State of the Escapist, Late 2015 Edition

[Silentpony_v1legacy]

Every time one of these threads pops up I'm reminded of those old-school channers asking "Remember when /b wasn't shit?"

Come on guys! /b was always shit!

Not that the Escapist is inherently bad...but I mean even a tomato has a hayday...

 

[Amaury_games]

Hey y'all! I've been here for some years now, and haven't posted in ages. I wonder if some of the people I recognize will remember me as well.
I gotta say, after Jim, Bob, the people of Loading Ready Run and others left, I've been coming here way less than two years ago. However, I also got a better job and more things to worry, plan, etc, so these also don't help me find time to come here. I mainly come for ZP and the Critical Miss guys, although sometimes I check an article here and there. However, something funny I just noticed is that I've never considered myself a forum person or how the forums contributed to my staying here, especially since I don't post much. Still, I agree with Fox12 up there that they seem emptier now. I haven't seen Daystar for months now! I wonder if he's one f those that left never to come back. But what I noticed is that, although I already told you guys my main reasons to come here, the forums are still the third thing I check whenever I open this site (which is basically once a day). For something I haven't considered so relevant, being third place sure is a good position, eh?

 

[FPLOON]

I don't know... I post about 15-20+ posts a day on average, making that about 100+ post a week with more irregularities on the weekends... I say I'm doing fine on my end...

Anyway, I would call it more "different" than "worse than" or "better than" unless you really want to drag the past into this and then only be selective just to prove your point... For some, "different" sucks and for others "different" feels like playing The Twin Snakes instead of Metal Gear Solid for the PS1... As for me, the forums aren't down and I still have up to 10 tabs open for video-based content, so I'm not going anywhere anytime soon...

Now, if ya'll excuse me... I got some Forum Games post to... uh... post... after I close all these thread-based tabs, of course...

 

[The Lunatic]

Hard to say, I suppose.

As far as the forums go, a lot of the trouble-makers have been banned or are nearing banned. Though, some are seemingly more deaf to the indications that others.

The forums and the site itself have been losing traffic for long before gamergate, and I can only imagine that the topic caused a temporary spike in traffic, but didn't affect the overall trend.

The abuses of certain moderators and general opinion that people have of the moderators has certainly left a scar on the forums. Across the internet, if you bring up The Escapist, you can more or less ensure that somebody will mention the moderators, and I'm a bit disappointed that there hasn't been steps to reduce this negative reputation.

 

[Johnny Novgorod]

I never liked Jim or Bob's stuff but you can tell the site has yet to fill those gaps. Some people complain Yahtzee isn't at his best but I think it's been a great year for him, what with 2 very good games finally out and ZP still being the site's main draw. He's my favorite feature here, same as usual. I like the "8 Things" articles. And I also think it was a good idea getting Honest Trailers Game Edition in here.

Not a fan of the comics though. Specially (looks up title) Full Frontal Nerdity. At least the Critical Miss guys try their hardest at humor and doing something that looks good. FFN is just CAD by any other name. Wordy, effortless and very, very dull.

And Liana K's cosplay cosplay tripe is kinda embarrassing, to be honest.

 

[FoolKiller]

I don't come as regularly and there doesn't seem to be as many gaming related conversations that I feel are worth chiming in on.

There are a couple of features that I've started enjoying. I really have gotten into experienced points (and am working through the backlog) so that is good from my point of view.

I tend to still read some of the news but I try to not click on one particular reporter's articles as it is usually filled with errors that show a lack of research

 

[vallorn]

Forum traffic as a whole has died down a lot, even in the maelstrom that was GID. User groups seem as active as always from what I've seen though.

This site seems to have been doing a lot of work to get more content but only a while ago I remember someone saying that "If you aren't doing video content then you aren't going to survive". And now we don't even have video reviews anymore.

Some of the newer things have been great though, Judging By The Cover has been pleasantly witty and dry and that Ark: Survival Evolved documentary was fascinating.

Overall the site seems to be pulling itself out of it's rough patch.

 

[Mikeybb]

Hiya Escapists, Taco here

I just wanted to hear how you felt/thought of the direction of the site overall

I mean, since we lost some older figures of the site, it was looking likely that the site might fail and we'd go back to the days of using smoke signals to keep in contact with each other

Luckily, that hasn't happened yet but I would still like to gauge how people feel about what's been going on recently

So tell me, what do you think?

There's this forum goer who keeps posting scandalous informative and essential news reports.
They're kinda funny.

On the content:
Like the new judging by the cover.
Really enjoy the weaponcrafting vid.
EDA is excellent.
Enjoy the occasional first person councellor.
Take my money is a nice quick bit of fun.

On the community side:
Quite enjoying the forums but then I only gravitate to the topics I'll enjoy.
Sad to hear some people have gone, happy to see and welcome any new folks.
Life is change.


I've probably forgotten a couple of things out of both.

 

[Andy Shandy]

My view is that the new content - particularly video - is by and large not as good as the content that left.

That said I do like Marter's reviews more than Bob's though. Plus I like some of the interviews that have been done, like the one with Laura Bailey for example.

You know what I wouldn't mind seeing is some wrasslin' content. That could be kinda neat now that it's back in fashion (kind of).

 

[Secondhand Revenant]

Forums seem slow but not as slow as some others I have seen. Looks like they had to ban a lot of GG troublemakers but things seem more pleasant with then gone. At this point I think it'd be a good time for an influx of people not trying to push their movement to kind of get more chatter going

 

[lacktheknack]

I come here because of my LP group.

Usergroups are cool and can really extend your life here.

 

[Seneschal]

I used to squat on this site day-in-day-out. Nowadays I check in every wednesday, watch ZP, glance at the "Most Views" and "Most Comments" tabs and promptly remember why I stopped coming.

 

[Zykon TheLich_v1legacy]

Eh. It's not what it used to be, but then nothing is.

What I really miss are the old Escapist poscasts. The Susan Arendt era was the crowning glory and the brocast (Tito, Goodman, Clouse, Dievendorf) was pretty sweet. The skype chat dynamic of the current ones doesn't really match up to a bunch of people in the same room, and while Josh Vanderwall seems a decent enough guy, he's quite reserved, he doesn't have the energy that Susan or Greg had.
Youtube has taken over from the video content that used to be a big draw. If we got some content similar to Unforgotten Realms and Doraleous things might perk up, but I don't see it happening.
With the forums split up, the lowered traffic really hurts. The days of the Epic Duck Thread in Off Topic will never return with the current setup.

Even with all that, the Escapist's wide remit, dealing with computer games, tabletop, science and various other "nerdy" pursuits keeps me coming back

 

[marurder]

I used to come here quite often for the articles, videos and news. I barely ever touched the forums. Something happened about 12 months ago (approx) and content was being blocked (I am in China) and the webpage would load slowly and appear wrong. I now have to use a VPN to see any pictures or videos on this site.
I come here less now. But I was coming here less after Moviebob and LRR left. News quality is... lacking now too. I find other sites have it first or better with less drivel mixed in posing for content.

 

[Skatologist]

I feel terrible about what's gone on recently. You still haven't published your own article on this site. It's an injustice Taco.

 

[xitel]

Back in my day, we did stuff with things and we liked it. Good ol' days and all that whoziwatsits.

 

[JUMBO PALACE]

I can't tell if it's the Escapist that's changed or me. I just don't have much interest in coming here anymore. I don't find the content nearly as interesting as I did before and on the few occasions I click through the forums I seem the same old threads over and over. Representation of women, gender issues, what anime is better, Nintendo is doomed.

 

[Pirate Of PC Master race]

We shall see, for time tells everything.

It will also prove some of my theories on future of "the movement that shall not named".
P.S: Now I only have to check the forum once per day, which is small positive on my productivity.

 

[Auron225]

It's not like I was ever really active, but I'm even less now than I was before. I only really show up for Zero Punctuation & Judging by the Cover now, also taking a look at Critical Miss and Erin Dies Alone if they're out. I know there is lots of new content, but for some reason I'm just not as interested in trying to get into them.

The forums have slowed to a crawl. Maybe we've discussed everything there is to discuss? It's been a long time since I've seen a thread with something original.

 

[tippy2k2]

I can't tell if it's the Escapist that's changed or me. I just don't have much interest in coming here anymore. I don't find the content nearly as interesting as I did before and on the few occasions I click through the forums I seem the same old threads over and over. Representation of women, gender issues, what anime is better, Nintendo is doomed.

That's been my big thing; I am so busy doing grown up things that I don't have the time to keep up on releases (so that kills a lot of discussions I can participate in since I'm guessing there's not a lot of Arkham City interest, which is the game I am currently playing) and a lot of the "politics" side of gaming I just don't have the energy or desire to care about.

Also...

Looks like good 'oleMartintox [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/profiles/view/Martintox] is still doing his music reviews and with the help of newcomers Ayen Matthews [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/profiles/view/Ayen%20Matthews] and tippy2k2 [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/profiles/view/tippy2k2], we've been able to keep it alive. I venture into Game Industry and R&P as little as possible, so I really can't speak for their state.

Spoiler

Although I haven't done one in over a month now....stupid grown up life

So overall, the site hasn't fully recovered from losing Jim Fucking Sterling Son but the addition of a lot of new writing content points in a good direction. We're not out of the woods yet but it feels like we are seeing some light out of the forest...