Although Faith No More had a major influence on several mainstream American acts, they found more commercial success in other territories after "The Real Thing", such as Australia, Europe and South America. Patton's charisma and artistry led the band to garner a "cult-like devotion" by numerous fans, as well as to treat him like, what some authors have described, a "deity". Throughout the world, multiple online communities dedicated to Faith No More and Patton's projects have emerged since 1995, and there were hundreds of websites exclusively about the singer by the mid-2000s. Many of those created in the 1990s remain active today. Raziq Rauf at "Classic Rock" believes that his egotistical, resolute dismissal of mainstream trends and conventions is what led his audience to stuck up for him: "He never asked for their loyalty, but he won it anyway."