I still remember the launch of The Escapist. It was so different with its styling and content, sort of an online version of the Edge magazine. Alas that didn't last long.
I recall seeing some really good content from them a while back, but it never was quite good enough that I'd go there explicitly to check them out. Then without really realizing it, I stopped seeing links to their content, and sort of forgot they'd ever existed.
Some quick googling shows why: They'd gone totally off the deep end. What a baffling way for them to end. I wonder if it was just a (very ill-advised) tactic to try and boost traffic, or if the owner/editors were actually true believers?