Stop the Community Divide
- Thread starter Beyonce
- Start date
I don't consider anyone taking part in these divisions a real fan lol. You either love Saints Row for what it is, or you're not a fan at all. Its okay to have a preference but creating a seperate fanbase within a fanbase and being entitled over it is a shitty behavior.
Period and I hate how people will see these threads and posts only to just completely ignore them and still complain about the divide while also contributing to said divide.
I agree it's a shame there is such a divide in the community, but you guys are oversimplifying the issue here. The people who don't like the newer games didn't choose to create a separate fanbase, they just got that status by default because their tastes were different from those of the majority. Asking all the SR fans to get along is just naive and idealistic, people consume media that appeals to their specific tastes and they form communities around platforms like video game franchises naturally, because they all have the same tastes. A single united community can't form around two elements that are opposed to each other, because most people will be fans of either one or the other. It is unlikely that old school fans and new school fans will ever get along because they have different tastes, and both groups think Saints Row should suit their taste, with no regard for the other group. And that's a-ok, people should be allowed to like different things and talk about those things. Although people should also try to stay civil while sharing their opinions, even if it can be difficult depending on how much they are invested.
In the end much of the fault also lies with Volition and their different corporate overlords, who expected most of their old school fans would be fine with a change in direction. The community wouldn't be in this state if they had just created a new series after SR 2 or SR 3.
In the end much of the fault also lies with Volition and their different corporate overlords, who expected most of their old school fans would be fine with a change in direction. The community wouldn't be in this state if they had just created a new series after SR 2 or SR 3.
The problem is that most of the backlash from the OG fandom (not even a correct way to call them btw, since OG meant people who were in the fandom 2006-2009 before it blew up, now it means whoever played SR1 or SR2 regardless if they did it in 2006 or 2020) comes over story. The fact that they changed one aspect in a way that's more commercially and critically successful is not enough to create this big of a divide. I am a fan of Resident Evil games, and those games have an even bigger divide in style and genre than Saints Row does, yet when Capcom makes the game I don't like, I simply don't consume those products. I still don't consider myself an "OG RE fan" because I don't like the direction of RE7 and RE8. I just consider myself a Resident Evil fan.
There's nothing wrong with having a preference, until SRR's announcement I was heavily on the side of older SR games too, but there's a difference between preferring one direction, and straight up harassing anyone who doesn't agree with your opinion of what's "the one true Saints Row", and arguing how you're the only person that deserves to be pandered to just because you're the "OG" therefore more entitled to the pandering. All it does is create a toxic environment in the fandom that makes it unappealing to the newcomers.
I think the divide is artificial at the end of the day, this is still the same series, and the game is defined by the same features, and we can all sit together and enjoy those same features, just like in any other fandom. If story is the only thing that make SR an SR game for someone, and seeing anyone else enjoy other aspects makes you furious, then they shouldn't be a part of the fandom. We can talk about some many cool features all SR games have in common (open world, sandbox gameplay, awesome mission design, character customization, etc.), but instead we fight over whether SR main characters should wear baggy pants or not, which is silly. I never called anyone who enjoyed RE8 a shill or a fake fan because I prefer RE4's direction, I just let them enjoy their games in peace while I enjoy mine.
After all, nobody's forcing anyone to buy any of the games. You can still enjoy a specific game in the series you like and that's okay. That's okay for every game that was ever made. It doesn't make SR fans special in any way to like only specific few games in the series than it makes me to like only a few Resident Evil games.
There's nothing wrong with having a preference, until SRR's announcement I was heavily on the side of older SR games too, but there's a difference between preferring one direction, and straight up harassing anyone who doesn't agree with your opinion of what's "the one true Saints Row", and arguing how you're the only person that deserves to be pandered to just because you're the "OG" therefore more entitled to the pandering. All it does is create a toxic environment in the fandom that makes it unappealing to the newcomers.
I think the divide is artificial at the end of the day, this is still the same series, and the game is defined by the same features, and we can all sit together and enjoy those same features, just like in any other fandom. If story is the only thing that make SR an SR game for someone, and seeing anyone else enjoy other aspects makes you furious, then they shouldn't be a part of the fandom. We can talk about some many cool features all SR games have in common (open world, sandbox gameplay, awesome mission design, character customization, etc.), but instead we fight over whether SR main characters should wear baggy pants or not, which is silly. I never called anyone who enjoyed RE8 a shill or a fake fan because I prefer RE4's direction, I just let them enjoy their games in peace while I enjoy mine.
After all, nobody's forcing anyone to buy any of the games. You can still enjoy a specific game in the series you like and that's okay. That's okay for every game that was ever made. It doesn't make SR fans special in any way to like only specific few games in the series than it makes me to like only a few Resident Evil games.
This basically sums it all of perfectly. I just did not have the time nor the patience to sit there and explain this jarring problem in the community.
i couldn't agree more omg. like enough of this "grrr saints row became woke"
I agree, while the early marketing failed at conveying the cool parts of the game, the outrage and grudge-bearing that holds to this day is just absurd and petty.
Not to mention that it's more likely to harm Volition than anyone else, potentially costing us a great game company.
Not to mention that it's more likely to harm Volition than anyone else, potentially costing us a great game company.
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People just don't understand the gaming industry, people want the reboot to fail because they think that they'll get an "SR2 remaster" when in actuality, they'll deem the SR franchise unprofitable and shelve the series.
Yup. No Volition = No-one to finish the re-master or do it well.