Uncrowned Guard

68

62

60

58

56

54

52

I get why some people are looking at this as a short‑term win. Fewer streaming services sounds great on paper, since nobody wants to juggle five subscriptions just to watch the shows they like. Consolidation can feel like it simplifies everything and maybe even saves a bit of money in the moment. But long‑term, this kind of merger is almost always bad news for consumers. Once you’re down to two or three major players, especially ones that also control the production side of the industry, the incentives shift completely. These companies aren’t known for being low‑cost or user‑focused out of generosity. They only behave that way when competition forces them to. And we’ve already seen what happens when competitors shut down or get absorbed: prices don’t drop. If anything, they creep upward while the content libraries get thinner and more homogenized. A single company owning massive IP libraries like WB’s, including DC, HBO, and major game studios, just concentrates even more power in fewer hands. So while the short‑term convenience might feel nice, the long‑term reality is probably higher prices, fewer choices, and less creative diversity. Consolidation almost never benefits the audience once the dust settles.

It looks all good on my end!

That sounds like a very reasonable approach. Best of luck with everything.

Invision has always met the needs of my projects and, therefore, has always been my favorite. Plus, I started my forum journey on IB.Free, so it holds a special place for me. However, for purely forum use, I do find XenForo to be slightly better. IC5 has a really nice forum and wins in modern tools, but many times I feel like forums don't need those modern tools, and XenForo just brings the best of the old school forum setup. Meanwhile, IC5 often seems to fight itself with being a forum.

I think my account was imported, so I did not have to deal with it. HOWEVER, I did try to register to start when I go here, and all of the gamer tag fields are required to create an account. I am not sure if this is an intended setup, but I would have had to add "N/A" or something to the accounts I do not have (like Nintendo) if I wanted to register. I'm not even sure if it would take a N/A, and this would likely be an issue if the field requires a unique answer per account.

Hello all! Somehow I had an account on here, so here I am! I saw the post that Anime Social is closing, and figured I would join up here to stay in touch.