Sunsetting the fontgeek forum

I remember there was stuff about EGX on the front page when they were flogging tickets.

Well yeah I didn't mean the schedule! Gawd.



...point taken.

Kind of feels like the end stages of EG, not sure how long the site will have left.

RPS is basically a very few interesting articles subsumed by a deluge of incredibly granular 'How to' articles and deals designed to gather random search engine eyeballs now (How to save your progress in... seriously?). I imagine it can survive like that for a long time, but with barely any individual character beyond the name on the masthead.

Just on their supporters only section; is that content that's showing on the front page genuinely all they've managed to put up in it so far?

I know they said something about it showing up less on the front page for non-subscribers after launch, so I'm assuming there is actual content being pumped out for them and what I'm seeing is just a fraction. Because from where I'm sitting, still being able to see that 90's pop article is quite concerning.

To be fair, they did say at the beginning it would be one monthly editor column, and one weekly 'other stuff' column. So, yeh. 5 articles a month (for premium subs - yeh, just one for supporter subs).

It's not great, but it's what they said.

Yep, £4 for no ads and a monthly dribble from Oli, or £6 for no ads, a monthly dribble from Oli and one article every week so the rest of staff can close their blogspot accounts.

I'm sure after a while the amount of content will look better, but yeah, launching with nothing wasn't a good look. That and EGX seem tinged with some board member going "we HAVE TO DO THIS" and all the actual staff going "Christ, if we must..."

Not sure where this narrative of the EG subscription being to pay for exclusive content comes from - and that the sub is shit because the bonus content is shit. Its only purpose, Shirley, is to support the site you know and the content you're accustomed to getting from them. The supporter exclusive drivel was always only the cherry on top - not the cake. If you want to support EG, feel free to pony up. But it's basically a tip jar at the bar, you're not paying for another round. It seems odd to expect that bonus stuff to be anything worthwhile?

If they still bothered to review more than one game a month, and if Digital Foundry weren't available on YouTube, I might've gone for it.

Most places with a subscriber model (whether it's proprietary or patreon or something) do make exclusive content that's usually worth it, so I disagree with that.

It is a shame to see it go downhill, but then we're not their target demographic anymore and haven't been for some time, and the people who never ventured past the front page anyway seem perfectly happy with it.

Sure.  But most of us are adults, right?  That's just not the way multinational corporations work, and never has been.  That's why getting bought out is universally seen as The End of Days for whomever is getting snapped up.

Which makes me think there's a gun to the head somewhere.  "Fund yourself, or pull the plug."

😎 I understand. But I believe it's just an "if you'd like to SUPER support us, here's another tier with another sweetener".

I dunno - feels like you guys are being really harsh on this.

Look at the Digital Foundry Patreaon, for example. The high tiers get you access to uncompressed. video yada yada yada. Nobody wants to sit and pore over uncompressed footage of games. They want the analysis video, with the fanboy talking points. Again: the tiers are there for people that want to support the site/channel/service.

Buuuut again the standard model for this kind of thing is that there's actual content worth reading/watching/listening to. I think it's perfectly fine to judge it based on the standard model literally every other place offers. Very very very few are just "guys subscribe because you really like us", and those that are are small indie places or have a way cheaper sub that isn't bordering on Netflix pricing.