Topic: I wrote a recruitment letter

[Lumi Kløvstad]

...for Castlevania itself.

It occurred to me that Castlemaniacs (that's what I call the fan community and you can't stop me) are standing right now where Doctor Who fans were in the 1990's: we have come to a point where one of our favorite franchises has been horribly mistreated and ultimately shut down by its own managers and creators.

Like Doctor Who, it then falls to those fans to keep things going long enough that an interested professional can eventually pick up the pieces and launch an official revival. Unfortunately, this might be a while: us Whovians had to wait 15 years before Russell T. Davies and his staff launched their BBC Wales version of Doctor Who (now highly successful and the tenth season is now starting production), and depending on who blinks first, we might be in for a similar wait against Konami. Really, anybody who ever loved a Konami franchise at all is in for that kind of wait, I think.

With that in mind, I ended up writing a sort of "recruitment letter" to spread around the internet with the intent of nabbing new fans; after all, if Konami won't advertise their great brands, then we'll just have to do it ourselves. This is largely so we can get new folks passionate about this series, and that will help keep us older and more entrenched fans from getting bored too.

So, without further ado, here is the letter. Copy and pastespam it where-ever you feel appropriate.

So, I don't know how many have heard the name "Castlevania" these days, or who grew up with it and still remembers, but like everything from Konami, Castlevania suddenly has found itself as the miserable unwanted child of a deadbeat father.

I'm glad that Koji Igarashi's crowdfunded game "Bloodstained" is attracting a lot of attention to the Castlevania franchise he once managed, and I'm attempting to keep some of that attention going. You see, some elements of the fan community are attempting to hold down the fort and keep it going until the madness infecting Konami ceases, but that could be years.

Ergo, I am starting a drive to encourage new folks who might not be familiar with the series to make like a Dark Priest and bring this fandom back to its full power. Fresh players, fresh opinions, and fresh interest in a game series that will be 30 years old next year, and was thoroughly active and represented on almost every console imaginable for a solid 25 of those. If you're new to the series, roms of the classic series are widely available (though for legal reasons, I won't specify where; you'll just have to channel your own Dick Tracey and track them down on your own. It's not hard though). In addition, if you have a post Gamecube Nintendo system, you'll find the series well stocked in the Virtual Console shop. WELL. STOCKED. Playstation users can find Castlevania Chronicles, Symphony of the Night, Dracula X Chronicles, and Mirror of Fate on digital download on the PSN with Lords of Shadow 1 & 2 available for cheap for PS3 and Xbox 360 all over Amazon. The complete Lords of Shadow trilogy is also available on PC.

It's finally a very cheap series to throw yourself into, and I recommend heartily that you do. Few games are perfect, but Castlevania's entries have been and always will be an experience not to be missed.

Furthermore, there are a few fansites I am very attached to that are great resources, so fans new and old should check them out. Despite not being updated for several years, the Chapel of Resonance has a great multimedia collection, articles, and information that will be highly useful to new fans confused about this long running series, and the Castlevania Dungeon has probably the most active forum in the community today. Meanwhile, the Castlevania Crypt is a great place to go to dip your toe into the series, featuring artwork, gameplay resources, spritesheets, and virtually anything else you might hope for.

Pop by the forums some time and say hello.

http://castlevaniadungeon.net/forums/index.php

http://www.chapelofresonance.com/

http://www.castlevaniacrypt.com/

And if this campaign should happen to have a positive effect on views or registrations for any of these websites, why, I don't think any of us would mind at all!

[Gunlord]

Very cool! Hope this makes a few new recruits

[coinilius]

Hope it does help bring in some fresh blood, as it were, to the series!

I'm a 'new fan' to the series myself, I suppose, so it is indeed possible for people who have no or limited experience with the series to be recruited.  Before I started playing through all the series sometime last year, my Castlevania experience had been with the old school NES entries in the series, the World's of Power novelization... and that was about it!  I hadn't even played Super Castlevania IV before - I somehow missed playing it and Super Metroid* back in the SNES days!

Oh, I was always aware of the series, but it was always on the periphery of my interest... I knew that there were still Castlevania games coming out, I knew about Symphony of the Night and how the series had changed over from the classic style to the Metroidvania formula, but that was about it.  In fact, when looking at the various GBA and DS entries that I used to see around, I kind of thought they were looking a little 'phoned in'...

Which may or may not be a honest judgement, It's kind of hard to tell this far removed from the series as it was coming out.  My play through order is based on a very, very inclusive 'in-story' timeline, not release order, so I am encountering different styles of games all the time, and it certainly is keeping things mixed up and fresh.  Also, I recently finished Order of Ecclesia, one of the last proper releases for the original series, and it was a spectacular game!

Anyway, what really got me interested in revisiting the Castlevania series was the rich, detailed and messy story line that it had.  I'd read up on the series and how the games fitted together (and didn't fit together). the various story elements and plot holes.  And the games were fun and generally of a very high quality, and that certainly helped!

* On a side note, I still haven't played through all of Super Metroid, despite being a massive Metroid fan - my interest in that series started with Metroid Fusion and I have played every other game in the series, but somehow I still haven't gotten around to Super Metroid!

[The Bizarre Trooper]

I posted the letter on my facebook!

The word has been spread!

[JR]

The letter is great, and it's very eloquently stated. Sounds like a good way to get people interested in the series. I'll be putting this out there, as well. Cheers!

[Donvermicelli]

...for Castlevania itself.

It occurred to me that Castlemaniacs (that's what I call the fan community and you can't stop me) are standing right now where Doctor Who fans were in the 1990's: we have come to a point where one of our favorite franchises has been horribly mistreated and ultimately shut down by its own managers and creators.

Like Doctor Who, it then falls to those fans to keep things going long enough that an interested professional can eventually pick up the pieces and launch an official revival. Unfortunately, this might be a while: us Whovians had to wait 15 years before Russell T. Davies and his staff launched their BBC Wales version of Doctor Who (now highly successful and the tenth season is now starting production), and depending on who blinks first, we might be in for a similar wait against Konami. Really, anybody who ever loved a Konami franchise at all is in for that kind of wait, I think.

With that in mind, I ended up writing a sort of "recruitment letter" to spread around the internet with the intent of nabbing new fans; after all, if Konami won't advertise their great brands, then we'll just have to do it ourselves. This is largely so we can get new folks passionate about this series, and that will help keep us older and more entrenched fans from getting bored too.

So, without further ado, here is the letter. Copy and pastespam it where-ever you feel appropriate.


And if this campaign should happen to have a positive effect on views or registrations for any of these websites, why, I don't think any of us would mind at all!

I love the initiative. If I find some spare time I could record some playthroughs so people can see what it's all about.

[XombieMike]

I'm posting this to Facebook and I'll put it in the Bloodstained forums off topic area and encourage the community there also share it. Of course, I will be adding a link for those forums as well.

Great idea. I have little to no hope Konami doing anything good with Castlevania for a very long time (if ever), but I am in full support of growing the fanbase and extending Castlevania to new generations of gamers. With the way things work now days, a hashtag probably wouldn't hurt.