The Gamer's Quarter

Ryan - SuperWes' Bane

How did this come about? When was the heyday of Fanfics? Will we ever see an end to them?

If you hate them, why do you hate them?

If you think they are fun if done right, please explain.

I've heard it many times before how people think they are really lame and a waste of time, but I want a hardcore gamer's opinion . . . I'll keep my own opinions to myself . . . since I can be accused of once writing one.

Mr. Mechanical · Friendly Stranger Joined: 14 Oct 2004 Posts: 1276

I don't really have an opinion of videogame fanfictions.

Alc · . Joined: 22 Feb 2006 Posts: 109 Location: UK

As an outsider, it's always seemed to me that fanfiction was more for the enjoyment of the author than the reader. The notion is self-indulgent and unoriginal, which isn't to say worthless or a waste of time, just limited in potential and appeal. It seems that if you've got enough talent to write good fiction, you should create your own stuff. I also have problems with fanfiction inherently being non-canon, but that may just be a slightly illogical prejudice on my part (fanfiction may well hang together with official game storylines better than later "official" works do; shouldn't the coherence of a text be valued above its source?).

helicopterp · . Joined: 13 May 2006 Posts: 1435 Location: Philadelphia

dark steve · . Joined: 17 Jun 2005 Posts: 1110

Well you play videogames too, right?

Dinosaur Comic(wow oh no robot really works)

There's also an appropriate Cat and Girl, but it doesn't work as well if you see the punchline coming.

SuperWes · Posted: Mon Jul 17, 2006 8:15 am Post subject:

My personal problem with it is that it takes the least important, and often worst, aspect of a game (its story), separates it from what really makes it appealing (the game itself), and then forces its own, often badly written and igoring the theme of the original, story on top of it, creating something that's unappealing on so many levels.

That said, I'm a little more forgiving of fan games, desptie their lack of originality.

-Wes
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*christina* · . Joined: 17 Jan 2006 Posts: 16 Location: St. Louis, MO

Bring on the Fan Porn! Oh - I mean engaging insights into the characters placed in titillating circumstances that might lead them into the situation of consumating their romance.

I think I read more Sailor Moon "lemons" in middle school than any other form of literature.

~Christina

Alc · . Joined: 22 Feb 2006 Posts: 109 Location: UK

helicopterp · . Joined: 13 May 2006 Posts: 1435 Location: Philadelphia

rf · . Joined: 15 Jul 2006 Posts: 23

I never got the appeal of writing it. People act like it's easier and more pleasant to do than original fiction--which fits with the idea that it develops one's writing style, like a "tutorial mode" for fiction--but personally, I've never felt like I had enough of a grasp on another writer's characters to do them justice. It'd be endlessly agonizing to make sure each character's dialogue didn't sound way off, and so on.

Since I haven't understood the appeal, I've never read any of it, so I can't comment on what people actually produce.

mslano · . Joined: 18 May 2006 Posts: 16 Location: Chicago

I've read some fan fiction for both anime and videogames and I find that the quality of each piece is a direct relationship to the author's understanding of the characters. If the author can find out what's important behind each characterization and is able to portray these details in the circumstances of his or her own story, then the fanfiction turns out well. It's very rare that someone really understands what the original author tried to do with each character, so many fanfiction authors just carry over very surface interpretations of the characters.

That being said, I enjoy fanfiction when the characterizations remain complete and the author is able to put his or her own twists on the characters, based on the situation created. I think it's always fun to see characters in different contexts, so I guess that is the underlying foundation to fanfiction's occasional appeal for me.

simplicio · . Joined: 03 May 2005 Posts: 1091

I like it!

(When it's called "modding.")

Nana Komatsu · weak sauce Joined: 17 Jul 2006 Posts: 1293

Obligatory link to the worst thing I've ever written (intentionally at least).

My favorite fan fiction is the kind that takes the characters and highlights their true qualities in an honest, canon way. Or when there's hot boys having lots of sex.

Although I've read a lot of anime fan fiction, I haven't run into much video game fiction. Well other than Asteroids Fan Fiction.

dessgeega · Posted: Mon Jul 17, 2006 9:49 pm Post subject:

i used to know someone who slashed the turks (of ffvii) incessantly. i feel like i've mentioned this before. anyway, she's a really good writer.

i am trying to remember her website. it is something bubblegum.com, i'm pretty sure.
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dessgeega · Posted: Mon Jul 17, 2006 9:59 pm Post subject:

also nana this is amazing.

Swimmy · . Joined: 16 Sep 2005 Posts: 990 Location: Fairfax, VA

Is it okay to link Rogers's'ss's Harry Potter fanfic? I liked it.
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"Ayn Rand fans are the old school version of Xenogears fanboys."
-seryogin

Nana Komatsu · weak sauce Joined: 17 Jul 2006 Posts: 1293

dessgeega · Posted: Mon Jul 17, 2006 10:14 pm Post subject:

plugging the very secret diaries.
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ryan · . Joined: 20 Feb 2005 Posts: 999

Ryan - SuperWes' Bane · Posted: Tue Jul 18, 2006 2:30 am Post subject:

I personally love fanfics that are comedies. I read a Jurrasic Park FF7 story once . . . I found it quite funny that it was all Chocobo's instead of dinosaurs ....

TheRumblefish · . Joined: 29 Jan 2006 Posts: 258 Location: Florida

When I was was truly involved with Gundam and other such Mecha, I read some Gundam fan fiction once. It made me a little sick. Now I just randomly read Armored Core fan fics, which are sometimes actually decent. They decided to use the Word Processor for once, so everything came out decent.

Although I must admit I am against fan-fiction for the most part. It's great to pass the time. Or when I am really depressed, it always makes me laugh. Or cry, one or the other.
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OtakupunkX · . Joined: 23 Mar 2006 Posts: 730

So one time I read this Kingdom Hearts fan-fic that was so disturbing I couldn't help but laugh. It involved Herecules becoming a woman and there was something about a sky full of reproductive organs. It was from a website that collected terrible, not-safe-for-work fanfiction from across the internet.

Personally, I'm against fanfiction. I've always found it more rewarding to create my own worlds and butcher those rather than butcher someone else's.

Ryan - SuperWes' Bane · Posted: Sat Jul 29, 2006 6:52 pm Post subject:

That sounds remarkably like Mr. Garrison's story from South Park when he tried writing one. What was it called? Oh yeah, Valley of the Penises . ... classic. Stone and Parker are crazy Razz

GSL · Posted: Sun Jul 30, 2006 3:18 am Post subject:

I'm going to draw a comparison:
Fanfics are masturbation. The author is the only one that really gets off on them, and they will always pale ridiculously in comparison to the real thing. (I'll take it a step further: there may be other people besides the masturbator who get off on the whole thing, and that's just creepy. Creepier.)

Personally, I view fanfics as complete, trite crap. Even the ones that don't degenerate into some sort of slash fiction are an affront to the creators of the original story and characters. The fact that a person needs to rip off legitimately created characters and worlds is a testament to the lack of their creativity and originality, and as such they have no business writing.

If you're really a fan of an established property, if you truly believe you have 'love' for a favorite game/anime/movie, then the best way of showing this is: don't fuck with it. The original creators are more than capable of doing that themselves, and the abominations created by your unholy bastardry are in no way, shape or form a tribute or work of love for the source material.

Please note that this strongly worded opinion is merely a 99.9% accurate generalization, as I have found some fan-made material that has, if not directly kept with the spirit of its source, at least not gone out of its way to voilate it. Unfortunately, the only examples I can call to mind are Japanese doujin games--not to say there hasn't been anything good done in English, I've just never seen it. In fact, the only sort of 'fanfic' I can possibly envision as being passable would be in the form of a game; nothing good will ever come from written fiction for as long as so-called fans insist on making love stories about characters entirely sexually unattracted to each other, or crossing over universes barely plausable on their own, much less in combination with another.

P.S. It has been a beer night. Do not hate me for my feelings.

Scratchmonkey · . Joined: 02 Mar 2005 Posts: 1439

I don't know if the banal nature of most fanfiction is really an obstacle to enjoying it, even in an unironic fashion.

dhex · Posted: Sun Jul 30, 2006 9:40 am Post subject:

isn't kingdom hearts basically fan fiction with a really big budget?
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GSL · Posted: Sun Jul 30, 2006 1:21 pm Post subject:

Exactly!

TOLLMASTER · nippon ichi PR man Joined: 15 Feb 2005 Posts: 187

When I was a kid, I wrote some Pokemon fanfiction. Luckily I was still largely Catholic so there were no penises involved, but I think there may have been a lot of blood and dying. Because, of course, the dark angsty subtext of Pokemon was obvious only to me and a few other people on an AOL messageboard.

Ryan - SuperWes' Bane · Posted: Mon Jul 31, 2006 4:13 am Post subject:

Ohh, Crossovers! That totally brings "Super Robot Wars" to mind! There is like every mecha anime every created and their robots fighting against each other. Isn't it going to be released in the USA soon?

OtakupunkX · . Joined: 23 Mar 2006 Posts: 730

I can't remember the title of that fanfic, and I can't find it anywhere anymore. It was one of the more interesting things I've read...

GSL · Posted: Mon Jul 31, 2006 12:22 pm Post subject:

OtakupunkX · . Joined: 23 Mar 2006 Posts: 730

Lackey · . Joined: 11 Jul 2005 Posts: 1107 Location: Canada

All this while I'm in the process of writing an epic Wizard of Wor/Yar's Revenge crossover novella. I may as well just give up.
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| Little bird fighting against a bat sect game |

TheRumblefish · . Joined: 29 Jan 2006 Posts: 258 Location: Florida

J.Goodwin · . Joined: 31 Jul 2006 Posts: 297 Location: North Shore, MA

The only fanfic that I ever really really enjoyed reading was Lemonade Punch. Since I didn't really read many after that (they were piss poor, generally), I officially brand it the GREATEST FANFIC OF ALL TIME.

http://www.fanfic.net/pub/Anime/FanFictions/Ranma/Lemon/Punch/

In summary, it's a pornographic Ranma fanfic. The source material lends itself so well to the story structure though...

There was also a SF2/Ranma crossover lemon that I read once that I can't find anymore. I recall it being pretty funny, but not quite up to the Lemonade Punch standard.
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Gamertag - FalcomAdol -- Don't Click Here 触手
Playing - Ninety-Nine Nights - Xbox 360

GSL · Posted: Wed Aug 02, 2006 1:25 pm Post subject:

TheRumblefish · . Joined: 29 Jan 2006 Posts: 258 Location: Florida

Mothra was always so selfish, only concerned with saving the world and his mini followers and what not. What a jerk.
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OtakupunkX · . Joined: 23 Mar 2006 Posts: 730

So yesterday afternoon while I was going through some Game Gear roms I downloaded a few months ago I found a Godzilla game that played very similar to Advance Wars and it reminded me of this discussion.

GSL · Posted: Thu Aug 03, 2006 12:17 pm Post subject:

helicopterp · . Joined: 13 May 2006 Posts: 1435 Location: Philadelphia

OtakupunkX · . Joined: 23 Mar 2006 Posts: 730

I think the game's just called Godzilla. Nothing less, nothing more. It's all in Japanese too, so I couldn't figure out how to play it. Crying or Very sad

It had really nice graphics for a Game Gear game though... I'll take some screens tonight and post them in the morning.

Lockeownzj00 · . Joined: 16 Aug 2005 Posts: 214

I donno what to say really--it's an art form plagued by preteens and has a standard of shitty writing. That being said, in theory, I find nothing wrong with taking the world or canon of a certain game/series and extrapolating off that.

Greatsaint, while I understand your beef, you seem to be mostly attacking the very idea of fanfiction--that is to say, borrowing ideas and expanding off of them. But this is the nature of art; one thing is to borrow them and not give credit (plagiarising), and the other is to evolve the idea. Again--often shitty, but not an inherently immoral act.

So, I've read a few FF6 fanfics that weren't so bad. Can't really remember anything else, tho.

GSL · Posted: Fri Aug 04, 2006 12:39 am Post subject:

Ryan - SuperWes' Bane · Posted: Fri Aug 04, 2006 1:22 am Post subject:

J.Goodwin · . Joined: 31 Jul 2006 Posts: 297 Location: North Shore, MA

Is your beef the quality of the fics, or the quality of the source material they're borrowing from?

I have trouble believing that the work in the best fanfics is materially worse than Wild Arms 52.
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Gamertag - FalcomAdol -- Don't Click Here 触手
Playing - Ninety-Nine Nights - Xbox 360

GSL · Posted: Fri Aug 04, 2006 5:59 am Post subject:

dhex · Posted: Fri Aug 04, 2006 8:14 am Post subject:

a lot of "historical fiction" is essentially fanfiction. sometimes even written by people who can write, no less.

i'm going to write some about an alternate universe where i have a permanent slot on o'reilly detailing the evils of japanese game design once a week, and where no one can think of "final fantasy" without thinking "i hate you dad!"
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OtakupunkX · . Joined: 23 Mar 2006 Posts: 730