It's time to find another forum for us to go...

[stroopwafel]

It's obvious Defy Media is either,

1. So incompetent, they can't even compete with halfway known youtubers in maintaining a stable userbase.
2. They don't give two shits.

I think in general most of the ad revenue shifted to youtube and social media since that is where most of the people are so sites like this will struggle. I don't think there is any incompetence or ill-intent involved other than that the internet media landscape is totally different now. Running a business is costly so when your budget is shrinking there is no other choice but to cut costs. This in itself creates a downward spiral: less content means less traffic and even less ad revenue.

Other than a few popular ones like neogaf, reddit and 4chan forums are also becoming increasingly niche with most users having moved on to either facebook or youtube(or both). Many sites also closed down their forums and just link to their social media page. The social media and youtube popularity boom changed everything so it's a totally different reality for sites like this one now.

 

[Arnoxthe1]

There's always /v/ and /tg/.

Eh, too chaotic for my tastes. And no archived posts.

There's not really another forum that I go to. Once this dies, I'm out of places to lurk other than Reddit. I'd ask that someone direct me to another forum they like, but given my general lack of activity here, I don't think anyone will have a decent recommendation, much less want to make one.

Right now we have 3 candidates. I posted them in the OP. Giant Bomb seems to be a more "mainstream" gaming forum. It's like a combination of Gamespot and the Escapist for better and for worse. It's probably the most familiar of the three.

Giant in the Playground is definitely in the middle of things. Although it's aimed at dice games, it's very clear it has a big userbase and is apparently growing. If you want a pure normal forum, this definitely seems the way to go.

RPG Codex seems to be a lot like Giant in the Playground but a whole lot more mature. Personally, I've gotten very used to such environments a long time ago so I'll be right at home in a way, but like Frankster said, it's probably not for everyone.

I think a big catch for RPG Codex though is the fact that the General Discussion sub-forum is locked down until you've been there an entire year. While I do more than understand the want to keep shitheads out, a year to get in seems insanely harsh. A month would be doable. Two months max. But a year? Ehhhh...

I think in general most of the ad revenue shifted to youtube and social media since that is where most of the people are so sites like this will struggle. I don't think there is any incompetence or ill-intent involved other than that the internet media landscape is totally different now. Running a business is costly so when your budget is shrinking there is no other choice but to cut costs. This in itself creates a downward spiral: less content means less traffic and even less ad revenue.

Other than a few popular ones like neogaf, reddit and 4chan forums are also becoming increasingly niche with most users having moved on to either facebook or youtube(or both). Many sites also closed down their forums and just link to their social media page. The social media and youtube popularity boom changed everything so it's a totally different reality for sites like this one now.

I think you're mostly right, but I also think that the reason most people don't use forums anymore has very little to do with relevance and a whole lot to do with the fact that the actually good competent forums are getting more and more sparse these days. Many admins seem to be getting lazy and are just throwing in the towel and joining the social media masses so to speak.

But regardless of all that, if this site is really more trouble than it's worth than they should just archive it and be done with it, or at very least communicate something to their users.

 

[Wrex Brogan]

Psssh. Who needs forums? We shitpost in Youtube comments like real men!

 

[PainInTheAssInternet]

I don't think I have plans to find another forum. I've been here for several years, first as a lurker then a participant. Those years tend to be the years where people are active online and before life moving on means less and less time to spend online unless they're that determined or have financial gain from it. Once the Escapist dies (and I agree it will likely happen without warning given every single other time something has happened here) I think that'll be it for my forum-browsing days.

 

[RaikuFA]

I still have Destructoid, where I'met revered.

 

[TheVampwizimp_v1legacy]

I mean really, what even brings us together as a community? It sure as hell ain't mutual love, respect and empathy.

I think it's that we're all too stubborn and stuck in our ways to go anywhere else.

That sounds like the fact of it to me. That's why I'm still here anyway. Not that I'm a prolific poster, obviously, but I do check in to the forums at least once a day to see if anything interesting is happening.

Also I have no idea where else I'd go. As nasty as Wild West is and as passive aggressive as the other forums can be, this board is still leagues more civil and reasonable than anywhere else I've ever seen. No where else can I have a legitimate and lengthy discussion about games without the drama most people seem to thrive on.

Man, I'm gonna be bummed if this place ever does close.

 

[JUMBO PALACE]

This really bums me out. I just checked my profile and I joined in 2009. That was... 8. Years. Ago. God,to think I was only 17 when I joined and now how much my opinions and I have changed since then. Time really flies.

I don't always appreciate the passive agressive and holier-than-thou attitude of some of the posters here, but I really like this place. It's the first and only forum I've joined and for the longest time The Escapist had a ton of quality content and really engaging discussions in the forums. Once this place is gone I think my forum days might be over and that makes me sad. I don't know where else to go but I'm sure I'll miss this place. I spent a little time over at FilesNation but that site is very new and small and didn't really hold my interest.

I remember a mod posted a thread about people contributing free content and everyone pretty much laughed in his face, but at this point fuck it, I'd consider it just to get some content on the site.

Anyway, if anyone has a solid reccomendation for a forum of relatively decent people people that talk about video games I'd love to hear it. I think I've kept myself pretty civil and I'm not aware of anyone with negative feelings towards me.

 

[sageoftruth]

You lot are being rather pleasant.

"We should migrate to a new site."
"But I fucking hate all of you."

Well, that's the Escapist community spirit we all know and love.

Wow, I've never gotten the impression things were this bad. I like coming to this site, even with as little as is left, but I've almost exclusively visited Genreral and Gaming Discussions (aside from watching some shows when there were still plenty). And in those differend threads I thought people were generally OK with one another.

Guess it was kinda right to stay away from the social discussion stuff. Still, reading how much people enjoy finding a new site and refusing to share the names feels kinda sad.

Same here. I'm basically using this thread just to find places where I can branch out.

 

[Drathnoxis]

It's obvious Defy Media is either,

1. So incompetent, they can't even compete with halfway known youtubers in maintaining a stable userbase.
2. They don't give two shits.

I think in general most of the ad revenue shifted to youtube and social media since that is where most of the people are so sites like this will struggle. I don't think there is any incompetence or ill-intent involved other than that the internet media landscape is totally different now. Running a business is costly so when your budget is shrinking there is no other choice but to cut costs. This in itself creates a downward spiral: less content means less traffic and even less ad revenue.

Other than a few popular ones like neogaf, reddit and 4chan forums are also becoming increasingly niche with most users having moved on to either facebook or youtube(or both). Many sites also closed down their forums and just link to their social media page. The social media and youtube popularity boom changed everything so it's a totally different reality for sites like this one now.

This is most definitely their fault. Zero Punctuation is their main draw to the site and they put it on Youtube completely circumventing the need for anyone to need to come to the site and get drawn into their other content at all. Now, yeah, Youtube is huge and has a lot of potential for discovery and profit, but just watch one of the Zero Punctuation videos, does it even give a hint that a larger site with (formerly) more content was attached to it? Not at all. This is their main failing, you are supposed to use your main act to draw people to your sideshows, but they didn't. What they should have done is:

-Delay the most recent ZP on Youtube for around a month. This is a significant enough time that people would get impatient waiting.
-Run a short(10-20 seconds) ad in the video before or after ZP showing the latest episodes and other content you could be seeing now if you come to the site proper.
-Not have made the video player on the Escapist the full column width. This pushed the "popular forum posts" box halfway down the page. Nobody scrolls down after watching the video and that box was a huge draw to the forums! It's the reason I ever signed up in the first place.
-Should never have allowed Facebook comments. Are they even still there? I don't know, I turned them off. But this dumb, because you want people signing up for accounts so that they are more inclined be drawn into posting on the forums. If they can be drawn into the forums, they will be more committed to the site in general.

You can actually see the forum traffic climbing, until they put ZP on Youtube in 2011, and that's where it starts to fall.

They focused on Youtube to make a quick buck, and left the rest of the site to wither.

 

[Silentpony_v1legacy]

Can I just point out the irony everyone is here, complaining about how no one should be here anymore?
Like "This forum is dying! You can tell by the 4 pages of posts about how this forum is dying!"

It just giggles me. You people are adorable sometimes, you know?

Spoiler: Have a puppy

 

[sageoftruth]

Can I just point out the irony everyone is here, complaining about how no one should be here anymore?
Like "This forum is dying! You can tell by the 4 pages of posts about how this forum is dying!"

It just giggles me. You people are adorable sometimes, you know?

Spoiler: Have a puppy

Not to mention the fact that such a small portion of us have even posted anything on this thread. Either the OP's prophecy has come true and we're the only ones left, or this opinion isn't as widely shared as the OP is suggesting. A conundrum easily resolved through a quick peek at the other threads.

 

[Silentpony_v1legacy]

Can I just point out the irony everyone is here, complaining about how no one should be here anymore?
Like "This forum is dying! You can tell by the 4 pages of posts about how this forum is dying!"

It just giggles me. You people are adorable sometimes, you know?

Spoiler: Have a puppy

Not to mention the fact that such a small portion of us have even posted anything on this thread. Either the OP's prophecy has come true and we're the only ones left, or this opinion isn't as widely shared as the OP is suggesting. A conundrum easily resolved through a quick peek at the other threads.

Surely OP can't be wrong! He even put a hyperlink in his post! Only right people do that!

I think its best to assume giant mutated zombie wombats ate everyone outside this thread and we should all stay right here, comforting one another, until the Moon Knights of Xartan arrive to slay the killer wombats.
Its the only thing that can explain OP.

But then again nothing makes sense in these wombat times...

 

[Arnoxthe1]

I still have Destructoid, where I'met revered.

I've heard they've gone downhill, quality wise.

if anyone has a solid reccomendation for a forum of relatively decent people people that talk about video games I'd love to hear it. I think I've kept myself pretty civil and I'm not aware of anyone with negative feelings towards me.

Just look at the OP. Those are our potentials so far.

This is most definitely their fault. Zero Punctuation is their main draw to the site and they put it on Youtube completely circumventing the need for anyone to need to come to the site and get drawn into their other content at all. Now, yeah, Youtube is huge and has a lot of potential for discovery and profit, but just watch one of the Zero Punctuation videos, does it even give a hint that a larger site with (formerly) more content was attached to it? Not at all. This is their main failing, you are supposed to use your main act to draw people to your sideshows, but they didn't. What they should have done is:

-Delay the most recent ZP on Youtube for around a month. This is a significant enough time that people would get impatient waiting.
-Run a short(10-20 seconds) ad in the video before or after ZP showing the latest episodes and other content you could be seeing now if you come to the site proper.
-Not have made the video player on the Escapist the full column width. This pushed the "popular forum posts" box halfway down the page. Nobody scrolls down after watching the video and that box was a huge draw to the forums! It's the reason I ever signed up in the first place.
-Should never have allowed Facebook comments. Are they even still there? I don't know, I turned them off. But this dumb, because you want people signing up for accounts so that they are more inclined be drawn into posting on the forums. If they can be drawn into the forums, they will be more committed to the site in general.

You can actually see the forum traffic climbing, until they put ZP on Youtube in 2011, and that's where it starts to fall.

They focused on Youtube to make a quick buck, and left the rest of the site to wither.

Pretty much this as well.

Can I just point out the irony everyone is here, complaining about how no one should be here anymore?
Like "This forum is dying! You can tell by the 4 pages of posts about how this forum is dying!"

It just giggles me. You people are adorable sometimes, you know?

Spoiler: Have a puppy

The site is dying. Not the forum. At the moment the forum userbase is relatively stable. One thing is, the firing of Grey and Cory was kept as silently as possible apparently. And add to that that not many people at all actually read the comics here, period, and thus you have no change. The point is is that Defy Media is destroying their own site bit by bit, and I'm sorry but I don't feel like getting caught with my pants down when it finally does go under due to the shitty management and I also like you guys. Hence, the thread.

 

[Drathnoxis]

Can I just point out the irony everyone is here, complaining about how no one should be here anymore?
Like "This forum is dying! You can tell by the 4 pages of posts about how this forum is dying!"

It just giggles me. You people are adorable sometimes, you know?

Spoiler: Have a puppy

We used to get over 20k posts a week in Off-Topic alone! This site is already dead compared to that.

 

[RaikuFA]

I still have Destructoid, where I'met revered.

I've heard they've gone downhill, quality wise.

The community is still strong. And that's what matters. We all love each other and no passive aggressive bickering.

 

[Padwolf]

Oh come on, we say it's dying but we all know that we are all going to be here until the bitter or happy end. The site will live on, and somehow, someway, some goddamn day, it's going to turn around and lift back up again.

Though if you all decide to jump ship, someone pm let me know where we go! I actually like you guys.

 

[Silentpony_v1legacy]

SNIP

Pants down?! What, you think 5-0 is going to show up and throw you in the Clink for not being cool enough to post on a real Forum?!

Jeez, what do you think is going to happen when the site eventually closes? 'cause my guess is one moment it'll be there, and the next not.
And were not going to call an emergency all Escapers meeting, with E shaped Bat signals and secret passwords to discuss how we shall proceed with Plan X.
One day we will stop posting and go our separate ways. Maybe we'll see one another, under a different name on a different forum and not know, maybe we wont.

Let that be the end of it.

 

[Imperioratorex Caprae]

More than likely, this will be the last forum I post in. The shine has more or less worn away as has multiple outer layers until the components are laid bare. I don't feel like restoring it so I'll let it die a good death, whenever it comes.

 

[Secondhand Revenant]

Oh come on, we say it's dying but we all know that we are all going to be here until the bitter or happy end. The site will live on, and somehow, someway, some goddamn day, it's going to turn around and lift back up again.

Though if you all decide to jump ship, someone pm let me know where we go! I actually like you guys.

Oh I'll still check in until the end, but doesn't mean it doesn't seem to be dying. Not the community itself necessarily as some seem to think people are saying, but the site. Like content-wise. Just lost Marter and Cory and Grey. So it's more a matter if wondering if the site is just gonna run out of content that draws people in and if they don't have content what do they need the site for anyways? Like the site isn't just for the forum, is the thing.

Also the reason to say stuff now is in case the site suddenly shuts down and people can't communicate easily

 

[Drathnoxis]

The site will live on, and somehow, someway, some goddamn day, it's going to turn around and lift back up again.

YEAH! And all the cool posters who drifted away will come back, and all the dumb petty bans that were handed out throughout the years will be repealed, and it'll be just like the good old days!

It'll happen! Just you watch!