Pokemon Umbral Discussion 14: Discussion Thread Player Character Conspiracy #1

Geminex · 04-28-2010, 07:11 PM

Ok, I'll make this quick:

First, in regards to Menarker's objection to my strategy: I decided to boost attack as well as special attack, since the pokemon that'll later psych themselves up wouldn't necessarily all be physical attackers. They won't need both, but, since I don't know which one they'll need, I've given them both. One good way to refine the strategy would be to re-arrange the teams, so that all the psych-uppers are physical attackers, eliminating the need for togekiss or umbreon. Togekiss has better defense, though, so I'd use it regardless.

Secondly, in regards to haze:
Ok, I overlooked that move. Still, it only hits two enemies. That's good, but not great, considering that not all that many pokemon can learn it (compared to psych-up, anyway). And besides, if AB's going to set up teams to counter that sort of strategy, then why not just disallow it!? Or limit it? The only conceivable reason to use psych-up on your allies is to do what I've described, to get the stats buffs (which are most certainly present) from one pokemon and spread them to your entire team, in lieu of buffing them yourselves!
Look at it this way: If this move didn't exist yet, but AB invented it as a trainer upgrade, saying "Ok, you can give your pokemon the ability to copy any stats changes on the battlefield. This counts as an attack, so you'll need to sacrifice a moveslot and a turn.", would anyone here doubt my inevitable protest would be justified?

Thirdly, in regards to Drac:
I don't know what the people at Nintendo are thinking. But the benefits of psych-up in a 1v1 or a 2v2 are dwarfed by its potential in a 6v6 or a 10v10. That's because you need only one pokemon to buff itself up. Then the rest of your team just needs to sacrifice a turn to buff itself to the same level. Even if we remove baton pass' ability to pass stuff on to teammates, Menarker could still take his mollesk, boost its defense and special defense ridiculously, and then have the rest of the team copy that! I very much doubt that that was the creator's intention.

So, yeah, I think that whoever was responsible for balancing in the pokemon games would be turning over in their graves right about now. (Because they kill everyone who's worked on a pokemon game the day it gets released, right?)

Why do I even have to discuss this? Are any of my points incoherent? Are there any fallacies that I didn't notice? It can be abused, it will be abused, I don't want abuse to occur. Where is your justification? Where are your arguments outside "but it can be countered". Of course it can be countered, but the way to make it unnecessary to counter your abuse is to prevent abuse.

Sigh.

04-28-2010, 07:11 PM	#25
Geminex SOM3WH3R3 Join Date: Jun 2009 Posts: 4,606	Ok, I'll make this quick: First, in regards to Menarker's objection to my strategy: I decided to boost attack as well as special attack, since the pokemon that'll later psych themselves up wouldn't necessarily all be physical attackers. They won't need both, but, since I don't know which one they'll need, I've given them both. One good way to refine the strategy would be to re-arrange the teams, so that all the psych-uppers are physical attackers, eliminating the need for togekiss or umbreon. Togekiss has better defense, though, so I'd use it regardless. Secondly, in regards to haze: Ok, I overlooked that move. Still, it only hits two enemies. That's good, but not great, considering that not all that many pokemon can learn it (compared to psych-up, anyway). And besides, if AB's going to set up teams to counter that sort of strategy, then why not just disallow it!? Or limit it? The only conceivable reason to use psych-up on your allies is to do what I've described, to get the stats buffs (which are most certainly present) from one pokemon and spread them to your entire team, in lieu of buffing them yourselves! Look at it this way: If this move didn't exist yet, but AB invented it as a trainer upgrade, saying "Ok, you can give your pokemon the ability to copy any stats changes on the battlefield. This counts as an attack, so you'll need to sacrifice a moveslot and a turn.", would anyone here doubt my inevitable protest would be justified? Thirdly, in regards to Drac: I don't know what the people at Nintendo are thinking. But the benefits of psych-up in a 1v1 or a 2v2 are dwarfed by its potential in a 6v6 or a 10v10. That's because you need only one pokemon to buff itself up. Then the rest of your team just needs to sacrifice a turn to buff itself to the same level. Even if we remove baton pass' ability to pass stuff on to teammates, Menarker could still take his mollesk, boost its defense and special defense ridiculously, and then have the rest of the team copy that! I very much doubt that that was the creator's intention. So, yeah, I think that whoever was responsible for balancing in the pokemon games would be turning over in their graves right about now. (Because they kill everyone who's worked on a pokemon game the day it gets released, right?) Why do I even have to discuss this? Are any of my points incoherent? Are there any fallacies that I didn't notice? It can be abused, it will be abused, I don't want abuse to occur. Where is your justification? Where are your arguments outside "but it can be countered". Of course it can be countered, but the way to make it unnecessary to counter your abuse is to prevent abuse. Sigh.