Writers' Workshop General Chat Thread

[Beth Pavell]

I for one would not want Pokémon to try and age itself up to appeal to me. The gaming market is completely saturated with competition for the twenty-something demographic, and it shows. I don't want Pokémon disappearing into that vortex as well

 

[AceTrainer14]

I get the feeling that Pokemon being popular with kids these days is probably because those kids' parents introduced it to them, rather than it actually being meticulously marketed to them. There's so much out there that's more popular and has a broader appeal that it's easy for Pokemon to get lost in the crowd.

I think you are definitely right. This year is the first time in a while that there actually seems to be a big push towards marketing the franchise instead of just letting it draw a crowd.

I for one would not want Pokémon to try and age itself up to appeal to me. The gaming market is completely saturated with competition for the twenty-something demographic, and it shows. I don't want Pokémon disappearing into that vortex as well

I don't think it would need to completely change it's image. The anime probably does well enough in selling toys and that, I just think that games-wise after 20 years they should be in a position to try new things and shake up the formula a bit instead of making the same games for the 7th time. I know the spinoff games have mostly failed, but with the core games if this hugely successful franchise wants to stay hugely successul there are ways they can make slight changes to plot and structure to be a tad more creative. And if the majority of people buying it are 20 y/0's, it's something that could pay off instead of trying really hard to keep it as a kids thing. That's what killed off Doctor Who back in the 80s, and they've reinvented the show now to be more of a teen+ show than targetting at kids.

 

[Beth Pavell]

The opposite side to that is this: considering how Pokémon hasn't ever made any big attempts to age up, and young adults are still buying the games, doesn't that show that the formula works?

Over the years I've seen hundreds and hundreds of digital words predicting a disaster just around the corner for Pokémon, too conservative to change, needs to appeal to an older demographic etc, etc, but still I've seen no evidence of that actually happening. I'm not going to pretend this is anything more than speculation, but I suspect that Pokémon fills a gap in a market where cute and lighthearted doesn't feature all that much

 

[AceTrainer14]

I am not going to lie that that argument didn't cross my mind, and indeed when I wrote an article about it earlier this year (which I think you read?), I did make that comparison. I don't think it's necessarily the formula or gameplay that gets people buying and more the necessity to buy to stay relevant when it comes to competitive gaming and all that. I imagine that is the main drive for a lot of the players nowadays to create new and ever changing teams rather than interest in the game itself. Maybe they should make Sun a version with a really cool plot and removes all the EVs and that and Moon a version where all you do is train constantly and compete against people and see which does better

Perhaps we are seeing more of a failure in the wider franchise such as the anime and toy sales and thats why they want to make it seem kid-friendly again? I agree it definitely doesn't seem to be slowing down, but you never know when it could hit peak-Pokemon. X/Y didn't sell as well as D/P or B/W, though ORAS did better than HG/SS.

 

[Beth Pavell]

I'd forgotten about that article, but now you mention it, yes, I think you did say something similar.

I suppose what makes me wary about all this is how the fanbase likes to draw big conclusions from not a lot of data. The evidence always seems to be sales figures and some sweeping assumptions based on the loudest opinions on Bulbagarden. I can't help but think that there's a lot of information you need to know before you can make much more than a very speculative opinion.

All that being said, I can't say I was particularly impressed by the XY story. I mean, video game storytelling is as a rule kinda ropy anyway, but there's something about the super secret superweapon of the ancients idea that just seems so ... standard, I suppose

 

[AceTrainer14]

I definitely agree that sweeping statements are of no help to anybody. My views are rooted solely in my opinions, and I admit that it is basically irrelevant as the sales figures seem to indicate the games are doing fine on their own. I don't think the franchise needs fixing to survive, I just think it's frustrating/disappointing/annoying they won't at least try and take risks with the formula.

All that being said, I can't say I was particularly impressed by the XY story. I mean, video game storytelling is as a rule kinda ropy anyway, but there's something about the super secret superweapon of the ancients idea that just seems so ... standard, I suppose

Does anyone actually understand the plots of XY and ORAS? Every time I talk to someone who has played the games they can't explain what's up with the whole parallel worlds and 3000 year war or what have you. Perhaps it's a sign they shouldn't do big storylines because no one understands them XD

 

[Beth Pavell]

I rather think that's because the games are very vague on them. The 3,000 year old war is mentioned constantly, but other than that it killed a lot of people and pokémon, no further information is given. The parallel worlds thing is literally something rushed out by Zinnia in one cutscene.

 

[Flaze]

I am 22 now yay!

 

[Tophat Dragoneye]

Happy birthday, Crobat! *waves with birthday flags*

 

[Lord Kyuubi]

Happy birthday!

(^What does a 'birthday flag' look like?)

 

[Tophat Dragoneye]

Happy birthday!

(^What does a birthday flag look like?)

You could say it depends on your nation's flag. Here in Denmark, we wave with and raise our national flag, Dannebrog, at birthdays and other important days as a symbol of celebration, we even decorate our Christmas trees with tiny flags. As such, for us Danes, it can also be a birthday flag. Hope that explains your question.

 

[Flaze]

Btw for those that don't know as I changed my name kind of suddenly, I'm Flaze xD

and thanks guys! it's been a really quiet day today sadly there isn't much money this year for anything extravagant but just having a good day will be enough for me.

As for the whole Sun and Moon argument, I don't think it could hurt the games too much to age up a bit, but just a bit, granted the games are already more complicated in story and such than when they first started and there is a limit to how much you can do in a game that's the same style as Pokemon, the most you can do is something like Zelda but that was the point of Mystery Dungeon to begin with.

It's true that Pokemon is still popular if only because the generation that used to play it passed it on to their kids but...that's kind of the point, it's still gathering attention from new kids with every gen, sure maybe it's not quite a blow out as it was back when it started but that's par for the course for anything. What matters is that the people that played it liked it enough to have their kids or siblings or cousins or nephews/nieces play it as well, which is actually more than you can say from most other franchise that take themselves too seriously and are mostly popular because it's what actual gamers talk about, not because they're a super huge phenomenom, I'm serious on that front, I think there's more kids these days that have played Pokemon than Street Fighter for one.

But that's the thing, the games are supposed to just be a fun experience, and everyone can have fun with it however they want to for as long as they want to. It's true that maybe they try to hard to stay as a kid-friendly franchise considering the times but even then. Also I don't think the Sun and Moon protagonists are younger than normal, I think they're about the same age as they usually are with the exception of Hilbert and Hilda, I mean Red and the original Gold looked shorter and younger than them, these guys on the other hand seem to be contemporary with the protagonists of BW2 and the male protag even looks like Calem.

 

[Lord Kyuubi]

You could say it depends on your nation's flag. Here in Denmark, we wave with and raise our national flag, Dannebrog, at birthdays and other important days as a symbol of celebration, we even decorate our Christmas trees with tiny flags. As such, for us Danes, it can also be a birthday flag. Hope that explains your question.

Oh it's an actual thing? For whatever reason I didn't think you were serious. That actually sounds a nice idea, though, I wish we did that here.

Btw for those that don't know as I changed my name kind of suddenly, I'm Flaze xD

For the record, I knew who you were as soon as I saw your location still read 'why do you care', without a question mark on it.

 

[Flaze]

Question marks are for cowards.

 

[CrystaI]

Then put in triple exclamation mark, that is for the braves.

 

[Legacy]

I'm not advocating that they mess with the main formula for success regarding the games. I'm more just thinking out loud about how cool it would be to be given something ADDITIONAL that had a more grown up feeling to it. I'm not saying ditch the main series games.

I know this will never happen, repeat, I know this will never happen, but seriously how cool would an open-world console Pokemon game be with the ENTIRE Pokemon World available as playable space? Have an actual plot with depth, improved graphics, etc. We could list reasons why it wouldn't be as great as I'm making it out to be, but it would sell.

Doesn't have to be a game either. A more "adult" anime like FMA, AoT, etc. would be epic!

 

[AceTrainer14]

Remember nominating begings tomorrow. If you don't want your story to be in contention please let me know sooner rather than later so I can make a note of it. Also, no one has messaged me yet about the 20k limit, so I assume that means people are very confident in whether they are eligible or not. If you think you are close enough to 20k to be eligible but aren't sure make sure you message me!!!

 

[Jersey Jimmy]

Well, look at that, I have access to a computer again. I might actually try continuing My W- AHAHAHAHAHAHA, like that's ever gonna happen.

 

[AceTrainer14]

The awards season has begun! Well, it will properly in 18 hours when you can all send in your nominations, but make sure you spend that time reading and sorting out whose getting a nod from you! Everything you need to know, including our updated rules, can be found over here if you haven't noticed it yet.

 

[Lugion]

Happy late birthday, Flaze!

Been at A-Kon all weekend, but I'm back home now.