It doesn't really matter whether or not they put more non-Escapist ads on the site. It might help, yes, but I think ad revenue is going to drop considerably-across the board, for every kind of site-as ad blockers get more popular. I'm not using one because I personally don't mind the ads on most sites I go to and I find that it makes video content very glitchy, yet even though there will always be people like me there are enough people who use ad-blockers that it will hurt their profits overall.
I'd be more than happy to pay for a publisher's club membership... If there was a point. Another post said something which really resonated with me: they're basically charging us for something we can get free after a three minute google search. I'm not going to pay in order to remove ads from the site. Give me exclusive content, articles that are published months before they hit the main site, discounts on escapist products, give me stuff like that and I will pony up without hesitation.
Speaking of-where are The Escapist books? I'd love to have yearly archives in book form, and I'm sure the staff could easily put something brand new together which would be worth selling as its own standalone thing.
I'm also going to say that I think the way the community is managed is part of the issue, too. I've mostly lurked here in my time on the site but it seems like the forums have seen a drastic drop in quality. There's obviously been a flood of people, but any time something like that happens you have to look at the management. There have been times when I've been extremely hesitant to post because I have no idea what's going to get me in trouble with the mods and what won't, and with their new system I mostly say, "to fuck with it" and I leave these threads to other people.
I'm not one of those people who thinks The Escapist is the bad guy in the situation with Extra Credits. It sounds like there was miscommunication on both ends and while there's likely a bit of exaggeration and double-speak coming from both parties this doesn't change my opinion of either of them. I will say, however, that if The Escapist's business model is faltering this badly then I don't sympathize with them although I understand it's not the easiest thing to switch around. It happens-businesses rise and fall and if they make a series of choices which makes them unviable, that's life. We'll all move on to something else; somebody somewhere will eventually step in and fill their niche, maybe even some of the people who currently work here. It's just kind of sad to see it falling apart like this.
I'd be more than happy to pay for a publisher's club membership... If there was a point. Another post said something which really resonated with me: they're basically charging us for something we can get free after a three minute google search. I'm not going to pay in order to remove ads from the site. Give me exclusive content, articles that are published months before they hit the main site, discounts on escapist products, give me stuff like that and I will pony up without hesitation.
Speaking of-where are The Escapist books? I'd love to have yearly archives in book form, and I'm sure the staff could easily put something brand new together which would be worth selling as its own standalone thing.
I'm also going to say that I think the way the community is managed is part of the issue, too. I've mostly lurked here in my time on the site but it seems like the forums have seen a drastic drop in quality. There's obviously been a flood of people, but any time something like that happens you have to look at the management. There have been times when I've been extremely hesitant to post because I have no idea what's going to get me in trouble with the mods and what won't, and with their new system I mostly say, "to fuck with it" and I leave these threads to other people.
I'm not one of those people who thinks The Escapist is the bad guy in the situation with Extra Credits. It sounds like there was miscommunication on both ends and while there's likely a bit of exaggeration and double-speak coming from both parties this doesn't change my opinion of either of them. I will say, however, that if The Escapist's business model is faltering this badly then I don't sympathize with them although I understand it's not the easiest thing to switch around. It happens-businesses rise and fall and if they make a series of choices which makes them unviable, that's life. We'll all move on to something else; somebody somewhere will eventually step in and fill their niche, maybe even some of the people who currently work here. It's just kind of sad to see it falling apart like this.
