Today, we welcome Game of Owns

A message from the Editor-in-Chief:
When we founded WatchersOnTheWall, one of the few downsides was that we would no longer be working with the podcast (and its hardworking crew) that so many of our readers have grown to love. That’s why I’m thrilled to be welcoming Game of Owns back into the fold today with a new partnership. You’ll be enjoying the same high-quality podcast you always have, only right here at WotW. And who knows, you might hear our writers from time to time talking up a storm with the GOO crew. Please join me in welcoming Zack, Kate, Eric, and Micah, as they take the black.
-Sue

goowotw

HELLO, HELLO, HELLO, HI, and thank you for the warmest of welcomes, Watchers. For 235 long episodes we’ve traveled. For years now, we’ve continued to build and explore an adventure with each other, and with so many of you. Moving closer, closer to your words and warmed bodies, this is another step forward in GOO’s story. Inside of our real lives, making this show with each other is actually something we do, and for us this is all very exciting. Our passion for this show flows deep, and we couldn’t ask to be near a more passionately passionate audience of Ice and Fire. Thank you, thank you, we love you, let’s do this.

Episode 235 – The Great Demotion
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Tyrion, Tyrion, Tyrion. Our first peek at this lion of Lannister, in this Storm of Swords. Together, let’s climb the Serpentine steps, into the Hand’s solar, and enter a new episode.

Discussion Topics

Bannermen!
The imp has woken
Demotions
New friends, new outfits
Tywin Lannister
Empty threats
Owns of the Chapter

Update:

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186 Comments

  1. I KNEW IT! I just knew this was the great news. Hah! This is wonderful news. GoG is a great podcast and it’s great to have them back with the community.

  2. Fantastic news. I laugh at the arrogance shown by Fansided just yesterday when the CEO was saying that they were confident that it would stay. They really don’t have a clue what the people below them think of how the site is being run.

    Anyway, congratulations on joining this fabulous site. You were the only thing that kept me going back to the other one, so its nice that pretty much everything that I liked is over here now.

  3. It’s been a sad day here on my Riverlands farm so thanks for the good news! I’m way ahead of Tyrion on the red wine so I’ll be listening twice! Cheers!

  4. This makes me so happy! I never knew when they were coming out anymore, the GOO team are the best people in the fandom

  5. After this reveal, I went back to WiC.net for the first time since I heard of WotW, their comment section looks pretty barren. And only a few regulars from the old days bothered to comment (and a lot of them were critical of Fartsided XD).

    Fartsided really killed the goose with the golden eggs it seems. The CEO of the company (Adam West or something like that? A disgrace to the caped crusader) even stated that he offered to pay the GOO team and they still went over to WotW. That’s a telltale sign of a shitty atmosphere. Oh, and their first editor has had a ‘schedule’ conflict and wasn’t able to manage WiC anymore.

  6. Hell yes! Welcome Zack, Micah, Eric, and Kate! I’m so glad that you guys will be joining us here!

    And with that, I’m off to listen to the new episode now!

  7. Yes! I’m so glad to hear these news. I was hoping GOO would get away from Fansided and their awful cocktail videos and again be part of the real by the fans for the fans website.

  8. So the only thing different about this site from the old WIC now is the name… Good! Now don’t you sell it off again

  9. After Zack stepped down as editor of WiC this wasn’t unexpected, but I still have a great smile on my face. Happy to see GOO back with the fans.

  10. Jeb,

    I read that too and cracked up when I saw this post just now. Love the podcast so that’s great news!
    Oh and according to another poster, Adam West’s PA probably, you/we are cliquey. I like that.

  11. jentario:
    So the only thing different about this site from the old WIC now is the name… Good! Now don’t you sell it off again

    Why not? Get paid, ride the corporate donkey for a few months, start a new site. Wash, rinse, repeat.

  12. Woo-hoo! An old habit added back to my week now – will be listening tonight.

    Oh, also – We Are Legion

  13. jentario,

    Exactly what I was thinking. Basically the only valuable thing the overlords have now from their purchase is the URL. I noticed a lot of the articles there now just have “WiC Staff” as the byline, which is never a good sign.

  14. Cool, glad to have you back, guys. I thought you were under contract with Fansided in some way. Turns out I was wrong, that’s swell. 🙂

  15. Cumsprite: ride the corporate donkey for a few months,

    I have five responses to this, and four of them reference Rygar.

    I’m going to go and and eat a King Cone instead.

  16. Damn, i just unfollowed the GOO guys on twitter, because i was sure, they’d stay with this other site 😀 (sorry, i am really loyal when it comes to my GoT-Fandoms 😀 )

    Great to have you with us, guys! 🙂 This is where the big boys play.. and yes, this was a WCW-reference, cause i loved it! 🙂

  17. By the way, I just thought of a great thing: whenever one of us has a bad day, feeling irritable and grumpy and what not (we all have ’em), we should restrain ourselves from posting here and go straight to the dark site instead 😉

  18. I catch almost every episode but I’m sure there is 1 or two I’ve missed since the female host change. While I’m definitely not upset as I like kate INFINITELY better than Selena, I’m wondering if this was ever something the GoO crew ever commented on or if not if they’d be willing to do so now. Specifically why she left and how kate came to be the replacement. Sorry I’m kind of nosey like that.

  19. Well this feels a lot more like the old site, so I guess I’ll be lurking here now. Don’t sell this one to Fansided please. 😉

  20. YES! Welcome GOO!!!! I’m so glad I found out about this site last night. This is just amazing, amazing news all around.

  21. Welcome back to the fold!!! Glad to have you guys on board! Can’t say how happy I am to see some of the people that have been part of the community since the beginning!

    Nothing pleases me to once again have a site I actually look forward to visiting!

    Fansided can suck a big fat one….that is what happens when you let The Others take over something you love and care about! They tend to roll over it and zombify it!

    The North Remembers!

  22. Oh frabjous day, hallu-hallay!

    Seriously though, i find it funny that GOO ditched fansided both on the same day I did. Zach, that’s an interesting interpretation of the phrase “scheduling conflict!”

    Jon Dayne of Starfall,

    Aww, I love Selena too. It’s my impression that she was just too busy and was missing a lot of shows. So they recruited Kate! And she’s most welcome. 😀

  23. I had an awesome day at work, but this is icing on the cake. Welcome. WOW. Yeah. Awesome. The coup is complete. Happy dance! Woooo Hoooooooo.

    Thanks WOWT and Zack, Eric, Micah and Queen of the Laughs, Kate.

  24. Heh. I was worried for GOO. Since WotW does not list to the GOO site in the list of links down below, I thought they might have been wightified by the Others at Fansided. Glad to see no wighting was done.

    Wasn’t Bex one of the writers brought in by Fansided to WiC? Was surprised to see her join the exodus.

  25. Re: discussion of Tyrion’s bitterness in the pod, that’s actually why I like Tyrion more in the show than in the book. Tyrion’s inner monologue in the book often seems to boil down to “I hate myself, I hate myself, I hate myself” and that annoys me after a while.

  26. spacechampion: Wasn’t Bex one of the writers brought in by Fansided to WiC? Was surprised to see her join the exodus.

    She joined WiC after Fansided came on, but they didn’t recruit her. I’ve known Bex for a few years in the GoT fandom. She visited WiC time to time before FS. She applied the usual way when we searching for people.

  27. spacechampion:
    Wasn’t Bex one of the writers brought in by Fansided to WiC?Was surprised to see her join the exodus.

    Bex had been a force to be reckoned with in the GoT tumblr community for quite some time, of which our own Sue-fury is also a fixture. However fansided was involved I’m certain that Sue and Bex were already well acquainted…

  28. A Man Grown,

    True… “I hate myself but I still believe I’m better than anyone else.” Annoying mixture of insecurity and arrogance. I guess the two do go hand in hand sometimes.

  29. Yay! I’ve been following Micah and Eric since the Mugglecast days. Have listened to every episode of that and GOO. Just heard about the new site today and now this great news about GOO joining. I liked Selena but LOVE my fellow Washingtonian Kate. Did I say yay? YAY!!

  30. spacechampion,

    Well, largely yes. Also, WotW is owned by the founders and not just one person, and we have a larger staff than WiC ever had. There will be a couple more announcements made soon regarding that. 🙂 But yeah, not looking to be drastically different than what we did before. We know what works for us.

  31. Queenofthrones: Bex had been a force to be reckoned with in the GoT tumblr community for quite some time, of which our own Sue-fury is also a fixture.However fansided was involved I’m certain that Sue and Bex were already well acquainted…

    Yeah, those of us from ASoIaF tumblr world knew both Sue and Bex from long before Bex got Fansided, so I wasn’t surprised at all that Bex jumped ship.

    I don’t think we’re a clique so much as we’re, you know, fans, who don’t care so much about things like live recap shows. I don’t need an awkward live recap show–I just need casting scoops, humorous recaps, and the like.

  32. Congratualtions! That is some f*cking good news indeed. Really happy about that and I will now go listen to my GOO, missed a few ones.

    I was wondering, did you abord the subect of Fansided in one of your episodes? If not, will you do it some time? I’d like to know you side of the story.

  33. This wins the award for most eagerly anticipated “surprise” ever! Yay!

    Although, in the meantime, I did begin listening to the Podcast of ice and Fire linked to down here… Also enjoyable, but a different beast altogether from GOO. I’m all for diversity, not exclusivity and competition!

    Edit: Oh, and I assume this is what you guys were waiting for before posting part 2 of “Giants and Mammoths”. Now shoot!

  34. SusieQ,

    I hated the spam. “Tomorrow will be our live recap show!” “Our live recap show starts in 1 hour!” “Our live recap show starts in 5 minutes!” “Join us now for our live recap show!” “Our live recap show started 5 minutes ago! Join us now!”

    My twitter feed was not amused. I think one original post and one retweet/ICYMI later in the day is quite enough.

  35. And now my watch begins.
    I’m so thrilled to have find this site and happier that GOO is here. Hooray

  36. Queenofthrones: Bex had been a force to be reckoned with in the GoT tumblr community for quite some time, of which our own Sue-fury is also a fixture

    Haaa “force” perhaps being an operative word xx

    Generally, I’m trying to bring people over here because I have always disliked the attitude (on both sides) that tumblr is mutually exclusive with other fan sites. Fresh start, etc.

  37. I can’t even begin to say how happy this made me today when I found out. GOO was the only thing left behind that I still cared about and I felt a little guilty because I still listened to them. SOOOO glad to know that you guys are on the right side! I dunno if you guys had turn down a lot of money but you made the right choice either way! Love you guys! Welcome!

  38. Yay GOO! Now everything is as it should be again, and I can lean back and enjoy.

    (Did they really think nobody would think anything was up when they had a “welcome the new editor” post with not a word from the old editor saying goodbye?)

  39. Let’s not forget, there ARE human beings working over at WiC… and not all of them are evil corporate hacks.

  40. Welcome, GOO! I’m really happy how this worked out. All in one place now 🙂

    We have the community, we have the writers, and we have the news&rumours.

    Always support the bottom!

  41. Kit: …before Bex got Fansided

    Being fansided… Urgh, that sounds like a torture technique devised by Ramsay himself!

  42. GeekFurious,

    Very true GeekFurious. I really do feel for that new editor for example, having to rebuild the site from the ground up… Still, after the past months, it’s understandable that there’s quite a bit of schadenfreude expressed over here.

  43. Wow, this is excellent news, now everything I loved when I went on WiC is here. Congrats guys, you deserve each other.

  44. Great to see GOO breakaway and join forces with WotW instead 🙂

    Now if GOO could only entice the Danish lass back for their podcasts….

  45. Aye, the legend has arrived! WiC has become a place full of fookin cunts. The legend will take care of them for seven silvers if you wish…..

  46. Damn it. As I was planning on not watching season 5 untill after tWoW being released, WiC going to crap was a nice way to slowly build down my GoTaddiction. Now I’m going to be all into this again, someone stop me.

  47. So I was hoping that this was the surprise WoTW was speaking of on twitter a few days ago and waking up to read this news made my day!!! I am so happy to see you guys here, I love your podcast though ever since the “Doom of WiC” I have missed some of your shows.
    Yay!!! Welcome to WoTW guys! 😀

  48. The_Ghost_of_Karl_Tanner:
    Aye, the legend has arrived! WiC has become a place full of fookin cunts. The legend will take care of them for seven silvers if you wish…..

    That’s going a bit far. I agree with GeekFurious – most people working (and posting) at wic.net are nice decent people, there’s no need to stoop to this. The new editor sounds like a decent guy too – while I support WotW, I certainly wish him luck in turning the site around. There’s enough room for different sites and you know, it doesn’t matter if people visit both. We don’t need to get so tribal about it.

  49. Ross,

    I was disappointed how things panned out after Fansided took over the other site but I agree there isn’t any need to hurl insults. I’ve looked there once or twice recently but I haven’t posted since WotW opened.

  50. Nice GOO! Now I have two sites for my GoT-obsession=) If WiC goes further downhill I may skip that one, but I’m gonna give it a chance!

    Still, I’m thrilled to have a TRUE site, with maximum good content! Yay 😀

  51. I’ve just loved watching this unfold. Still receiving the notifications from WiC on my phone so when seeing they’d changed their editor because of ‘scheduling commitments’ it wasn’t the greatest leap to imagine GOO taking the black.

    And who knows, I’ve almost caught up with what’s to offer over at APOIAF, I might even be able to start listening to you guys!

  52. YAY! 😀

    You guys were the only reason I still visited WiC, so excited Zach’s “scheduling conflicts” turned out to be what I hoped 🙂

    I almost feel sorry for Fansided, they clearly had no idea what they got themselves into when they bought a fansite with a living community and real fans as writers.

  53. People get so defensive 🙁 , thought this was a fan site? I cant RP the legend?

  54. Ross,

    Dame of Mercia,

    Its a joke, anytime I say “fookin cunts” im speaking as the legend of gin alley, slayer of craster karl tanner would. No need to be so defensive or humorless. Lighten up buttercups

  55. The_Ghost_of_Karl_Tanner:
    Ross,

    Dame of Mercia,

    Its a joke, anytime I say “fookin cunts” im speaking as the legend of gin alley, slayer of craster karl tanner would. No need to be so defensive or humorless. Lighten up buttercups

    I know, and I probably picked the wrong person to quote in my comment, it was just the nearest one . But I stand by my comment that we shouldn’t be so tribal and anti-wic.net. There’s room for both. I’ll come here much more because the best content is here, but I don’t hate or resent the other lot.

  56. Some people should also consider another reality:

    The site name and their ability to continue to create content is all that matters to the vast majority of GOT fans. They don’t care about fandom wars. They don’t care which site has the better podcast. They don’t care about who the editors are or whether or not they are nice people.

    The majority just want info. And they will go to the first site that pops up.

  57. It looks like WiC has no staff at the moment, except the editor: “Frankly, at the moment the site is in transition. There are currently no moderators at all. If comments are being deleted, I’d wager it has something to do with the auto-spam filter and how it was set up by previous staff.”- Patrick Allen. So I guess even Lightbringer left the sinking boat.

    I really feel sorry for the new editor…

  58. Balerion The Cat,

    Sorry? He took on the job himself! He WANTED it. And good luck to him with that

    But yeah, I guess he’s the only WIC staffer now, which is kind of sad. But also a little but funny.

  59. While I don’t post much (I fell good as a lurker), I just wanted to say that I’m really glad to see that nearly everything and everyone that made WiC great now are part of WotW.

  60. I can’t believe it took me so long to figure out that the creators of this site left WiC. I thought you were on holiday or something. The new guys at WiC didn’t mention it at all.
    Anyways… glad I found you. I’m looking forward to more GOO and more stuff that made WiC so great. Once.

  61. Seriano:
    While I don’t post much (I fell good as a lurker), I just wanted to say that I’m really glad to see that nearly everything and everyone that made WiC great now are part of WotW.

    Btw, has anyone seen Ser Tahu? He hasn’t posted on WiC for quite a while, but he didn’t show up here yet. And what about Rygar, that old pervert?

  62. Bard,

    Rygar’s is the Furry.
    And I remember Ser Tahu posting here once when they set up the site, other than that he disappeared.

  63. GeekFurious:
    Some people should also consider another reality:

    The site name and their ability to continue to create content is all that matters to the vast majority of GOT fans. They don’t care about fandom wars. They don’t care which site has the better podcast. They don’t care about who the editors are or whether or not they are nice people.

    The majority just want info. And they will go to the first site that pops up.

    I’d wager the fans that wouldn’t care whether WiC is good or not, probably don’t visit WiC *or* WotW anyway. They probably get their GoT fix from Buzzfeed if anything.

  64. There’s one thing I don’t understand.
    Fan sided executives over there claim that the deletion of WOTW mentions was Zach’s initiative and that with him gone they’re not doing it anymore. And honestly, chronology seems to support their claim.

    Either they’re full of it and are looking to further some chaos and hate, or Zach came across after showing dubious goodwill at best?

  65. Lavignac,

    Zach’s “scheduling issues” don’t allow him to take on the lead editor job and he isn’t doing that here. He’s just doing GOO.

  66. Well, feel free to look for any lost souls over in the comments of the old site 🙂 Respectfully, please.

    We have never used any sort of foul language or acted unprofessionally towards FS. The writers had no binding agreement with anyone and did our work for free, as always. Once it was obvious things were not going to change, and they did not even listen to the always optimistic Zack the editor who fought a good fight on behalf of the fans, we informed them of our intention to leave. And that was it. Now they can try to do it fully their own way and are welcome to it.

  67. Nice to see you guys here! 🙂 And hoping to hear from you more often than once a week.
    Although I’m still re-reading ACOK, so I’m not actually listening to those, until I catch up with you.

    A Man Grown:
    Re: discussion of Tyrion’s bitterness in the pod, that’s actually why I like Tyrion more in the show than in the book. Tyrion’s inner monologue in the book often seems to boil down to “I hate myself, I hate myself, I hate myself” and that annoys me after a while.

    I like Tyrion much better in the books. Flawed characters with a messed up psyche are far more interesting than the almost saintly show!Tyrion.

  68. Bard: Btw, has anyone seen Ser Tahu? He hasn’t posted on WiC for quite a while, but he didn’t show up here yet. And what about Rygar, that old pervert?

    ‘Tis true. New place, new handle. Although now I am thinking that it was a mistake. Even though this is a new site, it is STILL the old WiC, so in essence, nothing has changed.

    Always support the bottom, and cup the sack.

  69. Lavignac,

    They were still deleting posts even after Zack left WiC, actually. And FS staff deleted many posts in general when we were still there, including one time when they didn’t like Bex publicly criticizing a cocktail video. They most certainly know how to moderate and are doing so. But now that people are trashing them for it, they will be more careful about it, I hope.

  70. Holy guacamole, thanks everyone. We’ll be grinning for days. Need maor celebratory photos, finding one now

  71. So here is Fansided’s CEO on GOO and WoTW (found it on WiC):

    Excellent points were made regarding thanking the four staffers who started the new site for their hard work, regardless of creative differences. We definitely appreciate all the effort and TLC they put into the site. They were instrumental in helping Phil build an audience here and that will always be part of this site’s legacy. We wish them nothing but luck in their new endeavor.
    We don’t feel like they ever truly gave FanSided a chance, but in the end they wanted to do their own thing and that’s totally OK. Their new site’s comment section is also a dogpile full of negativity (bash me or FanSided all you want, I suppose, but everybody should give the reputable new editor we hired a shot because he has a fantastic track record). We’d like to avoid that here. We don’t even want competitor sites to get badmouthed — we would prefer a more positive, supportive, show- and book-focused community.
    You will never see us badmouth that site on WiC (or allow it to be badmouthed), and if we do for some reason we want to hear about it. No reason a large fan site can’t serve the fans and remain super professional. We also want this site to feel inclusive to all GoT fans. Keeping the dialogue here positive should help accomplish that, make all fans feel included.
    On Game of Owns, the GOO folks felt that the part of the very vocal minority that seems to have shifted to the other site was the heart of their audience. They also had a relationship with the people running the new site over there, and felt more comfortable with that than with the unknown here. Zack and co. aren’t malicious and neither are we. There’s no bad blood between WiC and GOO. The show won’t be easy to replace, but we’re confident we’ll find other ways to offer variety and quality, keep readers pleased. Video is something we’ll continue, and we’ll work hard to make sure we keep improving there.
    We’re taking some heat right now. That’s totally fine. We’re not above criticism. Our traffic still looks good, however, and some of the private and social feedback has been open minded and positive (some comments here as well). That tells us most of the audience is going to give Rowan and the new regime a chance, which is great.

    – Adam

  72. “Very vocal minority”. I see. Or in other words: The core community. But they never really cared for that in the first place, didn’t they, so it’s probably not that important to them. They are a commercial GOT news site now full of click bait, not a fanpage with a lively comment section.

  73. So seven months is not giving them a chance? Okay then.

    People have a right to vent their feelings about FS. God knows their comments about FS have been deleted left and right. We won’t delete comments arbitrarily. I don’t know why he’s implying people are being horrible about Kaiser. Clearly, the issue was with upper management, not Kaiser who is completely new to the place.

    As for repeated implications that they haven’t deleted or filtered posts ever, that’s simply not true. We know that, and they know it. Trying to push all the blame onto the outgoing editor (or even us former writers) and claiming that Fansided doesn’t ever moderate is not truthful, when Fansided have openly deleted posts such as when people were being crude about Tybee. (Not unreasonable deletions in that instance, I thought.)

    I’m not sure why Adam Best feels he has the right to speak for Game of Owns or any of its members. They can and will speak for themselves on the matter if they choose to.

    Part 2 of Oz’s Giants and Mammoths posts will be up in a few days, explaining the end of our time with WiC. After that, we’d really like to put all this drama to rest, move forward, and frankly forget about Fansided. With GOO joining us, the team is reunited, and the best times are ahead.

  74. Bard,

    As a person that never posted on wicnet but visited like 20 times a day im not sure if i can be said to be part of a vocal minority. I probably wouldnt have found out about the exodus, since i dont read the comments mostly, unless for seeing Phils twitterpost about it.

    But even for the silent majority 🙂 people are gonna realize soon that somethings up, is there anything left of wic now that was there a year ago except for the url?

    Anyway nice that goo jumped ship, they are fantastic. But i hope you dont get any ideas about trying to take over that horrible wic live show.

  75. I find all this very bemusing… I’ve always checked WIC daily and often read through the comments section but never posted there and since FS, I noticed these annoying pop ups (regardless of ad block) and the silly content AND most annoyingly the spoiler posts despite me knowing the books) and my visits became more scarce… but as soon as I heard of this place, I voiced my gratitude 🙂

    And I won the door prize and Dragonslyer too 🙂

    That’s to the vocal minority

  76. It’s like cruising back to the old neighborhood! So glad to be here! Warms my cockles.

    I love GOO and the wiseass energy and the beautiful voice of Kate. Also, the different spin on my favorite passages. So glad you’ve come over from the Dark Side.

    Clicky? So that’s a bad thing?

  77. Welcome GOO group!! Missed ya.

    I’m going to exercise my right as a “vocal minority” to say that I for one don’t give a shit what happened or is happening over there (although I recognize that there are those who do and those that need to get stuff off of their chests). I am just so grateful to be here with all of you respectful, open-minded and intelligent folks for the next 3 years at least.

    And I simply cannot live without some chuckles from Furry each week!

  78. “You will never see us badmouth that site” – oh, how nice. Even when claiming not to hold a grudge they won’t name WotW as anything but “that site,” and pair it with not-at-all subtle insinuations that the competition isn’t as noble and generous as they are. And saying “we’re not above criticism” like it makes them saintly.

    Yeah, not feeling it. Good riddance.

  79. Sue the Fury,

    I can attest to this. They deleted me 5 times. It became that as soon as I made a comment that email was banned. I left went to tower of the hand but now that you guys arw up I’ll be bringing the legend of gin alley here to haunt these boards as well 😉

    Glaf you guys are back!

    Ya fookin cunts 🙂

  80. Now that GOO has migrated to WotW, I have no reason to check into the old place. I look forward to the growth and development of this site. Always support the bottom.

  81. Coming late to this (crazy week at work and saw a stray twitter post from one of the fab four) and this literally has me laughing maniacally at my desk at work.

    The red wedding of corporate run fan sites, indeed! Actually… more like the

    Lady Stoneheart

    of fansites – exacting righteous revenge on those who so egregiously wronged the fan base, by being AWESOME!

  82. GeekFurious,

    I’m an Administrator on Game of Thrones Wiki.

    While I can speak only for myself and without official pronouncements on behalf of the wiki…the regular editors at Game of Thrones Wiki have noticed that Watchers on the Wall.com is simply producing better and more frequent updates on Season 5 news than Fake-WinterIsComing.net is anymore (they only post “Lannister-flavored cocktail” recipes)….and we’re already relying on Watchers on the Wall.com as our go-to source for news (well you guys and Westeros.org, but they lean more towards periodic but extremely in-depth updates, plus their video series, but not daily news as much – busy writing World of Ice and Fire and all, which is great).

    Looks like another leg just got knocked out from underneath the corporate morons who cut off their own nose to spite their face.

    Question: Will Game of Owns continue to appear in news items on WiC.net?

  83. Lyanna Mormont:
    “You will never see us badmouth that site” – oh, how nice. Even when claiming not to hold a grudge they won’t name WotW as anything but “that site,” and pair it with not-at-all subtle insinuations that the competition isn’t as noble and generous as they are. And saying “we’re not above criticism” like it makes them saintly.

    Yeah, not feeling it. Good riddance.

    I noticed that to, it’s just hilarious XD

    Mine is the Furry: ‘Tis true. New place, new handle. Although now I am thinking that it was a mistake. Even though this is a new site, it is STILL the old WiC, so in essence, nothing has changed.
    Always support the bottom, and cup the sack.

    Yes, bring back the real name 😀 Rygar just sounded better 😉

    The_Ghost_of_Karl_Tanner:
    Sue the Fury,

    I can attest to this. They deleted me 5 times. It became that as soon as I made a comment that email was banned. I left went to tower of the hand but now that you guys arw up I’ll be bringing the legend of gin alley here to haunt these boards as well

    Glaf you guys are back!

    Ya fookin cunts

    Only idiots would dare to delete the Legend of Gin Alley! The last who tried it was Jeor Mormont and you got him good!

  84. This is great news!! I’ve been lurking on the old site since damn near the beginning, but I think I’ve maybe posted twice? I wanted to come out of the lurkdom to say congratulations to the Fab Four, the GOO people and all the other merry folks for forming something awesome here! I hope to lurk for many years to come.

    (I am also a shameless lurking fangirl of both Sue and Bex, despite never actually saying anything. Creepy, I know, but dear god the Starkalypse is so much fun to read!)

  85. Lyanna Mormont,

    I agree, especially when his earlier post basically badmouthed everyone who left! Did he forget he posted this little gem earlier?

    “When it comes to the four staffers that started the new site, they were not given a curtain call because they left on bad terms. Both our executive team and the editor were united on that front. We can tell it means a lot to the community, so if they’re willing to be professional, we’ll find a way to work out a proper goodbye. We’re with Rowan; the Internet and fandom are big enough for two great sites covering GoT. This wasn’t about competition, it was about conduct.”

  86. Yay! Now that Micah’s glorious voice and Kate’s infectious laugh are on board, this place feels complete.

  87. Hooray! And we got a picture of you guys too, so it’s also great to put faces to names. You look as fun and cool as you sound.

  88. Sue the Fury:

    Part 2 of Oz’s Giants and Mammoths posts will be up in a few days, explaining the end of our time with WiC. After that, we’d really like to put all this drama to rest, move forward, and frankly forget about Fansided. With GOO joining us, the team is reunited, and the best times are ahead.

    Amen to that, Mrs. Sue!

  89. I posted this at WiC and they seem to be allowing comments to get through now but it could easily be deleted so I’m just putting it here for posterity:

    Some constructive advice for Rowan (who I enjoyed reading at AV Club):
    One of the first things you need to do when you get on the job is acknowledge that by losing the original contributing team, WiC has now lost the ability to do the one thing that made them a unique GoT site on the web: BREAK NEWS. Whether it’s casting callsheet leaks, scouring social media for hints about returning actors/actresses, bugging agencies about actor CV’s, getting updates on filming shoots from extras, gathering scraps from set spies who have been cultivated since the inception of the show many years ago etc etc, when Sue and co. left, this differentiation left with them. They are also well-versed enough in the ASOIAF universe, that they can offer additional insight and analysis on these pieces of news that help start the discussion in the threads as opposed to just linking to a bunch of pictures or articles without giving any context that is unique to the site.
    If I want to see links to actors, cast and crew giving interviews, episode reviews, posting promotional material for the show offered by HBO, etc, I can go to any number of sites on the internet. That stuff is not unique and many of the TV sites (like AV Club, Hitfix etc) employ the cream of the crop in terms of television criticism writers so you’re not likely to compete in that capacity.
    Maybe with your new hiring you can find people who can magically get the same info Sue and co did but I think that’s a fruitless endeavor.
    If you need to rebrand yourself with a blank slate, find writers who understand the ASOIAF universe and who can analyze news that appears on other sites. And by other sites, I mean WatchersOnTheWall, because that’s where all the news that used to get broken here will now arrive. Don’t be afraid to source them and acknowledge their existence. You’re cutting yourself off at the knees if you don’t.
    Your strength and differentiation will now have to lie in taking these news pieces broken elsewhere and have people who are strong enough to analyze this news thoroughly and stimulate discussion here as a result. It will be a change but it’s the only way you’re going to survive.

  90. Haha, wow! Welcome, GOO. Glad the whole band is now reunited.

    Just checked WiC. With the increasingly desperate comments by the CEO, the poor new Editor, and the now un-blocked criticisms, it’s painful to read.

  91. This is awesome. I haven’t listened in a while. Are they reviewing A Storm of Swords right now?

  92. Hollyoak,

    Indeed they are! Their most recent episode covered the first Tyrion chapter, so they’re five chapters in if you include the prologue. It should be easy to catch up and follow along with all of us, should you desire to. 🙂

  93. Sue the Fury:
    As for repeated implications that they haven’t deleted or filtered posts ever, that’s simply not true. We know that, and they know it.

    And I know it. Boy howdy, I know oh oh oh.

    Which makes this little canard from Matt Blake “But I can tell you with 100% certainty that none of us FanSiders or sat around deleting comments EVER” hilarious.

  94. Cumsprite,

    And tbh, spam filters that don’t even allow the words “flea bottom” in a post because it also happens to be the name of another website (regardless of the fact that it’s part of the show) is just as bad as deleting specific comments. One of the FanSiders just said they unblocked the word “watchers”. What the hell is that? Should they block the word “the” just because it’s used in WOTW’s name? As if the slightest hint at another site will destroy WIC. Pretty pathetic.

  95. Happy GOO err GOO owns their former partners big time or WotW owns WIC errr screw it. You know what? I think we all have a bitter taste in our mouths over more than stupid cocktails but we need to get over it. The best revenge is to not go to the Giant (stealing Oz-speak) and act as if it doesn’t exist. Let this become a happy place, we got what we wanted, a site that we loved back. We can Hodor, Stannis and creep on Kate’s laugh to our hearts’ content. We can nerd out over weasel soup and call each other names for being or not being “book readers.” Life is good, let’s enjoy this new home and smile.

  96. Although all that said if Selena could drop in that would be awesome and will we get Kate’s dog and cat since they’re in the “promo” photo? I think there’s an untapped market for animal podcasts about GOT!

  97. Adam Best
    Posted August 20, 2014 at 9:05 pm | Permalink

    Thanks, Mike. We have temporary help this week until Rowan and his new staff start next Monday, but we didn’t want to leave the site naked. The news must go on! Appreciate the feedback.

    So the new editor has a new staff too. What happened to Lightbringer, Thoros and Rebecca Pahle?

  98. Congrats WotW, and GOO, for reuniting.

    It has been a hazy couple months of travel, work, and mild withdrawal for me as it was clear that Wic had descended into full on doom, and I had no clue where the new site was. I suppose my screen time was cut way down, which is probably healthy, but seriously needing a GoT fix, I would check once a week or so looking for clues as to where this new site was. I know for A FACT they were deleting my comments asking about it (and any comment generally voicing my thoughts with fansided’s approach). The day they decided to stop deleting comments, finding this site via some comments by Tahu and Dragon Demands was very, very easy. So thanks to those two for posting over there.

    I suppose this is free market at work, and in this case, the corporate approach has failed. (yeah, called that shit day one- wasn’t gonna work with this fan base)

    Again, congratulations on your return home GOO; and WotW, on building a really slick site (with a forum!) and all the success ahead of you. This is pretty exciting.

    STOKED!

  99. The Dragon Demands,

    Oh right. You’re the guy who gets off on banning people and then humiliating them further by posting their handles on your site as if they were victory notches on your belt.

    Thanks for letting us all know. Its always a good idea to keep reminding us of who you really are.

  100. Bard: So the new editor has a new staff too. What happened to Lightbringer, Thoros and Rebecca Pahle?

    No idea, but they just said they’re going to be “aggressively expanding” the staff.

  101. Howland Reed:
    Happy GOO err GOO owns their former partners big time or WotW owns WIC errr screw it. You know what? I think we all have a bitter taste in our mouths over more than stupid cocktails but we need to get over it.The best revenge is to not go to the Giant (stealing Oz-speak) and act as if it doesn’t exist.Let this become a happy place, we got what we wanted, a site that we loved back.We can Hodor, Stannis and creep on Kate’s laugh to our hearts’ content.We can nerd out over weasel soup and call each other names for being or not being “book readers.”Life is good, let’s enjoy this new home and smile.

    Here, Here! FWIW, I think the editors here have been nothing but professional in their break from the old site. The fans of the ye olden WIC, and I consider myself one, were getting really upset and this Azor Azai reborn moment allowed us to comment our grievances and displeasure. If any substantive negativity is going to the old site, it’s from its “customers,” not contributors. As for the two part Legend of the Fall that Oz is writing about, it is being done, IMHO, to get it out of the way because fandom wants to know, including me.

    PS: I need more GOO in the my life. Once a week is killing me.
    PSS: Thank you GOO for all your hard work and fun in putting it together.

  102. After beeing a long time lurker on wic I started looking for the old missing staff of wic and I am glad I found you and this site! It is just like I remember the old wic and I can’t wait to lurk here instead! I’m glad you founded this site 😀

    Since I made my first comment I might aswell ask: I know the people on the left picture, but who is the woman on the right one. Didn’t catch the article ever mentioning why there was a picture of that woman….

  103. SO THIS IS WHAT WAS HAPPENING.

    Jeez, all that last two months really left a bad taste in my mouth (“wow, this website I really used to like -or lurk, whatevs- is currently pretty shitty and I can’t seem to understand why, guess this is it for WiC”). My daily visits became weekly, and mostly to see the same boring or inocuous headlines.

    Anyways, WotW is already bookmarked here and good look to all the staff!

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