Bulbagarden Staff AMA Thread

[Archaic]

We had a skin on the old vBulliten forums called Beast of the Sea that had really nice light colors and featured Lugia. I miss that one, partially because of nostalgia because I believe it was the default skin when I first joined the forums.

It's on my list to bring back once we've got some of these other issues sorted out. Speaking of which...

(If there is one, then disregard this question. It's hard to find such a thread when the search options seem to have disappeared.)

There's been some problems with Elasticsearch, which forced us to take search on the forums down for now. We're working on them, but don't have an ETA as yet.

 

[Max1996]

Are animated avatars meant to no longer work after the recent update?

 

[Maniacal Engineer]

Are animated avatars meant to no longer work after the recent update?

There was a minor glitch that occurred during the update. Animated avatars do work again, as evidenced by dancing Doof in my avatar. You just have to upload a new avatar and then reupload the animated one.

 

[Enzap]

Which combination of two SpongeBob characters are you?

 

[WyndonCalling]

Having never actually watched a single episode and learned everything I know about the show through cultural osmosis, it's Squidward and Squidward.

 

[Neo Blaze]

I'd say Squidward and SpongeBob. My mood tends to swing between grumpy and tired old man and an excited and curious bundle of energy.

 

[Lone_Garurumon]

For my triumphant arrival in the thread, I'm just gonna go back and answer some questions I liked the look of.

For everyone...What part of Pokemon would you like to get into more but can't because of time? For example manga, competitive, etc...

What non-Pokemon media do you think it's underrated and why would you recommend it?

Personally I'd like to be more invested in competitive, but I simply cannot justify the effort required to get a workable Pokemon, and like someone else said it often tends to condense down to a few highly viable species without a whole lot of room for variation.

I will admit that I have an overall very poor perception of how rated most media is, but I don't see people talk about Bug Fables anywhere near enough. It's a wonderful RPG with charming characters, visuals, and just a generally tight story and it needs more appreciation.

what are your favorite Second stage starters?

Spoiler

What music do you all listen to?

A decent number of things, actually. Partly it depends on what I feel like that day I can find enjoyment in a lot of different kinds of music. Overall though, you really can't go wrong with a good bit of buttrock, and foreign language songs also tend to do well.

What's you're favorite TV show?

Personally I really enjoyed the 2017 reboot of Ducktales (Woo-oo). Excellent writing, good animation, just a fun show.

Favorite food?

I like a lot of foods, but given how often I find myself wandering down there while I'm out I'm probably gonna have to agree with Caps and say sushi.

Which Final Fantasy and Zelda game would you say is the best/your favourite?

Final Fantasy: Personally my favourite is XV, mainly due to the character work during the first half of the game endearing me very strongly to the characters, but of the ones I've played, I'd probably say that VIIR is the actual best. It's a very strong entry in the series.

Zelda: Spirit Tracks. The game itself is generally pretty good imo, even if the train can wear out its welcome just a little bit, but also it features my favourite version of Link and Zelda's relationship that I've seen. They're just a pair of buds havin' an adventure and I enjoy that. Also no other game in the series will give you active (if limited) control over Zelda herself in the final battle, which scores big hype points.
Breath of the Wild is also very good, but honestly I don't think it beats Spirit Tracks.

 

[Neyo]

Am I mildly terrifying?

 

[Maniacal Engineer]

Do you like fall?

It's okay. Gives me a reason to wear my trench coat or my leather jacket.
I don't like the colder weather, and I don't like that the days get shorter.
I especially don't like the clock change out of DST and into so-called "Standard Time."
The days are short enough without the sun setting at 4pm, thank you very much. -_-

Sunset being so early also means that I have to scramble to get home from work every Friday afternoon, since Sabbath starts at sundown on Fridays. It's a major pain in the ass, and one that never gets considered, since observant Jews are an insignificant minority of the global population.

Anyway, fall itself isn't bad, and it's tons better than winter, but give me spring or summer any day of the week.

Am I mildly terrifying?

No.

Also, thoughts on midwest emo music? (examples include tiny moving parts, never meant (by american football), phony by (by the end of summer)

Never heard any, sorry. :|

 

[TheCapsFan]

Do you like fall?

Not really, to be honest. It's all the shitty parts of summer and the shitty parts of winter all built into one. The leaves changing color do be pretty tho.

Am I mildly terrifying?

Not in the slightest. Love the avatar though!

Also, thoughts on midwest emo music? (examples include tiny moving parts, never meant (by american football), phony by (by the end of summer)

Ooooooh I love American Football. I went back and listened to their discography after hearing the song they put out with Hayley Williams a couple years ago and got into them a fair bit. Any other recommendations for other midwest emo bands?

 

[prog rocker]

Do you like fall?

I have never experienced it, but it looks pretty.

Am I mildly terrifying?

Not really.

Also, thoughts on midwest emo music? (examples include tiny moving parts, never meant (by american football), phony by (by the end of summer)

If you're who I think you are (I'm bad with names and it's 3:00 a.m. my time), I think you already showed me that genre and I liked it. Prog elements in music are always a win in my book (unless it's death metal...)

 

[Rainbow Cloud]

Do you like fall?

Autumn's ok, the colours of the fallen leaves can look nice though not really a fan of it getting colder heading towards Winter.

Am I mildly terrifying?

Not really, though I'm currently a ghost type so I'm not so easy to terrify.

Also, thoughts on midwest emo music? (examples include tiny moving parts, never meant (by american football), phony by (by the end of summer)

Afraid I don't really know much about music so unable to answer due to lack of data.

 

[Maniacal Engineer]

if you don't mind, what do you for your work?

I will answer this here, since it’s a little more appropriate than taking over a different thread.

As my username implies I am an actual engineer, and I am a ME, buuuuut the “M” actually is for “mechanical,” and not “maniacal.”

I work for a Japan based company in automation and robotics, and, the past couple of years, have helped out with some COVID and medical related applications.

Specifically, what I do is I help potential customers determine which of the company’s products will work in the customer’s manufacturing lines, and, when necessary, I provide training on how to use our products and pioneered the company’s virtual training capabilities last year.

A lot of what I do is math and physics heavy, so most people wouldn’t like it.

 

[Galactic_V]

There's something I've been wondering for a while, a big curiosity: are mods allowed to ignore users? (I mean, place them on the ignore list)

 

[Maniacal Engineer]

There's something I've been wondering for a while, a big curiosity: are mods allowed to ignore users? (I mean, place them on the ignore list)

So, this gets complicated, for obvious reasons. What I will say is that the guiding principle behind my approach towards the forums, and our staff as a whole, is that the moderators are volunteers, and they are people too.
The latter is, of course, obvious, but a lot of times people except staff to “tougher” and have a “thicker skin” than regular users.
My personal policy is, if it’s not okay to do or say something to a regular user, it’s also not okay to do or say that to a moderator. Not because they’re a moderator, but because they’re also a part of the community.
A community must have respect for its members or it will unravel and cease to exist.
Regarding Ignore lists in particular, while, again, that issue is complicated, there are circumstances I could see where a moderator would be permitted to ignore a user…but, most of the time, I feel like that particular user would be causing enough trouble to warrant a different approach.
One thing I do need to do better on, moving forward, is emphasizing that staff members are a part of the community. We do not stand apart from the community.
this having been said, though, if you mess with my staffers, I will not be very happy.

Do any of the mods speak other languages?

Actually, quite a few of our staff members don’t even speak English as their first language.
I’ll let them answer if they wish too, but we do have staff members from all over the globe.

As for me, while English is my first language, as an Orthodox Jew, I also speak Hebrew, and I learned a bit of Spanish in high school and college, though I haven’t used it in a while and my Spanish is probably extremely rusty.

 

[Archaic]

How does one become an honorary moderator? (kidding)

No such thing. As for becoming an actual moderator however, we do occasional staff drives to recruit people. We actually have one coming up in the near future.

What is your favorite holiday?

Any holiday that means I can actually have a break and relax, rather than just being a day I can do different work than my usual work.

 

[Maniacal Engineer]

What is your favorite holiday?

Orthodox Jew here, so you probably haven't heard of this one, but it just happened last week.
It's called "Simchat Torah," which, translated, means "Celebration of the Torah."
It's not a holiday that celebrates when we were given the Torah, that's a different holiday called Shavuot.

Simchat Torah celebrates the conclusion of the annual cycle of weekly Torah portions, from the beginning of Genesis until the end of Deuteronomy. We read one "Parsha," or "portion," per week.
Simchat Torah is when we conclude that process for the year and we start the cycle over again. It's a very joyous holiday, with plenty of singing, dancing with the Torah, and lots and lots of Torah reading. It's the celebration at the conclusion of our fairly grueling holiday season that starts with Rosh Hashanah (Jewish New Years, which is our Judgment Day), continues through Yom Kippur (literally the "Day of Atonement"), and concludes with Sukkot (the festival of huts), and Shmini Atzeret, a festival of rain. The latter two are part of our annual "Pilgrimage" festivals, which celebrate the agricultural year. Simchat Torah is technically the second day of Shmini Atzeret.

Anyway, my favorite aspects of this particular holiday are:
1. The Torah reading itself, since it's one I know cold, and there are a lot of fun ceremonies during the reading.
2. It's a very lighthearted an fun festival, so there are pranks, practical jokes, and often a lot of alcohol. It is, literally, a day to be pretty much as zany as you want to be.

 

[WyndonCalling]

Another question:
What's the funniest thing you remember seeing here?

@Lone_Garurumon thinking they're in my league when it comes to random battles.

 

[Lone_Garurumon]

@Lone_Garurumon thinking they're in my league when it comes to random battles.

Oh, I'm sorry, who was it that eliminated you in the first tournament? I wonder, could it have been me? Better watch your back Wyndon, 'cause I'm comin' for it.

 

[WyndonCalling]

Oh, I'm sorry, who was it that eliminated you in the first tournament? I wonder, could it have been me? Better watch your back Wyndon, 'cause I'm comin' for it.

Glances nervously at the latest result in the tourney thread