Pokémon X and Y

[Henroid]

All of my excitement for this game just disappeared in an instant.

 

Before now, when I saw people talking about IV breeding (IV = Individual Value, or basically the bonus stats that particular pokemon has) my eyes would just roll over it and ignore it. Then I made the mistake of reading about this stuff because I wanna breed some badass Pokemon. How hard could it be?

 

And then I saw the truth. All the people going, "I want a Pokemon MMO!" fucking have it, and HAVE had a Pokemon MMO since, what, the 3rd generation? Aside from the work that goes into getting a Pokemon with the highest stats possible, I became literate in the nonsense jargon for endgame stat building. And it's all monstrous and scary, and VERY World of Warcraft theorycraft-esque. None of that is what amounts to "fun" for me, and the fact that everyone playing this fucking game does it means that in order to compete I'd have to do it too.

 

But I'd rather not lower myself to that level. I beat the Elite Four, became the champ... I think that's good enough for me. Some day in the future I'll sell my copy off. But man. Talk about having a veil lifted from your eyes. I used to be excited about seeing Eevees or catching Cubones and whatever. But now I see that's all bullshit, that all my peers are caught up in fucking dominating in a game that was just so, so relaxed in the past.

[SecretAsianMan]

  On 10/30/2013 at 5:18 AM, Henroid said:

All of my excitement for this game just disappeared in an instant.

 

Before now, when I saw people talking about IV breeding (IV = Individual Value, or basically the bonus stats that particular pokemon has) my eyes would just roll over it and ignore it. Then I made the mistake of reading about this stuff because I wanna breed some badass Pokemon. How hard could it be?

 

And then I saw the truth. All the people going, "I want a Pokemon MMO!" fucking have it, and HAVE had a Pokemon MMO since, what, the 3rd generation? Aside from the work that goes into getting a Pokemon with the highest stats possible, I became literate in the nonsense jargon for endgame stat building. And it's all monstrous and scary, and VERY World of Warcraft theorycraft-esque. None of that is what amounts to "fun" for me, and the fact that everyone playing this fucking game does it means that in order to compete I'd have to do it too.

 

As someone who had never played a Pokemon game before X/Y, this is what all that is like to me

 

[Gormongous]

I think one of the truly awful things about the human mind is that, when presented with a system, no matter how simple or complex, it will try to break it. The internet has just made us aware of the many successes and failures to each individual end.

[Twig]

The interesting things about IVs and EVs is that they've been around literally since the beginning. I suspect the devs just wanted to add some more variety to how Pokemon were raised. But then it became a hugely competitive thing, and they forgot that what works for creating variety doesn't necessarily work for competition.

 

I'm less annoyed by EVs (as you have a considerable amount of control over those), but IVs are goddamn atrocious. Add on top of that the different natures and abilities and HIDDEN abilities and egg moves and goddamn what is happening in this game. It's just too much. It becomes very much like a CCG, but instead of spending money to buy all the cards you want, you're spending exponentially more time.

[Hermie]

  On 10/30/2013 at 5:18 AM, Henroid said:

All of my excitement for this game just disappeared in an instant.

 

Before now, when I saw people talking about IV breeding (IV = Individual Value, or basically the bonus stats that particular pokemon has) my eyes would just roll over it and ignore it. Then I made the mistake of reading about this stuff because I wanna breed some badass Pokemon. How hard could it be?

 

And then I saw the truth. All the people going, "I want a Pokemon MMO!" fucking have it, and HAVE had a Pokemon MMO since, what, the 3rd generation? Aside from the work that goes into getting a Pokemon with the highest stats possible, I became literate in the nonsense jargon for endgame stat building. And it's all monstrous and scary, and VERY World of Warcraft theorycraft-esque. None of that is what amounts to "fun" for me, and the fact that everyone playing this fucking game does it means that in order to compete I'd have to do it too.

 

But I'd rather not lower myself to that level. I beat the Elite Four, became the champ... I think that's good enough for me. Some day in the future I'll sell my copy off. But man. Talk about having a veil lifted from your eyes. I used to be excited about seeing Eevees or catching Cubones and whatever. But now I see that's all bullshit, that all my peers are caught up in fucking dominating in a game that was just so, so relaxed in the past.

 

I'm with you, I read just enough to know to say "nope, this isn't for me". I'm focusing on the Pokedex instead, much less intimidating. But still daunting, obviously.

[Ucantalas]

It really says something about how daunting the entire system is when you look into it and go, "Nope, I'd rather try and catch all 700+ different Pokemon, sounds a ton easier."

[tegan]

I wouldn't worry about it so much. I don't pay much attention to IV and EV stuff and I still have a lot of fun battling.

 

I got the strategy guide today. It's got lots of useful info like complete egg group tables for breeding and such, but I'm disappointed that it doesn't have a Pokédex like previous guides. They'll probably sell a seperate, complete dex at some point like they started doing with Black and White.

[Dewar]

I thought they wanted you to use the smart phone app for that now?

[Ucantalas]

There's an app for that?

[Dewar]

...I could swear I read something about that somewhere, but all I can find is some Pokemon Tap game released a couple of years ago, so I guess I'm crazy.

 

Edit: Maybe I was thinking of this Pokemon TV app thing: http://www.examiner.com/article/free-pokemon-tv-app-for-iphone-ipad-ipod-touch-android-smartphones

[tegan]

There is indeed a Pokédex app. It looks like it's more or less the same as the 3DS app, and I'm pretty sure neither of them have been updated to include Kalos-region Pokémon.

 

My guess is that they want to wait a little bit longer so they can reveal the inevitable event-exclusive legendary Pokémon before releasing a dex.

[tegan]

Anybody looking for a fairly comprehensive guide to ideal breeding and training methods; here's a sweet infographic I found on /vp/.

 

[Reyturner]

  On 11/2/2013 at 4:40 PM, tegan said:

/Posted a pictured that could very well end my life with its promise of crazy, delicious systems.

 

I finally understand the middle panel!

[Ucantalas]

I once borrowed a friend's Gameboy so I could trade between my copies of Red and Blue.

[Dewar]

My Wife lost intrest in this fairly quickly. How's everyone else doing?

[Twig]

I still haven't managed to get another Yveltal-for-Bulbasaur on GTS. Been up there for a week now! Oh well.

 

I've almost finished the Central Kalos Pokedex. And am currently working on evolving/breeding-for-baby-versions of all the Pokemon I've caught.

 

That's my current status!

[tegan]

  On 11/4/2013 at 8:20 PM, Dewar said:

My Wife lost intrest in this fairly quickly. How's everyone else doing?

 

I'm a little disappointed at the lack of postgame content, so I'm still laying but mostly cooling my heels for now.

[Henroid]

The listing out of steps of what you need to ensure to happen first is actually the thing I really needed to feel confident about this super-breeding crap. So I'm gonna give it a shot soon to see if it's easier than it seems.

[SecretAsianMan]

My free time has been limited lately and I've stopped playing this in favor of Ace Attorney: Dual Destinies.  Once that's done I'll probably try Pokemon again.

[colinp]

Having tons of fun with the game still. Got my first shiny the other day! A mawile from a Friend Safari. Tired of the team I beat the elite four with so I chose six new ones from trading and friend safari to raise. Can't believe how much I'm into it but really really enjoying it.

[RubixsQube]

I just left PokeParis for the second time. I feel bad for my rival, who was pretty bummed at how often she loses against me. 

 

Listen, everyone in the Pokemon World. You can have up to six Pokemon in a party. I know this is true, because up in the corner, you have six slots, just like me! Gym leaders, you especially need to catch on to this fact. It's not super difficult to go out into some grass and catch a few Pokemon. In fact, you could even stock up on Pokemon of a single type, sure, providing you've really thought hard about the fact that you may have someone coming into your grass type gym with a fire type, and it might get dicey. Just get some dual types in your gym, maybe? 

 

(Yes, I understand why the game mechanics are the way they are, and I understand that I may not be the target audience)

 

So, it's a little easy, but it's still really fun. I have a T-Rex! And Hawlucha is really fun, overall. I can't believe I have gotten as far as I have without a psychic type in my party. I'm really trying to stray from my comfort zone, type-wise.

 

(Also, PokeParis battle restaurant...I don't know how to indicate that I am a) vegetarian and really not super interested in Slowpoke Tail, and I think it's pretty ethically suspect.)

[ItsMeYourFriend]

so i let all of my little dudes evolve into their badass, monstrous forms but i probably should've stopped them. Look at this adorable little guy: http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-dFY0ZWIx9L4/UaQMVOOUvjI/AAAAAAAAE_o/oc6hO_C4poQ/s1600/Bulbasaur+%25281%2529.png he could've been like peter pan but no!!! 

[tegan]

  On 11/14/2013 at 4:25 PM, ItsMeYourFriend said:

so i let all of my little dudes evolve into their badass, monstrous forms but i probably should've stopped them. Look at this adorable little guy: http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-dFY0ZWIx9L4/UaQMVOOUvjI/AAAAAAAAE_o/oc6hO_C4poQ/s1600/Bulbasaur+%25281%2529.png he could've been like peter pan but no!!! 

 

The saddest thing to me is that adorable little Spoink evolves into ugly ol' Grumpig.

 

[tegan]

Something to watch out for: there's a scandal going around online multiplayer right now. Someone developed a PC application that reads and displays opponents' teams and decisions. Right now someone's developing a second program to counter it, but until a proper solution gets worked out the ranked servers have been shut down. More info here.

[TheLastBaron]

So a friend and I decided to team up and complete our Pokedex's to get the shiny charm. I finally got it, meaning I have officially caught all the Pokemon. I guess part of my childhood is now complete or something.