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1Simply put: If it's popular and has an associated message board, you're bound to stumble upon [[BrokenBase fan wars]] at one point or another.
2----
3!!Example subpages:
4[[index]]
5* ''BrokenBase/BattleForDreamIsland''
6* ''BrokenBase/EpicRapBattlesOfHistory''
7* ''BrokenBase/GameGrumps''
8* ''BrokenBase/HappyTreeFriends''
9* ''BrokenBase/{{Homestuck}}''
10* ''BrokenBase/{{Markiplier}}''
11* ''BrokenBase/TheNostalgiaCritic''
12* ''BrokenBase/SCPFoundation''
13* ''[[BrokenBase/Supermarioglitchy4sSuperMario64Bloopers SMG4]]''
14* ''BrokenBase/TwoBestFriendsPlay''
15[[/index]]
16----
17!!Individual examples:
18[[foldercontrol]]
19
20[[folder:Webcomics]]
21* ''Webcomic/{{Achewood}}'', which began as a very patchy set of one-shots elevated by the ''Lie Bot, what is the saddest thing'' strips, and developed into a subtle, clever strip with several deep interesting characters '''OR''' ''Webcomic/{{Achewood}}'', which began as a daring and hilarious absurdest web comic, and got "ruined FOREVER!" when Onstad sold out and started having continuing storylines and jokes that made sense.
22** Conversely, many feel follow the first interpretation but believe that the strip has become so surreal, stylistic and referential that it's begun to lost its grip on those deep, interesting characters.
23** There is also a divide over Onstad's subscription service- some felt he had the right to monetize and charge money for premium comic content, while others felt it was a slap in the fact to have to pay for what used to be free. The punch came when Roast Beef's wedding was made subscriber-exclusive whiel the free daily readers only got a single comic of random preview panels.
24* ''Webcomic/{{Collar 6}}'': Should the world be complete fantasy, or should the characters analyze how dysfunctional their relationships are.
25* ''Webcomic/DominicDeegan''. Whether it's the [[HesJustHiding death]] and [[DracoInLeatherPants perceived vilification]] of Siegfried, [[WillingSuspensionOfDisbelief the Super Greg arc]], accusations being flung about, the fanbase nitpicking everything out of spite (or because it's fun), or the forums dissolving into {{Deadpan Snarker}}s, trolls, and cries of "Ruined Forever" and "TheyChangedItNowItSucks", it's a wonder the fandom hasn't imploded by now. Since there are indeed still fans who love the comic as much as ever, are willing to forgive Mookie his mistakes, or who simply don't see them as mistakes because of their WillingSuspensionOfDisbelief. They're simply less vocal, it seems. Perhaps they fear {{FanHater}}s.
26** Ironically, the Platform/LiveJournal fans, which are far kinder, appear to average between three and four new topics a month, while the Platform/{{Keenspot}} forum (the most vocal hatedom) has an active community and posts a thread for every new comic strip. It was debated whether Mookie was hanging a lampshade on his fans with Gregory Deegan's line at the end of [[http://dominic-deegan.com/view.php?date=2010-06-08 this strip]].
27* ''Webcomic/KhaosKomix''. Fan reactions to a certain page in Jamie's story have been... spirited. [[spoiler:Prior to the 07 October revision, page 83 featured Charlie performing a sexual act on Jamie against his explicit consent, and Jamie dis-associating so as to make the experience pass more quickly. Although the arguments surrounding Charlie's actions against Jamie had many, MANY intricate and painful facets, the biggest and/or loudest camps were divided primarily between A: Those who felt that [[WordOfGod Tab's]] choice to make Charlie commit an act of sexual violence played dangerously into a larger trans-phobic cultural narrative, and B: those who either saw Charlie's actions as --if not forgivable-- comprehensible given her extensive back story, or who focused on other things like the fact that it honestly portrayed a man as being susceptible to sexual abuse, [[DoubleStandardRapeFemaleOnMale in spite of a number cultural assumptions to the contrary]].]] There was a '''LOT''' more to it than just that, but better to be brief and '''[[RapeAsDrama Let]] [[SexualHarassmentAndRapeTropes Other]] [[UsefulNotes/{{Abuse}} Articles]] [[UsefulNotes/{{Consent}} With]] [[UsefulNotes/{{Transgender}} Better]] [[UsefulNotes/VictimBlaming Writers]]''' give you an idea of some of the complexities involved. The original massive and contentious comment thread has since been taken down, though [[WordOfGod Tab]] has said that he is keeping a copy for posterity.
28* ''Webcomic/LookingForGroup'' when it was finally confirmed that Cale and Benny are romantically involved, some fans responded with great wailing and gnashing of teeth and promises to never read the comic again, while others were jumping for joy.
29* There's the base of ''Webcomic/{{Megatokyo}}'' arguments, of Old Story (with Caston) Vs. New Story (Fred by himself), which then fractions into the characters themselves, literally ''all'' (even minor, minor, ''minor'' characters) of whom no one can decide as to how they're portrayed.
30* ''Webcomic/TheOrderOfTheStick'', over whether or not the series has become better or worse since it became subjected to CerebusSyndrome.
31** Also whether or not Vaarsuvius' [[spoiler: "Familicide" spell]] and Haley's [[spoiler:murder of Crystal]] were justifiable IDidWhatIHadToDo moments or indefensible crossings of the MoralEventHorizon.
32** Miko fans vs. Miko haters.
33* ''Webcomic/{{Rain|2010}}'':
34** The comic's artstyle. Some find its minimalist style to be very charming and say that it makes the comic look like something you'd see in a high school student's sketchbook, adding a sense of authenticity to the whole thing. Others find it amateurish and downright ugly. A third camp thinks that, while the artstyle is nothing special to look at, the story and characters are strong enough to make the comic enjoyable.
35** The sheer amount of characters that are revealed to be queer by the end of the comic. Some feel it very much makes sense as there are plenty of queer people in real life that are closeted. Some however, find it to be very unrealistic, bordering on ridiculous that a fairly conservative, mainly Catholic area would have this many queer people.
36** Rudy [[spoiler:falling in love with Rain]]. While most readers found the comic’s handling of [[spoiler:a gay man falling in love with a trans woman and seeing her as his only exception]] to be surprisingly well handled as well as a genuinely surprising subversion of expectations. A vocal minority found it to be highly problematic and couldn’t be happier when they finally [[spoiler: broke up]].
37** Whether or not Jessica and Aiken were both in the wrong when it came to them breaking up. While everyone agrees that Aiken went out of line and acted like a complete unsupportive jerk, some think Jessica should have been honest with Aiken and thought ahead of the scenario where there would be insurance problems. While others think Jessica was not obligated to out herself to Aiken.
38* ''Webcomic/{{SinFest}}'' started its path towards the broken base around 10/2011 with the arrival of Xanthe Justice and her Sisterhood arc. It quickly escalated into a full-blown civil war.
39* ''Webcomic/VampireCheerleaders'' fanbase was divided between those who favored [[Webcomic/ParanormalMysterySquad the PMS crew]] and the comic's Website/{{Facebook}} community, who [[RootingForTheEmpire favored the cheerleaders.]] The second group accounted for the larger part of the fandom. So when the ''"Vampire Cheerleaders Must Die!"'' arc cast Lori and her coven as villains, they dropped the comic; causing it to lose much of its ad revenue and resulted in the comic ending prematurely, [[AbortedArc due to Vol.4 being cut.]]
40* In universe example. As shown in the page image, two characters in Webcomic/{{Weregeek}} argue over how the Franchise/LordOfTheRings series should have gone. Sarah would've preferred to explore the backstories of the side characters, particularly the dwarves, while Jess thinks that's a complete waste of time as well as boring and prefers the action scenes and thinks the series could've been much shorter. Needless to say, they get annoyed at each other pretty fast.
41[[/folder]]
42
43[[folder:Web Original]]
44* Is Kevin from ''Podcast/WelcomeToNightVale'' an adorable tragic traumatized slightly-psychopathic cutie-pie who just needs a hug and a friend and some help decorating, or is he a terrifying monster who's trying to destroy everything Cecil holds dear? Or is he both? It depends on who you ask, and the mixed responses can be quite amusing.
45* Episode Three of "Podcast/AliceIsntDead" begins with a trigger warning, one that specifically states that [[spoiler:someone gets attacked in the episode.]] Trigger warnings in work are a controversial topic already, but many fans found that this one in particular spoiled a potentially great JumpScare. Others thought found that the warning was warranted by the content.
46* Season four of WebVideo/TheMusicVideoShow, specifically the BlackComedy. Either it [[GrowingTheBeard helped the show]] [[CrossesTheLineTwice become funnier]] or it made the [[SeasonalRot season]] worse.
47* The presence of storylines in [[VideoReviewShow Video Review Shows]]. Some see them as a great way to see what else the reviewer is capable of, some find them generally entertaining, or don't see a problem with them. Others find that it makes it hard to take the review seriously, find them lacking, and point out how it can take time away from the actual substance they came to see. Some even would be fine with them if not for their prevalence and for the FollowTheLeader tendencies from Website/ChannelAwesome.
48** Speaking of, ''WebVideo/TheNostalgiaCritic''. ''WebVideo/DemoReel''. Should Doug have left his burned bridges burnt and stuck with Demo Reel? Should he have never stopped the Critic to begin with? [[TakeAThirdOption Should he devote time to doing both?]] ''Nobody'' agrees on this. Even single individuals taken as a sample over a long period of time don't agree on it.
49** Ditto to the actors from Demo Reel that are now regulars on his show: Do they add spice and humor to his reviews, or, because of their DemotedToExtra from Demo Reel to reboot [[note]]Rachel once said they just show up and are just under Doug's control on Critic, unlike with Demo Reel where they could change the script depending on their own experiences[[/note]], are shoehorned in with nothing to do? Or are they, perhaps, one or the other [[DependingOnTheWriter depending on the episode]]?
50* [[WebVideo/TheSpoonyExperiment The Spoony One]]'s departure from TGWTG practically ''shattered'' the base. Did Spoony quit or get himself fired? Did he reveal himself to be a sexist, petulant asshole who couldn't get that he crossed the line with his joke to WebVideo/JesuOtaku, or was he the victim of the collaboration of Creator/AllisonPregler aka Lupa and Creator/LordKat, who got involved with something that was none of their business? The fact that Spoony later admitted to his own psychological issues and finally getting the proper treatment for them may have quelled the online war between the Broken Base - somewhat.
51* The Mond oMedia Platform/YouTube channel deals with a lot of this. On one side of the subscribers, who have the people only subscribing for ''WebAnimation/HappyTreeFriends'' and ''WebAnimation/DickFigures'', and anytime Mondo uploads a new series or episode of that new series, they will comment asking for more ''Happy Tree Friends'' or ''Dick Figures'', while the other side appreciates the newer shows and will tell the other fandom to shut up.
52* ''Roleplay/SurvivalOfTheFittest'' v5 has become somewhat more stringent and ''much'' less personal with its character evaluation process than previous versions. A fair few veterans have left because they don't like the change of atmosphere.
53* Go into any well-frequented Website/NationStates IRC room or forum and ask what the real point of the game is. Then stand way back. The NS page says there are two ways to play it, but it's more like ''seven''. Fortunately for the fanbase, each group mostly keeps to themselves and tries to keep the others at arm's length.
54* [[https://www.youtube.com/user/BikdipOnABus BikdipOnABus's]] fans either love or hate his new girlfriend being in his videos.
55* ''Franchise/TheSlenderManMythos'', due to the RunningTheAsylum nature of the mythos, is almost this by definition. Since Victor Surge, the man who posted the first images of the Slender Man, has stepped back to let fans run things, no one but Surge can claim to be the original creator and there's an unwritten "everything is canon" rule. Fans are divided on almost every aspect. Some consider ''WebVideo/MarbleHornets'', ''WebVideo/TribeTwelve'', and ''WebVideo/EverymanHYBRID'' the only series worth watching, many say that only one of the three is good, and some fans consider "Surgism" the only way to go. Fans will debate over whether or not Marble Hornets (the most well-known series) has "sold out," there are very different opinions of crossovers of any sort. And there's the eternal vlog vs. blog debate. That's not even counting the in-fighting between various forums, Facebook groups, and drama that's not related to the story in specific [=ARGs=] and series fanbases.
56** Slenderman himself has become one due to how ingrained in Creepypasta he's become and how much the original content is related to, or inspired by him. The Creepypasta wiki even banned the posting of any more content that even looked Slenderman related.
57* ''WebAnimation/NeuroticallyYours''. The ResetButton, ArtShift, and combination of the secondary series's into Neurotically Yours. Some find it a fresh breath of air to the series, and a good idea. Others can't stand the new art style, and reset story, and have quit watching it altogether.
58* ''WebAnimation/RedVsBlue'' fans almost universally like the first eight seasons, but then things get split: some don't like how [[WebAnimation/RedVsBlueTheProjectFreelancerSaga Seasons 9 and 10]] focus on exaggerated action sequences, [[WebAnimation/RedVsBlueTheChorusTrilogy Seasons 11-13]] are mostly well-liked but earn their share of detractors (particularly regarding the slow pace of Season 11 and the Season 13 conclusion), the very idea of [[WebAnimation/RedVsBlueSeason14 Season 14]] being an anthology did not bode well with fans, [[WebAnimation/RedVsBlueTheShisnoTrilogy Season 15]] is either downright SeasonalRot or just a funny standalone season, and the DenserAndWackier route [[WebAnimation/RedVsBlueTheShisnoTrilogy Season 16]] took is either liked or downright loathed. Then again, the fanbase's conflicts are very minor compared to another Creator/RoosterTeeth show...
59* ''WebAnimation/{{RWBY}}''
60** Volume 3 marking a drastic tone shift from an archetypical high-school battle anime to a world-spanning save the world plot has divided viewers. People in favor of it argue that the Beacon chapters were only meant to be a prologue to the story at large and that this allows the show to explore Remnant in full and put the characters in more unique situations. Detractors criticize the show for inconsistent pacing, especially in Volumes 4 and 5 right after the tone shift, or argue that the series worked better when it played into its cliches.
61** The battle between Team RWBY and the Ace Ops has quickly become one of the most heated debates in the fandom. [[spoiler:Those against claim it makes no sense that a group of teenagers who never officially graduated as Huntsmen were able to defeat a team of hardened, experienced soldiers described as some of the best Huntsmen in Remnant, while those who liked the battle point out that it makes sense due to the various handicaps the Ace Ops had at the time (Vine and Marrow were actively holding back to try and de-escalate the situation, Harriet [[SmugSnake underestimated Ruby]], and Elm made numerous tactical blunders due to her anger over Team RWBY "betraying" Ironwood clouding her judgement).]]
62** The FNDM is rather split over whose side to take when Team RWBY and Ironwood's group come to blows at the end of Volume 7. [[spoiler:One side agrees with Ironwood and rejects Team RWBY's argument, taking the position that it's better to evacuate who they can save in Atlas and concentrate on keeping the two Relics and Winter Maiden as far away from Salem as humanely possible, especially given that they had almost no time to prepare before her army of Grimm arrived at the kingdom's border. Another group sides with Team RWBY and rejects Ironwood's argument, taking the position that Ironwood is morally wrong to abandon Mantle and the rest of the world to die by Salem's hand, and taking the Relics and Winter Maiden into orbit will only delay Salem at best. There is also a third group that argues the narrative is clearly on Team RWBY's side and against Ironwood, and that his plan ''is'' terrible, but that Team RWBY's approach to dealing with it was so self-sabotaging that they're RightForTheWrongReasons. While the first two groups can't find any middle ground between them, both groups argue with the third group due to being incompatible with how [[WithUsOrAgainstUs their preferred side]] is represented.]]
63* WebVideo/MrRepzion made [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7VjD5ck8AXk a video]] criticizing Ian Hecox and Anthony Padilla of WebVideo/{{Smosh}}, which some of his viewers agreed with, but a large percentage of his viewers also sided with Ian and Anthony.
64* WebVideo/MatthewSantoro:
65** Some fans prefer that [[FanCommunityNickname the viewers be called]] "The Santoro Army", while others prefer "Santorians".
66** Some of Matt's fans have gotten into arguments over whether Matt should start a gaming channel.
67* WebVideo/TheCartoonHero's "Top 10 Cartoons I Hate That Everyone Else Loves" video…well, with a title like that, you can guess what happened. It was talked up and down the Internet when it was posted in 2013, and split his fanbase. Some people thought it was a piece of crap that didn't explain his dislike for the cartoons on the list well enough and condemned it as "The Bart's Nightmare Let's Play" of his videos, while others enjoyed it and thought it was underrated. Two months after it was posted, a team of ''ten'' commentators got together and did a co-op commentary on the video. The Cartoon Hero would later admit that he didn't explain his reasons well enough and would give them reviews to go into more detail for why he didn't care for them, though so far the only cartoons on the list he has covered have been ''WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants'' and the first ''Anime/{{Naruto}}'' series.
68* WebAnimation/SmashBrosLawl developed this over time. Once the Post-Morgan Era started, many complained about the firing of the [[VideoGame/SuperSmashBros Brawl announcer]], especially in regards to Creator/MorganFreeman being the announcer, the detractors mainly finding the sentence mixing to not be as amusing as that of the Brawl announcer. The creator took notice, and revealed there would be multiple announcers including Creator/WillSmith. This was planned from the beginning but fan complains made him reveal it earlier than intended.
69* Platform/{{pixiv}}:
70** One of the most divisive issues regarding artwork on pixiv is the practice of taking work that was submitted to pixiv and sharing it directly on other sites, particularly Website/{{Twitter}} and Website/{{Tumblr}} (often within the context of roleplaying), or using art as avatars, all without asking the artist for permission. People who practice it argue that there's nothing wrong with it and that artists shouldn't upload their works if they don't want it spread around, and don't want to go through the process of asking the artist every time they want to share one of their works, especially when most pixiv artists are Japanese and only have a cursory knowledge of English. People against the practice, especially artists, consider this a breach of copyright and an act of disrespect towards the artists who worked hard on their pieces only to have it spread around beyond their control, and point out that artists have ended up in [[ScrewedByTheLawyers copyright-related trouble]] or [[WhyFandomCantHaveNiceThings quit out of disgust]] because of unauthorized art sharing.
71** Within the "sharing without permission is okay" camp, and especially amongst people who post erotic works / "hentai", there's the whole issue of posting the source work and/or artist alongside the art itself. Those who argue for it feel that it helps people discover more art from that source or artist, and that it's the least one can do for the artist if they're not willing to ask. Those who refuse to source their artwork feel that it's too much of a hassle and just want to spam hentai nonstop and that people who want to find the source so badly can just use tools like [=SauceNAO=].
72** ValuesDissonance also happens to play a big role in this argument as well. As some Japanese fanartists have noticed, in the west there's an unspoken rule of sorts that if whether or not you are allowed to perform a certain action is not explicitly stated, then that means it can be considered acceptable. However, the reverse is true in Japan: if you don't know whether or not it's okay for you to do something, you should assume that it's '''not''' okay, hence why Japanese fanartists tend to more often than not request not to post their works without explicit permission..
73* [=YouTuber=] ''{{WebAnimation/Planet Dolan}}'' expanded from being a one man operation into a small company, and as such, Dolan chose to hire people to narrate videos as his time was otherwise occupied. This has led to no end of people bitching about how much they hate certain narrators, while others know that the scripts would be exactly the same even if Dolan were the narrator and understand why this was done.
74* Go to Creator/TeamFourStar's Discord server, official Subreddit, [=YouTube=] comments, Twitter replies, Facebook page, or anywhere else that fans congregate, and you'll notice a sharp divide between folks who only care about the team's abridged series, and those who also enjoy their other content. The abridged-only fans tend to consider the team's other output a distraction from their main appeal and would prefer they focus only on anime parodies. The "other-content" fans tend to like the abridged stuff fine; their beef is with how angry and demanding the abridged-only fans can sometimes be. Flame wars between the two sides are distressingly common, especially when abridged content is [[ScheduleSlip delayed]] or [[{{Vaporware}} cancelled]].
75* ''WebVideo/{{Jreg}}'':
76** Inverted, as Jreg actually does have fans from all political quadrants, who while not agreeing on anything else, [[IntendedAudienceReaction agree that jris anti centrist videos are awesome]]. Any actual fandom infighting is more likely to result from shipping the ideologies together which due to it all logically ending up as HoYay, provokes a reaction from jris Authoritarian Right fans, and even then some of those fans are down with it only for the absurdism.
77*** That said, the fandom ''is'' broken in terms of where it amasses. The Twitter fan community is mostly dominated by leftists, the [[https://www.reddit.com/r/Jreg/ Jreg subreddit]] is liberal and left-libertarian leaning (though both Twitter and the subreddit are home to most of the HoYay fanart), while the more right-wing segments of the fandom generally congregate on the Discord server. The [=YouTube=] comment section is the most neutral ground.
78*** Jreg has acknowledged the left-libertarian bias of jris subreddit on centrist occasions and lamented it's not technically in the spirit of anti-centrism (as opposed to the Political Compass Memes subreddit), but acknowledged that it leaning authoritarian could get it banned for ''actual'' hate speech and dictatorship apologia. The anti-centrism subreddit is another attempt at a more unified userbase.
79** The creation of ''The Mental Illnesses'' caused a lot of divide. Throughout the fanbase as a whole, certain sections like the series and saw it as an improvement, other sections declared it tasteless and harmful, others weren't as bothered, and others missed [=JrEg=]'s political content and saw the shift in topic as a step down. The series caused a substantiation amount of divide in specifically the Twitter fandom where many denounced it.
80* [[https://www.youtube.com/@TheCriticalDrinker The Critical Drinker]]'s [[AuthorTract fixation]] on harping on about alleged [[PoliticalCorrectnessIsEvil political correctness gone mad]] (usually in regard to feminism) in almost all of his videos has led to two sides developing about Drinker. Either you love the character and agree with his criticisms along with enjoying how he's willing to call out political correctness and makes his points about it all clear and understandable, or you find his criticisms petty, illogical, whiny, mean-spirited, or at worst outright bigoted.
81* ''WebAnimation/HomestarRunner'': The post-[[ScheduleSlip hiatus]] annual Fan Costumes toons, for 1) not being entirely the Chaps' work; 2) being more common than any other type of toon post-hiatus save for the Halloween toons; 3) unlike the pre-hiatus ones, not being commentary-only and lacking "previous" and "next" options, and 4) relegating into the Chaps making fun of themselves, especially where so-called "obscure" costumes are concerned.
82* Platform/YouTube video creators having paid-sponsorship segments in their videos. There are those who are opposed to them because they see it as corporate selling-out and, less cynically, an implicit limiter on what the creator is allowed to make or say since as a general rule, if you are being paid by a sponsor to make a video, you do not say things that criticize them or harm their reputation. Others argue that these are fine as long as they do not significantly impact the quality of their work and that in this day and age, many [=YouTube=] creators, especially those who lack another means of sufficient income, depend on these sponorships to take care of themselves.
83* ''WebAnimation/HelluvaBoss'':
84** Does the show not focus enough on the assassinations I.M.P. carries out? Some people say that I.M.P come off as a borderline case of ThePiratesWhoDontDoAnything, and that since it's the premise of the series, there should be more episodes dedicated to the company pulling hits in the mortal realm. Others argue that doing so would run the risk of making the show [[StrictlyFormula overly formulaic]], while the more scattershot approach to episode subject matter lends itself well to {{worldbuilding}} and CharacterDevelopment.
85** Is Stolas and Blitzo's relationship sexually abusive? Detractors point to the massive power differential, Stolas holding Blitzo's life and livelihood in his hand since imps are CannonFodder and he controls access to the grimoire Blitzo needs, Blitzo's disturbed expressions in early episodes when Stolas hits on him, and the fact that Blitzo agreed hastily to their SexForServices relationship to get Stolas to stop talking to him while he was being shot at. Stolas doesn't seem like he'd ever want to intentionally harm Blitzo and, going with later reveals about their relationship's past, might have just given him access to the grimoire if asked, but Blitzo doesn't really seem to know him well enough to know any of that. In the other direction, Blitzo seduced a drunken, lonely Stolas to get close enough to steal from him, which certainly makes informed consent on Stolas' part rather shaky. On the other hand, the sex is something both of them would want to be doing without ulterior motives anyway, and it is possible healthier negotiations could take place offscreen and just weren't funny enough to write into the show.
86[[/folder]]
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