The maturity of the Pokemon fan

[Krash]

If you've ever known anybody who isn't a fan of the Pokemon franchise, you've likely heard them refer to it as childish, meant only for ten year olds. Then, they've likely logged on to Call Of Duty: Medal of Halo 27 and proceeded to teabag the head off some poor 12 year old who called their mom something incredibly hurtful, and likely inaccurate. This is what stumps me. How can a series that's apparently "made for 10 year olds) boast probably the worlds most mature fan-base (note the probably)?

I've had more intelligent conversations with people about how they're training their teams or going about completing their Pokedex than I've ever had with someone who just stabbed me with an energy sword. Sure, you get the odd lunatic who thinks that nothing can beat Mew and that those who try to are idiots, but for the most part, it seems to me that fans of this franchise are more informed and immersed in their pastime than those who choose to make "your momma" jokes to a twelve year old.

Honestly, I think it primarily has to do with two main factors:
1) the fact that there are so many pokemon out there that we NEED to govern ourselves in order to complete the Dex; and
2) with the time and effort put into training (Level raising, EV training, breeding for egg moves and natures), we've come to see our time spent on Pokemon as an invesment. We all understand the complications that can arise, as well as the sheer amount of time and dedication it takes to craft the perfect pokemon.

I realize that there are indeed moments of immaturity among fans. All you have to do is fire up a debate over Smogon rules, and suddenly we all turn into debate nazis. Yes, some like Tiers while others hate them, but we, as a community, have established that it's a matter of CHOICE whether or not we follow rules crafted my a tiny section of the fan-base. We've realized that we are free to choose how we build our teams, and this, I think, makes the average Pokemon fan a bit more responsible.

From time to time you DO get the odd player who quits a battle because he started to lose. I myself have had numerous people quit because I hit them with Toxic, then spammed my Chansey's softboiled until they fainted. That being said, I'm not perfect, and there are times when I've quit a match too. IT HAPPENS.

So, keeping in mind that English is not my first language, and my thoughts are incoherently jumbled throughout the above paragraphs, please comment. I would like to know if anybody else feels the same way as I do, or if you think the opposite. I'm looking forward to the replies.


P,S: I do understand that you can be a Pokemon fan, as well as a fan of the shooters I quite casually made fun of. Don't kill me for it.

 

[aliveatnight]

I feel like no matter what it is there will always be the mature and the immature. Using your example with the shooters, there are those who are very immature, but what about those who really know the games? I'd be willing to bet the "casual fans" could give off a very bad message about Pokemon fans, just as the "casual" shooter gamers have done. I think it's more about interacting with the ones who aren't like that, because there will always be immature people in every fanbase.

 

[Left_4_TF2]

I tend to think of the Pokemon fanbase like any other video gaming communities like Team Fortress 2 and Starcraft, there will always be fans who are childish, douchey, and disrespectful (ragequitting for example), but at the same there will always be nice and welcoming fans to balance out those types of people.

 

[Lysson]

I think it's the same with every fan base, some fan bases rival each other. Both contain buttheads and normal people.
I did get bullied a lot by CoD lovers at my school for playing Pokemon but they got over it once they hit puberty. It's usually just a few stupid little kids running around thinking they're better then everyone because they do 'adult things' like playing games that aren't targeted at them.

I personally enjoy quite a lot of games as long as they have decent controls and a good storyline. Every fan base has some kind of bad reputation.

 

[Joshawott]

I can honestly see this thread opening up a can of Wurmple, so I think it might be best to just close this thread. It's a sensitive subject that's for sure, but I'm worried that the way opinions have been expressed could be seen as attacks against fans of certain video game genres.

Like society at large, every fan group of anything - be it an entertainment medium or even a type of food has their selection of fans who are mature and lovely people, as well as those who aren't.

If you would like to post your analysis of the perceived maturity of different fan groups within the same medium, maybe it could make for an interesting blog post though? =3.