Great job
@Sievas, I empathize with your sentiments and agree with the spirit of your post. However, I believe the basis for your soliloquy is faulty, the bolded parts to be exact.
A majority of participants in online hardcore fandoms don’t do it to enjoy their “favorite” series communally. As a 15 year veteran of online hardcore fandoms, I saw it happen in every one of them. Anyone that actively participates in hardcore fandoms has been, at a point in their life, a dedicated fan of said series. A Fan in the purest sense. One that enthusiastically follows said series and tries to digest it for what it does positively and negatively.
As time flows, familiarity and deeper grasp over the series' lore and beats are gained, and fatigue and boredom set in for a group of those fans. Yet, it's always been a passionate pastime of theirs. So, we arrive at the dichotomy of the hardcore forum fandom. That group of fans, having lost their investment in the actual series, direct that investment to fandom itself. The series, initially the object of their investment, becomes but a background for their actual current devotion. Fandom.
By my incomplete induction, I’ll classify our forum fandom, by reason they continue to actively participate.
Will of A members) They've had legitimate long term gripes with the creative/artistic direction of the series and are completely devoid of any emotional attachment to any aspect of it anymore. Nevertheless, they take pleasure in educating the "fanboys" about how oblivious they are to the series' decline in merit. Objectively bad characterization, Incosistent writing, stakes, etc... are terms they usually use (thank you TV Tropes, Cinema Sins, etc...). They don't dabble in memes, shitposting, etc.. They have a superior online philosopher persona to protect
Will of B members ) Likewise, they've no emotional attachment to the actual series anymore. Nonetheless, they continue to be attached to the high of the shared communal experience of spoiler/new chapter anticipation. Like Roger Ebert once said, "Anyone who would camp out in a tent on the sidewalk, for weeks in order to be first in line for a movie is more into camping on the sidewalk than movies"
Will of C members) They've no emotional attachment to the actual series, but they've directed their devotion to a specific character/power level fandom. They're not reading the series for the series, they're using the series as a gambling simulator. They're fans of fandom wars. Pick a winning horse (character/power level tier) and anticipate every week to see if you have the winning pick. Story, context, character situation, ability interactions, drama, etc... be damned. It's all about "W"s, "L"s, "portrayal", "hype/dehype", etc... They tend to manipulate any thread/conversation back to their character's power level conflict. One panel of one character getting hit, is gold for the hater, and hell for the stan! Limited participation beyond viciously defending their character's power level and baiting/downplaying other character fandoms
Will of D members) They've been invested in the story's lore, characters, drama, action, comedy, art, etc... for a significant portion of their lives, and are participating to express that passion. They have their ups and downs with the story, but overall the investment in fandom is secondary to the investment in the actual series. Participation extends to all topics of discussion, from story, to plot holes, to character interactions, to fan art, to shipping, to comedy, to memes, etc... as reasonably as possible without being absorbed into the discussion parameters set by Groups A-C
Will of E members) They're still invested and would like to discuss the actual story, however, they get absorbed into the parameters of discussion set by Groups A-C. They can't go back to digesting the series as they have in the past. Now, they can only read the series through eyes tinted with "this is an L", "this is bad portrayal", "this is bad writing", "If this happens to this character I like they'll slander him", "Big Meme haha", etc... The poor souls joined to discuss the actual story, only to discover hardcore fandoms have moved on from series discourse to discussing themselves
Will of F - as in Fanboys) "This series is the greatest thing since we discovered fire" ultimate fanboys. But I don't see much weight for it in our forum. That's mostly Reddit!!!!
Ok after this long-winded breakdown, let me make my actual point. I think you’re speaking for the poor souls in Group E lol Some fans just can't cope with the annoyance of not being able to discuss the series you still care about independently of hardcore fandom chaos. It totally sucks that great fans like you don’t get enjoyment of being here to the extent that you imagined before you joined.
Personally (I’m from the Will of D group btw
), I'm the least bothered individual by literally anything online or in person
So I still rock with my favorites in a way that's authentic to me and find most of the lAnJi/LiG mEmE shenanigans and memes amusing and entertaining as hell. I know exactly what I come to this forum for, I know hardcore fandom cancer and I enjoy consuming it! Feed me more cancer please! But I completely understand that other fans can't separate their reason for following the series and the reason they frequent hardcore forums.
As
@MD Zolo said, that’s what happens in every forum fandom. If I wanted to seriously discuss One Piece I’d probably not join any online forum as I view the series with different lenses than forum fandom majority. Attempting to reach agreement based on differing subjective premises will always lead to unproductive conversations. Add to that my current workload (I’m literally losing money writing this
but I thought your post deserved a legitimate response) doesn’t allow me to share what I actually want to say about the series. So most of my posts now are low effort Gifs and Memes simply to blow off some steam and have some laughs (sorry lads lol). I personally find most fans in all the above groups to be fun/hilarious to talk to. I’ll probably never agree with most of them about many aspects of One Piece, but I can still participate in entertaining chaos nonetheless. I'll legit discuss anything with anybody lol (except when
@Monkey D. Luffy @Red Dog @Fujishiro bring up Bao Huang
)
I think you’re onto something with group private conversations with other like minded fans. If that helps you enjoy the communal experience by evading the environment of chaos and sourness that dominates main threads, that’s a great idea.
I won’t be able to post much over the next 10 hours, but I’ll be happy to discuss more later if you wanna just vent.
Honestly, if ya'll just make me a mod then the toxicity would no longer be a thing
But toxicity is what makes forum so much interesting though
So if you want a non-toxic and peaceful discussion then go to Reddit XD
