Should fans of a franchise get the last word?

[Poots]

In other words, should a fans opinion on the way a franchise is represented in smash outweigh anyone else's?
A few examples~

Someone who's never played animal crossing thinks Tom Nook would have been a better fit for a character, while an actual fan of animal crossing prefers the villager.

Someone who's never played Fire Emblem not wanting anymore from the franchise

Someone who only buys a console only for smash and nothing else wanting less Pokemon/Mario/Zelda etc.

This is just something I thought of the other day and I would like to hear some opinions on it. Personally I think anyone who intends to buy the game has a right to request something they want, but at the same time shouldn't someone who actually cares about a franchise be taken more seriously?

 

[D-idara]

If you love all of Nintendo franchises, then your opinion matters way more than a non-fan.

 

[Cap'nChreest]

Sakurai's opinion is the only one that matters. All hail.

 

[Pazzo.]

Let's put it this way: People will buy it whether they recognize a character or not.

 

[Swamp Sensei]

I think a balance needs to be met.

 

[Xermo]

If you want the game to be stuck in development hell and ultimately turn into 3D MUGEN for the WiiU, then yeah, let all the fans have a say.

 

[Verde Coeden Scalesworth]

Going to say no overall. Everyone should be heard equally. Overall, what's interesting to Sakurai should be taken into account, whether it's said by a fan of a particular franchise, or someone who was talking out of their butt. As long as it makes enough sense, who says it means little.

Also, yeah, only Sakurai and the development team's opinion matters. And anyone Sakurai legitimately asks(hence the Polls he has held. He clearly wanted that opinion. Not that he's obligated to follow the answers either).

Also, as the above said, MUGEN is perfect for the fans, Smash is perfect for good gameplay and an interesting roster that appeals to the majority of gamers. I'll just leave it at that, and that's simply my opinion on it, not some cold hard fact. Feel free to disagree.

 

[Canuckduck]

Let's put it at a balance between:

• The developers
• The fans of that franchise
• Other smash players who aren't fans of that franchise

 

[PlTe]

I actually have an example for this. I am s fan of Kid Icarus Uprising. It's one of my favorite games, aside from Mario 64. I am in high support of Palutena's inclusion in the game, while my brother (who has never played Uprising) thinks she's not going to be in it, whether there's support, proof, etc.
In this scenario, given that Sakurai is basing his decision on this, should go for my word. As one who frequently plays/is a huge fan of the franchise, I should be able to recognize the same potential in characters like Palutena as other characters.

 

[Artsy Omni]

Overall, Sakurai and the team weigh various opinions on a massive scale. He doesn't really have the opportunity to pick and choose the opinions that come from any particular party. So the question posed is a little bit impractical.

Like @ Verde Coeden Scalesworth said, it's ultimately up to Sakurai to look at the polls and let the polls INFORM (not dictate) his decisions on what characters to include. It's up to Sakurai's own personal discretion, not the fans.

I don't think there's really an objective way to say one way or another whether a particular class of person "should" have the last word. Feels a bit idealistic. It's not like he's ever going to be able to make everyone happy anyways.

 

[ProjectAngel]

There's gotta be a balance somewhere. If only one sides' opinions mattered, we wouldn't have a very interesting roster- it'd be a mess.

Ultimately, it depends on Sakurai. He weighs every opinion and ultimately decides who gets in the roster.

You can't make everyone happy. Sometimes you gotta end up angering longtime fans in order to come up with something good.

 

[lami]

Nah.

 

[D-idara]

What I'm getting at is...why would you grab people who have never played an FE game and ask them to decide the next FE character?

 

[Kamikazek]

What I'm getting at is...why would you grab people who have never played an FE game and ask them to decide the next FE character?

Because if there's a FE character that people who have never played a FE game mention then that character is really well known and thus might be a good choice for an all-stars game?

 

[Xermo]

Because if there's a FE character that people who have never played a FE game mention then that character is really well known and thus might be a good choice for an all-stars game?

That's subjective. I've never played any FE game outside of 7, but I might say Lucina is a viable candidate just because I've seen images and pics of her and like her design (not to mention actually knowing her name). That's no basis for a popularity contest according to your logic.

 

[Kamikazek]

That's subjective. I've never played any FE game outside of 7, but I might say Lucina is a viable candidate just because I've seen images and pics of her and like her design (not to mention actually knowing her name). That's no basis for a popularity contest according to your logic.

I...don't understand what you're saying? Like just how your post is worded I have no idea what it means.

My point was people who aren't fans of games could be a good metric for which characters are known by people outside of their fan base, which is something you might want to consider when making a game that is going to be played by a ton of people outside of that fanbase. Of course there are many other things to consider and if you're only deciding new characters off of any one factor that's probably a bad idea. But there are reasons why you'd ask people who've never played FE about FE characters. If it was me I'd ask fans, ask nonfans, and research the games personally before making any decisions.

 

[Xermo]

Let me clear it up for you:
Your stance according to your previous post:

"Because if there's a FE character that people who have never played a FE game mention then that character is really well known and thus might be a good choice for an all-stars game?"

My issue with it was that there's a wide spectrum for how a person who is not within the FE fanbase to know of a character, and in turn, recommend them for Smash. That does not mean, however, that said character is popular and a good choice for the game.

In my case, I haven't played much fire emblem ever, but may recommend, say, Lucina because I like her design. That doesn't make her a really well-known, popular, and viable candidate for an all-star game. That's what I was getting at.

 

[StupendousMike]

If Batman fans were in charge of casting decisions, we would never have gotten inspired choices like Michael Keaton or Heath Ledger. Fans can have all the opinions they want, but they shouldn't get to make choices like that.

 

[Eight Melodies]

Only my opinion matters.

 

[Morbi]

I feel as though the answer is quite obvious, both. One opinion is not necessarily better than another based on whether or not they played the game from the franchise as both play Smash (which is relevant).

 

[Kamikazek]

Let me clear it up for you:
Your stance according to your previous post:

My issue with it was that there's a wide spectrum for how a person who is not within the FE fanbase to know of a character, and in turn, recommend them for Smash. That does not mean, however, that said character is popular and a good choice for the game.

In my case, I haven't played much fire emblem ever, but may recommend, say, Lucina because I like her design. That doesn't make her a really well-known, popular, and viable candidate for an all-star game. That's what I was getting at.

You as a single person yeah. But if a whole lot of people who haven't played the game know about a character, then they're well know. Because a lot of people know them.

And being well known doesn't make a good choice necessarily, but it can be a positive factor.

 

[chronomantic]

The thing about listening to fans of a particular franchise is that sometimes their view may lead to blind fanaticism. Here on the boards you see it all the time but high fan support doesn't necessarily equate to what is in most cases an abstract notion of deservedness. This doesn't mean their perspective should be disregarded, it should at least be taken into consideration. I think it's important to listen to everybody but it's obvious you won't please them all.

 

[Sobreviviente]

I think everyone has the right to be happy

In other order of things, i wouldnt mind at all the characters as long the game is fun to play, so, maybe im not fan enough to have an opinion

 

[Morbi]

I think everyone has the right to be happy

In other order of things, i wouldnt mind at all the characters as long the game is fun to play, so, maybe im not fan enough to have an opinion

Every fan is "fan" enough to have an opinion.

 

[praline]

Franchise fans totally.

 

[Accf124]

Th developers should make decisions, but they shouldn't be the sole decider. Sakurai should consult the community, but that doesn't mean he should listen to all their requests and opinions. Basically like others said find a balance between both.

 

[Backgammon]

Find a balance, but for Smash's sake, do not let fans have a disproportionate say.
Opinions very massively between people. Hell, I'm one of those "People that played Animal Crossing" that you mentioned and I would prefer Tom Nook.
Different people within a franchise have very different opinions of what characters they like and what characters they don't.

I'm a massive fan of the LoZ franchise, but if Sakurai listened to me, Toon Link would have been out of here faster than something very fast.

In the end, the developers have the data to hand and they're the ones with market research to back up their decisions, too. They will mostly likely make an informed decision which takes a lot of opinions and ideas into account, but only what would actually work. (And if it didn't, they predicted wrong. Boo hoo.)

 

[Xigger]

Let's put it this way: People will buy it whether they recognize a character or not.

Let's not generalize too much: There are indeed gamers who care for the characters more than the game itself. I would guess fans of third party characters heavily weigh into this category.

Not to mention the more general (not hardcore Smash fans) crowd that looks for cool or cute looking characters, where fit characters like Captain Falcon, Little Mac, Ike, Wii Fit Trainer, or cute Pikachu, Kirby, Yoshi, and Villager are selling factors.