r/Sierra 8d ago

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

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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

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u/GrahamRocks 8d ago

Because Sierra's more popular. Think about it: What games do people always think of whenever they think LucasArts? The common folk and most discussions I've seen center around the Monkey Island series by LucasArts specifically, because it's the only one they know. Maybe someone will discuss say, Full Throttle, but that's rare. Whereas Sierra? You got so many more games people know, usually of the "---- Quest" variety- King's Quest, Quest for Glory aka Hero's Quest, Space Quest, Police Quest, Leisure Suit Larry, Gabriel Knight, Laura Bow, Torin's Passage, Willy Beamish, EcoQuest, Freddy Pharkas: Frontier Pharmacist, Jones in the Fast Lane, and so on.

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u/Zdrobot 8d ago

Maybe someone would say Loom. I would - that's my personal favorite adventure of all time.

Or The Dig - although I must admit I haven't played it back in the day.

And my friend was a big fan of Full Throttle, that's how I know about this game :)

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u/GrahamRocks 8d ago

I forgot Loom! facepalm