Is it good to be a bit cautious about future Sonic the Hedgehog games?

[Rabbitearsblog]

So, ever since the news about Sonic Rangers came out, many fans have been a bit more cautious about whether or not the game would succeed.  So, it made me think that is it good that Sonic fans are this cautious about a future Sonic game rather than being completely excited for it?

Now, I can understand why many fans are more cautious about the newer Sonic games because for the past decade, Sonic Team hasn't really delivered an outstanding Sonic game (except for Sonic Mania and that was made by a fan developer).  But on the other hand, does this mean that fans are more negative towards any new Sonic game being released or are they just lowering their expectations a bit because of how Sonic Team has been handling the games so far?  What do you guys think?

[T-Min]

Given Sonic Team's track record as of late, I think it's generally better to have cautious expectations and be pleasantly surprised if a game turns out well than get super hyped and end up disappointed if it doesn't. So yeah, generally, I think it's good that Sonic fans are being more cautious right now. At the very least, I haven't noticed a lot of overt negativity towards Rangers since the leaks. People seem anxious but curious, which seems like a reasonable mentality to approach the game with. If people just threw their hands in the air and said, "welp, we already know this is going to be shit because sonic team is always just shit lol," I'd say that was a bit overboard. But the Rangers discussion seems pretty balanced from what I've seen.

Honestly, the place where I've noticed the most negativity is towards the possibility that Sonic might be the only playable character. The brouhaha over the Tails life icon in Colors Ultimate really shows what a sore spot that's become over the past few years. But I also don't think "Sonic only" would be a total dealbreaker for a new game, at least to most people. It'd just be a major point of disappointment.

[Rabbitearsblog]

6 minutes ago, T-Min said:

Given Sonic Team's track record as of late, I think it's generally better to have cautious expectations and be pleasantly surprised if a game turns out well than get super hyped and end up disappointed if it doesn't. So yeah, generally, I think it's good that Sonic fans are being more cautious right now. At the very least, I haven't noticed a lot of overt negativity towards Rangers since the leaks. People seem anxious but curious, which seems like a reasonable mentality to approach the game with. If people just threw their hands in the air and said, "welp, we already know this is going to be shit because sonic team is always just shit lol," I'd say that was a bit overboard. But the Rangers discussion seems pretty balanced from what I've seen.

Honestly, the place where I've noticed the most negativity is towards the possibility that Sonic might be the only playable character. The brouhaha over the Tails life icon in Colors Ultimate really shows what a sore spot that's become over the past few years. But I also don't think "Sonic only" would be a total dealbreaker for a new game, at least to most people. It'd just be a major point of disappointment.

Yeah, I think that the lack of multi-players would be a sore spot for Sonic fans if the future games don't at least have some kind of multi-player mode for each of their games.  But, I guess we'll see if Sonic Rangers has a multi-player gameplay or not.

[Zoomzeta]

1 hour ago, Rabbitearsblog said:

So, ever since the news about Sonic Rangers came out, many fans have been a bit more cautious about whether or not the game would succeed.  So, it made me think that is it good that Sonic fans are this cautious about a future Sonic game rather than being completely excited for it?

Now, I can understand why many fans are more cautious about the newer Sonic games because for the past decade, Sonic Team hasn't really delivered an outstanding Sonic game (except for Sonic Mania and that was made by a fan developer).  But on the other hand, does this mean that fans are more negative towards any new Sonic game being released or are they just lowering their expectations a bit because of how Sonic Team has been handling the games so far?  What do you guys think?

I say yes for the most part, given Sonic Team's track record.

[SBR2]

As someone who isn't super disappointed by recent outings (hell technically there's only been 2 Sonic Team Games from 2013-today) I guess I can say that I can see why people are cautious. I mean personally at worst I'd say Forces is meh and I haven't played Lost World but it looks fine to me but I can understand being a little iffy.

What I don't understand is people saying that Sonic Team needs to "win back people's trust" when again there's only been 2 Sonic Team produced games since Generations. 

[Rabbitearsblog]

8 minutes ago, SBR2 said:

As someone who isn't super disappointed by recent outings (hell technically there's only been 2 Sonic Team Games from 2013-today) I guess I can say that I can see why people are cautious. I mean personally at worst I'd say Forces is meh and I haven't played Lost World but it looks fine to me but I can understand being a little iffy.

What I don't understand is people saying that Sonic Team needs to "win back people's trust" when again there's only been 2 Sonic Team produced games since Generations. 

Who produced the other games?

[Tornado]

Big Red Button.

[SBR2]

35 minutes ago, Tornado said:

Big Red Button.

Sanzaru Games and Sumo Digital too. I guess if we take mobile games into consideration then Hardlight too.

[StaticMania]

People can feel however they want and they'll get what they deserve from the result.

[MetalSkulkBane]

This is... weird question.

Look, logically there is no point to ever get hyped. If you assume thing won't be great you always win: either by being right or pleasantly surprised. And Sega didn't earned our hype, either by recent games or this new trailer.

So of course be pessimistic. This is why I hate when Ian Flynn (comic writers) makes "meaningful wink" announcements. It's just saying "We gave you nothing but demand that you'll be exited. please be our free commercial and spread the word about.... something".

The only reason tole get "hyped" is because it's kinda involuntary. You hear "playable Tails/Shadow" and you get excited, it's hard to suppress it.

You could make an argument that waiting for a game while being exited is more fun than waiting while being pessimistic, but I'm not so sure. Latter options meant that you don't obsess waiting for next news and instead can focus on other things that are already here.

[SBR2]

Honestly I fucking hate pessimism. To me it feels like Pessimists have just dedicated themselves to being miserable and only focusing on negatives. Like for real I'd rather focus on good things than constantly go through life never being excited or interested in anything but that's just me.

[Mr. Ion]

1 hour ago, SBR2 said:

Honestly I fucking hate pessimism. To me it feels like Pessimists have just dedicated themselves to being miserable and only focusing on negatives. Like for real I'd rather focus on good things than constantly go through life never being excited or interested in anything but that's just me.

Yeah, I kind of agree. I can be a bit pessimistic myself sometimes, but in this case, I feel like we should just stay optimistic and see where it goes. Rangers hasn't even released yet and it seems like there's a bit of extra content in Colors Ultimate, so things seem to be going well so far. I think a lot of people are trying to temper their expectations after Forces, but with the time (and hopefully the improvements) that Sonic Team have, let's just see if they maybe don't make another Forces?

[StaticMania]

3 minutes ago, Mr. Ion said:

....I feel like we should just stay optimistic and see where it goes.

Apathy is better than optimism & pessimism.

[Mr. Ion]

1 minute ago, StaticMania said:

Apathy is better than optimism & pessimism.

That is, indeed, true. Apathy makes sense to me based on how the series has been going and how people feel, and anyways with apathy you won't be disappointed. I think I'm optimistic but if the new game is bad then I won't really heartbroken or anything, I'm not going to "leave the series forever" if it fails. I have played Sonic Free Riders, so at this point I don't think anything can phase me.

[Rabbitearsblog]

1 hour ago, SBR2 said:

Honestly I fucking hate pessimism. To me it feels like Pessimists have just dedicated themselves to being miserable and only focusing on negatives. Like for real I'd rather focus on good things than constantly go through life never being excited or interested in anything but that's just me.

I also don't care much for pessimism.  I mean, I can understand some reasons to be a bit pessimistic about a franchise, especially if said franchise hasn't been doing well.  But on the other hand, I do get a bit annoyed when some people just puts down anything having to do with a franchise, without looking at the positive aspects of the franchise.

[MetalSkulkBane]

Sheesh, I didn't knew "pessimism" is a bad word these days.

I didn't meant it as being grumpy all the time, Squidward to Spongebob sorta mentality. I'm just saying, be logical about your expectations.

I mean, let's pretend I played demo of Sonic Rangers and leaked the info that it's absolute garbage and everyone here had good reasons to trust me. Would you still try to be optimistic, hoping your enthusiasm will somehow bend reality?

I could be "optimistic" about Shadow getting into Smash Bros, but that would be poor long term strategy.

You can assume that next Sonic game will be bad and still have a good day. Still read IDW comic, watch the movie, listen to "Sonic and Tails R", play Mania. You can still be be enthusiastic about the franchise, while being vary of Team Sonic's work quality.

Optimism, pessimism, Either way extremes are unhealthy, I think that was lesson of "Inside Out", maybe.

[Zoomzeta]

27 minutes ago, MetalSkulkBane said:

Sheesh, I didn't knew "pessimism" is a bad word these days.

I didn't meant it as being grumpy all the time, Squidward to Spongebob sorta mentality. I'm just saying, be logical about your expectations.

I mean, let's pretend I played demo of Sonic Rangers and leaked the info that it's absolute garbage and everyone here had good reasons to trust me. Would you still try to be optimistic, hoping your enthusiasm will somehow bend reality?

I could be "optimistic" about Shadow getting into Smash Bros, but that would be poor long term strategy.

You can assume that next Sonic game will be bad and still have a good day. Still read IDW comic, watch the movie, listen to "Sonic and Tails R", play Mania. You can still be be enthusiastic about the franchise, while being vary of Team Sonic's work quality.

Optimism, pessimism, Either way extremes are unhealthy, I think that was lesson of "Inside Out", maybe.

What about indifference?

[Rabid-Coot]

Its good to be a bit cautious about all unreleased products but the degree of caution will vary between developers. Sonic has had more than its fair share of dodgy games and has earned the extra level of caution while other series/developers can put out consistant good games we do see a few examples of generally good devs making a stinker each year to justify some caution there too.

As much as the industry loves to hype the next big thing its ok to wait a few extra days to see how something actually turns out before deciding to buy.

[Empire88]

Yeah I think as Sonic fans most of us want what is best for the franchise and have hope that things will get better slowly but surely. I generally dislike how in the Sonic community there is some hostility towards people who both want to hope for the best but also those who have legitimate points of criticism. We all love Sonic and want it to get better. 

I also think someone being a little skeptical is okay like others said. I have been told many times in my life to always be (slightly) cynical and always be questioning. That doesn't mean to not be optimistic or to be always be pessimistic. It just means to show fair amount of good will but also not devote yourself to a company/person/causes/ and ignore issues or track records. Especially in the context of the Sonic franchise which has been inconsistent at times, it's also not fair to call people who are cautious a pessimist unless they actively believe things will never get better because their feelings are grounded in reality.

TLDR: Not being on a hype train isn't pessimism, and we need a good mix of optimism and realism for healthy discussions IMO.

[Rabbitearsblog]

5 hours ago, mitsunari88 said:

Yeah I think as Sonic fans most of us want what is best for the franchise and have hope that things will get better slowly but surely. I generally dislike how in the Sonic community there is some hostility towards people who both want to hope for the best but also those who have legitimate points of criticism. We all love Sonic and want it to get better. 

I also think someone being a little skeptical is okay like others said. I have been told many times in my life to always be (slightly) cynical and always be questioning. That doesn't mean to not be optimistic or to be always be pessimistic. It just means to show fair amount of good will but also not devote yourself to a company/person/causes/ and ignore issues or track records. Especially in the context of the Sonic franchise which has been inconsistent at times, it's also not fair to call people who are cautious a pessimist unless they actively believe things will never get better because their feelings are grounded in reality.

TLDR: Not being on a hype train isn't pessimism, and we need a good mix of optimism and realism for healthy discussions IMO.

I also don't like the fact that most fans are arguing with each other about whether we should be concerned about this game or we should be positive about this game.  Everyone has different opinions about how this can go.  There shouldn't be so much hostility on the matter.

[Multikaris]

10 hours ago, SBR2 said:

Honestly I fucking hate pessimism. To me it feels like Pessimists have just dedicated themselves to being miserable and only focusing on negatives. Like for real I'd rather focus on good things than constantly go through life never being excited or interested in anything but that's just me.

Especially when they keep complaining about AFTER they’ve been proven otherwise. Shouldn’t they be satisfied?

[Rabbitearsblog]

17 hours ago, Snowragnarok said:

Especially when they keep complaining about AFTER they’ve been proven otherwise. Shouldn’t they be satisfied?

I agree with this.  It's like every time SEGA actually does what the fans asked, the fans are still complaining (although, part of that problem is that SEGA tends to execute the fans' demands in a poor way).