spcnet.tv 2024

[spcnet]

First, HUGE apologies for being MIA. Due to various personal reasons and priorities in the last few years, there hasn't been much headspace and attention allocated to the maintenance, other than major issues, of this website. Technology, software, and vendor requirements also evolve over time, require upgrading, and taking care of a site properly can mean a significant investment of time - something that became a scarcity due to life circumstances.

spcnet.tv is OLD - for those with some tech background, this is just a list of some issues:

- we're running on a customized LAMP stack that needs to be upgraded

- we're not mobile optimized (as such, much punished by Google SEO after they changed their search algorithms a few years ago)

- we have some really old version of vBulletin for the forum that might not even be clealy upgraded without losing some data

- we were shut down by Google Adsense (this had previously brought in some ad revenue to pay for server costs) a few years ago because the site was flagged with external linking to copyrighted material and it took a long time to identify/remove and get Adsense to re-activate the account. But despite that, the website now is barely making any ad revenue to offset costs

- our content is outdated (this is not a technical problem, but a product one): across the rest of the site and the forums, there hasn't been really a lot of activity and new content. Maybe people don't write reviews anymore. Maybe people don't like to go to forums anymore. Maybe there are other types of content that people consume, other platforms (Instagram, TikTok, FB, etc.) people rather engage in.


There has been concerns about whether the site will continue. As it stands right now, the site is still up and running. However, every year we consider pulling the plug to shut down the site because we're paying out of pocket for server and infrastructure costs. But then the idea is rescinded every time because of the tiny thought that MAYBE if there was time, we could do something to finally rebuild the site from scratch for it to make sense again. The forum is one part, the rest of the reviews site is another. And it's hard to kill something that's been part of our lives for so long too! This is just some transparency to the considerations and thinking, and there are no answers yet.

I would love to hear from our members who are still around, old and new, what it really means to want to come back to the site, not just for nostalgic reasons. Of if you just have questions and thoughts to share. Thank you to everyone who's stuck around!

[Ken Cheng]

Well, I'm still around and watch over my small domains here.

There's quite a bit of affection for the old community among the veteran diehards.

A few years ago, when the pandemic first hit and the future of SPCNET became uncertain, I started a legacy group on Facebook to preserve the community of this forum even if it should go down. It has done reasonably well and is regularly active, with both veteran SPCNET community members and some newer people we've picked up along the way.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/679441419485194

I hope you can join this group and continue to be our leader (Admin) there. I started this Facebook group, but I've only seen myself as its custodian. If you join and become the Admin, then the group will finally have its legit leader.

Please consider.


Ken Cheng

[jayjenxi]

The technical issues are going to be quite a headache to deal with. I run forums and painfully migrated from vB to IPB and lost data along the way, before settling on Discourse. You might have to run it through a chain of conversions/upgrades before you can even migrate the database into another software.

Technical hurdles aside, there’s the question of whether people still hang out and post here, or if they prefer newer options like Reddit and Discord for discussions. I was thinking of posting here a while ago but some bug meant I was unable to even post a reply or send a PM, and I just gave up. So, you might want to consider such issues that could potentially deter people from being active here.

As for the reviews, Douban is the site to go to for reviews for Chinese content, either by being able to read Chinese or through the use of browser translation. There are lesser Korean or Japanese film and drama reviews on Douban but you can still find them. I’m curious to see if others still come here for reviews.

I have passion projects like this as well that are funded out of my pocket and I can understand the annual struggle whether to pay for another year. Whether people find the content and community valuable versus the costs and efforts involved. It’ll help to analyse the numbers, both the site/forum activity and the costs involved, to have a better idea of where things stand and whether it’s worth it. And if the plan is to keep going, a rough roadmap and timeline.

[charbydis]

Hey! I have been a part of this forum since I was in high school. I am not an active poster and more of a reader. I love to come and read the discussion and debates in this forum. Whilst I do really enjoy this forum, I do understand that somethings you have to let go of whether you want to or not. I am not an IT person so I don't understand what is involved with the upkeep of a website. I think it will be like my Galaxy Tab A which works fine, but I can no longer update the software so it freezes and I have to put it in recycling. But I can help with funding if others would like to keep going.

I think the most important thing is that we stick together, whether it is in this forum, on a new site or on FB. We have known each other for so many years, we are like family. Losing the site will be painful, but if it has to be done, then so be it. I will go with the flow.

[someguy44]

Yeah, a lot of us who just aren't tech savvy and don't really know or understand how much work and time needs to be put in to maintain and upkeep a site like Spcnet. I do think it might be a good idea to make all the forums/reviews of this site accessible on mobile as well because most people now use their phones/ipads/tablets to go online more than their computers (a lot of people don't even have computers nowadays). Having said that, it probably requires a lot of work and costs to make this site mobile compatible and you have to backup the data as well in order not to lose any of the threads/posts/reviews/etc, but you said losing some data is inevitable if you upgrade the site? Maybe the threads/posts/reviews can be backup onto a different format before an upgrade (if one does happen) and then that info could be put back? But, that sounds like a ton of work in itself to be honest.

Since there's little ad revenue now, is there a way to look for alternative ad revenue or revenue sources? A few banner ads here and there on the forums wouldn't bothered too many people I think? But, I don't know. In the meantime, maybe you can start a Gofundme to keep this site going as long as possible? This site has also been a big part of my life. I have a lot of friends here who may or may not come back to the site. Even if a few of them come by every now and then (and some have), it's still worth it. There are still some regular posters here who still posts regularly, but unfortunately, it's not too many of them left. Even I left for years and came back cause life happens. My daughter, when she was a baby and then a toddler, pretty much took up all my time. Now, she's 11 so I have more free time to frequent this site like I once did.

I wouldn't mind donating a bit of money (like to a Gofundme) and hope others would too to keep this site going. I know it's not the best situation to ask for donations, but not sure what else to say and jayjenxi pretty much explained everything clearly in the post above and you've explained it as well. I do hope more posters will see this thread and respond with their own thoughts.

Edit - If the decision is to just pull the plug on this site, I and others will also understand. However, please give us a warning if this does happen as we can prepare then. Thank you!

[Tam_Nguyen]

I love to read the differents questions or debate in the Wuxia Fiction, there is a lot of interesting ideas. The knowledge of the members are impressive. There isn't a lot of place to discuss about Wuxia in english...I remember back then there were a Wuxiasociety forum too that was pretty fun, but it closed

The reviews are useful too, I can't find a lot of review of TVB or ATV in english these days. I can't read chinese. Especially the reviews of older series, I like to read the review (I don't mind spoilers) before watching a series, and spcnet has always been the place I think about first.

[metsrus]

Is there somewhere we can make donations to keep the site running?

[jayjenxi]

There isn't a lot of place to discuss about Wuxia in english...I remember back then there were a Wuxiasociety forum too that was pretty fun, but it closed

The forum/site is still up

[someguy44]

Is there somewhere we can make donations to keep the site running?

Well, I made a suggestion to spcnet to start a Gofundme and see if that leads to anywhere.
It won't be a long term plan, but at least it'll lessen the burdern for our founder for maybe another year or few?

The forum/site is still up

Temujin/Galvatron/Andrew, is that you?

[Tam_Nguyen]

The forum/site is still up

Ohhh it moves there! I remember the old forums closing and the topics were lost....Had fun reading the topics and comments back then! Didn't know its still up :3

[jayjenxi]

No, I created the site after the original one died. Check the origin story here: https://wuxiasociety.com/about/

[Tam_Nguyen]

No, I created the site after the original one died. Check the origin story here: https://wuxiasociety.com/about/

Ohh I see!

[dictionary]

The reviews are useful too, I can't find a lot of review of TVB or ATV in english these days. I can't read chinese. Especially the reviews of older series, I like to read the review (I don't mind spoilers) before watching a series, and spcnet has always been the place I think about first.

Same here. I like reading all the reviews. I wanted to write some reviews too awhile back but the site was/is down. Personally, I prefer this forum format over FB, TikTok, IG...

[Han Solo]

How much does it take to run the server?

I'm happy to contribute financially but am not tech savvy to help otherwise.

Han Solo

[galvatron]

Temujin and Mawguy create this Wuxiasociety
I just helping up
https://wuxiasociety.freeforums.net/

[charbydis]

Temujin and Mawguy create this Wuxiasociety
I just helping up
https://wuxiasociety.freeforums.net/

Thanks. I just joined.

[spcnet]

Thank you to everyone who offered their thoughts! I don't think we'll accept donations as it's not a long-term solution. Definitely taking this input in for ideas and consideration.

@Ken Cheng, very grateful that you are still watching as a faithful member and moderator! No one owns the community members - you have my blessings there with the FB group as its keeper. @someguy44 referred to me as "Dai Tao Dai Ge" in another thread, but don't forget, that guy turned out to be the main villain in DGSD!

@jayjenxi, thank you for sharing your experience too with WuxiaSociety! Douban is different in the sense that it's all in Chinese. Actually spcnet.tv was started because there weren't any websites out there in the past on Asian entertainment for English speakers. There were some forum subthreads, but nothing really dedicated to it.

@charbydis, I am quite touched by what you said here: "I think the most important thing is that we stick together, whether it is in this forum, on a new site or on FB. We have known each other for so many years, we are like family. "

[someguy44]

Thank you to everyone who offered their thoughts! I don't think we'll accept donations as it's not a long-term solution. Definitely taking this input in for ideas and consideration.

@Ken Cheng, very grateful that you are still watching as a faithful member and moderator! No one owns the community members - you have my blessings there with the FB group as its keeper. @someguy44 referred to me as "Dai Tao Dai Ge" in another thread, but don't forget, that guy turned out to be the main villain in DGSD!

@jayjenxi, thank you for sharing your experience too with WuxiaSociety! Douban is different in the sense that it's all in Chinese. Actually spcnet.tv was started because there weren't any websites out there in the past on Asian entertainment for English speakers. There were some forum subthreads, but nothing really dedicated to it.

@charbydis, I am quite touched by what you said here: "I think the most important thing is that we stick together, whether it is in this forum, on a new site or on FB. We have known each other for so many years, we are like family. "

Think you remembered that wrong. Dai Tao Dai Ge was not a villain at all. He's the abbot of Shaolin (Hui Juk's dad) who was misled by the main villain of DGSD (MRB). Also, I took that from Ian Liew on the Spcnet FB group (I think it was Ian) as Ian referred to you as Dai Tao Dai Ge due to your mysteriousness as none of us know your real identity.

[spcnet]

Think you remembered that wrong. Dai Tao Dai Ge was not a villain at all. He's the abbot of Shaolin (Hui Juk's dad) who was misled by the main villain of DGSD (MRB). Also, I took that from Ian Liew on the Spcnet FB group (I think it was Ian) as Ian referred to you as Dai Tao Dai Ge due to your mysteriousness as none of us know your real identity.

I stand corrected! You are right, I am rusty in my wuxia trivia knowledge, hah!

[PJ]

As someone who voluntarily maintains a legacy LAMP app at work (not part of my job; I do it b/c some ppl still depend on it), I definitely understand the challenge here. SC, please know that we deeply appreciate how long SPCNET has been around. As probably the 2nd member by post count, I echo what someone said earlier: it's been a big part of our lives. For those who've been around since adolescence, it's a diary of our growth, our life journey, documented in our evolving posts over time.

I'd love to help preserve the forum content. SC, if the time ever comes to shut it down, can you save the Mysql dump (assuming that's where all the posts are kept)? With that, one of us can extract the content to a new platform and keep it alive for the community.