Hello loyal, long-time users and readers of JiG. I come back to you again asking for your help and support. The situation of JayIsGames is critical, with a lack of funds to maintain the servers hosting the whole site: 11k reviews and 5k games since 2003.
You can mainly help us with two actions:
-pledge money using Patreon or Paypal. Every month we have fewer Patrons who unfortunately pledge less money. We were around $900 a month one year ago and we are now at $480. As you know, every contribution is appreciated and give some privileges with beautiful badges. You can see more details there: https://www.patreon.com/user?u=915465
-contribute by writing reviews for games you played and enjoyed recently. We work with a Google doc so it's very easy. One year ago we had more than 25 persons who wanted to write. They did awesome work and I really want to thank them for all the time devoted to JiG. Unfortunately we have now only Chrpa and Arceus who continue to contribute actively. I want to thank them too for their loyalty. So we need new writers/reviewers, or maybe some of them who are already in the list and read this message might want to help more now.
I'm open to other suggestions, ideas (even change of ownership) in order to help the site reach a broader audience. We created a forum ( https://jayisgames.com/forum/ ) to promote discussion on all games (not only the games which were reviewed). So please feel free to use it to discuss the games you like, don't like, games where you need help etc. The JiG community is a 14 year old community. It would be a shame to have to change the name to Jay Is Dead.
Thanks in advance.
In all honesty, and take this constructively, JIG has been dead for a much longer time than just recent years.
At the top of the page, it states "We review only the best", but that in fact is not even close to true anymore. JIG used to review only the best. But now, JIG has become a link dump to advertise every mechanically cranked out game there is available on the web, not "the best".
There is only so much you can say about every escape game that gets pumped out. Click a few poorly drawn objects, put together a widget, and boom, you can now move the curtain in the window to reveal an odd symbol. The market has become so saturated with these crude representations of a "game" that it's hard to care. I understand if JIG wants to advertise every game out there, but one, they are certainly not "the best", and two, they don't need 20+ writers to flower them. Post a link. Job's done.
Then there's the paid games, which in my personal opinion, are what started the death of this site. I understand everybody wants to get paid and the paid games probably spend a little money to get advertised here, but this site used to be about casual games, the games that were free that I could play on my lunch break. When this site first started, I could easily lose myself for hours playing the games listed here. But then it became mostly paid downloads and installations, and I stopped caring really quickly. And again, these games don't need pages of flowery content to describe the mechanized content of a point and click adventure or hidden objects game.
Lastly, and I know there are going to be some strong opinions, but I think the game design competitions burned everyone out. Annually, they were a great idea. But then they got to be multiple competitions a year, and started advertising them before the previous one had even ended. Instead of focusing on quality games, developers just developed more crap on top of more crap, hoping that one goes viral and bags them the prize.
It is hard to want to give money to a blog that has, over the years, acquired other avenues of revenue, through ads, paid games, and big name commercial supporters, but has somehow not been able to manage it. According to the patreon page's goals, my dollars are going to go to more of the same, so the end result will unfortunately be the same, and my money wasted. I don't want more games reviewed, I want less. I want to come to JIG and click on any game blindly and know that someone did the work of finding a diamond in the rough for me.
I really enjoyed this site, back when it was a personal blog and not a corporate business seemingly somehow intent on making millions off of a flood of games developed in a day. I still come here (clearly) because I'm hoping for some resurrection. It's not an easy conversation to have, but I sincerely hope this isn't taken personally and JIG is able to grow from this.
Thank you for taking time in writing a detailed comment.
Obviously everyone has his own opinion and if I had some skills in predicting the future maybe some things would have been different.
I need to correct you about an important point: from the beginning of the site, most of the revenues come from ads.
We have never received money to write on a game even if it was a paid game. When it was a paid game (mainly from Steam and a bit from BigFish) we bought it. And you know there is no commission with Steam so it was really a game we liked and we wanted to share the experience.
We have already discussed about the business model of the site: free content vs ads. Adblockers killed this business model and we are not the only site which meets financial problems while some of them have already closed the door.
Hi there! For years, I have enjoyed coming to JayIsGames to find games I would have otherwise not found elsewhere. I read this post and would love to contribute. I'm not sure where to start. Help? :)
Hello Sharakin thank you for your offer. You can contribute with money using Patreon (the url is in the post) or with time if you like to write :)
Sorry for not being able to pay for Patreon, and I hate to sound negative. But realistically and honestly, this Patreon revival attempt does not look like it's working. :(
If I had infinite money, I'd gladly pay the price though. Since I was a huge fan of this site for years.
I'd say the internet moving on from free Flash games/tech to paid Steam games is the biggest factor. Times are changing. :(
Hi there,
I have never been a member of Jayisgames, however I have few ideas:
1. We have a browser-based game, which you can add to your site and earn a % from purchases made by your users. Also you can place your ads next to the game.
2. As an individual I have a web server for my own sites. I could probably provide you with a cheaper hosting. But I don't understand what engine you are using on this site. And how many daily users you actually have and if I can host that amount.
I haven't been on jayisgames for a while because I mostly lost interest in games, but there are some interesting games that i've played which have been overlooked thus far on this site, and I'd love to write at least a few reviews, if I come across something I like. I have one particular thing in mind that I played a few days ago and would love to let more people know about.
I also have some constructive criticism as well. Please don't take any of this as an attack, I'm really trying to help here, and give you at least my point of view.
As mentioned, the Patreon clearly isn't working. I don't think it will. I think the reason for it has to do with the rewards.
If you get $1800/month...everything will stay exactly like it is? This, to me, is a problem (explained below).
If you get $5000/month...you'll remove two ads? The part about paying writers more (which, I recall, was the subject of some controversy a while back) seems moot, since from what I've gathered, everything here is a volunteer effort these days.
The site in general seems to have lost interest in reviewing certain types of games. I think it is true that there are fewer and fewer of them so that they're harder to find, but other sites usually manage to come up with three or four unique and/or interesting games a week (e.g. Bonte, who doesn't even do real reviews). As an example, from June 21-July 21, there was exactly one game (Yellow) reviewed that wasn't an escape game. Out of a total of six reviews. Taking the same period from 2013, I count 108 reviews, 6 of which look like escape games (I'm not going to look at all those reviews to confirm).
So we invest, and then get...more of the same. Some of us don't really like escape games, or would also like to see something else, as comments elsewhere on the site indicate. What does the site offer us? Frankly, there's no incentive to give you money, because we don't like what we're seeing so far, and there's no promise that an influx of money will change it. Quite the opposite, in fact; any influx, reading from the goals, would actually just entrench this site further into not changing anything.
I understand that it's (I think) a volunteer effort, and that's great. Review what you like! That's what I would do. But you have to acknowledge (and I think this post does) that this model isn't working, and hasn't for a while now. To quote Steven King (and other commenters above me), "the world has moved on", but this site hasn't.
You seem to need a new business model. Even if readership triples, it seems clear that relying on ads and Patreon isn't going to pay the bills. What are some revenue streams you could tap into? Partnerships? Sponsored articles? Membership? Paywalls?
But for anything to work, you need to get people back here. My impression is that there aren't many anymore. If I'm wrong, disregard the rest of this paragraph (I'd love to be wrong!) I think the problem is that this site appears to have been on autopilot so long that it's going to be very hard to get people interested again. For example, the forums is a good idea, but it doesn't seem to work on my browser.
Anyway, speaking only for myself, you won't get my money unless I can see that something is going to change. Maybe the site needs a reboot. Maybe a rebranding. Include Steam games. Showcase older games (with 11,000, I imagine there are many that a lot of people haven't seen).
But I can't in good conscience invest (and it is investing, where the reward is entertainment) in something that just doesn't work.
Maybe I'm wrong. I hope so! I wouldn't write to much if I wasn't interested. It would be wonderful if we could see more variety, more reviews, more of what we came to this site initially to see. And if/when that happens, I'll gladly contribute.
@cams:
We reviewed some Steam games in the latest months. Rebecca did an awesome work with detailed reviews (for instance: The Witness https://jayisgames.com/review/the-witness.php ). Unfortunately, for personal reasons, she can't write for the moment. It's hard to find the right balance when some readers would prefer steam games (so paid games) and others make complains if we do too much reviews of paid games.
@tennisers:
Thank you for the offer. Please send an email to: contact AT jayisgames DOT com and I will share with you our Google Doc.
@argyblarg:
Thank you for taking the time to write a detailed comment.
Well, I feel in your comment you are a business man. I have no problems with that but when you say 'we invest and so what?' I don't think that $5 per month is something we can consider as an invest. Sometimes you can just give little money to see the things you like (or you liked) to be still there. The site has tons of comments, tons of great games and moreover has been a place where people loved to visit and spent hours. It's good to keep that. I perfectly understand 'the world has moved on' (and will continue to move so how to know if you are part of the move or not?) and we did not move as fast as we should. But I'm sure there is a room to see this site still alive. Again about Steam: there is not an affiliate program so we never got revenues from the games we reviewed or will review.
My post is to try to earn what we earned with Patreon so around $800 and to try to find new writers. In any way I will be rich with the site. I spend my money every month to keep it alive.
You said 'the world has moved on'. It's true but sometimes people come back to what they like(d). I have a perfect example with vinyl records. The tech was close to be dead and now the numbers of the sales are just incredible. So I keep some hopes!
Just a few thoughts.
I think JiG covers most of good escape games (frankly, it's more difficult to find enough postable games than miss any nowadays).
What JiG doesn't cover are puzzle and platform games, and it would be great if someone who plays them could recommend good ones. Some of them are short but good, so maybe something like Weekday Escape, 3-4 games in one post.
Also mobile games are not covered at all. These are really many. Some old developers moved exclusively from PC games to mobile games (e.g. 58works, mygames888) and there are many others! Many games for mobile are free and perfect for casual gaming. It would be great to revive Mobile Monday! And some games deserve separate posts (like new Dooors 5 from 58works). JiG really need some expert on mobile gaming!
I don't think that casual gaming is dead. It's changing and we, players, are changing too. I believe there is enough content for JiG, but it's more like puzzle, one piece here and another there; not one miraculous source of fantastic games not discovered yet.
Is it possible to give you money without using Patreon ?
My point though was that it's quicker and easier to check out free online Flash games. Rather than paying and downloading bigger Steam games. Even if it's a free Steam game too. At least that's how it is for me.
Hello JIG team,
since everyone is sharing their opinions and views, I thought I will add another one - mine.
I have found JIG back in 2004 or so and it was a miracle back then - between sites which just linked thousands of low quality games you had to dig through for quality content, this one shined since it highlighted the gems worth playing.
It occupied a firm place in my bookmark bar and I returned to it every week to find something new and unique. I was in full "I have to play everything these guys review" mode back then.
When the site added "escape days" and started reviewing paid games, I still stuck with you even though I have no interest in either of those - there was plenty of other content and I just went to more picky mode of choosing what to play. Those were probably the best days of the site - lots of content, something to pick for everyone, contests, discussions and lots of life here.
However as the host of developers shifted from Flash to mobile (which is now the platform suffering from a boatload of copy & paste low quality titles), the amount of great content here dwindled (and so did my interest).
(The dip into "mobile games" back then was a nice one too, but it did not prove as succesful as the flash games for the site and there are now plenty of other sites to fill in this niche - I do not think this is the way to go for you guys...but I might be wrong)
Add to that other things like cheap steam games, humble bundles and the thing that I now have more money and less time (yay parenthood!) and I went into full "lurker" mode a couple of years ago.
I support you guys on Patreon for old times sake and I still visit, but at current time, I do so out of habit and I hardly ever play anything from your reviews. For new games, I have other sites that matured in the meantime (Newgrounds, Kongregate).
I turn to this site when I half-remember some game and cannot find it and sometimes also dvelve into your archives by the means of tags and recommendations and discover long lost classics I love to return to, but that is about it.
I do not have any recommendations to you guys and I do not see any way out of this - I think the time has passed and unless you find completely new niche or someone to give this site new passion, it will end up a silent library of old classic flash titles.
Hope you guys manage to give this site new life or at least keep it running as a memento of the good old times when Flash was the king of casual gaming :)
Best,
gASK
I hate giving advice to someone who needs support but since I've already given my support via patreon, I'll say a word or two about how I see the future of my favorite gaming blog.
First, even though the browser gaming has been in decline for a while, there are so many good mobile and steam games around you don't have a line about. And your readers need your reviews since the mobile gaming has become a pile of garbage where it is almost impossible to find anything decent. Thus I believe you could do a really nice job there. What we as your readers actually need is a weekly link dump of titles worth spending our time on, both paid and free. One for mobile games, maybe one for steam, yet another for browser. I believe you may still provide plenty of content even if you lack reviewers to write the big quality articles as Dora used to.
Second, you need a nice big banner for the adblockers to ask them to add your site to the exceptions so you get some more money to keep the thing running. Of course there should be no reasons to put the ad shields back on :)
Lastly, you have to come up with a way and an incentive (maybe a kind of kudos?) for your loyal readers to supply you with the titles they liked. Even though many of us have come of age and spend less time on gaming, we still do it sometimes and are desperate for some quality casual games. If we come across some decent stuff then why not share it with others using the site we used to have so much fun with? The place hasn't been very community-driven to my mind, and there should be a clear way to help you not only with money but also with content. Not many people have that much spare time, effort and talent to write a nice big review for you so you have to sidestep the need for big ones and tap into the community for those little contributions it can provide. The forum or a facebook group might help you with this.
So guys, please keep going! Agreed, you probably have to change the way you run this place. But JiG still has its future as long as there are great games to discover and loyal readers still visiting you once a month or two just waiting for you to revive.
Regards, your fan from Russia.
Agreed!
Btw, the forum doesn't work ("you have no rights to post") and the game submission form by the link in the bottom of the page says it no longer accepts submissions. Franky it is the first time I saw the link even it was around probably for years. No wonder it didn't help you much.
I don't want to see my favorite site disappear so I just sent $15 by Patreon. Of course I spend less time than before but I still like a lot to play old games. For me JiG is like a Library when you have time you can dig into. No matter for me if it's a recent game or an old one: there are tons of good games which deserve to be played or played again. A bit like a good movie you watch again.
Just my opinion.
Just to add I tested the forum and it works for me. This is an excellent idea to have some help on the games we like!
Congratulations! (this is the perfect place for Paul! *jocking*).
@chrpa: I agree! We got 3 new persons who want to write but we do not have yet someone who can write on mobile games. So please if you like mobile games and you like to write send an email to contact AT jayisgames DOT com
@Angkor: Yes we can accept donations from Paypal too. To know our Paypal please send an email to contact AT jayisgames DOT com
@cams: I agree but the purpose of the site is to mix the tastes/points of views of the different members of the team. And so finding some games you maybe missed.
@gASK: thank you so much for your loyalty during all this time: it means a lot. You wrote you support us on Patreon but you don't have your badge. Please send us an email to contact AT jayisgames DOT com with the email you used on Patreon to claim your badge :)
@rka444: thank you for your support. I've updated your profile with the badge. You're right we need to find good reviewer(s) to cover mobile games and yes the idea of the banner is good too. I will see how to implement that. For the kudos, it's a good idea but tough to code. I created a topic in the forum and everything seems ok. Can you check again or use another browser like Mozilla FF?
@PeteTheGamer: thank you for your support. I've updated your profile with the badge. I'm happy you still find good games in our archives :)
I have updated my email here to match my Patreon one, since this profile was created an old mail account - now it should be the same.
@gASK: ok it's updated :)
I tried posting via US VPN and it works. Probably the russian mobile carrier which I am using now is banned by its IP range (google is also not too happy about my IP so that's for a reason probably).
Ok, I see now. Even though I am able to post, my posts are on hold for premoderation. Maybe this is too strict and you could relax the policy for the guys who proved not to be a spammer or abuser (at least before the problem appears)? The premoderation mode demotivates contribution I believe.
Also, separating mobile games into iOS and Android worlds might be too fine-grained, I think. Many titles come to both of the platforms but the users won't read topics on another platform.
BTW I could also try contibuting reviews on mobile games. I am not a native English speaker and will probably need someone to proofread my texts unless maybe everyone is ok with my imperfect English.
And I'm a programmer too, so I could lend you a helping hand here and there. For the last 9 years I've been doing mainly C++/Python/Bash backend stuff but used to do some C#/Java/JS/HTML/CSS/SQL before that.
First off, I do have to admit that I've been a fan of this blog for a... long time, and was sad to see the post that stated that this blog was no longer active. You DO have to admit that post probably trimmed the number of active audience to this blog in a rather significant amount. (In fact, after the 'Final post', I pretty much stopped going to JiG for a few months before randomly checking to see that there's still a barebones force around.)
To the meat of the subject, I must agree with @chrpa - a LOT of the casual gaming scene has moved from browsers to mobiles since when I first started going on this blog (2007? 2008? I don't remember) - what used to be impossible on mobile phones is now easy AND has widespread audiences thanks to smartphones. Not to mention, Flash gaming (and definitely Javascript gaming, let's not even get into Java) is turning into a thing of the past - Chrome no longer even officially supports Flash even. Yes, there's still Unity games - but with all the difficulties people have had with Web Unity, it doesn't look good for the browser gaming crowd. Simply said, I think that JiG needs to evolve with the crowd, else, that is it - it really will become JiD.
It is unfortunate that I'm not much of a writer - I do play a few mobile games, but I suck at writing reviews. Still, I hope that this site can somehow still go on.
Just to add another perspective, I come here looking only for free browser games. I can't be bothered to go through the trouble of downloading and installing and uninstalling games. It sounds like a lot of people think mobile games are the future, so it would probably be wise to expand this site to cover those, but I just want to plead that browser games not get left behind. The browser content has definitely declined in recent years, and I don't know if that is due to trends across the internet or just this website declining (this is pretty much my only source for finding web games, also occasionally mousecity but they have a ton of crap). I am a big fan of escape games too so I like that content here. And I do appreciate that there is some minimum quality level for the escape games posted.
I was also caught off-guard by the previous site closure. Just like the previous commenter I stopped visiting for a long time after that and then was surprised to randomly discover the website had kind of resumed operation. I bet there are a ton of visitors who just never came back. I wish there had been a plea for support like this back then, as at that time there was more/better content and more visitors and it may have been much easier to keep the site alive and well.
Anyway, I still like the site and I have signed up to contribute a little but through patreon. I hope a lot of people who still get some enjoyment here, even if it isn't at its peak, will contribute just a little bit because it can add up.
Actually, I just realized that maybe there was a pateeon plea before the last shutdown, but I used to only visit the url for browser tagged games. If others do something similar then they would miss the posting asking for help. I'd suggest making that post show up for everyone, even if that just means tagging it with every category.
Hello. I wasn't intending to comment, but since there have been a few people talking here, and nobody I've seen has brought up the points on my mind, I may as well toss in my thoughts.
I've been passively following JIG for a while after I stopped really being a 'fan' of the site, mostly out of curiosity. And I think a big thing that has bothered me for a long time has been a lack of communication, and an overall frustration with how JIG has interacted with its users.
This goes all the way back to the post a few years ago when you guys were complaining that the site was losing revenue due to adblockers. I was frustrated and disappointed with that discussion because of how I percieved JIG as being dismissive of people's legitimate reasons for choosing to block ads regardless. And, more pertinently, people were practically begging then for some kind of option to donate to JIG, but no such option emerged.
It was only after JIG announced that it was closing its doors that a Patreon was eventually opened. The bit about Patreon was quietly attached to the post about JIG closing up shop, and for a long while there wasn't even any kind of Patreon banner or anything. It was almost like, far from wanting to save the site, you were embarassed to be asking for money. And by then a lot of people had probably left. It was hard to feel too sorry for JIG; it really seemed like you'd refused to update your revenue model, in the face of direct requests from your fans, until it was already too late.
These communication problems persist; I noticed one day that guest reviews were going up. I'm not sure I even saw a call for guest reviews, let alone some explanation of what the future of JIG was. What's more, none of JIG's Patreon goals have ever been met. So where is the money currently going? Is it needed to pay server costs? If so, is there a threshold below which the server can no longer be maintained? If JIG doesn't have enough money to 'continue its operations', as detailed in the $1800 Patreon goal, then what is it doing now, and how will it look different if it hits that goal? Throughout this whole process, JIG has communicated poorly, to the point that I was legitimately surprised to see this post go up. If I were to guess why JIG's Patreon has been bleeding money for months, it would probably be a combination of the lack of worthwhile reviews, as other commenters have brought up, plus the fact that none of the Patrons know what their money is even accomplishing here.
I admit, at this point I don't know if I can offer any solutions I think will 'fix' JIG. At the very least, though, I would rethink how you communicate with users. It feels like you're still treating users as though they're merely visitors to your space, when, now that you rely on them for money, they are collaborators who deserve to know what's going on. Maybe there's more communication with actual Patrons, I don't know, but the percieved wall of silence seen from the outside doesn't excite me to contribute. As of right now it looks like there are actually zero posts on JIG's Patreon.
As for what it would take for *me* to start sending money JIG's way? Well, aside from needing to address the above problem, it would be nice if JIG put some focus on promoting queer video games, particularly from queer creators. I could go on all day about my favorite genres of video games, but at this point I'm really only a Patron for things I believe in passionately, and that largely involves directly supporting queer folks who are making cool things. Would that bring back the money? Heck, I don't know, but it might bring mine, and it would be a cool and good thing to do. I remember JIG used to cover LGBT-related stuff sometimes, and that was pretty nice. And standing for raising up the voices of the marginalized in the gaming world would be a step up from where JIG is now, which seems to be...not really standing for much of anything, currently. Sorry to say, but I'm not the first person to observe that JIG has been pretty bland and listless for quite some time.
Welp um I don't really know where to start. I've visited Jayisgames in the past without an account a lot and used to love it when it was active. Even now I regularly log in to check out what's up. But I just now finally created an account because I want to help somehow. I'm not a financial guru nor am I employed currently but if I can contribute with reviewing a game or two I am willing to try! The reviews were so much fun to read and while I hear a lot of complaints about the escape genre, I fondly remember enjoying reading Dora's creative weekday escape reviews after a stressful day of studying.
I do think a greater a variety of games would be nice since not everyone likes the same genre. This difficulty is finding them. A well made game is not created overnight. Just my thoughts. I am not an avid gamer and tbh most of the games I've played lately are *cough*datesims*cough* but if I stumble across any interesting games I hope, even if I can't write a review, maybe I can suggest one?
I'm a long time fan of the site, but just actually got an account. Just wondering if anyone knows if House of da Vinci has been reviewed yet on here? Cause I'm about to play it and I'll write a review if it's good and not on here yet. Also eagerly awaiting The Room Old Sins later this year! I've always liked the Flash games, but in reality I'm hardly ever on an actual computer. I play ALOT of iOS games on my iPad and would be willing to review some of them occasionally.
Also an update! The Witness is available on iOS now! Can't wait to play it finally.
Hello !
I'm a bit late to comment, but I wanted to express my thoughts.
JayIsGames made me interested in some indie games I would never have found by myself. I'm so glad for that. Thank you.
But as time passed, I saw more and more reviews about Escape Games, and fewer reviews about other types of games, the ones I liked. I got bored of that, and started coming here less. But I'm still there, which means you did such a great work before that I got hooked and hope for your website to go back to what it was : a web site about interesting games, whatever kind of games they are, not a website about Escape Games (I don't mean these are bad, just that I'd like to see less Escape, more everything-else).
So what JIG lacks are (IMO) : more reviews, and reviews about all kinds of games.
More reviews means you need more writer (sadly I can't help, as you saw while reading my comment, english is not my native language, very sorry about that because I often thought I'd love to write about some games to add diversity to JIG's catalogue). So I can only hope you'll get some very motivated persons and that'll change things.
For the money... as some said, I can't pay for something I'm not interested in. I don't really like the current JIG, I like what it was and what it could be. I won't hesitate to donate if things change the way I hope they will. I know it's not very encouraging for you, but that's me being honest here.
Anyway, I wish you luck and hope (lot of hope, here) things will get better for your website ! =)
And again, thank you for getting me interested in such wonderful games up till now.
lol
jig: we need your money guys! we can't figure out what went wrong!
majority of comments: please stop with the escape games
jig: posts more escape games
definitely gonna head on over to your patreon right now so you can keep giving us all the middle finger, do you take big fat checks? that's the only kind i have.
I assume your parents did not give you a good education so feel free and enjoy to insult people, I'm sure it spices your life (poor life?).
You missed the fact we have writers who write for FREE on the games they like. Most of them like escape games so we publish what we have in content. Once we will have other writers who want to write on indie/casual/etc. games, we will take them.
so you have writers who write for free about escape games, but you're going to pay the writers who write about other games? seems totally fair.
"the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results" there, there's some education for you, something your readers/commenters have been harping on for a while now. maybe the only insults are the ones coming from jig, asking us for money when you are clearly not interested in changing anything you do.
You enter in a subject you even did not read about.
If you read why JiG needs you (the post on Patreon made by Dora) you will understand we have operating costs like servers to host 5k games and 10k reviews since 2003. Obviously if we hit one day higher amounts thanks to Patreon or any other way to get funds, we will pay again reviewers to write on different games. The current earnings do not cover the operating costs so I made this post to keep at least JiG online. You have perfectly the right to give your opinion but please stay polite because your image with the middle finger is out of the subject. Keep in mind we do not want to get rich with JiG and we'll never be. It's just a question to see JiG still online or not. From your opinion, I understand you don't care but everyone can have his own opinion.
Man: it's funny you are speaking about 'fair' because I'm sorry but if I look at the homepage for instance, I do not see only escape games...
I don't know what kind of games you like (and I will be happy to know) but I'm sure if you dig a bit in the archives you will find some gems you never played.
Hi,
I've been coming to this website and reading reviews here for a while not and have a couple suggestions to make. I was thinking maybe we can bring back the Game Jam posts? Unless you guys were already making those. There are some game jams and games in my local community in Toronto that I wouldn't mind sharing and writing about. I also wouldn't mind helping to write about upcoming games, including mobile games, that I've been seeing around the web and exposing them to a larger audience. Maybe they can bring exposure to this website as well somehow by linking to this site as a review/walkthrough on their own pages.
I was also thinking maybe we can review some more popular games so if people were to search them up online then they might stumble upon this website. That's actually how I initially found this website myself!
This was my favorite place to come...almost a decade ago. I still have a soft spot in my heart for JiG and return every now and then hoping that it is alive once more.
I don't know if anyone is still reading comments on this, but I'd like to leave some food for thought of my own.
1. I agree with a previous poster, with the (sudden) dramatic closing of this blog, I stopped coming. I mean, I checked a few times hoping it was a joke, but once I saw there were no new games I largely took it off my weekly internet visits and stopped coming by. I feel as though this site would have had a lot of support, anonymous closet gamers as well as regulars and newcomers....If an announcement was made clearly before it went offline. Its a little like closing the barn door at this point. The horse is gone.
2. When I first saw the Patreon link, my finger hovered over donate, but I'll be honest, it felt a little off to me. I casually watched the amount of donations for almost a year anytime I stopped by and was more than relieved I didn't give money. This is because there is a lack of transparency in what you are doing with this money. I mean this with all constructive criticism I can muster... Are you really surprised your donations dropped by almost half in a year? people have donated hard earned money to a site that has not even remotely come back online to what it used to be. You've now confirmed that you are dealing with less and less but are still asking people to donate with no concrete idea of what their donation is going to to and how it is going to help resurrect the site
Are you expecting people to donate to simply maintain server costs on a largely defunct site? That's not a sustainable request over time. I think you need to redo your Patreon page and explain financial thresholds and goals that you have and where the money is actually going. People want to see that their money is being used for the purpose they are donating it and they want to see tangible outcomes regardless of you meeting your top goal.
With that said, less and less people are likely to donate if this site continues to have low quality games being reviewed (and yes, volunteer or not, quality matters). The fewer the people who show up each day/month to check them out the more futile this whole operation becomes. I certainly know that the quality difference in $900 a month Vs. $400 via Patreon funds is nonexistent so I have zero motivation to donate. I will honestly donate once transparency and measurable goals exist.
I'm going to be honest. I made it through my undergrad with the help of JiG. We were all hooked on playing your games stealth-like during lecture and binging in pajamas on weekends. i have nothing but love for the amount of memories I've gained from this site. I wish I could just turn back time for you all so that we could collectively stop the fall of this great place.
But I can't.
Best of luck
Use VPN smartly otherwise you can end up with your data lost.
how to hide my ip address. And some providers have serious issues with speed and tunnelling.
You know, just for giggles, I've always wondered who the people in the "we need you" photo at the top were, if they worked at JIG or not.... First hit I got from a google image search, stock art from depositfiles, a -paid- stock image site. Couldn't even get the JIG team together for an actual photo for something like this. Instead, asking patreons for their money to go towards the site, which apparently includes their subscription to a stock image site.
Shame
on
you.
For sure your comment is a good one Sherlock. I think you missed lots of facts before you come back here.
Really, Jeff? Why don't you share those facts? JIG has been a wall of silence regarding things like the future of the site, how much money is exactly needed to keep going, what happens if it runs out...
Given that JIG is running more or less entirely on the donations and unpaid labor of its fans, it seems like it would behoove you to engage in a little bit of transparency, rather than simply condescending to anyone who criticizes the site.
None of the games that used to be hosted on JIG work anymore. Did the site run out of money for that? When? At least a few of those games don't exist anywhere else, I think. Is the entire archive going to be lost if the site continues to bleed money?
I've been watching this site die, Jeff. Along the way I've seen most every petty little snipe you've posted here. It's not cute. It's sad.
Really Circe? You just have to click on a red banner to have all the information you need. You can criticize me as long as you want, the main fact is: I maintain the site every month with my own money while many others have already closed their doors because the owners (big or small companies) did not want to continue to lose money. I do it because I love JiG and I don't want to see a 404 page. You speak of 'your money' but again click on the banner to know exactly how many millions I get every month from Patreon..
I don't think you answered any of my questions. If you're covering server costs with your own money, does that mean JIG will run indefinitely, even if the Patreon hits $0? What happened to the games that were hosted on JIG? Are they recoverable? Perhaps no one cares, now.
Believe me, I've been over JIG's Patreon's page. Unless I've missed something, it doesn't address any of these questions.
Ok you're right. I was a bit sarcastic about MondoRondo and his fantastic discover of a picture bought from a site because even when JiG counted more than ten persons as those persons had never worked in the same place of the world, it was impossible to do a 'true' photo of the team. To answer to your question, I won't be able to cover indefinitely* but if the community wants to see JiG alive during a moment, there are two things which can help a lot:
Of course the patreon page:
https://www.patreon.com/user?u=915465
and the last but not the least join the team:
https://jayisgames.com/review/we-need-you-1.php
*I have at this moment no idea what could happen to the games
Hi Circe,
let me summarize some generally known facts about casual gaming.
- most of old games are programmed in Adobe Flash Player. However, Adobe Flash P. isn't supported by browsers anymore. Now we need to allow it specifically for each game, and browsers may stop even this possibility next year - they've announced that.
You wrote that 'None of the games that used to be hosted on JIG work anymore'. Well many of them do and the reason why they don't on your PC could be your browser and above mentioned problems with AF. I'm not able to get running games hosted on JiG in Edge, but Firefox and Chrome are fine.
- there are MUCH less casual games for PC than five years ago. Reasons are many (growing popularity of another platforms, generation exchange, Adobe Flash, etc. It's absolutely unpredictable how many games will be available next week or next month. Few years ago, games were just coming. Now we need to look for them thoroughly.
- internet environment is changing rapidly and the influence of large companies expanding. Legislation is changing too but chaotically and fragmentally, and often in favour of 'big players'.
The future of casual gaming is uncertain. The future of small gaming sites is uncertain too, and depends on many unpredictable factors mentioned above, but let's not despair too early, we still can play. All we can do is to be grateful to the creators and hope, that they have enough time, energy and inspiration (and paid bills) for creating more.
Now, these points have been discussed earlier and not just once. The fact, that Patreon helps to run the site but doesn't cover all expences, and that Jeff supports JiG from own money has been also mentioned several times.
You wrote 'I don't think you answered any of my questions'.
I'm wondering why are you asking questions which has been already answered - this isn't Customer Service.
You wrote '...than simply condescending to anyone who criticizes the site.'
There are many kinds of critisism. From important constructive critisism through trolling to malicious and destructive one, and only the first one is useful. Again, this isn't Customers Service so no reason to react to useless posts.
You wrote 'I've been watching this site die, Jeff. Along the way I've seen most every petty little snipe you've posted here. It's not cute. It's sad.'
Maybe you aren't aware of the fact that this is openly offensive statement. Maybe you think you are 'opening someone's eyes' or just 'saying the truth' - but it's not welcomed, because the level of bias in your statement is too high.
If you like casual gaming, there are many opportunities how to help it - humiliating people who are trying to keep it alive is senseless. And if you have energy surplus, why not start campaign for Adobe Flash Player support? Millions of players would be grateful.
Someone (besides jeff) correct me if I'm wrong, but I think you have heavily missed every point possible.
- Circe keeps asking what's going to happen to all these archived games, to which you finally answer you don't know. Maybe you should figure that out and get a real business plan going before you ask people to donate. Why would I donate my money to, or even visit, a dying blog just to "remove ads"? If I wanted to, I can already use adblock for that.
- Why do you have to host the games at all, in this dire hour of need? There's plenty of game hosting services out there, why can't this just be a blog that talks about the "best" games and points them to those sites? I'm sure there are $10/month host services out there that could easily fulfill the needs of this site, especially given that the site already shuttered its doors and told the core audience good bye.
- MondoRondo was pointing out that you are here asking people for their money, yet using a paid service for stock art. You couldn't doodle anything up on your own? It didn't have to be a team photo, it didn't have to be a photo at all, it could've just been a Comic Sans image of "We need you!" So people aren't going to waste their money on a patreon where the money is not going to help the site, it's being wasted on things like that.
- Many people in the comments above have pointed out that this has turned into a review of escape games, and they don't prefer that. The answer is "well that's what our free writers write about". Then our answer is, we don't want to read it, and good bye. Nobody invests their money in things they aren't interested in.
- Nobody cares that you're spending your own personal money on a site you are invested in. You should if you care. You don't get any bonus points for you keeping your business going.
All in all, the patreon has been active for about two years now, the site has not improved, and you've been negative towards all good suggestions. As sad as it may be, no amount of money and/or rebranding is going to right this ship's course.
If you're wondering why I'm not being especially nice, it's because I've watched this site get mismanaged, since all the way back when JIG was complaining about adblockers but refusing to accept donations.
I've tried to be polite and constructive, as you can see in my comment just above from December of 2017. And I'm tired of watching the person in charge of this site act petty and childish while apparently blowing off critical-but-constructive comments like mine. And I got Jeff to respond by being more rude, so which seems to be more effective?
I've gone out of my way to avoid taking aim at any of the other contributors on this site. Believe me, I have no beef with you. And I do accept that I was wrong about the games hosted on this site. I have no trouble running Flash on other sites, but if the games do run, it's clearly on my end. However, it's still not clear to me if JIG will keep running if the Patreon money runs out. Whether Jeff contributes his own money to support the site was not the question I was asking.
The reason I was asking questions is because Jeff said that MondoRondo missed the facts. And I don't know where the facts are. The information you're alluding to, unless I'm mistaken, appears to be buried in comment threads like these. You may not agree, but for what is very much a community effort, I believe JIG suffers from a significant lack of transparency.
I wish that Jeff would display the kind of leadership necessary to get JIG on a good course again. I wish JIG could become the kind of place I could feel good about contributing to. But I can't help but feel like that ship has sailed.
If I may ask one more time, on the vain hope it might be answered: what happens if the Patreon money runs out? So far, nobody has given an answer. Not that you owe me one, as you've rightly pointed out. But surely the community, the people still invested in this site, deserve to know?
I feel like you've hit the nail on the head, although I do have a couple things to point out.
For one, if I recall, JIG hosting games was a service offered to smaller devs who were involved with the community, especially for the game jams JIG used to hold. A lot of these games may not be hosted anywhere else, and it's hard to say if we could even contact the authors of those games to have them hosted somewhere else. It may be hard to imagine now, but this was perfectly feasible for JIG once, and I have no idea what sort of contingencies there are or were for handling these games.
And for two, I've tried to avoid picking on the volunteer contributors. They've chosen to contribute unpaid time to the maintainance of the site, and while I think they deserve better, it's their right to do so, and I have no idea if they know any more about the state of the site than you or I. The relationship between JIG and its volunteer writers is, in fact, one of the things I wish JIG were more transparent about. But either way, I'm not going to put this site's failures on them.
Actually, apologies, I thought you were responding to chrpa. By all means, then, carry on.
Actually, apologies again, I missed Jeff's reply. It seems that my question *has* been answered. I would rewrite my original post, but I don't appear to be able to.
I suppose, then, that I've learned all I am able to from this exchange. I do think it would be nice if this information were easily available, perhaps on the Patreon itself. It's still not clear how much money the server costs to keep running, which would be useful for the community to know.
Update