Absoltrainer
Active Member
Ok well as many of you know, or anyone who can read my signature for that matter, I was banned a little less then three months ago from POP. That ban ends in 13 days. During this “forced break” from the game, I kept up with the goings on of the game, and kept in contact with all my friends. I got a lot of time to think. I watched how the game was changing, and the more the season progressed, the more I wondered if it was even worth to coming back. I look at all the changes made to the game, and how it has affected the game and the people who play it.
2 Seasons ago
This will be my second year in the Master’s (15+) Category. I entered it right after regionals, almost 2 years ago. That was back when we still had Gym Challenges. I liked GC’s because they provided worthwhile tournaments between regionals and nationals. Interestingly enough my first 15+ tournament was a GC. It was in Dallas, Texas. I had heard all the rumors about how competitive the 15+ category was and I was really nervous. However as the tournament went on, I realized that despite the prize being a trip to Worlds, and despite the new category of older people, everyone was very friendly. We would sometimes chat during matches, and people shook hands, even if they lost. No one cussed at you, or resented you because you got lucky and won. If someone lost, more often then not, they accepted it, maybe with disappointment, but without anger. The one thing I saw was that EVERYONE in the game was holding Spirit of the Game in full context. There were rivalry and people who disliked each other, but in general people were all in a good mood, it was very rare people ever dropped, so no one ever felt “cheated out of the top cut.” The top cut was awesome too. The more people their, the bigger it was. Top 16 tournaments were a lot of fun and less stressful to think about. The prizes too were really good and given out to Top 4. Not to mention how versatile the format was. People encouraged each other to play rouges, just for fun. Winning was awesome back then, but it was not the “only thing worth going to a tournament for.” I did absolutely horrible that season. I made a bunch of top cuts, but rarely made it past top 8 or top 4, however, it was one of the most fun season, I ever had.
Last Season
Suddenly, and out of the blue, POP made some of the biggest changes to the game we have ever seen. They implemented the ELO ranking system, eliminated Gym Challenges, added Battle Roads, and limited Worlds to 64 people. The Pokemon community was shocked to say the least, but after a few sour grapes, and complaints we accepted the new system and decided to give it a chance. From my experience, the atmosphere of all Pokemon events changed from there on out. I noticed how much more serious all the players were. The general Pokemon society changed as well, people became a lot more competitive, and in many instances, my closest friend ended up being the only ones who I could trust, and who trusted me; ones in different age groups. I noticed a lot less hand shaking, and more anger at losing. SotG seemed to have lost its footing somewhat. It was an obvious foreshadow of things to come. People were making enemies left and right. People who dropped were hated, and those who face an opponent with bad resistance were angered. Deck lists also stopped appearing in tourney reports. There was a long period of boredness between states, regional and nationals. The battle roads, were pathetic, they at most times had very little people, and were not big events, and thus short or boring. Nats, and Worlds I paid very little attention to, but from what I heard, it was mostly more sour grapes and complaints. I did ok during this season, and won my first event, a BR, but a win non the less. This was an enjoyable season, but at times somewhat rough. Many players ended the season, hoping POP realized their dismay.
This Season
Well this season had many players hoping for change. After the badly received system of the last season, many were hoping for something better. This did not happen. Instead many things changed for the worse. There were a few better things, such as evening out states and regionals to give fair chances, but other then that many players were disappointed. The prizes for all tournaments were cut and most invites to worlds lost and winning money for the trip. Even worse was that ALL tournaments, no matter what they were, had to be cut to Top 8. This meant states, large cities, and soon to come regionals will leave a very bad taste in many people’s mouth. Invites to Worlds became even harder to obtain, and ranking meant EVERYTHING. In the battle roads I went to, I noticed how few people showed up. They were pretty useless, as few wanted to compete fro a trophy card and that’s it. Cites were disturbingly the same, and I noticed many things. First, a lot of people had quit. Second, hand shaking was extremely rare and often done with a grimace on the loser’s face. SotG was hanging on by a thread. People were dropping left and right. Anger flared, even seniors and junior, who normally ALWAYS had fun no matter what, were crying about losing in Top 4 or accusing people of using rigged die. It was a very disturbing state of competition. During the 8 or 9 events I have attended this year, at least half of them have had people get in to arguments or fights about matches. It was the exact same as last season, except now it was to a degree much more extreme. It seemed like the entire game as a whole was falling apart, and still seems that way today.
Format
You most likely noticed that I did not once mention the current format in my above paragraphs. That is because, the format it a lot more based on the players and the current sets we have. POP does control what sets we gain and lose each year, but decks take time to develop, and I hardly think POP studies EVERY CARD and thinks of all the combos that will happen before the players do.
2 seasons ago we had HL-on, and it was a really balanced season. There were TONS of decks, even if some were more over used then others, there were still at least 15 viable decks, and red face paint decks worked on many occasions. The trainer lines worked, and people were content.
Last season we had DX-on and the Holon engine was god-speed. The Holon engine literally allowed ANY DECK to work. Some worked batter then others. But on a whole, I do not think we have EVER had a more diverse deck pool then last season. It was nuts. You actually had surprise in some decks that would show up or win. It was really fun.
This season we have HP-on, a format very few like. While most people understood the need to outlaw the Holon engine, many people disliked how it was done. HP- PK became obsolete the moment DP-on was released. The cards including exs were almost completely abandoned. Of course some still remained useful, but on a whole, most of the cards died, especially ones that worked with the Holon engine. Most of the time people were ALL using rouges of sorts, and eventually blissey was released and EVERYONE used either it or Empoleon or Mario. Then SW came out and GG was added to the mix. The deck pool kept thinning, and now we have literally 3 decks available in the format. GG, Queen, or Mag.
Conclusion.
Well what can I say, in recent times it seems that the game has seriously gone down hill. Before I finish I would like to point out that the fact that PUI/POP keeps the game alive is amazing. This is not in anyway supposed to insult any members of PUI or POP and I am glad that they run the game and events.
I was banned for 3 months, and I had a long time to think. I have yet to decide if I will return to the game after I compete in regionals, or if it will be my last tournament. From what I have seen, and from what I have heard, and from what I can feel, the Pokemon atmosphere is a lot different. The game in general has lost its heart. SotG is hard to find, and the player elites think they are superior. New players have a much harder time joining the game, and few people are willing to help them anymore. 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?
~Absoltrainer~
2 Seasons ago
This will be my second year in the Master’s (15+) Category. I entered it right after regionals, almost 2 years ago. That was back when we still had Gym Challenges. I liked GC’s because they provided worthwhile tournaments between regionals and nationals. Interestingly enough my first 15+ tournament was a GC. It was in Dallas, Texas. I had heard all the rumors about how competitive the 15+ category was and I was really nervous. However as the tournament went on, I realized that despite the prize being a trip to Worlds, and despite the new category of older people, everyone was very friendly. We would sometimes chat during matches, and people shook hands, even if they lost. No one cussed at you, or resented you because you got lucky and won. If someone lost, more often then not, they accepted it, maybe with disappointment, but without anger. The one thing I saw was that EVERYONE in the game was holding Spirit of the Game in full context. There were rivalry and people who disliked each other, but in general people were all in a good mood, it was very rare people ever dropped, so no one ever felt “cheated out of the top cut.” The top cut was awesome too. The more people their, the bigger it was. Top 16 tournaments were a lot of fun and less stressful to think about. The prizes too were really good and given out to Top 4. Not to mention how versatile the format was. People encouraged each other to play rouges, just for fun. Winning was awesome back then, but it was not the “only thing worth going to a tournament for.” I did absolutely horrible that season. I made a bunch of top cuts, but rarely made it past top 8 or top 4, however, it was one of the most fun season, I ever had.
Last Season
Suddenly, and out of the blue, POP made some of the biggest changes to the game we have ever seen. They implemented the ELO ranking system, eliminated Gym Challenges, added Battle Roads, and limited Worlds to 64 people. The Pokemon community was shocked to say the least, but after a few sour grapes, and complaints we accepted the new system and decided to give it a chance. From my experience, the atmosphere of all Pokemon events changed from there on out. I noticed how much more serious all the players were. The general Pokemon society changed as well, people became a lot more competitive, and in many instances, my closest friend ended up being the only ones who I could trust, and who trusted me; ones in different age groups. I noticed a lot less hand shaking, and more anger at losing. SotG seemed to have lost its footing somewhat. It was an obvious foreshadow of things to come. People were making enemies left and right. People who dropped were hated, and those who face an opponent with bad resistance were angered. Deck lists also stopped appearing in tourney reports. There was a long period of boredness between states, regional and nationals. The battle roads, were pathetic, they at most times had very little people, and were not big events, and thus short or boring. Nats, and Worlds I paid very little attention to, but from what I heard, it was mostly more sour grapes and complaints. I did ok during this season, and won my first event, a BR, but a win non the less. This was an enjoyable season, but at times somewhat rough. Many players ended the season, hoping POP realized their dismay.
This Season
Well this season had many players hoping for change. After the badly received system of the last season, many were hoping for something better. This did not happen. Instead many things changed for the worse. There were a few better things, such as evening out states and regionals to give fair chances, but other then that many players were disappointed. The prizes for all tournaments were cut and most invites to worlds lost and winning money for the trip. Even worse was that ALL tournaments, no matter what they were, had to be cut to Top 8. This meant states, large cities, and soon to come regionals will leave a very bad taste in many people’s mouth. Invites to Worlds became even harder to obtain, and ranking meant EVERYTHING. In the battle roads I went to, I noticed how few people showed up. They were pretty useless, as few wanted to compete fro a trophy card and that’s it. Cites were disturbingly the same, and I noticed many things. First, a lot of people had quit. Second, hand shaking was extremely rare and often done with a grimace on the loser’s face. SotG was hanging on by a thread. People were dropping left and right. Anger flared, even seniors and junior, who normally ALWAYS had fun no matter what, were crying about losing in Top 4 or accusing people of using rigged die. It was a very disturbing state of competition. During the 8 or 9 events I have attended this year, at least half of them have had people get in to arguments or fights about matches. It was the exact same as last season, except now it was to a degree much more extreme. It seemed like the entire game as a whole was falling apart, and still seems that way today.
Format
You most likely noticed that I did not once mention the current format in my above paragraphs. That is because, the format it a lot more based on the players and the current sets we have. POP does control what sets we gain and lose each year, but decks take time to develop, and I hardly think POP studies EVERY CARD and thinks of all the combos that will happen before the players do.
2 seasons ago we had HL-on, and it was a really balanced season. There were TONS of decks, even if some were more over used then others, there were still at least 15 viable decks, and red face paint decks worked on many occasions. The trainer lines worked, and people were content.
Last season we had DX-on and the Holon engine was god-speed. The Holon engine literally allowed ANY DECK to work. Some worked batter then others. But on a whole, I do not think we have EVER had a more diverse deck pool then last season. It was nuts. You actually had surprise in some decks that would show up or win. It was really fun.
This season we have HP-on, a format very few like. While most people understood the need to outlaw the Holon engine, many people disliked how it was done. HP- PK became obsolete the moment DP-on was released. The cards including exs were almost completely abandoned. Of course some still remained useful, but on a whole, most of the cards died, especially ones that worked with the Holon engine. Most of the time people were ALL using rouges of sorts, and eventually blissey was released and EVERYONE used either it or Empoleon or Mario. Then SW came out and GG was added to the mix. The deck pool kept thinning, and now we have literally 3 decks available in the format. GG, Queen, or Mag.
Conclusion.
Well what can I say, in recent times it seems that the game has seriously gone down hill. Before I finish I would like to point out that the fact that PUI/POP keeps the game alive is amazing. This is not in anyway supposed to insult any members of PUI or POP and I am glad that they run the game and events.
I was banned for 3 months, and I had a long time to think. I have yet to decide if I will return to the game after I compete in regionals, or if it will be my last tournament. From what I have seen, and from what I have heard, and from what I can feel, the Pokemon atmosphere is a lot different. The game in general has lost its heart. SotG is hard to find, and the player elites think they are superior. New players have a much harder time joining the game, and few people are willing to help them anymore. 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?
~Absoltrainer~