History Main / PanderingToTheBase

** [[VideoGame/PokemonGoldAndSilver HeartGold and SoulSilver]] take the cake for Base Pandering. The game is rife with cameos from characters across all generations and references to other games in the series. Perhaps the most prominent of these is the return of Pokémon following the Player, which hadn't been seen since [[VideoGame/PokemonRedAndBlue Pokémon Yellow]], a purely cosmetic function that has no effect on gameplay whatsoever, and it's ''glorious.''

** In VideoGame/SonicGenerations, Classic Sonic didn't speak. This was not a design choice for the Classics, it was technical limitations, and in a few games he did actually speak. However, the fans didn't want to have Classic Sonic talk, so SEGA decided to make him mute for no reason whatsoever. Despite this, they though it would make sense for Tails and Eggman to be able to talk.

* ''VideoGame/{{Tekken}} Tag Tournament 2'' brought back Jun Kazama due to fan demand, despite the fact that the game was based on the characters who had appeared in the 4th, 5th and 6th games (in none of which she appeared). It can be justified as the game is non-canon, and she had appeared in some of Jin's endings.

* As noted in the quote at the top, this trope is something Creator/{{Nintendo}} is trying to avoid with its DS and Wii platforms, focusing on innovative, intuitive gaming that can convert non-gamers instead of trying to impress the hardcore with marginally newer and flashier doodads. This is a case of learning from experience: The {{Nintendo 64}} and GameCube platforms infamously developed a reputation as being only for little kids and hardcore Nintendo fanboys. The end result was that teenagers, adults, and third-party developers bailed for the PlayStation. With the Wii, Nintendo seems to have finally learned and is back on track at last. However, a good number of third party developers, mostly in western nations, have either failed or rejected to follow Nintendo's direction, with most of their top tier titles still on {{Sony}} and {{Microsoft}}'s platforms.

** This might not necessarily be a bad thing here, since the female viewership were not only trying to ship clearly straight (frequently related) heterosexual men together, they were picking up on and complaining about the stereotypical way the show portrayed female leads. In Jo's case, the writers began to see the fan's point; according to her actress, they told her she came off more as a 14-year old sister than a love interest. The female fanbase warmed to Jo after she stood up to Dean when he tried to pick her up, and positively started liking her and Ellen after their AlasPoorScrappy moment. The more recent seasons seem to have picked up on how much the fangirls hate the stereotypical GirlOfTheWeek. Meg (as played by Rachel Miner) and Pam (the blind seer) both played against the female stereotypes and were both reasonably well received.

* The Song Study version of {{Devo}}'s most recent album, ''Something for Everybody'' is arguably this. Fans participated in an online survey to determine which songs would end up on the album. On the other hand, it is quite clear that the whole Song Study campaign was meant to poke fun at the entertainment industry's extensive uses of focus groups and online surveys, and Devo simultaneously released a "88% focus group approved" version of ''Something for Everybody'' that contained all the songs that was cut from the Song Study version.

** Recently, players have been complaining that in trying to avoid PanderingToTheBase they've gone too far in the other direction: all but ignoring their existing player base while trying to draw in new players.

* When ''VideoGame/MarvelVsCapcom3'' was first shown at E3 2010, many long time fans were disappointed at how different the game seemed to be from ''VideoGame/MarvelVsCapcom2''. After that, each and every successive demo build of the game featured changes that brought the game closer to its predecessor. The final result, a game that feels like a natural evolution of the previous game (while still showing some influences from the more recent ''VideoGame/TatsunokoVsCapcom''). The only reason the game doesn't seem to be as unbalanced as the previous one is that this time, they seem to be making every character a GameBreaker.

* ''FreddiFish'' was originally a point-and-click {{Edutainment}} AdventureGame series that was based around problem solving with several educational values buried within the gameplay and several humorous moments, making it fun for kids and adults. After HumongousEntertainment sold all the rights to {{Atari}}, they got 1st Playable Productions to put out another game, ''[=ABCs=] Under the Sea'', [[SequelGap nearly a decade later]]. What was it? A MinigameGame about [[ComicallyMissingThePoint teaching little children their letters, words, numbers, directions, and colors.]] [[FlatWhat What.]] And despite this, the game tries to ride on the previous installments' success by pointing out that it's from the award-winning series with 15 million copies sold worldwide, not mentioning that the rest of the series was made by different people. (Additionally, one of the game's [[SpellMyNameWithAnS alternate titles]] is ''ABC's Under the Sea'', which is [[WantonCrueltyToTheCommonComma grammatically incorrect]].)

* JeffDunham has been becoming this in recent years, as his shows have become more rooted in shock humor and stereotypes (with increased emphasis on BreakoutCharacter Achmed) in order to appeal more to the conservative Southern crowd (Dunham is a Texas native).

* For all the TheyChangedItNowItSucks that the ''Film/{{Transformers}}'' series gets from the fanbase, the writers did a surprisingly bold move when the desire to include fan favorite Soundwave into the film hit the wall with Michael Bay's demands for what the movie Transformers would be able to do, like refusing to allow mass-shifting. In the original draft Soundwave was supposed to be the one hacking the defense network and tracking Sam Witwicky down. Part of the story involved him mass shifting from a small infiltrator robot into a Humvee. Creator/MichaelBay vetoed this plot and Soundwave's role was divided up among a few additional robots. Instead of just naming the primary one Soundwave to salvage the plotline to appease Bay, they named the robot Blackout, with Frenzy, Barricade and Scorponok taking on the role Soundwave and Ravage would have had. The writers then procla.comimed said "Do Soundwave right or not at all." ''Revenge of the Fallen'' in turn gave us a strong Soundwave/Ravage showing, with Soundwave as a spy satellite.

** In "The Last Roundup," there's a largely filler scene in which a perrenial EnsembleDarkHorse background character with the FanNickname Derpy Hooves is actually canonically revealed to have that name, and gets several lines. This later got a controversial AuthorsSavingThrow which was partly due to this and partly due to UnfortunateImplications of Derpy being mentally handicapped.

Not quite. Generally speaking, the more intensely devoted fans in a fandom are usually outnumbered by the casual fans, but the more devoted a fan becomes, the more active (and louder) they become in the fandom. So while [[SilentMajority a few million casual fans]] might enjoy an episode without ever making it widely known, [[VocalMinority a handful of devoted]] and [[FanDumb occasionally unhinged]] fans are screaming on a web forum about how the show is now DarthWiki/RuinedFOREVER, which can be seen and heard by everyone... including the people making the show. The producers may then start pandering to these voices exclusively, believing them to be the voice of everyone watching -- but "everyone" in this case may in fact consist only of a handful of people, and what this minority wants and what the other, less noisy fans want can differ drastically.

** And again in ''VideoGame/KingdomHeartsBirthBySleep'', where the writers chose to include Lea and Isa, the non-Nobody selves of Axel and Saix (who had been previously established as growing up together, but not in Radiant Garden which this game now has them live in.) The two had no real ''reason'' to be in the story and the scene itself [[BigLippedAlligatorMoment goes by and has no relevance.]] But Saix and especially Axel are popular, so...

!!Examples:

* KevinSmith admits that he made ''JayAndSilentBob Strike Back'' purely for his fans who wanted a Jay and Silent Bob movie with tons of references to his other films, as well as lot of swearing, crude jokes, and FanService.

[[folder:Live Action TV]]
* In the opinion of many fans, ''XenaWarriorPrincess'' did this by playing up lesbian subtext between the two leads in order to pander to a VocalMinority.

* When it comes to the female guest stars, ''Series/{{Supernatural}}'' is certainly guilty of this. Jo was a love interest for Dean; she was hated by the fans and so got booted. Bela was introduced -- to say that she was hated would be an understatement -- and she got ripped to pieces with Hellhounds (off-screen). Now it's been revealed that Katie Cassidy has to leave too (However, that was because they didn't have the budget to pay for her return). Kripke has also ended up apologising for the oft-reviled "Red Sky At Morning" and a few other unpopular episodes. While you appreciate the thought, you kind of wish they had the stones to ignore the bitchier parts of their fanbase.Ruby was a subversion before she got KilledOffForReal. It's revealed in season four that she simply got a new meatsuit [[spoiler: after being forced out of the old one by Lilith]].
** This might not necessarily be a bad thing here, since the female viewership were not only trying to ship clearly straight (frequently related)heterosexual men together, they were picking up on and complaining about the stereotypical way the show portrayed female leads. In Jo's case, the writers began to see the fan's point; according to her actress, they told her she came off more as a 14-year old sister than a love interest. The female fanbase warmed to Jo after she stood up to Dean when he tried to pick her up, and positively started liking her and Ellen after their AlasPoorScrappy moment. The more recent seasons seem to have picked up on how much the fangirls hate the stereotypical GirlOfTheWeek. Meg (as played by Rachel Miner) and Pam (the blind seer) both played against the female stereotypes and were both reasonably well received.

** E3 2010 provided an interesting reversal: Microsoft and Sony both seemed to be making overtures at casual gamers, with ''both'' of them showcasing Wii remote ''and'' ''WiiSports'' [[FollowTheLeader clones]], while Nintendo unabashedly went after core gamers with their announcements of ''TheLegendOfZeldaSkywardSword'', ''VideoGame/KirbysEpicYarn'', ''DonkeyKongCountryReturns'', remakes of ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaOcarinaOfTime'' and ''[[VideoGame/StarFox Star Fox 64]]'', ''VideoGame/GoldenEyeWii'', and even a new ''KidIcarus'' game, after a two ''[[SequelGap decade]]''-long dry spell. Most critics and reporters had Nintendo winning the conference in a walk, and even many gamers are, if not fully won over, at least cautiously optimistic.

* The NFL's change to its overtime rules in 2012 to encourage teams try go for touchdowns simply because the majority of the fans hate field goals. To explain the new rules: What had previously been flat sudden death overtime (game ends on the next score) was changed so the the overtime won't immediately end if the first score is a FG; the other team will get the chance to score and then the game will end when either squad takes the lead. If the first OT score is a TD, however, the game does end immediately.

One of life's little oddities is the nebulous relationship between the fans of media and the creators, producers, and distributors of that media. In theory, the creators call the shots; they decide what's happening and the fans follow as they will. But that's a bit naive; it's the fans who keep the ratings up, the sales high and the money flowing in, and if you displease them, they can just go elsewhere and take the gravy-train with them. The existence of things like FanonDiscontinuity, DorkAge, AuthorsSavingThrow, and {{Fanon}} means that any property successful enough to cultivate a group of [[TheContributors intensely devoted fans]] is going to be at least partially concerned with satisfying their wishes; you have to give your viewers what they want.

So, just give the fans exactly what they want and everything will work out -- simple, huh?

Not quite. Generally speaking, the more intensely devoted fans in a fandom are usually outnumbered by the casual fans, but the more devoted a fan becomes, the more active -- and louder -- they become in the fandom. So while [[SilentMajority a few million casual fans]] might enjoy an episode without ever making it widely known, [[VocalMinority a handful of devoted]] and [[FanDumb occasionally unhinged]] fans are screaming on a web forum about how the show is now DarthWiki/RuinedFOREVER, which can be seen and heard by everyone... including the people making the show. The producers may then start pandering to these voices exclusively, believing them to be the voice of everyone watching -- but 'everyone' in this case may in fact consist only of a handful of people, and what this minority wants and what the other, less noisy fans want can differ drastically.

This presents a major problem. The property can end up becoming a private club, accessible only to a select few. Excluding the casual fans means they'll simply drift away to find something else to spend their time on, and raising the entry bar too high means you run the risk of [[ContinuityLockout locking out]] new fans who may have possibly been interested in the property, but now find it too difficult to access. While the VocalMinority might now be satisfied (and you [[BrokenBase can't even]] [[UnpleasableFanbase count on that]]), they rarely translate to enough ratings and / or sales to justify the property's continued existence -- and to make matters worse, even this hardcore minority may begin to drift away for numerous reasons (changing tastes, burnout, [[FleetingDemographic lessened interest]], etc). This results in diminishing returns ending in eventual cancellation if unchecked.

Furthermore, the overall quality of the property can begin to suffer; just because someone is intensely committed to a particular work of fiction doesn't necessarily mean they know what makes good fiction ''work''. The hardcore fans are generally fascinated by the backstory, trivia and continuity which can build up around a franchise, but this doesn't [[ContinuityPorn necessarily make riveting entertainment to anyone less interested in all of this stuff]]. And if you somehow get the [[ContinuitySnarl continuity hopelessly tangled up]] or make mistakes, this makes things worse; not only have you lost the interest of the people who don't care about this stuff, you've annoyed the people who do, and it's now guaranteed they won't be shy about saying so. In many cases, Pandering To The Base rarely succeeds in making anyone happy, not even the fans it's supposed to win over, because ultimately what most devoted fans want is the same as the casual ones; interesting and engaging stories, not just constant pandering.

A wise producer understands a simple rule that helps them avoid all of this; generally speaking, you've got the hardcore minority regardless -- they'll usually (but ''not'' always) keep following even if they're dragged kicking and screaming. You need to win over the undecided. They understand that for every fan who writes a frothing invective on the Internet or a rabid email, there's probably ten or more who are perfectly content with what's happening but don't feel the need to kick up a fuss about it.

On the flip side, however, TropesAreNotBad; PanderingToTheBase can and indeed in many cases does work out just fine. Sometimes giving the fans what they want is the same as giving the wider audience what they want as well. And while they [[FanDumb can at times be annoying]], the fans are still part of your audience, and if you're deliberately pissing them off you're still pissing off a potentially significant segment of your own audience, who will desert you if you go too far. Furthermore, relying on the approval of the SilentMajority over the noisy fans presents its own pitfalls -- in particular, you ''might not actually have it''. The fan criticism you're receiving may have a point.

This phenomenon is sometimes called "fanservice", but don't confuse this with [[{{Fanservice}} our definition of said trope]] (although the two can often be related, depending on what exactly the fan-base being pandered to is demanding).

** ''VideoGame/SuperMarioBrosTheLostLevels'' (also known as the Japanese version of ''Super Mario Bros 2'') is one of the earliest examples of the trope. Nintendo created a sequel to the original ''VideoGame/SuperMarioBros'' that was essentially a MissionPackSequel designed for players who mastered the first game and its subtitle was dubbed "For Super Players". Nintendo of America feared that the game would be too difficult for American players and would tarnish sales after the first Mario game sold so well. And they were right; Lost Levels has enemy placement and traps designed to catch players off guard very frequently, introduced the PoisonMushroom, had warp pips that would send the player ''backwards'' in the level progression, and had an extra set of worlds that could only be unlocked by ''beating the game eight times in a row''. Western players would eventually get the game in in ''Super Mario All-Stars'' with ''slightly'' reduced difficulty, but still [[NintendoHard bone crushingly hard]] overall and players would also get the original version of the game on the Wii's VirtualConsole.

** That's been changing. A couple high profile flops on the PlayStation3, and the fact that of the largest developers, the ones giving the Wii the least support have been showing losses ({{Take Two|Interactive}} and ElectronicArts), while the ones giving the Wii support are doing well ({{Activision}} and {{Ubisoft}}). The CEO of Take Two even said they can't ignore the Wii's success anymore.

Compare VocalMinority, which usually is the bases being pandered to. Sometimes the base in question is the LowestCommonDenominator. Can result in TheChrisCarterEffect, BetterOnDVD, ContinuityLockOut, ContinuityPorn, and -- if left unchecked -- TooGoodToLast. Compare/contrast RunningTheAsylum, which is sometimes the writers pandering to the fans, and sometimes pandering [[AuthorAppeal to themselves]]. Can also result to fans screaming DarthWiki/RuinedForever as well as an UnpleasableFanbase. When the pandering actually does work, it's SugarWiki/AndTheFandomRejoiced.

** In "The Last Roundup," there's a largely filler scene in which a perrenial EnsembleDarkHorse background character with the FanNickname Derpy Hooves is actually canonically revealed to have that name, and gets several lines. This later got a controversial AuthorsSavingThrow which was partly due to this and partly due to UnfortunateImplications of Derpy being mentally retarded.

** However, Nick Fury doesn't appear until more than an hour in and even then his purpose is more to [[WhatTheHellHero get Tony off of his ass and work]] than to convince him to join the Avengers. He even tells Tony that how annoyed he is Tony has become his problem to deal with when [[{{SHIELD}} S.H.I.E.L.D.]] has more on its plate to handle.

* For all the TheyChangedItNowItSucks that the ''Film/{{Transformers}}'' series gets from the fanbase, the writers did a surprisingly bold move when the desire to include fan favorite Soundwave into the film hit the wall with Michael Bay's demands for what the movie Transformers would be able to do, like refusing to allow mass-shifting. In the original draft Soundwave was supposed to be the one hacking the defense network and tracking Sam Witwicky down. Part of the story involved him mass shifting from a small infiltrator robot into a Humvee. Creator/MichaelBay vetoed this plot and Soundwave's role was divided up among a few additional robots. Instead of just naming the primary one Soundwave to salvage the plotline to appease Bay, they named the robot Blackout, with Frenzy, Barricade and Scorponok taking on the role Soundwave and Ravage would have had. The writers then proclaimed said "Do Soundwave right or not at all." ''Revenge of the Fallen'' in turn gave us a strong Soundwave/Ravage showing, with Soundwave as a spy satellite.

** ''VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening'' introduced sexier character designs, BeachEpisode downloadable chapters, and mass shipping of dating sim proportions. Fans went completely ballistic, accusing the game of being made to cater to horny fanboys and "ruining" female characters of the previous games by giving them different costumes for the DLC.

* A lot of ''FireEmblem'' fans accused Intelligent Systems of pandering to the {{yaoi fangirl}}s in the tenth game: The Ike/Soren base conversation is ''very'' sappy and more full of HoYay than their supports in the previous game, and they have a paired ending. The perception is that this is at the expense of ShipTease Ike has had with women in the previous game, though some of that was added by the localization, and said localization seemed to have toned the HoYay in the ninth game.
** ''VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening'' introduced sexier character designs, BeachEpisode downloadable chapters, and mass shipping. Fans went completely ballistic, accusing the game of being made to cater to horny fanboys and "ruining" existing females by giving them different costumes for the DLC.

* After the very controversed reception obtained by Ben10AlienForce and Ben10UltimateAlien for being different than the [[{{Ben10}} original show]] and DarkerAndEdgier, the writers went for this trope when working on Ben10Omniverse: the tone got DenserAndWackier, references to the original show were made to the point of ContinuityPorn, most villains and characters who were important in AF and UA (like Kevin, Gwen or Ben's girlfriend Julie) got either PutOnABus or DemotedToExtra, and flashbacks to the original show were included. Other than reversing the position of the fandom (sequels fans hate it, original series fans adore it), it didn't exactly change the situation.

* ''LoveNeverDies'', a sequel to ''PhantomOfTheOpera'', changes several characters from the original just to please the Christine/Erik shippers.

* After the very controversed reception obtained by Ben10AlienForce and Ben10UltimateAlien for being different than the [[{{Ben10}} original show]] and DarkerAndEdgier, the writers went for this trope when working on Ben10Omniverse: the tone got DenserAndWackier, references to the original show were made to the point of ContinuityPorn, most villains and characters who were important in AF and UA (like Kevin, Gwen or Ben's girlfriend Julie) got either PutOnABus or DemotedToExtra, and flashbacks to the original show were included. Other than reversing the position of the fandom (sequels fans hate it, original series fans adore it), it didn't exactly changed the situation.

* ''Series/{{Lost}}'' getting rid of [[AbortedArc Nikki and Paolo]] because the FanDumb's hatred of them. Arguably the same could be said for [[TheScrappy Ana Lucia]], as while she was always planned to be killed off, apparently Libby was killed alongside Ana at the end for better dramatic effect.

* A lot of ''FireEmblem'' fans accused Intelligent Systems of pandering to the {{yaoi fangirl}}s in the tenth game: The Ike/Soren base conversation is ''very'' sappy and more full of HoYay than their supports in the previous game, and they have a paired ending. The perception is that this is at the expense of ShipTease Ike has had with women in the previous game.

** In "The Last Roundup," there's a largely filler scene in which a perrenial EnsembleDarkHorse background character with the FanNickname Derpy Hooves is actually canonically revealed to have that name, and gets several lines. This later got a controversial AuthorsSavingThrow which was partly due to this, and partly due to UnfortunateImplications.

* The entire relation between ''Franchise/{{Gundam}}'' fans of the original time-line (Universal Century) and the Alternate Timeline's is entirely shaped by the very different expectations of each side as well as VocalMinority. Disentangling what each group really wants and trying to appeal to both sides is for many what is ruining the original appeal of the series. The fact the UC and Alternate Timeline's appeal to different tastes with the same success hasn't helped matters.