In December 2012, the excelsagaforum.com domain was, without warning, not renewed, and immediately snatched up by squatters. After several weeks of the few people aware of the situation attempting to scare up a couple hundred bucks to get it back, some bloodsucking corporation bought it from its previous "owners," jerked the webmaster around for a month, and started charging $2000 for it. And just like that, the first online community I'd ever truly felt like I belonged to, one which helped me through some very difficult times in my life, disintegrated. Ever since, about twice a year, out of curiosity more than anything, I've been checking on the status of the domain. Last week, I discovered that said corporation had finally abandoned it after 7 years, and it was available to purchase for $18. With urging from Micki!, one of only three people I've managed to keep up with from this forum over the past few years, I bought the domain and a hosting package. It was time for the Excel Saga Forum to rise from the ashes.
In 2013, we bought the excelsagaforum.org domain and tried to merge the forum with another board I run, a hangout for some other old online friends. This was a huge mistake, but back then I didn't have enough money to afford two hosting packages (or even one without help), and with everyone else also being low on money and the community being woefully inactive, it was really our only option. But now excelsagaforum.com is back, and it's not going anywhere as long as I'm capable of breathing oxygen.
I do not expect the old community to return. It would be nice, and I would be overjoyed if any of the old members even just stopped by to say "hi" once, but 7 years (closer to 8, really) is a long time. I'm sure the ship has sailed for most if not all of them. After all, who really cares about Excel Saga in 2020? I have de-adminned/modded everyone except myself and Micki!, but if anyone else with a previous staff position returns, I will be happy to reinstate them if they want.
So why did I resurrect this relic from the old days of the internet? Even if it will likely never be active again, this community is still important to me, and I think it would be wrong to not have it online in some form. I tried my best to keep everything the same way it was back in the day. The old theme doesn't work on SMF 2.0, so I looked for one that resembled it more closely than our previous substitute. Aside from that, everything else should be the same. Your old usernames and passwords should still work. Your old posts and PMs are still there (and oh god, is the stuff I posted when I was 14 embarrassing). The only things that appear to be lost are the avatars, image attachments, and contents of the original Gallery. I wouldn't have gotten the backups without the ill-fated forum merger, so I guess something good did come out of it after all!
We've got a new
Gallery up and running (with video functionality!) and a
Discord server to replace the old chatroom. Looking to the future, Micki! and I are planning on turning this into an Excel Saga museum of sorts. I've made threads in the
new Resources section to help people find copies of both the manga and anime, we've started a
project to make the Oubliette more easily digestible, and we're planning to begin commissioning translations of things like Excel Saga SP, the original final chapter from Young King OURS, and Holy Brownie very soon.
As far as the manga goes, Excel Saga's sociopolitical satire is still relevant today; meanwhile, the anime's "xD so randumb!!1" antics now function as an appealing time capsule of the early 00's. I hope that, together, we can keep this wonderful series from being forgotten, and spread the love for it into 2020 and beyond. Now, then, and forever, Hail Il Palazzo!
