Old Star Trek fans: don't you sometimes get happy just because there are new series?

[The Wormhole]

According to Google Condord is recently released video game that's considered a failure. Based on the fact there appears to be two of us in this thread who never heard of it before now, sounds like their failure has more to do with a lack of marketing rather than being hated by its fandom.

EDIT: Never mind, that's actually called Concord which a Google search for Condord automatically redirects to. So either there's a typo, or Condord really is something with failed marketing. Either way, can't blame fan hatred regardless.

 

[fireproof78]

According to Google Condord is recently released video game that's considered a failure. Based on the fact there appears to be two of us in this thread who never heard of it before now, sounds like their failure has more to do with a lack of marketing rather than being hated by its fandom.

I thought Concord was in Fallout 4?

 

[The Wormhole]

I dunno, I didn't do a deep dive or anything. Just typed "condord" into Google, got something called Concord which is apparently a video game released late August 2024 and most of the news results related to it are painting it a failure.

 

[Ray Hardgrit]

According to Google Condord is recently released video game that's considered a failure. Based on the fact there appears to be two of us in this thread who never heard of it before now, sounds like their failure has more to do with a lack of marketing rather than being hated by its fandom.

Yeah, Concord is famous for being perhaps the worst video game bomb of all time, because hardly anyone had heard of it or turned up to play it. It cost $100-200 million to make, made $1 million, and then they had to refund that two weeks later when they decided to shut it down. You think it was bad when Enterprise's ratings dipped below 2.5 million in the US, on Concord's best day it managed 697 simultaneous PC players worldwide.

There are other reasons it failed, like bad character design, but a lack of marketing is probably what hurt the game the most. Meanwhile Enterprise's viewing ratings continued to fall after review ratings started trending upwards, which makes me think they weren't getting the message out there either.

 

[The Wormhole]

When Enterprise was on the air hardly anyone outside of Trek fandom seemed to be aware of it. I remember whenever I got into conversations about Star Trek back then, one of the most frequently made statements I'd hear others make was "they aren't making new episodes of Star Trek anymore, are they?"

 

[TREK_GOD_1]

When Enterprise was on the air hardly anyone outside of Trek fandom seemed to be aware of it.

I recall a similar lack of awareness of ENT. That could be--in part--chalked up to Berman-era fatigue which was beginning to set in years earlier, possibly driving away the general audience who--at one time--did not need to be strong ST fans to watch TNG.

 

[StarTrek1701]

Whats "Condord"???? If I'm gonna hate cancel something I need to know what it is.

Sorry, ConCord.

 

[StarTrek1701]

No, that’s not the reason that ENT was cancelled.



No, it’s also not the reason the Kelvin movies have ground to a halt.



No, this is silly. These shows were not cancelled because the producers didn’t listen to fans.

Have you actually got a point to make? I think the post you made is very strange.

ENT was cancelled cuz after three 24th century shows fans wanted something different, either something a bit far advanced in the timeline or give Trek a rest.
If you remember those times Trek was in a very bad shape. Not only did ENT lose like 10M viewers from the pilot episode going towards half the first season but Smallville was doing great at the same time.
And Nemesis was a big flop that damaged Star Trek movies reputation too.

When I say "didn't listen to the fans" I mean the producers were out of touch and were antagonistic towards their own fanbase.
Jolene Blalock herself said she was a lifelong ST fan but working in ENT caused her to not like Trek that much anymore.
And yes my point is this: IF TPTB listens to the fans, like Matalas did for S3 of Picard, movies and shows will thrive. If not, they will fail miserably.

 

[HotRod]

ENT was cancelled cuz after three 24th century shows fans wanted something different, either something a bit far advanced in the timeline or give Trek a rest.

They had just done 14 continuous years of production. 21 seasons of television. 526 episodes! There is such thing as franchise fatigue.

By the end, Voyager wasn't exactly pulling sellar ratings, and DS9 never really lived up to any expectations in terms of ratings. The franchise, and those who produces it, were burned out.

It didn't really matter what they put on TV after Voyager, it was pretty much doomed to suffer from the continuing downslide in ratings. Nevermind that it wasn't really ratings that killed Enterprise, but a change in leadership and direction at UPN.

And yes my point is this: IF TPTB listens to the fans, like Matalas did for S3 of Picard, movies and shows will thrive. If not, they will fail miserably.

If the franchise listened to fans and did nothing but what Matalas did for season 3 of Picard, the franchise would be dead with the current generation of fans. We need new blood. Picard season 3 was nothing more than a nostalgia wank of rehashed ideas from previous shows and films.

 

[Alexander Corrino]

What "fans" are the ones in charge supposed to listen to? The ones that basically want fanwank nostalgia like PIC season 3 and would no doubt start to scream "this is the same old same old, these are rehashed plots" if this was being done for an entire show's length? The ones that want "something new" and then complain when they get exactly that because "this is not my Star Trek"?

Whatever they do, the fans will complain, so, they might as well do whatever they want. The only question will be "which section of the fandom complains THIS time".

 

[Ray Hardgrit]

They should always listen to the fans and I'm fairly sure they always have. They probably have all kinds of stats and charts and reports. The tricky part with any kind of market research or user feedback is figure out how to best use the data to improve the product. Fans can only make educated guesses at what will make them happy and their requests can be misinterpreted. Like if a fan wants "something new", does that mean they want to reboot the universe or new adventures that push the timeline forward instead of endless prequels? Do they want a new take on Kirk and Spock or new characters entirely? Does it even matter when the fan next to them wants the exact opposite?

And the loudest unhappy voices might not be worth listening to at all.

Personally I think that the best results come from hiring fans like Ronald D. Moore, Mike McMahan, Aaron Waltke etc. Fans like Steven Moffat and Russell T Davies on Doctor Who, Dave Filoni on Star Wars, and Beau DeMayo on X-Men 97. Actual talented writers and producers who already have a deep knowledge of what will resonate with viewers and what to steer clear of, and don't need to guess what people want.

 

[Richard S. Ta]

It's not? Don't shows get canceled because the ratings suck? Don't the ratings suck because people don't watch the show? Don't people stop watching shows because they are no longer satisfied with the show?

Explain how this equates to: 'didn't listen to the fans'.

What you're describing is 'failing to appeal to a large audience'. In no way is that the same is 'not listening to fans'. Especially as said fans make up a mere sliver of the general audience.

ENT failed because not enough people watched it. Nothing to do with listening or not listening to a particular group.

 

[The Wormhole]

IF TPTB listens to the fans, like Matalas did for S3 of Picard, movies and shows will thrive.

Guess my days of not taking you seriously have reached a middle.

But seriously, Matalas did not "listen to the fans" and deliver the answer to their prayers simply because as everyone has noted ad nauseam, fandom is not a monolith. One fan's garbage is another fan's gold. But regardless, the whole idea that Matalas was in the trenches with the fans, enduring the crap Kurtzman was shoveling them and said "No More. I will give you the Trek you deserve. A Trek that will make the ghost of Gene Roddenberry smile upon us for a thousand years" is completely wrong. It was Paramount who wanted Picard's third season to be a TNG reunion, which they mandated Kurtzman to make. It was then Kurtzman who hired Matalas for that purpose. You want to thank anyone for Picard S3, thank Paramount. Kurtzman and Matalas were simply doing what they were told to do.

And make no mistake, even if the gods smile upon your sect of the fandom and Legacy gets greenlit with Matalas at the helm, it will not be the divine gift you all think it will. It's been said before that Picard S3 is not that different from the first two season or any of Disco's seasons, just everyone seems more accepting of it because it's the Big TNG Reunion and seeing Riker, Worf, Data, Geordi, Deanna and Crusher again on the bridge of the Enterprise D made everyone overlook the fact the season had the same flaws they complain about the other modern shows having, like a padded story arc that takes too long to go anywhere or a superfluous bridge crew. Legacy you're not going to have your childhood heroes on a recreation of their bridge from thirty years ago. You're going to have mostly new characters on a dimly lit set with the same kind of storyline and tropes you've seen everywhere else in the franchise since 2017 and you're all going to realize how empty Matalas's writing is when he's not distracting you with a reunion on Memory Lane.

Personally I think that the best results come from hiring fans like Ronald D. Moore, Mike McMahan, Aaron Waltke etc. Fans like Steven Moffat and Russell T Davies on Doctor Who, Dave Filoni on Star Wars, and Beau DeMayo on X-Men 97.

With the exception of Ron Moore, all those writers/producers were already established and had successful shows under their belts before they were hired by their respective franchises. And RTD and Moffat were demonized by Doctor Who fandom during their times running the show.

 

[HotRod]

But regardless, the whole idea that Matalas was in the trenches with the fans, enduring the crap Kurtzman was shoveling them and said "No More. I will give you the Trek you deserve. A Trek that will make the ghost of Gene Roddenberry smile upon us for a thousand years" is completely wrong.

 

[The Wormhole]

I know, I'll go say ten Hail Terrys as penance.

 

[fireproof78]

What "fans" are the ones in charge supposed to listen to? The ones that basically want fanwank nostalgia like PIC season 3 and would no doubt start to scream "this is the same old same old, these are rehashed plots" if this was being done for an entire show's length? The ones that want "something new" and then complain when they get exactly that because "this is not my Star Trek"?

Whatever they do, the fans will complain, so, they might as well do whatever they want. The only question will be "which section of the fandom complains THIS time".

Listening to the fans is a dubious proposition. One, as you note, fans will always complain. Whether over acting, set design or stories, there is a segment that will be annoyed.

Two, the fans are not a monolith. There is not a uniform voice to it. So even if you listen to "the fans" you're still only getting one segment, usually the most vocal.

Three, fans don't always know when they want. Prodigy certainly springs immediately to mind and it wasn't posting the numbers until a large group of people discovered it. And Lower Decks is a similar thing with fans griping over a Trek comedy series and how it's not canon.

Finally, fans sometimes are just too easily pleased by surface level details. Picard Season 1 and use very similar story construction and tropes , including the oft maligned mystery box format and secret family member, yet one is lauded as "what the fans want "

To: dr-it's not that simple.

 

[Daedalus]

As a fan, I just want us all to get along.

Kumbaya.

 

[Tallguy]

Guess my days of not taking you seriously have reached a middle.

Fox didn't listen to the fans.

And RTD and Moffat were demonized by Doctor Who fandom during their times running the show.

Oh I long for the days of demonizing Moffat. (Two f's, one t. Two f's, one t. Two f's, one t.)

 

[DonIago]

As a fan, I just want us all to get along.

Kumbaya.

And that's the most unrealistic desire expressed in this thread thus far. ;p

 

[Commander Troi]

Fox didn't listen to the fans.

And yet, they eventually did listen to the outcry and gave us a movie.