Divide in Fandoms

Author

Ddraig

Frostfire Dragon|Retired lurker|FFF|Loved by RNG
Messages:
7,855
Likes:
22,461
Points:
457
Blog Posts:
33
Throughout a lot of series I am a fan of, I have often noticed a trend in few of those. It basically goes like this,

"X is a series that is a bit niche but has a cult following. X is big enough to get a spinoff, and it gets one called Y. Turns out that the general population liked the spinoff and it became equally or more popular then the main series - and thus bringing in new fans. Except the new fans are not willing to try the sheer perfection that the previous games were and thus a rift is formed in the fandoms with <Elitists> and <Casuals> at each others throats. Not only are they not willing to try the previous games they do not acknowledge them either. They downplay everything about them and are obnoxious in general."​

Or the other way to look at it,

"So I found this awesome series called Y. The series was fucking amazing and I cant wait till the next one is released. The fandom has a lot of elitists though that are cancerous and unwilling to acknowledge my opinion at all. I get that this has a related series called X but I am a fan of Y, not X. Besides I am not willing to go through such old series like X - especially such a long one when I am not interested enough. On top of that Y is selling much more than X was and Y is mainstream so expecting the next game in Y is given."​

I am not sure if you guys are familiar with either of the opinions but I am. I have been on both sides of the argument in different fandoms. (Mainline side in Megaten and Railgun side in Toaru)

Here are some examples,
  • Megaten - Mainline SMT (+ other spinoffs) vs Persona - This is honestly the biggest such divide :(
  • Index vs Railgun - Another big one
  • Xenosaga/gears vs Xenoblade - I have heard it is a thing but I am not exactly big on the Xeno series so no idea
  • TF2 casual vs comp - Comp is a mistake and a lot of the shitty decisions in tf2 occurred due to the loud minority of comp guys. If you all wanna tryhard, go tryhard in some other fps. Leave the only remaining casual fps alone...
  • Aoe2 vs Aoe3 - This is sorta not a thing (mostly coz aoe2 is fucking huge compared to aoe3)

Permalink
You, Mr Popo, AMissingLinguist and 1 other person like this.

Comments

    1. Bad Storm Jul 20, 2021
      People like playing favorites and some of them are very vocal about it. Others just join in the ride since they feel they slightly agree on one side. Then as it goes famous, it attracts more bandwagon riders. I still believe that it is only a vocal minority that engage with brain dead fandom disputes. But it kinda sucks when you feel a series you like gets run through the mud by simply existing. Some can't handle the toxic reactions and go defensive (become toxic themselves in the process) and hence more brain dead disputes...
      Ddraig likes this.
    2. Ddraig Jul 20, 2021
      @Bad Storm Rather than being invested, it is more that it is the primary reason for hatred spawning in the community and that kinda sucks you know? I usually dont interact in fandoms, especially not in places/threads/posts where such a thing is going on. That is also why I am expressing this here, it is a decent place to write my thoughts down.

      As for Railgun, I am a fan of Toaru series in general and I prefer the science side of Toaru no matter how good the Magic side is (and it is good, no doubt about that). I started with Index Anime but Railgun is what made me fall in love with the series (that and the sheer beauty that Sister's arc is).
      My opinion on this divide is less of which side of the fence I am on but just that the divide itself is braindead. That being said I am portraying myself here as sitting towards Railgun as I feel a lot of people do bitch about "railgun-only peeps" and that sort of sucks.

      For now I have caught up with all the animes except Index 3. I havent read the railgun manga yet >.> and I havent caught up with Index lns (I am in the middle of doing so but I dont have enough free time...)
      Bad Storm likes this.
    3. Bad Storm Jul 20, 2021
      I like Railgun more as well. Most of the time I'm a bystander in such fandom divides though since i never found myself particularly invested.
      Ddraig likes this.
  1. Sort Comments

    Sort Comments