I'd say that's the biggest issue that ought to be addressed within this fandom.
Even in this thread I notice a lot of close-minded speculation. Certain characters (typically those favored by users here) are focused on with near tunnel-vision and outside characters are shoved to the side or straight up denounced. I feel like if people were willing to seriously look at the many different series that have been brought up, like Tohou, Guilty Gear, Darkstalkers, Fortnite, Minecraft, Halo, Kingdom Hearts, etc. etc. etc., speculation would become more open. It'd be more about "here's why this character would be cool and here's why I think they have a chance" instead of "here's why your character doesn't have a chance and you should stop talking." I'll admit I'm a bit guilty of spreading the former myself, but I think a little effort could go a long way here.
Sakurai does it, so why can't we?
Aaaand this is precisely why I bring up Story of Seasons at basically every opportunity. Not because I'm obsessed with it, I promise I'm not. But because I truly believe it deserves consideration. And I know no one else will bring it up barring perhaps
Ornl
. So I figure if I don't it simply won't get talked about. And even when I do it usually gets ignored. Which is funny, because I do see people bring up Marvelous every once in a while as a company that could get a rep, but that never translates to any discussion about who. In case you were wondering I very much believe Farmer would be the rep for Marveous were it to ever happen. Senran Kagura is really the only competition and we all know that won't fly if Mai won't. And as far as I can tell No More Heroes is not Marvelous' IP, but Grasshopper Manufacture.
Really though I do genuinely believe Farmer has a better chance than most everyone thinks. And I'm sure there are plenty other characters similarly disregarded because they don't happen to fit the taste of the specific communities that flock to this type of forum. Like Frogger was, up until he was rumored for a hot second like a month ago or whenever that was.
Feels a bit like deja vu since I said the same things about Dragon Quest before Hero became rumored and subsequently became the talk of the forum until his reveal. I definitely don't feel as strongly about Farmer by any means, but still its funny to me that people keep looking to the "obvious" picks, when most of the picks so far were never thought of as obvious until perhaps after their inclusion. Back before Hero was rumored it was difficult to get most people to care enough to talk about Dragon Quest much less consider it seriously. And as far as I know, no one saw Joker coming. Nor did I see many people talking about Terry. But naturally he as obvious in retrospect.
And I imagine, regardless of whoever ends up being FP5, the overall sentiment after will be that the character was obvious post reveal. Or at least a couple weeks down the line once people have gotten used to the idea.
But then I also thought Bomberman was basically a lock going into Ultimate, and we know how that ended up.
