Has your fandom of something ever been tested?

I'm a huge fan of the Resident Evil franchise. Resident Evil 2 was one of the first Playstation games I had ever played. However throughout the years I feel that the franchise has been getting away from its roots. Yes, I'm one of those crazy people who loves the tank controls, box puzzles and terrible voice acting. After RE5 and to an even greater extent Operation Raccoon City my fandom seems to be at its breaking point. Has your fandom ever been tested to the point where you were about to give up on an entire franchise?

I don't think loving a control scheme should make you crazy. Hell, Parasite Eve 2 is one of my favorite games of all time so I can get with tank controls. It's just a matter of making your game accommodating to your restricted control.

My fandom for games goes so far as I'll pick and choose what games I want to play in a franchise regardless of order or relevance to canon or whatever.

To put it in your example, I enjoyed the old-school RE games up to and including Code Veronica. 4 was okay but not what I was looking for, and 5 I didn't enjoy much at all. So I'm probably going to ignore 6 unless something convinces me to give it a rental. The lightgun games were pretty fun coop, and what I played of ORC was abysmal.

My fandom of furries has been tested.

@AssInAss said:

My fandom of furries has been tested.

lol

I guess I'm not a loyalist to franchises. I give up on most after a couple games, even when the sequels are still good. I guess I just like variety. For instance, I played Uncharted 1 and 2, but didn't bother with 3 even though it was a very highly rated game.

I also loved RE, until RE 5 where I relinquished my love, because the game didn't work well on singleplayer, and Chris became a bulky cliché.

I also stop buying Silent Hill since I played SH V. Although I loved Shattered Memories, but as the franchise progresses it seems that SM was just a spin-off.

Yes, it's called Final Fantasy. I dunno who lost, me or them, but there's no fandom left.

Street Fighter x Tekken. I was so pumped for that game, but some of the decisions in that game, not just the bullshit DLC stuff, make me question Capcom.

Two words;

Star Wars.

Star Wars for me. God.. I just can't do it anymore. </3..

@Galiant: My name isn't a reference to the drug "Acid", but rather the Acid that melts through things. Like what the Xenomorphs are made of in the Alien franchise. My real name as you may have guessed is Brandon. The reason the name AcidBrandon exists is because when I first got XboxLive back when I was 15 I had to make a gamertag. So I put Brandon in since it was my name, however it was taken. So they gave me a randomized version of Brandon which led to AcidBrandon being created. I liked it, again I was 15 so the concept of a cool gamertag hadn't dawned on me yet, and picked it. It has been my gamertag ever since.

Battlefield 3 on Xbox 360. Honestly, the patches ruined this thing for me, and the server rental system was good in concept but horrible in execution. I don't know how many times I've been banned from servers for killing admins,or for simply spawning in using the quick play option. I really thought it would be THE game for me.

My fandom of Tested was tested during the Jamie and Adam transition.

BUT SERIOUSLY, Resi 5 threw me off that franchise despite the incredibly good vibes I had/continue to have for Resi 4. Probably won't buy in 6, despite Leon featuring, which speaks to how much 5 put me off.

Additionally, as a childhood Nintendo fan, I've been wobbling a little when it comes to their big franchises these last few years. Most of their classic characters have been spun in at least two directions at this point, and I tend to love only one of them: Mario Galaxy 1 and 2, top down handheld Zelda games, the Metroid Prime series: yes please. Unimaginative New Super Mario Bros. games [4 player coop being the exception], console Zelda games that continue to play like Ocarina of Time, Metroid Other M: no thanks.

There are so many gameplay differences between those pairs, though, that they could at this point essentially be considered separate franchises. They're certainly so recognisably different that I've only myself to blame if I get burned by a purchase.

Edit - The Mario and Luigi RPGs might be the only example of a spin off Nintendo franchise whose core gameplay I've grown bored of, rather than simply being uninterested/disappointed in that core in the first place.

I was a massive Sonic fan when I was a kid. So yeah.

Metal Gear Rising

Resident Evil is seriously starting to wear on me. Now, I liked RE5 and LOVED RE4 but RE6 doesn't look good at all. I loved the premise of it but then I saw the gameplay and yeaaaaaaaaaah, no.

EDIT: Also, Star Wars. I was a huge Star Wars fan as a kid but the prequel trilogy and everything else since then has just basterdized the name to mediocrity. It's very telling how I completely forgot about it there.

Oh god Resident Evil is the best example, if RE6 is like 5 i'm done with it.

Slightly video game related I buy Pro Evolution Soccer every year and persist despite it being shitty now just because; a) I Konami will get their shit together (b) I don't want to give EA (EA sports in particular) anymore money as they already monopolize sports games. Considering PES 2013 is using Fox engine i am not hopefully and may give up soon

I think Star Wars is the correct answer here. Just damn.

Capcom has sadly broken my fandom this year with their awful business practices. I shan't be buying their games, no matter how good I think they are. Fuck those guys.

My Assassin's Creed fandom was sincerely tested by Revelations. It will take a great game to make me truly love III.

@Little_Socrates said:

My Assassin's Creed fandom was sincerely tested by Revelations. It will take a great game to make me truly love III.

My thoughts exactly.

A lot of Bands/Musicians I really used to love keep making albums I hate. I don't think its happened to any game franchises yet though.

I've been a fan of Bioware since Baldur's Gate I. Dragon Age II ended that all so abruptly.

@mandude said:

I've been a fan of Bioware since Baldur's Gate I. Dragon Age II ended that all so abruptly.

Same here, except that my fandom started with KOTOR.

I understand your passion for the resident evil series. I use to be a die-hard RE fan along time ago.

Became one of the biggest Crysis lovers 10 seconds into the first game and immediately turned into the biggest hater 10 seconds into the piece of shit they called a sequel.

Spider-Man. I loved Spider-Man when I was a kid, but I hated those movies so much it just killed any interest I had in the series.

I'm hoping this new film will rekindle my interest in it.

@mandude said:

I've been a fan of Bioware since Baldur's Gate I. Dragon Age II ended that all so abruptly.

I think it's a bit silly to say that after just one misfire, especially considering it wasn't even the main team who worked on it. Combined with Old, Republic, their buy-out by EA, the direction they eventually took ME3 in, and several other facts.. then yeah, I'm going to be pretty cautious about their next few games.

Sonic and Star Wars are up there for me too, for obvious reasons. But I think they've already progressed to the point of being so bad, there's no hope left.

Currently my fandom of the Xbox Brand is being tested, awaiting results.

@mandude said:

I've been a fan of Bioware since Baldur's Gate I. Dragon Age II ended that all so abruptly.

Yeah ... thats about it ... Dragon Age 2 and the ending to ME3 kinda tested and are still testing my trust in Bioware. And after playing Witcher 2 I feel like they need to take a step back and rethink their whole "your decision counts" thing they have going, because Witcher did that in a way I have never seen in a Bioware game.

I will still probably buy any Bioware game day one unseen ... but if the next one turns out bad ... that might change.

Oh. Mass Effect 3. That ending killed my fandom of the franchise. I no longer care about Shepard, Tali, the Reapers or any future DLC or new games they create for the franchise.

I don't think so...

I've never really been a fan of something and then later having it disappoint me. I never was a big Star Wars fan, so that never really tested my fandom. I guess the closest thing so far have been Assassin's Creed, but since I didn't care about Revelations at all and I didn't even play it, I don't feel like I have been put to the test by that.

On a side note, I will now officially consider myself a fan of Yager and Spec Ops: The Line, after just having finished the game - but if they make another Spec Ops game, they need to careful about the tone or they might quickly lose me.

Nah, not really, lol. Call me unnecessarily forgiving, but games I'm a fan of are commonly associated with other games/related products that I enjoy as well, for whatever altruistic reason. O_o But then again, maybe the "Fandom-Testing Coordinator" is simply lurking in the shadows, waiting for the perfect moment to strike, 'ey.

Sonic the Hedgehog. No explanation needed.

@WinterSnowblind said:

@mandude said:

I've been a fan of Bioware since Baldur's Gate I. Dragon Age II ended that all so abruptly.

I think it's a bit silly to say that after just one misfire, especially considering it wasn't even the main team who worked on it. Combined with Old, Republic, their buy-out by EA, the direction they eventually took ME3 in, and several other facts.. then yeah, I'm going to be pretty cautious about their next few games.

Well, it was more like everything to do with Dragon Age II, rather than just the game itself. You're right. I can forgive a game I felt was bad, but Bioware tenaciously stuck by it, claiming they had attracted tonnes of new fans to the series with it, and how it was just different rather than just worse. I'm paraphrasing, obviously, but it was clear that they weren't going to change their stance. That coupled with the fact that every major review outlet gave it a great score (which admittedly isn't Bioware's fault (or is it?!!)) made it seem like the worst turnaround a developer had ever made.

Yes, Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword. I hate this fucking game. It is so boring, the controls are just not good enough for it to work and just wasn't up to the quality I was expecting. I really lost faith in the franchise during that game and gave up after 15 hours or so. Very, very sad for me. At least the other games in the franchise cheer me up but still sad when I think about that game.

Metal Gear Solid 4. Tested, and broke.

I'm being tested by the Wii U. I used to love Nintendo, but they are increasingly going down a path that makes no sense.

I am a pretty big Nintendo fan, yet there is no way I'm going to buy that piece of crap Wii U. It's making me realise that Nintendo isn't avoiding copying the consoles out of originality. They are just genuinly idiots. There's nothing charming or fun about friend codes (even simplified ones) and the terrible message board thing that system has is not new or interesting. They are stuck in the past. I don't want them to just make their own version of an Xbox, but come on.

I used to like Final Fantasy.....

@kgb0515: Man, quoted for truth...

I thought B3 would be my go-to multiplayer game for a good while, but finding a server that isn't "400% tickets, air only, n00bs banned" is next to impossible. The vanilla game felt good, but what I play now feels incredibly fractured. It's depressing knowing that the next iteration won't even be announced for a few years.

Mass Effect 3 ending.
 
I'm done with the franchise, which is a bloody shame because when I played Mass Effect 1 I thought it would dethrone Zelda for me...but then ME2 and ME3 happened, which were alright but the ending of 3 killed any interest I had in the series.

I feel good about my Xbox 360, as it's my favourite console I've ever owned. But damn if every single Microsoft E3 press conference doesn't test that love every single time. No, I don't want to wave my hands around and shout at my TV! No I don't want 50 ways to connect with the two people on my friends list! No I don't want more bells and whistles and services that I'll never use because I actually have a PC! Wait, new Forza game? Well, okay then, guess it was all worth it...

NInja Gaiden Black: AWESOME!!!

Ninja Gaiden 2: Hey this game is pretty sweet.

Ninja Gaiden 3: WTF IS THIS?

THQ announces they are no longer publishing Devil's Third: FFFFFFFFFFFFFF~

Resident Evil 5. Capcom made it even more of an action game and less of a horror game.

I loved RE4 and how it revitalized the already stale direction the series had taken, but RE 5 really disapointed me; nothing about that game was scary.

Uh, I guess? I dunno, I handle disappointment pretty well. Unless something is offensively bad, I'll usually give whoever's behind it a new chance in the future. It'll usually take many failures before I'm "done" with something. Even then, I won't stop liking my favorite band's older work after say 3 bad albums in a row.

For example, Dragon Age 2 was very underwhelming. At the same time, I neither thought it was the "worst game ever made" or that all of Bioware's future games would automatically suck because of one dud. The SomethingAwful forums were fucking terrible with this, even going as far as retroactively declaring DA: Origins, Mass Effect 2, Jade Empire, even KOTOR and Baldur's Gate to be bad games after DA2 was released.

Another example is Star Wars. I grew up watching those movies and I still think The Empire Strikes Back is one of the greatest films ever made. That doesn't make me freak out over Kinect Star Wars or the other crappy games that come out of that franchise. I'll just shrug and acknowledge that it's not for me instead of going for the typical "George Lucas is raping my childhood again!" reaction.

Never really had a 'fandom' for any game series except Elder Scrolls and Fallout. And I still love both, so no.. my fandom is still very much intact.

@Demoskinos said:

I think Star Wars is the correct answer here. Just damn.

Wait, no. This. Definitely this. TFU I and II pushed me right to the brink.

I fell out of love with Final Fantasy, because it's been consistantly disappointing me eversince FF VI. FF VII killed pacing in JRPGs. I'm longsince past longwinded FMV exposition, whilst the JRPG genre seems to have focused on longwinded presenation. I hope Battlefield doesn't lose me too. I really hope the next interation of Battlefield is more of a videogame, and moves away from becoming a mil-sim.

I got a huge thing for care bears and my little pony.

The old ones from the 80s not the crap new ones and there skinny ass anorexia you know back when care bears and my little pony was for real men that cut pizza with scissors. damn those new skinny ass care bears and my little ponys I hate them.

I had a major thing on Brightheart until they dumped him from the series and made Grumpybear a wuss ass, so I went back to star fox and now I am obsessed with Falco he is tall dark and mysterious...

Mass Effect 1 was wonderful; two felt like a big step in the wrong direction; and I have no plans to play 3, unless it appears on Steam for <$10.

It's alright to enjoy the original RE games for what they are and just move on. You just set yourself up for disappointment when you expect sequels to recapture that original joy and feeling of discovery you had with the first RE games, or really the same with any franchise.

Anyway, I don't think they lost their way. I think they tried some new ideas and some of them didn't work out all that hot. But devs need that freedom to try something new with sequels. I'd rather they tried something new and failed than stick to the original formula too closely.

EDIT: alright, to answer your question though - pretty much a cliche now but for me it was Mass Effect. I had such wild-eyed optimism for a series about planetary exploration and a strong RPG system mixed with an awesome dialog/choices system mixed with the very early signs of a space sim and galaxy/planet exploration system. Then was let down as it devolved (in my mind) into a straight forward cover-based shooter.

Not really. If a series of anything starts to suck I just walk away and try to focus on the good times and ignore the crappy road it went down. I love Dragon Age Origins and the Westwood Command and Conquer games, and no matter how much EA goes out of their way to shit on those franchises nothing will ever take away my love for the good ones. I just know that going forward I can no longer just assume I will love them unconditionally.