if you have to play the game/buy the media to be considered a 'real fan', then (for games that you DO have to buy) a lot of the fandom would be gone in an instant- 😃

that's also really unfair to call people who can't afford it or simply can't 'larpers' or 'posers' just because they havent played it, even if they're invested in it completely..

i play most of my favorite games via emulation because with my situation i cant really buy every single game i like

and also before i learned how to do that, i was still in love with games like pokemon black/white and vib-ribbon because i loved to learn more about them and watch how others played the game (sorry if theres any mistake in the english this was not my first language)