for. So, build up a newer and stronger foundation.

 

[Stewie Plisken]

I would put some effort into redesigning the front page and several sub pages of the Escapist.

As it stands now, the front page is one giant chaotic mess; there is a lot of information, all over the place. It is pretty difficult to find out what the focus of the Escapist actually is, what services it offers to its visitors, where its core lies.

A lot of sub pages, such as review pages, feel cluttered, confined and messy. Some effort ought to be put into designing parts of the website to be clearer in the presentation of their function, especially for new members.

This is also a really good idea. The front-page is a clusterfuck, as are the forums. The latest news/features lists alone are insane. Cut them down to 3-5 items per list. Anyone who wants to see more, they will easily follow the thread to older stuff. When I get to the front page, I'd rather not have to scroll down; not because I'm lazy, but because the only thing that will grab my attention is what's immediately in front of me. When there are lists upon lists of stuff, as a newcomer, I just will tune out and click away. And remove the weekly schedule thing; not only does it look embarrassing, it points to an "Internet Channel" direction, which is dated and doesn't really interest anyone anymore.

There are other suggestions (split the various sections of the site to their own subdomains, hire more staff), but I don't think the Escapist has the money for that right now.

 

[Palindromemordnilap_v1legacy]

If we're running along the OPs "as much resources as you want" guidelines, then just...stuff. More stuff. That Weekly Content Schedule at the bottom of the home page? I remember when that was full and still didn't cover everything they were doing. Get more articles or more comics or more original content. Used to be I could come every day and there would be another Apocalypse Lane! Hey Doomsday Arcade just uploaded another episode! Another Doraleous and Associates to watch! Oh its...its Game Dogs...I'll pass on that one guys, thanks all the same.
Looking at how little actually appears on the Escapist these days is just bleak

 

[Scarim Coral]

Honestly, unless the company that own what remain of this site actually give them the fund and actually bring back some staff or new people, it still a slim chance for them to come back.
Even with the funding, they would still have to find a way for it to become popular again. I mean there is a reason why they no longer get that awards of their articles contents.

 

[Fensfield]

Less clickbaiit-!

I mean seriously even just a little less'd be good. Just lay off the 'Pok?mon servers are shutting down!!' for reports on one-off maintenance, for instance. The really, really egregious stuff.

 

[RanD00M]

It can't, it won't. The days are gone, the time has passed. Better to try and create something new than cling on to something that has been dead for years.

 

[Thaluikhain]

Less clickbaiit-!

I mean seriously even just a little less'd be good. Just lay off the 'Pok?mon servers are shutting down!!' for reports on one-off maintenance, for instance. The really, really egregious stuff.

Second that, though this was a problem even during the glory days.