Video version: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=txUktzVlAIc

Romance is a key theme? I know what we're all thinking here...Finally we'll see the softer side of Chai and Lan Di!

In the next Issue of M! Games there will be a interview with Yu Suzuki. It comes out in September.

There is another major reason the faces were removed (I think), but give us some time to get home and put some more interviews up.

Any hip hop fans?, created this in celebration for Shenmue 3.
https://soundcloud.com/ju-ke-1/shenmue-beat-tape-2017

The full translation of the 4Gamer interview is now also up on the Phantom River Stone blog (together with his interview with Dengeki Online).

Interview link:
http://www.phantomriverstone.com/2017/0 ... uzuki.html

My edit:


VS

Somehow I never imagined Ryo and Shenhua becoming a couple. This theme of romance is a bit of a surprise.
We don't really know the extent of the romance, but Yu has talked about the romance being platonic in interviews from last year (or slightly before?), so I dunno if they're going all the way. I believe he cited the film Roman Holiday as something he was using for research, and could want to model Ryo and Shenhua's relationship on that.

I kind of figure the maximum peak of the relationship is genuine romance, but that's kinda it. It'd be an interesting counterpoint to most other explorations of romance in video games, where the end goal is basically just sex.

There's also the behind the scenes of Mega64's "How Shenmue Ends" video where they recount talking with Yu Suzuki who said Ryo and Shenhua can't have sex, but they can "fool around". Hahaha.

Either way, pretty typical of Yu the "romance" option in Shenmue III seems to subvert and move away from what a lot of other games are doing. There's likely to be only one option, Shenhua (rather than a list of characters like other games, where the designers are pretty transparently asking the player who they'd like to fuck), and the maximum will probably be a genuine emotional relationship.

Wow, thanks man. You're always very informative! Come to think of it I do remember him citing Roman Holiday being one of his many inspirations for Shenmue 3, the romance thing probably just didn't officially 'sink in' until now.

I guess we've already had a sneak peak into their relationship from Shenmue 2: that awkward moment when Shenhua tried to kiss Ryo after he helped her pick some flowers. I interpreted that as Shenhua liking him (because what woman in Shenmue doesn't fancy Ryo aside from Ine-san, honestly?) and Ryo had no time for it. Maybe that sort of thing might resurface and Ryo will warm to it. Or...who knows? I'm sure it will be nicely done, just never really envisioned the possibility of them falling in love all this time.

I found some unused audio while looking through the scene file of the tape listening scene.

There are some unfinished / alternate takes on conversations as well as very curious other inclusions.
I really wonder what they were thinking with these. My guess is that they were just trying things out.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xZrU0OC19hY

It has been admitted the trailer was a hodgepodge of content far too early to be shown, but they were excited to just try and show something and jumped the gun.

I'm not worried--Deep Silver had a hard lesson learned for MN9, but let's be real--MN9 had already shown itself to be nothing like what was promised long before that. No self-admitted WIP, etc. It was a disaster far different than Shenmue III, which isn't even on the same course, honestly.

Shenmue III's environments and even preliminary character models show they are on track to make good, whereas MN9 looked absolutely nothing like the target renders. At all.

MN9 was announcing Kickstarters for games and animes before the actual game even came out that people had backed.


As far as polish, Yu has shown in at least one interview a character model far improved than the ones in the teaser were. We are still at least 12-16 months from release of this game, possibly more.

It *could* get delayed into 2019, but that depends on the extent of DS' pockets and if YsNet doesn't expand upon their dev team(which they may).

All eyes should be on PSX now. I have a feeling it will show up looking far better there, the start of all the magic to come.

thank you for the survey on top i didnt know how to do this. thx

Ok so finally back and had a decent amount of sleep for the first time in a week.

There is a SHIT load of material to read through, so instead of drafting up a million replies, I am going to make a video reading through all of the comments and whatnot. It's easier then for me to articulate my thoughts and responses.

We've come a long way.

Spaghetti wrote: Maybe I'm seeing things, but on the wide shot of Ryo from the Mr Muscles fight, does it say "S3" on the side of his shoe?

Shenmue III confirmed.

I like the idea that Shenhua just takes her scarf off when they reach her house. After all it would make sense to put it aside then, being more comfortable and everything. The problem with the model right now is that the rest of the clothes don't match her Shenmue II attire though they do match the one in the Kickstarter promo.

It would be nice if we do get more changing in the clothing during the course of the game. In Shenmue Ryo at least took his jacket off and I hope they bring that back and make it a fully on screen animation. With Shenhua taking off her scarf at home it would also be nice to see her take off her hat along with it aswell.

Now that I am back, it's time to rewind time all the way back and read everything that has came out from Gamescom. If only we had this awesome member who had a site with translated interviews from Suzuki-san

A lot of really good interviews. Yu-San has been very consistent of what he's been saying in all of his interviews. I believe he has something really special to reveal by the end of the year to make up of what happened to the initial release being delayed to 2018. A true HD trailer with voice overs and facial animations etc.

We were asked not to say this time. But hopefully it won't be a long wait until it's released.

Yu Suzuki seems to be implying that different areas of Shenmue 3 will be varied, from closed world to a more expanded open world setting, based on the village or environment. Intriguing possibilities. Could very well experiment with microscopic mechanics of a Zero Escape series or similar in certain scenes and expand out to a grander macroscopic Shenmue III in other locales.
I think Bailu is going to be more microscopic and Shenmue 1 like, Choubu will be more macroscopic and Shenmue II like, and Baisha is going to be something totally new.

Here are the interesting bits of the multiplayer.it interview to Suzuki San.

Yu Suzuki: "My vision of the Shenmue universe and the way I see the characters have never changed.
To me, it's like not even one day has past [Since Shenmue 2 release]."

According to Yu Suzuki, it's still early to show a playable version of Shenmue 3 to the public.
Yu Suzuki: "More than half of the work has been done, but really I shouldn't tell you at what point we are in the development."
The partnership with Deep Silver will allow YsNet to focus on the development and work with better conditions but at the same time, the communication with media and the Kickstarter backers should be less transparent.

We had the opportunity to watch an extended version of the teaser (~3minutes). There were no dialogues o specific story related references. On the other hand, the video gives a good idea of the environments, characters and shows interactions with each others, like fights and side activities.

Following the feedback from the Community about the teaser, Suzuki San wanted to reassure the fans: "The characters shown in the teaser are temporary. We have just added a new facial animations system but the video we have prepared for the Gamescom was based on the previous version of the game."
Then, Yu Suzuki showed us a serie of 3D characters pictures, without texture but with a significantly higher complexity compared to the teaser models. "This is the quality level we are aiming to for the final version [of Shenmue 3]."

Of course, there are going to be a lot of extra activities. Mini-games and "hobbies": In the extended teaser, we saw Ryo practice punches on a cabinet looking like "Fighting Mania" or play pinball. Other classics like gashapons or forklift driving will not be forgotten. Lastly, news regarding the fighting system too: In the video, we saw a few QTE's not so different from the ones from the original Shenmue's, but Yu Suzuki claims that they are introducing some ideas to make the QTEs more modern and dynamic.

Source: http://multiplayer.it/articoli/187741-shenmue-iii-yu-suzuki-ci-racconta-della-grande-scommessa-di-shenmue-iii.html

Erm, since other journalists are talking about it, I didn't see a different style of machine. It was the QTE title machine, only really fucking detailed! I mean the cracked red leather on the pads really made my jaw drop again. The level of detail on it was insane. Like little white cracks, and one of them even had a little rip through it.

Do you remember this picture of "Manabu Takimoto" Bailu concept drawing posted by Switch back in June 2016?

http://i.imgur.com/y7UhGUO.png

http://www.shenmuedojo.net/forum/viewtopic.php?p=1134422#p1134422

How many theories about the meaning of this scene and which characters were depicted?

Well... mystery solved I guess. :mrgreen:





















http://i.imgur.com/K1XEsce.jpg

I'm genuinely amazed by how much the WIP (!) result looks better than anything I was expecting.
Everything feels so Shenmue to me in this scene. :heart:

I like that the head of Deep Silver is asking and involved. They have tons to gain from being fully committed to a big franchise like Shenmue.

Awesome meeting everyone at Gamescom17 Had a great time!

Also we now get a much better look at his belt buckle, compared to the Kickstarter Update. I had wondered if it was supposed to be an image of a pheonix (hence maybe a clue to a link to Niao Sun), but from the latest images it looks more like a flying crane or similar.

http://i.imgur.com/dXAmtZLl.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/HNu1ile.jpg

If the cursive style is indeed the problem (I personally don't have any trouble reading it, but we did learn cursive in school when I was a kid), then why not just use some classy serif font and keep the strong brushwork of the Japanese version. Yu Suzuki's brushwork in Japanese is strong and assured, whereas his version with roman letters is not (imo). So, something like this would be my suggestion:

http://www.zoonbats.com/s3/s3_logo.jpg

Well catching up on this thread for the first time in over a week has been quite the trip. :)

Just two subjects I want to comment on:

I really love the idea of pinball machines for mini-games. I don't care how faithful they are to the region or period - I suspect there'll be some compromise there for the sake of prioritising fun. But it's a great opportunity to shoehorn in a little fan service, throwing in references to duck racing, etc, on the table and perhaps even incorporating QTEs for bonuses. Bags of potential here to kill many birds with one stone, if they choose to go that route.

Regarding phone calls, I imagine the backers who chose this reward on Kickstarter will still receive exclusive conversations with the characters, while most players will only have those crucial to understanding the plot so far.

I'll need to drag the exact quote up, but I think Yu or whoever was just musing on that we might have seen it a few months earlier if the Deep Silver deal was done quicker.

This part from the 4Gamer interview?
Q: Thank you for your time today. To get started right away, there was a teaser trailer released to the public for Gamescom. Why Gamescom and not E3?

YS: If the contract with Deep Silver had been completed prior to E3 2017, that might have been an option.

Time was needed for the final signing, so the trailer's release timing ended up being Gamescom.

90% transparency.

UPDATE: The trailer has now hit over 700,000 views

Seriously, the types of Photoshop "improvements" being posted are so minute, subjective, and arbitrary. And some of them are presented with an almost comical air of certainty that their fan art is the superior, ideal visualization. Is this what this forum is going to be like for the next year? I guess it's fine as a hobby, but does anyone believe YsNet staffers are over there saying, "We haven't got it quite right... we'd better trawl the fan forums for guides." Maybe NoConKid getting hired has given people false expectations? But NoConKid has professional-level skill as a 3D artist. YsNet isn't hiring Photoshop hobbyists.

October 2016:



August 2017:

Wow! An amazing find by Shenmue Forever‏ on twitter. Lan di and Niao sun are in the teaser! Probably an Easter egg.

https://twitter.com/ShenmueForever/stat ... 2827518976

Two interviews with Yu Suzuki by Fok! (Dutch) and Gamona (German):

http://frontpage.fok.nl/preview/774723/1/1/50/interview-met-yu-suzuki-over-shenmue-3.html
http://www.gamona.de/games/shenmue-3,interview-mit-entwicklerlegende-yu-suzuki-ich-moechte-nach:article.html

According Google Translate:

Fok! :
https://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=nl&tl=en&u=http%3A%2F%2Ffok.nl%2F774723

- Confirmation of an international phone card (named "World of Telecom") to call Ryo's overseas friends. Yu didn't tell if it's still an exclusive backer item.

- A turtle aquarium can be seen in the extended trailer. Yu says there will be a turtle race.

- Shenmue 3 will explain the Shenmue prologue poem.

- Yu describes Shenmue 3 as " a kung-fu adventure that takes place in China."

- Shenmue 3 will have easter eggs like the previous episodes.

Gamona :
http://www.gamona.de/games/shenmue-3,interview-mit-entwicklerlegende-yu-suzuki-ich-moechte-nach:article.html

- Thanks Deep Silver, Shenmue 3 will be about 3 times bigger than initially planned. Overall, however, ambitions about the story and graphics are likely to remain the same.

- Yu laughingly refuses to answer if we get a new cliffhanger at Shenmue III end.

- As animals, there will be chickens, ducks, turtles, dogs, cats and more. Yu has yet to know if the player will be allowed to have a pet like the cat in Shenmue 1.

- The Shenmue 3 staff consists of a lot of freelancers and people who are working for other studios.

https://youtu.be/zirOCinD17o

Hello Everyone,

Today we want to give you a wrap up report from gamescom 2017 held this month in Cologne, Germany. With over 350,000 visitors, the event hall was really jumping!



The Koelnmesse exhibition center

https://ksr-ugc.imgix.net/assets/018/119/995/5895b765d715d15ac6472bb8780ad112_original.JPG?w=639&fit=max&v=1504076501&auto=format&q=92&s=9cd691c195512cb01d193fc52a2f8b24



The visitor numbers were beyond surprising!

https://ksr-ugc.imgix.net/assets/018/119/878/c92d1045e26d6f2f7c08c7bdfb15ee2b_original.JPG?w=639&fit=max&v=1504075768&auto=format&q=92&s=0b9ddd6b550400efa1d9f92185e6cf0e



Meeting with the fans was an invaluable experience for Yu-san.

https://ksr-ugc.imgix.net/assets/018/119/884/e7be6725393c433ddd6d0524262d7adf_original.JPG?w=639&fit=max&v=1504075816&auto=format&q=92&s=b96df1f9678371656498f494a9c4e2d0

　　　

New development pics

We are happy to show some new images that we did not present at gamescom!



The look of gallantry!

https://ksr-ugc.imgix.net/assets/018/120/006/d0c8f5fd4619145e45d9f6c1109ee448_original.jpg?w=639&fit=max&v=1504076578&auto=format&q=92&s=1b05d5560e9cb32572863b30f6a65a0f



The Hazuki Style bow.

https://ksr-ugc.imgix.net/assets/018/119/908/e532bbc193a66d03fef45bd3295e6fef_original.jpg?w=639&fit=max&v=1504075965&auto=format&q=92&s=6f2f4ae73484c8e2f6e69686d8b361cd



What will go down in this city?

https://ksr-ugc.imgix.net/assets/018/119/918/ee39e46ce3db57fca0c03db5ea905aff_original.jpg?w=639&fit=max&v=1504076002&auto=format&q=92&s=1f64512a03110e482d78ec7bc2abf78a


Yu-san and the entire team give all their thanks for your support at the event and on social media sites! See you next time!

All released images are up on the Gallery at Shenmue.link, so come for a visit and have a look!

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/ysnet/shenmue-3/posts/1968826

It's back.

It seems that the partnership with Deep Silver has infact given Yu-san the funds he requires to make "the full on Shenmue experience" that we have all been craving.

We all assumed this but it now looks like it has been confirmed by Yu himself in an interview with Metro.

http://metro.co.uk/2017/08/28/shenmue-iii-yu-suzuki-interview-dont-worry-i-can-make-the-whole-game-you-imagined-6885083/

Even after we completed the Kickstarter project I have been looking for other partners to join us and as you know we have now partnered with Deep Silver. So I’m now comfortable in saying, ‘Don’t worry, I can make the whole game you imagined!’.

I've translated a early design diagram for Shenmue II into English. It's quite fascinating to compare some of the early ideas they were considering for the story. (The diagram can be found in the Shenmue art book).

In particular:

- The little girl who Ryo saved from Chai in the boat chapter side-story & her mother were originally going to help Ryo more, assisting him with finding Xiuying / Master Tao.
- There was going to be more interaction with the "two butchers" who always argue with each other, as part of the main story.

Here are the first 3 sections of the diagram:
https://i.imgur.com/3dLAGu5l.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/1ztPXFkl.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/1Al2nkZl.jpg

Analysis & the rest of the diagram can be found at the blog:
http://www.phantomriverstone.com/2017/09/ryos-arrival-in-hong-kong-shenmue-ii.html

https://www.amazon.de/Koch-Media-Deutschland-Shenmue-PlayStation/dp/B075897Z7S/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1505229058&sr=8-1&keywords=Shenmue+III

logo looks pretty good in white on black tbh

Looking at the trailer looks like the game is set in China or something asian, I'll keep the investigation.

This post is overly long and not really a big deal, but I believe it's possible that there was a section of FREE exploration cut (or at least significantly reduced) towards the end of the game. So when Ryo gets fired from his job, it's around 10.45am and from the Alpha Trading Office you can either choose to wander around for a very short time, or go directly to meet Tom, before auto-jumping to meeting the Mad Angels at 10pm that night. Meeting Tom will trigger the point of no return, in the sense that you're on a linear path of move instructions, battles and cutscenes to the end credits. If you choose not to walk towards Tom, Ryo's watch will sound at around 12.30pm or 1pm, and you'll go there automatically. So that gives you barely 10 real-time minutes of final FREE gameplay.

I do find it strange that there's no kind of menu prompt informing you of this, the way there was in Shenmue II (At the end of Disc 2, you're informed that saying goodbye to Xiuying will trigger Ryo's departure for Kowloon, as well as the option to have one final day of free time before infiltrating the Yellow Head Building.) But what's also strange is that during that short window between getting fired and meeting Tom, you can have a significant amount of unique conversations with NPCs relevant only to that point in the game, with it even being possible to travel back to Dobuita and do the same. Even the fortune teller has a unique reading for Ryo, foreseeing his eventual meeting with Shenhua. You can have a specific conversation with Ine-san at that point too, but have to make a bit of a speedy dash to the Hazuki Residence in time to get it. In a moment uncharacteristic of Shenmue, you have so little time that you have to pick and choose where you're going to go/who you're going to speak with.

I think it's possible that after learning the Tornado Kick/saying goodbye to Tom, FREE gameplay was intended at one point to resume until 10pm that night, giving you a more natural and relaxed pace to explore/train/speak with people one last time, as opposed to jumping straight to the Mad Angels meeting. Perhaps the team felt that the slower pace would've killed the building momentum of the story at that stage, or they wanted to include the scene of Ryo watching the airplane from the harbour in a more essential way. I dunno. But it's interesting that after being fired, Ryo's notes inform us that he "should check with everybody", yet the game barely gives us ten minutes to do so.

And so what the fuck if it is a trailer or whatever. Never seen a bunch of moany cunts in my life. Games over a year from release, development is picking up big time, more cash and staff has came in the form of a new publisher, and the games looking pretty sweet for one which didn't exist for 15 years.

So hey, 2010 called. It said shut the fuck up and stop moaning.

Well, I figured I can't make videos on my YouTube channel for every little thing that I wan't to say about Shenmue so I took the great example that is Switch's Phantom River Stone and made my own little Shenmue blog!

Yeah I know, name and design are "very" creative but it's just purpouseful. Not much to see on there yet but I'm sure there'll be many thing to post about and lots of content in the near future.

BlueMue's Shenmue Blog

Grab a cup of coffee or some snacks. Its about to get detailed!

So, hello everyone!

A lot of visitors here may recognise my name, but for anyone who doesn't, or is unsure, allow me to introduce myself. My names Peter Campbell, im 34 years old and live in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Life was going swimmingly until one day i picked up a copy of Official Dreamcast Magazine off of the shop bookshelf, and my life changed course from that moment on. I have been a huge Shenmue fan since that day, and it wasnt too after finishing the games back in the early 2000s that i found this site, The Shenmue Dojo. Over the course of the past 14 years i have regularly contributed to this site, firstly as a registered user, and then as a staff member. After a brief hiatus last year, i was contacted recently by the then current owner, George aka "Yama", and offered the chance to become the owner of the site and begin to get this place ready for the crazy future we have soon ahead of us. If you missed his topic, you can check it out HERE!
Shenmue has been a huge part of my life for the past decade and a half, from playing the games beyond any sort of countable number, to finally realising a dream come true, meeting Yu Suzuki in Japan during the Kickstarter Backer Dinner. This series and this site was dead just a few years ago. It really was. 8 years ago Yama took over and did an outstanding job making the site more appealing and accessible for anyone who visited, and all during that time we lived in hope that it wouldn't all be for nothing. It really did begin to look like a waste of time and effort, but thanks to excellent fan spirit and great community building and campaigning from the 500k Facebook group, Team Yu group and longstanding French partner site Shenmue Master, a relatively impossible dream came true and we are well on the road to actually holding a controller in our hands and walking down to Bailu Village to get some clues on the hunt for Lan Di. Its been an insane ride! But the rides nowhere near over yet!

In this post, i will be going over a few key areas in detail, about what the aim of this fansite is, and any subsequent changes may be coming in relation to the future release of Shenmue games. One of the key words i hope to always stick to is transparency, so everyone knows exactly what is going on. So like i said at the top, i hope you got some food and drink!

______________________________________________________

~~~~~FORUMS~~~~~

We may as well start where we are, and that's with the place most members, if not all members visit the most; The Forums. Its where we all talk and get to know one another. Realise each individuals reactions to all things Shenmue. In terms of changes here, it will mostly be structure based, with a few cosmetic tweaks for reason i will explain.

First off, before even taking over me and Yama discussed at length the staffing of the boards, and what their roles are. A lot of users within the roles were either AWOL or just didnt bother to make any decisions or act when needed to. So we put together a list of names that we both felt from the beginning of my tenure that we felt comfortable with, and also what role they will play. Below is our selection, and what that role means:

Shenmue Dojo Owner & Administrator - Peter
Administrator - Yama

The role of myself and Yama as administrators means that we have access to the ACP, and can make relatively any decisions in terms of usergroups, permissions, cosmetic look of the forum makeup etc. Its all pretty much behind the scenes stuff. We also take the wheel of the ship, and help make sure the site has the right tone and feel in terms of staffing and making sure this place serves the best interests of Shenmue and the site itself.
Yama has kindly offered any advice 24/7, but as owner, the overall look of the site design and any future changes to anything i will have to decide upon. That means everything, from a new site, social media ideas and direction, forum upgrades and design, listening to members, staffing members.... its no easy job thats for sure, and these past two weeks, i could count the hours of sleep ive has with just my 2 hands. I will be active on the boards, that goes without saying, but i wont be as active as i was back years ago as a regular member. Gone are the full weekends of chatting, bottle of wine, and nude pictures (dont ask!).

Global Moderators - BlueMue, Henry Spencer, James Brown, Jibby, OL, ShenSun, Sonoshee, Spaghetti

The team selected i feel is a great mix of everything. Old members, new members, full of ideas and all sing off of the same hymn sheet. First and foremost, this is a Shenmue fans website. We come here for our love of the series, and as of late, it doesnt seem to be that way. Open troll comments which differ from constructive criticism, and branding the entire Kickstarter as a scam are not topics of conversation that serve both Shenmue and this website well. Theres a fine line between keeping negativity off the boards and censorship, and the reason ive selected this team is because i feel they have the experience and intelligence to make a call and do whats right. We are a site for the fans by the fans, and i hope the staff sets the tone and attitude for people who contribute to the site.
If someone is just joining up here to troll for some giggles, or get some hits on their Youtube site by badmouthing the series then they will act swiftly and appropriately. All staff have been given instructions to be as transparent as they can. If a user gets warned, or banned, their post will be edited by the moderator taking action, so that everyone can see. Sadly until the forums are upgraded this is the only real way of being transparent with other users so until then, please bear with us. Any more issues or questions, please dont hesitate to ask!

News Posters/Veteran Contributors - alimn, Axm, Bysby, Kiske, Kiyuu, LanDC, Sonikku, Switch

These members have the ability to post in the current News and Updates forum, where we try and bring any and all Shenmue news to the public as quicky and clearly as possible. It was an original group, which has been merged with longtime veteran contributors of the site whom also have been given the same permissions. They have no moderator permissions outside of this.

Shenmue 500k Staff - Shenmue Stare, shengoro86
Shenmue Master Staff - Shendream
Team Yu Staff - Team Yu

The Shenmue Community has grown a lot over the past 6 years, and i will be trying my best to make sure we remain as a team. Any sort of mentality of "us versus them" i want put to bed from the start. We all co-exist and form one entity, and it offers every Shenmue fan their own unique platform to which they want to contribute to! If you dont like the Forums here, Facebook has you covered with 500k. If you want to help with the #SaveShenmueHD campaign, then Team Yu is the spot for you. Shenmue Master has any French speaking Shenmue fans covered and has been around for as long as the same time the Dojo has. It doesnt matter where you contribute, it matters that you contribute in the first place, be it here, there or anywhere! The one common goal here is the success of Shenmue, and thats all we want together. But wait, doesnt the Shenmue Dojo have a Facebook page? Yes it does! But its a page, and we use that primarily as a news outlet extension to the forums. 500k offers a group platform, to talk about everything Shenmue in a more hot take/smaller post type of fashion. The Dojo forums offer intense debate into any little aspect of Shenmue, so again, its all there to cater to the Shenmue fan. Its not a competition if we are all trying to reach the same goal with the same intention.


Shenmue Dojo Coder - MrRod

I finally had the pleasure of speaking to MrRod on social media over the past few weeks, and he is a great guy. I cannot stress enough the work he has done in the past, and to be honest, it would not be online if it was not for him. He has kindly offered to continue on serving as our coder when we need him in the future, which i will touch upon in more detail in a little bit.

But for now, thats what will make up the structure of the site.


One other thing i need to mention is the option users have had in the past to donate to the forums for upkeep and maintenance. Now let me be clear on this topic, this isnt a negative take on Yamas tenure, where he introduced this feature. It just feel that if anyone has any money they would like to give to the site, give it to the Shenmue 3 PayPal campaign. Or hold onto it and buy the game when its released!! I will cover all costs of the site, and look at any upgrades to the service if we get to that stage and need it. Anyone that knows me, knows what i am like with money. If this site is mine, its my responsibility to cover it financially, and it will continue to be 100% free for all members to use. I do this out of love for Shenmue and thats where i stand.
With removing the donation option, i have decided to remove the various "donor" usergroups, and the relevant username colours and titles, and i humbly thank you all for any support you have given in the past. I know this is the Shenmue Dojo, and change usually brings with it a 15 page argument with nothing but popcorn bags left in its wake. But i do have reasons. This site is on the cusp of its biggest moments in its history. Yes we are in a lull now for many reasons, but Shenmue 3 is fast approaching, and possibly Shenmue HD with it. The attention the series will get, and as an extension the community and this site, will rise to numbers we may not have seen before. When get have new members join here, i want them to see clearly who is who, and what is what. The only people with any sort of distinction are those with key roles, and the colours simply make them easy to identify. Green = moderator. White = newsposter. So on an so forth, This means people know who to go to if they need anything, and also who is making staff decisions at any given time.
Another reason the groups have been streamlined and tidied up is because of something that i touched upon earlier. With a site thats been online this long, and one which started out on its own before becoming part of a community, its inevitable that a hive atmosphere can develop over time. Like i also said, we are all friends, but we are all here for Shenmue, and ultimately on the same page. I want things to be as transparent as possible, and as clear and straightforward as possible, so any sort of special privelidges or cosmetic changes have been removed. I dont want a hierarchy here, and if i could run the place without any sort of groupings then i would, but unfortunately thats not how the way the world works. But, outside of the staff, we are all human being. All together. All Shenmue fans, and i dont want anyone seeming like they are above someone else. It cant be helped when a user joined, or how many posts they have made. We all contribute equally, and great users come along at anytime. Being here for 10 years doesnt give you a badge of honour or any sort of hierarchical standing. We are all Shenmue fans, regardless of if you picked up the controller last week, last month or last year.

The last thing i have to say about the forums is it is currently on an old version of PHPBB. Thats why it looks the way it does, doesnt have Emoji support and other bells and whistles which other more modern platforms may have. The plan is to upgrade the forums ASAP, but it will take a lot of work. As i touched upon earlier, MrRod has kindly agreed to help out with this, and we will try to get to work on it as soon as we can. In preparation for future Shenmue games, we know we also have to move forward. We will have more information on that in the future as it happens!

______________________________________________________

~~~~~WEBSITE~~~~~

The website runs off of both links of shenmuedojo.net, with shenmuedojo.com as a redirect. We pay and own both domains, and each will take you to the website designed by Yama almost 10 years ago. Along with the forums we will be aiming to update them and bring them in line with modern day sites. At the beginning of the process of the handover, Yama had designed a brand new site which i had seen at various stages along its development. Yama has done a great job with a new website design, with a more clear structure, greater social media integration, community partnership and mobile response.

https://i.imgur.com/rZxnGcX.jpg

As much as i would love to use the new design (it would be in place right now!), its been designed on a Wix site for ease of access and user friendliness. The problem is however is that its not our first option. The most ideal method would be to build a new website from scratch, but if anyone who has any experience knows, this is indepth and time consuming. As well as needing knowledge of HTML, CSS, databases and other such technological wizardry.
Another major issue with the Wix site is that the forums cannot be brought along for the ride, and the support isnt there on the Wix end. This would mean one of two things; the forums as we know them would be deleted with new forums created over on the Wix end, or, the furrent forums have a domain change, and run separately on another link. This could be an option, and linking it to the main site would be straightforward, but that means the new domain would be starting from scratch. All previous links that exist across the internet from the past 15 years would essentially be broken. We would also lose our Google hit rating and for a time, the new link would not show up for any searches.
The option i think is best, is to build a new site with Wordpress, and retain everything together. I have been reassured by a lot of people supporting me that its more then accomplishable, but despite that, its a much deeper job then just putting a few things in place. Ive toyed with the idea of a new logo, and that means design work. Then theres the look and tone of the new logo defining the look and tone of a new site. Image assets need to be obtained, a new layout needs to be designed, what plug in options are available and how will they be implemented, all links to social media, community sites, wiki links, forums etc all need to be working. All of that takes time and effort not just from me,but from anyone willing to offer help and support. Will i get that? I dont know, and if i have to i will outsource a new site to a company here in Belfast, which could compromise the Shenmue feeling this place has always had. All of that is in the future which i will have to decide on, but for now i just wanted to keep everyone updated.

~~~~~SOCIAL MEDIA~~~~~

The site has various forms of social media, which are generally used to post news updates as well as other content.

Facebook Page (Shenmue & community news posts)
Twitter Account (Shenmue & community news posts)
Twitch Channel (Streaming service)
Instagram Page (Shenmue artwork & image service)

We did have a YouTube Channel, which i would like to go into in a bit more detail in the interests of transparency.
The second owner of the website was a person by the name of Hellraiser, whom you would know better here now as Ziming. In 2009-2010 he then passed the website to Yama who built it to its current stage. Unfortunately i am not sure of the arrangement they had or how we was still involved with the site. But he did own the YouTube Channel which, for many years was under the title of The Shenmue Dojo. There is a difference between just a title change and an actual domain ownership, but it doesn't change the fact that he does, and always owned that channel. He also was responsible for all of the content added to the channel, and no one can argue it is a huge Shenmue resource.
Recently during the MAGIC 2018 conference a video was shown with a disclaimer for it not to be recorded. The video was an extended cut of the released Shenmue 3 teaser from last August, and was only shown to journalists at the event. Of course people either missed the instruction or chose to ignore it, the video was recorded and it appeared online, including the YouTube channel owned by Ziming. This wouldn't be an issue except not only was the disclaimer clear for it not to be recorded, but i spoke personally with Deep Silver staff after the event as well as Yu-san himself and both said that the trailer was not to go online. Other members of the community at the event were also told the same thing, and we all have refused to host the video as per request. Of course, individual people posting it was inevitable, but a YouTube Channel with the content and subscriber size that's supposed to stand for Shenmue going against the wishes of both the creator and the publisher is not something i can support or endorse.
Ziming has been a unique character over the course of the history of the Shenmue Dojo, and an opinion on him will very to neutral to negative depending on whoever you ask. But in terms of the YouTube Channel not being owned by the Dojo exclusively, it was asked of Ziming to remove all Shenmue Dojo links and branding in light of not removing the video. 2 days ago, i sent him a message asking for him to remove the video and explained the reasons why. As far as i know, i am certainly not the first person to do so. If he feels differently to the hosting of the video that's his business, but with no responses to my messages i will be banning his account here, with no promotion of that Shenmue outlet. If anyone posts a video that's linked to his channel, and its in the context of a conversation at that point in time, then it will be allowed to remain. We are not going blanket banning videos to his site at the punishment of the user. But there will not be dedicated topics to videos that appear on the site.
This was not an easy decision, or one that was quickly made. Nor was it a personal decision, and the list of people i spoke to about the matter for advice should emphasise that. I should also say that i understand if it was such a huge issue, then perhaps Deep Silver or YSNET should issue a copyright strike against it and i shouldn't be making this decision. That may be true, but that's their business, and maybe they don't want the hassle. Again i don't know, but what i do know is i need to make the best decision for both this site as well as Shenmue. One final point is that this call does not reflect or represent the Shenmue 3 team in any official way. This is a site decision, and I wish him all the best with his Channel.

That brings me onto the resulting matter.

Its because of this, that we will need to build a new Shenmue Dojo YouTube Channel. Now as tempting and as easy it would be to begin ripping content or duplicating the channel we once had, its a messy road to go down, and one which benefits no one. There's no point confusing that platform for a user searching for Shenmue related videos. So, the idea which Yama had for the entire Dojo will carry over to the new channel. It will serve as a fan service, with playlists and links to fan created content. A Rolodex for the amount of excellent fan content that's on YouTube. We will of course have our own content being added to the site, aiming to serve as an introduction to Shenmue for new users which, again, we will be expecting with the release of the new games and the attention it brings. Also on there will be a library of live streams and Shenmue Lets Plays both conducted by ourselves at the Dojo, as well as across the web. All content not ours will be play listed only so that when people click on any said video, the proper content creator will get the view, not us, which is fair.
Again, that's the plan, which will take time and manpower to create so bear with us. That applies to all forms of social media which i open the doors to any fans who feel they could contribute to the brand. From updating Facebook and Twitter with news, posting images and artwork to our Instagram etc. I used to stream and work across the board on all sorts of social media when i was a staff member but i very much doubt i could handle it all on my own now.

______________________________________________________

TL;DR

Yea i know. A huge intake of words. I know. I apologise if i've rambled in any areas but its been 3 days and i cannot remember what sleep is like.

One last personal request i can only ask for is from everyone, to help get this site to whats generally regarded as its former glory. I don't want to see people at each others throats and attacking each other which the Dojo seems to bring out in people throughout the years. Also, if you can keep in mind I've never been in a position such as this before, and to please help be supportive. We are all human and make mistakes, and again in the interests of transparency, I've already clicked the wrong button and deleted a forum which was created for a members work, so i am reluctant to even type on this keyboard right now in case i nuke the site by some mad ass command. I apologise to Mittens too for the forum deletion. He undertook a Shenmue Project with other fans of the site to make a fanmade shenmue game. The project was dropped a while back, and no valuable content was lost thanks to him having back ups, but still, i made the mistake of deleting them instead of hiding them in the ACP and humbly apologise. Even if i mess up, you will hear about it. Theres no brushing of anything under the rug anymore. Not even from me.
But in the run up to this, i can only say thank you to the numerous people that have said the kindest things to me, encouraged me, and gave me confidence that actually makes me believe that i can do this and make this place a success!

I genuinely hope we can all move forward together towards Shenmue 3, and hopefully Shenmue HD. I don't think i need to reiterate that i will be giving this my all, and if you ever want to talk to me about anything then drop me a message on here, or do a search on Facebook for me and drop me a message!

Oh and thank you for lasting this long if you read through it all!!