Changes... in YOU! (as a Sonic fan)

[batson]

So i was thinking, in what ways have you changed as a Sonic-fan? By which i mean, are there any attitudes or opinions that you used to hold, but that you no longer do?

I'll get to my own story soon but first a word of advice: this is a topic in which one can very easily get very condescending towards certain opinions or certain "types" of fans unless one makes an effort not to. By which mean it's easy to be all like "i used to believe that, but then i saw the error of my ways and realized how stupid that was and now i belive this which makes sooooo much more sense than that". So, you know, just try to make sure to show at least some basic amount of respect to the people who still believe "that" by at least not being downright insultful...

Anyway, here is my own navel-gazing introspective of myself as a Sonic fan. It's pretty short though, cause im lazy:

I think my only truly notable change as a Sonic fan is that i used to be a staunch canon/continuity-defender, by which i mean i always tried to see the Sonic video game series as basically a coherent fictional universe, and also that i was very picky to make sure that nobody made the mistake to confuse the so called "Classic Japanese / Modern International"-video game canon with any of the other ones, such as the old western canon with it's Mobius and robotization and whatnot. These days though, i really dont care much about keeping track of "canon", neither in the sense of trying to figure out which games "actually happened" (which i think has become practically impossible due to such things as the continuity-problems caused by the Rush and Rivals series, or the one caused by Classic Sonic being recognized as the younger apperance of modern Sonic and yet having modern Sonic in S4) or even trying to make sure that nobody falsely believe that the games takes place on Mobius. Sure, i'd probably still point out the fault if anybody did refer to the planet in, say, Unleashed as "Mobius" but what i mean is that it wouldn't bother me. In fact, i would probably find it kind of charming that the old western interpretation of Sonic is still believed in by someone, since i've lately been finding myself to almost act as a sort of "defender" of that interpretation against those who seem to despise it (i nowadays tend to think that the the old "Mobius and robotization"-version of the franchise should at the very least get some recognition for it's relevance in the history of the franchise, being the version that most people were familiar with during the series peak of popularity).

Edited June 27, 2012 by batson

[theresearcher]

Well my first game was heroes then sonic mega collection. I HATED that game because of difficulty and no saving. Then I got SA2B then DX then started to get a sonic collection with the games for every sonic game on every console no matter how bad. Then I got mega collection plus for Xbox so I could save and now I like the classic games.

So I guess my main change was liking the classics more. But my biggest chance was with SA2B where I wanted all the sonic games and it became my favorite series out there.

But my biggest change was internet forums on sonic. Then I witnessed just how bad some people were and I could not believe it. I try to see their ways of thinking but with reasons like "Call of duty is better" or "Its a kids game" I get tired of it so I became a bit more aggressive for actual reasons as to why the games are bad or not. Nobody has a good reason anymore so I am trying to find every reason out there.

[LoseR]

I've always been a pretty happy-go-lucky fan I guess.

I like most of the things that people don't, or am at least okay with them. This in terms of characters and games. Most games that were truly bad I liked at first too. Like Shadow and Heroes. Oh yeah and I still like Secret Rings.

When I was younger I used to do the whole fan character shindig. I had some crappy recolors and stuff. "Zachery the Hedgehog" was the first. He was originally planned to be my internet alias, and he was for a short bit, but later I made a sprite comic about him and changed my alias to "Wooly the Hedgehog". Sure I've stuck with the name "Wooly" but abandoned the Sonic-y alias.

Oh yeah and I used to do a lot of fanart. I still do a little occasionally, but now I more prominently draw original manga styled things.

[Vertekins]

- I used to partake in some pretty crackpot theories and looking at minutiae of the series in a silly amount of detail. Today? Nowhere near as much. I might assist in the running of Concept:"Mobius" but that doesn't mean I can look at the "Science of Sonic" part of the site without rolling my eyes in exasperation

- I used to absolutely adore everything about Knuckles. Come 2006/2007, that utterly changed and now I adore Sonic as a character and am not that interested in Knuckles anymore. Cool character, it's just that he's not really interesting to me anymore.

- I used to like Sonic X A LOT more. Now the highly inconsistent characterization, horrible animation most of the time and huge amount of filler episodes/Episodes with idiot plots as well as Chris Thorndike largely reduced my liking of the series. Don't get me wrong, it has a weirdly special place and I like it's iteration of Sonic but my opinion about it is nowhere near as grand as it used to be and I find it kind of sad how much it's potential was skewed.

- I eventually came to the realization that disliking a character/series because of their fans/Having your dislike of a character/series be melded by the fans is a highly misdirected form of dislike.

Edited June 27, 2012 by Verte

[Blue Blood]

I bitch about everything Sonic these days. I still love the series, but I've grown to find much of the series sucks hardcore.

Well, Neon liked this already. Didn't take long.

Edited June 27, 2012 by Blue Blood

[Nepenthe]

I'd like to think I've become more apathetic about people who express any kind of negativity towards my preferences than I used to be, insofar as I don't feel obligated to continually defend something every time it's derided much less attempt to put down others for thinking differently. Regardless of the fanbase's reputable nastiness, I look back on my various impassioned rants against the haters- or even people who may have been genuinely wrong about something- with a wince because there's really no excuse for being an asshole over video games; subsequently, I'm judgmental of people around the web who continually go through these same motions of coming across as inflammatory as I think they're being. I still can be very bitchy and off-putting in certain discussions, but I'm working on being more impartial. Besides, I've come to learn that I have unorthodox tastes when it comes to this series anyway, and people are naturally going to disagree. Meh; So long as we all enjoy ourselves at the end of the day and don't devolve into "witty" and embarrassing one-liners, I'm fine.

[Ferno]

I used to be overly positive about everything back in the day, I would even get in heated debates on why games like Shadow and '06 weren't as bad as most people said, but naturally I lost them all. (I basically started with Advance and Heroes as my first real Sonic games, so I couldn't see the "decline" in the game's quality as easily as the rest at the time.) These days I look at things and the franchise as a whole more objectively, and I try to stay neutral on most things, though I still try to lean more on the positive side when I can.

Edited June 27, 2012 by Inferno

[batson]

I'd like to think I've become more apathetic about people who express any kind of negativity towards my preferences than I used to be, insofar as I don't feel obligated to continually defend something every time it's derided much less attempt to put down others for thinking differently.

Boy, i hear that. It's the exact same deal with me. These days im letting a lot of things go uncontested that i would have had a lot of things to say about as recently as, i dunno, two years ago. One get's tired fighting the same damn (usually pointless) battles over and over again. I think it might be a sign of growing up... or of getting old.

Edited June 27, 2012 by batson

[Nepenthe]

Boy, i hear that. It's the exact same deal with me. These days im letting a lot of things go uncontested that i would have had a lot of things to say about as recently as, i dunno, two years ago. One get's tired fighting the same damn (usually pointless) battles over and over again. I think it might be a sign of growing up... or of getting old.

You're right; and it actually does get exhausting spending that kind of energy arguing about shit and being angry. Even in a healthy conversation where disagreement happens to be taking place, I get mentally bummed out sitting at my computer reiterating my points over and over across millions of posts. I don't know how others can do it for even longer anymore. I either need to multitask or just get up altogether. I suppose I am getting old, though. D:

[Alluusio]

I became a Sonic fan because of the speed of the games. I was really charmed by the fast gameplay, even if my first Sonic game was Sonic Heroes. Nowadays the speed might be my least favorite aspect about the games. I still make speed runs and such but it doesn't really give me the same amount of satisfaction as it used to. Perhaps that's because of the boost which enables you to run at high speeds without having to work for your speed that much. In the old games you really had to work for your speed using slopes and loops. Now the only way to get fast times is to find game-breaking shortcuts or glitches. So nowadays I just like to take it slow and explore the levels, try to collect rings and just enjoy the music and the atmosphere.

Also, my favorite of the classics used to be Sonic 2. Now it's my least favorite of the 3 since the level design just seems a bit empty and simple compared to the others. And I hate the special stages. >.<

[azoo]

I'm about on the same boat as Nepenthe and Verte here. I've went through just about all the same stuff.

Other than that, I used to be overwhelmingly positive about the series before I became a normal on the message boards. When I did, I transformed into being overly negative and bitter, and preaching the gospel of the classic series (lolSonicRetro). And then over time, I just realized that there isn't as much god-awful stuff as people tend to make out, but there definitely are the things I like and don't like about certain subjects.

I think when it comes down to it, I love the series and most things within it, and there are only a couple of things that stand out as straight-up bad to me. Otherwise I still love the franchise because the potential it holds, and how much it can offer when pushed in the right ways. And I think that's been with me since the very beginning.

Edited June 27, 2012 by Azukara

[DarkLight]

-I've come more to terms as to how badly Sonic X was utilized and executed. I still find it a guilty pleasure and I credit it for getting me into the games (probably because it is closer the games than the DiC shows,) but I don't find it to be better or worse than previous Sonic shows.

-I don't buy the Archie comics anymore due to lack of interest. Didn't care when Sally got "BLAM'D" or robotizied. Didn't care about Antoine being in a coma nor cared about Bunnie leaving. It's probably because I never really got into SatAM but I just don't have any emotional investment for these characters, they were sort of...there to me.

[King Frosty]

I liked Sonic a lot more before I got the Internet. Like, a lot more.

Fuck the Internet.

This is all that has to be said on my end.

Honestly, after everything that's happened with Generations and Sonic 4 Episode 2, I'm just gonna be a casual Sonic fan. :r

[LoseR]

Oh yeah, and I realized how inconsistent the games are between quality and complete crap.

About 10 games are actually genuinely good, a lot of them are meh, and the rest are just bad. I mean, there never really was a time when all the games were good or bad. While the classics were being made by Yuji Naka and friends other developers were making things like Spinball. Also Secret Rings came out just a year after '06 and in my opinion it was a rather good game, even if it WAS clunky at times.

[Ferno]

You're right; and it actually does get exhausting spending that kind of energy arguing about shit and being angry. Even in a healthy conversation where disagreement happens to be taking place, I get mentally bummed out sitting at my computer reiterating my points over and over across millions of posts. I don't know how others can do it for even longer anymore. I either need to multitask or just get up altogether. I suppose I am getting old, though. D:

Same with me, though I'll admit that there are a few subjects here and there where I still jump into the fray and duke it out time and time again, even now; probably for old time's sake at this point. Alot of times I feel alot less involved in this fandom as I used to be, and well, in some weird way, getting into harmless petty little skirmishes here and there and being apart of on-going discussions about the series brings back some of those those "old times" feelings in a way, I guess. I'm weird.

[Vertekins]

I think I'll also add that whilst I don't really beat around the bush when it comes to my opinions nowadays, I'm not as hot-blooded when it comes to stating them as I used to be. I do put enormous stock in being very civil about my opinions nowadays and not giving off the impression of wanting to jump down your throat or get snarky if you hold one that is contrary to mine or give off the impression that I'm some kind of intolerable ranter or something. Which is why I am kinda put-out by replies to statuses like this or posts

But then I also admit that I am too serious and too unreceptive to jokeyness. So it could be said that my interpretation of those replies/post is entirely screwed-up and is solely my problem. That's always been a problem of mine I do yearn to be less...uptight.

[CrownSlayers Shadow]

I learned to calm the fuck down after being a fireball of rage back on the old SSMB. The rage had it's perks but then it had its drawbacks as there were people who would love to push your buttons. Of course, now that just got traded in for sarcasm and laughter.

Ironically, ShTH taught me not to dismiss every concept that comes to my eye, but also not to soak it up like a sponge.

Then of course, there's being honest and not being greedy. It's very easy to read hidden mental agendas from other people, particularly when you keep in mind what they said in the past. There are a lot of people here who's characters I still remember in the past, but it would be rude to bring it up. So for me, I prefer to say exactly what I want and what I mean without hiding anything and learn to share my interests with other people. Course, that doesn't mean everything is negotiable.

Of course, there are things that not only don't seem to change about your character, but actually gets stronger as time goes by. You learn more and more things from other media out there, so it gets integrated into your points. That's how i manage to keep arguing the same points as I have been since I was 14.

Edited June 27, 2012 by ChaosSupremeSonic

[-blank-]

I'd like to think I've become more apathetic about people who express any kind of negativity towards my preferences than I used to be, insofar as I don't feel obligated to continually defend something every time it's derided much less attempt to put down others for thinking differently. Regardless of the fanbase's reputable nastiness, I look back on my various impassioned rants against the haters- or even people who may have been genuinely wrong about something- with a wince because there's really no excuse for being an asshole over video games; subsequently, I'm judgmental of people around the web who continually go through these same motions of coming across as inflammatory as I think they're being. I still can be very bitchy and off-putting in certain discussions, but I'm working on being more impartial. Besides, I've come to learn that I have unorthodox tastes when it comes to this series anyway, and people are naturally going to disagree. Meh; So long as we all enjoy ourselves at the end of the day and don't devolve into "witty" and embarrassing one-liners, I'm fine.

Edited June 27, 2012 by Special Operative Blaire

[Tobbii]

I used to really love Sonic 3D Blast, as much so as I would send e-mails (and get responses) to Sega about making a sequel.

...That game frikking sucks, I hate it. Sure, it's not Sonic Blast, Genesis or Heroes bad... But wow.

[Nepenthe]

I used to really love Sonic 3D Blast, as much so as I would send e-mails (and get responses) to Sega about making a sequel.

...That game frikking sucks, I hate it. Sure, it's not Sonic Blast, Genesis or Heroes bad... But wow.

[MamboCat]

I liked Sonic a lot more before I got the Internet. Like, a lot more.

Fuck the Internet.

Edited June 27, 2012 by MamboCat

[SenEDDtor Missile]

I liked Sonic back in 2008 for the flashiness and speediness it gave me (Unleashed WAS the first Sonic Game I owned after all), but I also enjoyed some of the stories.

Now?

I find that I love the stories I make up in my head about Sonic (Granted some of them are partial retreads of existing stories, but hey, nothing is really original anymore) more than I like the stories the new games are making right now.

I've been a casual fan from the get go.

[Komodin]

I liked Sonic a lot more before I got the Internet. Like, a lot more.

Fuck the Internet.

[Scar]

Not much beyond perception has changed to be honest.

Before the net, I had moments of abject frustration in games we now refer to as being bad. I played, enjoyed and loved Sonic Heroes...on the PS2 no less (you know, the shittiest version of a generally pretty poor game). I had moments in that game that I loved and plenty of moments of frustration and borderline hatred. But I enjoyed it nonetheless and because I enjoyed it, I believed it to be a good game.

Looking back at it now, post my arrival on the internet, I realised through discussion, that those moments where I was frustrated by the game were moments where the game was shit, where the game was just poorly designed. I didn't pick up on it at the time because, well, I didn't know any better and because I was having fun as well, I focused mainly on the fun experiences and memories.

So in all honesty, I've become a better critic of Sonic games (not just Sonic games, but games in general). I've become better at perceiving and recognising errors in game design when I see them and experience them, rather than in retrospect.

This in turned helped me realise the significance that ostalgia plays in an individuals perception of a Sonic game.

But in a way, I guess I've also lost the ability to have as much fun, because the bad things are flagged up more than they used to be.

[Tobbii]

On a serious note, I had the exact opposite evolution in opinion with that game. I rented it when I was young, and I couldn't figure out what in the world to do on the first level, much less how to control Sonic properly, so I threw it in the proverbial bin. Popular opinion on the Internet kind of cemented my first impressions about the game later, until I got Mega Collection and tried again. That was a couple of days I will never get back completing the game in its entirety. It's become such a guilty pleasure that it's gotten me curious in actually trying Labyrinth. I mean, it can't be that bad, right?