Escapists: Why are we so different?

[Sevre]

I think The Escapist offers something a bit different though. We don't offer cheats, we don't do conventional reviews with a rating system, we're not even that flashy with our site compared to Gamespot or IGN and we don't segregate our community into "Xbox here, PS3 here, PC here, Wii...no one plays Wii!".

So we attract a different userbase, a much more open user base who don't mind something a bit different. That's just the way I see it anyway. The Escapist isn't a site for games, it's a site for gamers.

 

[Regular Guy]

Because anything that can be construed as offensive to anybody is grounds for getting banned. Everybody is pleasant and agrees because if you don't, you probably won't be here very long.

 

[Weslebear]

It is my favourite forum, due to the mods being fairly swift to take action.

Other than that and the various articles and videos the forum is not any better than any other places, instead of trolling fanboys we have snobbish elitism and mainstream hating indie worship, just as annoying.

We are different from the majority of forums, but not always better different, at least a high level trolling is abolished thanks to our decent mods.

 

[Ironic Pirate]

This again?

There's nothing special about this forum, bar the fact people like to pretend the community is somehow superior to other forums...

Not that it really matters, but I would like to submit that the forum is better looking than other forums. The blue and white color pattern is very pleasing to look at, as opposed to the fugliness of, say, GameFAQS.

I think the reason we think we're awesome is that a lot of the famous sites (GameFAQs, 4Chan, to a certain extent Something Awful) are significantly worse. Most of the nicer sites aren't as large, and therefore not talked about. The nicest forum on the net is probably some knitting forum less than thirty people visit. No non-knitter would even go there, and it's so small as to develop into a nice little community where everyone knows each other.

 

[hecticpicnic]

Its liek dinning at a fancy restaurant, people act god because it is expected and everyone else is doing it.
Its seem everyone else is fairly tolerant, so tolerant sometimes its almost anoying.

 

[Zhukov]

We aren't different. We aren't better.

We get into flame wars over consoles and/or PCs. Our "meaningful conversations" consist of endless repetitions of "games you think are overrated" or "most anticipated games of 2011" or "why are we sooo much better then everyone else?"

Any differences can be attributed to the activity of moderators.

 

[TheFPSisDead]

because trolls are cunts and the escapist is too cool for the likes of such :-D

 

[TerribleAssassin]

(You'd be surprised but the rest of the internet don't like us. I've noticed it frequently while browsing TVTropes.)

Can you link me up? I'm intrested in that!

And were not, we just have mods that can keep a firm grasp on trolls and various other spammers.

 

[tomtom94]

(You'd be surprised but the rest of the internet don't like us. I've noticed it frequently while browsing TVTropes.)

Can you link me up? I'm intrested in that!

And were not, we just have mods that can keep a firm grasp on trolls and various other spammers.

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/InternetBackdraft/VideoGames

That's the one I was reading at the time, it's not very flattering. I also remember once searching the site for a specific combination of words involving "The Escapist" would result in the first option being something involving the pharase "elitist twats", may have been their forums. Seems to have changed now...

 

[Glademaster_v1legacy]

Well the mods do a good a job but that some god awful topics that always resurface every now and then. Usually we get a load of repeats of topics already been done years ago and a lot of near flambait topics around March Madness with the surge of new members. Sometimes around a couple of other points in the year. So yeah due to efficient modding the undesirables get removed relatively quickly. Also as other people have aid people do tend to find us quite elitist here on other sites.

 

[MiracleOfSound]

This place certainly isn't more intelligent than any where else, generally speaking. Have you seen what happens when someone makes a thread about Call of Duty or Halo or Final Fantasy? It degenerates into a bunch of gibbons hurling shit at each other at a startling rate.

That, sir, was one fantastic quote, and very true. Made me chuckle out loud

 

[Glademaster_v1legacy]

(You'd be surprised but the rest of the internet don't like us. I've noticed it frequently while browsing TVTropes.)

Can you link me up? I'm intrested in that!

And were not, we just have mods that can keep a firm grasp on trolls and various other spammers.

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/InternetBackdraft/VideoGames

That's the one I was reading at the time, it's not very flattering. I also remember once searching the site for a specific combination of words involving "The Escapist" would result in the first option being something involving the pharase "elitist twats", may have been their forums. Seems to have changed now...

Well March Mayhem is awful. The whole Zynga and Turbine thing was a bit too much even for MM and just erupted into a massive flamewar. At least Turbine do make games with a bit of depth even though before March Mayhem I had never really heard much about them but bad things. Zynga on the other hand not only admitted to being scammers or something along those lines and there was an article on it on this site but their games don't require much skill which is why people were so pissed off at them for being in it. Their games are fine for Facebook where you only play them inbetween typing to friends but aside from that they are pretty shocking. It just encourages spamming friend invites to random people as that is how you improve at the game by having lots of friends.

Although I do disagree on the ZP thing. If someone does a copy paste argument from ZP people usually call them out on it and it erupts in more hate and flame wars. A good example of this is people who seem to have learned the phrase "androgynous teens" and apply to JRPGs when it doesn't even apply to the JRPG in any thread involving JRPGs.

 

[Azure-Supernova]

This again?

There's nothing special about this site, bar the fact people like to pretend the community is somehow superior to other websites...

Again? *Sigh*, I guess I'm still not too adept at using the search-option.

It's not so much a common topic as it is a common post. But I don't see it as a problem.

I am curious too though. I always wondered what made the Escapist awesomesauce and I guess now I have a better idea. Generally I think we do have a better community than most forums and we should be proud that the mods sort most of the chaff out. If only other forums would do that.

 

[JoJo Bizzaro 7]

Yes, yes, trolls are bad and all that.
Really, this website isn't all that better most others. Granted it IS a lot more "user friendly" in a way, but the way it handles the so-called "black sheep" is kind of overzealous. Ridiculously so.
Hell, one the rules for posting is not to be rude to other users. It might keep would-be trolls at bay to some degree, but it also stifles the ability of some to accurately express their opinions. Being rude is not the same a inciting controversy, i.e. trolling. If we all acted like white knights and respected each others opinions, we'd be pretty fucking boring, now wouldn't we?
And so what if someone posts something that offends you or replies to your thread with a comment that incites grade-A butthurt from other users? At least it adds something of value(distorted, but value none the less) instead samey replies and vacuous responses.
Also, Mods do not equal Gods. Get suspended/banned? I got one word for ya'- PROXY. Either that or fish for a new forum. Plenty of fish in the sea.
Spammers? They increase comment/view count which, in turn, attracts more people to what it is that is being spammed.
Trolls? Incite controversy, i.e. make lulz.
People with bad personalities? Now your just being petty and biased. Your bad is someone else's good.
Enough with my little tirade; back to my point. What I originally meant to say was this: We are NOT so different. We are just more exclusionary and haughty.

But, hey, it's not all bad. At least we have quality videos and articles.

 

[The_ModeRazor]

Heavy moderation.
If it works in a fascistic government, it's gotta work on the Internet too.

 

[Jamous]

Why are we so different? What makes this site, better than most places in this aspect?

Other people have already told you the main reason. What I'm yet to see is someone simply reminding you that WE'RE FUCKING AWESOME.

 

[Dags90]

It's a nerd forum, and you're saying it's a quality community? Well yeah, maybe compared to IGN or Gamespot or GameFAQs or YouTube, but still, it's a nerd forum.

So the short answer is "We aren't."

This is pretty much it. We're not any different, the forum itself is different (rules, staff, etc.), but it's not something wondrous or psuedo-mystical like some people seem to think.

 

[Dr Snakeman]

A severe lack of tolerance for trolling (which can occasionally lead to rants from those who believe themselves to be exempt from criticism, some guy with I believe Hammy from Over The Hedge's avatar being a good example) and the fact that the sort of people attracted to the site (well, those who are for non-Yahtzee reasons) in the first place require a certain frame of mind.

Plus in a way it becomes a self-fulfilling stereotype: you expect things to be a certain way thus they are.

(You'd be surprised but the rest of the internet don't like us. I've noticed it frequently while browsing TVTropes.)

What?! But... I'm a Troper [sub][sub]sort of[/sub][/sub]. I had no idea. I'm going to go look at the Escapist trope page and see if it's really that bad.