LG15 and OpAphid Reunited!
From insideLG15:
Hey Everyone,
As I mentioned in my last post, we have exciting news regarding the LG15 Universe. As you know, back in the early days of lonelygirl15 a fan just like you created an incredible LG15 spin-off called OpAphid. The OpAphid ARG added a dark and mysterious depth to the LG15 franchise and we were incredibly excited to see what someone could do with very few resources and a lot of talent and hard work. It truly inspired us and showed the potential of “social entertainment.” It’s what led us to found EQAL. We reached out and incorporated OpAphid in the LG15 narrative and hired its creator, Glenn Rubenstein, as a writer on lonelygirl15. For months, the OpAphid ARG was interwoven with lonelygirl15 and the two series elevated the franchise to its heights in terms of both audience and engagement. Unfortunately, in 2007 we parted ways with Glenn and the status of OpAphid has remained uncertain ever since.
Well, all of that is now behind us. I’m excited to announce that the rift in the LG15 Universe has been mended. OpAphid, Tachyon, Brother, and the entire OpAphid ARG is now officially part of the LG15 Universe canon. Yup, you heard me right. We’ll be featuring all of the OpAphid videos in their own section of the the new LG15.com just like lonelygirl15, KateModern, LG15: The Resistance, and LG15: The Last. We hope this will be the beginning of a newly invigorated and ever evolving LG15 Universe.
But that’s not all. To commemorate this momentous event we’re launching LG15: TSIY2. In this second iteration of TSIY, you can tap into the entire OpAphid back-story and characters along with the LG15 mythology you all know and love. In fact, Glenn Rubenstein will join the producers at EQAL as a judge determining the winner of LG15: TSIY2 and will provide some audiovisual assets to the winner if they choose to incorporate OpAphid characters in their show (details in the official rules).
We’ll post official rules and more information about TSIY2 in the very near future.
From: http://inside.lg15.com/2009/08/26/lg15-and-opaphid-reunited/
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Posts
Uhm...
ReplyDeleteHOLY SHIT?
...ladies and gentleman: Hell has frozen over.
ReplyDeleteWho the hell saw this coming? No one. Not in a million years. That's kinda awesome.
ReplyDeleteDid this just make Redearth canon? Please tell me no, that's like a totally seperate thing right?
Well, this is something...
ReplyDeletegood question about effect on RedEarth88. there are probably lots of questions that this will cause, but overall it seems to be a very nice development.
ReplyDeletenow, let's get TSIY2.0 finally going this time.
Wait does that mean there will be a OpAphid 2.0? If that is a submission for TSIY2 I'd vote for it!
ReplyDeleteWhen they get Lord Greystoke back into the fold then I'll be impressed.
ReplyDeleteI always thought LG15 went downhill when he came on board.
ReplyDeleteSee, EQAL didn't let you down.
ReplyDeleteTJ, fuck off. Seriously.
ReplyDeleteOn topic: Am I the only one who's considerably underwhelmed by this?
I mean, despite what they may claim, OpAphid has always been considered canon ever since it was declared canon last time. The only difference is that they're spinning the videos -which are already up on lonelygirl15.com- off to their own page.
A new series page for a series that's been over for two years. A page which will likely have an utterly shitty design, 'cause they don't care, and be broken in various aspects.
In all likelyhood, some lawyer or investor just kicked their ass to finally secure in writing that they truly do own these story aspects, and now that they do, they can go out and talk about Op again.
As for the judging, I suspect they asked for stuff for TSIY2, and Glenn refused just to blindly hand over his creation to a random amateur - so he insisted on picking the recipient himself. Just speculation though.
So, in summary, while I, as an OpAphid fan, am of course pleased the Cs stop pretending it doesn't exist, I do think they're trying to blow the story out of proportion to cover up for a lack of new content.
(Or lack of header link fixes, for that matter.)
"On topic: Am I the only one who's considerably underwhelmed by this?"
ReplyDeletewell, its a nice thing, but its not like its a new show or something.
Renegade, im sorry i turned you down for a date..its just, im straight.
ReplyDeleteEh, I'd be way too afraid of you randomly dying to ask you out.
ReplyDeleteNo desire to explain to the cops why I'm in a motel with a dead man, sorry.
Yeah, some explanation better be made about RedEarth88. Cause that effects several other parties that probably weren't even consulted on this.
ReplyDelete*sigh* Draaaaammmaaa...
ReplyDeleteAny way, I'm pretty impressed with EQAL on this one. OpAPHID was really it's own show that crossed over with the LG15 cannon...Well, actually, it was it's own show BASED on the LG15 cannon...That crossed over with LG15 cannon...Okay I'm stopping this train before I lose my mind.
Can't wait to see some cool stuff for TSiY2! Maybe some one has the cajones to tell us whatever happened to that girl, Cassie?
Now will CiW be made canon too? :)
ReplyDeleteIs it weird that this morning, before went on LG15 Today, I was thinking of ways that they could have better written out OpAphid?
ReplyDeleteThis is so weird...but such a great idea! :D
This is fantastic news.
ReplyDeleteAlso, TJ & Renegade get a room or an arena in fact. :D
First I would like to announce that I did, in fact, read all of Renegade's post. That's bigger news than this whole OpAphid stuff.
ReplyDeleteSecondly, I agree with most of it ('cept the slight at TJ who is canon, BTW)!
'Gade, think of it as more of a symbolic gesture. Then make jokes about it. Works for me.
TJ, we still on for Friday night BB? I'll bring the flavored condoms!
Glenn has said on his radio show that he was never paid for any of his work on Lonelygirl15, so that's probably why there were ownership rights issues, Ren. I'd assume this announcement means things have worked out well for both parties - I'd say that's exciting news in itself!
ReplyDeleteThe AV benefits from Glenn will be a real coup for the winner of TSIY2! We all know how talented he is in that department!!
ReplyDeleteThat's my whole point, jen and anon...I'm assuming they had to settle Op for their own legal reasons, not for any desire to bring clarity to the Breeniverse. As such, imo, this is more of a PR move to keep us at it than anything.
ReplyDelete*shrugs* ultimately, I'm just speculating. I don't know, and, really, I'm not sure how much difference it will make. TSIY 1, while it gave us the awesomeness that was The Last, pretty much demonstrated that EQAL doesn't give a shit for the winner.
Who knows how many skilled people willing to deal with them are left?
I love OpAphid, but I'm not sure a badly-acted, low-sound, grainy webcam continuation would do it justice.
BREAKING NEWS!
ReplyDeleteThe story that was part of our story a few years ago... IS PART OF OUR STORY!!!
/me is unimpressed
They may have settled OpAphid for legal reasons but it's the fact that it has been settled as cannon, it gives an opportunity to resume OpAphid and i think the prospect of it coming back is something to be excited about.
ReplyDeleteYes the support given for the TSIY winners The Last by EQAL seemed like little to none which was a shame. But the recent event of the phbb forum being reopened and an admission that the new site was flawed gives hope that EQAL are listening and that TSIY2 winner will get better support.
We'll have to wait and see to find out.
ReplyDeleteSo, when is TSIY2 starting again? "soon"? >_>
Anything that creates a win win outcome is generally a good thing.....at least for the parties involved. Hopefully recent events will usher in a phase of "active listening" on the part of Eqal, Inc.
ReplyDeleteAs has been discussed extensively here, and on Anchor cove the original model for TSIY is flawed and an open dialogue between the community and Eqal would be useful in fixing it. In the past Eqal has had a habit of saying they listen (without directly participating in discourse) but then acting in a way that does not clearly demonstrate that they heard what was being said.
One can only hope that this will be the beginning of a new productive era where our creative community (both inside, and outside the LG15 Universe) can take an active role in decisions that have a large impact on our ability to grow as a community. It is a change that is long over due but that does not mean that it cannot happen.
Ugh
ReplyDeleteSimpsons Rule #187: When you run out of fresh ideas, start cannibalizing past ideas.
ReplyDeleteBest of luck to Glenn and the C's.
P.S. Can we have The Cowboy radio drama now?
Somehow, I knew that the LG15 community would find the negative in this. Sigh.
ReplyDeleteCanon = c - a - n - o - n.
ReplyDeleteYawn. This is so two years ago.
I think this is awesome news and I'm happy to see that positive progress has been made!
ReplyDelete@the second to previous anon:
ReplyDeleteit's less that there's anything negative in it, but that the positive aspects are blown way out of proportion by the announcement.
They're telling us that something is canon and getting its own page which has been canon for two years and been up on the official lonelygirl15 page the entire time.
The only thing really exciting about this is that the next TSIY winner will get to incorporate OpAphid. Which is nice, but ultimately also yields the danger of someone permanently damaging OpAphid's image and lore.
So yeah...it's really not seeking the negative in it, it's more contrasting reality with EQAL's hype.
And reality is much less exciting than the Cs make it out to be.
At this point, what (if anything) could be done to make it more exciting?
ReplyDeleteBree.
ReplyDelete"At this point, what (if anything) could be done to make it more exciting?"
ReplyDeleteAn Lg15 reboot including OpAphid. :P
@anon: How about something actually happening?
ReplyDeleteQuoth Greg:
"Either way we will be re-launching LG15.com on the new software to coincide with a new season of TSIY sometime in August/September."
...August is pretty much over. We've only just now heard of them that there will be more information on TSIY "in the very near future".
Assume one month to allow for everyone to film and submit pilots. One or two weeks to judge. Another month for the winner to film.
Where are you at? Mid-November for TSIY2 at the earliest.
Sorry, but I fail to see how the prospect of something maybe happening sometime in November if and only if the Cs actually say the truth about the time frame this time is somehow the upper end of the excitement scale.
The forums re-opening. That was exciting. Because it was something that actually happened and had an effect on the community. It changed things.
This changes nothing. OpAphid is canon and appears on lg15.com. Hooray. That's been the status for two years. No change there. The only thing that would potentially change the status quo is OpAphid appearing in canon LG15 material. And that will only happen if TSIY2 happens, and if the winner actually wants to include OpAphid. (The show is ours remember?)
I have yet to see anything even remotely solid that suggests either of these conditions will be true.
So far, all we have is old news and yet another round of empty promises that might turn into something interesting if a whole lot of conditions are met at an undetermined point in the future.
Yes. It's great that OpAphid has a chance. I am pleased to see that. But that chance means nothing if nothing is being done with it.
And beyond all of that, a simple thing to ponder: These are the Creators making promises about exciting opportunities for content creators if they take part in The Show Is Yours.
...how did that turn out last time?
As of right now we do not know what this means aside from its meta affect on fans who don't know what it means.
ReplyDeleteThis is neither good news nor bad news. It is not positive nor negative but it has the potential to be both.
We'll see how that plays out.