The Escapist is a mixed bag these days. With more vocal users going "THE ESCAPIST IS DYING THE ADMINS ARE NOT COMMUNICATING WE ARE ALL DOOMED ABANDON SHIP" you would think the site would look less pristine than it actually does. We still have a steady stream of par-for-the-course news content in the little feed box though it is underwhelming and needs better reporters. There is a link to a nice Escapist arcade which I personally appreciate. The store has what you would expect merchandising-wise though not a whole lot.
Yahtzee as always is the prime attraction on this website and one of the most entertaining critics to listen to, even if his reviews are purposefully one-sided in their negativity all across the board, except in the case of the grey mess of colors and dark humor known as Portal which he could not find a flaw with because it matched his personality too well it seems. Oddly enough people seem to forget he also treated Psychonauts just as positively in one of his first ever reviews.
These forums are some of the best on the Internet though some sections (for instance this one) are presently underused. Mods have their ups and downs on here in that they do not go out of their way to abuse their abilities but do make mistakes in judgement; there is a repeal process for that though but sadly it is very slow and often does not work. Mods have also informed me communications with the administrators of this site are hard to come by these days which is a very worrying sign. That is doubly a worrying sign since admins are the only people who can control the mods from you know, going rampant, though that has not happened yet. The badge system is fun for looking good though I would prefer a rank system if I had to choose between the two. The warning system is too strict and could use a revamp but it is not horribly unfair for the most part. The Wild West forum is probably the best feature on this site though sadly it is locked to premium users only, and allows for fancier code than usual and more edgy inappropriate content, though no porn or gore.
My main criticism is one I already mentioned: admins are not communicating enough. It is a solid rule of thumb that when the people on top go silent, the rest of what they ruled over tends to descend into chaotic doubt and I believe that is reflected through the forums losing activity from users. Simply creating a thread labelled "Admin Communications" would be the right move. Also creating a thread labelled "Suggest Ideas and Rules/Rule Adjustments" would be an additional good idea as that thread does not yet exist. Both of those could be moved into the Site Info section of the forums and instantly solve some problems, provided the admins kept up with it.
Overall a quality site, but it seems it is undermanned as of present and needs to greatly improve its communications with outside people if it wants to grow and should further invest in more original news reporting for their feed.
Yahtzee as always is the prime attraction on this website and one of the most entertaining critics to listen to, even if his reviews are purposefully one-sided in their negativity all across the board, except in the case of the grey mess of colors and dark humor known as Portal which he could not find a flaw with because it matched his personality too well it seems. Oddly enough people seem to forget he also treated Psychonauts just as positively in one of his first ever reviews.
These forums are some of the best on the Internet though some sections (for instance this one) are presently underused. Mods have their ups and downs on here in that they do not go out of their way to abuse their abilities but do make mistakes in judgement; there is a repeal process for that though but sadly it is very slow and often does not work. Mods have also informed me communications with the administrators of this site are hard to come by these days which is a very worrying sign. That is doubly a worrying sign since admins are the only people who can control the mods from you know, going rampant, though that has not happened yet. The badge system is fun for looking good though I would prefer a rank system if I had to choose between the two. The warning system is too strict and could use a revamp but it is not horribly unfair for the most part. The Wild West forum is probably the best feature on this site though sadly it is locked to premium users only, and allows for fancier code than usual and more edgy inappropriate content, though no porn or gore.
My main criticism is one I already mentioned: admins are not communicating enough. It is a solid rule of thumb that when the people on top go silent, the rest of what they ruled over tends to descend into chaotic doubt and I believe that is reflected through the forums losing activity from users. Simply creating a thread labelled "Admin Communications" would be the right move. Also creating a thread labelled "Suggest Ideas and Rules/Rule Adjustments" would be an additional good idea as that thread does not yet exist. Both of those could be moved into the Site Info section of the forums and instantly solve some problems, provided the admins kept up with it.
Overall a quality site, but it seems it is undermanned as of present and needs to greatly improve its communications with outside people if it wants to grow and should further invest in more original news reporting for their feed.
