Zero Punctuation is Dead - Yahtzee quits the Escapist along with the rest of the staff

[Borelli]

Damn, i have been following his works from the fullyramblomatic days, sometimes i think he should have invested more time in making games and less on ZP but i understand the desire for a stable income.

The ZP is made for entertainment first, review later, an inherent problem when he has only 1 week to play a game.
He is a subjective reviewer anyway, very depending on his mood whether he will like the next big AAA game or not.

 

[Alex]

(...)
That's not how I remember it. She posted less and less regularly on the forums, and also updated the main site less and less.
The site changed domain names twice, because she forgot to pay the provider and the url was registered by domaingrabbers. At that time she still put it up on a different domain twice. The writing was on the wall for a long time and there was a thread on the forum "where shall we go once this site goes down for good".
When the site went down for the last time (due to some technical problems, IIRC), she made the entire database and source code available for download (which proves that nothing bad happened to her).
There were two attempts to continue the site, one had the original design, but didn't have downloads for the games, because it was run by some Western guy who was afraid of the law. The other one had its own design but did have all the downloads. Either site failed to catch on.

What about the website that exists today here? Is it the one run by some western guy as you mention?

 

[Neuromancer]

...
Wasn't the original founder a woman from Hong Kong?
The site went down rather quickly. What happened to her?

Sarinee was from Thailand, if I remember correctly.
Life happened to her, she worked as a stockbroker, got married, and that was the end of Home of the Underdogs.

Thanks for the info. I wasn't sure about her origin.


The thing is, it happened so suddenly.

It was a long time ago, so maybe I do remember it wrong.
But from my memory, she posted more or less regularly every few days for a long time - and suddenly there was silence without any notice what was going on.
I skimmed the forum (as a said, I wasn't really part of it), but still I remember people wondering, that something might have happened to her.

God thing to know, that this wasn't true.

That's not how I remember it. She posted less and less regularly on the forums, and also updated the main site less and less.
The site changed domain names twice, because she forgot to pay the provider and the url was registered by domaingrabbers. At that time she still put it up on a different domain twice. The writing was on the wall for a long time and there was a thread on the forum "where shall we go once this site goes down for good".
When the site went down for the last time (due to some technical problems, IIRC), she made the entire database and source code available for download (which proves that nothing bad happened to her).
There were two attempts to continue the site, one had the original design, but didn't have downloads for the games, because it was run by some Western guy who was afraid of the law. The other one had its own design but did have all the downloads. Either site failed to catch on.

Thanks again for the info.

As I said, my memory of the end of the site is vague and I also didn't visit it regularly before that.
Since you were an active member of HOTU at that time, I am pretty sure, that your version of the story is correct.

 

[Hagashager]

I remember when Yahtzee was just a random poster at the Home of the Underdogs forums. Unkillable Cat and rezaf will probably remember as well. He stayed true to his nickname throughout.
There was no other social media back then, and AFAIK that was the only place where he promoted his stuff when he first started out.
He started with a website that had the tagline "Where laughter goes to die". I remember thinking that the guy has talent back then, there was some really funny stuff on it. Also, the tagline was just great, which is why I remember it. It was one of the very few "random website by a random guy" (which was basically all websites back then) that I visited regularly. Unfortunately I can't remember the url, I'd like to look at it on archive.org. IIRC HotU putting his first game "Six days a stranger" on its front page was the only promotion he ever got.
He also got his first girlfriend from the forums and they moved in together, but they separated shortly before he got his job at the Escapist.

Yeah, I remember the Stroppy Git.

When he did his first 'Age of Evil'-episode for Duke Nukem 3D, he named me as an inspiration for him to continue with the next two episodes.

He'll survive this. If he could survive his first girlfriend, he can survive anything.

As for the website, is it this one?

Isn't he married with a kid now?

 

[Ebonsword]

I remember when Yahtzee was just a random poster at the Home of the Underdogs forums. Unkillable Cat and rezaf will probably remember as well. He stayed true to his nickname throughout.
There was no other social media back then, and AFAIK that was the only place where he promoted his stuff when he first started out.
He started with a website that had the tagline "Where laughter goes to die". I remember thinking that the guy has talent back then, there was some really funny stuff on it. Also, the tagline was just great, which is why I remember it. It was one of the very few "random website by a random guy" (which was basically all websites back then) that I visited regularly. Unfortunately I can't remember the url, I'd like to look at it on archive.org. IIRC HotU putting his first game "Six days a stranger" on its front page was the only promotion he ever got.
He also got his first girlfriend from the forums and they moved in together, but they separated shortly before he got his job at the Escapist.

Yeah, I remember the Stroppy Git.

When he did his first 'Age of Evil'-episode for Duke Nukem 3D, he named me as an inspiration for him to continue with the next two episodes.

He'll survive this. If he could survive his first girlfriend, he can survive anything.

As for the website, is it this one?

Isn't he married with a kid now?

Yahtzee? Yes, he's married with two kids.

 

[:Flash:]

(...)
That's not how I remember it. She posted less and less regularly on the forums, and also updated the main site less and less.
The site changed domain names twice, because she forgot to pay the provider and the url was registered by domaingrabbers. At that time she still put it up on a different domain twice. The writing was on the wall for a long time and there was a thread on the forum "where shall we go once this site goes down for good".
When the site went down for the last time (due to some technical problems, IIRC), she made the entire database and source code available for download (which proves that nothing bad happened to her).
There were two attempts to continue the site, one had the original design, but didn't have downloads for the games, because it was run by some Western guy who was afraid of the law. The other one had its own design but did have all the downloads. Either site failed to catch on.

What about the website that exists today here? Is it the one run by some western guy as you mention?

I don't know, it's possible. I haven't been following it for a long time. Although in the beginning the replacement website did have the "Gamehost reviews" still up, this one doesn't.

 

[Zboj Lamignat]

The day I read/hear a story like that where the fired dude behaves like an adult and owns up to at least part of the blame is the day that hell freezes over.

 

[Haba]

Looking at the number of tranny flags and gay flags people there are waving, I think I'll refrain from involving me any further in this matter.

 

[Alex]

Looking at the number of tranny flags and gay flags people there are waving, I think I'll refrain from involving me any further in this matter.

I think the people rating his post with the troon flag are saying the company shot itself.

 

[jaekl]

If enough people start using gay flags to insult eachother, then they'll naturally morph into symbols of hatred which would be one of the funniest things of all time.

 

[911 Jumper]

 

[Fedora Master]

Trans Lifeline, the known scammers

 

[Tyrr]

People are angry? Just donate some money for the trannies.

 

[ferratilis]

He's back.

 

[9ted6]

Yahtzee hasn't been funny since even before he went woke.

 

[Elttharion]

A lifeline is a safety feature on a boat, a rope that either protects you from falling off or that you can throw to someone who's drowning

Says it wants to save trannies.
Gives them a rope.

 

[911 Jumper]

]

A lifeline is a safety feature on a boat, a rope that either protects you from falling off or that you can throw to someone who's drowning

Says it wants to save trannies.
Gives them a rope.

Lol
Hogwarts Legacy was released in February, so The Escapist's fundraiser must have been in response to all those trannies who were supposedly feeling suicidal because people were buying the game and declaring their support for JK Rowling.

I still remember when the guys at Digital Foundry, John Linneman in particular, refused to say JK Rowling's name during a podcast episode where they were discussing why the DF tech analysis for Hogwarts would be delayed. It was all so pathetic and childlike.

 

[Axel_am]

Yahtzee hasn't been funny since even before he went woke.

It's show business. Everybody's woke there.

 

[ArchAngel]

Yes, he's a Gen-X liberal, just like all your favorite developers.

So right wing Nazi in modern times!

 

[Skinwalker]

Sounds fairly reasonable to me, what's the problem with this poast?

 

[Tyrr]

Sounds fairly reasonable to me, what's the problem with this poast?

 

[Skinwalker]

Sounds fairly reasonable to me, what's the problem with this poast?

You're right, we should have a tranny flag reaction on the codex as well!

 

[Zed Duke of Banville]

Sounds fairly reasonable to me, what's the problem with this poast?

You're right, we should have a tranny flag reaction on the codex as well!

DU: "I always figured Lady_Error's as much of a woman as Theo is." https://rpgcodex.net/forums/threads/why-was-rusty_shackleford-banned.146085/post-8350054

Crispy: "I mean you're a guy calling yourself a lady. lol" https://rpgcodex.net/forums/threads/what-is-wrong-with-germans-codex-examples.146223/#post-8354226 (second-to-last post on first page)

Crispy: "To be fair I got mad at Lady Error when he used my real name here once." https://rpgcodex.net/forums/threads/what-the-hell.148362/post-8685239

Someone Has Issues

 

[9ted6]

Sounds fairly reasonable to me, what's the problem with this poast?

You're right, we should have a tranny flag reaction on the codex as well!

And this post gets the first one

 

[Andronovo]

Yahtzee's a libtard and a kind of sucks at games... but he's actually decent at making them. I highly recommend Trilby's Notes to anyone who enjoys the horror adventure game genre.