Writers' Workshop General Chat Thread

[unrepentantAuthor]

Which starter I pick always depends on how the final forms turn out! I don't want to be unspoiled for stuff like that, I like to know everything ahead of time, at least where starters and version exclusives are concerned.

Does anyone have any speculation about later forms? The ideas I've seen floating around that I like best are that Scorbunny will become a fire/electric sportsman of some kind, most likely a footballer, that Sobble will become Nessie, (water/dragon??) and that Grookey will be a drummer with a Ringo Starr pun name.

Also, hey! Looks like we're on Page 1000 of this now-venerable chat thread. Congrats to us, aren't we such chatterboxes?

 

[Lord Kyuubi]

1000 pages! What do we do to celebrate?

Yeah, I'm kind of on the fence about whether to look at the starter final evolutions in advance or not. Generally I try not to, because surprise and discovery are very important to me in games, but at the same time knowing what my starter will end up looking like is also important to avoid getting stuck with something I don't like (and there've definitely been a few final evolutions I really dislike despite the rest of the line being good, like blastoise and sceptile). But particularly recently, I've ended up getting spoiled on them whether I wanted to or not anyway, and I imagine the same will be the case for Gen 8. Definitely prefer to see what the version exclusives are, though, don't want to accidentally miss out on a favourite because the other game has a prettier box - though to be honest I don't really know what purpose the different versions still serve these days, mostly just for tradition, I guess. Ah well.

 

[unrepentantAuthor]

Why, the different versions exist to make more money, of course! Seriously, that's why.

Also to generate discussion, which is also to make money.

I actually love blastoise and sceptile, but I can see how one might find them disappointing. Even though I love delphox and incineroar, they're not quite what I had in mind when picking their earlier forms.

 

[Misfit Angel]

Tradition and money, I suspect. I like to imagine that the different versions way back in the day were meant to encourage socialization among fans, and were never really intended as a means of milking more money out of the fans. After all, the fans were kids back then, and outside of the spoiled brats, who really had the money to buy two game boys, two games and a link cable? Nowadays, though, some of those same fans are adults who... maybe aren't the best with money, and buy both versions on day one. Game Freak obviously sees the money in this and I think that may be their main motivation to continue the tradition at this point. Picking up the version exclusives off of other players is almost anti-social at this point; post in a chat what you're looking for, someone emerges from the faceless masses, you do a couple trades and probably never speak to them again.

 

[AceTrainer14]

I have been looking forward to this day for a long time, but wow - 1,000 pages! That probably isn't a record for the site by any means, but I am amazed that we have come so far and been able to keep chatting as an ever-evolving community like this for over SEVEN YEARS! Well done to us all.

 

[unrepentantAuthor]

I don't have any particular celebration in mind for 1000 pages, but it feels some kind of incredible to realise that I was here six years ago when this thread was less than twenty pages long, and I'm here again now to see it hit quadruple digits. I'm sentimental!

Gama your thread is huge!! Come take a look!!

Cripes, I wonder how many people have come and gone during those six years. I'm sure there have been many.

 

[Flaze]

As someone who's been here since the chat started (I literally have first post) I can definetily say that...wow this thread's come a really long way.

Well, time to burn it down lights a match

 

[Ryoma Maser]

Well, time to burn it down lights a match

Wait no no no! "GAAHHHH!" Gets caught in the flames.

 

[unrepentantAuthor]

You ever get stuck on something that should be a simple task, and instead it eats a ton of time, saps all your patience for the day, and leaves you feeling frustrated as hell?

Yeah, printers are such a nuisance.

Anyway, I'm gonna give a shot at doing some writing tonight all the same. Fed up with stuff getting in the way! Wish me luck!

 

[InfiniteBakuphoon]

unrepentantAuthor
Heck yeah, I have... especially when that task involves computers (ugh). You know what the best part of it all is, though? The deep breath you can take when it's finally over. Good luck with your writing, and may your woes be over soon.

...Yeah, we really are on the thousandth page, aren't we? Although I haven't been around here long enough to truly appreciate just how long that is, just the thought of seeing one thousand pages for one thread really is incredible! But you know what's even more amazing? Almost 20,000 posts! To put that in perspective: assuming a steady stream of replies, that's approximately 2791 posts a year, 233 posts a month, 58 posts a week, and 8 posts a day between the start of this thread and now! But if there are even longer-running threads than this one... then I wonder what the actual longest thread on this site is?

Tradition and money, I suspect. I like to imagine that the different versions way back in the day were meant to encourage socialization among fans, and were never really intended as a means of milking more money out of the fans. After all, the fans were kids back then, and outside of the spoiled brats, who really had the money to buy two game boys, two games and a link cable? Nowadays, though, some of those same fans are adults who... maybe aren't the best with money, and buy both versions on day one. Game Freak obviously sees the money in this and I think that may be their main motivation to continue the tradition at this point. Picking up the version exclusives off of other players is almost anti-social at this point; post in a chat what you're looking for, someone emerges from the faceless masses, you do a couple trades and probably never speak to them again.

Nothing like the wonders of the modern internet, huh? Although really, today's internet as a whole has changed almost everything when it comes to both Pokémon and video games in general. Nowadays, you can barely go a few minutes online without hearing about leaks, spoilers, and the like... it's almost impossible for anyone to keep anything secret anymore. If the internet in 1996 had anything like the popularity, culture, and technical sophistication that it has today, then something like the whole "let's hide Mew in the game code and see if anyone can find it!" thing probably would've gone quite differently... you'd be more likely to hear about it first on your favorite online messaging board or social media feed than from one of your friends at school. And that's all assuming that the entire game itself wasn't already being shared and picked apart online weeks before release, of course!

Oh, and the reason for two versions? As far as I'm concerned, it's always about the money. Yeah, I'm sure that tradition makes the decision easier, but I don't think that anyone at Nintendo or Game Freak is really going to say: "You know what? Let's do just one version in the future just because, even when we know that we'll make more money with two!" We all know how a conversation like that would end... and really, who can even blame them for still doing it at this point? Although that's not to say that I disagree that the original creators' intentions weren't pure... I'm sure they had no idea just how lucrative the whole two-versons idea would have become anyway, and that they were most likely interested in simply creating a good game that was worth the six years they spent in development hell more than anything else. The intentions of the people running the franchise now, on the other hand? Yeah, probably leaning more towards the money there...

 

[Nitro Indigo]

I had friends who played Pokémon as a kid, but I hardly ever had the chance to meet up with them outside of school, so I never got to trade.

It always confused me that White was the more popular version, because almost everyone I knew both in real life and on PokéFarm had Black except for me.

EDIT: Also, a show I'm interested in premiered in America today. I've been asking no-one in particular when it airs on the UK on several websites, but I haven't gotten a single response, and I don't think any of you are interested.

 

[Beth Pavell]

Looking back on what it was like trying to trade back in Generation I, these days dual versions make more sense than they used to. Back then trading was anything but simple, even if the link cables worked as they were supposed to. Trading with friends from halfway across the world is really a matter of being awake at the same time, now. I don't see the point in getting both versions of any new game now

 

[BackSet]

Trading in the old days was really a matter of having friends which, being little gamers, we didn't have a lot of.

Well, you. I wasn't there. I was born after gen I. So I'm being really presumptuous here.

 

[Snuggle Tier List]

Trading in the old days was really a matter of having friends which, being little gamers, we didn't have a lot of.

Well, you. I wasn't there. I was born after gen I. So I'm being really presumptuous here.

...you are not...

Should also mention Japan, as a nation, is very densely packed compared to, say, 'Merica. Not to mention, videogames are more socially acceptable. It's a lot easier to "hook up" with someone at, say, a video game bar. That is not innuendo; they literally have video game bars.

But I live in 'Merica, so I might be being presumptuous.

 

[BackSet]

...you are not...

Should also mention Japan, as a nation, is very densely packed compared to, say, 'Merica. Not to mention, videogames are more socially acceptable. It's a lot easier to "hook up" with someone at, say, a video game bar. That is not innuendo; they literally have video game bars.

But I live in 'Merica, so I might be being presumptuous.

Awww...

Why doesn't America have video game bars.

That would be cool.

In the future. When I'm not underage.

 

[Nitro Indigo]

That is not innuendo; they literally have video game bars.

And cat cafés.

 

[Misfit Angel]

I think video game bars will be popping up in more and more places soon. I know there's a barcade in my city (or at least there used to be) which mostly focused on arcade games like driving simulators and the like, and board game bars are popping up all around the city with great success. This latest generation of young adults doesn't seem to enjoy the idea of getting hammered while watching baseball or basketball as much as the older generations, so I wouldn't be surprised if we start to see a rise in them. There's also the fact that being a nerd is cool now to help the idea along.

 

[BackSet]

Board Game Bars?

I hope those don't include Tabletop RPGs (which aren't board games!) because drunk D&D sounds like a nightmare.

 

[Misfit Angel]

I've not been in one myself, but my brother tells me it's stuff like chess, chinese checkers and backgammon for the traditional crowd, and stuff like cards against humanity and funemployed for the more eclectic patrons.

 

[BackSet]

Those last two sound both perfect and terrible for a bar setting at the same time.