USA DEMO UP!!!!

[Diortem]

I both look forward to and fear the influx of more members.

On the good side: more interesting discussions and more activity on this site!

On the bad side: more "LOL frederick is a n00b my donnel is so much better than that pansy" topics.

Much to our chagrin, most likely true. I've seen more "LOL FREDERICK IS A JEIGAN" than "Frederick is actually kinda useful long-term." Although, Donnel isn't bad, but I will agree Freddie's probably better.

I just pray these forums are never reduced to the level of the seething hellhole that is Awakening's GameFaqs board. *shudder*

I may regret asking, but, How bad is it? Wasn't that the one board that had a thread devoted to Sumia hate, or was that something else?

Edited January 22, 2013 by Diortem

[Galenforcer]

Donnel is pretty bad in normal mode. If you're struggling in that mode, you know he's bad.

[Diortem]

Donnel is pretty bad in normal mode. If you're struggling in that mode, you know he's bad.

I was moreso talking about Donnel having a bit of potential, but yeah, I get that he's kinda bad.

[Tarquin]

I may regret asking, but, How bad is it? Wasn't that the one board that had a thread devoted to Sumia hate, or was that something else?

There's been at least one hate thread dedicated to every character by now. And all those ****ing Nono/Nowi topics, argh. Let's just say, the board is like a glittering black diamond of racism, misogyny, pedophilia, and horrendous grammar. I don't recommend ever going there if you have the option.

Okay, I may be exaggerating slightly, but it really is pretty bad. When I discovered Serenes' forums, it was like a breath of fresh air.

Edited January 22, 2013 by Tarquin

[Diortem]

There's been at least one hate thread dedicated to every character by now. And all those ****ing Nono/Nowi topics, argh. Let's just say, the board is like a glittering black diamond of racism, misogyny, pedophilia, and horrendous grammar. I don't recommend ever going there if you have the option.

Okay, I may be exaggerating slightly, but it really is pretty bad. When I discovered Serenes' forums, it was like a breath of fresh air.

...Dear god, that is bad. Nowi is already flamebait if one talks about her too much, but something like that sounds BAD. I could understand the "Hate Thread for most characters" thing, but even then, that's a little excessive.

[Eberict]

GameFAQs has nothing on the Tumblr hate on FE13. There's a lot of hate going on by people who haven't played the game and have never played a Fire Emblem game ever before based solely on the fact that this game only has heterosexual marriage. I understand the issue in real life, but to apply it here is nothing short of cultural and intellectual imperialism. Not to mention unfortunate when a single feature prevents people from even touching a game and yet not shutting up about how "horrible" it is.

If you must use tumblr, just look at the images and ignore the text. SF is the safe place for FE fandom right now.

[Diortem]

GameFAQs has nothing on the Tumblr hate on FE13. There's a lot of hate going on by people who haven't played the game and have never played a Fire Emblem game ever before based solely on the fact that this game only has heterosexual marriage. I understand the issue in real life, but to apply it here is nothing short of cultural and intellectual imperialism. Not to mention unfortunate when a single feature prevents people from even touching a game and yet not shutting up about how "horrible" it is.

If you must use tumblr, just look at the images and ignore the text. SF is the safe place for FE fandom right now.

I would expect most sites to have people take one look at a part of the game, and instantly hate it, but even then, that's dumb.

I agree, SF is not only the safe place for the FE fandom, but also the nicest forum I've seen.

[bookofholsety]

GameFAQs has nothing on the Tumblr hate on FE13. There's a lot of hate going on by people who haven't played the game and have never played a Fire Emblem game ever before based solely on the fact that this game only has heterosexual marriage. I understand the issue in real life, but to apply it here is nothing short of cultural and intellectual imperialism. Not to mention unfortunate when a single feature prevents people from even touching a game and yet not shutting up about how "horrible" it is.

If you must use tumblr, just look at the images and ignore the text. SF is the safe place for FE fandom right now.

ahahahaha I remember when I posted information about the revealation of Paris's identity on Tumblr last year - a ridiculous number of people started crying homophobia in response to it solely because of his very existence and its implications about Ike/Soren (never mind that it says absolutely nothing about Ike's life beyond the fact that Paris eventually exists). some of the rhetoric is pretty hilarious - I think at least one self-righteous essay I saw floating around declared that once you ignore the (sometimes questionable) art, "all that's left is the game" as if the core game itself literally does not matter at all to anyone

the situation there is still pretty bad, but I'd like to think I only pay attention to the parts of FE's tumblr fandom that are sane, so I don't see the worst of it most of the time. hopefully when the game hits and the sane wings start talking about their positive experiences with it, it'll all die down hahaha yeah right

Edited January 22, 2013 by Rhinocerocket

[Diortem]

ahahahaha I remember when I posted information about the revealation of Paris's identity on Tumblr last year - a ridiculous number of people started crying homophobia in response to it solely because of his very existence and its implications about Ike/Soren (never mind that it says absolutely nothing about Ike's life beyond the fact that Paris eventually exists). some of the rhetoric is pretty hilarious - I think at least one self-righteous essay I saw floating around declared that once you ignore the (sometimes questionable) art, "all that's left is the game" as if the core game itself literally does not matter at all to anyone

the situation there is still pretty bad, but I'd like to think I only pay attention to the parts of FE's tumblr fandom that are sane, so I don't see the worst of it most of the time. hopefully when the game hits and the sane wings start talking about their positive experiences with it, it'll all die down hahaha yeah right

XD People cried homophobia to Paris' existance. XD

And yeah, all Paris means is that Ike or Mist (or any cousins/aunts/uncles, if they have any) had children. That is literally all that Paris means, that at some point, Ike or Mist (or their relatives, again, if they had any) found a Partner who is not their same Gender. Given that Mist has a canon husband in Boyd, it's probably that, in a similar situation to Marth.

Edited January 22, 2013 by Diortem

[luchinania]

I've been lucky then with tumblr. I'm there all the time and I haven't come across FE hate or complains about the lack of gay relationships.

[Diortem]

I've been lucky then with tumblr. I'm there all the time and I haven't come across FE hate or complains about the lack of gay relationships.

Well, the guy did say the whole Paris thing happened close to when he was announced (like half a year ago), and it died down a little since then. You probably are a little lucky, though.

[bookofholsety]

In general, there are always substantiall outbursts of hate at times of announcement or revelation of anything to do with the game, particularly the introduction of distasteful or problematic aspects*, just like there is with positive reception to announcements. Of course, big things aren't always happening, so when they're not the vitriol cools down to a simmer: it's there, but it's not the centre of attention. In other words, it's exactly like everywhere else on the internet about everything else ever, just prone to bizarre sinister misinterpretations and dodgy logic; these principles of fan reaction are pretty much universal, and Tumblr is just a weird interpretation thereof.

I find this stuff more fascinating than I realistically should

*by which I mean both the legitimately worrying things like Nowi, and Tumblr's trademark misinterpretations of the innocuous and normal as HEINOUS MORAL SLEIGHTS

Edited January 22, 2013 by Rhinocerocket

[Diortem]

In general, there are always substantiall outbursts of hate at times of announcement or revelation of anything to do with the game, particularly the introduction of distasteful or problematic aspects*, just like there is with positive reception to announcements. Of course, big things aren't always happening, so when they're not the vitriol cools down to a simmer: it's there, but it's not the centre of attention. In other words, it's exactly like everywhere else on the internet about everything else ever, just prone to bizarre sinister misinterpretations and dodgy logic; these principles of fan reaction are pretty much universal, and Tumblr is just a weird interpretation thereof.

I find this stuff more fascinating than I realistically should

*by which I mean both the legitimately worrying things like Nowi, and Tumblr's trademark misinterpretations of the innocuous and normal as HEINOUS MORAL SLEIGHTS

This is true. I guess tumblr is like that.

Don't worry about finding it fascinating, there's a reason there's a job for people to study the social patterns of the internet.

[Eberict]

In general, there are always substantiall outbursts of hate at times of announcement or revelation of anything to do with the game, particularly the introduction of distasteful or problematic aspects*, just like there is with positive reception to announcements. Of course, big things aren't always happening, so when they're not the vitriol cools down to a simmer: it's there, but it's not the centre of attention. In other words, it's exactly like everywhere else on the internet about everything else ever, just prone to bizarre sinister misinterpretations and dodgy logic; these principles of fan reaction are pretty much universal, and Tumblr is just a weird interpretation thereof.

I find this stuff more fascinating than I realistically should

You're not alone in finding it fascinating; I'm right there with you, watching from the sidelines and usually shaking my head.

*by which I mean both the legitimately worrying things like Nowi, and Tumblr's trademark misinterpretations of the innocuous and normal as HEINOUS MORAL SLEIGHTS

Well said, well said. You do understand, though, that by suggesting that the normative was a positive thing, you have committed an egregious moral slight, right? Hahaha, ;).

Edited January 22, 2013 by Eberict

[Iridium]

GameFAQs has nothing on the Tumblr hate on FE13. There's a lot of hate going on by people who haven't played the game and have never played a Fire Emblem game ever before based solely on the fact that this game only has heterosexual marriage. I understand the issue in real life, but to apply it here is nothing short of cultural and intellectual imperialism. Not to mention unfortunate when a single feature prevents people from even touching a game and yet not shutting up about how "horrible" it is.

If you must use tumblr, just look at the images and ignore the text. SF is the safe place for FE fandom right now.

For what it's worth, I was kind of mad about this (at least regarding the Avatar) until I realized that it was crucial to the game's plot that I made babies. So I accepted it, more or less. I don't think it would have killed them to have made one or two dedicated 'bi' characters, but... whatever.

-

At any rate, I'd definitely like to join in praising you guys here. I'm fairly new, but pretty much all of my past experience with the Fire Emblem fanbase - largely GameFAQs and another forum I administrate, but with a few others here and there - has made you out to all be jerks. I expected the same when I joined here, and mostly only did so because (a) I was really excited for Fire Emblem Awakening and (b) a friend of mine who I was gushing about Falcom towards told me that the dude in charge here liked Falcom and I figured that was deserving of a usercount +1. I was honestly surprised with how nice this place has been... to the point where, honestly, I've grown sort of disappointed in the oftentimes mean-spiritedness of my own forums. I don't know how y'all do it.

[Diortem]

At any rate, I'd definitely like to join in praising you guys here. I'm fairly new, but pretty much all of my past experience with the Fire Emblem fanbase - largely GameFAQs and another forum I administrate, but with a few others here and there - has made you out to all be jerks. I expected the same when I joined here, and mostly only did so because (a) I was really excited for Fire Emblem Awakening and (b) a friend of mine who I was gushing about Falcom towards told me that the dude in charge here liked Falcom and I figured that was deserving of a usercount +1. I was honestly surprised with how nice this place has been... to the point where, honestly, I've grown sort of disappointed in the oftentimes mean-spiritedness of my own forums. I don't know how y'all do it.

It probably has to do with the fact that the userbase here is a decent size (so not as many trolls), the mods and admins are very nice, and the forum (and the site as a whole, for that matter) is dedicated to Fire Emblem, where as most other places have it as another branch on a tree, so to speak. And there is the fact that the people here seem to enjoy snarking and jokes more than spiting and trolling here. Otherwise, it's probably luck.

Now watch this change by the time the massive influx of fans from Awakening's localized release happens.

[Eberict]

For what it's worth, I was kind of mad about this (at least regarding the Avatar) until I realized that it was crucial to the game's plot that I made babies. So I accepted it, more or less. I don't think it would have killed them to have made one or two dedicated 'bi' characters, but... whatever.

To be honest, I wish it could be a little more open too, but then I realize also that it is a game made by a different culture with different values and development from Western culture. As the West has only begun opening up to the idea of diverse sexuality recently and not without difficulty, it is unfair to arbitrarily impose our own values on a product of another culture. It is the hazard of imported works, I suppose, but also the beauty of them; were there not such differences and were we so inclined to oppress other peoples into accepting our "universal" values, we would move more towards a fairly uninteresting homogenisation of the world by stifling diversity of thought.

But yes, it would have been nice if they had included a few differently oriented characters and maybe they will... one day. I hope.

At any rate, I'd definitely like to join in praising you guys here. I'm fairly new, but pretty much all of my past experience with the Fire Emblem fanbase - largely GameFAQs and another forum I administrate, but with a few others here and there - has made you out to all be jerks. I expected the same when I joined here, and mostly only did so because (a) I was really excited for Fire Emblem Awakening and (b) a friend of mine who I was gushing about Falcom towards told me that the dude in charge here liked Falcom and I figured that was deserving of a usercount +1. I was honestly surprised with how nice this place has been... to the point where, honestly, I've grown sort of disappointed in the oftentimes mean-spiritedness of my own forums. I don't know how y'all do it.

I'm happy that you're here and enjoying yourself. I'm fairly new also--in fact, you may predate me--but I have reached the same conclusions about this place after having come from a very similar context as yours. It's honestly amazing to be part of a community of Fire Emblem fans that I want to be a part of... finally, haha.

Now watch this change by the time the massive influx of fans from Awakening's localized release happens.

I demand you knock on wood now.

MODEDIT: yo don't doublepost

Edited January 22, 2013 by Integrity

[Lord Raven]

It won't be so bad. Half of htem will get banned, a quarter will leave, a quarter will stay and contribute to this melting pot.

[Tarquin]

It won't be so bad. Half of them will get banned, a quarter will leave, a quarter will stay and contribute to this melting pot.

This gives me hope. We have great mods here - should we indeed be unfortunate enough to be inundated with undesirable hate-spewing troll types, they will be quickly banned and in the process deter others from trying the same shenanigans. I wish I didn't have to say it, but when diplomacy and basic human decency fail, force is sometimes the only recourse.

Plus, if worst comes to worst, they could always limit new user registration to invitation only.

[Iridium]

the mods and admins are very nice

I like to think I'm nice. :<

It doesn't stop people accusing the staff at large of corruption, though. Which makes it all the more sad when I know every last person on it has the site's best interests at heart. It's just no-win. Give standard-or-higher punishments? Trying to silence opinions, you filthy communist. Site owner's gonna hear about this! Give reduced punishments? You biased nepotist. Site owner's gonna hear about this! Don't give punishments, opting for verbal warnings? You don't deserve to be on staff. Site owner's gonna hear about this! And then the site owner hears about it, slaps me on the wrist, and so I live for another week. If there's one surefire way to turn someone from a wide-eyed optimist into a cold cynic, it's having to deal with that fear every action or inaction I make.

I think that was the thing I was most surprised about when I came here - the fact that the staff seems to be... liked. Respected, even. Oh, what I'd give for even an eighth of this kindness - it looks so effortless, but trying for years has not yielded it elsewhere.

Edited January 22, 2013 by Iridium

[Diortem]

I like to think I'm nice. :<

It doesn't stop people accusing the staff at large of corruption, though. Which makes it all the more sad when I know every last person on it has the site's best interests at heart. It's just no-win. Give standard-or-higher punishments? Trying to silence opinions, you filthy communist. Site owner's gonna hear about this! Give reduced punishments? You biased nepotist. Site owner's gonna hear about this! Don't give punishments, opting for verbal warnings? You don't deserve to be on staff. Site owner's gonna hear about this! And then the site owner hears about it, slaps me on the wrist, and so I live for another week. If there's one surefire way to turn someone from a wide-eyed optimist into a cold cynic, it's having to deal with that fear every action or inaction I make.

I think that was the thing I was most surprised about when I came here - the fact that the staff seems to be... liked. Respected, even. Oh, what I'd give for even an eighth of this kindness - it looks so effortless, but trying for years has not yielded it elsewhere.

Well, to be fair, considering that there are multiple people who could vouch for the Mods and Admins (myself included, and I barely even know them), in addition to the fact that there are conversations before anything of this sort would happen (like the one being held right now), and not to mention the fact that the mods usually announce when they are going for drastic measures, I don't think it's that big of a problem. Plus, who would admonish the mods for being light on the warnings and punishment? It may happen, but I'd doubt it'd get vocal enough to matter. Plus, the mods only really take any sorts of measure if something gets really out of hand (like threads being derailed over an arguement of a feature or character that lasts for several pages). I don't really see them hand out warnings and punishments out too much, but that may just be me. Even so, the mods are nice enough.

Although, given the volume of the people who would sign up because of Awakening, I don't really have much weight in my hypothesis. We'll just have to see come February 4th and April wheneverthefuckitreleasesinEU.

[Lord Raven]

No reason to be having this conversation, but,

Plus, who would admonish the mods for being light on the warnings and punishment?

A lot of people. There are certain things that one should not be too light on.

[Diortem]

No reason to be having this conversation, but,

A lot of people. There are certain things that one should not be too light on.

...I guess that's true. It was probably my personal bias saying that, but at any rate.

Also, yeah, I think we should stop talking about this and keep the thread on track about the demo. At any rate...

Oh, and that reminds me: What do you guys think of them leaving out the Intermission chapter in the demo?

[Iridium]

Although I thank you for sympathy, I don't want to turn this thread into a discussion about this sort of thing. I come here to take a break from the place I go when I take a break. I don't want it spilling over here more than necessary.

-

It means I can get to Lunatic C1 (and thus die on Lunatic C1) more quickly, so I'm fine without Intermission. 'sides, it saves a little prologue for the main game.

[Wheels]

I'd say they left th Intermission out for the shock value, for someone who hasn't played the game, just the demo, they fire it up expecting to wake up amnesiac in a field, BAM! Chromstab time