BREAKING NEWS: LRR + The Escapist = Success

[Theremin]

Rolls rock.

[Mad Madam Mimm]

No, I'm not talking about bonus videos. I'm thinking more like the upcoming PhanPhail project that may, at some point, come into being.

If it's runners fan stuff, it's not copyright theft, right?

[Theremin]

No, fan made stuff, or tributes are pretty much exempt from copyright.
Plus, we're not making money from it, so we're in the clear.

But fyi, if stuff does turn sour, i'm snitching on everyone for a plea bargain.
I can't go to jail!

[Mad Madam Mimm]

Yeah, you would not last in jail.

Poor, poor, underage, hat-wearing, man-point-less jailbait Theremin.

[Machalllewis]

Yeah they'd all just look at you and then lick their lips in unison. It'll be both creepy and sound totally disgusting at the same time.

[Mad Madam Mimm]

I, on the other hand, would be smart enough to evade capture. Because I'm small. And nefarious.

[Theremin]

Shite, I've either got to kill someone on the first day, or become the head convict's assistant. Or wife...eek.

[ThrashJazzAssassin]

See, this is why we're hanging on to these forums: conversations about LRR's business decisions turn into conversations about jailbait.

[Arius]

I just realized... I know why we fear the Escapist forums...

We don't want to have to compete for LRR's love!

Also, this discussion about prison has given me a video idea.

[Machalllewis]

Well yeah, it feels like we're losing them. Thats why the escapist forums are all excited cos they're gaining them.

We may need some psychological counselling over here

[shamusyoung]

Hi. Joined the forums just so I could show up and congratulate the LRR's, and also to alleviate a few misgivings people might have.

I signed on with the Escapist in a similar way: I had a ~popular website, and the Escapist enabled me to turn that hobby (comics, in my case) into a part-time job. The users on my site had almost the exact conversation that's taking place here.

Yes, the Escapist forums are... lively. And the word "genteel" is never used to describe them. The folks at my site didn't want to jump into the shark tank either.

But it's worked out well. Instead of gutting our community, it's added a bit to it without changing the overall character of the discussion. My site has grown, our discussion threads are still friendly, and the income has let me turn out MORE content. Plus The Escapist gets some cool stuff on their site. It's win-win-win.

When I post a new comic, there's a thread at my site and a thread at The Escapist. It's a little sad when we have a cool discussion on one side and the other side misses out, but that's a really minor gripe for what is otherwise a wonderful setup that keeps everyone happy.

Since LRR is keeping the forums here, I don't see any reason why you guys won't enjoy the same beautiful symbiosis.

(Note that I'm here of my own volition. Not speaking in any official capacity for Themis et. al.)

Congrats again to the cast of LRR.

[Tim]

Thanks for that, Shamus! Good to hear how things went for you. We're looking forward to it.

[Lawman]

Firstly, I gotta say congratulations, guys. You've worked really hard for this and now, hopefully, you'll be rewarded greatly. Because I already watch Zero Punctuation, Unskippable and ENN on The Escapist, I'll have no issue watching LRR's principal videos there too.

I guess my questions are as follows:

• Will the videos be podcastable? None of the other stuff I watch on The Escapist is, and I think that it would rock if they started offering that feature.
• How will things appear on this site: will new videos be listed here, but instead of the player embedded directly, a link to Escapist? Or will the only listing updates we see here be non-Escapist ones?
• Will this mean an increase in length/amount of commodoreHUSTLEs?
• Will this hopefully mean an increase in (the already extremely high) quality?

[ecocd]

Thanks for the kind and soothing words, Shamus.

Has anyone else noticed the connection of the timing of this and Tim's introduction into the LRR Crew? The only rational conclusion we can draw is that Tim caused the Escapist to pick up LRR's videos.

[wilson_x1999]

Whoa, I go away for a few hours and this happens!

I want to congratulate The Crew since this will be awesome for them and for everyone else for that matter, more viewers will always be better.

For some reason, I feel as if I were the father who was giving away his daughter at a wedding O_o

[Machalllewis]

Thats some diplomacy right there Mr Young, describing the forums as lively. Shark tank does seem more appropriate however.

Im not really anyone to speak for the entire rest of the forum but I'm fairly certain that we're all really happy for the LRR crew! More money for them = Awesome! I'd also like to say how cool it was of you to come over to the site and make such a post. I personally think that was genuinely a really nice thing to do.

Still, I think I'm gonna wait to see how things turn out a month or so after this all goes down before I relinquish the cautious part of my own cautiously optimistic approach. Beautiful symbiote or not its still the Escapist forums.... ya know? Nevermind how things actually roll out for the sites content itself.

These are just my feelings. I dunno how everybody else actually feels. I'm looking forward to when the crew recovers from DB and make a proper blog post on it.

[Nevrmore]

Let me preface this by saying this is not an angry rant, or anything like "OH MY GOD YOU'RE BETRAYING US WAAH." This is just what I think of the situation, and it has nothing to do with any emotional involvement I have with LRR or The Escapist.

I feel like talk of keeping the forum and the archives and all of the supplementary video materials isn't going to work out as the crew intends it to. I mean, what is the turnout ratio of weekly, full-length videos to Phailhaus/Iron Stomachs/Loading Times/et al? Even with the best of intentions, which is what I am positive the LRR crew has, I think it's inevitable that sooner or later loadingreadyrun.com is going to start getting less and less attention paid to it through no fault of anyone, but just the necessity of having the duty to churn out 3 different videos a week for The Escapist.

Is it a foolish move on LRR's part? No, obviously not. This is a big step into making this the career that they've always wanted it to be. But is it going to come at a cost? I think you'd be foolish to say it won't, and it's the people who frequent this website who are going to pay for it the most.

[Machalllewis]

Yeah Nevrmore I'm not sure if thats something thats definitely going to happen but it is a bit of a worry I'm currently having.

[Tim]

Our hope is that with the added income we'll be getting, we'll be able to treat that bonus content as a duty of our "part-time jobs", so we'll be better about producing it on a more consistent basis.

You're probably right that there may be a bit less focus on this site itself. We're not going to let it die, though.

[Machalllewis]

You're probably right that there may be a bit less focus on this site itself.

They've admitted it! EVERYBODY PANIC!! AAAAAARGH!

[Timelady]

You're probably right that there may be a bit less focus on this site itself.

They've admitted it! EVERYBODY PANIC!! AAAAAARGH!

EEEEEKKK!!! *Starts cleansing everything with fire*

Oh, and um, welcome to the forums, Mr. Young. we're a pretty nice place outside of the occasional riot.

[CommanderKeen]

It's exciting news. But I'll wait to hear more before any comment.

[Digital Dolphin]

Whew that took a lot of reading!!

Well, first off, I'm really happy for the LRR crew, this is a big step for you guys and the extra support and funding will ONLY be a good thing.

That being said, I'm REALLY sad to hear about the exclusivity of your LRR videos on the Escapist site. I really dislike that webpage a LOT. I would have quit ever going to it a long time ago if it weren't for the fact that I love watching ENN, and generally enjoy Unskippable. The Escapist Magazine site is always hit or miss for me, and whether I am able to watch videos at all seems to depend on air currents, the waxing and waneing of the moon, and some other things I can't seem to readily predict. So this means I'm probably going to be spending a LOT more time fighting with the site just to see the content I want to see. So yeah, really not too happy about that side of things.

And *THAT* being said, were the escapist magazine to offer the same deal to me, I'd take it too (but I'd still hate their site).

Just for reference, I stopped watching There Will Be Brawl because it wasn't worth the trouble to fight with the webpage. I don't watch Zero Punctuation either, again because of the site trouble. I *WILL* watch LRR videos (or at least continue to fight with the site and my browsers in attempts to), I'm not quitting on you guys!

[Godzpunchingbag]

I am very happy for you guys, you deserve this alot. I like how you said last night how these forums are cautiously optimistic and that pretty much describes my feelings on it. I think we are just afraid of some outside source affecting your videos in terms of content or cast even though its not going to happen.

[Cade Antilles]

Also, this discussion about prison has given me a video idea.

No! No! Bad Arius! Don't make me get the hose!