Segata Sanshiro Jr. wrote: I can't speak for everyone, but its been a real fuckin long time, and many of us have been around the whole time. I don't think its people turning their nose up at something that wasen't started on the Dojo (we all got on top of this and it didn't start on the Dojo) its more that the constant campaigning doesn't seem like its making an impact to most of us.
I completely understand that. Time and disappointment breed apathy and cynicism. If anyone's got a right to succumb to those effects, it's Shenmue fans.
On the other hand, the Tweetathon was designed to be as easy as possible. Once a month, on the same day, post one tweet with the same hashtag. That's the bare minimum, and you're done for another month. The aim is for your tweet to inspire someone else, who might post their own which then gets retweeted. As the months go by, the snowball effect takes hold. We're seeing it happen, and while it's yet another Shenmue campaign, it has a whole new psychology behind it. One that ultimately may not even succeed, but in the meantime it's keeping the name active in people's minds until one of those people comes up with something better.
There's no good reason not to support this, but I take on board what you're saying - some people's hesitance certainly isn't about whether it was originally a Dojo project or not. My post above was about those for whom I still believe it might be. I just hope they're a minority who get over it soon.
EDIT:Just had a look on Sega's forum, and there may be sticky times ahead for this petition.
Sumo's now saying that if more than three characters qualify past the 1000 mark, it won't necessarily be the top three who get presented to Sega. Other factors will be considered, with preference possibly given to those who have not already featured in the All-Stars Racing series. *GULP*
If it gets to that stage, fans will be invited to debate the matter on Sega's forum, putting forth arguments for why their favorite character should be chosen. My fear is that no amount of arguing will outweigh the fact that Ryo's already had a turn and, say, Vectorman hasn't.
So what we have to hope for, first and foremost, is that the "1000+ Club" remains pretty exclusive. Miku might be ruled out (to quote S0L: "If a character can't be done for licensing, legal or other reasons, we will have runners up as alternatives"), so that gives us a little breathing room perhaps, and I don't even know if they'd be allowed to use Segata Senshiro's likeness (it's a real-life actor, after all), so the chances are reasonable that it won't come down to a debate and preferential treatment. But lets all start sticking pins in Vectorman dolls to be on the safe side.