To be clear, I'm referring to fanservice ala Super Smash Brothers rather than sexual fanservice. But on the topic of both kinds of fanservice, where should one draw the line when it comes to this? Me personally it depends on how seriously the story in question expects you to take it. Something like hyper dimension Neptunia or Senran Kagura for example, I don't expect much seriousness from these games, never have and likely never will. Part of the fun of these games is how little seriousness there is. Something like Legend of Zelda or Metal Gear Solid though? Depends on the overall tone I think.
This is an iky topic. And I can't proclaim I know the answer to this. The only thing I can add to this conversation is further clarification to the issue, but not an actual solution. I don't want to say fans don't know what they want. I think when they say they want something, then genuinely do want something. If they want Character A and Character B to end up together, I think it's because they do want those two characters to end up together. But I think what can get lost to fans is the idea that there are other ways to tell the story. And they can sometimes get very fanatical about how the story turns out, almost forgetting that, while the story was written for them, it isn't their story. And sometimes an idea really isn't that good. The author's motives to killing off a character might have been for shock value or pure selfishness and the fans are not fooled. I personally see fan service as like with any other tool: it works when it works. It can be a really good wink and nod to say "I hear you" which is not a bad thing. But it can also fall down into territory that it feels like the fans control too much of the story. Some IPs are very resistant to fan service suggestions, but others are not. It's up to you as a writer to know a) recognize when a suggestion is a good idea. Some fan services are good ideas in the end, like Charles Schultz introducing Franklin in his cast of Peanuts. That was done at the request of a fan. Or Mr Rogers reminding the blind girl that he's feeding the fish. b) Remember your own vision. Fans don't always understand where you're going with any of this stuff.
@Kalisto Yeah, it's a hard topic to discuss (especially on gaming sites like Gamefaqs) so I'm not sure if there's any kind of straight answer to this one. A lot of people have an issue with a certain couple of characters showing up near the end of The Mandalorian because it makes the Star Wars galaxy seem 'smaller' More so with one character than the other. I can totally see why they feel that way, even if those characters showing up was intended to be fanservice.
