WTF Is Going On At The Escapist?

[jfrost]

Quite bizarre to see people defending Escapist's stance. I mean, I publish my work on a website (which, incidentally, doesn't pay me) and set up a donation fund with the name of my work, the money is mine. People donated the money to me, because of my work, the website has absolutely no claim whatsoever to it.

[Michi]

^Exactly. Especially when they come in to swoop up the cash after the fact. I'm sorry, but that's just wrong.

[lisalover1]

...Not to mention that the EC team consistently stated in the videos made during the fundraiser that they had surpassed the goal amount. I think people should look into the specifics of this fundraiser before they draw any conclusions.

[Gao]

EC has already put up this week's video on Youtube. They said that they'll still be doing weekly updates like normal, just not on the Escapist.

Anyway, one of the really worrying things about this is that it's sounding more and more like The Escapist has barely been paying anyone. The EC guys hadn't been paid for I think 9 months when things fell apart (James was actually paying the artist's salary out of pocket), and others on Twitter have confirmed that they were in similar situations, with even those who got paid saying that it took months. It sounds to me like the site is on the verge of financial collapse, and it probably has been for a while.

[CFFJR]

Makes me wonder what the status is for Zero Punctuation.

[Gao]

...Not to mention that the EC team consistently stated in the videos made during the fundraiser that they had surpassed the goal amount. I think people should look into the specifics of this fundraiser before they draw any conclusions.

Yeah, they've been very open about what the money is going for. It was only after they had more than enough money for the surgery and recovery (yes, they're paying for recovery and lost wages) did they consider doing anything else, and they announced it quite publicly after getting input from the donators. A large portion of the donations came after this announcement, so the only money that's at all questionable is the extra that came in before the announcement, and that's probably a minority of the money.

[Gao]

Makes me wonder what the status is for Zero Punctuation.

Given that Yahtzee was able to afford a 3d TV, I'm thinking he's the one guy getting consistently paid. Given that he's the main draw to the site, it makes sense that keeping him happy would be their highest priority.

[flamepanther]

It sounds to me like the site is on the verge of financial collapse, and it probably has been for a while.

So maybe the attempted cash grab is an act of desperation rather than pure greed?

[CFFJR]

Makes me wonder what the status is for Zero Punctuation.

Given that Yahtzee was able to afford a 3d TV, I'm thinking he's the one guy getting consistently paid. Given that he's the main draw to the site, it makes sense that keeping him happy would be their highest priority.

Well he has other income too, like his bar, but I'm sure you're right about that anyway. Hell, what you said applies to me. I visit the Escapist for Zero Punctuation. Anything else I look at there in the meantime is just browsing.

[Droid party]

Regardless of who is to blame this is really disappointing. Extra Credits is my favourite weekly online show. If they have to leave the ec name behind I hope they just wind up doing something else somewhere else under a different name.