If you think about it though, we can't have exactly what Japan does all the time due to stuff like movie releases coinciding with particular sets(promos too for that matter).Not to mention they distribute certain things a lot differently than how ts done here. They have(had?) a reward system where you could turn in points for certain rare cards and quick construction packs and what-not. These have to be introduced creatively into the US like secret rares(TSD) or make entirely new sets(Emerald).
Additionally we might as well not be under one big organized play, it would be too much trouble and the people in charge of PUI would still run everything in the USA in the long run I think.
You raise some good points here. However, these only point to why the system will be hard to change
now. Multiple releases (or near-multiple) releases are not particularly difficult if that's what you plan for. More on this below.
Oh, and PUI are indeed 'creative' when it comes to getting us a load of the cards we wouldn't have got under WotC. But there is no actual creativity in their release schedule
at all. Look at the Japanese product line and then ours. They have to be doing something
insane for there not to be a fat profit margin on PUI's activities.
Thats extremely hard to dual release those things in two different countries, and they would lose a lot of money on the potential customers lost because they couldn't put the film or pokemon cards out fast enough.
In short: not cost effective ,they lose money doing this.
Things are running quite well in my opinion. A lot of these suggestions aren't even realistic if you try to understand why they aren't already doing what is suggested.
No... you're making the assumption that many others make about Pokémon, in that kids are fickle, and if it's not in their faces constantly, they will eventually get bored of it.
DP is supposed to be a resurgence for Pokémon. Last year it was the best selling TCG (according to IKv2 if I'm not mistaken).
There are indeed some things which will be hard to release simultaneously everywhere - the movies is a good example. But given the fact that the movies are nowhere near as popular outside of Japan, product tie-ins can be done differently.
In business-speak: the synergies produced after rationalising the product line-up reduce operating costs and increase efficiency.
Normally:
Yes there's going to be a period of difficult change. But in the long run, it's a win-win situation for the PUI and PCL systems to become one.
I will try, Different OP system are not really the problem because they are running independent from each other (and most likely because there are no players hopping from Japan OP to USA OP, except Eskill LOL
Different formats, well that's something I also never got. Why are our sets rotated so fast? Oke I can understand it takes a few weeks to translate a brand new set, but we had 1 release at the same time as Japan. Most likely it has to do with schedules of other parts of the Pokemon Brand. If the video games are not released (who contain XX new Pokemon) we also won't get the cards with that pokemon.
About the difference in timing/products and Promo cards, I prefer to think somebody at PUI says "this we don't need, this we need" and that's why we do or don't get some items/cards.
I'm not sure I completely understand this point of view. Formats and OP are so inter-linked, I cannot see how you can be OK with one and not the other. If you mean tournament structures are fine outside of Japan, why do so many complain about K-values? It just seems weird that Japan gets special (preferential?) treatment, and as far as I can see, it is only because the game is happens to be created there. Pokémon is a
global phenomenon, not a Japanese one. There should be one system.
Let's say the Japanese headquarter isn't really about GLOBAL thinking, just look at the release of the video games and you will know what I mean.
LOL actually I don't know what you mean, I've only ever played Red/Blue and dabbled in the rest. I actually find the games too repetitive, cannpt be bothered with levelling up over and over again!
But yes, global ambitions is not the same as global thinking. I keep thinking there must be a reason why PCL, PUI and the greater Pokémon Company is structured in the way it is... but I can't see it.
Yes there is, we had game rulings adjusted once we as Player or POP or TC found out Japan used a different way/mechanic/ruling. But most times this occured during/before Worlds when both parties meet. Or when people as Rya translate new sets and point on differences.
And why on earth is this
our responsibility? This is what POP should be doing and communicating with us!
I don't think the USA OP system is inferior, it's different and designed for another public. Also (and I know some people will not be happy when I say this) OP is only there because it's a kind of sales mechanic. It's not designed for the players, it's designed to boost sales by having players using product. The OP team will do what they can to make it good for the players, but if it was only for the players their team would contain much more people. They have to show that their budget is worth it by raising sales. A very fragile/difficult position imo.
For example if rotating sets much faster as Japan makes money, they will rotate, no matter what players think about that. the game will survive with a larger format (so cards can be used longer) but will the sales numbers??
You're right about OP being a sales mechanic. It shows newer players that this is something you can enjoy with other people, and win prizes. Who doesn't like to win stuff whilst having fun?
It's not a particularly fragile balance between OP and sales, however. This is because
most sales are not by competitive players. They are from the little kids who make their parents buy a pack or two each time they are in a supermarket. The impact of a format change on their sales is probably small.
As collector I never liked the differences, Being in Europe makes that feeling even worse. We have almost no access to Japanese material and on top of that most English Promocards aren't even released here.
TBH, a lot of my ranting is a combination of:
- Seeing the Japanese promo cards and products diverge a lot from outside Japan again.
In general, PUI have done a really good job of getting us somewhat near the Japanese card line-up.
But they should still be going further
- Seeing how games like M:TG can make changes and explain to their fans why they make decisions, and wondering why the same can't be true of Pokémon.
Occam's razor (sometimes spelled Ockham's razor) is a principle attributed to the 14th-century English logician and Franciscan friar William of Ockham. The principle states that the explanation of any phenomenon should make as few assumptions as possible, eliminating those that make no difference in the observable predictions of the explanatory hypothesis or theory. The principle is often expressed in Latin as the lex parsimoniae ("law of parsimony" or "law of succinctness"): "entia non sunt multiplicanda praeter necessitatem", roughly translated as "entities must not be multiplied beyond necessity".
This is often paraphrased as "All other things being equal, the simplest solution is the best." In other words, when multiple competing theories are equal in other respects, the principle recommends selecting the theory that introduces the fewest assumptions and postulates the fewest entities. It is in this sense that Occam's razor is usually understood.
Originally a tenet of the reductionist philosophy of nominalism, it is more often taken today as an heuristic maxim (rule of thumb) that advises economy, parsimony, or simplicity, often or especially in scientific theories.
There you go Lia! The principle of Occam's Razor.
Keith
That was very interesting, I actually didn't know that the maxim was not the actual concept. Cheers!
The thing is that I've never attended a Japanese Battle Road, the only real "Premier Event" here, where I could have gotten the chance to observe such rulings and judge calls.
I missed Battle Road Summer 2006 because I arrived one week too late in Japan, then during Battle Road Spring 2007 I only went to one event, Battle Road Hiroshima, where Nanimonoka and I arrived too late and only got to participate in side events. Right now I'm at the end of a one-year stay in Japan, and should have gotten the chance to experience lots of them. But I missed the summer 2007 one by arriving too late in the country (again), then missed the April Battle Roads because I went to a short trip to Norway, and when I came back and was ready for the first three Japanese Battle Roads of my life, all three I was planning to go to got cancelled. >.> I could have attended the Summer Battle Roads right now, in July, but they've been cancelled too.
Small, local tournaments don't have time limits nor judges, so I couldn't get a chance to learn about this rule earlier.
So yes, fate obviously doesn't want me to experience how it's like to attend a real BR event in Japan and give my impressions to these forums afterwards ... Thanks to people like S-Royal who give me their impressions for me to share with everyone.
Tego, it's not your fault we didn't find out about this sooner. I really enjoy reading your posts and info about the Japanese scene, and I don't even play. Hope you have more opportunities to report.