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Kind of a strange question, but here goes:

How do you get into entertainment series?

Are you relatively "diffuse", in the sense that getting into one show or game series or author will likely cause you to "bleed into" other, similar series?

Or are you more "concentrated" (sorry, can't think of a better word), and tend to stick strongly in the series that you are a fan of, but it's hard to get you hooked on another series, even if it's setting-/style-related? (One could say "intra-series loyalty", though I think it's perfectly possible to be a fan of another series while still being a fan of the first.)

For example, if you're a huge Law & Order fan, are you likely also a CSI fan?

About me: (don't read if you don't want to bias your response)

I think I'm "concentrated"; I've so far gotten myself into all three existing Law & Order subseries without getting myself into any other police procedurals or detective shows.

But maybe it depends on more minute features than genre or contextual genre (e.g. police procedural). Like, I don't really care for something being animé, but on the other hand I really appreciate how Neon Genesis Evangelion has all sorts of subtlety and details. But if there were another apolcalyptic sci-fi mecha animé but with a lot more stereotypically "animé" features like comic exaggeration and SD moments, I probably wouldn't be enthused about it.

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Interesting question.

I'm probably a bit of both. 65/35 'diffuse'/concentrated.'

But I don't think you can set it on one thing and one thing only. I LOVE Law & Order. But I despise the spin-offs and CSI and other procedual show. Part of it is that they don't balance the detective work and the trial as well as the original and the fairly realistic-ness but also because I love the classic characters. (The cynical Briscoe, the bada** McCoy, uptight Curtis, the volatile Green.) So you can say I'm intensely conentrated on Law & Order.

But then again another example, Neon Genesis Evangelion. I only got into that because I loved RahXephon, a show that is constantly compared to Eva, so eventually curiosity got the better of me and I just ate it up.

For a last example, sitcoms. I recently got into (and currently watching) Home Improvement. I only got into it because I read Tim Allen's book (Don't Stand too Close to a Naked Man.) It's funny, but then again people thought Everybody Loves Raymond was funny (I hate Ray Romano), but then you pay attention to TIm's commentary on men in general, and the subtle ideas of a male counterpart to feminism and then I got hooked.

The Steve Harvey show. I got into that because I loved the Kings of Comedy. It's not the best sitcom out there, but then again, it's the only show I can think of that gets [I]better[I] as it goes on as it explores the boundaries of marriage and (soon to be) parenthood wiht Ced and Levita, but also the contradictions of a woman's expectations of men with Steve and Regina (At times they want a sensitive guy, then they want a 'strong Big Daddy'. ) And of course some great one liners. ("The boy's so stupid, he pronounces ER as 'errrr'")

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I would say that I would be "diffuse," because I usually pick up a lot of things that even somewhat look interesting based on what I like. I played Suikoden because it was an RPG. The only other RPG I had played was Final Fantasy VII at the time and the connection got me to play.

Also I loved Star Wars when I was little (still do), and the whole space thing got me to watch Star Trek, Stargate, Event Horizon and got me to play Star Control II, which is one of my favorite games ever.

It's hard to say. My favorite TV show has always been Seinfeld and The Sopranos after I saw the first few episodes on HBO. I have The Sopranos DVD collections and the Playstation 2 game. I guess I'm kind of a "diffuser" becuase after watching the Sopranos, that got me interested in a lot of Italian mob movies and such.

As for games, since I was in Kindergarten, I've always loved RPGs and I was really into the Phantasy Star [original] series. After playing my first Final Fantasy game (FFVIII) I became addicted to FF and am interested in every title, though I have no desire to play every title.

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I sorth of run into entertainment by accident.

For example, I first played an RPG by accident. It was FF VII, I had seen the commercial, but never thought I would play that awesome commercial until OOOOPS, my best friend came to my house, brought the game, we didn't play it, he left and forgot to take the game with him, then I said let's see what this is all about, and the rest is history. After that I did look for others RPG, but the next big one I played was Xenogears, I only bought it because the drawings looked cool and I didn't know what I was getting myself into, the result was the best damn story ever told!

As for movies and series, I don't know how I get my sh-- stuff!

This post has been edited by SaffireWeapon on 7th May 2008 16:46

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Quote (FabulousFreebird @ 6th May 2008 21:34)

After playing my first Final Fantasy game (FFVIII) I became addicted to FF and am interested in every title, though I have no desire to play every title.

I'm the opposite when it comes to FF. I want to play every one. That doesn't mean I'll enjoy every one, and it definitely doesn't mean that I'll get into that game's fandom.

It's hard for me to like a tv show that I have to sit down and watch every week. I become incredibly distracted and forget about the time it's on, or when the time comes, I feel like doing something else. It's incredibly difficult for me to watch box sets. I become intimidated, afraid that I'll waste all of my time watching it, or by the time I must return it to my library , I haven't touched it.

Truthfully, I'm not into tv. I've stated the reasons above, but any other type of series, there are different reasons why I'll get into it. I'm not exactly rich, so whatever entertainment stuff I buy is something I really want (like games and such) I have to get a recommendation from a trustworthy person. That, or I borrow things from people. There are only a group of things I can choose from.

I think I'm more diffused. Similar characters are awesome (I so easily like the aloof females), and I'm really into steampunk.

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I say what I wanna say, I play how I wanna play.

Usually Word- of-Mouth is how I get into series/games. Sports takes up approximately 80% of my entertainment time, so I don't really branch out on my own that much. It usually takes someone giving something a glowing review before I'll check it out for myself. If I like it, I'll get incredibly hooked, though. For example, last year someone told me The Wire is the best show on TV, so, somewhat skeptically, I picked up season 1. They were right, The Wire is the best show that's ever been on TV.

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I guess I'm the diffuse type. Almost 100% of things I get into are either from friends' recommendations or critical praise on the internet. And my interests in entertainment, cultural pursuits, and tastes and preferences are so wide and bizarre that it's probably impossible to classify them as anything other than diffuse.

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Very interesting question.

I'd say I'm almost completely 'concentrated.' The only way I ever seem to branch out is by recommendation from others IRL, or on forums. For example, I'd barely heard of the Super Smash Brothers series, let alone played Melee, but following the lead up to Brawl here on CoN has made me need the game, when its released (damn PAL release date...)

Its strange Neon Genesis Evenagelion has been mentioned so many times, as it was one of the first things I was going to talk about anyway. I have barely watched any anime, and have rarely been particularly hooked, but after Glenn Magus Harvey posted the thread about a Cruel Angel's Thesis' lyrics, I listened to the song. I loved it, and within two days, had watched the whole of the anime, and its now one of my favourite universes out there in the world of fiction. No doubt, if someone started ranting on about how good another anime is here, I wouldn't be surprised if I watched it, and was hooked on that too. In general, I like to focus what I enjoy. In the case of Final Fantasy, I only played the games because my brother had bought them years ago, but grew to love them, and am now intent on playing every game in the series. Similarly with Pokemon, one of my friends knew a fair bit about the gameplay, I was interested (before, just being a fan of the games), but knowing all the little 'hidden' parts like EVs and IVs has multiplied my love for the game many times. Stargate was another series I watched because my brother liked it, and am already a huge fan.

I like in depth backgrounds to games and TV series, and I like immersing myself in them. This is probably the main reason for my whole 'concentrated' attitude to entertainment; I'd much rather know intricate details, and everything there is to know about a handful of few things, rather than knowing little of a vast array of media. Something with a hugely in depth background to its universe makes this so much easier, and so I tend to concentrate much more on the little details of these broad backgrounds. My main interests are in fact Final Fantasy, Pokemon, Evangelion, Stargate, Dr. Who, Warhammer (and 40K), and, to a lesser extent, the Elder Scrolls. All of these have hugely detailed universes to find out about, and I immerse myself for hours at a time, just finding things out about them. Because of this, I never 'diffuse' to anything similar (eg. Star Trek, other RPGs) because I've learned to love the universes I know lots about, and others are just too different, despite their obvious similarities. I don't like to leave my comfort zone and find out if I like something else; if someone tells me something is good, I'll generally take their word for it, and will no doubt enjoy it too.

Forget Diffuse or Concentrated, I'm a tool...

My friends say, "Hey, watch this, you'll like it!" And I do, and I do.

I'm not sure where their basis of what I like comes from, as they don't recommend everything to me, but I kind of shut myself into my own little world of stuff, and then my friends show me inklings of light that I thoroughly enjoy.

For years I thought that Smallville was some stupid soap opera with something about superman, and then I had a friend explain to me the whole "coming of age" thing and the blossoming superpowers, and it sounded really cool. I checked it out and really like it. I got into Supernatural because it was on right after Smallville, and then that became a staple of the DVR as well. So I guess most of my habits are part of the elaborate marketing scheme, and I am, therefore... a tool.

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If internal struggles were as enjoyable and glamorous as the self conflicted wars within video game characters, we would all be statues, reveling in perpetual self war. -Me

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Quote (leilong @ 9th May 2008 18:20)

Forget Diffuse or Concentrated, I'm a tool...

My friends say, "Hey, watch this, you'll like it!" And I do, and I do.

I'm not sure where their basis of what I like comes from, as they don't recommend everything to me, but I kind of shut myself into my own little world of stuff, and then my friends show me inklings of light that I thoroughly enjoy.

For years I thought that Smallville was some stupid soap opera with something about superman, and then I had a friend explain to me the whole "coming of age" thing and the blossoming superpowers, and it sounded really cool. I checked it out and really like it. I got into Supernatural because it was on right after Smallville, and then that became a staple of the DVR as well. So I guess most of my habits are part of the elaborate marketing scheme, and I am, therefore... a tool.

im the same way kinda. if someone suggests something to me, i usually go for it. or if i HAVE to watch something that i thought i would hate and that i have avoided for years i usually end up liking it. ( like tonight this happened. i went to a friends house and he was watching a friends season 3 DVD. i always thought i would hate it, but it was pretty good)

but i also tend to stick to things of the same genre. like NYPD blue, then went to L&O, then NCIS, now its CSI. i guess im just a random kinda guy.

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"Life: The deepest cut that wilt not heal. Fore it bleeds on and on as if an eternity. An endless river of blood in which death is thyne only escape. And as the tainted years pass, that escape muddles us with temptation."

At first glance, im diffuse, but upon closer inspection, I'm concentrated.... confused? so am I most of the time.

Explanation, I tend to diffuse along equal or better lines, I diffused from Pokemon (anime) into better anime, I diffused from D&D into other Table-top RPG's, but I can't seem to find many other video game RPG's I like, I'm spoiled by Final Fantasy, it's hard for me to find one that compares (Chrono Trigger being an exception it rocks!) I even have a hard time getting into Dragonquest *Ducks and covers*.....don't kill me for that, its just not a game I enjoy a lot.

But yeah, the way I venture into any new genre is generally by suggestion as well, I only played Final Fantasy because a buddy told me to try it. Same with D&D.

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"Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter, and those who matter, don't mind."
-Dr. Seuss

I normally watch the shows my family or friends get into, which is the reason I watch Big Bang Theory, Boston Legal, and My Name Is Earl. So I guess that is the way I get into most things. I also agree with Gears about the Word of Mouth getting me into something. If I hear something is good I will try to watch it. That's probably how I got into WWE. I never thought I would like it at all, but I watched it and tried to be objective (I think I'm usually pretty objective about things, I'd like to think I have fairly good taste), and now I can't miss a show.

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