Being a Sonic fan in 2021 is depressing

[RingRing05]

I don't want this to sound like a rant. I just wanted to get my feelings out. From the outside, the Chris chan-esque,  kinky porn obsessed, making bad fanart/original characters/fanfiction, severely autistic, SCSF-style ranting, stereotypes are still present, although they don't apply to the majority of us. The media talks about how 'Sonic needs to die' and the like. The general public treat Sonic like a movie franchise only. And there isn't much solace in the community, either, especially with the controversial release of SC Ultimate. I like the original Colours (you're allowed to disagree) for the most part and I played it a lot, so it getting a crappy rushed treatment makes me sad, and gives me low expectations for the future. Aside from that, most of this (not this specific site but the wider fanbase) community is arguing if games are good and no-one can agree on anything. I understand why but it brings me down. A lot of the rest makes art, ocs and fanfiction, which I have nothing against if it's done right but aren't really into. It's a shame because I (mosty) like this franchise, but don't have many people I can share it with who won't get toxic about something. For this reason, I try to avoid sonic related internet stuff but it's easy to get sucked in. If you have anything to say go ahead if it's not hateful. Also on a lighter note I'm tracking down the lost Sonic sunday comic strips so stay tuned for that. Thanks

[Empire88]

I feel like we are in a weird place with Sonic but I don't think it is as bad as you think and I think things will slowly get better over time. Let me give you some positives that may help you feel better first.

• The franchise as a whole is doing well. Between the movies, comics, and so forth, Sonic is respected as a video game icon. Even other franchises with beloved mascots like Crash Bandicoot or Rayman have only just come back or are dead. Sonic is strong as a brand itself and the public likes Sonic. People want Sonic to succeed. 
• The stereotypes about Sonic fans being particularly awful I think is starting to disappear a bit especially due to social media and whatnot causing most people understanding that most online fanbases are toxic these days as the nature of being online. To be quite honest, I feel like the people most critical of Sonic fans are Sonic fans themselves.  A lot of fans act self-loathing and exaggerate about how bad we are, but they don't go out and see how toxic a whole of other fandoms are such as Zelda, Pokemon, Final Fantasy and so forth. These days most people don't assume bad things about you just for liking Sonic. (And if they do, they aren't worth your time).
• Despite most (not all) of the games not being the greatest and up to standard as other game franchises in 2021 overall, the quality of Sonic games has been improving compared to some of the games in the late 2000s and most are at least decent games if not better. Mania was a great success. Colors Ultimate despite the negative attention from glitches, was overall received with a warm reception. I am not saying the state of the games is good or super high quality, just trying to share a small light.

That being said, I empathize with you on a lot of points. For example:

• The mediocre quality of the games such as Forces and Lost World. We are living in a time where games have advanced to the level of Super Mario Odyssey, Ghost of Tsushima, Crash 4, Breath of the Wild . There is no reason why the games should be the way they are right now, even if they are "for kids". All of the games I listed above barring Ghosts are "kid" games. Fans deserve and should expect better.
• The constant reliance on nostalgia within the marketing of the franchise. Heck the icon of the Twitter page is still Classic Sonic all of these years later. The constant need to refer to the past and live in the 90s. The 90s are over. We need to move on. That isn't to say we can't have throwbacks or references. But the identity of the franchise should not be "We were great in the 90s! Remember the 90s? We sure do!" for the marketing. Again, I know nostalgia is selling these days, but I have never seen a franchise so obsessed with its former glory that it refuses to look forward some days. 

But the point of my comment is to let you know that I think there is a potential for things to get better eventually. I think with all the attention the franchise is getting, SEGA knows they have to get better at some point even if 10 years later. When you have games like Mania coming out, getting a good reception and then Forces, they need to know that inconsistency and lack of quality will bring nothing but bad attention. Similarly, you have the movie and whatnot bringing more fans in. For such a huge investment, Sonic Team really needs to have a discussion with themselves how making mediocre games is not good at all. It's best to not be too much of an optimist or pessimist but rather look at both the good and bad things together, even if it may be hard sometimes.  

[RingRing05]

4 hours ago, nobukitsu88 said:

I feel like we are in a weird place with Sonic but I don't think it is as bad as you think and I think things will slowly get better over time. Let me give you some positives that may help you feel better first.

• The franchise as a whole is doing well. Between the movies, comics, and so forth, Sonic is respected as a video game icon. Even other franchises with beloved mascots like Crash Bandicoot or Rayman have only just come back or are dead. Sonic is strong as a brand itself and the public likes Sonic. People want Sonic to succeed. 
• The stereotypes about Sonic fans being particularly awful I think is starting to disappear a bit especially due to social media and whatnot causing most people understanding that most online fanbases are toxic these days as the nature of being online. To be quite honest, I feel like the people most critical of Sonic fans are Sonic fans themselves.  A lot of fans act self-loathing and exaggerate about how bad we are, but they don't go out and see how toxic a whole of other fandoms are such as Zelda, Pokemon, Final Fantasy and so forth. These days most people don't assume bad things about you just for liking Sonic. (And if they do, they aren't worth your time).
• Despite most (not all) of the games not being the greatest and up to standard as other game franchises in 2021 overall, the quality of Sonic games has been improving compared to some of the games in the late 2000s and most are at least decent games if not better. Mania was a great success. Colors Ultimate despite the negative attention from glitches, was overall received with a warm reception. I am not saying the state of the games is good or super high quality, just trying to share a small light.

That being said, I empathize with you on a lot of points. For example:

• The mediocre quality of the games such as Forces and Lost World. We are living in a time where games have advanced to the level of Super Mario Odyssey, Ghost of Tsushima, Crash 4, Breath of the Wild . There is no reason why the games should be the way they are right now, even if they are "for kids". All of the games I listed above barring Ghosts are "kid" games. Fans deserve and should expect better.
• The constant reliance on nostalgia within the marketing of the franchise. Heck the icon of the Twitter page is still Classic Sonic all of these years later. The constant need to refer to the past and live in the 90s. The 90s are over. We need to move on. That isn't to say we can't have throwbacks or references. But the identity of the franchise should not be "We were great in the 90s! Remember the 90s? We sure do!" for the marketing. Again, I know nostalgia is selling these days, but I have never seen a franchise so obsessed with its former glory that it refuses to look forward some days. 

But the point of my comment is to let you know that I think there is a potential for things to get better eventually. I think with all the attention the franchise is getting, SEGA knows they have to get better at some point even if 10 years later. When you have games like Mania coming out, getting a good reception and then Forces, they need to know that inconsistency and lack of quality will bring nothing but bad attention. Similarly, you have the movie and whatnot bringing more fans in. For such a huge investment, Sonic Team really needs to have a discussion with themselves how making mediocre games is not good at all. It's best to not be too much of an optimist or pessimist but rather look at both the good and bad things together, even if it may be hard sometimes.  

Thanks for the response! I'm pretty excited for Sonic Origins, I'd like so see what they do and if they screw it up there are other ways to play. I'm also curious for 'Rangers'. I'm 75% sure it will be mediocre at best but it will still be interesting to see what they do. They're also fixing SCU and I might get it on steam once it goes on sale and mod some stuff in. I'm also excited for that netflix cartoon. Let's hope the new cast is good. I like your last point too. It's not just a sonic thing. As a fan of older stuff, especially video games, it's really frustrating to see people living the past. You seem cool so is there a chat room here, or should we go elsewhere. Thanks for the comment and wish me like finding the strips.

[Rabbitearsblog]

8 hours ago, RingRing05 said:

I don't want this to sound like a rant. I just wanted to get my feelings out. From the outside, the Chris chan-esque,  kinky porn obsessed, making bad fanart/original characters/fanfiction, severely autistic, SCSF-style ranting, stereotypes are still present, although they don't apply to the majority of us. The media talks about how 'Sonic needs to die' and the like. The general public treat Sonic like a movie franchise only. And there isn't much solace in the community, either, especially with the controversial release of SC Ultimate. I like the original Colours (you're allowed to disagree) for the most part and I played it a lot, so it getting a crappy rushed treatment makes me sad, and gives me low expectations for the future. Aside from that, most of this (not this specific site but the wider fanbase) community is arguing if games are good and no-one can agree on anything. I understand why but it brings me down. A lot of the rest makes art, ocs and fanfiction, which I have nothing against if it's done right but aren't really into. It's a shame because I (mosty) like this franchise, but don't have many people I can share it with who won't get toxic about something. For this reason, I try to avoid sonic related internet stuff but it's easy to get sucked in. If you have anything to say go ahead if it's not hateful. Also on a lighter note I'm tracking down the lost Sonic sunday comic strips so stay tuned for that. Thanks

Yes, the fandom can get a bit intense at times, but honestly, Sonic is in a much better place than it was before.  For one thing, it has a successful comic book series currently running, the movie proved to be a massive success and we are getting a sequel soon, the Sonic Symphony was a masterpiece and there's not a lot of people saying that "Sonic needs to die" anymore.  I do agree that the games still need to get better and I'm really hoping that SEGA gets their acts straight and try to make better games in the near future, instead of constantly putting out bad games. Let's hope that the games get better for Sonic.

[Rabid-Coot]

You only have to endure it for another 3.5 months.

[RingRing05]

4 hours ago, Rabid-Coot said:

You only have to endure it for another 3.5 months.

Why? What's happening then

[Rabid-Coot]

16 minutes ago, RingRing05 said:

Why? What's happening then

2022

[RingRing05]

1 minute ago, Rabid-Coot said:

2022

It looks like a good year for Sonic but it's not gonna happen at once

[Grunt]

Next year is Origins, the Netflix show, and presumably Rangers... quite a bit to look forward to!

[BLUzCLUz]

There's a lot more to Sonic than the games.

[Shade Vortex]

I mean, that may be true, but Sonic is first and foremost, a video game franchise. And many people only care about the games, including myself. There's not much for me to look forward to, I just gotta hope Origins and Rangers are good.