What happened to the quality of Front Page Articles

[Prime]

Years ago, when William Hung still played this game, he contacted me about getting a good Flariados list together for Nationals. Thrilled that someone who was semi-famous would actually contact me, I gave him my list, not thinking a thing about it. I was just trying to help someone out as well -- being a nice guy, you know. Nationals came, and I had my top-notch MetaNite deck ready to go (with the same list that both my brother and I used to get top 32 at Worlds that year). I just knew that my deck would perform well, so long as I could make it to the top cut. Sadly, I faced William Hung in a crucial match, and because he had a "pro's" list, he beat me. That match basically silenced my hopes for getting into the top cut, and I walked away, disappointed with how things turned out.

Interesting story, but I don't think it applies to all cases of helping. Also I have to ask a few questions.

How were you 100% sure that he was using your list? How do you know he didn't adjust since you'd giving it to him?

Here is a deeper question. If you hadn't have given William the list, given his curiosity in the deck idea, could he have come up with a similar list without your help? If the answer is yes, then you would have lost either way.

I don't feel you lost because you gave William your list. I feel you lost because your opponent played well. There is a possibility that he could have played just as well without your list.

To use the above example as an excuse not to donate to the community isn't the best idea. I'm sure there are many more examples of good memories coming from helping others as there bad memories from helping people.

 

[prodigal_fanboy]

Prime, one thing I've noticed you've failed to neglect (or demonstrate through your posting that you've considered) is not just the effect of other people running YOUR list, as in the Hung analogy, but also in people having YOUR list to test against. If you have what you feel to be an optimal manifestation of an archetype, then you have a leg-up in your matchups against other players at a large, competitive tournament:

1) From potentially having done more testing with your deck.
2) Having logged more games using a higher caliber list than the generic one they tested against (unless they tested against another individual who also slaved on the archetype you're playing).

In other words, your competition (the best players, not just the William Hungs) could test with your list, whereas you wouldn't have the list of what they're running to test against, so they have an information advantage coming into any matchups against you.

That's what it comes down to: information advantages.

 

[Tego]

Wow, it's a Pokemon card game... How concerned are you with your life when your biggest worries are about people copying you in a card game. Nerds ruin anything that COULD be fun in this world, by taking it to some undeserving extreme and bottlenecking out anyone who would want to enjoy it for fun. "wahh, people copying my hard work in pokemon, wahh, *tear*" Get over yourself, better yet, get a new self.

No matter what hobby, past time, sports, art, field of knowledge, genre of music or area of technological expertise etc., there will always be some people who are slightly into it, and some people who are very much into it. Pokémon rewards you very much for being deeply into it competitively. Comments like yours just makes it so much harder to build bridges between the casual players and the hardcore players of this game.

This is a game that constantly rewards players for performing well at events. You can raise in ranking, you can be awarded nice medals or trophies, you can event get invited into (what in many people's opinion is) one of the biggest and most fun parties there are: Worlds! And you can have your deck printed as an actual product. All of these are rewards for playing competitively. Some competitive players have also been playing for very, very long, and know inside-out exactly what it takes to reach this level of play.

In an environment that rewards competitive play, of course a "hard-core" group at the very core/top of the game will form. It's just bound to happen. Ryan's opinion is representative of hundreds of hard-core players around the world. You probably feel more comfortable being a casual player, and that's of course fine! But attacking people like Ryan who voice the honest opinion of this big group of people, won't make them go away or change their mind.

Now I'm just using you, calisupra, as a random example of a type of poster that I often see on the 'Gym. But it's these name-calling and attacking posts from the "non-elite", showing no understanding to how the competitive players think, combined with the often arrogant or unfriendly tone by some elite players, that foster the very unfriendly relationship between these two types of players that I think the 'Gym at times is suffering from. I actually have noticed that throughout the years, most of the elite players have started to show more "arrogance" on these forums, or more of a constant attitude of annoyance. (Many of them, though, have just completely stopped posting) But I think this also has to do with the way many "non-elite" players treat these players. Attacks such as "you guys don't play for fun!!1" don't make much sense when the elite players constantly state that they do think it's fun to win.

Also, when an elite player makes a statement based on heavy playtesting and tournament experience with a card, I often see other posters dismiss the statement entirely, and make a counter-argument based on absolutely no empirical evidence. Often arguing just to argue - as if the elite player's opinion always has to be questioned just because it's frustrating that the elite player always should be right. In this kind of environment, I think posting articles on the front page becomes less attractive for these tournament-winning players. Everyone has their way of enjoying the game - why can't we all just get along, and try to respect the other side's way of thinking?

Some video games / musical artists / topics of study / books etc., I just scratch on the surface and enjoy it while I do, others I get deeply into. For the Pokémon TCG, too, we will always see both kind of fans. Also, some are deeply involved with their Pokémon hobby, just not competitively - some spend hours and hours every week for judging/trading/collecting/etc, but don't play for the big prizes. Still, these people should try to understand the viewpoint of the elite players, and vice versa.

 

[calisupra2nr]

No matter what hobby, past time, sports, art, field of knowledge, genre of music or area of technological expertise etc., there will always be some people who are slightly into it, and some people who are very much into it. Pokémon rewards you very much for being deeply into it competitively. Comments like yours just makes it so much harder to build bridges between the casual players and the hardcore players of this game.

This is a game that constantly rewards players for performing well at events. You can raise in ranking, you can be awarded nice medals or trophies, you can event get invited into (what in many people's opinion is) one of the biggest and most fun parties there are: Worlds! And you can have your deck printed as an actual product. All of these are rewards for playing competitively. Some competitive players have also been playing for very, very long, and know inside-out exactly what it takes to reach this level of play.

In an environment that rewards competitive play, of course a "hard-core" group at the very core/top of the game will form. It's just bound to happen. Ryan's opinion is representative of hundreds of hard-core players around the world. You probably feel more comfortable being a casual player, and that's of course fine! But attacking people like Ryan who voice the honest opinion of this big group of people, won't make them go away or change their mind.

Now I'm just using you, calisupra, as a random example of a type of poster that I often see on the 'Gym. But it's these name-calling and attacking posts from the "non-elite", showing no understanding to how the competitive players think, combined with the often arrogant or unfriendly tone by some elite players, that foster the unfriendly relationship between these two types of players that I think the 'Gym at times is suffering from. I actually have noticed that throughout the years, the elite players have started to show more "arrogance" on these forums, or more of a constant attitude of annoyance. But I think this also has to do with the way many "non-elite" players treat these players. Attacks such as "you guys don't play for fun!!1" don't make much sense when the elite players constantly state that they do*think it's fun to win.

Also, when an elite player makes a statement based on heavy playtesting and tournament experience with a card, I often see other posters dismiss the statement entirely, and make a counter-argument based on absolutely no empirical evidence. Often arguing just to argue - as if the elite player's opinion always has to be questioned just because it's frustrating that the elite player always should be right. In this kind of environment, I think posting articles on the front page becomes less attractive for these tournament-winning players. Everyone has their way of enjoying the game - why can't we all just get along, and try to respect the other side's way of thinking?

Because in the end it is Pokemon? This is nothing important in the scope of things and so when people develop an elitist attitude in such a simple hobby, it ruins it for 80% of the community. My main position in this arises because on Pokegym you have people running around criticizing and putting in little effort like Bullados said. On top of that, they decide to try and impress their ultimatum onto others with rude commentating. To me that is unacceptable in something as fun as Pokemon. I can think of 6 people off the top of my head that in person have said the gym is trash because these kind of people.

While there may be a competitive atmosphere, most people that are attracted to Pokemon, are because it is fun and a laid back activity that you can do with your friends. I would bet everything I have that if you took away that part of the community, and left the hardcore group you talk about, it would not survive and POP would fall apart. This all relates back to a micro scale in which these same hardcore gym members whine about things on here, and do nothing to aid the community.

 

[eriknance]

Interesting story, but I don't think it applies to all cases of helping. Also I have to ask a few questions.

How were you 100% sure that he was using your list? How do you know he didn't adjust since you'd giving it to him?

Here is a deeper question. If you hadn't have given William the list, given his curiosity in the deck idea, could he have come up with a similar list without your help? If the answer is yes, then you would have lost either way.

I don't feel you lost because you gave William your list. I feel you lost because your opponent played well. There is a possibility that he could have played just as well without your list.

To use the above example as an excuse not to donate to the community isn't the best idea. I'm sure there are many more examples of good memories coming from helping others as there bad memories from helping people.

I'm 100% sure he got a great list to start with; whether or not he adjusted it afterwards, he still had what he needed from the beginning. I don't know whether or not he could have come up with a similar list since I'm not him, so I'll throw something else out there for consideration: when Martin Moreno won Nationals that same year with Raieggs, could he have come up with a similar list? As far as I understand, he received the list from someone else the night before the event. Supposing the original creator of that deck (Pooka, right?) posted his list on the Pokegym a few weeks before Nationals, we would have definitely seen a different outcome.

I'm not suggesting that top players don't help other players out. However, given my own experiences, I can see why many of them don't. Plus, you have to understand that with this game, there is a whole lot riding on the deck list. Being a great player helps, of course, but as you can see with the Martin example, it's not the only thing there is. Since the list is so important, I can see why many top players aren't running to the computer to post their tournament-winning decks online for everyone to share.

 

[Tego]

calisupra2nr: It's Pokémon, yes? And Pokémon is a game with prizes, so some of the players will become very competitive. You wrote "How concerned are you with your life when your biggest worries are about people copying you in a card game. Nerds ruin anything that COULD be fun in this world, by taking it to some undeserving extreme", and I'm trying to tell you that "nerds" (which you obviously used in a degrading way) will exist for any kind of hobby and interest, ESPECIALLY those that reward "nerd-level" interest with prizes.

I completely agree with you that if you took away everyone who's not "elite" (playing very competitively) from the game, you would be left with almost no one. They're a very small minority! But the point from my post was that nobody should be "taken away" at all, and we should all try to respect each other and understand the other person's viewpoint. It's all about respecting someone's opinion even though we don't agree with it, by putting ourselves in their shoes and understanding how they think.

Example A:
-Casual player posts his Tentacruel decklist on the deck forum
-Elite player says said Tentacruel player should give up the whole deck because Tentacruel is bad
-Casual player strongly emphasizes that he LOVES Tentacruel, that it's his favorite Pokémon, and that being able to play with Tentacruel is a bigger priority than winning 50%+ of his matches

By this point, if the elite player continues to try and force the casual player to think like himself, he has failed trying to respect the other side's opinion. By this point, he should give up trying to make the other player focus on winning as much as possible, and just try to give whatever respectful Tentacruel advice he can.

EXAMPLE B:
- Elite player arrives at tournament with a deck he and his friends have been working on for four months, finetuning it while testing it against every other deck there is. Elite player plays six Swiss rounds. Some of them are against casual players with Tentacruel or Quagsire decks, but they go by in a blur. However, in the last two rounds, he plays intense and intellectually challenging matches against two of the state's best players, who are unleashing their secret decks that they have been working on for months. Both matches go to time, in an intense and dramatic battle that leaves the players exhausted, and makes them incredibly happy for those 4-5 special cards they put in their deck that made all the difference.
- After the tournament, casual player tells elite player that he hates him because elite player is not playing for fun, and played a "boring" deck that as many as six other players in the top 16 played.
- Elite player says he is playing for fun, and thoroughly enjoyed the day's event
- Casual player thinks that because building a strong deck and playing difficult battles means to an end (a trophy, a trip to Worlds), consequently the deckbuilding and battling can't have been ends in themselves. This is an arrogant thing to assume, as I'm sure all elite players enjoy their deckbuilding, playtesting and battling a lot - even if they don't take first place. The progress in itself is fun. Actually, I'm sure every step in the process is fun for the elite player - if it wasn't fun, he wouldn't bother to play Pokémon!


The bottom line is: the problem from both camps here is that they don't try to think relatively, and don't try to put themselves in the other person's shoes. Pokémon is like everything else in life: Just because you like doing something a certain way and get the most happiness that way, doesn't mean you should enforce your way upon others.

 

[Prime]

tournament-winning decks

an optimal manifestation of an archetype

For the umpteen time, why does one have to post their best list to contribute to the community? Why can't it be a general list?

Nobody is asking you to post your tested list online. People are asking you to contribute ANYTHING to the community. There are so many ways to contribute, and the only requirement is knowledge and experience, which many of the better players have plenty of.

"don't have the time" or "don't want to". Two simple choices.

Be honest, don't hide behind any fake excuses.

 

[Mach]

Maybe it's just me being the n00biest person on this page, but it seems like this argument is going in circles here. Can't there be some kind of middle ground?

 

[The Knee]

Who cares? MrMeches was begging for new content so people started pitching and they were put up... No one forces people to read all of the articles so really it doesn't matter if some are lower quality or not. Most of the people in my area (Ohio) did not use Pokegym in the past, so why would a few mediocre articles change that now? Like people have said before, some of the best players do not even use the gym, and the rest are rude wannabe elitists anyways. It's a downhill community so why not try anything to give it a jump start for new/casual players?

Back to back posts merged. The following information has been added:



Wow, it's a Pokemon card game... How concerned are you with your life when your biggest worries are about people copying you in a card game. Nerds ruin anything that COULD be fun in this world, by taking it to some undeserving extreme and bottlenecking out anyone who would want to enjoy it for fun. "wahh, people copying my hard work in pokemon, wahh, *tear*" Get over yourself, better yet, get a new self.

You just launched a personal attack on someone over the very card game you are telling people to lighten up about. He has his right to his opinion, you have your right to yours, but at the very least, don't contradict yourself in the same post. Either take it easy and regard it as a game(Meaning, don't get mad at people for being good players) or play it your way and remain oblivious to the competitive majority.

More and more often i'm able to draw a correlation between this game and the other game I play competitively, Super Smash Brothers Melee. Casual players often get upset when they attend a tournement and are easily knocked out due to their like of time and effort put into the game. Instead of bettering themselves they launch attacks on the good players. Usually, when I see someone getting beat, I give them the resources to get better. A useful video, a good website for advice, a group of people willing to help, etc. If that doesn't work, I ask why don't they isolate themselves from the competitive community? Nobody is forcing them to play against advanced players. They can continue to play at their low skill level against other low skill level players with their rulesets and have it their way.

It's this mentality of intolerance I'm sick of. No, you don't have to view the game competitively, but at the same time don't complain when the competitive players are notably better than you.

 

[calisupra2nr]

You just launched a personal attack on someone over the very card game you are telling people to lighten up about. He has his right to his opinion, you have your right to yours, but at the very least, don't contradict yourself in the same post. Either take it easy and regard it as a game(Meaning, don't get mad at people for being good players) or play it your way and remain oblivious to the competitive majority.

More and more often i'm able to draw a correlation between this game and the other game I play competitively, Super Smash Brothers Melee. Casual players often get upset when they attend a tournement and are easily knocked out due to their like of time and effort put into the game. Instead of bettering themselves they launch attacks on the good players. Usually, when I see someone getting beat, I give them the resources to get better. A useful video, a good website for advice, a group of people willing to help, etc. If that doesn't work, I ask why don't they isolate themselves from the competitive community? Nobody is forcing them to play against advanced players. They can continue to play at their low skill level against other low skill level players with their rulesets and have it their way.

It's this mentality of intolerance I'm sick of. No, you don't have to view the game competitively, but at the same time don't complain when the competitive players are notably better than you.

Whose complaining that competitive players are better than me? I am not a bad player; I would say that I am actually pretty good, but I do not and will never take it beyond what it is, a game. You say it is a game, I say that it is a game, I think we have some common ground in that regard. I am simply trying to be harsh on those that ruin this game for others. This has nothing to do with skill level rather than it does the attitude that is brought to a GAME. I think you are completely confused on what your talking about. This is about elitists essentially complaining about front page articles being lower quality, when in reality it doesn't matter because those people posting the front page articles are the one's taking the time to do it and then the staff takes time to publish them.

 

[bulbasnore]

When you hear the more experienced players talk about irritation with n00bs, it usually is the rude ones who don't want any advice.

Report those posts. There a rule against asking for help then slamming the answer, at least in the deck forum guidelines.

Also, after you report it, rise above the level of the ignorant person, if you choose to post in that thread again. I've seen a guy who has "won World's dozens of times" do that and it showed where his high self-esteem that he didn't feel like he had to flay the guy.

 

[eriknance]

For the umpteen time, why does one have to post their best list to contribute to the community? Why can't it be a general list?

Nobody is asking you to post your tested list online. People are asking you to contribute ANYTHING to the community. There are so many ways to contribute, and the only requirement is knowledge and experience, which many of the better players have plenty of.

"don't have the time" or "don't want to". Two simple choices.

Be honest, don't hide behind any fake excuses.

Is this directed at me specifically? ...

Umm, I'm just saying that decent decks would be preferred, given the criticism that has been placed on so many of the articles in question. It would be pretty lame if one of these "pro" players finally paid the Pokegym a visit to post an article of a deck that could never actually win a tournament. But you're right, anything from some top players would be nice.

I did what I could -- I posted an article recently about how to choose the right deck for a tournament. I don't have a lot of time to post on this site (before today, my most recent post was from last month), so yes, I "don't have the time," but I care. I'm not just hiding behind excuses.

 

[bulbasnore]

On top of that, they decide to try and impress their ultimatum onto others with rude commentating. [...] I can think of 6 people off the top of my head that in person have said the gym is trash because these kind of people.

OK, make it 7. Report those rude posts. The problem we have here is that people take the enforcement into their own hands. Then, pretty soon we have a flame war going, or just chronic jabbing, picking and bullying. Tell those other 6 people what I said. Be reasonable, but keep reporting the issues as you see them. Even if there isn't a response on some of them, it's kind of a vote, see?

 

[bulbasnore]

Is this directed at me specifically? ...

Not likely, IMO. You have some good points here, I'd like to amplify some of my positions.

Umm, I'm just saying that decent decks would be preferred, given the criticism that has been placed on so many of the articles in question.

Of course. I think the best you can expect is a 'decent' list with a solid & detailed explanation of options and some matchups. This could be done well by any student of the game, but it could also be way off base if the person is not that experienced. In which case, it is the responsibility of the commenters, by which I mean anyone who chooses to reply to the article, to provide a cogent and detailed correction of the points that are wrong. This means explaining how it actually works, as opposed to just saying, "yah, I've seen this and that's not how it's played," etc.

But you're right, anything from some top players would be nice.

OK, sure, but lots of people can contribute without being a specific person's idea of a top player.

I did what I could -- I posted an article recently about how to choose the right deck for a tournament... so yes, I "don't have the time," but I care. I'm not just hiding behind excuses.

Absolutely the correct response. Contribution trumps negativism.

 

[dkosturk]

As a newer player, I have to say that my experience on Pokegym has been very positive. I can only think of a few times where I have felt that I have been 'pushed to the side' during a discussion due to my general lack of knowledge regarding the discussion. Although I would have appreciated more input on why my post did not make sense, I also understand that the input could have taken the post off topic. Even those experiences are learning experiences because I had to dig deeper into the available information here, which there is alot of, and find the answers to my own questions. I suppose that if I were more sensitive I may have taken those learning opportunities as a slight and pouted.
I guess what I am trying to say is that the posts and content provide me with the curiosity that drives me to better understand the game. In the league that I attend with my granddaughter there are mostly juniors. These kids love the game. I like taking the ideas off of the front page, deck buiding, and card strategy pages to buid decks and use them to play against the young ones and introduce them to strategies and cards that they may not have considered before. I enjoy helping them, as best I can, to be more curious and look at pokemon other than their favorites to use in play. I am able to do this only because a helpful person directed me to the gym after they noticed I was completely blown out at my first tournament. I am still getting blown out but just not as badly anymore but how can I realistically hope to win when I have not even played for a year.
So, it is all for fun because that it all I have right now but I can't wait to get better and beat some of you guys, maybe.:lol:

 

[DarthPika]

Prime, why don't I post even more basic lists? I spent MONTHS before states, literally spending hours on end testing the heck out of Palkia. Even my "basic" list is probably quiet a bit better than the average palkia lock deck going around with the net deckers. Why should I post MY list that I spent months perfecting just so some random kid who doesn't want to take to time to build a deck can net deck and win/do very well with it?

Furthermore, IF I were to post my 9-0 winning list with out actually saying what it was, I would be willing to bet I would have quite a few bad responces to it. I'm sure I would have at least 1 person say that Palkia is a bad attacker and that I should use Dialga instead. I would probably have 3-4 people tell me that SP is just a gimic and that this would never win. I'm sure I would have several people tell me that my trainer line is wrong. I'm postive that at least 5 people would say I need Claydol as well. And with out a doub't I would get bashed to heck and back for saying that it usually gets a T2 Pearl breath aprox 90% of the time, even though I tested it. How would THEY know I don't get pearl breath t2 90% of the time? Obviously because when they built the deck, it was clunky, inconsistent, and never worked. I must be cheating some how if my list actually works. Let's not even get started on matchups...

You see where I'm getting with this? It's just wroth the trouble to write up a nice article on a deck only to have everyone argue that your wrong about it. 90% of the people on this site seem unwilling to want to learn, or try something new. The average gym members logic seems to follow something along the lines of... I built my own list of this deck, and it was bad, and never worked. Or, I beat this deck at league and it was really easy. Or, in my 2 test battles against my own mediocre list, my superuberwhateveryouwanttocallit.dec crushed it, so obviously it has a 90/10 matchup agains it. Therefore all lists of this deck must suck, and anyone who says different is wrong.

I'm just sick to death of the people like that, and there seems to be a lot of them going around. It's sad that it's so refreshing to see someone on these forums that's willing to learn something. :nonono: I'm not saying that all members are like this. I applaud those who make the effort to learn something new about this game. I just can't stand those who won't.

 

[Prime]

Prime, why don't I post even more basic lists? I spent MONTHS before states, literally spending hours on end testing the heck out of Palkia. Even my "basic" list is probably quiet a bit better than the average palkia lock deck going around with the net deckers.

This is just funny to me. Even your 'basic' list is 'probably' better than the average palkia lock deck going around. *shakes head* Wow. Okay, don't post anything then. Seriously. If your stuff is so dang good, just don't contribute anything then. LOL

Why should I post MY list that I spent months perfecting just so some random kid who doesn't want to take to time to build a deck can net deck and win/do very well with it?

Somehow we've fell back to the previous point. You don't have to post your best list.

But knowing you, mister awesome, your worst list is 'probably' better than every other list out there. /sarcasm

Wow. You are a funny guy.

Furthermore, IF I were to post my 9-0 winning list with out actually saying what it was, I would be willing to bet I would have quite a few bad responces to it. I'm sure I would have at least 1 person say that Palkia is a bad attacker and that I should use Dialga instead. I would probably have 3-4 people tell me that SP is just a gimic and that this would never win. I'm sure I would have several people tell me that my trainer line is wrong. I'm postive that at least 5 people would say I need Claydol as well. And with out a doub't I would get bashed to heck and back for saying that it usually gets a T2 Pearl breath aprox 90% of the time, even though I tested it. How would THEY know I don't get pearl breath t2 90% of the time? Obviously because when they built the deck, it was clunky, inconsistent, and never worked. I must be cheating some how if my list actually works. Let's not even get started on matchups...

This whole paragraph is nothing but speculation. Do you approach everything in life in this style? "Oh, I better no go outside...I may get hit by a car!" Wow.

You see where I'm getting with this?

I see where you're going with this. You've run out of excuses, and now you just hiding behind 'ideas' of what would happen if you did write an article. Let's be honest, a person either doesn't have the time to contribute, or they don't want to. There is not a plethora of other reasons to not contribute back when a person is very capable of doing so. This applies to everything in life. Giving back to one's community by planting trees, or tutoring children. You either do it, or you don't do it because you don't have the time or you don't want to.

Why make up excuses? You don't make yourself look any better by blaming the system for you not doing anything.

It's just wroth the trouble to write up a nice article on a deck only to have everyone argue that your wrong about it.

And you're going to find the same result on any public forum on the internet. I really don't know what you were expecting.

90% of the people on this site seem unwilling to want to learn, or try something new.

95% of percentages are made up. 90%? 90%?! There are 17 THOUSAND members on this forum. You're saying that roughly 15 thousand people are unwilling to learn or try something new? That is AMAZING that you have done the research to come to this information.

You are making an assumption on the whole of the members of this forum by just your experiences with a handfull of them.

I'm just sick to death of the people like that, and there seems to be a lot of them going around.

Surprise! That is the internet. You're going to encounter the same types of people on every single public forum.on.the.internet. Fact. Why expect something different on this forum?

Just more excuses, really. Got any more?

 

[DarthPika]

Why is it so funny? I spent literally hours play testing that deck. Is it really so much to expect that my list is better than the average one you'll see posted on the gym? I'm not claiming to be the best deck builder out there, but I don't really care to just give someone a list, even the basic list, of something that took me several months of playtesting to perfect. I'm not making excuses, I have very legitimate reasons for not wanting to share my lists. I am not alone in thinking that it's silly to share something you spent hours working on. Even the "basic" list took many hours to perfect.

As for those "ideas". I've seen it happen first hand. They are not very much exaggerated.

 

[hectagonman]

When Thomas Edison took 12 years to invent the commercially practical light bulb, he didn't say he wasn't going to share it because he took a long time making it.

 

[nnaann]

Darthpika - You say it's not worth your trouble to write an article that people will critisize and call you wrong. Thats pretty biased. All articles have negative comments, since you can't fit everything into 60 cards and people will prefer different techs/options. With my Flytrap, I prefered a thicker Claydol line and others felt Cynthias/Pokedrawer were better.

However look at the good articles, like FGD and compare the amount of positive comments to negative. Since your Palkia Lock is so amazing, surely you won't have a problem?

Its unfair also to assume that all beginners aren't open to new ideas. Your article will help alot of people. Me and my brother started Pokemon about a year and a half ago, and were pretty much noobs. We didn't attend a league or have anyone who lived near me that played competitively and understood tournament deck standard concepts. Pokegym taught us more or less everything we we know now and everyone on this site who wrote those deck articles and explained concepts to us. A year later, we both got 2nd at our first States and my brother got an invite to Worlds.

That is pretty much all thanks to the people on Pokegym who made the effort to show us how to build competitive decks and become aware of concepts such as the metagame.

Even if the 10% you claim will listen, Front Page articles get around 1000-2000 views. Even with 10% of people willing to learn from it, that's still alot you're helping.