Fan, Super Fan or Fanboy - What is the difference and which one are you?

[Bryank75]

So, I see the word "fanboy" thrown around a lot, it's often used incorrectly to insult or discredit people that are making points that others do not agree with.

I think most people fit into, what I call "passionate fans"but escalation and bickering gets them a negative reputation.

But there are fanboys out there... people who defend a brand at all costs, that constantly attack other and all brands, that spend every waking hour creating narratives but play relatively little... at least that is my definition of a fanboy.

Share your views on what a fanboy is and when it's used incorrectly below.

Have you ever been called a fanboy and how did you react or feel about it?

 

[Sunrise Ninja]

I think everyone is a fanboy at some point, until you realise your stanning for a corporation that couldn't give a fuck about you. That video of that guy crying when Phil Spencer was announced on stage is crazy

 

[peter42O]

Personally, I believe that there are fans (casuals) that just want to play the games and whatnot while not caring about all the other bullshit followed by fanboys who will favor and defend what they like/love/prefer the most and then there's the extremists who are just out of their fucking mind and can't be reasoned with.

For me, it all depends on the company and whatnot. I dislike Microsoft and their current direction which seems to change every time you turn around but I am a fan of the Xbox platform and have a lot of games on my road map that im looking forward to playing. I like Sony, understand their current direction and love their games for the most part. Then there's Ubisoft who's my number one favorite company, publisher and developer. They're not the best by a long shot but with Far Cry 3, they made me a fan of first person shooters and open world games especially if it's a tropical setting or a setting that's very appealing.

Then there's companies like Nintendo who I will always be a fan of and respect because if not for them, I wouldn't be playing PlayStation or Xbox but they're simply not for me. Maybe that changes with Super Switch/Switch 2 but it's unlikely to happen. Then there's companies like Electronic Arts or Square Enix or Capcom who im a fan of because they give me great games.

Bottom like for me is that regardless of the company and what they do or don't do, if they publish and release a game that I want to play, I will do so. It's that simple.

 

[Nhomnhom]

For me you cross the line into a fanboy when you start making up excuses for the company you supposedly like and coping. Like the many bullshit narratives we've seen recently that said Sony was hiding their games, that internal development was just fine, that PC ports were a way to attract people to PlayStation, that they were not pivoting to PC/GaaS, that PSVR2 was doing great, that they would buy a publisher like SE, etc. All cope for a company that is under delivering and turning their back to their core fan base.

I'm fine with being a fan as long as the company I'm a fan of keep delivering and making good choices, the moment they start faltering and letting me down I'll turn on them.

Recently people started to call me a Nintendo fanboy just because I acknowledge how they have a much better read of the market and are confident in their own business model and identity. Most of their games aren't for me and Sony games are usually more my thing but I see no reason to hate and discredit them.

I also hate Xbox not because I'm a Sony fanboy but because they have like a 20 years track records of delivering awful products/games and have an extremely uninspiring vision of what the console market should be (all digital, driven by microtransactions and services, cheap games).

 

[Bryank75]

For me you cross the line into a fanboy when you start making up excuses for the company you supposedly like and coping. Like the many bullshit narratives we've seen recently that said Sony was hiding their games, that internal development was just fine, that PC ports were a way to attract people to PlayStation, that they were not pivoting to PC/GaaS, that PSVR2 was doing great, that they would buy a publisher like SE, etc. All cope for a company that is under delivering and turning their back to their core fan base.

I'm fine with being a fan as long as the company I'm a fan of keep delivering and making good choices, the moment they start faltering and letting me down I'll turn on them.

Recently people started to call me a Nintendo fanboy just because I acknowledge how they have a much better read of the market and are confident in their own business model and identity. Most of their games aren't for me and Sony games are usually more my thing but I see no reason to hate and discredit them.

I also hate Xbox not because I'm a Sony fanboy but because they have like a 20 years track records of delivering awful products/games and have an extremely uninspiring vision of what the console market should be (all digital, driven by microtransactions and services, cheap games).

Yes, thats precisely it... it's not one thing that Xbox did or didn't do, it's a long history we can look at and every decision / direction overall creates the impression I have of them now.

While I disagree with many (mostly fairly recent) decisions of Sony, they still have overall made mostly good moves, from my perspective. So they earned some leeway.

Nintendo have made the best decisions out of the three IMO, stuck by their principles.

I've been called a fanboy so many times... some called me "the worst fanboy" LOL... I just call it like I see it. I was against Jim Ryan being CEO, against PC ports, against price increases and many other things, so I don't blindly support the company, if that counts for anything.

 

[Nhomnhom]

Yes, thats precisely it... it's not one thing that Xbox did or didn't do, it's a long history we can look at and every decision / direction overall creates the impression I have of them now.

While I disagree with many (mostly fairly recent) decisions of Sony, they still have overall made mostly good moves, from my perspective. So they earned some leeway.

Nintendo have made the best decisions out of the three IMO, stuck by their principles.

I've been called a fanboy so many times... some called me "the worst fanboy" LOL... I just call it like I see it. I was against Jim Ryan being CEO, against PC ports, against price increases and many other things, so I don't blindly support the company, if that counts for anything.

If there is one thing that really made me anti Xbox is paid online and the fact that even 20 years later their fans still defend it. I fucking hate Xbox fans.

Paid online and other types of unjustifiable paywalls corrupt the incentives platform holders have. It's what created the illusions that something like Gamepass could work (once they tried to expand to PC the entire business model collapsed).

Xbox got a massive break with the 360 because Sony royally fucked up the engineering of PS3 but other than that they the history of Xbox is just a long list of failures and bad decisions.

 

[Bryank75]

If there is one thing that really made me anti Xbox is paid online and the fact that even 20 years later their fans still defend it. I fucking hate Xbox fans.

Paid online pretty much corrupted the incentives of platform holders and created the illusions that something like Gamepass could exist (once they tried to expand to PC the entire business model collapsed).

That and MTX along with the camera / always online in 2013, were the big ones for me.

 

[Nhomnhom]

That and MTX along with the camera / always online in 2013, were the big ones for me.

What bothered me about the always online was the fact that it was actually an attempt to needlessly force all digital, something much worse and yet people forgave them it rather quickly and the narrative on the gaming media is that since then Xbox became the pro-consumer platform. In reality they never even course corrected and kept the same ambitions just repackaged as something else (gamepass).

I'm able to hold a grudge for a long ass time. Xbox is pretty much unredeemable to me and I feel good every time I seem them failing miserably.

 

[Muddasar]

Super fan.

Don’t follow or support Sony blindly.

On the whole Sony has made the right decisions in the last 4 generations.

For me this generation has left a lot of us unhappy especially the PC endeavour.

They will regret it. Choosing short term pocket change to impress investors and damaging the brand long term.

 

[Bryank75]

Super fan.

Don’t follow or support Sony blindly.

On the whole Sony has made the right decisions in the last 4 generations.

For me this generation has left a lot of us unhappy especially the PC endeavour.

They will regret it. Choosing short term pocket change to impress investors and damaging the brand long term.

 

[Maverick]

I love PS but that doesn't mean I support whatever PS does. I love them because they offer the best gaming experience to me. So yeah I am a PS fan but I am not a fanboy.

 

[Vertigo]

I was a Nintendo “fanboy” up until and thru GameCube but that’s also when I went multiplatform and stuff like MGS3 and Halo pulled me away… and been a Kojima and Bungie fanboy ever since instead. Same for FromSoftware ever since playing Lost Kingdoms and Otogi back then too.

CDPR fan also but not mega fan. I like 2077 but V is a piece of shit human and nowhere near as awesome as Geralt.

 

[Vertigo]

You are irredeemable.

You are the dumbest person here . I have you ignored because of the nonstop dumbassery but look how this miserable bitch likes to harp on people.

 

[Nhomnhom]

You are the dumbest person here . I have you ignored because of the nonstop dumbassery but look how this miserable bitch likes to harp on people.

 

[Vertigo]

Your stupidity is intolerable. And you also have dickrider behavior insulting users whom you disagree with. So congratulations on consistently being a doofus.

 

[TubzGaming]

 

[Sircaw]

Picture of @Nhomnhom AKA The dick-rider on his way to work.

Spoiler: NSFW

 

[Gamernyc78]

Picture of @Nhomnhom AKA The dick-rider on his way to work.

Spoiler: NSFW

WTF lol.

 

[Gamernyc78]

@Nhomnhom come on bring it in. Don't start ppl off by pointing fingers at them.

 

[Box]

Square-enix,Capcom and From software fan for sure.

Used to be a big Naughty Dog fan during the ps2 days but ever since Druckmann took over I've lost my respect for them.

Also used to be a massive Kojima fan until the whole MGS5 saga and him replacing David Hayter made me lose my respect for Kojima.

With Square I'm mostly just a massive Final Fantasy Fan.

With Capcom I absolutely love Devil May Cry,Resident Evil and Monster Hunter