It's occurred to me that the Transformers fandom has probably never been more divided. There are those who look for a serious story from the Alligned Continuity and there are those who enjoy the non stop action from the live action films. Everywhere I look on these forums we always seem to be at odds at each other over these two series. So there are those of us who like our Transformers to be developed and there are those of us who like a good old thrill ride. Seeing as it is the holiday season why can't we come together and just say that the entire Transformers franchise is awesome. From the humble beginnings of G1 to the current Prime it doesn't matter, it's always nice to see Optimus leading this war against the decepticons. So who's with me?
I have no desire to get in an argument with anyone over which series is better. I grew up with G1 and the movies got me interested in Transformers again. I enjoy watching G1, the movies, and Transformers Prime with my son. We will check out Rescuebots this weekend. So yes, we enjoy the entire franchise.
Welcome to the TF fandom! Things like this happen often! But seriously you're right, the franchise has always impressed us one way or another and it's great it has different brands for some people to enjoy!
I'm with you; personally I enjoy Transformers as a whole. Than again this is the Transformer's fandom we're talking about here.
I think there are actually quite a lot of people who find enjoyment in all versions. I do, too. And it's possible to like one more than another, for people to have favorites, without having to hate anything.
In the spirit of the thread I will post a list of things I like from parts of the franchise I dislike. G1: It may not have gone as deep as I would like but I'm really glad they took what was a toy commercial seriously enough to develop a fantastic core story. A good story can be born from anything and this is proof. Beast Machines: It told a great story and had great character progression from episode 1 to the end. Regardless of my over all opinion of the series and what it actually did, I admit it did tell a good story. The Movies: Bay does action pretty well. These movies have fantastic action pieces that got progressively better as the movies continued. Especially Dark of the Moon where Bay was forced to back up and steady his camera. I would never oppose Bay being the go to guy for action sequences for the property, especially if was reigned in a little.
"Divided" But this is nothing new. The Transformers fandom has always been fractured. Just the nature of the beast.
Personally, I think it is much better to be a very divided with countless different opinions fanbase [like, say, TF fandom] than a bunch of Elitist hacks who despise any different opinion and don't grasp the concept of argument [The "bad" part of the SW fanbase is like that].
Neither this fandom, nor any fandom, have ever been able to achieve consensus on all things, or even most things. Hell, anything, in most cases. Disagreement is not division. Discussion is not argument. Passion is not necessarily an attack. Meditate upon these points. Also Rumble was red, Optimuses should never be trucks, Action masters RULED and comics are always better than cartoons.
"The humble beginnings of G1"? In September of 1984 there was a nationwide Transformers craze, unlike now where Transformers is just another show or toy line.
I frequented this forum when it was divided over Armada (yeah, I'm old!).... We all have strong opinions...and each of our preferences for whichever version of the TF Universe we like is 100% irrational and subjective. You cant simply talk someone into agreeing with your taste. I think the conflict arises because we each want Hasbro's finite efforts and resources to favor what we like best...eventhough what we want has very little bearing on what Hasbro puts out. I absolutely loathe the Bay movies...but im glad so many enjoy them.
Too many people trying to be right by making the other wrong... and elevating ourselves at the expense of the other. The TF fandom is just too darn big for its britches.
Yeah, this. It's not enough to have a favorite. A lot of people seem to feel the need to also tell others that their favorite sucks.
Point is, they're much more common in the SW fanbase, around here, people are much more tolerant and these people are harder to find [probably due the "multiple series" trait of the TF franchise], not to mention these people are usually seen in a bad light in the TF fanbase. On the SW fanbase, on the other hand, those guys are much more common and not nearly as reprimanded, some 50% of the SW fanbase is almost BASED on a ever-lasting War to destroy different opinons, while here, that almost doesn't exist.
We certainly seem to get in rows more often than, say, the Sherlock Holmes fandom. But then again Sherlock Holmes has never had over twenty different incarnations, cartoon series, books, comics, movies, and on etc infinity. A little dissidence is to be expected, and from what I've seen the people on here who get in furious, passionate rows with each other aren't the majority. Of course, there was that massive thread hijack back in the Prime forum where they were arguing about the Primes, but that was partly Hasbro's fault anyways so there we go. tl;dr- Fandom, I love you anyways. <3
i've said this b4 we as fans are very lucky to have transformers last 25+ years. also i like tf's as a whole. it makes me feel like a kid.
I blame Hasbro for the division. Transformers is never the same thing twice. Even if the names stay the same the characters personalities vary. Hasbro's attempt to fix the continuity is too little too late.
