I think if WOTC were still running things, I'd still be playing. But that's all I have to say.
Ditto. I think after Nintendo took over, the game fizzled for me. More on that in a second.
I could very well be 100% absolutely wrong about everything I write here... but this is just what I think.
SHORT ANSWER: Wizards = victim. Most of the junk that came with their run of things was not their fault; red tape kept them from using their full potential.
LONG ANSWER: Truth be told, I don't see Wizards of the Coast as being the offending company in any of this. Not at all. In fact, I see them more of a
victim of corporate bureaucracy. Maybe they had their own plans for Pokémon, but so did Hasbro, Nintendo of Japan (via Nintendo of America) and MediaFactory (later TPC). From my point of view, it seems more like Wizards of the Coast had their hands tied behind their backs, having to take orders from a million different bosses. The only reason why the game seems to be a lot more organized these days is because everything got folded into one single company; less cooks, less spoiled broth.
I have very little doubt that Wizards, upon taking up the Pokémon TCG license, thought of it as a potential cash cow, and largely treated it as such. But I also refuse to believe that the crew who were actually part of the Pokémon TCG department within WotC were interested in it for the same reasons. I would like to believe that Wizards of the Coast and the DCI COULD have and WANTED to provide the kind of support PUI has, had they been in the same situation that PUI is in. But having been through all the old issues and whatnot, the only vibe I had from WotC was "Japan won't let us do this." and "Hasbro won't let us do that." Not so much "we don't want to do this" or "we're not gonna do that," unless that was just trying to absorb the blame away from Nintendo, Hasbro and TPC. Prop15 (and 3 cards per deck) existed because Wizards, as far as I remember, couldn't ban cards and they had to think of a way to combat Trainermon (which existed through no fault of Wizards). Axing 15+ from the tournaments was another idea that Wizards was not behind, but unfortunately took the blame for.
In any case, WotC, in my opinion, "failed" because it was just simply restricted. Maybe they restricted themselves at times, but that was on top of the bundles of red tape holding them down. I honestly believe that if Wizards of the Coast was allowed free reign with the game, without interference, then we probably would have had the system we have now. ... Nintendo is doing things right simply because they have are capable of doing so, and they're not being held back. That, and they basically build upon what Wizards set up; The Professor Program, the Leagues, Worlds, Prereleases, the DCI-esque tournament system, trips, the kinds of prizes, even the grammar on the cards... the very foundation of the game as we know it (at least outside of Japan) was all Wizards' doing. I doubt very much Nintendo could have started this from scratch. Wizards deserves more credit than they get for this game.
As for my opinion of the game now... it's largely from the creative angle. I got a lot of gripes with game, and while I think WotC did a good job of trying to minimize these gripes, I believe they have since multiplied upon Nintendo's run.
* I honestly like the DCI system better. I never saw it as "WotC is trying to get people to play Magic," just that they had a working system which
happened to have been birthed from Magic tournaments. I too agree that they added a significant level of legitimacy to the game.
* I never really liked the concept of Pokémon-ex. Even Babies were really pushing it (boy I really show my age with that one). I don't know what lv.X Pokémon are, but I'll probably think they're another unnecessary addition to the game. Having made a ton of fake cards got me to believe that the game does not need all these high falootin new types to keep the game fresh. I believe you just need more creative attacks and powers. I will conceed that certain new aspects are needed to keep the game fresh, but not to the level of Pokémon-ex or the like.
120HP or less!!
* It's a Magic thing, but it translated well into Pokémon: Block sets, and how Modified was basically the last two blocks. Seeing, from the sidelines, the EX series expands to ten or something sets really started to bug me. Furthermore, the lack of reprints from past sets is also a bit disappointing. I believe this is where Wizards' was allowed to get things right; they were able to build their sets with tournaments in mind. Legendary Collection is probably the best tournament set I've ever seen for Pokémon.
* Heck, it took Nintendo a while to even provide booklets for the Leagues. When I ran the league, prizes came from out of my own collection. True, POP fixed that since then, but Wizards had all that from day one of their Leagues and never skipped a beat.
I don't think Pokémon-ex could have been avoided it Wizards still ran the game. But at least the other major gripes would not be an issue. I just think Wizards ran it as good as they could, and had the potential to run it far better than it is being run right now.
That's all I gotta say. [shrugs]