The True Essence of a Resident Evil Fan?

[Darkmoon]

So, as some of you know, rehunk and I had a slight disagreement earlier in the ORC thread as regards to what makes a Resident Evil Fan. Since it was hideously off topic we had to stop it there but, due to a large number of messages from rehunk in my inbox protesting the horrible unfairness of him not being allowed to continue to take the ORC thread off topic, I decided to start this one up. Here's the most pertinent posts;

Im so sick of hearing the old school fans xD just be glad they keep making resident evil games ... you sound like the people stuck in the 80s.... ooh the action in movies is not like it was and blabla resident evil will never be as it ones was thats a fact
this game is made as a spinoff just like outbreak was a spinoff

if you are a real resident evil fan you will buy it !

end of story.

if your not buying it then why are you even here ?

No, I won't. Because I'm a REAL Resident Evil fan, I'll tell Capcom what I want, and what I want is horror. I'm not asking for a return to tank controls and fixed camera angles. I'm asking for horror. Something that REAL Resident Evil fans remember Capcom at least trying. Something that Resident Evil made it's name with. It's what made Resident Evil famous, allowed it to grow, set it apart in the market and even today, even when they won't make horror games, Capcom slaps a horror theme on the top because they know, know full fucking well, why people buy the series.

Capcom won't listen to REAL Resident Evil fans whining and bitching. Wanna know what they will listen to? My wallet slamming shut because they keep trying to dish up action games. And because I'm a REAL Resident Evil fan, I'll keep not buying the fucking games until Capcom puts some Horror back in. I'm a REAL Resident Evil fan, and I'll buy a REAL Resident Evil game - not this trivial piece of poorly though out, poorly implemented piece of shit.

And don't bother trying to tell me I'm not a fan because I don't like fucking ORC, OR that I have no right to be here because of it. I'm a Resident Evil fan and I'll talk about what I please here, but I'm bright enough to not buy something just because it's Resident Evil. I won't buy Resident Evil: Barry's Pretty Princess Make Up Party Edition any more than I would if it was Mary Kate and Ashley's Pretty Princess Make Up Party Edition and I hope to God neither would you.

So stop trying to derail the fucking thread by telling me I'm a bad fan because, shock of shocks, I pointed out why this thing has a good chance of flopping despite the fact it managed to get RE tagged on to it when you decided it will sell well.

And as tempted as I am to let some of the other members give there opinion on you and your decision on what makes a true fan (HINT: Agreeing with rehunk) that's the end of this. As per usual, I will delete further off topic conversation. As per usual, I welcome you taking the debate to either private massager, the wall system or even a topic of it's own. As usual, you will likely post again anyway, get 10 infraction points and whine that I'm picking on you because I'm stopping you from further derailing a topic.

Sadly, rehunk seemed unable to find the 'New Topic' button and kept hitting reply in the ORC thread with this message, which as I mentioned, I deleted. But here you go;

you can tell capcom as much as you want but it wont change the fact that this is the future of resident evil less horror more action
and with that said...

its a fucking spin off what do you expect from it ??? BIG ASS AAA game with the most insane grapichs ? with insane much HORROR !!! where have you been the last years ??? the new style is what resident evil 4 gave us and thats what we got now you can moan and bitch as much as you like but capcom they dont give a shit
they dont care about ( the so called true fans or old school fans) what capcom cares about is money money money!!
and if this game is such a big problem to you... then why come here and moan about it ? you wont gain anything from it..
you hate it then why talk about it ? i dont see the point in that.

and you will never see the old resident evil style ever again. its a fact. its dead its gone.

A mighty fine pickle. We essentially have two view points.

1 - That fans need to move on. If you're a fan of Resident Evil, you'll buy Resident Evil games regardless of quality and content. Action is how the series is going and if you don't like that, well, then you're not really a Resident Evil fan.

2 - That the fans know what they want and Capcom's attempts to sell to the largest market will only hurt the series, removing the elements that made it successful in the first place. That only by voting with there wallet will fans be heard, and if they want any change they need to support Resident Evil by not giving money to Capcom.

Of course, it's ridiculous to think that 'What does it mean to be a fan?' could be condensed in to two statements. In ways, both are right, and yet it's likely every person here has a different view.

For myself, I don't think I'm a bad fan because I don't like the new games. Revelations looks interesting as hell. ORC looks pretty awful, frankly, due to what seems to be very low production values (which, as I talked with Enrico this evening, was a problem from the get go - apparently copy and pasting art from previous games and calling it design art isn't done, and Enrico, whose in the biz, was appalled) and RE6 looks like it could be brilliant - or it could be another RE5.

But just because I don't like the new games doesn't mean I desire to give up, and it doesn't mean I suddenly don't like the series. And there's always hope. Resident Evil has changed. There's no reason to believe it can't add horror elements back into the series, maybe cutting back on the over the topc action elements a little, to regain it's identity in a crowded market place.

Still, I have a half dozen messages in my inbox telling me I'm a horrible, horrible person for not allowing someone to speak on this. So everyone...speak on up. What do you think makes a true Resident Evil fan?

[Pikminister]

What is a true Resident Evil fan?

Shit... I dunno. I just play the games. Don't even collect anything RE related... no action figures... no books... comics or clothing. I just play the games and MAYBE watch a RE movie here and there.

I played the original on PS1. Back when it was a new thing. When it was not yet a franchise or series. Would that make me a "true" RE fan? How about this... playing RE4/RE5 and actually liking them to bits (not really but it's just an example)... would that make me a "fake" fan?

I think I've only branded myself as a RE fan whenever I'm discussing the series with other ppl that aren't familiar with it. But only to say that I'm familiar with the series. But not to indicate that I'm a "true" RE fan or representative of the fanbase.

I try not to go too deep into things (unless the topic at hand is Jill Valentine's nose in RE5 ). Like I said, I try not to. I'm also a fan of other franchises and series but I don't think I'm a "true" fan of them either. I just play the games and sometimes, when I'm bored, I discuss specific stuff from them.

[alexdz]

A true fan of anything, be it it games, bands or movies, knows how to criticize it. They know what's that thing that makes it stand out from the rest, what makes it good, and also knows how to point out what's bad about it, what went wrong and doesn't fit in with what was established in previous titles.

A true fan didn't start liking Resident Evil just because it was called Resident Evil, but because of the horror elements, the story, the monsters and the characters, if most or all of this is gone what are the fans supposed to cling to? People who like everything just because Capcom is slapping the franchise's name on everything they can don't know what makes the series what it is and how it came to have the status it has today, and if can't even define something's essence how can you be a fan of it?

[Guy Fieri]

I think if you're registered on this forum then you're a Resident Evil fan. We don't even need to have this discussion.

[Smiley]

This is like asking what makes a true Batman fan? Those that grew up with the early Detective Comics, Watched the Adam West TV show, saw the 89' Burton movie, watched the Animated Series, Played the Rocksteady Games, enjoyed The Dark Knight..... Or even those currently reading Batman in the new 52....

Whatever version of Resident Evil you grew up with makes you a fan in some way. They've had games, comics, movies, books, etc. And as far as the games go they're broad enough to attract a new audience.

I don't have any idea what a *true fan* is, but I'd never hold that against someone if they enjoyed Biohazard because the series is at a point where there's a wide audience and very little groundwork to say what the series is about. You have RE games where the objective is to escape and others where the objective is to rescue. Sometimes both. You have games now where zombies and Umbrella aren't even a threat anymore and there's different types of monsters to deal with. And the game types attract too many gamers to brand a "true" fan base. As for myself, I fall more in line with the older crowd all the way to when they released the main series on gamecube cause those were the games I grew up playing. It should be said that I prefer the remake of the first game to its original because I find it to be the scariest in nearly every way possible. So I find the original as a campy B-horror game where as its REmake took the concept and made it into a genuinely scary looking game. Never cared for the spin offs even if some of them had scares, but I could find some enjoyment out of them nevertheless. And going through all things Resident Evil I found my preference with the horror aspect over the campier or action packed side of the series. However, I acknowledge that RE is a combination of all those elements just as Batman having a side that's campy and a side that's driven in dark undertones.

Now with all that said, any fan has no right to judge whether someone else is or not based on the fact they don't buy all the games or products. So in that case I think rehunk88 is wrong. Despite that, I'm looking forward to ORC just as he is. Even if my preference is a horror driven main game I don't mind the occasional spin off. I know other fans do not like the game for various reasons. I find that "it doesn't feel like RE" to be the silliest one simply because this game as a spin off is not trying to be like the traditional survival horror games. It's aimed to be a tactical co-op shooter in a biohazard scenario. That's it. And furthermore how does RE4, a main game in the series, feel like RE2 outside of having the main character and placing him against monsters? Some people see a connection. I don't. At least not in terms of them "feeling the same".

[Dracarys]

No such thing as a true fan, that is just something people say to try make their view on an agument look right, despite it not being defined in any way at all. Is like saying "You're a purple RE fan" - What does this even mean? Saying 'true fan' implies some correctness, but there is none.

The RE fanbase clearly has a three way split in terms of of interest, some people like the original style games, some like the new style, some like both, all three for various reasons down to the individual.

Neither group is a supposed 'true fan' group, just fans of different interests.




Unless you like the live action movies, no true fan of RE could ever like those!

[Wrathborne]

A true fan was there from the beginning, the middle, and the end. Through good games and bad games, they stick with the franchise and are responsible for it achieving the success it has.

I've been with the series since 1996, bought games 1,2,3, 0,and 4 and in some cases bought the games twice(few were broken due to an accident when moving) and while I am happy to give them my money...The drop in quality has been very noticeable and the series seems to be getting more and more censored in terms of graphic violence(If you have a chocolate cake, but take away the frosting then its missing something important).

I'm an older fan now and am no longer seen with the same Value I had 5-10 years ago, because of the age difference I'm not seen as a priority.

Its all about the newer fans who want faster gameplay, more action, and...lets call them 'sparklies'.
No offense to the newer fanbase, but it seems that they prefer 'shiny' things.

Now RE has never been about epic Shakespearean stories or characters that feel as real as you and I, they've always had a B movie feel to them, but they used to have their own style and combined with the earlier games atmosphere it all worked.

As the series direction has changed, the type of B movie feeling has as well. The direction went from a Night of the living dead style B film, to a Michael Bay style B film. Its flashier, has less story and is filled with more 'sparklies' to distract the player from the story being so limited.

Now again the earlier survival horror games stories weren't epic, but they had their own 'bad 'charm.

In the newer games CAPCOM hasnt learned that...well, its time for the characters to grow up.
Chris, Jill, Leon, all need to be their own characters now. They need more personalities to them, this is what we call 'character development'.

Character development in films is vital to a good movie, this adds a layer to the film and gives it some depth.

They tried some of this in RE5, but it was incredibly minimal to the point where it was insulting.

I've grown as a fan, they need to grow too.

I think another aspect of a true fan is knowing when its time for a change, and also knowing when its time to return to form.

But really this is just my opinion on the true fan, I will say this though:

Anyone who says that the older fans complain too much about the newer games and act like they're owed something...they are. Older fans are the reason that the series has lasted this long, we're the ones who are responsible for the franchise enduring, if the series sells over 50 million copies in its history, we're the ones who are responsible for at least 75% of those sales.

The sense of anger really comes from Capcom splitting the community though, the focus on the newer fans instead of the older fans is a complete slap in our faces and really a bad move.

Enough of mah rambling.

[Canas Renvall]

Unless you like the live action movies, no true fan of RE could ever like those!

I sense sarcasm here, and I hope that's the case.

A true fan was there from the beginning, the middle, and the end. Through good games and bad games, they stick with the franchise and are responsible for it achieving the success it has.

Well... see, I started with 4 and had a blast with it (I played it when I was 12). But once I played the older games (especially REmake and RE2) I was pretty horrified when I realized the direction 4 took the series. I still like to think I'm a "true" fan in my own right, despite not being there from the start (hell, I was 4 when the original came out ).

[Vito]

You love the series?

Yes.

Then you are a fan, simple as that.

[Anders]

The amount of fan a person is is measured by how many thousand dollars they spend on prototypes. Everybody who thinks differently have sex with their sisters.

[Canas Renvall]

Hey! I'll have you know that nobody knows what I like more than my sister!

...Wait, I don't have a sister.

[Vito]

I'm sorry Anders but that's Bull.

[Wrathborne]

He's just trolling, ignore him.

[BeefWellington]

This thread is childish and pointless. If you love the series then you are a fan. Even some of youre favorite things you got to dislike. Resident evil is my favorite game series, but i think some of the games are bad like Gaiden and Survivor. Did I still buy them? Yes because i am a fanatic. Only you can say you are a fan. no one cant tell you youre not a true fan if you dont have this and blah blah blah. Just shut the fuck up and enjoy what you do like. My god

[Beanovsky Durst]

What makes a true fan? Who knows? Resident Evil/Biohazard have lots of branches that can or not appeal to you.

I love both classic survival and new action faces of Resident Evil. I hate the live action movies. That makes me more o less fan than anyone else. Nope.
We are all different in taste, and that's what makes this community interesting.

Problem with current "fanbase" in my opinion is that we tend to forget that gaming is a business. So Capcom's gonna do what gives them money, and will please the biggest piggy bank. This is the awful truth.
And the issue within Capcom is their lack of creativity to get both crowds (and their money!), if not satisfied, interested at least.

Games like ORC add fuel to the fire, simply because they are controversial by nature. Same applies for the movies. They stray from the roots of the series, but I think this is a necesary evil for business.
Most of us hate the movies because they aren't true to the games. Still, they are a financial success and that's why there are 5 of them.
In the case of ORC, you can make your opinion from trailers, reviews and all the media and info you can find; my only advice would be to try the actual game first (rental, play at a friend's house), see if it's for you and if it's not then don't buy it. State your opinion with hard cash, that's what Capcom will listen to.

Then we have a game like Revelations, which seems like a genuine effort to give the vintage RE fan something he/she can enjoy. For me it feels like a step in the right direction. And if it sells well it might influence the future of the series. IMO Atmosphere was there and it tied nicely with the action, add some REAL puzzles, and we might have a good thing going on.

In the end, for me, what makes a Resident Evil fan is the fact that you enjoy something related to this big series, whether it's toys, movies or games.