Dr. Strangehog, or How I Learned to Stop Being Cynical and Just Enjoy Sonic Games (aka The Cynicism Topic)

[Blue Blood]

In essence, SEGA is terrible company. They've been running themselves into the ground since day one, inflated by their pride and ego and only managed to get lucky with the Mega Drive and Sonic. Its a wonder they're still alive.

[azoo]

Also using Unleashed as a "Sonic Team has just stopped caring / has more passion" argument is pretty poor whenever the game's presentation and the amount of effort put into it says anything but (regardless of how well it delivered as a game, mind).

 

Also note that was March 2007. Only months after 06 came out. For all we know, Unleashed could've been an idea that was in development far before Sonic Team threw their entire old team out and started anew.

[Blue Blood]

Also using Unleashed as a "Sonic Team has just stopped caring / has more passion" argument is pretty poor whenever the game's presentation and the amount of effort put into it says anything but (regardless of how well it delivered as a game, mind).

 

Also note that was March 2007. Only months after 06 came out. For all we know, Unleashed could've been an idea that was in development far before Sonic Team threw their entire old team out and started anew.

 

The Hedgehog Engine itself was in production for three years before Unleashed rolled along, so I'd assume the pre-development stages of Unleashed began prior '06 going gold (I'd rather not say "finished").

[Oh Noes]

I'd LOVE to go on and on about what I think of EVERY SINGLE THING regarding the fanbase, the Sonic Team's efforts, and all the stuff. But that would be extremely boring, and I just don't have the time to rant. So I'm going to go with the simplest approach I can give. Also, put the video as a link because it the Youtube player was messing with the page.

 

Here is the

magnificent, beloved song that can sum up how I feel about the Sonic series and everything related. With a little story going with it.

 

There was a time when Sonic had a place in the middle of my hearth. That was when I rediscovered the series. In this time, I didn't asked myself any questions, because I was too occupied to be amazed by things: the addictive gameplay of the Genesis titles, the quality of the animations in Secret Rings, Sonic 06, and Sonic Unleashed, the epicness of these games (I didn't even cared that 06 was terrible), the large amount of characters, the fangames, the Sonic Shorts, the Nazo Trilogy...That was the time when, every thing I found about Sonic, I loved it, and I just kept going, growing eager to discover more and more day by day.

 

But that time of innocence wouldn't last very long. When I grew older, I discovered the "dark sides" of the series, first by reading the "cynic fans" opinions about some of the modern games. This made me litteraly change my mind, and I saw how a lot of games besides the Genesis titles were lacking consistency, profesionnalism, and sometimes inspiration. Then, I read more and more opinions about most of the other games and the franchise in general. At the time, I didn't understood how it was possible that the "same" guys that made amazing games before made today games that were just considered bad, so I just sticked with the popular opinions, wishing to get the answers.

 

Then I grew again. I found that the world was not a easy place to live in, that money came first, and that artistic creations had to go through a strict procedure if they had to be good. So okay, my questions about why the games were considered "bad" was answered. But now another dilemma was coming: suddenly, I didn't understood why so much people in the fanbase were so harsh, so nasty with the franchise, for things that were very specific, like the Werehog. I knew that different people meaned different opinions, but the level of cruelness they had just didn't made sense to me ("Sonic's dead", or "SHOULD be dead", "I never believed in Sonic", ect...).

 

And then, I discovered how the human brain was allergic, immune to change. And so everything made sense again. If something you like takes a completly different direction, it's normal that you have a bad reaction, and if the person making it doesn't improve, it's normal that you get mad. So the person who expected something of the thing would make it themselves because the creators didn't wanted to include it, and that was the principle of fan creations to me. But I felt different. I felt like I didn't fit in any of the "categories" of fans that gave their opinion: the cynical ones, the harsh ones, the fanboy ones...It felt like I was some kind of "I love everything but I have my limits" guy. I couldn't HATE what Sonic Team made, no matter how they made it, be it Unleashed, Secret Rings, 06 or Sonic 3&Knuckles, even if there were things I disliked. I really though for a moment I wasn't a "fan" of Sonic. And how silly was I. I learned that didn't changed anything, and that liking so much things made me more of a loyal fan than something else. But more importantly, I learned that, if your hearth and your reason knows about what you're dealing with, you got to stand up for what you believe, no matter what happens. Because in the end, it doesn't matter who's wrong and who's right, only what you believe will shape your life.

 

And here we are now. I'm not saying that I don't care about other's opinions. I'm not saying that all fans do nothing but pinpoint bad things about the games. Instead, I think everyone can bring something new if they express themselves, both to the series and the fanbase itself. And so, the developpers and the fans could work hand in hand, especially seeing how active the fanbase is. That's a crazy dream, I know, but-- "How do you expect them to know what word to take in such a sea of opinions?" They don't need to know what word to take. If the biggest hater of Sonic in the world can express himself with valuable arguments, it will still be useful. You just need to take what's best out of their dialogue. But that doesn't mean by any way appropriating their opinion. Just keep in mind that everyone is useful, as that dialogue between the two could solve a lot of things.

 

So here how it is: I keep my opinions and develop them, but stay open to others from the fans, because otherwise that wouldn't make sense. I know that we are in a industry, and SEGA/Sonic Team ain't no incompetent guys at making games, they know how it is. But they make mistakes, and that's okay. They haven't completly screwed up the franchise yet, heck, there's even a lot of things on what they're improving! So I'm going to stay patient, take everything good they have in store, and enjoy it as much as I can. And I'm going to do that for everything related to Sonic. And no matter what people say, no matter how much hate there is, I'll keep believing in Sonic Team. The only thing I hope for is that they will continue learn from their past mistakes, and if they don't, I'll just keep hoping for it. After all, it's not like Sonic Team was the only thing we had in the world. We have an amazingly creative and devoted side of the community that's willing to keep it on rail no matter what (Archie Comics and the Sonic Fanartists League on DA, to quote the most popular ones), and even if Sonic dies, these people will keep doing what they do. 'Cause the Blue Blur is a part of everyone who's here, and it won't leave any sooner, trust me.

 

Conclusion? I wouldn't be caught death being cynical about Sonic's future, 'cause I just wanna love the Blue Blur. And I believe in SEGA. Wow. (Which DOESN'T mean I can't have negative reactions.)

 

...Holy crap, did I just said "little" story? I'll never make correct prophecies, will I? And more seriously, thanks very much to you...T-Min? Wait I'm just gonna call you coyote fuzzy thing if that's okay with everyone This topic REALLY allowed me to get one of my biggest thoughts on the franchise out of my chest (wait thoughts that get out of the chest WHAT). And about the "cynism" of the fans, the only thing I think of it is that some of them could use patience. And that's all I can say.

[TheBreaker3321]

Sega is awesome. My second favorite franchise is Virtual On.

Sonic the Hedgehog has always been a great franchise, and it has taught me a lot of philosophy regarding many aspects of not just this series, but others as well.

Sonic the Hedgehog, both as a character and an idea, makes a clever argument for classical cynicism. Cynicism had quickly become a butchered word robbed of its original meanings practically ever since its conception. Originally, cynics had no desire for money, wealth, fame, or power. The cynics back then were the most optimistic people alive; you'd like them. Sonic's modus operandi is that he is always looking for adventure. He has no time to judge others for how they live because it doesn't affect him unless you're Dr. Eggman of course. There's a joke amongst one of the most famous cynics where he said to a nobleman, I believe, that if only he had learn to eat his veggies, then he would have no need to sleep in a castle. I think that's how it went, anyway. It's in the opening lyrics of "It Doesn't Matter" that Sonic has no time to either criticize or be a people-pleaser. There is no right or wrong way; there is only your way.

It's sad to see that a rare and sporadic few have taken that message to heart. I know I spent the opening paragraph explaining the pointlessness of declaring everything under the sun toxic. However, since all I see in every search on Google are the worst aspects of anything, it's hard for me not to say that the current fandom of Sonic the Hedgehog shouldn't exist. Why would I say something like that? The reason I say so is because it is quite possibly the most ironic fandom to ever exist next to My Little Pony. It could just be me falling into the trap of "if it bleeds, it leads," but within both fandoms did I rarely come across an individual who actually cared for what they were interested in other than making forced memes. Meme culture has for a very long time been a pebble in my sock that was so small to get in and yet too big to get out. It's aggravating. Twenty percent cooler in ten seconds flat? Please, I wouldn't care if you were recommended by four out of five doctors. Of course, these are all just the first things that I see. I know for fact that there are niches out there that actually know how to form thoughtful and constructive discussions with the values of their interests in mind.

With that said, Sonic. as well as even My Little Pony for that matter, cannot be hated no matter what the reason. As I said before, people may express hatred for Sonic only because they are projecting a sort of insecurity onto him. It's further ridiculous when you take into account one of the most important facts about Sonic; he is purely a fictional character. He cannot hop out of the television and kill someone. He's not there. Apparently, though, releasing one game or two that didn't meet standards is tantamount to murder.

Another thing that Sonic has taught me is that flaws are often overrated. Everybody has their own unique strengths and shortcomings, but it's these traits altogether that make us human. There is no such thing as a good or bad Sonic game. Quality and reputation are two words that have been also eliminated from my dictionary. All of these terms are impossible to measure since what happened yesterday may not happen today. Humans change everyday.

Sonic needs neither hope nor despair, but acceptance. I've lost the ability to understand where the mindsets based on these two feelings originated from. Everybody on the planet has gone through their own struggles; Sonic is not special in that regard. Spider-Man had the Clone Saga and One More Day. Superman had Superman Red/Blue. Marvel and DC have both gone through their own rough patches. The weird thing is that I never knew about these times with these two characters, not that it matters of course. My views on Spider-Man and Superman are the same. They, along with Sonic, have long since their collective inception ingrained themselves into the annals of pop-culture. To erase them all from that culture is the most futile of ventures. Heck, whatever it is that many fans believe that Sonic is going through is such small potatoes, and to blame any one character or person behind the character for this supposed downfall is the height of foolishness. As opposed to pitching a fit over it, why not do what Sabrina DiDuro and Lake Feperd have done and take what you created for the Sonic universe, OC's, stories, concepts, and all, and transform it into your own unique gig?