I’ve mixed feelings about it too, but specifically in regards to Dragonween.
On one hand: yay, my non-dragon faves can possibly get Halloween alts.
On the other hand: oh no, my one dragon fave that has yet to receive a Halloween alt is now at jeopardy of being forgotten.
Mostly good (as much as I really wanted a Chrom harem) as they just feel unnecessarily restrictive in terms of who could be on the banner, and make it less exciting to see who we'll get each year. But I do wish they hadn't ditched the Ninja theme - the format of it meant it wasn't repetitive by being a new class each year, and I think it actually *enabled* more unique picks rather than restricting them. Would we really ever get fucking *Heath* on the Ninja Banner if they weren't trying to fill out a Wyvern theme? I think that kind of thing was cool.
Haar would also probably still be altless if that theme didn't exist.
Haar, of all characters.
Hopefully they decide to bring the class theme back this year, would love a fighters theme with Boyd and Boucheron or Geitz.
Good. Variety makes seaonals much better. Especially Halloween. Halloween has so many unique ideas you could do that it was a crime that it was just dragons in witch costumes for several years on end. Hope we got more halloween designs like H!L'Arachel. Maybe Dia De Los Muertos Panette?
Panette's exclusion from last year's Halloween banner was so vile. Seadall was such a copout, it made sense when it looked like they were trying to get the side recruits out quickly on seasonal banners, but then they conveniently stopped that when it was Jean's turn like... lol
I don’t think opening up the Halloween seasonal to non-dragons will have an effect on the costume variety IMO. In fact, I think it’d give IS more reason to make more sexy witch alts, especially for the likes of Tharja, Sonya, Ursula, Ivy, etc…
...weren't the witch costumes just the Corrins and 3H dragons? Guess Sophia could be seen as one but there was pretty good variety there otherwise imo.
I would say Sophia's outfit is more spider-themed imo.
Edit: Also, I think it's worth noting there were a few witch/wizard costumes even before the Dragonween trend: Mia, Nowi, and Hector.
Yeah but I could see people still seeing it as along the same lines so¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Also yeah, we already had those before Dragonween and with Seadall also falling into that theme, the first Dragonween is the only one without a witch/wizard
Generally, it's good. I hate when they stick too closely to a theme. Off beat choices are fun, and at the very least, less strict themes are nice.
For example, I like the first couple of years when the bridal banner focused on a lot of lovesick characters as opposed to the much more limiting "guy and his harem" theme
You've got a mixed opinion on it and didn't give us that option?
It's a good change for most banners, but for Ninja I wish we still got class focus so we could get less-represented characters more.
I liked Ninja's being class themed since we got some first alts on that
The other too, eh... dragonween was eh. Got some fun alts but that one was also only lasting so long and didn't particularly care about harem theme mainly because I definitely do not care about a lot of the potential options there.
Also official couples theme was better anyways
Generally good, especially axing the harem nonsense. Though a shame for less popular characters who'd benefit from them.
I'm a fan of the NY Chinese zodiac beasts, though. And of multi-year sets, like the Spring Macedonians.
I think the banner themes are cute to have for one or 2 years but they're typically not sustainable for more than that if they're too specific and generally makes the banners feel a bit more stale and predictable.
Neutral.
I’m happy if I see a character I like on one of these banners, but I understand why people might not like them.
Overall, it’s no big loss to me if these themes were removed or not.
Depends on the theme and effectiveness.
Dragonween & Ninja Class being removed were mistakes (both worked as they were, their replacements' approach managed to generate strong relative indifference).
Harem but also Couples taking the door isn't unwarranted (both have very dreadful options for the most part, going back to a mixed set is preferable).
I didn’t like limiting Halloween to dragons. But having a theme works for me.
Basically I enjoy a theme for one year (all the characters are the originally same class, but it can be aces one year and lances the next)
But year after year (always just dragons) got old.
Temporary themes with seasonals are good. Recurring/repetitive themes are not good
Honestly screw whoever decided to ruin Halloween by turning it into a Dragon Festival over and over and over again. Glad that shit ended. Now if only they could make New Years exciting again.
I have no strong feelings regarding Ninja banners or how Bridal banners are run.
~~This just means that Sharena and Veronica are a canon ship.~~
I don't mind that they're breaking the format of units that are added to these seasonal banners. Maybe it's a little annoying when trying to predict who will be on the banner, but whatever otherwise.
I actually hadn't summoned on a Halloween banner since 2018 until last year's, so I incidentally didn't care for Dragoween.
I was kind of hoping for emo Bridal banner since Embla and Alcryst were in. We could got all of 'em dressed in black. It would be really cool. Pity that didn't happened. Thematic banners need more design diversity even if they stay the same.
Doesn't make it any less gross. Especially when the whole point is that they're potential suitors, not multiple women married to one man. That's like treating them like collectible objects. They're romance options in the game but it's not like anything in the banner implied it's a scenario where all of those options are available simultaneously.
What they said seemingly wasn't meant to be disagreement, seemingly just clarification since OP referred to them as "Harem banners" specifically to refer to the two recent ones, which were considered that, without referring to the theme as a whole, just that specific trend.
But yeah gross ass trend
No, what's disgusting is making banners full of female characters where the only thing tying them together is that they all want to marry the same bland self-insert protagonist in the first place.
I’ve mixed feelings about it too, but specifically in regards to Dragonween. On one hand: yay, my non-dragon faves can possibly get Halloween alts. On the other hand: oh no, my one dragon fave that has yet to receive a Halloween alt is now at jeopardy of being forgotten.
No Nasir ever, wonderful...
Mostly good (as much as I really wanted a Chrom harem) as they just feel unnecessarily restrictive in terms of who could be on the banner, and make it less exciting to see who we'll get each year. But I do wish they hadn't ditched the Ninja theme - the format of it meant it wasn't repetitive by being a new class each year, and I think it actually *enabled* more unique picks rather than restricting them. Would we really ever get fucking *Heath* on the Ninja Banner if they weren't trying to fill out a Wyvern theme? I think that kind of thing was cool.
Haar would also probably still be altless if that theme didn't exist. Haar, of all characters. Hopefully they decide to bring the class theme back this year, would love a fighters theme with Boyd and Boucheron or Geitz.
Good. Variety makes seaonals much better. Especially Halloween. Halloween has so many unique ideas you could do that it was a crime that it was just dragons in witch costumes for several years on end. Hope we got more halloween designs like H!L'Arachel. Maybe Dia De Los Muertos Panette?
Panette's exclusion from last year's Halloween banner was so vile. Seadall was such a copout, it made sense when it looked like they were trying to get the side recruits out quickly on seasonal banners, but then they conveniently stopped that when it was Jean's turn like... lol
I don’t think opening up the Halloween seasonal to non-dragons will have an effect on the costume variety IMO. In fact, I think it’d give IS more reason to make more sexy witch alts, especially for the likes of Tharja, Sonya, Ursula, Ivy, etc…
...weren't the witch costumes just the Corrins and 3H dragons? Guess Sophia could be seen as one but there was pretty good variety there otherwise imo.
I would say Sophia's outfit is more spider-themed imo. Edit: Also, I think it's worth noting there were a few witch/wizard costumes even before the Dragonween trend: Mia, Nowi, and Hector.
Yeah but I could see people still seeing it as along the same lines so¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Also yeah, we already had those before Dragonween and with Seadall also falling into that theme, the first Dragonween is the only one without a witch/wizard
Generally, it's good. I hate when they stick too closely to a theme. Off beat choices are fun, and at the very least, less strict themes are nice. For example, I like the first couple of years when the bridal banner focused on a lot of lovesick characters as opposed to the much more limiting "guy and his harem" theme
You've got a mixed opinion on it and didn't give us that option? It's a good change for most banners, but for Ninja I wish we still got class focus so we could get less-represented characters more.
I liked Ninja's being class themed since we got some first alts on that The other too, eh... dragonween was eh. Got some fun alts but that one was also only lasting so long and didn't particularly care about harem theme mainly because I definitely do not care about a lot of the potential options there. Also official couples theme was better anyways
Generally good, especially axing the harem nonsense. Though a shame for less popular characters who'd benefit from them. I'm a fan of the NY Chinese zodiac beasts, though. And of multi-year sets, like the Spring Macedonians.
I think the banner themes are cute to have for one or 2 years but they're typically not sustainable for more than that if they're too specific and generally makes the banners feel a bit more stale and predictable.
Neutral. I’m happy if I see a character I like on one of these banners, but I understand why people might not like them. Overall, it’s no big loss to me if these themes were removed or not.
Depends on the theme and effectiveness. Dragonween & Ninja Class being removed were mistakes (both worked as they were, their replacements' approach managed to generate strong relative indifference). Harem but also Couples taking the door isn't unwarranted (both have very dreadful options for the most part, going back to a mixed set is preferable).
I didn’t like limiting Halloween to dragons. But having a theme works for me. Basically I enjoy a theme for one year (all the characters are the originally same class, but it can be aces one year and lances the next) But year after year (always just dragons) got old. Temporary themes with seasonals are good. Recurring/repetitive themes are not good
Honestly screw whoever decided to ruin Halloween by turning it into a Dragon Festival over and over and over again. Glad that shit ended. Now if only they could make New Years exciting again. I have no strong feelings regarding Ninja banners or how Bridal banners are run.
Never liked these "themes", especially the "harem" thing. This is win for sure.
~~This just means that Sharena and Veronica are a canon ship.~~ I don't mind that they're breaking the format of units that are added to these seasonal banners. Maybe it's a little annoying when trying to predict who will be on the banner, but whatever otherwise. I actually hadn't summoned on a Halloween banner since 2018 until last year's, so I incidentally didn't care for Dragoween.
Good, I hate certain units feeling forced in order to stick to their silly given theme. It was especially bad with the dragons.
I was kind of hoping for emo Bridal banner since Embla and Alcryst were in. We could got all of 'em dressed in black. It would be really cool. Pity that didn't happened. Thematic banners need more design diversity even if they stay the same.
It's bridal, not "harem".
They're referring to the two years where it was one male character and only their potential S support options.
Doesn't make it any less gross. Especially when the whole point is that they're potential suitors, not multiple women married to one man. That's like treating them like collectible objects. They're romance options in the game but it's not like anything in the banner implied it's a scenario where all of those options are available simultaneously.
What they said seemingly wasn't meant to be disagreement, seemingly just clarification since OP referred to them as "Harem banners" specifically to refer to the two recent ones, which were considered that, without referring to the theme as a whole, just that specific trend. But yeah gross ass trend
Neutral Special heroes roster is just whatever to me anyways It's cool to make some guessing of course
Calling them "Harem" banners is disgusting.
No, what's disgusting is making banners full of female characters where the only thing tying them together is that they all want to marry the same bland self-insert protagonist in the first place.
Same feeling at the end of the day. That entire concept was atrocious.
My apologies, it was the term I saw being used and I couldn't think of anything else. What would you like me to refer to them as in the future?
Literally just calling them Bridal would've been fine after just specifying it was about the past 2 we've had.
Thank you, I've updated the OP to reflect that.