Pokémon TCG: Sword and Shield—Brilliant Stars

What happened to the game?

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This season is better than last season's by far. I like how they limited states and regionals by holding them on limited weekends. Gives alot more people a chance at worlds by condensing everyone else's limit to 2 states 1 regs. Its unreasonable for alot of people to be able to travel so far, and it gives regionals and states more of a local feel to them.Also there giving out more invites than last year with rankings. Anyone remember begging for more invites w/o trips? We got them. But I guess you can't ever satisify everyone all of the time.

Alot of your post sounds like things you're seeing from your own point of view.Sotg is still present here,don't know about your area.
 
Absoltrainer said:
I never said people were branded cheaters....I said I noticed people making a big deal out of losing, and some people getting really peeved.


It's not that people are shot for winning by using the same card pool, it's that the format is so boring. Everyone and their grandma uses the same deck.


As i said before, I probably did blow things out of proportion a bit. However, I still think the old system worked fine. I am curious however, if anyone knows why POP started to focus so much on ranking all of a sudden?
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It might not be how it works in America, but it's how it works down here. >:/.

And yes. The old system was pretty cool. Albeit we never got it...
 
its sad but i actually 100% agree with absoltrainer.....

but who go and say well my area is not like that, its meant as the pokemon community as a whole. Disagree? Just look at pokegym now.......there is your proof :-\
 
I too notice less sportsmanship and more whining. I have fun but thats the way I play. There are way too many serious people playing this game. The current format really does byte and your blind if you can't see it.
PUI/POP keep this game alive with all the people that say wait till the next set! I remember them saying oh DP4 is going to rock. It may have rocked in Japan but it was just a pebble from what I see in NA. The game is growing but will soon shrink, the hype on the portable DS and Wii is almost gone, when that goes what will Nintendo do to keep the game alive, count on us long term players but maybe we will be mad enough that we have said enough by then.
 
meganium45 said:
If I have said it once, I have said it a MILLION times.

The TRULY elite players are always having fun, and playing in the SOTG from what I have seen.

I have seen a lot of elite players lose, get up, and shake hands, even at times get emotional win or lose.

The lack of sportsmanship is not from the elite players.

The lack of sportsmanship is from the players who think they are elite.

When you think you are better than you are, you do whatever it takes to make you be as good as you think you are, even bending some rules.

Some people put in the hard work to get there, others use shortcuts to do it.

What are the shortcuts? Stalling. Gamesmanship. Rushing.

These are cheap tactics that I have seen go almost away from last year to this year.

Maybe we are less tolerant of clown shoes. I certainly am.

Maybe players have figured it out.

You want a great time, play with Ness, Dolzeal, Fulop, Pooka, Ballard, Lucas, Chuck, the Silvestros, the Peruccas, the Craigs, most of the better Junior and Senior players, and a ton of players I am probably missing out on! They go into every match knowing they have a shot to win or lose, and accept losses, for the most part, in a superior way.

One of the coolest comments I ever heard from one of them, playing against someone they thought was stalling was, "Dude, beat me if you are going to beat me...but don't beat me THAT way!"

Vince
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That, that right there, I think it says all that needs to be said!
 
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I play for fun and am in 15+

Dom said:
This game is not about fun.
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How can a game with characters like Pikachu, Jigglypuff, Clefairy etc etc not be about fun? It's a kids game, let's be real.
Older people happen to play it.... and then some take it too seriously.

How can you say "this game is not about fun" as if it's a fact? To take the fun out of it for everyone just because you don't play for that reason is just foolish.
 
I think that POP is trying to build up support for a new, younger audience, who really only care about having fun. The more fun they have, the more money PUI makes, which therefore keeps them in the business of making the game we all play.

I do agree that the mandatory top 8 cuts kinda smell. I think POP is at the point where they need to start scouting good players and hiring them. Good players should know what's best for the game competitively, so why not put them in charge of creating the tournament/ranking structure? I would LOVE to help out with that process, because it's quite obvious that POP isn't doing a very good job.

Also...does anyone know if POP has an R&D/testing department? I think a big problem in the game is the format change, and it just seems like POP chooses which sets get the ax by throwing darts at them instead of thinking about how it will impact game play. The format would be so much more stable and entertaining if we still had LM...good ex's, great stadiums, and a bunch of amazing decks and techs to go in them. But no. In fact, we NEVER know what number of sets we'll have for the next season. There is no system in place to determine that, and it makes the entire player base extremely paranoid about what sets to get cards from. I bought nearly an entire box of LM and then went on hiatus until SW, only to find all the cards that I bought were just trash. If I knew they would have been rotated before I could use them in a tournament, I probably wouldn't have bought them.
 
PuRpLe said:
How can a game with characters like Pikachu, Jigglypuff, Clefairy etc etc not be about fun? It's a kids game, let's be real.
Older people happen to play it.... and then some take it too seriously.

How can you say "this game is not about fun" as if it's a fact? To take the fun out of it for everyone just because you don't play for that reason is just foolish.
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if i wanted to play a game for fun id play hungry hungry hippos
 
rhodesia123 said:
if i wanted to play a game for fun id play hungry hungry hippos
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People with that kind of mentality are exactly what's wrong in this game.

I look at my league and I see a band of kids having a fun time.

Why, I ask you, should that be any different at a tournament? Striving for a top position is one thing, but you should have fun while doing so.

Because let me ask you. If you're not in for the fun, then what for are you in? Prices? You'd be better off with certain other TCG's.
 
Absoltrainer said:
The game has become too serious. SotG is dying, and the game no longer has heart. Where did the fun go? Why was it taken away? What good has come of it?
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You think that it's PUI/POP's fault that we're experiencing an SotG drought? That's laughable. Spirit of the game rests on the players' shoulders. Our attitude is not determined by what cards comprise the format, or the invite structure, or the "slim pickings" metagame. No, those are all excuses for poor behavior. The primary determinant of SotG is how we choose to respond to all of those things. We have a choice as to how we react when things aren't perfect.

To answer your questions:

1) Where did the fun go?
It's still around. Ever play a fantastic mirror match that really showcased how differences in similar lists can make games fun and exciting? Ever had a tech up your sleeve that you busted out for the first time and won because of it? There's fun to be had.

2) Why was it taken away?
People who complain without ceasing took away the fun. That is not a take it or leave it mentality. That is the state of the game right now. There's fun to be had, as I've already said, but next to nobody wants to focus on it.

3) What good has come of it?
I suppose you mean to say, "What good has come of these changes that PUI made?" Good question. Certainly the game is healthier when there are more sets in the mix. But business is business, as nobody in this thread is ready or willing to point out. As for the invite structure, it's improved from last year, so I think that's something to celebrate. (I loved the Gym Challenge system, by the way, but last year's Worlds was far too exclusive, so we're making progress, here.)

I'm not the first to admit that cutting Legend Maker was a questionable decision. But I do admit it. One thing I am not doing, though, is complaining about it. If somebody with the kind of power to re-introduce Legend Maker for Regionals came onto the Pokegym and posted something to that effect, that would be wonderful. But that seems highly unlikely, so I see no point in taking a pitchfork to these threads like many of you.

Absoltrainer, your point that the game is less fun now than in the past has the smallest hint of validity. But in the end, when determines the game's "fun factor" is our attitude toward the game.
 
Aside from the Spirit of the Game point, Absoltrainer hit the nail on the head for me.

2 seasons ago, the game was fun, a good format and I simply loved to play this game. Then college came into the picture and of course I couldn't find time to put into Pokemon but now since I have my own transportation to drive back and forth home, I found time to possibly come back to the game this season.

As I looked from the sidelines, looked how this game changed so much from when I left it, I have no care to come back whatsoever. Personally, having the Gym Challenges being taken away, and the heavy importance of how the Premier Rating is, I don't think I'll be coming back ever if it stays like this.

The area I come from, Southern Virginia, no one plays Pokemon anymore, used to back in the good old days but now completely dead. Driving either 3 hours north or 4 hours south to go to the nearest tournament was never a problem with me, but considering how I wanted to come back into a season that in reality I came back too late. I realized I had to go to every possible tournament nearest to me from North Carolina to Pennsylvania to get as much rating as I could if I wanted the slightest bit of chance to attend Worlds. That chance is virtually out of sight. I had to start way back at Battle Roads to now and really I don't have the time nor gas money to having done that.

This game has definitely changed, from the format to whatever, Pokemon the trading card game is not worth it anymore.
 
LionheartEX said:
Clearly it's Brisbane, I assure you.
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Could be...I hate it in Brisbane. If you want to do well here you have to use some stupid deck. And then if you do do well everyone thinks you are a cheater or blah blah blah...

I wanna move to a different state =/. Brisbane sucks. And the attitude of a few certain players here (You should know who they are >:/) really suck when it comes to this childrens card game >:-0.
 
Dom said:
This game is not about fun.
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Its that kind of attutude that forced older generation players away or made the game the way it is. Although I'm going to somewhat put the blame on new ownership of POP (unless I heard wrong).

But I think the problem is the basic human logic: people don't like change

As soon as the Gym Challenege (which i unfortunatley never had a chance to attend) was taken away things went down hill because of the change of system, it makes scoring much more difficult considering before it was all depending on your wins (Pretty stupid that your skills in a tournament depend on your opponent's score also especially if they drop to spite you or such)

I'll agree that the system needs to be reverted back to the old style but I'll play for the sake of pass-time, only to whomp on players like Dom.

On a different note, I wanna know what you got banned for
 
If you think GFG and Magmortar are dominating the format, take a look at Yugioh.
There are Dark Armed Dragon decks everywhere, they cost 200-300$ a piece , and you need 3 per deck, so you basically need a 1500-2000$ deck to win. If you use less than 1000, your deck will most likely be less competitive.
Yugiohs state is far worse IMO.
 
Hmmm, being at the center of the whole rating/ranking invite controversy last year (alongside my buddies Ross and Jordan, lul), I can give a lot more insight into how that season's SotG operated.

IMO, it's a misconception that friends were won or lost due to the system, and that relationships were strained. What happened, though, was that they brought out latent bitterness in the community; that is, people not too fond of each other already abused a newfound issue to rattle sabers. However, I feel that the vast majority of the community saw things for what they were worth; rather than blame the people who played within the rules by "not" playing, players blamed the flawed system for discouraging participation. Granted, the current system "also" discourages participation, but not nearly as much as last year, where having a slightly higher number would win you a substantial prize.


...This season, I feel that players have less to question each other over, so much as PUI/POP. Off the record, I was talking to a good San Antonio friend of mine who looked at the issue very practically: attendance is UP, profits are UP, yet organized play's material benefits are DOWN...Worldwide!

If you think this season is unfriendly, it's probably more due to growing pains of the player base than anything. After all, players are finally beginning to realize that POP is in business...

...Now if only said players realized that they were "customers," and as customers, they have the right to demand more top-tier OP support.



P.S. As far as the United States is concerned, the 2005/2006 system, coupled with a few minor adjustments and international improvement where appropriate, is what I consider the "ideal" prize structure.
 
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