Sylocat:

-Zen-:

Sylocat:
I blame ZP, at least partially, for the fact that we're not allowed to like any video games anymore that weren't made by Valve.

Not true. We're not allowed to like any video games anymore that weren't made by Valve or Tim Schafer.

Good point, I forgot about that. Another entry on the meager list of things we're forbidden from NOT liking.

Sometimes I wonder if Yahtzee isn't actually as unreasonable a gamer as he presents himself to be. Maybe when he's wanting to relax and just play a game for fun, he'll plug in something like Gears of War or Ninja Gaiden Black. Then again, this may be completely wrong and he can't enjoy any more than eight games out of every game ever made.

I'm becoming increasingly convinced that Yahtzee doesn't actually dislike a lot of the stuff he claims to loathe, he's just drama whoring for attention.

Arkitext:

J-Man:

Erana:

J-Man:

darthzew:

J-Man:

neoman10:
but without ZP many people wouldn't be here including me

Same.

Yeah, me too. I've followed Yahtzee since his Youtube days and, like Moses, he led me to the Promised Land of the Escapist.

*Gasp!* Don't you know? Yahtzee is Moses.

It takes massive skills to call Yahtzee a religious figure and not look like a fanboy.

Do I have those massive skills?

Yeah sure, have a cookie.

Tasty...

I'm a new member. I just joined today, and I can honestly say this particular thread is a big reason why. I have been coming to the Escapist for some time now, usually just for ZP, but occasionally I will glance at the forums. Today this thread caught my eye. I've been looking for a good forum to join, but most I've seen are flooded with imbeciles and/or children. After reading all the comments to this thread about the strict rules and the banning of idiots, I was convinced that this was the forum for me. You all seem to have a good community going here, and hopefully, in time, you all will consider me a worthwhile member that ZP has brought in.

Syntax Error:
Came here for ZP, stayed for the forums. This is the only forums I know of where grammar is taken as a priority in posts. Plus there's a sense of community here not present in other videogame culture forums I went through.

I agree, I don't tend to post often on other forums because if people have well thought out ideas no one takes the time to respond. From reading these boards, the community is different then many boards out there.

Good because it brought me here, and everyone <3 's me =D

...

Ok seriously, its great because it allows the community to expand.

I'm here for Yahtzee, I knew who he was prior to ZP's apperance on youtube because of his freeware adventure games. Mostly "Fantabulous Space", though I guess his "Kilby" series was far, far more popular. I've spent too much time on freeware/abandonware sites due to spending too much time gaming and the failure of newer games to capture the magic of many older ones (to me at least).

I've given some of the other features a shot, but most of them are just so-so. The articles are okay, but usually I wind up writing a lengthy essay in response basically saying "WTF" when I respond to them at all.

Truth be told I'm glad Ben is doing well, and it wouldn't surprise me if he moves on from doing Zero Punctuation before too long. He's apparently got some attention from the industry, and he's fairly talented.

Honestly I'm surprised he hasn't gone on to do professional adventure games given his exposure. Despite saying it's a dead genere, it seems like there are still plenty of them out there (not that I play many of them), Rhiannon, Dead Reefs, Overclocked, etc...

I've always kind of thought that Roberta Williams and the Coles (all from Sierra) sort of put adventure gaming on the map and then quit. Another talented person could possibly resurrect it.

But I'm getting way ahead of things here.

Of course, given some of his comments, I still want to see Yahtzee make an RPG and show everyone how it should be done. :)

>>>----Therumancer--->

Symp4thy:
I'm a new member. I just joined today, and I can honestly say this particular thread is a big reason why. I have been coming to the Escapist for some time now, usually just for ZP, but occasionally I will glance at the forums. Today this thread caught my eye. I've been looking for a good forum to join, but most I've seen are flooded with imbeciles and/or children. After reading all the comments to this thread about the strict rules and the banning of idiots, I was convinced that this was the forum for me. You all seem to have a good community going here, and hopefully, in time, you all will consider me a worthwhile member that ZP has brought in.

Hello, and welcome to the escapist. It's safer here. *Beats with stunstick*

Richard Groovy Pants:
Erana, you should pass by the IRC chat more often, I'm talking to the staff right now and they're all just huddled up watching the ZP thread and banning people.

Sounds like a laugh.

D_987:
Good because it brought me here, and everyone <3 's me =D

I'm sorry, but I've never seen you before today.

I think zp is a good thing for the sight, a large amount of new members find the escapist because of zp. Luckily the idiots that would actualy be a problem are insta-banned on the zp threads, its like the mods target range.

Erana:

D_987:
Good because it brought me here, and everyone <3 's me =D

I'm sorry, but I've never seen you before today.

I even stated "No, seriously..." (as in ok now I'm being serious) right underneath that text =P

I wouldn't be here if not for ZP.

I join the "knew The Escapist because of ZP" club

J-Man:

neoman10:
but without ZP many people wouldn't be here including me

Same.

Me as well. Yahtzee may be a draw for the trolls, but he's also a draw for new blood.

We would have missed out on alot of good members if it weren't for Yahtzee.

Erana:
So, its Wednesday, and the newest ZP isn't out yet. Of course, this leads to several people- destined to be frozen for shouting, "First"- making posts and threads that most of the more frequent visitors to the escapist frown upon.
Of course, who would be here today without ZP having drawn them to the Escapist in the first place? (Cookies to you if you found it in another way.)

So, I ask, is the negative impact of the weekly influx of trolls worth the benefits of new, decent, users? (And possibly silly threads to be entertained by?)

There are a small minority who are 'trolls'. Most people probably just watch and enjoy it. I like many other just used to watch ZP. I started commenting on ZP threads before looking into the others. I soon realised that the forum is actually quite good. I've never felt like a proper forum member on any other site other than this one.

I find that it lets me talk about games with people on the internet who aren't wholly annoying. Sure I argue with people a bit but it's generally all fun :)

I came here because of Zero Punctuation, and I like to think I am not an idiot here...At least I hope I'm not!

I wouldn't be here if it weren't for the original quirky atmosphere that was this Forum. It has long since changed to a different smell full of slightly more incorrect grammar, anonymity due to overpopulation and lack of Joe.

On topic aside, what annoys me most about frequenters or ZP fans above atrocious spelling or misdemeanors is the fact that several people declare Croshaw a famous if not sanctimonious figure of a religion, usually Christian. Such as saying "he's God/Moses/ a Bible of sorts" etc.
No one is amused, you should be ashamed if your intent is to offend.

Jandau:

Erana:

Jandau:
Well, speaking as a person who got dragged in by ZP, I'm glad I found this forum (ZP or no ZP) and I like to think I'm a part of the non-troll newbie population.

From what I can tell, you are. =D

<3

Also, as others have mentioned, I was drawn to the forums in part due to all the "Banned" posts I kept seeing. I was actually lurking here for about a month before I decided to join. My only concern is that the increased traffic might put too much strain on the moderators, which might result in a reduction of quality...

Oh ho ho, you don't know our moderators. Remember that anyone with a yellow name can ban people.

So it ends up being more than just the two Stallions defending us defenceless ponies.

The_root_of_all_evil:

Me as well. Yahtzee may be a draw for the trolls, but he's also a draw for new blood.

You sound awfully caniballistic saying that. Wait- what are you do- No! Nooooo!

Baby Tea:

Erana:
So, I ask, is the negative impact of the weekly influx of trolls worth the benefits of new, decent, users? (And possibly silly threads to be entertained by?)

But the beauty of this forum, is the MODs.
We can pat ourselves on the back all we want for making the Escapist more, and better, then the average gaming forum...but the truth is this: We have MODs who don't sit on their hands and let trolls run up and down and all over this place. We see daily bans and probations. We've got a reporting system that really works. Couple that with the, generally, well behaved long time user base (All my Gonzo brothas and Sistas!), and you've got a dame good forum.

So something like ZP, which draws a fairly decent crowd, will attract the moronic and the good newcomers alike. But the MODs weed 'em out. Trolls and idiots (Seems redundant) don't last too long, and we're left with the good.

That about sums up all that I would have said.

Even if the ZP videos do attract their fair share of idiots it will probably never become a truly rampant issue so long as the Mods continue to keep those people out while letting the ones who can actually contribute to the community in .

Nazkay:
Just because some people get banned, doesn't make everyone who comes on for ZP a troll does it? Each to their own...

Why did you come to this thread? Was it because you saw those two letters?

J-Man:

Erana:

J-Man:

darthzew:

J-Man:

neoman10:
but without ZP many people wouldn't be here including me

Same.

Yeah, me too. I've followed Yahtzee since his Youtube days and, like Moses, he led me to the Promised Land of the Escapist.

*Gasp!* Don't you know? Yahtzee is Moses.

It takes massive skills to call Yahtzee a religious figure and not look like a fanboy.

Do I have those massive skills?

No, you do not.

Well... I don't think I will see the escapist team being sad for having too much traffic. It's like they say, bad publicity is still publicity. And I really hate elitists who go "I was doing that before it all went famous". It's not something to be so proud of when you consider it's just a forum. And moreover. Nobody forces you to read every one of these posts. If something sounds stupid or uninteresting, leave it alone. If that thread has been done before, resist the urge to tell people to use the search button. Simply do not click on the post. Oh... I'm going off track... well.. that's about it.

Erana:
Of course, who would be here today without ZP having drawn them to the Escapist in the first place? (Cookies to you if you found it in another way.)

Cookies for me :) Unforgotten Realms.(which I find infinetly more entertaining that Zero Punctuation)

Count me in with the horde of people who found this site because of Zero Punctuation. More than that, though, I've been reading the forums and like many here said it's one of the few forums that don't promote idiocy. All the "first" and "tl;dr" posts are completely useless and that's why it's so nice to see a forum with moderators that deal with it.

I'd say good, to answer the OP. I'm biased, obviously, but as long as the moderators do as good a job as they do now and the forum keeps such a high level in general; more people will bring more life to it and many keep arguing that life is good. I'm still deciding.

I started out as a ZP fanboy myself, so I can't complain too much about it. The problem though, is that it brings in more than just the idiots who get banned and the good members who we actually like; a lower middle class of posters whose low quality posts just aren't quite enough to get banned. Usually they'd leave after getting scared away by the forum's maturity, but the sheer number of them have slowly brought the bar down. ZP is good for what it brings us, since we have our mods, but we need to keep the level of the Escapist high with our own posts or it will become just another forum. The process has already advanced considerably. If my word isn't good enough, Joe used to say the same thing.

I think that the traffic from ZP is great because a lot of people would not have found this site at all. I mean my friends and I watch a good amount stuff on here, but would have never known without Yathzee.

i only learned about The Escapist because of ZP.
and frankly its one of the only reasons why i keep coming back every week.

I've been here long enough to know the flow of things here, i'll admit, Zero Punctuation is what made me make an account here, But I admire the community for being one of the most erudite, friendly and troll-free places on the internet. it's certainly the best internet community i've ever been a part of.
That said, seeing those who lovingly parrot yahtzee and who base their opinions solely on his word make me wretch. The other day i overheard someone on the train talking about mirror's edge to his friends, nearly repeating the ZP review verbatim. It made me want to rage in his face.

PedroSteckecilo:
For the site? Good.

For the Forums? Bad, because we get so many "I only watch ZP and have no opinions of my own" idiots wandering in here on Wednesdays. However we all started as one of them, admit it!

Read my mind.

I first came here for ZP for a few weeks until a forum caught my attention; good times.