In light of EviLore being denied an E3 Media pass and the discussion that arose from it, I did a quick search for NeoGAF's history and found an interesting 3 part interview conducted by Alex Donaldson (who is also a GAF member - APZonerunner) in May 2013 for VG247.
Part 1: http://www.vg247.com/2013/05/15/the-story-of-neogaf-part-one-humble-beginnings/
Part 2: http://www.vg247.com/2013/05/16/the-story-of-neogaf-part-two-scandal-and-control/
Part 3: http://www.vg247.com/2013/05/17/the-story-of-neogaf-part-three-money-money-money/
There are also a couple of old threads where EviLore was interviewed by various sites including the original interview thread:
GamePro, 2010: http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=388014&highlight=evilore+vg247
Edge, 2013 (probably the same interview as the VG247 one): http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=538437&highlight=evilore+vg247
VG247, 2013 (the original thread the interview was posted in): http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=557918&highlight=evilore+vg247
NeoGAF stats as of May 2013 (all found in Part 3):
Page views: 70 million per month
Unique visitors: 2.6 million
Total number of posts: 50 million
NeoGAF stats as of today (from front page):
Threads: 598,013
Posts: 67,027,529
Members: 132,083
Fun fact: EviLore hates bronies.
Props to him turning down that kind of money, I know I would've just taken the deal and ran.
EDIT: Looks like he's been offered even more since then.
As a bonus, have some gifs! Plus a quality WebM from Nibel.
Mods, feel free to lock or merge this thread with an existing one, I didn't feel like I should necrobump the original year-old thread.
Part 1: http://www.vg247.com/2013/05/15/the-story-of-neogaf-part-one-humble-beginnings/
Alex Donaldson said:Influential, disruptive and notorious, NeoGAF has been called many things. Alex Donaldson sat down with owner Tyler Malka to discuss the site’s birth, influence and growth over the years.
Tyler Malka likely isn’t a name many gamers are familiar with, and yet he’s a surprisingly influential figure in the video game industry. He’s the sole owner of NeoGAF, one of the most dominant gaming communities online.
In the world of invested gamers with a keen eye for news, NeoGAF is notorious. It counts among its members the likes of David Jaffe and Cliff Bleszinski as well as scores of gaming community managers, media and other industry alumni.
While other corporately-owned forums such as GameFAQs rival it on size, NeoGAF is the largest and most successful independently-owned video games community around.
Part 2: http://www.vg247.com/2013/05/16/the-story-of-neogaf-part-two-scandal-and-control/
Alex Donaldson said:One of the key contributing factors to NeoGAF’s astonishing growth since 2006 has been due to the site becoming a hub for a wide range of activity. It’s a primary source of news and traffic for many gaming websites, and a site visited by famed developers or their representatives.
Combine that with 100,000 members and some 50,000 posts per day and you have a recipie for anarchy and scandal. As part of my ongoing discussion with NeoGAF’s lone owner, Tyler ‘EviLore’ Malka, we discussed how on earth managing such a vast number of people works, keeping the boards free and functional without hitting legal trouble or turning the them into landfill.
For Malka, finding the balance hasn’t always been easy – but the path to NeoGAF’s current moderation handbook is one decorated with well-publicised bumps in the road – the most famous of which are a collection of damaged industry figures – a stark warning to others wanting to get involved on the gaming world’s most notorious message board.
Part 3: http://www.vg247.com/2013/05/17/the-story-of-neogaf-part-three-money-money-money/
Alex Donaldson said:The line of questioning at that point was obvious; how often, who, and is Malka ever tempted? He chuckled as I ask all three at once, and is pleasingly clear and honest in his answers. “On average, I get … I think I would say a buy-out offer on average every two weeks. I’ve been thinking we’d run out of corporations, but maybe not.
“It’s been happening extremely frequently lately, and I generally don’t respond. If I do respond, it’s a polite reply saying that I’m happy with doing what I’m doing, and I’ve had exorbitant offers before, and, y’know, you’re gonna have to do better than that. So let’s just move on, go our separate ways.
“I’ve had some really lucrative offers – $5 million offers,“ he revealed, but the sound of my shock forced him to pause and chuckle again. “Kind of insane, isn’t it? But – I’m passionate about what I do.
There are also a couple of old threads where EviLore was interviewed by various sites including the original interview thread:
GamePro, 2010: http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=388014&highlight=evilore+vg247
Edge, 2013 (probably the same interview as the VG247 one): http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=538437&highlight=evilore+vg247
VG247, 2013 (the original thread the interview was posted in): http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=557918&highlight=evilore+vg247
NeoGAF stats as of May 2013 (all found in Part 3):
Page views: 70 million per month
Unique visitors: 2.6 million
Total number of posts: 50 million
NeoGAF stats as of today (from front page):
Threads: 598,013
Posts: 67,027,529
Members: 132,083
Fun fact: EviLore hates bronies.
Props to him turning down that kind of money, I know I would've just taken the deal and ran.
EDIT: Looks like he's been offered even more since then.
As a bonus, have some gifs! Plus a quality WebM from Nibel.
Mods, feel free to lock or merge this thread with an existing one, I didn't feel like I should necrobump the original year-old thread.