Reinventing a Legacy:
Drawing in a New Generation of Triforce Fans

The Zelda community as a whole has definitely changed since the Internet first rolled around, yet that’s only expected. Zelda itself has changed as well. Change will eventually happen, and there’s nothing people can do about it. Yet, it’s shocking how negative some of the changes in the Zelda community have been.

The community isn’t the only thing that’s changed about Zelda. We’ve seen many graphical styles since Ocarina of Time, the game that many considered the golden age of Zelda as a series. There was the advance OoT graphics of Majora’s Mask; the Gameboy Color sub-SNES style; the SNES LttP/Four Swords; the cartoons of the Wind Waker; the enhanced Four Swords fashion that was shared with the Minish Cap; and then the breathtaking nature of Twilight Princess’ looks.

The game-play has also changed. OoT had a huge, developed quest that took many hours just to get through the main storyline. MM and tWW had very few dungeons, but a big story, and many side quests. As I haven’t played any of the Gameboy games, I can’t speak for them.

Nintendo has taken several risks with the series that we all love. One of the first that comes to many people’s minds was the graphical style of the Wind Waker. Everyone was appalled by it, yet no one had played the game yet. Many said that they would never play it or any of the following Zeldas ever again, because Nintendo had betrayed them. Yet, Nintendo hadn’t betrayed them. They had delivered, making a highly emotional game, filled with a huge story, a gigantic overworld, many side stories, and new battle system. I myself thought the game was better than everyone’s beloved OoT.

Yet, the games weren’t the only things about Zelda that changed.

Way back in a long time ago, I was part of a forum that was the Temple of Light, better known as ToL. We were the community of The Master Sword (TMS). At first, updates were frequent, the site was getting a load of hits, and the forum was growing. However, after a while, the owners of the site grew busy, there became less updates, and the forums began to level off. We were still receiving new members every so often, but not nearly as frequently as we had been, yet, when some of the newer members would join, they would often be regarded with negative comments. I wasn’t always welcoming to some of them, so I’m not going to try and hold myself above everyone else, because many of us were rude. I was really unsure why some members came back to the forum that bashed them.

I think some of it had to do with what Enigma wrote about in “Community Magic: A Love for the Game”. These people had something they loved and wanted to discuss it with other fans. They were constantly rebuked, slandered, and swore at; yet they stayed where there were continuously hurt because they wanted to be a part of something.

So much has changed since the Internet first came around. At the beginning, we were all new to this crazy thing. Time has now gone on now. New members come to our forums; young, inexperienced, still a virgin to the Zelda community. Now is the time to draw them in. We were all newbies at one point in our time, some of us maybe even more inexperienced then the new users we see today.

The point of all this? Don’t turn someone away because they aren’t as knowledgeable or the exact same as you. Extend them a friendly hand/cursor. Everyone needs to start somewhere and somehow. Why not show a little compassion today and help someone new out at one of the forums you go to. I’m pretty sure they’ll appreciate it.