Is the escapist going bankrupt?

[Sevre]

Can I just clarify something? What the Escapist has is a lot of IOUs from advertisers who are paying late, they're not going bankrupt, they're behind on their payments because advertisers are behind on their own.

 

[Rock 'n' Soul]

Everyone should get a PubClub membership, Seriously you won't regret it.

Sometimes when i clear my cookies etc, i log in not on my account and i am DISGUSTED at the adverts. DISGUSTED.

You won't regret it. Pub Club for life

Hey, maybe joining the Publishers Club isn't such a bad idea after all? It would help them out anyway. Even if it's just a little.

 

[balanovich]

Why? Hate to say it but if a business can not support itself then maybe it should go under. I visit a few other gaming sites that have more content and send their staff to shit like Pax on their own dime and they seem to be doing okay.
So as much as a asshole as it may make me sound, if the escapist or any other business can not pay its own way then it should leave the market.

So the escapist is a business? Are we the customers... because we don't pay anything.
You can't treat this website like a normal business.

Anyway the post isn't about business strategy or principal, it about a community member trying to save the community.

OT: You want to start a fundraiser... go ahead.I don't see how anyone is going to complain about more money.

 

[Bobic]

OT: I don't know. I hope they don't, but I think they'd tell us if things were dire.

Just like they told us they were months behind on paying some of their contributors and that some of those contributors left because of it?

 

[Canadamus Prime]

Oh I'm sure it has nothing to do with the fact that they keep throwing out new content when they can barely afford the content they have. /sarcasm]

Have to wonder why they're advertising for new writers when they're struggling to pay the ones they have.

That too.

 

[dexxyoto]

Can I just clarify something? What the Escapist has is a lot of IOUs from advertisers who are paying late, they're not going bankrupt, they're behind on their payments because advertisers are behind on their own.

Can you show me where you got that information? to me that would quite likely change my opinion of things. To be fair it stands at "You twits need to stop cutting your subscribers, fan, page hit makers out of the damn loop as it's not helping you any"

I doubt the escapist is really foundering that badly but they're certainly not doing swimmingly well.

Honestly with regards to the entire EC mess Both parties behaved horribly EC for doing a post on twitter of all bloody places and sounding like a kid running to the teacher and the escapist for not fessing up in the first place, so again cutting people out of the loop. I can understand if you don't want to share the minutiae of the last quarters profit breakdown but even a post saying "Yeah we're fine here's the deal quit whining" or "Ohgod we're drowning here's why for the love of all that's holy help us!"

 

[Jedamethis]

OT: I don't know. I hope they don't, but I think they'd tell us if things were dire.

Just like they told us they were months behind on paying some of their contributors and that some of those contributors left because of it?

It wasn't in a newspost, but Alexander explained a lot of things in a thread somewhere. You'd have to ask one of the staff if they knew where it is, because I don't.

 

[Jimbo1212]

First off, The rules allow for constructive criticism. The mods just enforce that rule.
Secondly, if you have ever seen somebody actually get banned for that, then you should look at their posting history. The mods don't roam the forum seeking out wrong-doers, they look at posts which have been reported a lot. They then look at whoever made the post's posting history and apply whichever punishment is necessary. With the new forum health bar, there is no way for the mods to be overzealous, skipping sections of the bar. If you have had 3 warnings already, you get another. Then you move up to probations, then suspensions, and only then can you get banned. The only time somebody can be banned is if they have broken the rules at least 7 times before.

Sorry, but the mods are not evil and I feel I have to make that clear, because they don't have time to.

OT: I don't know. I hope they don't, but I think they'd tell us if things were dire.

Again, I have never found another website that allows for no negative criticism. If an advert is annoying or shit, why can we not say so? Are they afraid that the advertising would be pulled and they are scared they can not find another? After all we are the people they are aimed at so surely a forum could be used as a real time survey. There has to be a reason behind doing this.

 

[Jedamethis]

First off, The rules allow for constructive criticism. The mods just enforce that rule.
Secondly, if you have ever seen somebody actually get banned for that, then you should look at their posting history. The mods don't roam the forum seeking out wrong-doers, they look at posts which have been reported a lot. They then look at whoever made the post's posting history and apply whichever punishment is necessary. With the new forum health bar, there is no way for the mods to be overzealous, skipping sections of the bar. If you have had 3 warnings already, you get another. Then you move up to probations, then suspensions, and only then can you get banned. The only time somebody can be banned is if they have broken the rules at least 7 times before.

Sorry, but the mods are not evil and I feel I have to make that clear, because they don't have time to.

OT: I don't know. I hope they don't, but I think they'd tell us if things were dire.

Again, I have never found another website that allows for no negative criticism. If an advert is annoying or shit, why can we not say so? Are they afraid that the advertising would be pulled and they are scared they can not find another? After all we are the people they are aimed at so surely a forum could be used as a real time survey. There has to be a reason behind doing this.

That's not what I said. They allow negative criticism, as long as you have something useful to say. If you're just saying something's shit, then that's a different story, as it doesn't add much to the discussion.

 

[Redlin5_v1legacy]

But the guys behind the scenes know what they're doing so I suggest we just keep calm and keep buggering on.

Good enough for me!

*retreats back into FG*

 

[Sevre]

Can I just clarify something? What the Escapist has is a lot of IOUs from advertisers who are paying late, they're not going bankrupt, they're behind on their payments because advertisers are behind on their own.

Can you show me where you got that information? to me that would quite likely change my opinion of things. To be fair it stands at "You twits need to stop cutting your subscribers, fan, page hit makers out of the damn loop as it's not helping you any"

I doubt the escapist is really foundering that badly but they're certainly not doing swimmingly well.

Honestly with regards to the entire EC mess Both parties behaved horribly EC for doing a post on twitter of all bloody places and sounding like a kid running to the teacher and the escapist for not fessing up in the first place, so again cutting people out of the loop. I can understand if you don't want to share the minutiae of the last quarters profit breakdown but even a post saying "Yeah we're fine here's the deal quit whining" or "Ohgod we're drowning here's why for the love of all that's holy help us!"

My own source would be the site's own staff who I've had the pleasure of talking to on such business. Though I haven't been given figures, it doesn't take a genius to figure out that the site's trouble is greatly exaggerated. Most people here couldn't tell you what it means to be bankrupt, but if Themis Media was bankrupt then why would they be paying for more content and signing new content producers?

I'm not going to deny they're in trouble, but almost everything I read on the forums on the matter is pure conjecture. There's a lot of cynicism and negativity on this forum so it's to be expected but if Themis Media felt the need to discuss its finances with the rest of us, they would do so. Until then, people need to stop worrying, The Escapist is still here, WarCry is still here, and Extra Credits will continue to be successful.

 

[dexxyoto]

Thanks kindly Sevre. It's good to know at least someone is able to talk to the staffers and know what's actually going on.

Any chance you can convince them to try and be a little more transparent with everything going on? They by no means should appear and grovel and take all the blame for the EC deal (as I said before my stance is both parties were at fault) but just a simple message going hey guys, things are a bit rocky, but we're doing okay.

More preferable would be an update of what's happening with regards to lack of payments from advertisers and Themis (Assuming it's not NDA and similar) and maybe an idea of how people can assist?

I definitely agree improving the pubclub isn't a bad idea but I sadly can't really suggest ways to do so, Perhaps others on the thread can.

I know i'm not alone in saying I really like this site and would hate to see it suffer.

 

[The Unworthy Gentleman]

I believe I made it all-too-clear that the Escapist wouldn't ask for help even if it were drowning in fire. [http://www.nuklearpower.com/2005/09/22/episode-602-at-least-the-air-isnt-acid/] They are IN a situation where they should admit that they're in the shit and they won't. And no, they're really not big enough to look after themselves.

Actually, all we've heard about The Escapist's money troubles is contributors receiving late payment and the advertising they've upped. There are plenty of ways that The Escapist can get themselves out of a tight situation, plenty of ways that don't require members of the forums to come up with a clever scheme.

 

[FalloutJack]

I believe I made it all-too-clear that the Escapist wouldn't ask for help even if it were drowning in fire. [http://www.nuklearpower.com/2005/09/22/episode-602-at-least-the-air-isnt-acid/] They are IN a situation where they should admit that they're in the shit and they won't. And no, they're really not big enough to look after themselves.

Actually, all we've heard about The Escapist's money troubles is contributors receiving late payment and the advertising they've upped. There are plenty of ways that The Escapist can get themselves out of a tight situation, plenty of ways that don't require members of the forums to come up with a clever scheme.

Maybe, but who turns down a good risk-free scheme when money's involved? Some of this shit wouldn't happen if they DID take it seriously. To me, this smacks of bravado in the face of a threat one cannot manage. Yes, they were exposed about the contributors and stuff. Consequently, there's a blow to credibility (professionally and personally), a loss of revenue (some of the users DID leave or won't come very often), and they're still in the economic red while performing the afore-mentioned sign-on of people without the greenbacks to back 'em up.

What I take from that is it's {A} a classic case of Dilbert management, {B} a sure sign that they don't have alot of good ideas, and {C} a case where they would need something REALLY good to put the starch back in their socks. Let me also point out that magazines go under all the time, even the inciteful and interesting ones. The Escapist is by no means immortal.

 

[The Unworthy Gentleman]

Maybe, but who turns down a good risk-free scheme when money's involved? Some of this shit wouldn't happen if they DID take it seriously. To me, this smacks of bravado in the face of a threat one cannot manage. Yes, they were exposed about the contributors and stuff. Consequently, there's a blow to credibility (professionally and personally), a loss of revenue (some of the users DID leave or won't come very often), and they're still in the economic red while performing the afore-mentioned sign-on of people without the greenbacks to back 'em up.

What I take from that is it's {A} a classic case of Dilbert management, {B} a sure sign that they don't have alot of good ideas, and {C} a case where they would need something REALLY good to put the starch back in their socks. Let me also point out that magazines go under all the time, even the inciteful and interesting ones. The Escapist is by no means immortal.

I'm not saying this isn't bravado but I am saying that we don't know all the facts. Not one thread has ever provided information other than the contributors scandal to show that The Escapist may be having money trouble. I wouldn't be surprised if The Escapist disappeared from the face of the Earth, but I see no credible evidence to warrant our concern.

When have you ever heard of a business that took the advice of what they consider a mere consumer in a financial area? If anyone found out about them taking advice from consumers then they'd lose far more credibility regardless of how good it was. Any investors would be gone and the competition would be fighting over the carcass before it was even dead. In that case, not making ends meet for a few months is, by far, the better option.

 

[Jimbo1212]

[They only disallow harsh offensive, unreasonable criticism. If you hate Jimquisition, you're allowed to say it. But calling him a fat bastard IS NOT allowed.

....or criticism about the website.

Make a post about how a new advert on this website is shit/annoying and watch what happens.

That's not what I said. They allow negative criticism, as long as you have something useful to say. If you're just saying something's shit, then that's a different story, as it doesn't add much to the discussion.

What about saying some advert is shit and they should get rid of it? Because that will get you a closed thread with some warnings.


As I have said, such policies towards protecting their adverts says a lot about their revenue stream.

 

[dexxyoto]

That's not what I said. They allow negative criticism, as long as you have something useful to say. If you're just saying something's shit, then that's a different story, as it doesn't add much to the discussion.

What about saying some advert is shit and they should get rid of it? Because that will get you a closed thread with some warnings.

So don't simply start a thread saying the ads are shite. try posting one like I think the ads are damn annoying, does any else?

As I have said, such policies towards protecting their adverts says a lot about their revenue stream.[/quote]

 

[Jedamethis]

That's not what I said. They allow negative criticism, as long as you have something useful to say. If you're just saying something's shit, then that's a different story, as it doesn't add much to the discussion.

What about saying some advert is shit and they should get rid of it? Because that will get you a closed thread with some warnings.


As I have said, such policies towards protecting their adverts says a lot about their revenue stream.

If youre saying the advert is shit, then doesn't it go without saying that you think they should get rid of it? I don't see how your argument has changed.
Their adverts don't need protecting. If you hate an advert, yet they need it to keep the site up, then tough luck, of course they're not going to take it down. It's not like adverts have ears which The Escapist needs to cover to stop them hearing mean things you're saying about them...

That's not what I said. They allow negative criticism, as long as you have something useful to say. If you're just saying something's shit, then that's a different story, as it doesn't add much to the discussion.

What about saying some advert is shit and they should get rid of it? Because that will get you a closed thread with some warnings.

So don't simply start a thread saying the ads are shite. try posting one like I think the ads are damn annoying, does any else?

As I have said, such policies towards protecting their adverts says a lot about their revenue stream.

If youre saying the advert is shit, then doesn't it go without saying that you think they should get rid of it? I don't see how your argument has changed.
What a good thread, such discussion it incites. I'm sure every post in it would be creative and bring something new to the table. If you're going to bring up zombie apocalypse threads or something like that, remember that there are a hell of a lot of creative, unique responses to those kinds of threads. A thread about adverts would be almost like a vs. thread. There's either "Adverts are good because they keep The Escapist running." or "Adverts are bad because they don't look nice."

 

[Jimbo1212]

If youre saying the advert is shit, then doesn't it go without saying that you think they should get rid of it? I don't see how your argument has changed.
Their adverts don't need protecting. If you hate an advert, yet they need it to keep the site up, then tough luck, of course they're not going to take it down. It's not like adverts have ears which The Escapist needs to cover to stop them hearing mean things you're saying about them...

Well clearly they think they do hence why they warn you for saying that.
Otherwise why do they warn you for saying such things?