The beginning of the end of 3dor2d.com

2023 will likely be the final year for 3Dor2D.com. 3Dor2D.com may not exist at all in 2024. I understand that this news may shock and disappoint many people, and for that I am sorry. 3dor2d.com has existed since June of 2014. It has been nearly nine years, and I feel an obligation to our audience / fans to give y’all notice of its upcoming demise. This blog post is my two month notice and my explanation to why this is happening. I am writing this to give people answers and to explain myself. I have experienced other websites or podcasts that have gone extinct, and they didn’t provide any sort of warning. I strongly feel that people need to have closure and morn for something that have spent lots of time with. Thank You to everyone who has worked with me, and who has supported me, and who has followed this website over the years. This goodbye post is a true reflection of my feelings and I tried to write this in an entertaining and interesting manner. It may seem bitter, and or angry, but it is what it is. I refuse to apologize for my feisty tone, or the adult language that I use in this blog post. This post might be preachy so buckle up, because this is going to be a ride.

This is a very long blog post (about 9 pages printed out). So this section is the G rated TLDR (To Long Didn’t Read) version of this post. What once started as a passion project has slowly become laborious work. This website is no longer worthy of my time. I am frustrated and burnt out, and this website will end after May 27th 2023. Email adolphvega@me.com if you are interested in buying it out. Goodbye.

I imagine that you may have many questions, and I’ll try to answer those questions (in detail) below.

Why this is happening is the most obvious question. Simply put I’m burnt out, and I’m tired of working on this website. I did the cost benefit analysis of continuing this website, and it just doesn’t add up. This website has been consuming most of my free time, and it has become work. Sadly this work doesn’t pay well (if at all), and I currently receive very little joy from working on this website. As I get older I see time as a precious commodity. Writing reviews, editing podcast, making videos and overall content creation for this website is very time consuming. The time that you have in your life is limited, and you never know precisely when it will run out. Free time is one of the most precious types of time. People take their free time for granted, but you really need it in your life. You need time to relax, time for peace and quiet, and even some time to do nothing at all. You need all of these types of time to stay sane, and to be happy. Work is a necessity and I understand that, but work will always find ways to consume more of your time. Don’t listen to the crazy workaholics who tell you to make your hobbies into your job. Hobbies and work should be separate, because they serve separate functions in your life. Your hobbies should bring joy to your life. Not everything in life has to be productive, or lead directly to any sort of monetary gain. If you are lucky, your work will be sorta fun, but for most people work is work, and you just have to get it done. Making your hobbies into your work only gives you more work and it robs your potential joy. The hustler work culture (work 14 hours a day) is toxic and crazy. Burning the metaphorical candle at both ends can lead to wealth, but it will likely just lead to you being burnt out and frustrated. This website used to be a fun hobby for me, but that now its work. This is an excellent preamble to my experiences with this website. Even when 3D movie releases are light, 3D movie news might be heavy. The planning for new content is never ending. On countless occasions I have reduced my sleep to work on content for this website. I am thinking about this website during my day job and its tiring. People are unforgiving and they want content that suites their schedule and they don’t care about your sleep schedule or your life. I have stressed about posting 3D reviews on a timely manner. If an article is too late nobody cares and they will chew you out. Making new original content is mentally taxing. The mental exhaustion caused by this website cannot be cured by taking a vacation or a day off. When I’m on vacation I worry about content that I should be, or could be posting. Movie releases never takes a vacation. Websites operate constantly every hour of every day of the year. News can happen on holidays or when family members are getting married or when your pets are dying. Articles and reviews still need to be posted even if you are sick. Independently running a website is an extensive amount of work. Even when the website uses templates instead of coding it can be tons of potential work.The pressure to make new content never ends, because your potential work never ends. This website has become a nagging voice in the back of my mind that won’t shut up. The nagging voice reminds me that I have patrons. These patrons pay money for this and I must deliver and I must make it worth their while. The nagging voice also reminds me that I regularly pay for this website (with my own money) and I pay to see the movies (with my own money) so I already spent the money so I need to make it worth it for myself too. The news is never ending and it never takes a day off, so I can’t either. Content needs to be created a regular basis to stay relevant on search engines. People may find your website today, but they won’t return tomorrow if you aren’t constantly creating and publishing new content. I have received emails telling me that I don’t post enough content. The nagging voice reminding me to make more content is never ending. Making your own website makes you a slave to constantly creating new and original content. I am tired of carrying the burden of constant content creation for 3Dor2D.com. I am ready to tell these nagging voices to shut the hell up, and I am done with this website and the lifestyle that it forces upon me. This has become a money pit for me and I need to stop digging and walk away. I simply don’t have the passion to do this anymore. I still enjoy watching movies in 3D, but I have no passion to continue this website indefinitely. If you don’t have the passion to do something in life than why bother doing it?

When will this website end? The web hosting service that I use is squarespace. I pay for Squarespace on a monthly basis, and I can cancel that service at any time. The domain name for 3Dor2D.com is charged on a yearly basis, and that renewal date is May 27th, 2023. Therefore May 27th 2023 is the tentative demise date for 3Dor2D.com, and everything attached to it.

What is next for me, and for the website? Simply put, I don’t know. I would love for the website to continue without my direct supervision. I don’t know if anyone would really want it, but who knows. I am interested in selling the domain name for a fair price. Maybe I will pay for the domain name for another year, but not post anything new until I find the right potential buyer. Maybe someone will buy up the domain name and change everything about it. I would hate for this website to be deleted from the internet all together, but that might happen. We will continue to provide new content until May 27th. The last 3D movie review will probably be Guardians of the Galaxy Volume 3. Disney’s new live action The Little Mermaid movie might be too difficult to review before the website’s demise date (we shall see what is possible closer to its release date). I am considering saving the website onto archive.org. That way the website can continue to exist in one fashion. We will be creating, and posting one final podcast for the website before the demise date. This final podcast will be be a goodbye episode of the Da 3D Show. This is only a basic preview of the final content that will be uploaded onto the site. I have other ideas (that I will keep secret for now) for content that we might be able to do before the demise date of the website. I have some ideas for potential new website(s) that I might consider making in the future too. If you want more of my content I have two Youtube channels that I occasionally post videos on.

The ‘Adolph Vega’ Youtube channel link is below:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCEfc-wci1NzG1vz3cbvouTg

I post various videos that are not 3D related to this channel.

The ‘Adolph Plays’ Youtube channel link is below:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCxxkKezulNaZpz8KX3o23Jw

I post various video game videos that are not 3D related to this channel.

I currently post on those Youtube channels randomly. Neither channel has taken off so I might not bother to make original content for either one of those channels in the future. We shall see, as I am not committed to anything specific at the moment.

Is the demise of 3Dor2D.com related to the other recent (2022/2023) tech layoffs or the failure of Silicon Valley Bank? No, the demise of 3Dor2D.com has no connection to those news events. My heart goes out to everyone who has been laid off (or will soon be laid off), and I hope they find fantastic new jobs soon.

Is it possible that I will change my mind, and that 3Dor2D.com will continue on as is? The simple answer to that question is no. For fun lets ask the magic eight ball. And the eight ball says - don’t count on it. Seriously though ending this website has been on my mind for several years. Maybe something unforeseen happens in the near future that causes me to reconsider. Unless something changes this website will meet its demise after May 27th 2023. I don’t know, but I figure the odds of me changing my mind are extremely low. I have not rushed into this decision, and I don’t take it lightly. Maybe an eccentric billionaire or venture capitalist will want to pay me to continue this website as is. Maybe some rich 3D fan will want to manage the website on their own, and pay me for the rights, and I can transfer over the website to them. In this scenario I would be open to continue being a staff member of this theoretical new version of the website. We can work out the details of that exchange privately. If you are seriously interested in this please email me at: adolphvega@me.com.

I want time to ponder all of the potential options. Email me and we can hash this out. I understand that some people may consider me a “sell out” for even considering a potential buyout. Anyone who thinks that can fuck off, and I hope that you get explosive painful diarrhea. I have provided the vast majority of the content of 3Dor2D.com for free for almost a decade. Even if you paid for my content via Patreon I never asked for more than a few dollars a month. After May 2023 I have no interest in working on this website without a substantial payment of some sorts. If I can profit off this website than why not? I am ready to move on, and I see nothing wrong with receiving some money for this website. Will a big pay out really fix my burn out? It can if it is enough money to dramatically change my life, and or become a career. To quote Marry Poppins: "Just a spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down, in the most delightful way!”.

Why are you doing this now? The current situation with 3D movies is incredibly frustrating and perplexing. This is part of the reason to I feel angry and burnt out, and why I don’t want to continue on with this website. I have no idea what the future brings for 3D movies, and frankly I don’t give a damn anymore. Over the decades 3D movies have come in and out of style. Maybe the 2020’s will be a lighter decade for 3D movies compared to the 2010’s. I don’t know. Covid aside fewer movies have been releasing in 3D compared to last few years. Several movies that I thought would release in 3D did not. For example the second Shazam movie is not planned to release 3D, but the first movie released in 3D. I don’t know why this is the case. It has become very difficult for me (and the crew) to review 3D movies and create new content. Fewer theaters are showcasing 3D screenings. The 3D release of Dawn of the Dead was limited to only one theatrical chain (Regal). The 3D re-release of Jaws was basically only available for two weeks at odd times. The window of time that we can see a specific movie in 3D at the cinema can be very short. We shouldn’t have to trek 30+ miles (48 kilometers) to go watch a movie in 3D because no closer theaters are doing a 3D screening. We shouldn’t have to watch a movie at 11:45 PM, because that is the only 3D screening time. Very few people were able to see Puss & Boots The Last Wish in 3D because the cinemas decided to not bother with it since Avatar The Way of Water was out at the same time. 3D movie screenings have become limited affairs for select theaters, and during weird times. Some 3D movies simply don’t have 3D screenings anywhere near where our editors live. Yes Avatar The Way of Water had a huge 3D release, but that was not the case for many other 3D movies. After the 2009 release of Avatar 3D movies became more mainstream, and now after the release of the second film we have no idea if history will repeat itself. Will more movies get 3D releases in the future? I hope so, but somehow I am not filled with confidence. I guess making two Billion dollars worldwide at the box office isn’t what it used to be. I know inflation stinks but come on! Several movies release in 3D outside of the US, why is that ? On top of all of that we have no idea about the quality of the 3D itself. Was the 3D bad because x theatre has a bad 3D projector, or was the 3D bad because the people who converted the 3D didn’t try? We have no idea to what the real reason is. Over the last few years my team and I have often complained to theatre management about poor 3-D presentations. We pay movie tickets with our own money, and we neither have the time nor money to rewatch movies multiple times at multiple theaters to see if the results vary for a specific film. Some cinema chains have a local monopoly and they clearly don’t give a shit about providing a quality presentation anymore. 3D Blu-rays are now extremely rare if they released at all. How do we make a 2023 preview if we don’t know what movies will actually get a 3D release? For example Scream 6 got a 3D release, and we didn’t know about that 3D release until a few weeks before its release. Movies that used to always have 3D releases are no longer guaranteed to receive 3D screenings anymore. Animated kids movies used to always receive 3D releases, but that isn’t the case anymore. Why didn’t DC League of Superpets get a 3D release? It appears that WB has dropped 3D from their slate of upcoming movies. Outside of Marvel, Disney, and Dreamworks we currently don’t know if any other movie studios will continue to support 3D on a regular basis. Many movies don’t even mention 3D as an option at the end of trailers anymore. Very few 3D movies get 3D movie trailers anymore. Will the second Dune movie get a 3D release ? I don’t know. Hobbs and Shaw was going to get a 3D US release, but it was canceled literally on the day of release. Why did that happen? I don’t know. Navigating through 3D movie news is a hot mess, and I simply don’t have the patience anymore to try and sort it all out. It wasn’t this difficult to get information when I started the website in 2014. Emails to movie studios and tweets to specific people in show business go unanswered. They used to comment and write back, but not anymore. Who’s nipples do I have to twist to get some strait answers? Jesus Christ, why is it so hard to be a 3D fan in 2023 ?

Why don’t I try to broaden the scope of the website? Other websites have done this to help increase traffic and expand their audience. For example you can find articles about the Academy Awards on comicbook.com. And on gamespot.com you can find wrestling news. I’m not hating on them, but I refuse to do this to 3Dor2D.com. I don’t want to “MTV” our website and report on all sorts of random trending topics. Call me crazy all you want,  but I don’t want to loose the initial focus of the website for clicks.

The confusing manner that we consume content is another reason why I have become burnt out. Social media popularity comes and goes in a heart beat. You need to post on all of the social media websites constantly to stay visible and relevant to an audience. It is very difficult to gain any sort of traction. Currently several social media outlets exist (Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, Pinterest, Snapchat, Youtube, TikTok, Mastodon to name a few) and it is too much work for me to create content that works well for each platform. It is exhausting to navigate this maze of ever-changing algorithms and analytics. It is demoralizing to make content when you have no idea if people will ever see or  appreciate it. Are the numbers of subscribers or followers that I have real? Are anyone’s numbers real, or it is just all bullshit bots? The criteria to why certain content will become popular is extremely difficult to decipher. Controversy and fake news is an easy way to gain popularity, but I don’t want that sort of attention. I just want to be me and do the art that I want to do. I don’t want to be a copy of Cinemassacre, FilmTheory, JJMcCullough, Weird History, or whatever. I throw no shade to them, and I am not trying to disrespect these great YouTubers. Y’all are just some of my favorite content creators and I wish that my content where even 1/10th as popular as y’alls. Continuing to create  this art is simplify too hard to justify. It is so annoying to make search engine optimized content. I just want to make the content that I want to make. I don’t understand why one simple three minute video can get 50 million views while another well produced fifteen minute video only gets 5 total views. It doesn’t make any logical sense. Don’t get me wrong I enjoy making art for the sake of making art. The issue is when this art is costing me time, money and my sanity I cannot keep doing this. I never made my art for fame or fortune but to be consumed by the audience on a regular basis. I want to know that my art is appreciated and is worth doing. People will rarely leave a nice comment or hit the like button. Seriously that shit matters, and it can be a highlight of my day if I received some positive feedback. That being said it just feels like my art is just going into the the endless void that is the internet. I know that my patrons appreciate my work. I also know that I have some longterm fans that appreciate my work too. Sadly for me that is not enough anymore. FYI this decision has no connection to being ‘canceled’ or ‘cancel culture’ or any of that stupid shit. I’m no Republican, so Fuck the GOP, those dried up cunts cancel people too. I own this website and I am choosing to do this on my own. I do this because I want to live my life, and not worry about this website anymore. Its just too stressful for too little gain. This website was fun to do for a few years, but now this website isn’t a joy to do anymore.

Does the rest of the staff know about the end of 3Dor2D.com ? Yes I have spoken to them (Christin Richard, Jake Jarvis, Jacob Scarberrry and John Gehr)  about the end of the website, and they understand my decision to end the website. I will let them speak for themselves, but I feel like they probably agree with most (if not all) of my points in this post.

If you still have a 3D itch that needs to be scratched I do have some recommendations. First of all I recommend tridimensional.info for overall 3-D content. Full disclosure Kano3D owns tridimensional.info, and he is one my patrons from Patreon. He doesn’t know nor has he asked me to recommend his website in this goodbye post. Kano3D still has lots of passion for 3D, and he posts 3D movie reviews and news. I like how Kano3D designs tridimensional.info as it looks very clean and nice. I legitimately like his website and I think it deserves more appreciation, attention and traffic. I also recommend the Youtube channel Real Future Pictures. Robman3D runs the YouTube channel: youtube.com/@RealFuturePictures, and he regularly posts 3D movie reviews that are both smart and funny. I also have a lukewarm of recommendation for cinemablend.com. Cinemablend uses a convoluted mathematical formula to review 3D movies. How they review 3D movies simply  doesn’t resonate with me. I have disagreed with many of their 3D movie reviews over the years. Cinemablend likes to post fluff pieces, click bait and spoilers. I guess Cinemablend is an adequate website, as they do regularly post 3D movie reviews and previews. Finally I would recommend the reddit subreddit called “Fans of 3D”: https://www.reddit.com/r/Fansof3D/.

Years before making 3Dor2D.com I dreamed about making and managing my own website. That dream came true, and now I am ready to try and live out other dreams. I am still relatively young (almost 40 years old) and I want to have plenty of real life adventures. The adventure that is working on 3Dor2D.com must now come to an end so I can have time for other adventures. I have a huge backlog of content that I want to experience that I haven’t had a chance to consume. I have a mountain of video games that I want to play. I have dozens of dvd / Blu-rays, tv shows that I want to watch. Countless comic books and novels to read. I also want to sleep in and not feel guilty that x 3D movie review might be ‘late’. I am ready to drop the stress and anxiety that this website has given me.

Don’t get me wrong I will never forget all the good times that I had with this website. I take pride in the work that I have done. I take pride that I did it my own way. I take pride that I was able to run a website while I was working full time. I had fun recording podcasts and writing some reviews. I had fun ripping apart bad movies. I enjoyed fawning over a beloved film. I had the wonderful opportunity to interview many interesting people. I was so happy to play new 3DS video games before they were released. Each artist needs to know when to move on to the next stage, or when to get off the stage all together. All good things must come to an end. I hope that 3Dor2D.com was a good thing for you. I hope that you understand why I must move on from this website.

As I wrap up this blog post, I want to thank many people. First of all I want to thank my wife Amanda for being so patient with me as I worked on this website over the years. I want to thank my patrons ( Kano3D, M.K. Ultra, Alex Folk, Kevin Winter, and Gravityheadzero) on Patreon who have been very loyal and supportive to me over the years. Your patronage helped to fund some interesting things. If you weren’t a patron you have missed out on lots of quality unique  content. I want to thank my super fans (Andy Gilleand, ilove3dsomuch, jimcameron5943, chriswashington2208) who always posted good comments on our Youtube videos. I want to thank everyone who has worked with me on this website over the years. Thank you Christin, Jerry, James, Krista, Jake, Jacob, John, and Robman. Ya’ll helped to make this website great. I couldn’t have done this without y’alls unique contributions. I want to give a specific thanks to to Mr. Patrick from Malaysia. I enjoyed chatting with Patrick about 3D movies over Facebook messenger. Speaking about Facebook I want to thank the nearly 14 ,000 followers that we have on your page. Thank you to the one lucky fan who I got to meet in person when I watched Marvel’s Black Widow in the theatre (sorry I forgot your name). Thank you to all of our followers on social media. Thank you to all of our followers on Twitter. Thank you to user Shah2G, 3D Movie List and Everret for y’alls retweets. Thank you to all of the game developers who have given me review codes, and press releases over the years. Thank you again to Evan Jacobs from Marvel who gave me a fantastic 3D interview. That interview was possibly one of the best moments of time here at 3Dor2D.com, and of my life.

Overall I am so happy that we were able output so many positive vibes in such troubling times. I hope that people loved the content that we helped me to make. 3Dor2D.com has been a big part of my life for the last nine years, and overall I have enjoyed my experience with it. Hopefully 3D movies will thrive in the future, and I hope that the 3D community continues to grow. I hope that one day all 3D movies will have great 3D presentations regardless of what cinema they are presented in (not bloody likely). I hope the best for all of the fans of this website and our podcast. I hope that the world becomes a better place in the near future as we are too divided and too angry at each other. I will try to remain positive for the future, and keep fighting the demons of cynicism and self doubt.Thank you for reading and or listening to this long goodbye. I hope that everyone receives plenty of love, joy and happiness in your future and in your lives. I will end this blog post with a quote from The Truman Show which is one of my favorite movies of all time. I know, I know The Truman show is not a 3-D movie, but fuck it. I don’t care, whatever. Its my God damn goodbye post and I’ll say or write whatever the fuck I want. Anyway onto the quote: “Good morning, and in case I don’t see ya, good afternoon, good evening, and good night”. Goodbye everyone. Yours truly Adolph Vega, the soon to be former Director, and former Editor-In-Chief of 3Dor2D.com.