ClosingADoor
Member
Wait, that stuff isn't automated? That seems like a lot of unnecessary work.
"Save Our SIFTD"
- Thread starter Gigarator
- Start date
Immortal Technique
Member
It couldn't be automated. Each article is categorized in multiple ways to be processed into peoples' feeds correctly. Also, articles that are duplicates of others, or just articles that are utter crap, are tossed out. Automation can't do that.
Bad* automation can't do that.
Immortal Technique
Member
Please tell us how you would leverage GOOGLE to replicate what SIFTD does. I'm sure we'll all learn a lot.
LordBaztion
Member
As someone who weekly watchs Pachter Factor on youtube, I don't know what SIFTD offers. Many times I've thought to support their site because of Pachter but I think it's too expensive for a service I barely understand.
For the record, I signed for the 3 month free trial and, to be honest, I didn't go back to revisit their site after my sign in. For forums I have GAF and there are many others podcast out there. I suppose SIFTD's podcast is good and with good insight but I don't think it worths the asking price.
Anyway, besst wishes to Shane and co. Hopefully they will change their model and make it more like GT on it's best days.
For the record, I signed for the 3 month free trial and, to be honest, I didn't go back to revisit their site after my sign in. For forums I have GAF and there are many others podcast out there. I suppose SIFTD's podcast is good and with good insight but I don't think it worths the asking price.
Anyway, besst wishes to Shane and co. Hopefully they will change their model and make it more like GT on it's best days.
Hindsight is 20/20
This is a clip back from May 2016. It echos a lot of the feedback he's getting now about the Patreon model, but something that really sticks out to me is how he claims all the successful GT shows came from him. Irksome.
https://vimeo.com/226931669
This is a clip back from May 2016. It echos a lot of the feedback he's getting now about the Patreon model, but something that really sticks out to me is how he claims all the successful GT shows came from him. Irksome.
https://vimeo.com/226931669
OdysseusVA
Banned
If anyone caught a bit of the stream last night they should immediately pick up on the problem with the person running things. No amount of feedback will change his mind, instead its "I just need this much more money"
To put it simply:
Once you're in the position where you are asking people for more money and just need a "few" thousand more people to join your website...you're already screwed.
Without a major change in goals or the way the business is run, SIFTD might as well already be declared dead. If Shane wants the website to survive he cannot afford to be stubborn about this. Unfortunately, as much as I've enjoyed his content over the years, being stubborn is kind of his thing.
Once you're in the position where you are asking people for more money and just need a "few" thousand more people to join your website...you're already screwed.
Without a major change in goals or the way the business is run, SIFTD might as well already be declared dead. If Shane wants the website to survive he cannot afford to be stubborn about this. Unfortunately, as much as I've enjoyed his content over the years, being stubborn is kind of his thing.
That must be incredibly frustrating for supporters to watch. If someone asked me for money, then told me they weren't going to be transparent with it because it indicates that I don't trust them, proceed to burn through that money and go further into debt, and then come back later asking for more money, I would have absolutely zero patience with that person.
Again, the impression I get is that he is really passionate about making content and can crank it out on a consistent basis. There are existing platforms that will enable him to focus on what he loves and allow people to view and support that work. At that point someone could start small, grow organically based on the successes and learn from the failures.
I really don't mean to trivialize the challenges involved or to make it sound like I know better than the person running their own business, but there seems to be a path to success that leverages his strengths that isn't being taken advantage of. Clearly I'm missing something.
BlastProcessing
Member
Watching that video, it's really easy to see how things went south and really hard to see how things could turn around.
That was just brutal.
This is so fucking ridiculous. He's like, "Oh so like a Kickstarter or Patreon? We'd have to build that ourselves. I don't see that ever happening" ......Completely ignoring the two fucking companies he JUST mentioned.
Holundrian
Unconfirmed Member
MajinSweet4
Member
Yeah, I literally face palmed at that part. Like wow.
He's too hung up on the whole "But those sites take a 5% cut!" Which is a really stupid way of thinking...
You gotta ask yourself... What is better, losing 5% and have a (potentially) successful website or do it all yourself and completely destroy both your quality of life and your personal savings?
Again and again, it goes back to his hubris and ego conflicting with the well being of his startup business.
That's a truly aggravating video to watch. Shane reminds me a lot of Victor Lucas. He had a really good thing going for a good long time, but is stuck in his ways, and has no idea how to adapt to such a fluid market in an agile way. Shane just isn't great at taking feedback. He might say he is (or maybe he even believes he is), but at his core he thinks he knows the best way to do things, despite all forms of evidence showing he may not have all the answers.
This makes me midly curious to know his true thoughts about Easy Allies. That last comment shows that there's at least a little bit of resentment under the hood regarding their success.
Hmmm I feel like Victor has doing fine for a while now? Granted I admit I haven't been following I'm closely lately.
dickroach
Member
well yeah, every show at Gametrailers was his idea, so they're just coasting off what he made
I don't follow too closely either, but after his tv shows were cancelled, he seemed to focus primarily on YouTube. Except he didn't change the content structure at all in that shift, so he's been putting out a lot of segments that don't really fit the YouTube audience as well as they fit a TV audience, and the channel growth shows. He averages about 30 subs and 7K video views a day, which is fucking brutal. I'm sure he has other business ventures, but he ain't making any money from YouTube.
I don't know enough about the specifics of that to speak to it, but I don't think anyone's watching Easy Allies for their innovative content ideas. It's 90% just various degrees of let's plays and podcasts (neither of which Shane invented haha). People just like the Easy Allies crew more, and want to support them. Maybe Shane just isn't as big a name as he likes to think he is.
100% of an unsustainable crumb is much worse than 95% of a potential feast. Patreon also allows the biggest fans to donate much more than the static subscription price. It gives people the opportunity to adjust as they need to from month to month if spare cash is tight. It allows far more flexibility and makes it easier for people to give money. These are all good things. It should be as trivial as possible for people who enjoy your content to give you money, especially if you really need that money to survive.
Exactly. I see zero drawbacks to using Patreon.
"They take 5%" isn't a valid excuse when potential earnings could be more than SIFTD's current subscription revenue. As long as 95% of your Patreon total is more than SIFTD's monthly revenue, then Patreon was a success.
PanicFreak
Member
Brandon Jones just guest hosted the Gameface podcast. There wasn't any animosity.
I wonder if Shane is worried Brandon will steal the Gameface idea
I just watched the summit and I have to say, if Shane knew how to run a business, why is he asking his audience to vote, "by pressing 1 for Yes, 2 for No" in Twitch chat to help him decide on important business decisions? I don't believe he ever had to hold this sort of audience vote when he ran GameTrailers.
Shane's target audience has already "voted with their dollar" resulting in the handful of paid subscribers that he has now. He should be listening to that "vote" and pivoting on business models from that learning rather than the opinions of those who are already bought in.
Sebastian Suola
Member
I like that guy (Shane). He's really stubborn and wants to do things his own way. I love people like that. He's the type who can either succeed wildly or fail miserably. I hope he makes it 
I'm one of those people who watch the Pachter show on Youtube, but never visit the main site. I would probably like his podcast and other shows, but I'm not going to pay $4 a month for those shows blindly when I have so much free content waiting for me that I don't even have time for. That's a big problem...
I'm one of those people who watch the Pachter show on Youtube, but never visit the main site. I would probably like his podcast and other shows, but I'm not going to pay $4 a month for those shows blindly when I have so much free content waiting for me that I don't even have time for. That's a big problem...
I'm gonna need to see receipts for this. The most popular & consistent content at the time of GT's closure was things like Final Bosman (Kyle's idea), GT Podcast (first started by 1upShow), Mandatory Update (pioneered by someone, can't remember the name, definitely isn't Shane), and Huber Hype (Huber's idea). The only other things I'm not sure about are Tabletop Adventures, Let's go to the Trailers, Retrospectives, and Pop Fiction. All those things transitioned into the content EZA now produces. I find it hard to believe Shane was the brains behind all that.
Foldedpencil
Banned
I have heard Shane's please for at least a year now, and every time I initially feel like I should help support him, but then I think through it and I don't see any real value for myself. If I did it, it would be more of a charity thing than a service thing. But that is also how his sales pitch usually goes...
Novel Mike
Member
Jesus I know Shane is arrogant has hell and always has been but this was another level.
I'll repeat what I said before, he needs a freaking reality check hes not gods gift to creating internet content and the longer he keeps up this arrogance the worse off he will be. If he was anywhere near as good as he seems to think he is IGN 'taking' content that he 'created' wouldn't have been a problem because he would have found a way to make it better then anything they could have produced. He wouldn't have to have an excuse for literally every problem hes faced.
Living the Dream
Member
lol at that video. Conceded indeed. Whole thing deserves to fail.
"Yeah so that would require us to do work with our hands. So we aren't gonna do that"
Seriously?
"Yeah so that would require us to do work with our hands. So we aren't gonna do that"
Seriously?
Living the Dream
Member
Just listened to the latest Pactor Factor. Sounds like they're already winding down operations. It's weird that they would say something like this because it's even more discouraging to want to even sign up for their services...
LoveCake
Member
I only found out about this last night after watching the latest Pachter Factor on YouTube.
I have looked at SIFTD but not joined until now, I am going to have a look and I may well subscribe for the $4 a month (not sure if there is a exchange rate on PayPal) I don't know what original content is on there though yet.
I know a lot on here don't like Pachter for whatever reasons (I don't want to hear why either as this isn't the time or place) but he is from a different side of the industry and without him and his insight from the other side everyone will be that little bit poorer and less informed.
SIFTD is not all about Pachter Factor and I am going to see what there is there.
The issue is that people always want 'stuff' for free and the time is coming on the wild-west of the internet where advertising no longer pays the bills, I have been saying this for years do I block adverts on websites, no not on the sites I have joined and use all the time like GAF, but do these adverts that I do see make me want to buy something (the item/service/product being advertised) no, I know SIFTD don't have advertising but most sites do.
More and more things that are online people are going to have to start paying for and maybe one day even here on GAF there will be a donation or subscriber model.
I have looked at SIFTD but not joined until now, I am going to have a look and I may well subscribe for the $4 a month (not sure if there is a exchange rate on PayPal) I don't know what original content is on there though yet.
I know a lot on here don't like Pachter for whatever reasons (I don't want to hear why either as this isn't the time or place) but he is from a different side of the industry and without him and his insight from the other side everyone will be that little bit poorer and less informed.
SIFTD is not all about Pachter Factor and I am going to see what there is there.
The issue is that people always want 'stuff' for free and the time is coming on the wild-west of the internet where advertising no longer pays the bills, I have been saying this for years do I block adverts on websites, no not on the sites I have joined and use all the time like GAF, but do these adverts that I do see make me want to buy something (the item/service/product being advertised) no, I know SIFTD don't have advertising but most sites do.
More and more things that are online people are going to have to start paying for and maybe one day even here on GAF there will be a donation or subscriber model.
pentium486
Neo Member
This. Asking for "just a few thousand subscribers" does not remedy his general problem.
Where is the guarantee that this will fix things? Who says he won't be in the same problem in 1 or 2 years time? Even if that may be kind of a weird analogy, in general this plea reminds me of the druct addict who needs "just one more shot" before he will quit, but obviously never does.
It's not gonna work that way, and the sooner he realizes that himself and finds a solution, the better.
Wow! What a video link. If anyone needs proof why Siftd is in the position it's in let me give you 3 quotes that best exemplify Shane Satterfield's state of mind. Granted this was back in 2016. Let's hope time has given him a bit of a reality check since then.
When talking about setting up a clear pathway for where the money from the users was going towards:
About the SIFTD mantra:
About not doing what other "generic" websites are doing:
Finally a message on trust:
I don't want to say fuck this guy because I genuinely feel for him that things aren't working out. But if this stubborn, arrogant attitude of his doesn't change, Siftd as Shane said in that video "won't be doing them at all".
There's this part of him that wants to trail blaze i'm sure. Which is a great attitude to have in an industry full of copycats. But build an audience first. There's nothing worse than letting pride get in the way of making a business sustainable. I fear that Siftd's days are numbered if this is Shane's attitude regarding his business practices.
perfectsil
Member
I would support Pachter but I don't use siftd, can't Pachter just use a webcam and upload a weekly show on his own? I don't understand why that would need thousands of paid subscribers to support
The Dear Leader
Banned
Pachter needs to make his coins
NeOak
Member
Patcher doesn't get paid for the show.
ItsTheNew
I believe any game made before 1997 is "essentially cave man art."
They added on non pachter video on their YouTube. I guess uploading freebies of their premium shows was a no go.
Graphics Horse
Member
If michaelpachter wanted to do that there's nothing stopping him, but I think he'd prefer to have someone sift through the questions and take care of the video side.
Mikey Jr.
Member
Pachter doesn't need support.
He does it purely for Shane. If Siftd went away, Pachter goes away.
Immortal Technique
Member
They're working on their Patreon and modifying the web site in accordance.
HammerOfThor
Member
So I just watched the latest PF on YouTube, and he mentioned Sifted probably won't be around if they don't get more subscribers.
Where they able to get the subs?
Where they able to get the subs?
I don't think so. His whole strategy was basically just "beg for subs", which generally doesn't work very well.
Sorry to beat a dead horse but oh man this guy kinda dug his own grave.
'just uh... trust us with your money. I got this, we'll make something... I guess?' MYSTERY CONTENT.
I tried a free sub a while back and the only thing I ended up enjoying was Pactor Factor.
Imagine Amazon was on the verge on closing down (stay with me here). They say "give us $4/month, and we'll continue to give you that one show you like to watch. Oh, and a mystery box, maybe." No promises on that box, or what's inside.
Nah.
This day and age, there has to be transparency in what your core members are buying.
Setting goal for your community gives them reason to support you more.
'just uh... trust us with your money. I got this, we'll make something... I guess?' MYSTERY CONTENT.
I tried a free sub a while back and the only thing I ended up enjoying was Pactor Factor.
Imagine Amazon was on the verge on closing down (stay with me here). They say "give us $4/month, and we'll continue to give you that one show you like to watch. Oh, and a mystery box, maybe." No promises on that box, or what's inside.
Nah.
This day and age, there has to be transparency in what your core members are buying.
Setting goal for your community gives them reason to support you more.
Yeah, the notion that he wants to keep things under wraps because IGN will steal his ideas is hilarious, and mind-blowingly arrogant.
Immortal Technique
Member
Uh, no. If you only like one show , that's you and probably doesn't justify a sub and that's fine, but he's not selling subs on the basis of one show.
To reiterate, SIFTD is working on launching a Patreon. How well that does will make or break, most likely. Shane has noted that there has been an increase in subs, but the Patreon will still need to do well.
Pachter Factor is shot in batches about once a month, so the new ep on YouTube was recorded before the decision to switch to Patreon and such.
Takes a while to redo the site's account system to function with Patreon so the members' donations reflect properly on the site. And the site will not have a monthly subscription anymore after the Patreon is live, so I don't know where you got that idea to begin with.
Takes a while to redo the site's account system to function with Patreon so the members' donations reflect properly on the site. And the site will not have a monthly subscription anymore after the Patreon is live, so I don't know where you got that idea to begin with.
Patrick Young
Member
I think Michael Pachter alone could get more patrons than SIFTD.