By Dean on Thursday, January 18, 2001 - 11:28 am:
So when are we getting a new Shoot Club?
Shoot Club, Shoot Club, Shoot Club, Shoot Club, Shoot Club, Shoot Club, Shoot Club, Shoot Club, Shoot Club!
By Michael Murphy (Murph) on Thursday, January 18, 2001 - 04:39 pm:
YEAH!!
Shoot Club, Shoot Club, Shoot Club, Shoot Club, Shoot Club, Shoot Club, Shoot Club, Shoot Club!!!
By Lee Johnson on Friday, January 19, 2001 - 08:29 am:
The tone from the gathering mob becomes increasingly strident...
Shoot Club, Shoot Club, Shoot Club, Shoot Club, Shoot Club, Shoot Club, Shoot Club, Shoot Club, Shoot Club!
By Michael Murphy (Murph) on Friday, January 19, 2001 - 04:17 pm:
The mob is growing. Posters are being held. Empty bottles and rocks are being thrown. If you listen really closely, you can hear (in spite of the shouting) murmurs about the lack of Shoot Club. Many are afraid that Shoot Club is being held for ransom...Some speculate that Tom has turned his back on his fans...And a few fear that Trevor went postal at the last Shoot Club, sparing Mark's life only so that he can continue to update the website, and cover for Trevor's insidious plot...
Shoot Club...Shoot Club...Shoot Club...Shoot Club...
By Damien Falgoust on Sunday, January 21, 2001 - 11:25 am:
You can't just start writing something as entertaining as "Shoot Club," get your fans hooked, and then quit abruptly. That's how crack dealers operate.
Sign me up for the mob.
Shoot Club, Shoot Club, Shoot Club, Shoot Club, Shoot Club, Shoot Club, Shoot Club, Shoot Club, Shoot Club, Shoot Club, Shoot Club, Shoot Club, Shoot Club, Shoot Club, Shoot Club, Shoot Club, Shoot Club, Shoot Club!
By kazz on Sunday, January 21, 2001 - 03:21 pm:
Maybe his "column claw" is only going to five lately...
By Alan Au (Itsatrap) on Monday, January 22, 2001 - 01:06 am:
Rule number one: You do not talk about Shoot Clu.., no wait, nevermind.
By TomChick on Monday, January 22, 2001 - 04:54 pm:
Wow, I don't think I've ever evoked an angry mob without bringing up Deus Ex first...
I really appreciate the feedback, though. I was doing Trevor articles for Daily Radar (they're linked in the Shoot Club archives page) but I never got a sense for whether anyone even remembered whether I was using a recurring character. I'll be sure to tell Trevor that he's missed.
As for Shoot Club, I'm afraid it's the first casualty of the death of c|net's Gamecenter Alliance. Since Quarter to Three is essentially being relegated to a hobby for Mark and I, we're going to have to spend more time chasing down paying work. Shoot Club will be back in some form or another, but for the time being, I won't be able to do it weekly.
-Tom
By Mark Asher on Monday, January 22, 2001 - 06:05 pm:
"As for Shoot Club, I'm afraid it's the first casualty of the death of c|net's Gamecenter Alliance."
Yeah, it's a drag. I really like Shoot Club. Tom found a way to write about games and also write about people, which is pretty unique in this industry.
By Michael Murphy (Murph) on Tuesday, January 23, 2001 - 08:57 am:
Well, I think I speak for us all when I say that we'll look forward to the infrequent postings, and we sure will miss it. It's a cryin' shame that it had to go, but we certainly understand the situation. No hard feeling, Tom, but we'll sure miss the column.
By Rob_Merritt on Tuesday, January 23, 2001 - 09:30 am:
Not to be nosy but how much were people making on web sites before the bust? A lot of sites seemed to be just barely making ends meet before hand. Guess it was the promise of future riches.
By Mark Asher on Tuesday, January 23, 2001 - 12:42 pm:
Some sites were very successful. A lot were getting a $3 CPM, so if they were turning 2 MIL pageviews a month, that's $6000.
I know one Everquest site that was doing 15 MIL pageviews a month. Yes, that's $45,000 they were bringing in. They staffed up, so it wasn't pure profit, but they were doing quite well.
The Vault Network sold for $1,000,000 to Snowball/IGN, but the catch here is that it was a stock deal and the stock now is under $1.
With us it wasn't so much the money we were making but the prospect of being rewarded for building a successful site. We also had the opportunity under our CNET contract to bring new sites into the agreement, so we could have created a network of sites by signing some on or starting new ones.
Now we look at a site that's essentially a sponge for time. Heh. It makes a difference.