Topic: Do you think "fandoms" have become more and more toxic?

I feel like the internet in general got meaner in 2016, or gradually in the years leading up to it. And not just about politics, I mean. People are more stubborn than ever in their assumed universal truths.

But yeah, Switch fans certainly seem particularly... tribal. I mean Wii U die hards were basically the same thing, but now there's more of them. I wasn't online in a meaningful way during the Wii, so I can't speak to that, but I feel a lot less of the audience was online.

I've only seen many attacks about Switch specs in reference to Monster Hunter on YouTube though, @Joeynator3000. And then mostly around E3. The subreddit hasn't seem them for a while, although that might be in part because the mods there remove console war baiting, lol.

I'm just unluckly then, every time I bring it up in a MH post I'm swarmed...

@Joeynator3000 The Switch can't even run a massive game like MHW!

@Grumblevolcano Honest question, but if its true that millions of people saved FE by buying the new games, how is it that the majority is bashed for their opinion?

Many fans of certain consoles seem to enjoy bashing the others. The amount of troll comments around the web on Switch articles alone is insane. I'm personally not a huge fan of the Xbox brand for a few different reasons, but I'm not going to bash someone for getting a Xbox One if they so choose.

I think some of the perceived problem is the casual audience that it brought to the series; I find this silly, to be honest, since there are ways to adjust the difficulty and to turn permadeath on and off. Some others seem bothered about the extras that the series has added and how they've (ahem) been censored.

I'm relatively new to FE, with Awakening being my first game in the series after I tried the excellent demo. I enjoyed the game enough that it got me interested in the older entries; to date I've also finished Shadow Dragon and FE7/Blazing Blade. I own other games in the series in some form that I haven't gotten around to playing yet.

@Haru17 I personally see a lot more attacks on the Switch than people defending it, even now. But I am okay with people liking or disliking it. It's the people unilaterally declaring their opinions about it to be "fact" that really gets under my skin.

@Tyranexx Those are some interesting points. For me I started with FE7, then went to Sacred Stones and finally Awakening. I personally, am not a fan of the series, but I can see why some people might dislike the newer games. The older ones were less "anime" so to speak, but not by much.

And it is silly because like you say, the casual audience doesn't change anything. Permadeath and hard difficulties are still a thing. With FE Fates though, I think some of the backlash was also the two version thing. That was unnecessary. (by the way, you should totally play Final Fantasy Tactcs or Tactics Ogre if you haven't cause those are the cream of the genre crop. Gotta plug in those games whenever I can .

@Tyranexx FE has some serious issues between it's hardcore fans and the casual fans to be sure. It makes people like me, who like the series overall fall on deaf ears. I have played since it came to the west, owning the original GBA carts to this day. And I loved Awakening too. But FE definitely falls in the "I can't talk about this online" catagory because no matter what I say, someone attacks me for it.

As a Sonic/Nintendo/Doctor Who/Mega Man/Pokemon/Most Things fan, I've learned that you just need to be confident that you like what you like. It's hard though, not feeling down when everyone else is shooting down what you like, especially when they are loud.

Ultimately I maintain the belief that you can like what you like. Don't expect others too, but at the same they shouldn't just go in hating it or attacking you for liking it.

Lord knows I barely mention what I like on the internet now, simply because the never ending negativity that is inevitable not only plays havoc with my depression if it comes in large numbers, but because I'm just apathetic to it all now.

Constructive criticism? Sure, all for it, that's the good stuff. I don't like something you like? Please respect my opinion, as I respect yours, I won't call it into question, because you are you, you like what you like. I do the same.

Toxicity in a fandom is a two-way sword. In one way, it promotes longevity as long as there's people talking in it.

The other, well it'll drive people out. It's pretty situational.

Fandoms were always like this. It's just easier to become aware of the ugly parts now.

@NotAceAttorney: I agree with you about how FE Fates was handled, and IMO all three paths should have been available from the get-go within one cartridge (the lack of any sort of physical release of Revelation outside of the hard-to-find Special Edition guarantees that I'll never play it unless I decide to invest in a larger SD card....). I feel like Birthright would have been my ideal game there, but the characters and classes available in Conquest swayed me towards that game instead. I'm hoping to play it kinda soonish. XD

Having played a couple of the older titles, I can see why some don't like the newer titles for having more of an anime look. The difference is kinda small and insignificant, IMO.

I've heard great things about both of those series and hope to try them at some point. I've already expanded my SRPG horizons a little recently with my first Shining Force title. I've also been told that I should try Advance Wars; I might, but I'm not sure if I'll be into the modern setting.

@Heavyarms55: Yep, I tend to take the same stance with online FE discussions. I'm probably somewhere in between the hardcore and casual fans; I appreciate the difficulty and tactics that the series offers, but at the end of day I'll usually opt for easier modes just to expedite my limited playtime a bit. During my Shadow Dragon playthrough, I probably spent a good three hours on one map trying not to lose any characters. I finally gave up and allowed one of my (kinda useless) rangers to die. With Casual mode in later games (though I refuse to use Phoenix Mode in Fates), I haven't had to worry about that too much. On the other hand, I'm not too bothered with some extras that some casual fans like.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Football_hooliganism

Another relevant counterpoint to the idea that this is somehow new

I don't believe that this is anything new, just that it's more noticeable in this day and age due to the ease of online access.

It's always been around, it's just been second nature now.

I don't believe anyone thinks this is a completely new addition to the human psyche (i.e. people weren't tribal before for internet), only that the changing online landscape has made it more visible, easier to take part it, and increased the number of 'battlegrounds' for this behaviour to take place. This has probably a fair amount to do with the increasing 'social integration' of the internet, as well as the increasing ease of access, as well as other reasons.

Within the lifetime of many (most?) of its users, the internet has changed from something with a primary focus on 'information' and relatively difficult to access (families might have one internet connected computer per household), to something that many people have immediate access to anywhere just by reaching into their pockets.

I doubt many would say the behaviours visible now are 100% 'new'. People have been tribal ever since we had tribes. But you'd be overlooking an awful lot to say "nothing has changed".

I would describe myself, and have been called it on here, as a blind fan. To which I feel I am in the right place, this is a fan site and should therefore cater for people like me. Why should I not expect to come to something call Nintendo LIFE and not expect to find people with a similar way of thinking. But I don't expect people with a similar love of Nintendo to have the same views as me and like something more or less than I do. But the comment section are full of people who clearly hold more love to other consoles/Pc gaming, which is fine of course. However we are in such different places it seems obvious to me that this leaves an area where there is likely disagreement on subjects, that's life.

However blaming Fandom is just stupid, the fans are in the right place., I'm not saying they should never visit the site, it's a great source of information. But for obvious reasons I don't go on PlayStation/Xbox fan sites and comment my Nintendo fan views to antagonise people, if I did I would expect comments back. And as for the social world of the internet, please, I have had enough of the self righteous comments on here lately, People often deserve a reaction to something they have done, but expect the do-gooders to articulate a reply to make you look bad and them look good.

I don't know. Maybe the very nature of fandoms is not that healthy. I mean there is no need to create a fandom to enjoy something. I am very opinionated about the things I like (for example I actually think there parts that should not be liked, for example I don't think there could be a single valid reason to like part 5 in JoJo (Vento aureo), but I just read/watch/play anything I want and don't care about other people's taste and don't care when I don't understand it. If you let those things get to you it's your mistake. The only exception is when I like something that almost nobody else like for example so they stop making it so I perceive such a thing like an actual loss. I can get very angry and selfish in situations like those but it's be ause of the consequences

Don't share opinions on the internet if you're not prepared for people to challenge them. And it's up to you to ignore those who do so in a manner that are just trying to get a rise out of you.

I'm a bit late to the party but I just wanted to say (regarding the OP) that your first mistake was thinking you can have calm discussions on social media at all.