Is this a divisive time in the franchise?

[((JAWS))]

Do you think so? Do you think there’s a divide between GO fans and vets? Between old and new?

Or do you think everyone is over exaggerating, give me some thoughts.

 

[Scammel]

No. There's certainly less overlap between Go players and 'mainstream' fans than one might expect, but I certainly don't get the impression that this is a fanbase that's angry, upset or divided over anything.

 

[((JAWS))]

No. There's certainly less overlap between Go players and 'mainstream' fans than one might expect, but I certainly don't get the impression that this is a fanbase that's angry, upset or divided over anything.

Guess it’s tough to tell sometimes. It seems like there is always huge complaints when a new Gen comes out.

Remember the beginning of Gen V? Well now Gen V is revered.. even myself who a few years back criticized Gen V has been charmed.

 

[U.N. Owen]

Every Pokemon game is someone’s first; therefore, we always have a divide in the fandom. Really, Go just made the divide more apparent.

 

[Scammel]

Guess it’s tough to tell sometimes. It seems like there is always huge complaints when a new Gen comes out.

Remember the beginning of Gen V? Well now Gen V is revered.. even myself who a few years back criticized Gen V has been charmed.

I don't really see a distinction between what you describe and merely 'people having opinions'. It's a fairly old series with a great many instalments and great scope for personalised gameplay experiences. People disagreeing on their favourite generation/Pokémon/characters etc. doesn't signify a deep-seated antagonism.

 

[Nockturne]

People love drama and social media gives everyone a platform to sound off, so I think we're living in a time where a lot of people are commenting about things that, in years gone by, they wouldn't have bothered and they'd have just moved past. Like people who we disappointed about the removal of wild battles would have been like "Aww man" when they found out and that would have been it. Nowadays that disappointment is perpetuated on a near daily basis across various internet platforms because that's just where people sent their time now.

You can't respond publicly to a TV ad about a game you're disappointed in, but you can respond to a tweet promoting that game. And the next one. And the next one. In the olden days you could send a letter that was critical of a game into the Official Nintendo Magazine and hoped they printed it but now you can make a YouTube video about it. And another. And another.

So I don't think this is a particularly divisive time I just think perspectives can be skewed by the magnification and perpetuation effects of the internet and how fandoms don't really have anything else to occupy themselves with in between instalments of their franchise besides complaining about what we do know. Or what we don't. I remember back when Sun and Moon were announced and there was a gap of a few months until the first real information and people would complain that we knew too little and it was killing the hype. A lot of that was because there was nothing else to say and for some reason saying nothing just isn't an option.

 

[((JAWS))]

I don't really see a distinction between what you describe and merely 'people having opinions'. It's a fairly old series with a great many instalments and great scope for personalised gameplay experiences. People disagreeing on their favourite generation/Pokémon/characters etc. doesn't signify a deep-seated antagonism.

Good point. I guess what I’m trying to say is it’s pretty common for fans to nitpick things nowadays when a new gen comes out and that’s perfectly okay and encouraged.

It’s only through criticism that a franchise truly grows to great heights and Pokémon is no stranger to criticism. I’m fact I’d argue that’s why it’s advanced so far ahead generally.

People love drama and social media gives everyone a platform to sound off, so I think we're living in a time where a lot of people are commenting about things that, in years gone by, they wouldn't have bothered and they'd have just moved past. Like people who we disappointed about the removal of wild battles would have been like "Aww man" when they found out and that would have been it. Nowadays that disappointment is perpetuated on a near daily basis across various internet platforms because that's just where people sent their time now.

You can't respond publicly to a TV ad about a game you're disappointed in, but you can respond to a tweet promoting that game. And the next one. And the next one. In the olden days you could send a letter that was critical of a game into the Official Nintendo Magazine and hoped they printed it but now you can make a YouTube video about it. And another. And another.

So I don't think this is a particularly divisive time I just think perspectives can be skewed by the magnification and perpetuation effects of the internet and how fandoms don't really have anything else to occupy themselves with in between instalments of their franchise besides complaining about what we do know. Or what we don't. I remember back when Sun and Moon were announced and there was a gap of a few months until the first real information and people would complain that we knew too little and it was killing the hype. A lot of that was because there was nothing else to say and for some reason saying nothing just isn't an option.

Not to get political but people who say the first world (US, UK etc.) is getting worse tend to not realize that social media and news really puts a microscope under bad events. In meaning we’re so constantly exposed to terrible news that in a lot of ways a great deal of people believe the first world is becoming worse and worse. Actually it’s improving rapidly, and I think in a way the same logic can be applied to Pokémon.

 

[Ignition]

Nah. People just really exaggerate topics that are always mixed in the community (i.e LGPE). For instance, when LGPE were first announced, there were people who were immediately saying "People are hating these games before they even came out." Did this happen? Yes. But most of these are first impressions. If someone has an opposite view, it's not uncommon for Pokémon fans to antagonize and mock them for the opinion itself and not how it was conveyed.

 

[SWMegaFan]

If y’all wanna see a toxic fandom, you should check out the Star Wars fanbase. To be fair, most fans are cool but there are those few that are toxic and will be very loud & vocal about their opinions that it just sours the rest of the fandom.