This conversation was going to be a reply to a friend, but I decided later on that I should post it to the public and see what people thought about it. I am not trying to cast props or slops on anybody or anything. This is just my observance of the game. To take the personal side out of the message, I've removed the items that pertain to my area. Hopefully this idea can apply to many areas.
Hey ____!
I haven't been to many tournaments in _____ recently. Actually, the last time I've been there was for Regionals. I can't properly diagnose the entire area, just the area I am accustomed to but I think a fair bit of what I will say should apply to the situation in your area and many areas in the nation.
If I had to diagnose this area and the game in general, I think I'd say the following:
In the past, people have been focused on winning just as much as people are now. The players haven't changed but the situation has. Actually, the players have changed, but I will get to that in a bit. The game no longer splurges and rewards players for doing well once or twice. To really reap the rewards, you must consistently do well. And because of the need to do well consistently, players have decided to play decks that will do well in the overall meta-game consistently.
With the addition of the new ratings system and invites to Worlds being given away through that system, many players have taken on a different level of competitiveness. It's no longer "okay" to make the top cut a lot. They must win. People are traveling more because they have to play in more tournaments to gain a higher rating and hopefully inch closer and closer to that invite that they have been working towards the entire year.
Some players are dropping every essence of creativity that they once had in order to do well at tournaments on a more consistent basis. I don't give them slops for it. Different people will go to different measures to gain satisfaction from the game. For some people, it means playing the deck they feel is the best, even if everyone and their grandma is playing it. For some, they feel they can still do well without having to play the most popular deck/s. But one fact stay the same; If you play the best deck/s in the metagame, you will do better, on average, then if you played a rogue deck that might try to do well because of a lack of preparation on the side of the other players. This doesn't mean that someone can't do well with a rogue deck, but it means that someone will consistently do better with a popular deck than with a rogue deck.
The reason why this is true leads me to my next analysis. The format is not very kind to creative ideas. Since the last rotation, the cards from HP-PK have been casted outwards from the society. People have purposely not played the cards in those sets because those cards were weaker and not as good as the DP cards. DP cards have more HP and can do more damage quicker and more efficiently than the older cards. Because of this, a large chunk of the card pool has been restricted, leaving players with very little actual playable choices. Players don't have 5-7 sets to mix together and come up with great ideas. They have 3 sets total.
I don't care what someone says about how good DP sets are. Each set has a few cards that will shine brighter than the entire group of others cards in the set. The rest of the cards will be decent and maybe do well in the right situation, but not do as well, as consistently, as the better cards. This has been true in every card game. Because we only truly have 3 sets to work with (pokemon-wise), the best cards from those sets get focused on a lot, and many people lose sight of the other cards in the sets. This leads to people dropping decks that might be competitive and going straight for the goal playing the best deck in the format.
Will another set change this? I don't think so. I think we will see creativity in the beginning of the next series of tournaments, but the same situation will come about; The few really good cards from the next set will be played along with the other really good cards from the previous sets. Those decks will make up the metagame, while the other 85% of the card base will be forgotten and played only by those who aren't focused on winning as much.
This cycle is not the fault of the players or the cards, it is the fault of the tournament system. A tournament system that only rewards players that do well consistently will breed players whose only goal is to do well consistently and nothing else. Change the system and the players will change. This is evident by the fact that in the past we've seen a lot more creativity on the part of players at tournaments like Regionals, Nationals, and Worlds. This past year, there was very little creativity at those tournaments, with the same decks doing well the entire season. And I feel we will see the same thing this year at Regionals, Nationals, and Worlds. I can see the same thing happening at Battle Roads and Cities, so I am sure the same thing will go down at the bigger tournaments where more is on the line.
I don't like what the game is turning into. People aren't being rewarded for being creative and coming up with new combos. They are being rewarded for taking the best card out of a set and playing the same deck as everyone else. How can the greatest minds in this game do well if they aren't given the environment to do well in? Will we ever see a new player pull a Pooka, or a Bangingbox and be so creative that they do well on a consistent basis? I don't know, but I definitely wouldn't want to hinder those kind of players. But it seems evident to me that the current tournament system does hinder that kind of player.
What can we do about it? I feel the best thing we can do about it is make our voice known to the creators and the people that produce the game. Let them know how we feel about the things we don't like, and let them know how we feel about the things we absolutely love. More people focus on the bad things usually because it strikes a nerve with them more often than things that make them happy. I am not trying to be overly negative, I am just writing what I feel is happening to the game.
That is why I am posting this instead of making this a private message to a friend. This isn't just something affecting me and him, it's affecting the entire game, and the more people who realize what is happening, the easier it will be to change.
If you agree with this analysis, post that. If you disagree, feel free to post that too (respectfully please).
Let's have an adult conversation on what is important to us, the game.
Hey ____!
I haven't been to many tournaments in _____ recently. Actually, the last time I've been there was for Regionals. I can't properly diagnose the entire area, just the area I am accustomed to but I think a fair bit of what I will say should apply to the situation in your area and many areas in the nation.
If I had to diagnose this area and the game in general, I think I'd say the following:
In the past, people have been focused on winning just as much as people are now. The players haven't changed but the situation has. Actually, the players have changed, but I will get to that in a bit. The game no longer splurges and rewards players for doing well once or twice. To really reap the rewards, you must consistently do well. And because of the need to do well consistently, players have decided to play decks that will do well in the overall meta-game consistently.
With the addition of the new ratings system and invites to Worlds being given away through that system, many players have taken on a different level of competitiveness. It's no longer "okay" to make the top cut a lot. They must win. People are traveling more because they have to play in more tournaments to gain a higher rating and hopefully inch closer and closer to that invite that they have been working towards the entire year.
Some players are dropping every essence of creativity that they once had in order to do well at tournaments on a more consistent basis. I don't give them slops for it. Different people will go to different measures to gain satisfaction from the game. For some people, it means playing the deck they feel is the best, even if everyone and their grandma is playing it. For some, they feel they can still do well without having to play the most popular deck/s. But one fact stay the same; If you play the best deck/s in the metagame, you will do better, on average, then if you played a rogue deck that might try to do well because of a lack of preparation on the side of the other players. This doesn't mean that someone can't do well with a rogue deck, but it means that someone will consistently do better with a popular deck than with a rogue deck.
The reason why this is true leads me to my next analysis. The format is not very kind to creative ideas. Since the last rotation, the cards from HP-PK have been casted outwards from the society. People have purposely not played the cards in those sets because those cards were weaker and not as good as the DP cards. DP cards have more HP and can do more damage quicker and more efficiently than the older cards. Because of this, a large chunk of the card pool has been restricted, leaving players with very little actual playable choices. Players don't have 5-7 sets to mix together and come up with great ideas. They have 3 sets total.
I don't care what someone says about how good DP sets are. Each set has a few cards that will shine brighter than the entire group of others cards in the set. The rest of the cards will be decent and maybe do well in the right situation, but not do as well, as consistently, as the better cards. This has been true in every card game. Because we only truly have 3 sets to work with (pokemon-wise), the best cards from those sets get focused on a lot, and many people lose sight of the other cards in the sets. This leads to people dropping decks that might be competitive and going straight for the goal playing the best deck in the format.
Will another set change this? I don't think so. I think we will see creativity in the beginning of the next series of tournaments, but the same situation will come about; The few really good cards from the next set will be played along with the other really good cards from the previous sets. Those decks will make up the metagame, while the other 85% of the card base will be forgotten and played only by those who aren't focused on winning as much.
This cycle is not the fault of the players or the cards, it is the fault of the tournament system. A tournament system that only rewards players that do well consistently will breed players whose only goal is to do well consistently and nothing else. Change the system and the players will change. This is evident by the fact that in the past we've seen a lot more creativity on the part of players at tournaments like Regionals, Nationals, and Worlds. This past year, there was very little creativity at those tournaments, with the same decks doing well the entire season. And I feel we will see the same thing this year at Regionals, Nationals, and Worlds. I can see the same thing happening at Battle Roads and Cities, so I am sure the same thing will go down at the bigger tournaments where more is on the line.
I don't like what the game is turning into. People aren't being rewarded for being creative and coming up with new combos. They are being rewarded for taking the best card out of a set and playing the same deck as everyone else. How can the greatest minds in this game do well if they aren't given the environment to do well in? Will we ever see a new player pull a Pooka, or a Bangingbox and be so creative that they do well on a consistent basis? I don't know, but I definitely wouldn't want to hinder those kind of players. But it seems evident to me that the current tournament system does hinder that kind of player.
What can we do about it? I feel the best thing we can do about it is make our voice known to the creators and the people that produce the game. Let them know how we feel about the things we don't like, and let them know how we feel about the things we absolutely love. More people focus on the bad things usually because it strikes a nerve with them more often than things that make them happy. I am not trying to be overly negative, I am just writing what I feel is happening to the game.
That is why I am posting this instead of making this a private message to a friend. This isn't just something affecting me and him, it's affecting the entire game, and the more people who realize what is happening, the easier it will be to change.
If you agree with this analysis, post that. If you disagree, feel free to post that too (respectfully please).
Let's have an adult conversation on what is important to us, the game.
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