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Thursday, March 25, 2010

LIVE BLOG: LG15: Outbreak - What did YOU Think???

LG15: Outbreak is over and we want to know what you thought. What did you think of the series? What did you think of the 12in12? What about the plot? The characters? The interactivity? What worked and what, well, not so much? What would you like to see more of, or what would you have done different? Share your thoughts in the live blog post below.

:::: View 12in12 LG15: Outbreak

126 comments:

  1. Since this is a LIVE blog post we will keep it at the top of the blog for a bit so that everyone has an opportunity to comment.

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  2. I can't complain, they invoked the power of the 436. But perhaps another minute or two of mourning the death of yet another trait positive girl before declaring victory would have been nice.

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  3. Crystal wasn't trait positive...

    And all I had to say, I said during the trailers' showing. I want to say "I told you so" to the people that said the series would have more content than the trailer, but, I'm so apathetic right now, I won't.

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  4. I found it kind of disappointing, the series as a whole. Maybe it was just me but I found it lacking a lot and it made it confusing to me.

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  5. She's young, cute and a geeky guy had a crush on her. In the Breeniverse, that makes her trait positive.

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  6. Hmm, well, let's see...little to no connection to LG15, barely any plot, the 12in12 introduced several gaping plot holes and made no sense beyond that, pace was slower than a turtle, and the only thing it had going for itself were the visual effects.

    So basically exactly as I predicted right on this blog when the trailer first went up, only with more boredom than expected.

    I would love to hear the oh-so-supportive anonymous cowards explaining how this was actually awesome, tremendously exciting, and the best LG15 series ever.

    Especially the ones who claimed that the no information part was actually "mysterious", so we'd all watch, and everything would be explained...could those please step forward and explain to me what Outbreak was actually about?
    Was it about Will's introduction to the Resistance? If so, why was there so little focus on him, how he saw the Order, the Resistance, his training, his will to fight, giving him a reason, etc.? Why did it end with the exact opposite character "development"?
    Was it about Mason's memory loss? If so, why was it solved within three episodes and a bottle of pills, and had no influence on the plot at all? Why did the trailer make such a big deal about it, if it was completely irrelevant to the series?
    Was it about Mason's past? If so, why did his past have basically no relevance to the driving plot?
    Was it about Crystal's past? Same question as above.
    Was it about the mysterious events at the Eiffel Tower? Then why were they of no relevance to the plot and were only mentioned thrice? Why was the time it happened magically moved to last year in the 12in12?
    Was it to end the Hymn of One and the Order? If so, why annihilate the HoO in two lines of voiceover and give no clear explanation on how the Order thing pans out? After all, it has been implied for years the Order is everywhere - not the entire FBI is on the anti-Order unit.
    Was it to tie up loose ends with some old characters? If so, why did they make no appearance in the series proper, safe for a single uttered, unexplained "Emma"?
    What kind of "Outbreak" are we talking about, anyway?
    Who was the girl on the meadow?

    What was the point of all this?

    So, Mason-hailing anons?
    Your answers?

    Given the hell you've given anyone who dared doubt Outbreak based on its empty, LG15-less trailer, I'd really like to hear your explanation of how we were all wrong, and Outbreak was exactly as awesome as you predicted?

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    Replies
    1. Oh look it's bad_rebel_88. Everyone point and laugh at this retard who can't enjoy anything in life

      Delete
  7. WHY DID THEY KIDNAP CRYSTAL IN THE FIRST PLACE?!?!?!?!!??!!

    Just to get at mason? seems stupid to me.
    Then again...
    WORD
    Anonymous Joe said...

    She's young, cute and a geeky guy had a crush on her. In the Breeniverse, that makes her trait positive.

    Like, it was fun to have another series and I totally applaud for working so hard but...yawn...seriously.

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  8. Well...better go film a recap video...I rant better in spoken word anyway...

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  9. I agree wholeheartedly with renegade's comments.
    This series was excruciatingly bad. Way to slow for an 8 week show, lots of plotholes and characters that I couldn't care less if they failed their mission.
    There was hardly any relevance to the LG15 universe and it seemed rushed.
    I think this whole series was made just for the point to make Mason a canon character nothing more nothing less.

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  10. Outbreak was awesome you people are just made because it was more popular that the Last.

    As for the story I don't see why you don't get it... Mason fought the Order, they came after his sister, he died getting her back then they went and took down the evil company.

    Also, SPENCER!!!!!!!!!!!!

    Awesome show

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  11. Also, Crystal was hot

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  12. Outbreak was more popular than The Last? Where would that have been?
    Everyone else I've seen comparing the two agreed that The Last was several orders of magnitude better.


    Also, to include Tachyon as an afterthought, after having the license to use the entire set of characters and being offered actual OpAphid material from Glenn, is just stupid.
    Then again, this wouldn't be Outbreak if stupid wouldn't immediately be topped - by making afterthought-Tachyon hold Jonas for ransom.

    Seriously, did Austin hire The Resistance's writers and hit them over the head until they drooled?

    Oh well...maybe we'll get more exciting plotholes delivered later tonight.
    Hopefully not, though. Austin has raped the franchise enough for one year.

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  13. Brilliant show but terrible ending. There just wasn't enough oomph in it. The 12 in 12 series was great but there was so much tension and anticipation that the ending was a huge let down. I expected something a little more...epic. I was secretly hoping for extra videos after the end like KateModern did but alas...not even that. Austin seemed quite capable of creating a more dramatic ending too.

    The rest of the series though was absolutely brilliant. I just wish the ending wasn't such a let down. :(

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  14. Oh, and even though I thought the series was brilliant...it was much more...appealing rather than useful in terms of storyline. I'll have to agree with everything you said renegade. There's really not much of an argument against it. They could've done so much more but then again...

    Weren't they only funded to post videos for 8 week? Not trying to be the devil's advocate here but that might be another reason why it's not so in depth like the regular LG15 series.

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  15. the last was not "Several Magnitudes" better, Ren.

    they were both niche shows. outbreak had higher production quality. they both suffer from a universe that really has been exhausted of storylines by now.

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  16. Define "production quality"?
    They managed to point the cameras at the actors, and turned the haze up to 11.

    That doesn't even play in the same league as, for example, the natural beauty of the sunset over the ocean The Last's camera man captured. And that's just generic visual quality.

    Looking shiny alone doesn't make a good show. The Last managed to craft an entertaining, engaging plot out of what they were given, with characters we cared for.
    Outbreak managed to consistently apply the same after effect for 8 weeks. Hooray.

    Add into the equation that The Last got half the money, no option for OpAphid, no 12in12, no embeds on the lonelygirl15 account, and Outbreak's total production looks even less stellar.

    Outbreak had everything it could wish for. Quaranteed viewership through the embeds. Twice the money. Access to more, beloved, intriguing, underutilized characters. An actual production company behind it.

    And what did we get?
    A series whose title doesn't even make sense so far.

    Hell, I'm not even saying it couldn't have been good had it happened outside of LG15. If it hadn't pretended to be LG15, if it hadn't been forced into EQAL's silly schedule with pre-submitted videos, if it hadn't had to fit into precisely 8 weeks and a 12in12, maybe it could have been an entertaining show about whatever the hell Outbreak was about.

    But the way it was, it was just bad. It wasn't LG15 enough to be interesting, and the part that wasn't LG15 seemed to have no purpose or direction.

    Simple example: Kidnappings. A long-standing tradition in the Breeniverse.
    Usually, when the/a female main character gets kidnapped and/or vanishes, that's a dramatic change in the plot direction, and the rescue dominates the show until culminating in the finale, where we see whether she gets rescued or bleeds out. (Or gets stabbed by her own people.) Given that both has happened multiple times, there is still a certain element of tension whether she'll make it or not.

    Compare Outbreak: Crystal vanishes for a week, returns, no one really gives a shit an it doesn't matter to the plot. Crystal gets randomly kidnapped, for no apparent reason, gets rescued off-camera and driven to safety off-camera, again, without any apparent influence on the plot.

    Not to mention that, if you take the very last video into account, bringing Shentek down was the main point all along - so rescuing Crystal was more of a thing of "eh, I have to break in there anyway to get the data, might as well rescue her".

    Really, I don't see it. Where is the amazing quality?

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  17. If nothing else Outbreak had one thing the Last didn't have... an ending.

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  18. anon above is right.

    and outbreak got lots more views. the viewers can't be wrong, ren.

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  19. Yeah...the 12in12 really shows the dedicated viewership that Outbreak had outside of the lonelygirl15 embeds. >_>

    And well...Quietus is an ending. I wouldn't mind seeing another episode, but honestly, Quietus was more of an ending than yet another of Will's pointless vlogs.
    Or random allegations that Tachyon is a kidnapper. Or whatever else might come.
    At least Quietus was kind of a culmination of everything that had been brewing before...the 12in12 was just another random day in Breezarroverse.

    Honestly...look at the 12in12:
    You had:
    - blast from the past in the form of Spencer and Emma
    - Mason resurrecting
    - breaking into shentek to steal data
    - Crystal betraying everyone
    - Will walking away with the harddrives

    Mason resurrecting may have been new thing at the beginning of the 12in12, but it wasn't unexpected. And even if, it was immediately rendered old by him resurrecting again later.
    Breaking into Shentek to steal data has been done in the same series before. Twice.
    The blonde chick betraying everyone in the 12in12 has been done before on The Resistance.
    Will walking away with the hard drives separated from Mason has been done in the same series before.

    The only thing really new in the 12in12 was the introduction of a whole lot of new characters.
    Apart from that, the 12in12 was just another set of videos showing the exact same stuff we've already seen.

    It was not an ending...it was a continuation.

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  20. Lemme run through the Apo checklist to determine the quality of this show:

    Sandwiches? check

    Bikinis?

    Lucy?

    Snark? check

    Bacon?

    This clearly indicates 40% on the Apo scale. Anything scoring above zero is watchable.

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  21. I pretty much agree with everything that Renegade has posted, but I'd just like to say that I was impressed by the acting abilities Dani Martin displayed during the last few episodes in particular.

    Also, it is never a good sign when everyone in chat cheers every time Mason is stabbed/shot/killed.

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  22. While I acknowledge the validity of your scale, I can't help but notice that sandwiches and snark made up a vanishingly small portion of the series.

    In fact, I don't even remember sandwiches.
    The snark was fun, though.

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  23. I am disappointed that along with the sideburns and healing factor Mason did not develop adamnatium claws and Wolverine hair.

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  24. Thanks Ren!

    Yeah, the sandwiches were wrapped in paper. It was the episode where Will tossed a burger to Crystal.

    I remember the important stuff.

    I can't help but agree that the Tachyon mention seemed tacked-on. (Get it? Tachyon tacked-on?)

    I watch LG15 as comedy; I do this because Terryfic (a former Bukanator) advised so. He is a wise fella.

    @JazmynGrey: I too find these developments would have been deeply satisfying and also hilarious!

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  25. I liked that he mentioned Jonas's name at the end? That's all:)

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  26. LG15: Outbreak as a show probably raises more questions than it answers. I guess that is not new to the Breeniverse and perhaps after the fact we will get some insight into a few of them.

    It brought together a team of talented novice actors and the final videos were polished and it certainly told a story.

    What Outbreak also did was demonstrate the difficulty that many web series have of building and sustaining an audience in a medium that is primarily episodic in nature.

    Outbreak also showed the importance of understanding the dynamics of an existing community and the importance of engaging that community in terms they can relate to.

    All of this is not easy to do if you are a small operation with limited resources but what is surprising is that while Outbreak hit some difficult marks it missed some of the more easy opportunities to engage the audience in this type of interactive experience.

    Given 2 rounds of TSIY i think we now have a better idea of what works and what does not work. It certainly cannot be easy to do a TSIY and it is even harder to do it in a way that grows an audience. I would hazard a guess that one of the keys to this happening is to learn how to harness the resources that already exist within the community.

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  27. I liked the fact that this wasn't ur typical LonelyGirl15. It was nice to see that there was no typical trait+ girl going on the run from the order because some elder guy wants their blood.

    If anything, I prefered Outbreak to The Last.

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  28. Outbreak was rather meh. It started off ok but then it just seemed to stumble around with bits of plot not focusing on one part of the plot for too long. It was entertaining but it did little new or interesting when compared to other series.
    It had some nice effects and came with a lot of promises, it mostly kept them.
    It is just a shame that Outbreak didn't try anything new, the formula of a group of young adults running around fighting the big bad all by themselves and getting away with it is getting old. One thing that was good with The Last is the fact it tried something different, it had a group of trait positives trying to get away from the order not taking it down.
    The last wasn't perfect, Outbreak isn't much better it just gave the viewer a greater expectation than it gave whilst The Last gave the viewer more than they expected.

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  29. I like bunnies.

    On a more serious note, I like both 'The Last' and 'Outbreak' equally. I think comparing both of them to each other to find which is better is pointless. they're two different shows by different people and different styles.

    Seems to me like a lot of people here forget that these shows are part of a fan contest. When you approach it with the mindset that these are *amateur* productions by LG15 fans giving alternate interpretations of the LG15 storyline, it's easier to watch.

    A lot of people are trying to grade 'The Last' and 'Outbreak' on the same scale of 'The Guild', and you just can't do that imo.

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  30. So... when's TSIY3 going to be announced?

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  31. shiori - i think next thursday i heard. this time the theme is "american idol".

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  32. Great. Now I'm envisioning Jonas mixed with Adam Lambert.

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  33. I didn't hate it.
    It could've been better. It could've been worse.
    I hail anyone who can take a thought and bring it to life. It isn't an easy task in any medium.
    I see a lot of critics here, but I wonder if they could have done any better. If they could do better, why haven't they?

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  34. OH, also, WHO THE CRAP IS THE NEW EYESEEYOU?

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  35. Ok so all and all..... it wasnt that good.

    1st off Crystal.... I found that her whole break down and trying to kill Mason was kind of... wtf? and not wtf in a good way. It just kind of happened.

    2nd: This did not bring the show back to its roots. The only things that did give small shards of light to this was cameo characters at the finale, Mason( even though he started as a fan at the start at LG15), and the the Jonas and Tacyon's name being said at the final part. Oh and ghost Emma as me and my friends like to call it :P.

    3rd: I think too much plot was developed,but there wasn't enough time to film most of that plot. There are a lot of plot holes and as it its to the end... EVEN BIGGER ONES!!!!!! I also felt kind of sad cause after a while i got bored seeing the same 3 characters so the finale was kind of a shock as they showed others but the shock was.. WTF WHY NOT SHOW SOME OF THEM EARLIER ON?!?! I thought it quite random the Spencer is here and suddenly Emma is typing and sending maps and opening doors from who the hell knows where. It all made as much sense as Mitch appearing out of no where in the end and some how helping.... >.<

    4th: I think we need more then 8 weeks. As i said in the 3rd point a lot of plot developed but not enough time to do it. Truth i say loose the damn Character notes cause most of this series at the start was just that... character notes. I mean I don't mind one here and there, but not so much like one after the other.

    Overall I didn't care for this one as much. I did however like how they innovative the story a little by saying the Ho0 was done and helped move everything into a new direction for people to tell their stories in a new way ( truth was getting tired of the creepy religion is hiding a deep dark secret under their floorboards. And too all you Mason fans just stop. Look past that stuff and look at the story as a whole. And before you say anything about me being a last fan.. I really wasn't. In fact like this one I stopped looking half way then came back a month later to it. And in truth all i can say is that beautiful camera work on both of them and the actors were very good. I just wish for the next installment to be some what better and longer ( More then 8 weeks please!!!!!) :) I give it a 6 out of 10. innovative for how it moved the story into a new direction and good actors and camera work, but story is filled with too many plot holes and a wish for more players in the story.

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  36. lol wingedspaced22, what's a lg15 finale without me coming out of nowhere and randomly helping:P

    Okay now for my opinion of the finale. The Pros for me were that the camera work and effects were very well done as well as the acting by Dani was impressed me. A few cons were that the plot of the finale did seem a bit all over the place. And that we didn't get to see Emma at all, they would had been beter off creating a new character to do all those things, at least they could be seen atleast once. But over all the finale was well done, and it was still impressive for an amature production, which we sometimes forget about when watching TSIY. The final 2 vids could had been better but over all it was a decent 12in12 and was still better than the Acension 12in12 :)
    ~Mitch

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  37. (1/3)

    I just love how, when people criticized the trailer, the Mason supporters were all "shut up, he has a production company, what he does will be 1000 times better than everything else", and now that it's proven that those who were not impressed by the utter lack of everything in the trailer were right to be suspicious, it's all "oh well, it was just a fan contest, stop being so hard on them".

    - Being a fan doesn't force you to feature both memory loss and burning Eiffel Towers in your trailer, only to make both of them completely irrelevant to the story, and make them the centerpiece of a plot hole in the finale.
    - Being a fan doesn't force you to annihilate the HoO in two lines of voice over.
    - Being a fan doesn't force you to kick Tachyon's reputation in the face as an afterthought.
    - Being a fan doesn't force you to go on a complete ego-trip and make your character the fucking Wolverine-Highlander immortal resistance fighter.
    - Being a fan doesn't force you to promise oh so much interaction to the community, only to barely talk to singular individuals on Facebook every few weeks.
    - Being a fan doesn't force you to include puzzles in your videos, only to have them be completely and entirely irrelevant to the plot, making no difference whether they're solved or not.

    Even if you want to back out of the whole "he has a studio, he's a professional" anon-propaganda, that above there were all conscious decisions independent from any level of professionalism.

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  38. (2/3)

    Then again, how about we just hear what Austin had to say about all this, when he sold his submission to the community?

    Austin-propaganda: "We want to use 'Outbreak' as a point to bring the show back to its roots a bit, and we want to return to a lot of the tried-and-true methods that the entire series has used in the past."
    Reality: Let's just quote sarah lou from this very thread, shall we? "I liked the fact that this wasn't ur typical LonelyGirl15. It was nice to see that there was no typical trait+ girl going on the run from the order because some elder guy wants their blood." Which roots, again, have nothing at all to do with the series we knew?
    Austin-propaganda: "On top of that, we've got a lot of cool ideas circulating that will really take audience interaction up to the next level."
    Reality: Yeeah. I heard, from others, that a few people talked to some of the characters in private every once in a while...if they were lucky enough to be accepted as friends on Facebook. Sorry, but I fail to see how that is "the next level" after something as basic as a public textual live chat...which LG15 managed to throw in every once in a while with no problem.
    Austin-propaganda: "OF COURSE it's an LG15 series. Yeeesh. Lighten up, guys! Anyone who even remotely skimmed through the masonishappy vids knows that I've got the Lonelygirl history/knowledge written into the back of my brain. It will contain a lot of LG15 staples.
    Specifically, things that WORKED in the original series. When I wrote the treatment, the goal was to combine things that were effective for LG15, remove the things that didn't work, and fill it with things that appealed to those looking for a new step in the series."
    Reality: Same answer as above, really. What message are we supposed to take from that? That Austin thinks nothing in LG15 worked, and that the only thing parts of the mythology are good for is ruining them and disposing of them as quickly as possible? I don't remember "taking an integral part of the mythology and killing it within two sentences of voice over" as an LG15-staple.
    Austin-propaganda: "Will it be different it areas? Yeah. But it'll be familair."
    Reality: Do I even have to say anything to that one? We didn't even have a confirmed trait positive girl - except for maybe text-Emma on the last half day. What exactly in Outbreak was familiar LG15?

    Now, to the anons who now insist that it's all just a fan contest, and we shouldn't be so hard on Austin:
    Austin-propaganda: "Q: What qualifies YOU to create for the LG15 universe?

    A: [...] Specifically, I own a production company that has done (and is doing) some pretty cool things. We've taken our fair share of festival awards, as well as other works, and we're confident we can do LG15 justice.

    Besides filming, I can hold my own with a story. I've been a writer for several years, and I've got a young adult book series that will be available at retail stores pretty soon. (Not gonna self-plug here, I'm sure you all can find info if you want it.)"
    Reality: Do I even have to say anything about the writing after VG15's video? Do I have to bring up stuff like completely inconsistent continuity, or random, irrelevant abductions? Hell, if that quote wasn't enough, look at the next one:
    Austin-propaganda: "[Austin] submitted his own idea when the second round of TSIY came up, figuring that he 'could do a better job than [the Creators are] doing.'"
    Reality: Would that be the reason why Outbreak was worse than The Resistance? Would the fact that Austin is so much better than the Cs be the reason he copied the worst writing/plot twist of The Resistance's finale in his own? Was that a display of his amazing writing skills?

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  39. (3/3)

    Speaking of amazing writing skills, look at the nice juxtaposition of these quotes:
    Austin-propaganda on lg15.com: "I'm a long time fan of the series, and I've contributed a lot to the show."
    Austin-propaganda on NewTeeVee: "McConnell didn’t start off as a fan: 'I really didn’t like the show,' he said via phone. 'And being the sort of mean-spirited guy I am, I thought I’d give them a piece of my mind, so I created [Mason] within the universe of the show to criticize it.'"
    Reality: Amazing writing right there...when he's talking to the website promoting indie web productions, he's the rebellious newcomer ousting the old guard - when he's talking to the fans, he's just another fan trying to bring the series back to its roots.

    So really. Cut the shit. Austin's supposed professionalism was one of the big selling points of the submission, on the grounds that all other ones supposedly looked amateur, and people wanted to watch something on par with the previous stuff.
    Don't go turning around now saying "hey, don't judge him as a professional, it's just a fan contest, after all".
    If you want him to be treated as a fan, not a professional, then neither he nor you should've made such a big fucking deal out of his production company and his achievements.
    He presented himself as a professional, you hailed him as a professional, so we'll judge him as a professional.

    On principle, I'd hope people learned a lesson here, but we all know that's not the case. Next time a shiny, empty trailer comes along, the same drooling masses will support it, based solely on the "but it's shiny, so it must be good!" platform.



    Sources for Austin's quotes:
    Pilot submission comment thread on lg15.com
    NewTeeVee interview

    (I love this gem, btw: "In the first episode, Crystal pulled a book out from a box," McConnell said. "It was a last-minute prop, because what we wanted was for people to ask what was inside the box. But instead they focused on the book, so we had to sit down and figure out how to build the plot around the book instead." - when was the book ever mentioned again after that episode? Just another lost plot thread. But hey, he's a published author, right? He's totally awesome at writing!)

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  40. Blah, blah, blah. It's over, go find something else to complain about.

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  41. I wanna watch a show from Renegade! Enter the next TSIY!

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  42. I don't think YouTube will host a show about half-naked trait positive whores bounty hunting escaped madman Greg Mason.

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  43. To amend that, because you just know people won't get I was kidding: Even if I had had any ambition to do that before, EQAL's utterly craptastic, one-sided contract, and their distinct refusal to even begin to discuss it in public pretty much ensured I'd never try that.

    If people are willing to submit to that, alright. But I'm not working with people who utterly disregard their community and aren't honest enough to openly discuss the terms of an agreement.

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  44. anonymous go find somewhere else to complain.

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  45. In all seriousness tho, Ren. You have valid points...you just don't HAVE to be a douchebag when presenting them.

    I don't remember anyone being as harsh and rude to Sam once the Last was over...

    This is one of the big problems with TSIY. It's meant to be a fan show, but inevitably if things go wrong, it's blamed immediately on the show runner (in this case Austin). Glenn mentioned this on his show awhile aback during The Misfits thing...

    If the show works, EQAL can take credit because it's an awesome show that was supported by them.

    If the show fails, it's because Sam/Austin sucks, because their show sucked, and they made it, so they suck.

    So essentially EQAL uses a *FAN* who entered a *CONTEST* as essentially a bullet proof vest in case things go wrong.

    So far it seems split. People either think Outbreak was good, or it sucked horribly.

    All I'm saying is, it COULD be possible that the 'plot' details that people are up in arms about MIGHT be ideas coming from the Creators. We don't know how much creative control they had during the show. It could be possible that they ran the Outbreak treatment through the good ol' EQAL filter and made some of their classic bad decisions.

    Call me a devil's advocate too, but I think it isn't really fair to crucify Austin (who is a fan, and a member of the community) for a few storyline plot holes.

    The way some of you all are acting, it's like you believed LG15 had the PERFECT storyline until Outbreak came along... when we forget, the story has always been sucky.

    I agree with CtrlAltDelete in saying that I applaud ANYONE who has the guts to step up and make their own show...and I think Austin did a tremendous job and definitely raised the bar...but from all the backlash he's getting from certain community members, it's going to discourage other people from wanting to enter the next TSIY.

    Ren, didn't you post a big long speel about how if we want LG15 to thrive, we need to help support TSIY? Seems to me like throwing the creators of the fan shows under the bus is a pretty poor way of doing that.

    At the rate it's going, we won't HAVE a TSIY3, because everytime they try this contest, every one is bitter with each other, and community members decide to leave.

    Frankly, I'm thinking about leaving the community, too. You guys have become so fucking negative about everything that happens, that it sucks to be around you all sometimes.

    Can't we just be happy we had a good show? If it isn't 100% perfect, you guys act like it's total shit...

    Who am I kidding? We're all just looking for things to be unhappy about.

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  46. It is vital that if there is another round of TSIY that the judges pay careful attention to some of the things that did not play well with the community. Story is one thing but interactivity is quite another. Both take a great deal of resources and time and for one small team to do this effectively is very difficult. We actually learned that in lonelygirl15 where interactivity often fell way short of participant expectations.

    OpAphid ARG set a high mark for interactivity and since then we have seen shows like Maddison Atkins take that formula and execute it in a new an interesting way. The Last took a different approach but one that resonated with the community.

    The judges will need to look at whether or not the entries actually have the resources to handle interactivity, how will it be executed? If a problem develops with a puzzle how will the producer handle it? Will characters be able to help out with puzzles if something goes wrong? Will there be live chats? Does the producer understand how the LG15.com web site is set up to handle interactivity? Will it be used in that way? What other interactive resources will be used, how often and how will they contribute to the experience (both on and off LG15.com) All these are key question that need to be asked and go well beyond the basic story telling and film making ability of the producer.

    This stuff is not easy, but if the show is going to be ours the community and the producer need to learn how to work together in order to not only provide a valued experience but extent that experience out to a new audience.

    Now some will say that interactivity is not vital to growing an audience for this type of show. That is a topic for another discussion. At this point interactivity has become one of the things that keeps LG15 fun so it is still key to a good TSIY.

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  47. @downunder: Has it occurred to you that no one was that harsh to Sam simply because The Last's team made a series that respected the canon and built upon it, rather than making an entirely unrelated series whose sole connection to LG15 were the times it kicked the mythology in the balls?

    Seriously...The Last didn't have the option of OpAphid, and, with Sibylla Weave, crafted a wonderful post-EQAL Order villainess that would've made Op proud.
    Outbreak did have the option of OpAphid, even with the offer of getting material from Glenn himself. What did they use it for? They ignored it for 10 weeks and then spit into its face in the last two minutes.

    Can you see the difference of approach there?

    And don't try to bring EQAL into this. I have pointed out the great divergence between what they demand from the winner, and what they offer in return, or what they even reveal about their side of the contract (nothing), in great length in the appropriate discussion.
    But it wasn't EQAL who pointed out the award-winning production company.
    It wasn't EQAL who promised back-to-the-roots, cleaned up LG15.
    It wasn't EQAL who promised next level interactivity.
    It wasn't EQAL who boasted of being a published writer.

    This was Austin's hype, Austin's production, Austin's writing, Austin's directing.
    Therefore, it's Austin's criticism.

    And while trying to turn this into yet another "boohoo, Renegade is so negative and unfair" post, you are ignoring a vital detail: I actually watched every single episode, and read every single text blog. Despite the countless things that were wrong with this show, I still kept watching in the hope it'd get better.

    Can you say the same thing about the EQAL-fanatics who wish for the quick death of TSIY "so EQAL can finally produce The Resistance 2"?

    "Support" doesn't mean having to swallow every crap you're given and pretending all is well in an effort to deny anything bad happening to the Breeniverse.
    Support means giving things a fair chance, and helping out where you can.
    No one forces you to like everything. Just like no one forces anyone to dislike Outbreak. If you thought Outbreak was awesomeness incarnate, good for you. I don't see how that's possible, but fine. If that's your opinion.
    What my post was about was realism. EQAL-based LG15 won't happen. If you want LG15, you'll have to support TSIY. That doesn't mean you have to like every individual series. What it means is that you should support the contest as a whole and its continuation, especially if a series doesn't turn out well, in order to allow the franchise to continue and the community to learn and to adapt to produce ever-improving content. Pretending that a series that massacred half the mythology, had no further connection to LG15, no plot and no pace was somehow a pinnacle of awesomeness, just because it wasn't produced by EQAL, helps no one. By pointing out how much crap Outbreak was on how many levels, TSIY3 contestants can look back, see what people liked about The Last, see what people hated about Outbreak, adapt their own plans, and present their own story in a way liked by the community at large.

    If you do hail Outbreak as a worthy continuation of LG15, then all you'll be getting is the next contestants trying to emulate it, setting them up for the same negative reaction Outbreak got, and ultimately leading to the death of TSIY, because everyone is bored by overhyped Outbreak-clones.

    To make this clear: I'm very much looking forward to a TSIY3, and I'll give the winners the same fair chance I gave The Last and Outbreak. I hope that it'll be a good series, and having seen The Last and the trailers last year, I know it's definitely possible.
    But whether it actually does turn out well is up to them - not EQAL, not us. All we can do is provide honest feedback and hope they do the best with it.

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  48. One area of interactivity where LG15: Outbreak did show promise was the use of "community characters" in the 12in12. This is not original but it is something the community has long wanted. There were a few flashes of this during the show itself but the use in 12in12 was more engaged. What is not clear yet is whether the 12in12 was part of the original treatment or was it added on for some reason as the show progressed?

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  49. In terms of views "Mason" would do well to remember that views along do not make an audience especially when many of them come from an embed (which was actually something that the community asked from Eqal in the build up to TSIY-2).

    Another thing the judges will need to look at if there is a TSIY-2 is the ability of the producer to build a real audience for the show. This is not easy and few people know how to do it well. Simply relaxing and "living off" autoplays is certainly not the way to do it.

    Now again building an audience takes skills in internet marketing and it is extremely time consuming. It is probably much much harder than making the show itself.

    What we cannot do is simply sit back and hope that the power of Eqal will market the show. Eqal is busy with other projects and here again the show is ours.

    Here again the ability of the producer to work with and harness the resources that exist within the community need to be examined and taken into consideration for any future shows. Yes, it is a lot to ask from the winning producer but it is probably the only way the show is going to get any real traction on the interwebz.

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  50. Crystal was hot... end of story.

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  51. Do we have enough LG15 girls to make a calendar yet or do we need another TSIY?

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  52. You know I decided not to wait for the next TSIY... I want to work on one for the summer.

    And in truth harsh comments is not the way to go everyone. In truth best to look at this a a whole and see it as something that can help guide the next souls who want to do this in a good direction. Learn from mistakes and also learn from the good points if the show.

    And Mitch even though I still think it was random... it was still cool :) lol

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  53. Oh, yes, let's all ignore the equally harsh comments from the Austin-supporting haze-lovers when people dared question the trailer, gloss over the fact that Austin promised everything and delivered nothing, and just pretend everything is fine and nothing happened.

    And I'm sure when it's trailer time again, the anonymous cowards will all stick to the same standard, right?
    None of them will yell down and insult people for pointing out obvious problems with their favorite trailer!
    None of them will insist on people leaving the discussion or kill themselves for not supporting the oh-so-shiny piece of material they picked as their favorite.
    None of them will go and insult the actors, the sound, the camera work, the concept or the creators of the shows they didn't like.

    I mean, that's why they're all here, in this discussion, right? Because Outbreak turned out exactly as they insisted, Austin truly was the LG15-messiah, and they were right in telling everyone who was concerned about his trailer to shut up and go away?
    That's why they're all here and have detailed summaries of how much they loved the series and why, and how they were right all along and wish there were an Outbreak season 2, right?

    Get real. You can't have a series creator promise LG15 heaven and have his supporters crucify anyone who dares speak against it, and then, when he runs it into the ground and wrecks the franchise, demand that people ignore what happened, gloss over it, and move on.


    Besides, I don't know if you realize this, but...we're talking about someone whose admitted claim to fame in the community was criticizing the series.
    Do I need to quote that part again?
    "'I really didn’t like the show,' he said via phone. 'And being the sort of mean-spirited guy I am, I thought I’d give them a piece of my mind, so I created [Mason] within the universe of the show to criticize it.'"

    Do you realize your argumentation boils down to "You shouldn't criticize the series of the guy who gained wide support for his trailer because he used to criticize the Creators' series very well."?

    Austin is the last series creator who gets immunity from criticism.
    And even if that weren't his origins...after all those statements about how he could do a better job than the Cs, how we shouldn't worry about the writing or plot because he's a published writer and knows the mythology, yaddayadda blabla, maybe a little piece of reality would be quite healthy for him.

    And lastly...go ahead. Feel free. Start listing all the good things future TSIY contestants can learn from Outbreak.
    * Insist on the lonelygirl15 account embeds, for they rake in 20 times the views.
    * ...? Seriously, what else is there? Do tell. I'm curious.

    What good thing came out of Outbreak, other than that it conclusive proved EQAL was full of shit when they said the embed views make little difference?

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  54. Dani Martin (The actress who plays Crystal) is 16 you creepy anons.

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  55. welp...Renegade hated it, so it's a sure sign that the show rocked.

    *goes to watch*

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  56. Ren, no one is saying that you aren't allowed to not enjoy the show, or that you cannot express your opinion about it, but you're acting like a total asshat.

    Calm down. Turn it down a few notches. Jesus...has there ever been a day in the passed 3 years where you haven't been constantly pissed off about something, or tearing down someone trying to entertain others?

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  57. Really DownUnder? Gade doesn't seem like he's being an asshat to me. He's just being honest, your the one resorting to personal attacks.

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  58. -_-' does EVERY single thread on this board have to end with people fighting with each other?

    You guys are such a drag sometimes.

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  59. I like to be a little more positive, so here's what I did appreciate about the show:
    The puzzles were kinda fun, even if we didn't figure them all out, and they really didn't help out too much. Despite the plot holes, there was a solid plot line that would be easy to jump in on even if you didn't catch the beginning. The music was interesting, and incorporated neatly into the videos, even if it didn't make much sense since the videos were supposedly uploaded on the fly. But mostly, after a LONG waiting period, it brought us all together as a community again and got us involved (even if it was just to critique the show). I really do love this community, and it was nice to have something to keep it alive even just a little longer.

    So, at the risk of being ripped apart. That's all I have to say.
    <3

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  60. No Malapralaya, your point is valid and I actually agree with it.

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  61. I think people aren't necessarily upset at what Outbreak DID do, as they are about what it DIDN'T do.

    It DIDN'T do the usual 'routine' Lg15 storyline

    it DIDN'T bring back the audience back to the levels that it once was

    It DIDN'T use the assets given the way people wanted them to.

    It DIDN'T do a lot of things people were expecting...it took a different road then what most people thought it would.

    Personally, I think that it DID what a TSIY show is suppose to do: keep the franchise alive for the time being.

    Was it uber-awesomely-ground breakingly-amazing in every way? No. But that doesn't mean that it sucked royally.

    I do think that some people are grading it with an impossibly high standard for a fan production.

    And if Gade wants to grade it as a professional production, that is his right, but I personally don't think it's a fair assessment of the situation.

    I'm grading it on the same scale as I did 'the Last' which, I believe, is what we're intended to do. And in that way, I think Outbreak was definately on par, and even delivered some higher production values than the previous installment.

    Over, a good job.

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  62. I keep hearing about those "high production values" that Outbreak supposedly had.
    Could somebody point them out to me, please?

    Is it the fact that Austin added a haze filter, whereas The Last didn't?
    Would The Last have scored higher had they added haze and lens flares?

    Seriously, could somebody give examples for those mysterious "high production values"?
    I fail to see them.

    And well, anon...if you mean "keeping the franchise alive" in the sense of uniting people in their disappointment and collective wish to prove TSIY can do better, I guess you're right.

    And as I pointed out above...the standard I'm holding him to is not my personal standard. It wasn't my idea to crown Austin the messiah of LG15. Look at his own statements. Recall anonymous's own stance in the trailer debates.

    Austin was hyped up beyond heaven, and no supporter failed to point out whenever possible that he was this oh-so-talented fanfic producer with his own production company who also wrote a book, so his series must be completely awesome, and anyone doubting that is a fool.

    No one forced them to point to MasonIsHappy whenever someone questioned his abilities.
    No one forced them to point to him owning his own award-winning production company.
    No one forced them to point to him being a published author.
    No one forced Austin to come forth and say to a news website he figured he could do a better job than the Cs.

    Austin and his supporters, in hyping Outbreak beyond belief, created the standard I'm holding them to all by themselves.

    Only now that he ran this thing into the ground, no one wants to hear about it, and the few supporters who actually do say something just try to get the thing swept under the rug and move on.

    If you constantly insist on being the awesomely talented professional and thus you should be chosen, you can't turn around afterwards and go "hey, why are you so mean, I'm just a fan!".

    And I am, in fact, annoyed by the things Outbreak did.
    I could list everything here again, but I already gave enough examples above, and I'm not in the mood for yet another session of Renegade vs. Character Limit.
    If you must have a new list, say so, and I'll sum it up again. But you'll find it all in previous posts.

    TSIY series don't have to be a clones of LG15. TSIY series shouldn't be clones of The Resistance. But completely shunning everything that makes LG15 is also not the way to go.
    People ended up in this community because they liked a certain type of video. They liked the mythology, they liked the way it was presented, they liked the set of characters.
    Varying, to keep it fresh, like The Last did, makes sense.
    But what did Outbreak actually have in that regard?

    I mean, look at it - if you replace the single line "we are the Resistance" in Objective Assigned with something non-LG15, you don't have a tangible connection to anything LG15 until the middle of Week 4.
    What's the point in having an 8-week LG15 series that spends 4 weeks not being LG15?

    Think about it this way:
    If you ignore the two lines of voice over completely destroying the Hymn of One off-screen, and ignore the supposed future off-screen destruction of Shentek and/or The Order - how did Outbreak actually affect the Breeniverse?

    Will killed one Shadow.
    They stole 3 hard drives from a front for the Order.
    Mason became the Wolverine-Highlander-SuperResistanceFighter.
    ..that's all I can come up with.

    No Elders killed, or seen, or even their existence established.
    No T+ girls rescued, or seen, or even their existence established.
    No Order facilities destroyed.
    No plans foiled (Kavion still remains with the Order, as far as we know).
    No Order-Turncoats saved (ICU bit the dust).

    If it weren't for random claims by Mason that bad, bad, bad things either did happen or will happen to the Order, Outbreak would be completely irrelevant to the Breeniverse.

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  63. @DownUnder: It's hilarious how unregistered people always repeat the same dozen soundbites.
    You haven't seen me worked up yet.
    And your ridiculous attempt to -yet again- chalk my posts up as personal anger, disregarding all quotes and examples I provided, while, yourself, not providing even as much as a single example of me supposedly behaving like a "total asshat", only betray the fact that you have actually nothing to say against the things I listed.

    Feel free to address me on a factual level if you think I'm wrong. Feel free to explain why you think my assessment of Outbreak is wrong. Feel free to elaborate why you think Outbreak should be judged differently. Feel free to give your own assessment or summary, maybe pointing out those elusive "high production values" to me.

    But so far, every single of your posts in this thread was either majorly dominated by, or consisted entirely of personal attacks against me.

    And all that does is showing that you have no factual arguments against what I'm saying.

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  64. Let's not forget the pacing problem... Save for the last two weeks, Bree yammering in her bedroom had better pacing than Outbreak.

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  65. Reading this kind of makes me want to back out of working with Jordan on a TSIY3 story! I don't think I could take the communities criticism.

    Anyway, back to the point. I give Austin props for putting on a show for 8 (10) weeks. I know that even coming up with a story, finding actors, filming, etc is hard (believe me, I'm working on it now). Overall I enjoyed the show but mainly because it was SOMETHING rather then the downtime of having NOTHING from LG15. I also enjoyed it because most of the time Jordan and I were able to make the most of what they posted and make our own community based interaction with them. It gave us some time to test out some editing and to interact with characters in a way outside of the usual "post to their profile" way. Granted all artists have different likes, and I will say that I did NOT like the haze effects the seemed to put on EVERY video. I would have saved that effect for "dreamlike" videos to show the difference between "reality" and "dream". As for going back to "basics" I don't see it. I never knew he made that comment and by reading it now I'm kind of dumbfounded to even think that he thought he was doing it. If you want to get down to the nitty gritty of things, basics would be Lonelygirl with a webcam... screw all the fancy effects! Yeah sure you can do the effects we get it, yes you are a wiz at editing.. WONDERFUL.. I don't wanna see what you can do, i want to see a STORY! Are the effects there in the hopes that it will keeps the audiences minds off the plot holes?

    We can't compare The Last and Outbreak. It's simply impossible. They had two different contracts, different amounts to work with, and different locations. They will never stack up side by side because one story was loaded with extras. In my opinion, The Last did a wonderful job executing the story and keeping people interested in the story. They brought in characters that some immediately cared for. It didn't take them 4 or 5 weeks to build up the characters. In my opinion, if you can't build up the characters and have your audience care for them within the first week, then you are not doing something right and need to figure out what it is. I did not genuinely care for the characters of Outbreak as much as I did with The Last (and that is just my feelings, I don't expect everyone to feel this same way). At times I felt like this was an attempt at just boosting Tempest Films and Austin (which is wonderful if you can pull off a story that your audience loves and can boost your production company).

    I was a bit disappointed in some of the "off the record" comments made by Austin on twitter. At times he was condescending and it felt like he was only doing this to prove a point or out of obligation. If that was the case then why did he enter TSIY2? I might be reading it wrong but that's not the way it came off.

    All in all Outbreak didn't do BAD, but they didn't go GREAT! I give it a 3 out of 5!

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  66. For those who do not wish to read Renegade's mile long diatribes or for those who don't have 18 hours of free time a day I will sum up every single one of his comments.

    The Last was awesome
    Outbreak sucked
    If you disagree with me you are stupid

    There use the new found free time to go pet a kitten.

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  67. If You Disagree with Renegade, then show him how he is wrong. If you resort to personal attacks and just calling him "stupid" your just making yourself look stupid.

    Then again, the Anonymous love hiding behind their anonymity and making unproductive comments.

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  68. Hey FH14, maybe if you actually read what someone wrote you wouldn't look so 'stupid'.
    The comment above wasn't calling renegade stupid it was pointing out that if you disagree with renegade he calls you stupid. If you don't agree go back and look at your hero's comments. Every time someone disagrees with him he attacks.

    Also, why are you people so pissy about anonymous posts? What's the difference between posting with the name Anonymous versus oh FH14 or Renegade, I doubt that's what your momma calls you.

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  69. Pete I was talking to the Anonymii in general, not just the one above me.

    From what I can see, Renegade is only responding to those who are attacking him. He's not attacking them personally, he's making his point, defending it, and calling out the bullshit responses. Notice how he hasn't called out any of the people on here who defended Outbreak but did so in a respectful manner and didn't resort to attacks.

    If you post anonymously it means that you are to afraid to attach what you say to a username that identifies you. Yes my mother doesn't call me FH14, but thats the name I use on all my accounts relation to LG15, and I am letting my comments be associated with that name.

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  70. Renegade doesn't have any time on his hands or anything.

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  71. I belive that it was a good show.

    Great job Austin and the team!

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  72. @femaleprodigy you seem to have a good understanding on how to do a show. I hope you go ahead with a TSIY 3 entry and i am genuinely intrigued.

    I agree about enjoying Outbreak because it was something rather than nothing. But even though it was something rather than nothing it may have done harm than good.

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  73. @KindredPhantom

    I don't see how it did 'harm'. My sentiments are on the same line, though...everyone want LG15 content, but when we finally get some, all we do is tear it apart.

    I just don't want a TSIY3 where no one decides to enter because they don't want to be placed up against the community firing squad.

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  74. I'm very glad to see that anon continues with libel and red herrings, without a single argument for Outbreak's supposed quality.

    But hey, its trailer was shiny, so it must be awesome, right?

    @pete: Funny how, after so many sentences of mine in this thread, you fail to provide any quotes to support your random claims.

    Really, if my posts were oh-so-evil and insulting, it shouldn't be hard to point out where and how.

    But I guess that's the point, isn't it?

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  75. For the sake of generating further pointless yet entertaining drama, I wish to make it known that Renegade is lonely, has no friends, and kills puppies in his mom and dad's basement, which is probably where he lives.

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  76. @DownUnder: Still cherry-picking facts, I see...I'll best let yourself answer to that:
    I don't remember anyone being as harsh and rude to Sam once the Last was over... ~DownUnder

    Not to mention the part where half the series barely even acknowledged the Breeniverse - so pretending we got exactly the content we wanted is dishonest at best.

    I don't remember anyone discussing the trailers going "oh, I wish the next LG15 series had nothing to do with LG15 at all!".

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  77. Wow, you actually did it in your comment claiming that you don't do it. You have to attack everyone that disagrees with you... please get a life.

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  78. One of the things that surprises me is that after 10 weeks virtually no one in the community has any idea how LG15.com is supposed to be used for TSIY.

    The Last was launched on umbrella 1.0 and they felt free to post on the show page and use that for interactive exchanges.

    Then we saw the release of umbrella 2.0 an many of us experienced Harpers Globe on that platform. As I understand it on the 2.0 platform the "show page" is an "out of game" environment. All the interactivity is supposed to take place on the profile pages where notes and videos are posted by the characters in an "in game" environment where you have to be logged in to participate.

    In other words the "show page" is like an exterior window that looks in on the "in game experience"

    Why after the show has ended are we still not sure if this is the context in which LG15: Outbreak was supposed to be experienced.

    I get that Outbreak wanted to use the "Facebook experience" in the Maddison Atkins sense to give the show a sense of realism. While the legality of this type of Facebook use is still up in the air it worked well for MA. However MA only had an out of game web site. It did not have a web site that was designed for the show to specifically take place.

    Now I am sure that some will argue that the design of umbrealla 2.0 is just wrong for an interactive show. Further if a character did not accept your friend request this led to an ERROR message if you tried to interact with them on say a video they posted (not exactly a great thing for an interactive experience). But it seemed like in Outbreak the use of LG15.com was an after thought and not really part of the interactive experience as it was with The Last.

    I am sure there are arguments pro and con here. The way you create realism in an interactive experience is important. However what is more important is that we all get on the same page as to how umbrealla 2.0 should be used for a TSIY. This is certainly a question all creators, Eqal and the judges should think about and discuss and perhaps even involve the community in that discussion.

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  79. Many of the comments on this threat should be taken by content creators both present and future as useful insight on some of the things to watch out for. For example, if you are working with a core mythology, respect for everything that came before is important to the existing audience. That said content creators need to be free to put their own spin on things and tell their own story. Can the two work together. Why not?

    At a minimum you should invest the energy into understanding the core audience you will inherit. That is not to say you should not try to grow a new audience. You should! You might even be able to grow your new audience without meeting the needs of your core audience but the probability of doing that is much lower the way that social media works today.

    TSIY is a learning experience. When lonelygirl15 first started it was a very different social media environment. Today few people know how to grow the audience for a show organically but my suspicion is that one of the keys is to work closely with your core audience so any investment you make in understanding them will pay off in the long run.

    In terms of LG15: Outrbreak we might not understand all the things that went right or went wrong until after we have the "out of game chat". There are still a lot of key issues up in the air and we may or may not get some answers at that point.

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  80. Regarding 12in12, one point both Eqal and the series creators need to consider is when the videos are uploaded to Youtube in advance.

    In terms of processing there are advantages to having a video uploaded to Youtube. However this can affect how videos show up in social media streams such as RSS.

    If you are doing a 12in12 it is probably better to at least upload the videos in the correct sequence. It is probably also not a good idea to upload the videos in private days in advance since that can burry videos in social streams. Now these are just some general guidelines.

    Not everything works the same way and you can certainly argue that if the primary vehicle for watching the show is LG15.com then it does not matter.

    However details like this need to be considered and discussed.

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  81. @downunder It did harm in some of the choices it made in the story, as renegade pointed out about the Ho0, Tachyon etc. It adds more holes to the overall lg15 universe and could restrict the plot in future shows. This is not "irreversible" but does require future plots to have to cover these areas of the plot if they say wish to use the Ho0 again. But this is just my opinion.

    I do agree with you about "[..]TSIY3 where no one decides to enter because they don't want to be placed up against the community firing squad." It would be a shame if that were to happen. Anyone wishining to enter any future TSIY should read these comments and take them as what they are, feedback. They are feedback from an audience and a way to avoid any potential conflicts.

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  82. We have learned one thing from this:

    Don't promise the moon and stars and then fail to deliver or people WILL get in your face for it.

    Austin made the one mistake the C's have been long accused of: He didn't listen to the fans or even reach out to them. That may be his prerogative to do so but he does this at his own risk.

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  83. Kindredphantom, I agree there is some good feedback here. If you want to face a firing squad just post a video on YouTube. Now that is harsh. If you do not have a thick skin you should not be in the online video biz.

    If anything I think the community wants to encourage and get behind TSIY. However it takes all parties to work together and have a shared vision of where we want to go. We all want to see the story continue and to a degree that is why some of the points being discussed here are so important and so passionately argued.

    It would certainly help to get the "out of game" chat out of the way so that we can perhaps get some answers. Not sure we will get all the answers we want, but one can "dream".

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  84. LG15 Outbreak was the best thing eva.

    Better than Bree
    Better than Kate
    Better than N1ckola
    Better than CATS.
    Better than The Last.
    Better than Origins Guy.

    Renegade is wrong.

    Argument over.

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  85. If you have LG15: CATS...would Wolverason be with them or against them?

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  86. When I first started to read these comments, I was scared of the future if I were to do TSIY but the fact is that this is really a great way to listen to the community as a whole on what they felt worked and didn't work. I've been writing down the pros and cons everyone has on Outbreak and talked to Jordan about all of them and we've been working on trying to resolve those issues in what we are working with.
    Everyone is mad at the fact that Outbreak killed off a lot of the original things that make LG15 what it was but all of that can be used to someones advantage if you think about it.. (i'd go into that more but then i would be giving away confidential information lol).
    Anyone working on doing their own series for LG15 or even as a webseries in general should learn from these comments (even those that seem to attack the creators) because you can learn a lot about the community here.

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  87. I've learned that it's a bunch of bitching a whining. Constantly. When was the last time the Community collectively was happy about something?


    ......don't worry...i'll wait.

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  88. We are all "happy" about bacon. Just saying:):):)

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  89. Oh please - that's a perfect solution fallacy if I've ever seen one.
    Tastes differ. No series or action will ever please the community "collectively".

    In fact, Austin himself prevents such a moment of collective happiness - because he admittedly disliked LG15.

    However, if you want us to find a moment of near-collective happiness, you could start by listing events that made you, personally happy.

    Let's think...when was Anonymous ever not a bunch of abusive jerks...hmm...

    Oh! I know! They liked the trailer for that series...what was the name...Outlook or something...

    ...how did that turn out?

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  90. Sure we can do it anon, but lets do it with productive and constructive comments. There are many many good points being made in this thread.

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  91. My final thoughts are simple: Outbreak was a great addition to the series in my opinion. It had high production value, good acting, good effects and editing, and it had an interesting story that although wasn't the Lg15 norm, still kept me entertained for the 10 weeks it was active. I think calling it terrible is unfair and wrong, but people are certainly welcome in voicing their opinion. My only concern is when it stops being a critique of the show, and starts to be personally bashing creators themselves, which is what I feel Ren was doing with several of his posts.

    Out of the choices given in TSIY2, I think it was the best out of the group, and the show itself was certainly worthy of the franchise.

    The views were good, the community response was strong, and it kept people watching.

    I think it was good, and I hope that future TSIY entries will not be discouraged from competing by seeing all the hate thrown around by a few select members of the community.

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  92. "Out of the choices given in TSIY2, I think it was the best out of the group, and the show itself was certainly worthy of the franchise."

    yes, i agree.

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  93. Riiiiiiiiight. Because contrasting what said creator said about what the series would be with what the series actually turned out to be is clearly "bashing".

    So sorry for bringing reality into this. I should really base my reviews on Anonymous's shiny delusion of the world instead.


    (Need I point out that still no one could give me a single example of these mysterious "high production values"?)

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  94. Do you REALLY need high production values pointed out? Or are you blind/deaf?

    This season had snappy editing, visual effects, great audio mixing, music, and as you are so quick to point out, 'flash'.

    Although you insist storyline is important, and no one disagrees with you btw, these things ^^^^ still count. Quit ignoring them.

    Here, lets try a healthy exercise: I'll say something bad about the series, and you say something good about it.

    The first few weeks were slowly paced, and I wish more had happened.

    Your turn.

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  95. Many people wanted to get to know Crystal the first week. She was a breath of fresh air and the potential was huge for a new level of interactivity that would not only have engaged the current audience but would have drawn in a lot of new viewers. For whatever reason that did not happen. My guess would be that the experience of producing a show with the types of effects used etc was just so overwhelming that there were just no resources left. This is where you get into time management and what is really important to this type of show. The average viewer will see and experience something quite different from those immersed in the show. On the other hand the average viewer may never know about your show unless you engage and motivate your core audience. Again, this stuff is not easy and all aspects of production including interactivity take time and resources. In the end it will be how effectively you balance the resources available that will determine how well your show "plays".

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  96. YESS~~~ IT WERKED!!!

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  97. Given the fact that Renegade doesn't support Outbreak I think it is obvious that he just doesn't care about the community.

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  98. @WillyG Just because renegade didn't like the show does not mean he doesn't care about the community.
    He is just giving his opinion.

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  99. What are people getting so worked about, it was only a show. Some people liked it and some didn't. There is no need to get personal and lay into each other.

    Personally I liked Outbreak because it was fresh and something new but the puzzles were hard and pointless and the character interactivity was very limited. Thats all I gotta say about it.

    I am not one to into it, writing long paragraphs about what was wrong with the show as I said personally I didn't see anything wrong with it but just the puzzles and character interactivity was a bit crap.

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  100. Out of curiosity, what is the biggest comment box record for this site, anyway?

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  101. lets all remember that LG15 is not a Spielberg type show.. we can't expect perfection from whoever creates it. We all have different visions of what will or will not work. Obviously Austin and I have different views in that aspect. Granted he did make promises that fell short of my expectations but there really isn't anything I can do about that.
    Production wise, sure he had good editing. I did like the "power down" video in the 12in12.. they played that one very well. but the new eyeseeyou video of blowing up a car... not so much (but thats all you can do with the resources presented to you and I understand that)
    How about we all get over the "lets get all riled up about what others have to say" and just give the opinions. This bitch fest you all got going here doesn't help ANYONE.. So with that said, why not everyone give 3 pros and 3 cons of the show. I'm not sure Austin really cares about what we thought by the sounds of his tweets lately but we might as well give him CONSTRUCTIVE FEEDBACK!

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  102. I'm trying to take all this seriously.
    Really I am.

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  103. (Secretly he's not)

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  104. Anon, clearly you are just here to be disruptive and that discredits everything the anons have to say.

    In the thread as a hole there are things that people liked about LG15: Outbreak and there are also thinks that did not go over well. That is the nature of a debate. There are also a lot of constructive suggestions for anyone who wants to make a show whether it be TSIY or otherwise.

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  105. @DownUnder: I see you continue your path of personal attacks and misrepresentation of my posts.
    Not a surprise.

    So basically the "high production values" are that he managed not to be worse than all other series of the franchise? Alright then.


    As for pretending I'm not saying something good on purpose...I don't think there is anything good beyond what I already mentioned.
    Snarky Mason was fun. Some lines of dialog where funny. It looked alright.
    That's about it.
    What else should I find good, according to you?
    The absolutely overused haze?
    The plot that was mostly irrelevant, not just in general, but even to itself?
    The mutilation of mythology?
    The completely unnecessary introduction of a Resistance SuperSoldier?
    The lack of pace?
    The characters, which I couldn't care less about?
    The oh-so-mysterious angle of the Eiffel Tower attack and Mason's memory loss, which were such an integral part of the plot?
    The random character changes? "Oh no, creepy nerd alert! Let's vanish for a week! Screw it, let's go to his party! KILL THEM ALL!!!!" "I have no idea who I am! Scratch that, hi, I'm Mason, super resistance fighter! SNARK SMASH!! I just want this to be over! So sorry I dragged everyone into this! Oh, did I mention I planned this all long?" "Hi, I'm Will, I saw your chest and immediately stalked you! I'm also a very nerdy nerd and totally inept at life in general. Oh noes, I got shot! I go insane! Oh, I feel better already. Look at my new army-cut and gung-ho attitude! Oh noes, shit happens! Let's do moronic things and then try to kill myself instead! Yay smoochies! Let's be gung-ho and elite again! Screw you guys, I'm going home!"



    But hey, it's cut right, right? Clearly that makes it awesome.

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  106. The trailer was a bunch of nothing, just like some of us said it was when it was chosen (it wasn't only Renegade). People wanted something great, and mistakenly went for flash over substance. Unfortunately, EQAL bought it too. It's easy to criticize Austin because of his own self-aggrandizing statements regarding his fandom and production experience. He promised a professional show that would be as good as lg15 and it just wasn't. Austin simply did not deliver. If there is a TSIY3, I really hope that EQAL will give something with story potential the nod over something like Outbreak. The Last had a coherent story that fit into the breeniverse. Outbreak (what exactly does that title even mean) did not.

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  107. That brings up a good point Anonymous1.0, what did the title of the series mean in regards to the plot?
    There was no outbreak that occurred during the show, perhaps the title refers to the Outbreak of arguments about the show after it has finished.

    Perhaps Austin made the show so bad purposely, maybe he is making a joke of LG15 and it's shows. Maybe he is sat laughing his ass off at everybody...

    ...or perhaps he really is this bad at making a webseries.

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  108. dude it has been a literal 7 years. He already "shite off."

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