What does the future hold for Firefly fandom?

POSTED BY: Haken
UPDATED: Thursday, April 29, 2010 13:43
VIEWED: 16403
PAGE 3 of 6

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The interest is not the interest that you think it is. What is really going on is one won't let the other profit without them getting a cut as well. Then they argue over which one has the bigger share in an effort to get more money than the other. This ends in deadlock and will kill any project.

It's about interest in money, not interest in the franchise. They don't care where the money comes from.

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Well, yeah. They're executives. Of course the money is all they care about.

But this indicates there's money in the franchise, which mean both still consider it a valuable property. And in 2012, the deadlock ceases to be a deadlock.

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But not new projects. Just signs that the old announcements are going somewhere. Please correct me if I'm wrong.

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Granted, though I add that the Wash comic book is going to be the first story set AFTER the movie, so in a sense even though the project has been around for a while, technically it's something new.

EDIT: Oh, right, I forgot the official short stories in Still Flying.

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Originally posted by SigmaNunki:
The fandom is dying.

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If you really feel that way what are you still doing here? Read back through this thread and tell me that everything others have said indicates there is no activity or product being generated by the fans. You can't. It's just your opinion, and your opinion is wrong.

Go to DragonCon this year and witness the Browncoat march and the reception that "Redemption" receives. I'm not sure when "Courage" will be ready, but I expect it to generate the same amount of interest.

I recently introduced the series to a cousin of mine. She's about 65, very conservative and religious, and not normally an SF fan. She and her husband both loved it and then asked, "Didn't you say there was a movie too?" She's even started watching Castle because she thinks Nathan is great.

And don't forget my signature line, which is Mandarin for "We're still flying!"






wo men ren ran zai fei xing.

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Those of us who are here are not part of the problem. But the Browncoat fandom is burning somewhat less brightly. Look at the sales of the DVDs on Amazon. Way down from a few years ago. SerenityMovie.net is dead in the water, and other Firefly centric sites have disappeared. One of the big podcasts (Firefly Talk) has been silent for 16 months. They won a big award in 2007, and put out 65 great podcasts. But the buzz is getting quieter and less intense.

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I surely am not an expert, but, here is what I think. Mr. Joss kind of summed it up himself shortly after the BDM. He noted that the movie gave the 'Verse "legs." It stands on it's own and contiues it's journey within all it's fans. How long between "Star Trek" TOS cancelation and the books, animated series, the first (not so great and overwrought) movie, and the much better second one. I really think that the 'verse is well ahead of the curve. Hardly a week goes by without some mention in several types of media. Recently on the "Big Bang Theory" Miss Glau's new project (The Cape) Allen on the new "Rockford Files." Frequently an actor's current work sparks interest in past projects. Ok, Gina Torres' "Spot on Perfect" portrayal of Zoe did not spark a lot of interest for me in "Cleopatra 2020" but that may have been my fault! Let me sum it up this way. These folks and their 'verse are part of our collective conscious now. It will continue and grow.

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Also, a cooling period has to happen, nothing can increase exponentially constantly.

Someone once said, brilliant flames flicker and die out, but the coals they burn much much longer.

We're just seeing the holding pattern now that the 'verse has its own sovereignty of sorts. It's not dying, it's holding as I believe someone else said.

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Suasor wrote:
Sunday, March 14, 2010 07:44
"Those of us who are here are not part of the problem. But the Browncoat fandom is burning somewhat less brightly. Look at the sales of the DVDs on Amazon. Way down from a few years ago. SerenityMovie.net is dead in the water, and other Firefly centric sites have disappeared. One of the big podcasts (Firefly Talk) has been silent for 16 months. They won a big award in 2007, and put out 65 great podcasts. But the buzz is getting quieter and less intense."

I take your point about certain aspects of the fandom easing back. Serenity.net has gone very quiet (I suspect some of the more active posters have moved over to the new Signal forums at forum.signalpodcast.com) and www.cantstopthesignal.co.uk is also pretty dead. Firefly Talk is on indefinite hiatus due to that fact that it was mostly run by one individual who has had health issues, not because of lack of listeners or material. (The fact that The Signal and Sending a Wave are still going strong with regular shows tells me that Firefly podcasting is far from dead - though that fact seems lost on Haken - and yeah I'm biased :-)

Things are shifting into different patterns for sure, but I dispute that the fandom is dying. QMx and Dark Horse would neither be producing new licenced product if they didn't think they could sell it to fans. (The Firefly stuff QMx has in the pipeline with the Firelfly license - oh, which by the way means the *Fox* themselves still see some profit in it - is very exciting)

I like to be realistic, but temper that with optimism. My experience is that the fandom is still pulling in new fans (though not at the same rate perhaps) that fan produced and officially licenced material is continuing to expand (and to sell, well, what's more)

The sheer bulk of fan produced (whoever it was asking "where it was?" simply hasn't looked) and steadily increasing officially licenced product - and lets not forget new actual Joss written canon out this year - says that this thing is *far* from over.

We're here. We're not all going away. I can live with that :-)

Nick

The Signal

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"(The fact that The Signal and Sending a Wave are still going strong with regular shows tells me that Firefly podcasting is far from dead - though that fact seems lost on Haken - and yeah I'm biased :-)"

Just to clarify that comment. Firefly Talk is the only Firecast listed under that homepage heading on this site. In 2 years or so of asking Haken to post details of all the other Firefly based or related podcasts (supplied multiple times both privately and in the Central forum meant for discussing issues with this site), nothing has happened. So I respectfully request again that details of at least the currently active podcasts Sending a Wave and The Signal be listed there along with the podfaded but still available (and excellent) content of Firefly Talk and many other projects like Old Wounds, Severance etc.

Nick

The Signal

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Originally posted by SigmaNunki:
In other words, we either become self-sustaining, or die. There really isn't any inbetween.

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Seems to be there's a ring of truth to that. We've been out here on our own a good while now with nothing more than a couple of comics to keep us going. Oh sure there's a one shot comic in the pipe, the talk of "A Shepherd's Tale" comic (still no release date), but that's about it. No novels, nothing official, and no word from Joss.

Guessing SigmaNunki is right that we have to be self sustaining. Seems we've been doing pretty much just that for years now.

__________________________________________
Holding the line since December '02!



Richmond, VA & surrounding area Firefly Fans:

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Originally posted by GWEK:

As exhibit A, I point to SERENITY, a movie which Joss himself has stated would never have been made without the fans.

...snip...

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It's seems our definitions of massive are quite different. Because mine requires there to be more projects than I could count on my hands. Regarding the BSR, etc. That's hardly anything. I mean, no offence to those that write/draw, but when one considers commercial quality v.s. what's found in the BSR... well there's no comparison.

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Originally posted by GWEK:

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Please show the increase in the number of fans. Point of fact, you can do neither. No-one can. The fandom is dying.

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That is your opinion, and you're entitled to it. Perhaps the most visible portion of the fanbase seems to be decreasing, but there are more fans every day.

Not a week goes by that there's not a new thread from someone who has just discovered FIREFLY posted in these very forums, and there are still consistent tales from long-time fans who've turned new people onto it.

The FIREFLY DVD is currently #27 in sales on Amazon in the category of Movies & TV. It has been in the top 100 for more than a year (consecutive). It is further rated #2 in Boxed Sets/Drama and Drama/Television. There's no other TV series with close to that accomplishment, and much of the competition has the benefit of not having been cancelled 7 and a half years ago.

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That's actually not an opinion. Haken himself has noted a massive decline in activity on the forum and other forum operators have noted the same. The community is dying. What you cite is just something that you use to continue your folly. Point of fact, just because something sells, doesn't mean another fan is created. I've purchased lots of stuff that I'm not a fan of, but was good enough to be put in the buy category.

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Originally posted by GWEK:

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Then why couldn't I get more than a few pages into the first comic because of tragically poor writing?

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I can't really speak to why you didn't like the comic, but if I had to speculate on an answer, I would posit that perhaps you have some bias against the medium and perhaps consider it a "lesser" form.

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Nope. Me likes me Anime/Manga. I also didn't mind some of what I saw in the HellBlazer series. What makes those comics lesser is that the dialogue, etc, is on the level of what I've seen in comics targeted toward kids, not to mention hadn't a lick of Joss-ism in them.

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Originally posted by GWEK:

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Opinion is not fact.

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You are correct. Here is fact for you: SERENITY: THOSE LEFT BEHIND was Dark Horse's bestselling title in 2005. Among other things that it beat out where multiple Star Wars titles (in the year that REVENGE OF THE SITH was released). Further, it is of note that Star Wars- and Conan-themed titles are typically Dark Horse's bestselling titles (by a pretty large margin, I believe).

It is my understanding that BETTER DAYS had similar sales (and, actually a better critical and fan reception).

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Better selling does not equal better. Reviews are slanted toward "it's awesome" regardless of the quality. That's true whether it's for comics, movies, or otherwise.

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Originally posted by GWEK:

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There are many more people like me than you seem to think, that think that the comics suck.

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Opinion, as someone once said, is not fact.

Both TPBs are currently rated 4 stars on Amazon. Between the two, only 1 person rated only 1 star.

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Again with the (at best) sophistry. Point of fact, people like me tend to not come out and say that the comics suck (or similar) because we get flamed by those that think such words are heresy. Sound familiar?

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Originally posted by GWEK:

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Your point?

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If you're one of those people who is holding his breath for the series to return, you are sure to be disappointed. Same thing with a movie, most likely.

In t

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