Thoughts On The Sonic Fanbase...

[CanofEpicSauce]

It seems that the Sonic fanbase has had a rep throughout teh interwebz. If anything the Sonic fanbase was actually able to get the attention of video game journalists throughout the decade. Some see the fanbase as smart, others as furries, occasionally as whiners, others as defensive fanatics.

However I want an opinion on the Sonic fanbase from the Sonic fanbase.

[Diogenes]

Some see the fanbase as smart, others as furries, occasionally as whiners, others as defensive fanatics.

The truth is all of the above, as well as others, depending on when and who at you're looking.

[CrownSlayers Shadow]

I'm with Dio.

Most of what people say isn't too far from the mark. You have folks who are passionate, yet reasonable; then there are those who are unreasonable; you have your purists who shuns anything new simply because it's new and you have those that want the series to go far into places that it wasn't made to go.

Really, throw out something and chances are that it isn't far from the truth.

[BakingBluePotatoe]

One word: CRAZY!

[SEGAMew]

Hypocritical and unwillingness to change.

I met a ton of cool people though =P

Edited February 7, 2011 by SEGAMew

[Mick]

I'll say this, there's no normal people in the Sonic fanbase. If you really think about it, nobody is exactly normal anyway. I've met some cool & classy people and I've encountered loonies & creepy folks on here.

[The Weeb with No Name]

A bunch of smart, whiny, defensive and fanatic furries.

Also I am late.

Edited February 7, 2011 by Jayhawker30

[ArtFenix]

I'll say this, there's no normal people in the Sonic fanbase. If you really think about it, nobody is exactly normal anyway. I've met some cool & classy people and I've encountered loonies & creepy folks on here.

[RootingForTheEmpire]

Broken. Really, really broken. The fanbase is too divided and different to properly define.

[Glenn]

The fanbase is varied enough that I can't fit it into a single definition. After all, the fanbase isn't an organised and collective body. You don't get fanbase press releases and we don't have a fanbase council. For every person who thinks one thing, another will pop up and disagree. Yet that can't be "divided", as we're all rather united by our love of Sonic the Hedgehog (in whatever guise or incarnation we prefer). And whatever definition is used, there will be inevitably a story to disprove it.

I personally, therefore, prefer to look at Sonic fans individually.

[SuperStingray]

Who the hell's calling us smart? Ask around 4chan and you'll find that Chrischan is pretty much their main frame of reference when trying to comprehend Sonic fandom. Still, I feel the Sonic fanbase is more solid than it gets credit for, all things considered. You'll get your flame wars and general assholes, but what series doesn't? Considering how split people are on the series, I'm surprised that things are still this civil in general.

[CrownSlayers Shadow]

Considering how split people are on the series, I'm surprised that things are still this civil in general.

Try going back to 2005, where the fandom severely fractured, and you'd get the exact opposite of civil.

Lord knows I had my fair share of ripping people and asshole back then along with people coming at me at times. Good times...

Edited February 7, 2011 by ChaosSupremeSonic

[Nova]

The Sonic community is always going to be fragmented but at least efforts to counteract that are now in place. The London Sonic meet-ups, Summer of Sonic and the death of many popular Sonic sites over the years have all served to strengthen the community as a whole by bringing it closer together and causing people to realize 'Hey, hold on a minute, maybe these guys aren't so bad'

The problem with any community and the Sonic community in particular, is when you have a franchise that is so well-loved but with so many different universes and variants, there will always be splinters, not to mention the questionable quality of a lot of titles released in the sixth generation of consoles and early on in the seventh causing much debate among fans. Also consider just how many different games, comics and cartoons that Sonic has starred in and you get an idea of just how many different views people have on the character and franchise overall.

We've all gotten a little older and a little wiser, which certainly helps matters. I can only see the community traveling in a positive direction from now on. There seems to be less of a focus on drama and more on cooperation now, which is always a good thing.

Edited February 7, 2011 by Nova

[DarkLight]

Did this topic stem from my topic about the GamePro article by any chance?

[HeroMystic]

Try going back to 2005, where the fandom severely fractured, and you'd get the exact opposite of civil.

Oh definitely.

I remember all the youtube videos where people were literally crying to get Ryan Drummond back. And lets not get started on all the malarkey against Shadow.

The fanbase 2005-2009 was pretty similar to Saving Private Ryan.

[CrownSlayers Shadow]

And lets not get started on all the malarkey against Shadow.

So much that we had a "Sick of Shadow Fans?" Topic that got so full of hate and rage that Roarey Raccoon had to come lock the topic and delete it afterwards. And during that time, I made a "Character Jihad" topic in order to counter all the hate towards the characters.

It's amazing how we've actually manage to come closer despite there still being some large cracks still around in the group.

EDIT: Also, long time no see, Marco!

Edited February 7, 2011 by ChaosSupremeSonic

[HeroMystic]

So much that we had a "Sick of Shadow Fans?" Topic that got so full of hate and rage that Roarey Raccoon had to come lock the topic and delete it afterwards.

I actually remember that thread. Man, that was bad. I don't even remember most of what happened back then (the voice actor wars stick out the most for some reason). I just know if you were a Shadow fan you had to prepare to slug through a lot of hatedom. I'm glad to leave those times behind.

EDIT: Also, long time no see, Marco!

I decided I needed to raise my post count back up. I see you're still busting heads as I expected.

[PC the Hedgehog]

All in all, I think the Sonic fanbase is decent, all around.

The only big thing that bugs me about the fanbase is the fact that so many fans have no rating for Sonic games between "OMG fantastic!" and "god awful."

[SuperStingray]

Try going back to 2005, where the fandom severely fractured, and you'd get the exact opposite of civil.

Lord knows I had my fair share of ripping people and asshole back then along with people coming at me at times. Good times...

I wasn't particularly involved in the online Sonic community until around 2007 so I wouldn't know. But it's a helluva lot better now.

[Too cool for school]

This fanbase is everything that people think/say it is, and it didn't start getting shitty like this until the sonic adventure era, and it is also one of the main reasons sonic team can't get sonic right.

Edited February 8, 2011 by Too cool for school

[ArtFenix]

This fanbase is everything that people think/say it is, and it didn't start getting shitty like this until the sonic adventure era, and it is also one of the main reasons sonic team can't get sonic right.

Don't you dare to blame Sonic adventure for that. It's the best 3D Sonic game loved by the majority of gamers[even not sonic fans] and critics.

Every game franchise changes from time to time. Sonic just HAD to had a game like Sonic adventure and the others to move forward. Sure in every game of that era there were some flaws, but hey, no one's perfect and Sonicteam and Sega understood what things they should apply in a Sonic game and what should not. You know what i hate? Stagnation. Judging by your logic we would have now a thousand of 2D clones of Sonic 1.

Edited February 8, 2011 by ArtFenix

[Nerfuffle]

This fanbase is everything that people think/say it is, and it didn't start getting shitty like this until the sonic adventure era, and it is also one of the main reasons sonic team can't get sonic right.

You mean before the internetz? 8D

I gather that the bad parts of a fanbase are generally a result of plummeting success, not the cause of it.

[Too cool for school]

Don't you dare to blame Sonic adventure for that. It's the best 3D Sonic game loved by the majority of gamers[even not sonic fans] and critics.

Every game franchise changes from time to time. Sonic just HAD to had a game like Sonic adventure and the others to move forward. Sure in every game of that era there were some flaws, but hey, no one's perfect and Sonicteam and Sega understood what things they should apply in a Sonic game and what should not. You know what i hate? Stagnation. Judging by your logic we would have now a thousand of 2D clones of Sonic 1.

Did i say it was beacuse of sonic adventure? NO i said it started to happen around the time of sonic adventure, so kick back and shut the hell up.

Don't mistake me for the dweebs that want to keep sonic the same, cause i'm not one of them, i love classic sonic the best yes, but i love the new directions they take sonic in as well, as long as they keep the classic elements in it too, so don't YOU dare start with the bullshit, derp.

And regarding sonic adventure, it wasn't all that really, yeah it was a good game and all but in my opinion, its 8 outta 10 worthy and the same goes with sonic adventure 2, sonic's 3d games haven't really started getting good until now.

Edited February 8, 2011 by Too cool for school

[DarkLight]

Did i say it was beacuse of sonic adventure? NO i said it started to happen around the time of sonic adventure, so kick back and shut the fuck up.

That was a little uncalled for.

I feel we've been on this path before.....

Edited February 8, 2011 by DragonSoul

[Too cool for school]

Oh be quiet and stop instigating, it ain't that serious, he came at me in a way i didn't like, so he ate one big deal, as if you people don't do the same, psh.

I've said what i feel about this fan base and thats not only what i feel, but the majority of other gamers feel too, our fanbase is an embarrasment, unfortunatley.

Yeah you have cool people in it, like my friends and a few thousands of others around the globe, but the derps out weigh the good and it shows.

Edited February 8, 2011 by Too cool for school