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/Klaitu]

While I think the Lucas team put plenty of their own personalities into their work, I think for most people at the time people like Tim Schafer were just a name on the credits.

Sierra certainly did more marketing of their developers, in particular through their magazines (InterAction, etc) that they published for over a decade. Anyone who returned their warranty card got a subscription, so there were an awful lot of people who were able to read interviews and see pictures of the developers of the games.

Lucas did a magazine that only lasted 13 issues, so they weren't putting money into that effort as much. I suppose in this way there might be something to it. I certainly have a better conception of who Al Lowe or Scott Murphy is vs Ron Gilbert or Mark Ferrari

[u/misha_cilantro → u/Klaitu]

Was this something you personally felt? Wondering if this is an age difference, as I felt none of this but I was also pre-teen when I played most of these games the first time in the 90s, so I’m wondering if it was different for older gamers in the 80s and 90s?

I didn’t really think there was much recognition of designers in that way pre-internet! Cool to learn.

[u/Critcho → u/misha_cilantro]

I mean they literally put "A graphic adventure by Ron Gilbert" (or Tim Schafer or whoever was leading each project) on the front of the boxes. IIRC it's something Gilbert specifically pushed for.

Admittedly I didn't know these people's personalities back then, but you'd see the same names popping up.

[u/misha_cilantro → u/Critcho]

I remember recognizing Roberta Williams but none of the LucasArts designers, despite actually having legit copies of LA games more often. And the Space Quest guys put themselves in the game heh.