Poll: Should "The Escapist" stop covering E3 while the ESA still supports SOPA/PIPA?

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KefkaCultist

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Jun 8, 2010
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I really hope the Escapist doesn't cover E3 due to SOPA/PIPA. I do rather like the idea of reaching out to developers that also boycott E3 and giving them coverage though.
 

Thyunda

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May 4, 2009
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lacktheknack said:
targren said:
lacktheknack said:
On the other hand, if a lot of media pull out of E3, the ones that will stay will be offered much more money. And from what I can tell, the Escapist is still in dire straits financially. And I'm not sure that covering the companies that jumped ship would offset the loss the Escapist would get from not covering E3.
Offered money by whom? As I understand it, like any other Expo/Conference, you pay to get in, they don't pay you to come. And if the press stops going, there will be less incentive for vendors to pay for the space.
Offered is the wrong word. I meant E3 coverage drawing views to the website.
The Escapist will get a lot of views regardless. Look. There are some things more important than getting views, and one reason I'm sure a lot of us continue to support the Escapist through our visits and activity is because we feel that the Escapist is one of us, and we are part of it...rather than, say, a less 'neutral' forum where it can't possibly be said that the forum owners are on the same page as its users.

The Escapist has done nothing but slate SOPA and PIPA. And rightly so, mind.

If they...we...want to keep any kind of credibility or dignity, there will be no E3 coverage on this site. Otherwise? You have a sell-out. Giving away your morals in exchange for money.
That's not how this community will allow itself to be seen.
 

Joccaren

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Mar 29, 2011
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Boycott E3. Though the Escapist is my only source of E3 knowledge, I can miss one year of it knowing I'll get it in years to come, as opposed to the other way round.
 

ReinWeisserRitter

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Nov 15, 2011
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It's the right thing to do, especially since despite these bills' threat to sites like this, publishers do have a portion of their income to thank for them, and their coverage of events like E3.
 

almostgold

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Dec 1, 2009
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Nope, its an aspect of gaming culture, and I come to the Escapists to read gaming news. SOPA is a political issue, and I see absolutely know reason why we should expect a company we support (The Escapist) to take potential losses just because the event their covering happens to have political opinions opposite of most of ours.

Should the Escapist decide to, that's perfectly fine. They can do whatever they want, its their business after all. But we shouldn't expect them to.
 
May 5, 2010
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If the guys at Extra Credits AND Loading Ready Run are on board, then so am I. The Escapist should do more to fight SOPA/PIPA then put a little black bar over the title.
 

chadachada123

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Jan 17, 2011
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Wow, look at that video.

On topic, I'm in agreement with the majority. The ESA should not receive money while they support such sick bits of legislature.
 

SL33TBL1ND

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Nov 9, 2008
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Of course. Funding the people behind pushing for SOPA is probably the worst thing they could do.
 

V8 Ninja

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Guess what guys? That's not happening. E3 is the biggest trade show for video games and almost every heavy-hitter is announced at the convention. Not only will the Escapist most likely not report on the show, but even if they didn't report/attend it, it would most likely do absolutely nothing to sway the ESA.

Now, I personally think we should be trying to sway developers from attending E3 instead of news-coverage sites. Less big-name developers mean less heavy-hitters, and that would most likely create less buzz for the show, which means that less people will attend and care about the convention.
 

deth2munkies

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Jan 28, 2009
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I'd hope they would, but there's a damn good chance they won't.

The reason is quite simple:

No matter how much you hate SOPA, you still wanna know what's going on at E3. That means if The Escapist is boycotting it, you'll find it somewhere else, and that just feeds numbers elsewhere. So if that's the case, there's no reason to expect The Escapist to boycott it either, because not everyone will.

Prisoner's dilemma-y, but accurate.

I'll admit personally I haven't checked in at E3 coverage for the last couple of years just because I'm so disinterested in the huge mainstream games coming out by and large. E3 has been dead to me ever since it became an overly flashy, excessive tradeshow instead of an overly flashy convention that at least the public could enjoy.

V8 Ninja said:
Guess what guys? That's not happening. E3 is the biggest trade show for video games and almost every heavy-hitter is announced at the convention. Not only will the Escapist most likely not report on the show, but even if they didn't report/attend it, it would most likely do absolutely nothing to sway the ESA.

Now, I personally think we should be trying to sway developers from attending E3 instead of news-coverage sites. Less big-name developers mean less heavy-hitters, and that would most likely create less buzz for the show, which means that less people will attend and care about the convention.
You realize that the ESA is completely funded by all those developers, right?
 

natster43

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Jul 10, 2009
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I personally think they should not cover E3 as long as the ESA does support both SOPA and PIPA.
 

Geo Da Sponge

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Sober Thal said:
Yeah, a video game website shouldn't report on one of the biggest video game events of year.

Fucking brilliant.

/sarcasm

Why stop there? Should they also refuse to report on any company/person that doesn't support their views on other matters?

Is this a FOX news style change thing? I have already seen plenty of fear mongering... is this the next step?
Manipulating your news coverage to help support your political agenda? Come now, surely you can't be saying that's anything like FOX news...

Seriously though, as I said in another thread on the subject if lots of the people who come to the site are against The Escapist covering E3 (and that means more than just the people on these forums) then sure, don't cover it. But if you can't prove that your readers/viewers specifically want you to boycott E3 for political reasons, then by failing to cover E3 you are failing to do your job. I know the integrity of games journalists isn't spr-srs-bsns, but I still think that using your positions as journalists as political leverage is a dirty tactic.
 

WhatHityou

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Nov 14, 2008
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This is a hard thing to do, It's possibly the largest form of income they get and content.

Though, if you look at it from the perspective of there review content. They are actively lobbying so that they can be suppressed by the company's that produce these games. I could be there would be plenty of duke nukem-ish review fiascoes that would end up in it being shut down for an honest opinion.

So I'm gonna say. Maybe an alliterative would be better or I guess make the choice on weather or not you would be able to take the financial hit.

In a moral sense though I support not covering E3, as long as you can get other sites to do it, really hammer the point home. From a realist point of view though it's probably not a good idea.
 

Flight

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Mar 13, 2010
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I believe the Escapist shouldn't cover E3 during this time. While I enjoyed E3 the one time I was able to go, I'm really sick of the ESA's shenanigans. They need a wake-up call, and while I don't think they'll actually listen to us, who knows? They might if enough people stop buying the members' products.
 

orangeban

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Nov 27, 2009
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No, news sites shouldn't allow their bias to stand in the way of their reporting of the news.
 

targren

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May 13, 2009
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lacktheknack said:
Offered is the wrong word. I meant E3 coverage drawing views to the website.
Perhaps. But if that's their logic, then that would establish, once and for all, their true colors, and make that pretty red ECA logo a blatant lie.

V8 Ninja said:
Now, I personally think we should be trying to sway developers from attending E3 stification for instead of news-coverage sites. Less big-name developers mean less heavy-hitters, and that would most likely create less buzz for the show, which means that less people will attend and care about the convention.
That's the point. No press -> no justification for devs to buy booth space.

deth2munkies said:
No matter how much you hate SOPA, you still wanna know what's going on at E3.
Speak for yourself. All I'm interested in at E3 is who ends up going and what they're showing off. Not the details, just the product names so that I can be sure not to buy any game/hardware that was announced, demoed, teased, launched, etc... at the show.
 

Crazie_Guy

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Mar 8, 2009
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Looks like the party's over, ESA caved under whatever pressure all the general outcry has created. At this point it's meaningless and I would still love to have developers pull support of E3...

It's been said that convincing news source like the Escapist is a pointless endeavor, and I understand it never could have happened. But, Escapist... A warning for the OP of this thread? Really? Spreading this message, merely proposing the idea, is something you are giving a warning for? I am so disappointed in you.