Adventure Gamers - Forums

Is anyone here following Jack Allin’s new adventures, or am the only one who didn’t know about this new adventure-themed website/youtube channel with a cumbersome name where he moved along with most of the old AG team? In fact I was sure Jack left gaming journalism and the rest were just too preoccupied with 2022. Turns out they restarted AG under a different name. They also took this old annual feature with them. It’s as nice as always, with Jack making the intro speech:

The new site itself doesn’t feel too cozy or functional to me (although the same could be said about adventuregamers’ current SAD state), and it seems like they have no forums or other means of communication, only a youtube channel where they post podcasts. What they have is quality writing. And while I actually enjoyed the latest (translated) review of Pentiment, AG’s reviews by several new authors in general, well, left a lot to be desired. Well, that’s what happened.

Not sure how I feel about it, in fact I hate those kind of splits, especially in such tiny communities (I feel equally bad about Advie, Vegetable and some other old members leaving the forums during 2022 for different reasons — missing you, guys, what a shitty year!). Nobody ever wins from it: the quality of AG dropped dramatically during 2022, to the point I stopped using the front page, while it seems like this new project generated very little interest. This video, for example, is 8 days old and has only 424 views, and the rest didn’t even cross the 100 mark.

Thanks a lot for posting this, Doom. I had no idea Jackal had started another adventure game site.

Interesting post. Makes me wonder whether Jack’s departure was as amicable as he professed in his good-bye message. FWIW VP is still around, although rarely seen. I miss Advie as well. Pushing the boundaries seemed to be his goal. Paraphrasing Santayana, those who fail to learn from past mistakes are doomed to repeat them. That seems to fit Advie’s modus.

Jack’s narrative seems to indicate that he wants to create an alternate AG. When he left, I and others wished him success with his future endeavors. If his future endeavor is to put AG out of business, which seems to be the case, I retract my wish for his success.

I don’t see how this turns out well for Jack.

I don’t know why Advie is gone but his AG page doesn’t exist anymore and that’s sad.   

It’s certainly true that a lot of people left this year. Like Adv_Lvr, who was a prolific poster and then disappeared without a word. Anybody know why? I hope he’s okay, doesn’t seem like something he would do. I visited Adventure Game Hotspot’s discord and noticed familiar names. But I’m not a discord person, I’ll stick to the podcasts and news.

Advie will be back… I hope. I mean, it’s Advie! Adventurere no 1!!!

As for Adventure Game Hotspot, I don’t see any problems with having 1 more adventure-themed website. I think it’s all good for the genre. I remember when it was the biggest crisis of adventure games in 2000’s, there was a large number of adventure websites, like this one, Just Adventure+, Gameboomers, Adventure Lantern, Mr. Bill’s Adventure Land, Tap Repeatedly, Adventure Point…  and they all acted in keeping the spark. I’m scared too look out how many of them are still alive.

rtrooney - 01 January 2023 10:18 PM

If his future endeavor is to put AG out of business, which seems to be the case, I retract my wish for his success.

I really doubt he wanted to harm AG, looks like there was just no other way around for him. I feel dizzy even thinking about how much nerves and resources one needs to launch a whole new niche non-commercial website of this scope in 2022… Is it really worth it? Unless he somehow managed to attract some rich investors — which doesn’t seem to be the case. I just hope both sites will end up uniting before something bad happens.

diego - 02 January 2023 10:32 AM

As for Adventure Game Hotspot, I don’t see any problems with having 1 more adventure-themed website. I think it’s all good for the genre. I remember when it was the biggest crisis of adventure games in 2000’s, there was a large number of adventure websites, like this one, Just Adventure+, Gameboomers, Adventure Lantern, Mr. Bill’s Adventure Land, Tap Repeatedly, Adventure Point…  and they all acted in keeping the spark. I’m scared too look out how many of them are still alive.

Gameboomers was alive and kicking last time I visited it. The rest are dead I think And I’m not sure that the team of best authors leavening the best-known adventure site is the start of something good. Those earlier sites were launched simultaneously (more or less), and those were simpler times. Today it’s all about commerce. JA+, once the most powerful adventure portal, was turned into a god-awful adventure store which lasted like 1-2 years? before being abandoned.

But regarding other adventure places, I’ve been reading this blog recently which is mended by Jimmy Maher, a long-time IF fan, and it’s simply amazing! Full of longreads that explore adventure (and non-adventure) games in great detail, with stories behind them, in-depth analytics, interviews with industry veterans, quotes from old game mags, tons of references, etc. Learned so much from it, truly an epic read that few professional gaming sites ever managed to pull off.

Mystery Manor is still alive and kicking.

Lady Kestrel - 02 January 2023 03:26 PM

Mystery Manor is still alive and kicking.

Oh, yes, lovely Mystery Manor!

I’ve written a few reviews (and will continue to write more) for AGHS. I have no idea why Jack left AG, and I never asked. In all of my communications with him, and in the course of listening to all of the AGHS podcasts, I never heard an acrimonious word about Adventure Gamers. Maybe he just wanted to move on and create something that would be his? I dunno.

I always did find it strange that no announcement about AGHS was ever made on these forums. Our hobby in general is such a niche, you’d expect any quality new podcast or website to make some ripples.

The website is a little unpleasant to navigate, but it’s worth taking the time; the writing is pretty good. I find the audio side more worthwhile than the written side, though, since I’m much more interested in hearing views than reading reviews, and in audio dialogues over written monologues.

Baron_Blubba, one thing is moving on, but taking 90% of creative force behind AG with him to create an alternative AG is something else I think. I’m not the one to judge, I just don’t want to witness the demise of my favourite website because Jack and Ivo had a falling out.

Karlok - 02 January 2023 07:40 AM

I don’t know why Advie is gone but his AG page doesn’t exist anymore and that’s sad.   

It’s certainly true that a lot of people left this year. Like Adv_Lvr, who was a prolific poster and then disappeared without a word. Anybody know why? I hope he’s okay, doesn’t seem like something he would do. I visited Adventure Game Hotspot’s discord and noticed familiar names. But I’m not a discord person, I’ll stick to the podcasts and news.

Advie seriously pushed some confrontation boundaries and was repeatedly warned to knock it off. This wasn’t the first time. Only the latest. I believe he was asked to take a sabbatical of unknown duration. This happened shortly before Jack’s departure. Maybe he found a new home.

I also didn’t notice Adv-Lvr’s, aka mikelly (sp?) departure. In addition to being a prolific contributor, he also led several CPTs. Now I’m curious as to what caused the departure. It could be something as simple as getting a different job that didn’t allow for AG time. I hope that’s the case.

Months ago I said something about Adv-Lvr’s, aka mikelly. Last login in Mystery Manor was Tue Mar 22, 2022.

On an unrelated to the last posts, but very much on-topic note: is it just me or does Robert Holmes look like the sweetest guy imaginable?

Glad to hear from you, Jack.
I wish you all the best in your latest enterprise.

P.S. Thank you very much for the Christmas video.

Hey, Jack, great to hear from you!

My words shouldn’t be taken literally, of course I didn’t mean that you ordered everyone to follow you, or that you bribed them, or whatever) I’ve no doubt that former AG authors would rather work with you rather than a new editor with his new vision (I still have no idea what Ivo’s vision is). In fact I was in the same boat many years ago (spoiler: it turned up bad for both sides), why I’m even more concerned about all this happening behind our backs, as well as the website’s future. New forums would certainly escalate the situation.

That said, I wish good luck to you and all your crew, I will be certainly reading your articles, they are the the cream of the crop. I also listened to some of your podcasts. In one of them you mentioned that you had yet to meet a single negative comment about Perfect Tides. Well, here’s one negative review written back in March.