Betraying the fans

In the annotation to Irregular Webcomic number 1752, Morgan-Mar rants against fans feeling betrayed. I agree with everything he says.

...but...

Perhaps we have to look beyond what people say. I don’t think people really mean that they expect constant perfection from artists and every work to be greater than the last. I don’t think people really mean that their enjoyment of the older work has been ruined by the newer one.

What they say may be all reaching and exaggeration, but—no matter what they say—you can’t deny what they feel. That they feel. That feeling isn’t really about the newer work. It’s about the connection they have with the older work.

I think the phrase “betray the fans” is—under the surface—the fan’s way of saying, “I’m not going to let this newer work take away my enjoyment of the older one.”