User blog comment:GunboyGuncrazy/Why is it that some people to this day see Sanic.exe as a good pasta?/@comment-25052433-20140824181331

I feel like it set a standard, whether it's a good standard or not is up to personal opinion though. Before the advent of many of these stories, the very idea of haunted games was pretty rare. Personally, I just feel that people liked the idea and constantly tried to improve upon it.

However, not everyone has the creativity or writing talent to make such a story really pop. Sonic.exe got a pass, simply because it was the first, and therefore there was nothing to really compare it to in order to determine if it was good or bad.

Now it's a classic, and people like that about it. Honestly, I don't begrudge Sonic.exe nearly as much as I do JtK. It was also written during a time before we refined our policies, and lots of subpar pastas were being posted around here. Sonic.exe just managed to stick.

I never begrudge success though. Even if I don't personally like Sonic.exe (I am indifferent towards it) or stories like JtK (I don't like that one) I still don't harbor a grudge towards them. They are examples of someone succeeding, and to me, that is a good thing.

I do feel that some of those stories a bit overly celebrated here, but they are well known classics, and probably what draws many new users here. So, it's simply good marketing to showcase them.