#sr fandom

[solarfeylix]

Oh Barry, I wish I could give you the biggest hug you loaf of bread you

[janxangel]

Unintended Audience

Pretty much all the Saints Row fandom I’ve seen I believe are not who the developers intended as their target audience and big fans.

I think that’s why we get a let down in various degrees by some of their choices from game to game.  We’re a bunch of people (I think mostly female) who enjoy character development and good storytelling.  

I speculate the target demographic is the one that likes boobs, guns, and power fantasies more than the things we like.

I could be wrong though.  

[ixmythot]

Ix Rambles: The Saints Row Fandom

So, for those that don’t know me personally (Which is most of you, and I don’t blame you in the slightest), one of my biggest fandoms is Saints Row. The feeling of freedom, of community, and the fact that, from the second game onward, the developers had the ability to let their players make more or less ANYONE they wanted, was always what helped push the series above the rest, and that’s not even getting into the cast of characters. The sheer amount of love that this fandom has for a cast of gangbangers, outcasts, and the like, will never cease to amaze me. But then we get to the dark side of the fandom, the side I personally can’t stand.

There is a distinct sense of absolute entitlement to some in the fandom that absolutely infuriates and sickens me. This is probably, in part, due to me following Volition’s Youtube account, but the amount of comments I see from ‘die-hard’ fans who want nothing more then the series to ‘go back’ to the SR2 era makes me want to track these folks down and open up a septic truck on their faces.

I think my biggest issue, is that people over the web complain, without knowing the history or goings-on of Volition and THQ during the creation of The Third, that required such shifts in tone, and so they belittle both the games themselves, and those that like them. Suggesting that the events of 3, 4, and GoOH should be written off, not only comes off as a slap to the face to fans of the later games, but also as a slap to the face to Volition themselves.

Am I saying that the later games are perfect and should be defended at all costs? No, they have their flaws, but those flaws are just as much part of the series as SR1 and 2′s flaws, and I feel that putting SR2 on some sort of sacred pedestal of ‘when Saints Row was ‘good.’ comes off as not only belittling the series, but not having an idea of what the series truly was to begin with. 

That’s not saying I wouldn’t want a remastered SR2, because damn would I, but honestly, it we did get that, I don’t think it would help. I know I’d be absolutely lost at the controls at this point, because 3 and 4 had far better controls, that 2′s would feel absolutely ancient in comparison.

Plus, I’d miss Kinzie. Best SR girl aside from The Boss. Fight me if you think otherwise.