What makes a "true" fan?

What makes a true fan? Is it the person who loved the originals and says fuck all this new shit? Or is it the person who still actively enjoys the things being released.

Are the children who watch the Clone Wars cartoon and prefer the prequel Star Wars films as well as the originals not the real fans, more so then the people who only liked the originals. Those children actually enjoy more Star Wars then most. Or is it the grown ass man that claims George Lucas rapped his childhood with the "abomination" that is the Star Wars 1-3.

Is the person who swears by the original 3 Resident Evil games as the only good ones in the franchise the true fan, or is it the guy who likes RE4 and RE5 and is actively looking forward to 6 and enjoys the movies as well as the originals. The later is a fan of all Resident Evil, with the other a person stuck in the past.

You will often hear the argument "those aren't real fans!" but is that the case? Is the person who enjoys the most of a franchise is the truer fan rather then the person who only likes a few. Or is the person who actively enjoys it past its "prime" just a sheep with the people who knew when to stop the real fans? What do you people think?

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Edit: What about the person who knows more about the franchise and then stopped verses the person who still enjoys the thing even if they aren't totally clear on what exactly is going on?

I thought it was a fan who was actually a fan. It doesn't matter the level of dedication but the fact you are not faking it for social reasons. It's the reason I never got into sports. I never liked it and I'm not going to start to make some dudebro friends.

It's completely subjective.

Also your angle for this whole thing sucks.

@RockmanBionics:

:(

Care to provide a better one?

A true fan will criticise the product they love. It doesn't benefit anyone just blindly defending it, neither does abandoning it when it changes to something you dislike.

A true fan will accept other people's opinion. A fanboy won't.

I think a true fan is someone who likes things, if you say you're a fan and you're not, then you're not ''not a real fan'', you're just not a fan, and also a liar.

I always just assumed people who needed to go out of their way to call themselves a "true fan" or tell other people they aren't "real fans" were just jerks.

This is just you trying to slyly put across the notion that you're 'more' of a Resident Evil fan than those who prefer the older games isn't it?

I really want to hear George Lucas rap about my childhood now. Thanks.

@Yummylee:

Darn, foiled again! :P

Seriously though, I am wondering what you people think of this. You probably know more about Resident Evil then I ever will, even if you don't actively enjoy the newer shit. Who is the bigger fan in this case? Are we both we both fans? Are you a true fan and am I a loyal fan? Or am I just asking questions that don't really need answers because as @Barrabas said, labels are for jerks?

Uhm, a genuine appreciation of the product/service in question?

Enthusiasm, enjoyment.

Insisting you're a "true" fan of anything requires a certain dedicated level of douchedom to believe that others just don't get things like you do.

A true fan likes what they like and doesn't care if others don't.

A "true fan" is a stupid term created by stupid people who care too much about what others do or do not think.

@DarthOrange said:

Seriously though, I am wondering what you people think of this. You probably know more about Resident Evil then I ever will, even if you don't actively enjoy the newer shit. Who is the bigger fan in this case? Are we both we both fans? Are you a true fan and am I a loyal fan? Or am I just asking questions that don't really need answers because as @Barrabas said, labels are for jerks?

We're both fans of the franchise, we just prefer different parts. For clarity's sake, and at the risk of sounding hipsterish/elitist, you could say I'm more of an 'old-school' fan because I prefer the older stuff. Resident Evil is such a huge franchise at this point that it's understandable why there are now so many people who enjoy different sects of the franchise more so than others. Some people may only enjoy the light-gun games, some may only enjoy the movies (lol..), and of course there are a lot of people who only like the RE4 era of Resident Evil.

I don't think it's fair to measure people's 'fandom', but with something so expansive like Resident Evil, there can be a very different variety of fans who all enjoy the series for different reasons.

Three or four blades that spin really fast.

EDIT: All, all right. A good fan of something will take something and enjoy it greatly but isn't completely shut off to criticism and accepts that maybe the next one won't be quite as good or exactly the same as the last one, or it may not be what they want out of the series.

Case in point: I wasn't too receptive of Full Metal Alchemist Brotherhood but I went through it and now I love it, but I still recognize that it (and the original) have numerous glaring flaws.

being willing to kill anyone who speaks poorly of your object of affection.

@FLStyle said:

A "true fan" is a stupid term created by stupid people who care too much about what others do or do not think.

That sounds about right.

I think a "true" fan doesn't give a crap whether he's a true fan or not. It's a dumb term. People should just let other people enjoy stuff without bringing elitist mindsets into it.

I would refer to myself as a massive fan of certain series, but "true fan" seems like a pretty stupid term.

A true fan is willing to admit when something sucks. Like how resident evil sucks now.

In order to become a true fan, one must have a pet duck.

This thread is dumb.

@TheHumanDove I agree, RE6 looks awful and I have been a fan for years. RE5 and RE4 were decent games though, imo. RE4 being awesome.

@Cloudenvy said:

@FLStyle said:

A "true fan" is a stupid term created by stupid people who care too much about what others do or do not think.

That sounds about right.

@SamStrife said:

A true fan will criticise the product they love. It doesn't benefit anyone just blindly defending it, neither does abandoning it when it changes to something you dislike.

This is absolutely the truth. Real love is pointing out failings because you want, and expect, the thing you love to be better.

It's children arguing.

@Yummylee said:

@DarthOrange said:

Seriously though, I am wondering what you people think of this. You probably know more about Resident Evil then I ever will, even if you don't actively enjoy the newer shit. Who is the bigger fan in this case? Are we both we both fans? Are you a true fan and am I a loyal fan? Or am I just asking questions that don't really need answers because as @Barrabas said, labels are for jerks?

We're both fans of the franchise, we just prefer different parts. For clarity's sake, and at the risk of sounding hipsterish/elitist, you could say I'm more of an 'old-school' fan because I prefer the older stuff. Resident Evil is such a huge franchise at this point that it's understandable why there are now so many people who enjoy different sects of the franchise more so than others. Some people may only enjoy the light-gun games, some may only enjoy the movies (lol..), and of course there are a lot of people who only like the RE4 era of Resident Evil.

I don't think it's fair to measure people's 'fandom', but with something so expansive like Resident Evil, there can be a very different variety of fans who all enjoy the series for different reasons.

I guess this makes sense and is really what I was trying to get at. Yes labels are the devil but when shit gets so massive, like Star Wars or Resident Evil, simply using the word fan does not really describe everyone who likes the thing. As you said there are a variety of fans who jump on at different points for different reasons. I guess true fan is really the wrong word to use in any situation, as it seems to imply you like some thing more then someone else. But saying different fans doesn't sound right either. Maybe we just need new words.

In the star wars example, they would both be fans. One of the original movies and one of the cartoons. Just because they are both called Star Wars doesn't mean they can't be different things for different people.

First 2 movies where good for the time. I get it if your a old dude that saw the movies when they came out but meh.

A true fan is someone that likes something. That's it.

There's no such thing as a "true fan." It's just a way for elitist snobs to feel superior to others.

I never think about stuff like this. It's always like "hey, this is awesome, I'm a fan now", there's really nothing else to it.

I wonder what George Lucas rapping over my childhood would sound like. I bet he has great flow.

@Sploder said:

I wonder what George Lucas rapping over my childhood would sound like. I bet he has great flow.

A "true" fan is someone who enjoys what he likes and doesn't go out of his way to dislike, or like, something for the sake of feeling important. He keeps his mouth shut and supports the companies that deserve it, and silently protests those that do not.

@Barrabas said:

I always just assumed people who needed to go out of their way to call themselves a "true fan" or tell other people they aren't "real fans" were just jerks.

all of the yes

@WilliamHenry said:

@Cloudenvy said:

@FLStyle said:

A "true fan" is a stupid term created by stupid people who care too much about what others do or do not think.

That sounds about right.

Hey, what do you know. I was gonna go in here and be all insightful and shit. But now I don't have to!

He is completely correct.

It's hard for me to reconcile the term with itself - fan implies that someone is biased. True implies something is accurate. Therefore, this is an oxymoron. I move for this discussion to be struck from the record.

Putting "True" in front of anything to make it a more genuine form of the concept is really stupid. You're either a fan or not.

In my opinion, if I like something than I am a fan of it and don't need to prove myself to anyone.

You have to destroy Mother Fan in three hours or less. But it's cool if you just nail the path and skip the extra energy tanks and missiles.

When you like a thing. It doesn't matter when you became a fan, if you know the exact number of blinks X character made during Y scene, if you know what elementary school your favorite backup bassist's second ex-wife went to, or if you watched the original interpretive dance that "Kawaii Puppies No Happiru Soup Can Mega Hour Sword Ninja Face" was based on.

(47, Lincoln Elementary in Elephant Butte, New Mexico, and "The Super Bowl Shuffle", respectively)

I think the term true fan is silly. Just be a big fan of something by liking it.

A "true fan" is an idiot. Fan is short for fanatic. Fanatics are irrational and stupid, completely blind to any other end of the spectrum. Their way is THE ONLY way and all other ways are garbage.

What does it matter? Life's too short to be wasting it having wang measuring contests. Like what you like how you like.

Unreasonableness.

Buying all the merchandise.

Someone who constantly supports his/hers company. Not just the originals, the new as well. But can say if a game is crap or not.

Blood sacrifice.