Nah, bro. I wouldn't even say it was unneeded or escalated. You saw something that made you angry, and you spoke up about it. Honestly, I really like that about the GR audience.You don't take shit lightly.
I chimed in to clarify a few things. First, was to tell you that you can always come to me or any of the other GR staff about this type of stuff.
Two, to let you know that we hear you, and that we'll do the best we can. Sometimes I'm a little immune to the ads (definitely more so than the average user) because I know that it's paying for all of our paychecks and to keep the site up and running. So I appreciate the feedback.
And three, which goes back to the point about operating the site and paying the staff. I wanted to make sure everyone knew (although, I'm sure you all knew anyway) how using stuff like ad blockers takes away from GR's bottom line. It's not just our pay, it's the site operation, the design (which we've changed dramatically over the past year), it's the event coverage (hotel, airfare, etc), it's the office supplies, etc., etc. etc. It's not cheap to run a site, especially when Daniel is addicted to black truffle and saffron. We've had to kidnap a couple of those truffle-sniffing pigs to keep up with his habit. But that's besides the point. I wanted everyone to know that if you really love GR, and I know you do, that you have to suck it up and deal with some ads sometimes.
Subscriptions: No. Just no.
Donations: That's kind of you, but we're not interesting in taking your money. However, you can donate to the ASLF (Anthony Severino Lawnmower Fund) at any time
Store: Not worth it. We'd make so very little profit of each item sold, you'd be supporting the store that brands our products more than you'd be supporting us.
Bottom line: At the end of the day, we're not going to be successful if we don't do two things: Make money (ie: ads), and make our users happy enough to keep coming back. We're always paying attention to that delicate balance so that neither of those things go neglected. If you take up an issue with a particular ad, let me know. If you just hate ads in general like schimmel, that's fine too, just don't whine when all your favorite sites start offering subscriptions and/or going under.
Rinnon's complaint was valid. Everyone's points are valid. That's the wonderful thing about the internet, everyone is right to a point. Except IGN.
Rinnon said:
You're right, the discussion kind of started with unneeded attitude and escalated. I'm sorry that I was being a jackass.