So only privileged people can read comics there while most of the world will remain on tapas and webtoon, what a shame, They are helping their competition by not going global.
This was the concern we brought on Tapas when they almost did the same with the new design.
But Tapas was and is the place for creators and they listen to their community and they survived.
Smackjeeves was the first place I posted a comic on and was what got me into learning web design. So it's a shame because I liked the unique, old fashioned single page comics and the ability to make my own site. That was fun.
I already stopped using it when they removed the customization part, just lost interest by then. I can't give an eff they're dead now. It's just a shame we've moved on from that because I still prefer comics over webtoons.
I use to use that site, but i never got any traffic so I just deleted my account when i saw this thread.
Smackjeeves was the first webcomic site I used, starting in 2012. I noticed over the years, the site's age was starting to show however, some of their older features I liked. Like being able to organize pages into chapters and reorder pages, a feature which is missing on most new webcomic sites.
I think their issue with updating their site was that instead of offering something different than their competitors, they decided to just make a bad copy of Webtoons. They pissed off their old users by removing features they liked and turned new users away due to it looking like a bootleg.
I feel more bad for the users and content creators than I do for those running the site.
I'm not a comic creator but I checked the site and can't enter (I live in Norway if this information helps).
Believe it or not, SmackJeeves was actually the first webcomic site I visited. I was even planning on originally uploading the comic I'm working on now up there. I eventually changed my mind, but I kept the site in the back of my head. It's a shame to see it go.
I tried SJ, but I was unable to log in from my iPad (despite password and username being correct). That pretty much killed the site for me right there.
It’s sad to see it go fir everyone who actually was able to fully use the site. But it also kinda shows what’s about to happen if you ignore the needs of your userbase (creators and readers alike). Let’s hope neither Tapas nor Webtoons will fall in the same trap :<
As much as it doesn't come as a shock to me that this is what's happening to Smackjeeves, I'm still pretty upset about it. I had been on that site since around 2010, and there's so many fond memories I have of comics that I remember reading. Growing up on webcomics is what made me the creator I am now, and with the site going to close I feel pretty sad just thinking of all the comics that will disappear with it. Worst part is, it really didn't have to come to this, NHN literally could have not flipped a 180 on the entire site and there wouldn't have been a problem. 
I appreciate letting us know about the news, since I'm no longer uploading my comic on there (it consistently logs me out after each login, so I no longer have the patience to keep logging in) I would have not have known.
Aww no 
I started to upload my comic there back in 2011 and I still sometimes visit it (now with vpn bc otherwise I'm blocked) to read old comments... I had most readers on that site too a few years ago so im sad to see it go.
Aw man, I haven't used SmackJeeves in years but it's one of the reasons I got into webcomics/webtoons. My fave was Obnoxious Hero-kun (which is also on tapas)
Haven't been able to access SmackJeeves for well over a month, since they apparently decided to cut all Europeans out 'cos they failed to follow the GDPR laws, so I'm afraid the site was already dead for me XD
That said, though, it saddens me to see SJ go. It was the first webcomic platform I ever joined and the place where I discovered one of my favorite artists ever. For years I'd been dreaming of the day when I'd finally be able to publish my own comic to SJ. However, when the time to publish the first episode of my comic finally came, I took a look at the website and saw that it had turned into yet another Webtoon clone... with a HUGE focus on "popular" and "premium" content and little to no attention given to new/smaller creators, apparently. That was what eventually made me decide to post on ComicFury and Tapas instead... which turned out to be the right decision, since after a month of so the site was completely blocked for EU residents. Definitely a shame to see it go... and like this, no less ;_;
That's very sad. I don't like the direction they took with Smack Jeeves though and I'm still disappointed it became just another Tapas clone. The forum was even shut down, which made community interaction equal to 0. I tried once to upload my comic on SJ, but ultimately ended up scrapping the project altogether, so I deleted the series from there. Some of the mechanics where clunky and some a bit old.
Still, a great loss for webcomic creators. 
I'm curious, for people with comics on SJ, do you plan to copy and repost it somewhere else for archiving? I have one of my old comics there (Stand(H)ard), and I'm wondering if I should keep it there until death, or move it somewhere else other than my own site... like bulk copy paste of the whole thing in Tapas or another platform...
A shame to see it go, that’s where I started my webcomic-making journey. I went and downloaded all my old comics from there...cause I won’t be able to get them back once SJ goes down.
Wow, weren't they just done updating the whole site? That didn't go so well after all then. I remember reading comics there years and years ago. Kind of sad it's going away.
I moved everything last November due to the clear direction that it was anti-creator and reader as possible. However unlike a lot of creators most of my work is less than 50 pages each so it wasn't a big nightmare to move.
If you still have your account (many people lost theirs in the "update") you apparently can download any of your comics that weren't accidentally deleted (also a bonus from last year's update). Unless your work is a hundred page nightmare to reupload elsewhere-
BUT For anyone who missed what SJ used to be and desire your own personal site that you can customise ComicFury9 is a great choice. It had the ability to dump (I think?) 50 or so pages at a time and then mass scheduling them to publish over whatever course of time you wish.
To show an example of what that looks like on site.