LG15 phpBB forum is back!
Hey Everyone,
I received several emails from members of the LG15 community asking that we “turn on posting” in the old phpBB lonelygirl15 forum. Thanks for emailing, I didn’t know that this was something you wanted and I appreciate your feedback. It’s actually good timing because we have some exciting announcements about LG15 coming very soon. It’s been a long and bumpy road for all of us, but I hope that you can open up your hearts and give LG15 a chance to win you back. I miss the old days just like you and I hope this community can flourish again.
Cutting to the chase, we are happy to turn on the phpBB forum for you guys. We just changed the settings so you should be able to login and post right now. Unfortunately, we’re getting SQL errors from new user registration, so we can’t turn that feature on. The old forum is on our old servers and we don’t have the resources to support those servers or code. This was why we turned the forum off in the first place, but I understand your desire to continue using it and we’re happy to provide the functionality that is currently available.
I also want you to know that I appreciate your concerns and I have no problem admitting my mistakes. Inside the company we encourage each other to talk openly about our mistakes so that we can analyze them, learn from them, and do a better job the second time around. So, I’m happy to admit to my mistakes publicly. Here you go:
- We shouldn’t have launched such an immature software product on LG15.com unless we had the resources to add features and upgrade it. Unfortunately we immediately had to work on Harper’s and that work didn’t transfer back to LG15 “automatically” like I wanted it to. I’m sorry.
- We shouldn’t have shut down the phpBB forum considering that the new software wasn’t up to par. I’m sorry.
- We should be better about communicating with you guys, our first and most loyal fans. Again, I’m sorry.
Here is our plan for LG15 going forward. It’s not perfect, but it’s the best we can do given our resources. I hope these actions help move us towards mending this broken community.
- We will be re-launching LG15.com on the newest version of our servers and software within the next couple months. It will feature new forums, profile pages, and publishing just like you’ve experienced on Harper’s Globe and Level 26. It will continue to be upgraded along with all of our other websites. Unfortunately because of changes to the underlying database structure we will NOT be able to port user data from the current LG15 site. This means that comments on “LG15: The Resistance” and “LG15: The Last,” discussion threads in the new Resistance/Last forums, and photos/board posts on profile pages WILL NOT be integrated seamlessly on the new site. You WILL be able to login to the new site with your same email/password just like you can across all EQAL sites, and create new profile pages and connect your YouTube, Twitter, and FB accounts. This was not an easy decision. However, we felt that it was better to get a new site up rather than continue “indefinitely” on the old software.
- When we launch the new site, we’ll preserve the current LG15 site in an “archived” state, and at some point in the future we will integrate it into the new site. This includes the “lonelygirl15,” “KateModern,” “LG15: The Resistance,” and “LG15: The Last” comments/profiles/forums/etc. For the sake of clarity, ALL LG15 CONTENT that is currently online will stay online and remain visible, this includes the newly reopened phpBB forum.
- Greg and I are going to make a concerted effort to be better about communicating with you guys about what we’re doing with LG15. We aren’t perfect and sometimes we get incredibly busy with everything that we are doing with EQAL, but we understand the need for better communication and will do a better job.
As I mentioned at the beginning of this post, we have some exciting announcements about the LG15 Universe coming out really soon. I know that the lonelygirl15 community is what got us our start and I intend on helping it to grow over time. It will take some time, and I know it’s been a rocky path, but hopefully you can give us a chance. Trust me, the past few years have not been easy for us either. It’s difficult because we can’t always tell you what’s going on internally, but we have been working like maniacs over the past few years to help turn this hobby into an industry so that all independent content creators like ourselves will benefit.
Thanks.
M
August 14th, 2009 at 11:28 am
Yes!
August 14th, 2009 at 11:39 am
Are those DVDs of lonelygirl15 that were discussed on the old fourms ever going to come to fruition? Seems like it would certainly help out your financial situation, and I for one have been waiting to buy them. If you have issues with clearing the rights to certain things, perhaps you could instead put up a torrent of the content in hq/hd along with a paypal donate button?
August 14th, 2009 at 12:08 pm
:):):)
August 14th, 2009 at 2:51 pm
Thank you for this clear post. It’s good that you guys finally respond to the concerns we have as a community. It’s nice to read that you still care about your old LG15 fans, because it didn’t felt like that anymore.
And I’m so glad that the old forum is open again! A really good discision!
August 14th, 2009 at 3:15 pm
All very good news.
[is one of the many meepers not-so-secretly wishing that one of the “exciting announcements about LG15 coming very soon” is the long-awaited continuation of TR]
August 14th, 2009 at 9:54 pm
Just wondering…
When the “new and improved” LG15 site is rolled out, will the phpBB forum be locked up again or will it remain an open playground for us ‘die hards’?
August 14th, 2009 at 10:22 pm
Hi Miles, Greg, Amanda, et al,
Just a quick reaction / food for thought from an old LG15 fan …
I think you guys, no matter what the conditions or circumstances, should consider finding a way to produce original content, even if it is just 1 or 2 videos or related pieces a week, whether it is an LG15 continuation, or some other story.
Even if you have no budget for it, you can still make a little time if it’s a priority, and I think it should be, for your own personal satisfaction as well as financial goals. It gives you ‘net cred’ (internet street credibility) when you make your own show and fans get on board for it. If money’s tight, gear down the production costs to the bare minimum and get creative - you’ve done that before. Let it be campy. If and when the advertising budget comes in, then you can ramp up the production.
I think it’s easy to get buried in the truely endless (if you let them) tasks of software development and business deals. No matter what the economy is doing, if you are ever going to make original content, you just have to carve out a percentage of people’s time to do it. And it’s worth it - remember how much fun you all had in the first year or two?
It just seems to me that continuing to produce new content, even just a little, on a regular basis, has got to be a part of the picture for your company to preserve what was special about it in the first place.
Good luck,
~ QtheC
August 15th, 2009 at 4:02 am
Good move. Thank you.
I know that Hye, Milo, and I would love to have the Phorum 1.0 back up at some point. No posting, etc. is required but if you want advertisers to REALLY want to know what made you famous, I would put that back up.
Those were heady days, until we gotcha
Thanks again.
August 15th, 2009 at 12:06 pm
This post really makes me feel better. Miles, you get major cool points for opening the phpBB forum :). I wonder what these “exciting announcements” are? I guess I should go on the phpBB forum and theorize!
August 15th, 2009 at 3:13 pm
I am really happy to see this actually.
Moving to a new site will only be like starting fresh, and personally I think thats exactly what you guys needed. It’s even better because you still have plenty of viewers, and I am sure once the old viewers come back to check the new site out they will once again be enticed to come back on a daily basis like it was with Lonelygirl15.
As far as QtheC’s comment goes,
I would much rather you guys didnt do what that user is saying. Im looking for that “big bang” to come soon, and just want to go crazy for it — with that said, im hoping for the traditional daily videos to come back again. The way he/she is describing it would just make fans restless, and it would kind of be annoying. If we have waited this long, I am sure we can wait another couple months for some good news.
Definitely excited to see whats up,
[r]
August 15th, 2009 at 5:15 pm
I want Jonas I want Reed, LG15’s what I need!
…Don’t blame me, the rhyme just came out of my head.
August 16th, 2009 at 1:37 am
This post made my night. Thanks :). Hopefully LG15 will get back to something amazing soon ^_^
August 16th, 2009 at 7:21 pm
Thanks guys, appreciate the positive comments and the feedback. trainer101, the phpBB forum will stay up after the new site is up. QtheC, I agree with your thoughts, we are planning on continuing original content production in some capacity, just not sure exactly what/when but stay on the lookout. cg, I am not sure where Phorum 1.0 is at this point. I think that the data was on old servers that we no longer use, and it might be gone forever (which is a real shame if that’s the case, I know). At some point we’ll look for it and see.
August 16th, 2009 at 8:28 pm
Thanks Miles. We all appreciate it!
August 17th, 2009 at 12:41 am
when you say LG15, do mean the resistance?
August 17th, 2009 at 5:33 am
THANK YOU MILES!!!
Officially teh best post ever added to inside! made me smile at work (which doesnt happen often lol)
your back on the lg15 highway with us, after a small (ish) detour
August 17th, 2009 at 2:00 pm
I did notice that LBL had a new logo on their website ;), but I doubt TR is returning for a second season just yet. By the time it does, Maggie’ll probably be dead and Jonas’ll be in the Order, and Sarah’ll be “fighting” and Reed and Daniel will be hooking up. Maybe that’s just my thoughts o_o.
Anyhow, maybe the exciting announcements include TSIY2 and a few surprises. But we have to wait for the Last to officially end with Sibylla’s final video, now.
August 17th, 2009 at 4:59 pm
I wanted to add my thanks here as well. Thanks! Great move and a marvelous reach out to the original community.
Is it impudent of me to ask for clarification on the response to trainer101’s question regarding the phpBB forum?
He asked, “When the “new and improved” LG15 site is rolled out, will the phpBB forum be locked up again or will it remain an open playground for us ‘die hards’?”
Miles, you simply replied “trainer101, the phpBB forum will stay up after the new site is up. ”
Now, I know I’m probably picking nits here, but that is not an answer to his question. You had already suggested that the phpBB forum would remain “up.”
Anyway, I hope you clarify this issue, and again I sincerely thank you for allowing posting at the forum again.
Apo
August 18th, 2009 at 11:15 pm
Thanks for the post!
Will we be seeing TAAG anytime soon?
August 22nd, 2009 at 6:49 am
Thanks for this update. I’m really glad to see the LG15 isn’t just going to die away. I do think it’s important that the series gets up and running again in some capacity. When I posted on your last update, I admitted that the fan-made shows didn’t hold as much interest for me, and I wasn’t a lone voice in that respect. I still feel that if TSIY continues indefinitely, that some fans will be lost. I do appreciate the fan-made content and I know the people involved put a lot of work into them, but it’s your shows that really make me keep coming back here. And if there’s movement on that front, it can only be good for the community.
I hope that things work out well, and I’m looking forward to hearing from you guys more frequently since it always makes us feel a bit better to know a bit of what’s going on. Thanks again.
August 22nd, 2009 at 8:26 pm
Years after meeting Bree and all the lonelycrackers, I still check this site several times a week. Thanks for putting the forum back up, and thanks for today’s email about the new development. I’m dying, just dying, to fight the Order again.