MovieBob leaving The Escapist

[Westaway]

This is still a smaller loss than those guys who did Apocalypse Lane and Doraleous.

 

[markljlewis]

So much for it being amicable of a leaving. He also retweeted a bunch of "Fuck the escapist!" tweets, too.

You seem to have conveniently missed three tweets previous to that one: https://twitter.com/the_moviebob/status/566598584116576256

"Just wanna be clear about something: I do NOT "want" any fans/followers of mine to stop reading/visiting The Escapist.....obviously, I'm unhappy with how A LOT of things worked out there, for me and in general, but I can tell you with 100% sincerity that....good people work there, whose livelihoods depend on your traffic. And I don't endorse "punishing" THEM because you're upset about me.!

 

[The Bucket]

I dunno, for me, it wasn't so much that what he said offended me (it didn't, especially since it very clearly wasn't meant for me -even if had been, one guy on Twitter is not going to cause me to lose any sleep), it's that what he did was incredibly unprofessional. This is the kind of thing you expect from teenagers on 4chan. If I went on a raving Twitter rampage like he did, I'd absolutely lose my job. If this did in fact cause him to lose his job, I honestly think justice was served. He was poorly representing his field of journalism which is exactly what they didn't need at that time. It made me respect him less and as a result, really turned me off of his work.
As for his political stuff encroaching on his reviews... eh. It annoyed me (even though I share most of his political views), but it certainly didn't stop me from watching his stuff.

I should end this by saying that I don't think he's a bad guy. I just think he made a mistake. If that mistake is in fact at least part of why he's now job hunting, I hope he learns from it. I wish him good luck in his future endeavors.

The Critical Miss guys have done a lot of the same as well honestly.

Grey is pretty outspoken, and I disagree with a fair amount of what he says, but i'd never characterize any of his tweets as bile or particularly hateful.

 

[Objectable]

Something interesting that hea has said.
Just wanna be clear about something: I do NOT "want" any fans/followers of mine to stop reading/visiting The Escapist...

? Bob Chipman (@the_moviebob) February 14, 2015 [https://twitter.com/the_moviebob/status/566598584116576256]

...obviously, I'm unhappy with how A LOT of things worked out there, for me and in general, but I can tell you with 100% sincerity that...

? Bob Chipman (@the_moviebob) February 14, 2015 [https://twitter.com/the_moviebob/status/566598844910034944]

...good people work there, whose livelihoods depend on your traffic. And I don't endorse "punishing" THEM because you're upset about me.

? Bob Chipman (@the_moviebob) February 14, 2015 [https://twitter.com/the_moviebob/status/566599178604662784]

 

[J Tyran]

Having opinions is fine but he could be really nasty about his. A lot of the things he said could have been stated without being as inflammatory.

If I went on Twitter called "JtyranFromDFDS" (not my real name obviously) and kept ranting about how the companies customers were awful, subhuman fascists I would expect to get sacked. Probably after the first occurrence too, when you associate your employers into your social media entity in any way you have to maintain standards.

 

[grey_space]

My Views on Bob were always mixed. Sometimes he was a bit of an ass but overall I feel it's a shame he's gone.

I'd be interested to read the Escapist's official stance on the subject.

With everything else that happened recently content seems pretty thin on the ground at the moment.

They'd want to be bringing new talent to site sooner rather than later.

 

[chiggerwood]

snip.

I wouldn't be so certain, I called him a noxious bastard and got a warning, so you may still need to edit your post.

 

[chiggerwood]

I've lost 13 pounds, got some fine cigars for my birthday, and Moviebob's leaving the Escapist. Damn this has been a good month! Shit, all that has to happen now is Brutal Doom V20 come out and it'll be perfect. Now on a more serious note, I really do hope we get some more good content in here, there are good and entertaining people out there, I just think that the Escapist needs to hold a talent drive or something like that, just throw a bunch of different stuff at the wall and see what sticks

 

[MiskWisk]

Well, on one hand, I am sad to see someone leave the Escapist both for the damage this does to content production and because a man is no longer getting income from what has been a steady paying job. While I expect him to land on his feet, it is always a bad time for people to be between jobs.

On the other hand, I cannot conjure up much sympathy at all for Bob as a person. His recent actions have been appalling and I found myself enjoying his content less and less. I stopped paying attention to his stuff a couple of months before the whole GG rant/meltdown which really just turned me from "apathetic" to "disliking" him. I can't even say this is undeserved (if he was actually fired) considering he was warned to stop posting stupid stuff on twitter and he ignored the warning.

 

[TKretts3]

-SnipSnap-

I understand that, but I'm not just going to keep coming to this site every day just to click around and view ads. I come here for the content, and losing so much content means losing a large reason why I still visit the site. Granted, there are still other things that I come here for (Critical Miss, ZP), but I'll certainly visit the site less with Bob gone. Not because I want to punish The Escapist, but because there's just less reason for me to visit anymore.

 

[Signa]

If this happened a year ago, I think I would have been disappointed. Now, after so many forceful opinions and antagonistic comments, I'm just shocked it didn't happen sooner. I'm glad now. We don't need someone making this place darker than it already is, especially someone who is in a position of influence.

 

[fix-the-spade]

I'll wait for an official announcement and see where that goes. Gotta stay positive!

Based on previous interactions between creators and Defy Media, they either didn't pay Bob, decided not to pay Bob anymore or offered Bob a massive pay cut.

It's not like they haven't got form for this, ah well, add this to Gametrailers for sites I read less and less.

 

[Auron225]

Not gonna miss him. Don't miss Jim either. All I care about is Yahtzee. And the only one I really miss is Lisa

I'm in the exact same boat. Never really a big fan of either of them, but Lisa leaving just flat out sucked. If Yahtzee were to leave now...

Well I guess I'd still come back now and again for Unskippable. They're a little hit & miss, but when they hit they're hilarious.

 

[Silvanus]

If I went on Twitter called "JtyranFromDFDS" (not my real name obviously) and kept ranting about how the companies customers were awful, subhuman fascists I would expect to get sacked. Probably after the first occurrence too, when you associate your employers into your social media entity in any way you have to maintain standards.

I recognise fully that the term "subhuman" is a shitty thing to say. Definitely. Agreed.

But he said that term in reference to "college-age conservabros", not simply applying it to gamers, not applying it to "those of us in the forum". Does that excuse the language? No, of course not. But I'm getting equally sick of this persistent false narrative that he was insulting each and every one of us, or gamers as a whole, when he said this stuff.

 

[Nixou]

If this happened a year ago, I think I would have been disappointed. Now, after so many forceful opinions and antagonistic comments, I'm just shocked it didn't happen sooner. I'm glad now

You know, the most surprising thing here is the sheer number of people who, like you, openly state that they want their internet browsing to be a complacent echo chamber where they won't see nor hear opinions inimical to their own.

 

[Itchi_da_killa]

I've heard a lot of people say "Now that X is leaving I have no reason to come to the escapist", never thought it'd be me. And it won't! At least not until Yahtzee gets the boot. And even then I'll probably come out of pure habit and for general gaming news. The only videos I watch at this point are ben and bob's. So weird to have lost all the shows I did come here for. What is it about this place that drives everyone away? Gonna miss ya bob, and by that I mean I'll probably have a hard time tracking you down but when I do we'll be back in full swing.

I agree with you for the most part. Yahtzee is the last reason I come to this site since every other video series I came her for is now gone. I think most of the gaming news sucks despite having killer click bate titles.

 

[vviki]

I'm starting to lose faith in the Escapist. They were great once. I would hang on the forums, watch Yahtzee and check articles. Then I got into Moviebob and later Jim Sterling. I stayed, even became a publisher. But then Jim left. Now Bob. The VPN I use is banned, so I have to log out just to visit the site, making me visit less and less often. If Yahtzee leaves, I fear I will stop coming here all together.

This is all just sad. Despite disagreeing with Bob on some things (PC gaming is dead, Salt review, Interstellar being bottom 20 and Gamergate) I still enjoy his content and would listen to his opinion, even if it ends up with me going Fuck you, Bob at the PC screen. I hope he's ok and I hope that the Escapist can get their shit together and at the very least, please for the love of FSM keep Yahtzee on!

GabeN!

 

[Itchi_da_killa]

If this happened a year ago, I think I would have been disappointed. Now, after so many forceful opinions and antagonistic comments, I'm just shocked it didn't happen sooner. I'm glad now

You know, the most surprising thing here is the sheer number of people who, like you, openly state that they want their internet browsing to be a complacent echo chamber where they won't see nor hear opinions inimical to their own.

Nice hit-back, couldn't agree with your facetiousness more. Bob and I shared many of the same conclusions from careful analysis on movies and "geek" cultural observations, but it was so refreshing when our conclusions would collide.

 

[DocMcCray]

I haven't been a fan of Bob's for a very long time. I disagree with him on a vast number of things. So I won't miss him.

Nevertheless, I'm not a D-Bag so whatever he chooses to do in his future endeavors, I sincerely hope it serves him well.

Here's to you, Bob. May you find folks that disagree with you respectfully.

 

[Ratty]

If I went on Twitter called "JtyranFromDFDS" (not my real name obviously) and kept ranting about how the companies customers were awful, subhuman fascists I would expect to get sacked. Probably after the first occurrence too, when you associate your employers into your social media entity in any way you have to maintain standards.

I recognise fully that the term "subhuman" is a shitty thing to say. Definitely. Agreed.

But he said that term in reference to "college-age conservabros", not simply applying it to gamers, not applying it to "those of us in the forum". Does that excuse the language? No, of course not. But I'm getting equally sick of this persistent false narrative that he was insulting each and every one of us, or gamers as a whole, when he said this stuff.

Bob has a long history of viewing people who disagree with him as "dudebros" though, like anyone who played CoD. He specified that they were college aged because of the SVU episode, but it's pretty clear his view of them as "subhuman" comes from their political beliefs. Thus they are "conservabros". And as you say, calling someone "subhuman" is an awful thing to do no matter how many qualifiers you put before it.

If this happened a year ago, I think I would have been disappointed. Now, after so many forceful opinions and antagonistic comments, I'm just shocked it didn't happen sooner. I'm glad now

You know, the most surprising thing here is the sheer number of people who, like you, openly state that they want their internet browsing to be a complacent echo chamber where they won't see nor hear opinions inimical to their own.

I think Bob would agree that freedom of speech is not freedom from consequences of that speech. No one is saying Bob should not be legally allowed to say whatever he wants, as he is. But most employers in any field would have little patience with an employee belittling and publicly antagonizing customers. The escapist wants to be a positive place, Bob has spent the last six months hurling a lot of negativity towards Gamers who disagree with him.

I'm a liberal, I agree with many if not most of Bob's general political beliefs and I was a fan of his for years. But I cannot condone the scorched earth "with us or against us" authoritarianism he and many like him have spent months spewing.