Looking Forward, Game of Thrones Season 7 Episode 7: The Future of Watchers on the Wall

“Power resides where men believe it resides. It’s a trick, a shadow on the wall. And a very small man can cast a very large shadow.”

Here at the Wall, we are more than a small man. We are a small team… a devoted team made up of journalists and writers and professionals and village idiots that genuinely put the interests of our supporters (you) above all else. Most importantly we are fans just like you, dedicated to bringing you the best coverage of our obsession(s) while protecting the realms of fandoms.

Thanks to the resiliency of our team and our enthusiastic loyal band of readers, our very small corner of internet ice and rock has cast a very large shadow. But as we always do in Looking Forward, we must look to the future. For the long night is upon us, the internet landscape is changing, and the endgame is now clearly in sight.

We request your presence to discuss the future of your favorite GoT site and to ask you, our loyal supporters, for a very small favor…

History

For those of you who do not know the backstory of how this site was contrived, well, I won’t bore you with the details. Nor do I want to beat the dead horse. It’s a long, drawn out story in which the ink is dry (and is best told in person anyway, over ale and snack mix).

 

What I will tell you is that the foundation of which the founders (Sue, Axey, Marko and yours truly) focused on was centered primarily on the priorities of you, the reader. Those priorities were largely based on preserving a positive reader experience (i.e., not having to watch unwanted autoplay videos, or deal with clickbait, or pop-up ads, or intro screens inviting you to play cyber slots or find a nice woman from overseas from which to settle down with).

 

Admittedly, at times these things have crept in (much to our surprise) since none of our ad spaces are formatted for video. And besides that, they’re not approved.  But once we are made aware of them, we do everything in our immediate power to have them extinguished.

 

Present

In case you haven’t noticed, over the past couple of years the internet has changed tremendously and continues to evolve as you read this.

The trend is video advertising.  Everywhere.

This is not a knock on video content itself. In fact, we are in discussion on creating more video content right now. And we have multitudes of video content producers that we partner with and help promote.

This convo relates strictly to video advertising because apparently, it makes A LOT more money.

Here’s a stat for you that if you surf regularly, won’t surprise you.

• Consumers are over 27 times more likely to click on an online video ad than a standard banner ad.

If you go to any large corporate-owned website right now, odds are favorable that you are going run into video advertisements either within the story, or in the sidebar, or on the landing page, or all of the above. Many of them give you no choice but to watch in its entirety. And as a result of this trend, display advertising is taking a huge hit when it comes to revenue.

“Oz, I came here for Game of Thrones news and discussion. So, forgive me for asking, but why the hell do I care?”

If you love our site (or at least some of it), here is why…

Our biggest promise to you when we jumped ship from Old Nan was to never inundate you with shit that you didn’t want, or bait you into clicking on hair growth formula, or make you sit through a commercial before you got to the content. And believe us when we tell you, our decision to uphold that promise does not stem from a lack of opportunity.

Every day, we are swamped with advertisers that want to work with us and implement those things that we swore to protect you from. The promise of doubling or tripling or quadrupling our revenue is incredibly tempting if for no other reason than to be able to provide more content and prizes for you lovely people.

However, we made a promise to you. A sacred vow. And the Watchers on the Wall are NOT oathbreakers. We are oathkeepers.

We shall wear no crowns and win no glory. We shall live and die at our posts. We are the sword in the advertising darkness. We are the watchers on the wall. We are the shield that guards the realms of women and men of the fandom. We pledge our life and honor to the Night’s Watch, for this night and all the nights to come.

This is our vow. It is known.

But we also have to be realistic. WotW has grown exponentially over the past two years which has brought expenses and taxes and upgraded servers and unexpected bills.  You may not be aware of this, but our contributors are volunteers, doing what they do simply for the love of the show and the interaction with you, or loyal supporters.

And hell, it’d be nice to give them a little something for their efforts more often.

So here is what we would like to do:

Instead of breaking our vow to you and start hurling “grow your penis 5 inches in a week” video ads, we’d like to ask you for a monthly gift. Anything you can do would be more than we have right now and will guarantee our servitude to you for years to come.

If half of our readers pledged the cost of one drink at Starbucks per month, we would be able to do so much more for our writers, the fandom, and for you, the reader.

Here’s what you can do:

• Pick an option below and click the “subscribe” button or go to our Support the Wall page, find the “subscribe” button and pick an option. Anything is appreciated.
• If you use an ad-blocker, greenlight us. Every little bit helps and if you ever see any intrusive ads, let us know and we will take care of it
• Encourage your friends and fellow fans to do the same and to support and join our community.
• Let us know you did so on social by using hashtag #SupportTheWall

Help Support the Wall and keep ads to a minimum!

Option 1 : $3.00 USD – monthly Option 2 : $5.00 USD – monthly Option 3 : $10.00 USD – monthly Option 4 : $20.00 USD – monthly Option 5 : $50.00 USD – monthly

In order to make this community ideal last, we need your help. If you’ve ever considered giving to a cause that stood for your values as a fan and that stood up for our fandom, then consider us. There is power in numbers, and together we can establish and maintain anything we feel passionate about.

Back to the Future

As to the future of Watchers on the Wall after the conclusion of Game of Thrones, your guess is as good as mine. Here is what we know..

1. There will be spinoffs. Game of Thrones has been too successful for HBO to just to let Planetos go. And if there is something that relates to it, or ASOIAF, or anything Game of Thrones, we will be here so long as you guys keep visiting.

2. We will expand to include other interests. We have already begun with Westworld Watchers. If you were unaware, go follow now… even if you haven’t watched it. We have no way of knowing if Westworld will succeed or thrive or survive, but it definitely has shown promise of longevity and facilitating theory and discussion.

3. We’ve still got one more season! Who knows when that will air. In the meantime, we will continue to be your most trusted source for GoT. So, hang out… we have more fun in the off-season anyway.

That’s it for me today, Ladies and Sers. A man sincerely thanks you all for your time and consideration.

A man will see you Monday morning for the final Unsullied Recap of Season 7. It’s hard to believe that it’s already here.

Invite someone to the Wall. And may there always be peace in your realm.

-Oz

Follow Oz on Twitter

The post Looking Forward, Game of Thrones Season 7 Episode 7: The Future of Watchers on the Wall appeared first on Watchers on the Wall.

Via http://watchersonthewall.com