SOLVED: I am lost. (Login / Usage Questions)

I looked through other Help Desk posts here and I looked on my Facebook/MST3K posts to try to understand. I don’t.

I feel totally lost because I am beyond confused how this all works. I think the first problem is: I don’t know what exactly I purchased - I paid the $135 (a few days ago) for the… “Backer”? Streaming? Login? I thought the $135 payment allowed me to start watching Season 13 and other episodes/shorts, etc as soon as they are available. But now I see ‘May 6/60 days’ so - does this mean I just paid $135 to wait until May 6? In other words I have to wait until May 6 even though I just paid $135 for… something? I received email confirmation for the “Backer”? “Pledge” or something. I know I paid for something. I am confused about what I bought. Do I need to pay something to a Kickstarter/Let’s More Make MST3K instead? I did not get any codes or any emails with codes or other links to watch content.

If I waited until May 6 would ALL the content be free?

What is VHX? Or was it VFX? Do I need to log-out of something? Do I need to cancel or delete a login to log back in to Gizmoplex? I can login to Gizmoplex, but I can’t watch the new Santo/Dracula episode 1301.

And then there’s the Roku confusion. I have a Roku but I cannot find a way to access Gizmoplex on my Smart TV/Roku. It seems like others found a way to access Gizmoplex through Roku but I can’t find it.

LOST.

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I can’t really help you out with the rest of your questions, but to find the Gizmoplex app on Roku you need to either search for “Mystery Science Theater 3000” without the quotes or go to this link:

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edit: Tim said it all better and more accurately below, no reason for me to keep my rambling guesses here.

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Hello,

Welcome.

You got a lot of questions there. But let’s start off by clarifying what you bought.

You backed up the effort to give MST3K its own home, away from relying on massive corporations and networks, and I’m assuming this may be your first Kickstarter.

Kickstarter is a way for smaller groups to get public funding to make a product/service etc. So when you make a pledge, you, along with many others are putting their money towards and idea, and a vision so that there will be funds for said idea and vision to come to fruition.

Right now you are at the tail end of the waiting, and the fun of the content being recorded and released throughout the year.

You will get the rewards you paid for, but as with any Kickstarter, there is a delay on them being created, finalized and shipped or delivered.

Only the first Livestream has happened for the new season, and soon the first episode will be released. But currently you can watch the live stream via the MST3K app. You should of received emails about that and you can find info in the Kickstarter app under updates.

You should also have other digital rewards accessible with the MST3K app. VHX is a platform that houses the videos temporarily, and the current MST3K is a skin over VHX. So think of VHX = MST3K app.

The Gizmoplex, is the custom platform being finalized to be the final resting place for all things MST3K.

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image

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Hey @MerlinHay! Welcome to the forums and welcome to the Gizmoplex! Sorry you’re feeling lost, but there are lots of kind, helpful people here that will point you in the right direction. All of the responses thus far have been true, but I think they may have overlooked something you mentioned, so let’s take your questions one at a time.

Unfortunately, yes it does. Sorry if that wasn’t made abundantly clear when you purchased, but the first two months of the Gizmoplex are a private soft launch for backers and those who purchased the Event Pass before March 1, 2022. This allows us to work some of the kinks out of the platforms, finish post-production on the early episodes and make sure things are as smooth as possible when it opens to the general public on May 6.

And since you just purchased the Event Pass a few days ago, you’re going to have to wait a little while. Again, sorry that wasn’t made more clear. If it’s any consolation, the pass that you purchased is a great value and there will be a ton of stuff ready for you to watch on May 6, with new stuff coming out every two weeks after!

No. The ultimate goal of the Gizmoplex is for MST3K to become self-sustaining. The money made from continuing memberships and ticket purchases during one season will finance the production of the next one. That way, MST3K can survive as long as the fans keep supporting it! But that means we have to charge money for it, so the new content won’t be free anytime soon. When the season ends, there may be plans to start showing the new episodes on the free MST3K channels like Twitch and Shout Factory, but that’s a long way away.

VHX (now known as Vimeo OTT) is basically the platform the Gizmoplex runs on. If you’ve ever redeemed a digital episode reward from our Season 11 Kickstarter or Season 12 Pledge Drive, you probably already registered a VHX account – which is now your Gizmoplex account. But if you can log in to your Gizmoplex account, you’re good. You just have to wait a little while longer.

Make sure you’re searching “Streaming Channels” and not just the general search feature. Then search for “Mystery Science Theater 3000.” Spelling it out is the best way to find the app - don’t use “MST3K” or “Gizmoplex” - it won’t pop up for those search terms. More info on downloading the apps at this Help Desk article.

Hope that answers some of your questions and points you in the right direction! Please feel free to reach out if you have any other issues.

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This was incredibly detailed, polite, concise, and compassionate. And it was from a cast member of the show.

This is why I love this show so much. All of the cast and crew are always so awesome to interact with. Thank you, Tim, for being so cool.

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It’s my pleasure! I’ve been looking at some of this stuff for so long, it’s just nice that it’s out in the world and I can talk about it with other people. And if I can help people get on the right track technologically, so much the better.

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Thank you all for the replies and the information. This helps a lot and now I get it - finally.

And thank you for the Muppet Movie reference. I am old enough to remember the movie and get the joke.

MH

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Okay. I’ve spent a week trying to figure this out, and I’ve slammed right into a brick wall.

I did not previously have a VHX or any other sort of account, only this forum’s Discourse sign in. I was waiting for the app launch to get everything set up. So I got the email on Monday and start it up.

– Downloaded the Gizmoplex app on my Roku.
– Attempted to sign in, using the email/password combo I had for the forum.
– Not recognized.
– I hit “reset password.”
– Never received email.
– Tried that again.
– No email.
– Go over to VHX and sign up for an account.
– See absolutely nothing available through VHX; it’s asking me for subscribers and channel info (it seems to think I’m a content creator, not consumer).
– Try to sign into Gizmoplex with same info I used on VHX.
– Not recognized.
– Hit “reset password.”
– No email.

And so it goes for the last 72 hours. Can’t sign into the Gizmoplex on phone, desktop, through the email links, or through Roku. Can’t seem to reset password. I’m using the same email across all platforms.

I’m probably just missing something completely simple and obvious, but could someone please take mercy on me and show me what’s right in front of my face? I’m usually very good at following directions and / or figuring things out, but this is eluding me and my frustration is making my eyes spin in their sockets.

Appreciate any info!

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Are you using the same email address on Gizmoplex/VHX as you used in the Kickstarter campaign, the one to which your Backerkit rewards were delivered? That’s the first diagnostic step. After that we can explore other options.

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Yep. I have one dedicated email address that I use exclusively for online signups. I’ve used it for everything here; Kickstarter, Discourse, etc. I even triple checked to make sure I hadn’t misspelled something at some point. But it is the same.

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Okay, a few things to try.

  1. If you go to https://mst3k.vhx.tv, can you login there? Very probably it will redirect you to the Gizmoplex URL, but worth a try.

  2. Did you receive any kind of confirmation email when setting up the VHX or Gizmoplex account for the first time? If so, was there a verification link to follow, or a link to your account?

  3. When you use the Backerkit links after logging into VHX, do they add anything to your account, or at least give you the option to add the item? Note that it may show a price for the item, but this will be negated by credits. Items aren’t automatically added upon account creation, so you would need to do this after your account is set up and logging in works.

If you have any informative screenshots, please post those as well.

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In between these two steps, did you create a VHX/Gizmoplex account?

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I believe vhx is the way to go. The forum is unrelated (besides topically) you’re welcome to use the same credentials but that’s personal preference, not the symbiotic relationship of say: Amazon and Audible

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Allrighty. Here we go with some screen caps. I appreciate you peeps helping me out.

  1. It redirects me to the Gizmoplex sign-in, where I get stuck in the “not recognized” / “reset password” loop.


And I never get a reset email. (And yep, I check all spam filters, etc.)

  1. Only thing I got was this email from a Vimeo address:

  1. I log into VHX and it takes me to this screen, which does NOT look right.

Then when I use the backerkit links, it takes me here:

I try to sign in using my VHX credientials:

And it bounces me back to the Gizmoplex sign-in and the Loop of Doom.

I created a VHX account (which still looks so wonky to me) and I can’t create a Gizmoplex account because I get caught in the Loop of Doom.

VHX must me where I’m going wrong. I feel like I’ve signed up in the wrong place, but that’s where VHX.tv dumped me off. Is there a particular place where I should be?

pulls at eyeballs

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VHX has two kinds of accounts. This gets confusing. Try going to this address for the kind of account you’re looking for:

https://www.vhx.tv/login

Hopefully, this will let you create an account - and not the content-creator kind, which won’t help you get to your MST3K resources.

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Can you try these steps on the Gizmoplex website?

Enter your email in the Login form.

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Instead of proceeding, click the “Email me a sign in link” and see if that works.

Also, once you do get this working, you can connect the Roku app with the Activation code method instead of login. This gives you a URL and a short code to enter on your computer, assuming it and the Roku are on the same network.

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FLAILS WILDLY

Got it! I wound up deleting my “creator” profile at VHX, then going through the BackerKit email and to the redemption Gizmoplex screen (the one with the “payment” and coupon bit), and instead of “log in,” I clicked “join” with email and password and BOOM. Everything registered, I redeemed all of my links, and everything is showing up in my library.

Now to get home after work and try the same magic on the Roku/TV set up.

Many thanks @SandyFrank, @ramuji, @Robb, and @NotTVsFrank for your tips and pointers. Coffee’s on me if you find yourself down in 𝙏𝙝𝙚 Super-Secret, Pseudo-Private, Regular Lounge™.

high fives all around

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Victory!

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