Can fans of games be considered actual fans even if they suck?

[Luna Pixu]

Throughout all my time of being a gamer, there has been one question that has always been on my mind and I wish to share it with you guys.

Is it possible to be considered a fan of a video game series despite sucking at the actual games?

What do you guys think? Do fans need a certain level of skill in the games before being considered true fans by others? Or don't they?

And, before you ask why I am posting this, I do have my own personal reasons of which you can figure out rather easily.

[Major Mario]

Your skill at a game has nothing to do with how much you love it. I enjoy the Touhou Project series despite never playing a single game from it. If I played a game, would that change my opinion? Nope, not at all. I love the characters.

I used to be terrible at Street Fighter. I think I still am, to some extent, but I still love the series despite my skill. I'm a fan. Being a fan means more than being good at the game, it means that you enjoy it and support it.

[Nitori_Kawashiro]

I know of a few people who consider themselves to be 31337, and that insult people that do something wrong.
"Wrong things" include sucking at Touhou, and things like spelling Touhou as Toho and the like.
Fans, in their opinion, are people that have beaten Lunatic or something. Hard at the least.

But in my opinion, of course you can be a fan of a series of games without actually playing/being good at said games.
I usually don't like people that say things like "I cannot beat Rumia without dying or bombing, but I want to fight Flan-chan!", but most people don't do that, and I consider them to be fans too.

The same thing could happen in reverse though; I am decent at the games, I currently play on Hard, but my knowledge outside the games and things like SoPM is very limited.
I don't read manga, I don't draw, and while I love music, I can't find remixes of songs I like unless I search really really hard, and even then others would probably easily find a better one. I don't think you need to be good at a game to be a fan; even according to Wikipedia, a fan is "a person who is enthusiastically devoted to something, such as a band, a sports team or entertainer."

Note that I used Touhou as an example; the same goes for other series of course.

[Cucoo5]

Can fans of games be considered actual fans even if they suck?

TL;DR
YES.

I'm actually writing for a college paper here about fandoms...
once I convert it into a video I'll show you my thoughts =w=

My philosophy is that a fandom is composed of multiple parts.
I mean...just look at the Touhou fandom.
Take each aspect and consider it a section.

Music
Art
Writing
Games
Cosplay
And a few other subsections I'm not gonna list right now ^^;

But an observation I would use as an argument for my short answer...
One of the largest sections of the Touhou Fandom is the music section.


I consider myself a part of the music section more than anything due to the amount of Touhou music and remixes on my iTunes...
I've played the games and the fan games and loved them so I would say I'm a part of the game section
And I would think that RPing as Lyrica and Kokoro would say I am a part of the writing section.

[Remilia Scarlet]

...you mean people actually think you have to be good at something to be a fan? Isn't just enjoying the fuck out of something what defines being a "fan"? I don't remember anyone including "skill" in the attributes for "fans", though you can argue it applies to "hardcore gamer" which isn't inclusive of being a "fan"

[Im_the_strongest]

In my humble opinion,
The only people who can't be considered as "fan" are the "haters".
...i think that's pretty logic.
I'm seeing the touhou endings without actually beat the game. (Cheating or skipping the gameplay)
I like those silly stories, the music, the characters and everything; I love the fangames, the fanworks, the fanmanga, the fanmusic, the fanwhatever and believe me when I say that sometime in some Touhou fanbook i read that the author suck at Touhou but he draw it anyway because he love it.
...and I consider myself as a fan for the same reason.
That's it.

P.s. I agree with the most of the other opinion here and especially with Cucoo5, Nitori and Remi_Scarlet.

[Luna Pixu]

Eheheheh... I guess you guys are right. I was just afraid that people wouldn't accept me because I sucked at playing the games I love. I've never had a real grasp on what being a fan truly meant. When I joined Yukkuricraft, I didn't want to discuss much about Touhou because I feared that I would be judged for my lack of skill. Thank you guys for proving me wrong.

[Nitori_Kawashiro]

Far from; I remember someone saying that they had trouble on Easy, and I know one personally who does.
And even if you make a mistake, then you just learned something new didn't you?

If you want to be good at the games, just keep playing them. I remember when I started out, about a year ago, I always quickly became the best at a game without cheating. I only played on my DS back then, and I got bored because I could beat pretty much everything people could throw at me without cheating.

Pokémon > Someone boasts "I have a level 100 Torterra!" *Beats him with my Staraptor because the guy didn't know anything except randomly select a move*
Disgaea > Okay, I got beaten at this one... stupid cheater. *grumble grumble*
Kingdom Hearts > *grumble same cheater grumble*
Custom Robo Arena > *Beats everyone I could play with due to skill*

And then I started playing Touhou. Despite being pretty good (if I may say so without trying to boast), I only reached Cirno. It took me like 4~5 months only to get my first 1CC.
I once heard somebody describe Touhou as an endurance game; you have to keep trying, without getting disheartened and throwing the game away. If you want to beat the game, you will have to practice, preferably on a difficulty above the one you want to beat. Playing Easy won't make you better as fast as playing Normal will.
From my own experience, Touhou fans, while they might be competitive, are more inclined to help you rather than say something like "NOOB, GO AWAY".
Or at least I know I like helping people. I'm just hoping people show their alitruďstic side here.

But back on track, people not accepting you because you suck at playing games won't happen. Touhou is much, much more than games only.

[Shimitty]

Do you have to be good at baseball to be a fan?

[Keychain]

I must be not be a Touhou fan because I suck majorly at the games.

[Cucoo5]

Do you have to be good at baseball to be a fan?

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ ^^
This

[Kristia]

hm.. am I a fan if I passed Bayonetta in Non-Stop Infinity Climax mode difficulty? <----(yes that is a difficulty name XD)

But yeah, being a fan is that you love the game/series/book/etc..

not that you know the exact steps to hatch a pokemon egg or that you got the hidden message in metroid fusion

[Nitori_Kawashiro]

know the exact steps to hatch a pokemon egg

I recommend not doing this though, after I learned about IV's and EV's in a pokemon game, I can't stand playing with pokemon without the right ones.
I takes the fun out of playing the game. A little.

[Cucoo5]

Yea...
It's like in Majora's Mask
Once you discover the power of what I call Quick Spin Lock, and Bomb Jump Tricks Then you just kinda cruise through the game like it's a piece of cake.

I have yet to perfectly master bomb jump... but I can tell ya now: Quick Spin is OP