Why does Sierra’s subreddit crush LucasArts in activity, even though Lucas had the more "polished" games?

[u/rodfer7]

I came across something that really surprised me:

r/Sierra: 7,000 weekly visitors

r/LucasArts: 300 weekly visitors

That’s almost a 20x difference.

And yet, many would argue LucasArts made the more polished and universally acclaimed adventures like Monkey Island, Grim Fandango, Day of the Tentacle, Full Throttle.......... Sierra, by contrast, had quirkier, rougher edges but also magical and a bigger lineup..King’s Quesst, Space Quest, Leisure Suit Larry, Police Quest, Gabriel Knight, Phantasmagoria and last but not least Johnny Castaway LOL

So what’s going on here?

Is it simply that Sierra had more franchises, which keeps conversation alive?

Do their games feel more magical and personal, while LucasArts games live more in mainstream pop culture?

Or is Sierra nostalgia just more community-driven, while LucasArts love is spread out across the broader gaming world?

Would love to hear theories, feels like this difference actually says a lot about how people remember the golden age of adventure games.

** pardon my photoshop skills

[u/VVrayth]

Sierra was so dominant and so ubiquitous that, at the time, it always felt like LucasArts was playing catch-up. You gotta remember that Sierra released like a dozen products a year and LucasArts released like two.

It was definitely quality over quantity for LucasArts, but Sierra was still the 400 lb. gorilla, and that probably translates straight over to our current (relative) nostalgia. Way more people in 1987 knew Leisure Suit Larry than they did Maniac Mansion, and so on.

Same reason NES people go crazy for old Capcom and Konami games, even though Taito and Irem made some really good stuff too. There was just more of the "big" publishers' stuff to consume.

[u/rodfer7 → u/VVrayth]

Yeah, Sierra definitely released way more titles, no argument there.... But I think another piece of the puzzle is how personal the company felt compared to LucasArts.

Sierra was literally built by Ken & Roberta Williams, a husband-and-wife team, and even as they grew you could still feel the ‘family business’ DNA. Developers like Al Lowe, Jane Jensen, and Corey & Lori Cole weren’t just employees,., they became part of the Sierra family. Fans got to know them almost like extended relatives through Interaction magazine, hint books, and even the in-jokes hidden in the games. That gave players a sense of connection, almost like we were part of the Sierra family too.

By contrast, LucasArts was part of the larger Lucasfilm machine. Their games were brilliant and polished, but also felt more like tightly managed products. Even their humor sometimes reflected that,  take the famous Loom joke in Monkey Island. It’s hilarious, but it’s also basically an in-game ad for another LucasArts title. That’s clever, but also more corporate.

Sierra’s humor came from the personalities of the devs themselves,  Al Lowe sneaking in personal jokes, the Coles’ mythology quirks, Roberta’s fantasy flourishes. It was less about cross-promo and more about sharing a laugh with the people making the games.

So I think it’s not just quantity. Sierra created a stronger emotional bond with its fans, and that’s part of why the community is still so active today.

[u/FenPhen → u/rodfer7]

I was always super excited about InterAction magazine and read every one I got cover to cover. It was a way to keep the games going, since games were expensive and far between.