Smackjeeves Forum seems to be gone. Probably for good

[OBC]

Previously they had just locked the forums. Now it seems to have been completely deleted. The forum button gives me the URL not found page, and any results of the forum from google also gives the same thing. All that can really be done to try and see old threads is Wayback Machine, which of course isn't always guaranteed to have what you're looking for.

They hadn't announced that they were gonna take it down. But with how they haven't communicated with the community at all, and all their new owner's unwelcome changes, I wouldn't be surprised if it's gone for

I know many have left the site now (some coming over to here), so it doesn't matter that much anymore. But it's still sad to see them just running the place into the ground, destroying any shred of it's past.

[Kelheor]

Wayback Machine

This is pure magic, thank you so much, you just returned me hope of making some screenshots of my old dead forum. Wow.
And it is too bad to lose something like this

[33rdCenturyCaveman]

[borzoiteeth]

All of this and they still haven't opened up the new app. When was that suppose to come out again? 2 months ago?

[UzukiCheverie]

NHN purchased SmackJeeves several months ago, back in mid-to-late 2019. It's become generally believed that they made this purchase so they could use SJ as a Western alternative for their own platform, Comico (even to the point of having Comico comics featured with their English translations on SJ). The resemblances are striking enough to prove this, at the very least.

I believe they did announce the forum's closure prior to it happening, as the forums were still around for a couple months after the closure and people were aware it was coming and prepped accordingly. The loss of the forums are just the tip of the iceberg. With analytical reports of SJ's traffic slowly but surely declining due to its users fleeing the platform with these unannounced and unexplained changes, the former community believes it could only be a year or two before NHN's investments are lost entirely, simply due to the exodus that happened with the platform switching so fiercely like this

If you're looking to get in touch with fellow and former SJ'ers, though, there is an official-unofficial SmackJeeves Discord server. It's pretty active and has a variety of channels covering general chat, SJ concerns, and webcomic discussion.

Other than that, SJ is clearly on its way to joining Inkblazers in the "mid 2000's webcomic platforms that were destroyed by capitalism" club lol

[Iris-Grimoire]

They announced it, I remember since people with SJ mirrors were desperate and it was considered a very big place for webcomic talk. However, doesn't make it any less horrible, so many plataforms kill any user to user communication and everyone's forced to move to a discord most people might not know about (which is the higher ups' intention).

[Zugaikotsu]

They should pretty much rename the whole thing as 'comico english' and rebrand/advertise at exhaustion. traffic there is so small, specially for western works, and there is so many great stuff! Its a pity. Many of the korean titles have many more likes

[UzukiCheverie]

It's just baffling because they could have easily created an English alternative without trying to turn a pre-established website with its own community and following (a community that's been around for the last 15 years) into some translated port. Like they knew how to make Comico, why can't they just make a new platform with someone on board to translate for them? It doesn't seem cost effective or smart to buy out an individual community with a completely separate demographic (SJ was one of the few major platforms out there that wasn't succumbing to the Tapas/LINE model of 'Korean webtoon dramas' ... and even then, LINE has been shifting in that demographic just fine on its own in the past year). When has that ever worked out for anyone?

Like did they just think this was the best way to 'integrate' with the Western market, by buying out and completely changing a natively-Western platform that's been around for going on nearly 2 decades?

they obviously just wanted SmackJeeve's community and pre-existing reputation so they wouldn't have to start from square one. joke's on them thooooo

[Zugaikotsu]

yes, it's confusing to say the least. Unless they have tons of tons of money to spend in rebranding... they killed all the purpose of what smackjeeves used to be

[33rdCenturyCaveman]

Assuming competent actors, mebbe SmackJeeves was selling for cheap. Mebbe it came with IP or something else worth gutting the brand for. Mebbe they simply bought it to look good at investors' meeting.

[Cope]

The forum disappearing could just be a mistake. I wouldn’t put it past them. My entire comic archive on Smackjeeves has been disappearing and reappearing lately.

[OBC]

I'm glad that this might help you. Good luck!

[OBC]

Man, you got me getting emotional here!

[OBC]

Oh shit. I just looked at Comico, and that theory just seems on point. The two look the same, some of the comics are the same generic looking one's that are labeled Smackjeeves "Exclusives".

It's just sad that they used the Smackjeeves community to try and propel themselves, and in the process, just ended up alienating them and destroying the website. I'll be honest, before the update, I did kind of get the feeling while SJ was drying up a bit. Maybe fine on comics that were currently on it, but new comics were a bit few. But now...it's kind of a ghost town. Honestly, I'm trying to get the author of one comic, Cafe au Lait, to try and at least consider moving to Tapas or Webtoons cause I don't want it to just die there unnoticed.

As for the forum closure, I knew it was being locked permanently, but didn't know it was being removed. Or at the very least, when it would. This doesn't really surprise me because, well, you think these people give a shit about Smackjeeves, it's community, and it's past?

Sigh. This just sucks. I'm honestly worried about the website, and especially older comics that aren't on Tapas and Webtoon. I really do feel like this might go the way of that website you mentioned, Inkblazers.