jak1165 said:
Quick, how many 6-pokemon teams can you make from 649 pokemon?
Even if we limit to the competitively useful pokemon, that leaves you with about 100. Now each one of those Pokemon learns between 25-50 moves, if we factor in TMs and Breeding. Each of these pokemon could be holding 1 of probably a dozen items using 1 of up to 3 abilities, and can possess one of like 20 or so natures that can potentially affect the outcome of a battle. For example, a pokemon that's speed natured could potentially strike before and kill a pokemon it would not be able to otherwise.
Now your task is to create a team of 6 pokemon that is capable of deal with approximately any of 100 other Pokemon, each of whom could potentially have any various combination of moves, natures, held items etc....
And you've got that all figured out on a spreadsheet? Haha....I bet.
I understand that Pokemon might be too complex for some people. But don't knock just because you can't handle the intricacies and nuances POKEMON of all things. No strategy? LOL
LeonLethality said:
In Pokemon you have six Pokemon, each with an ability, stats and four moves. with nigh infinite combinations. There is a huge amount of strategy involved, who to lead with, what moves to give a Pokemon to counter its weakness, how one Pokemon in a team can compliment another, how to counter someone who has their bases covered as well, what EVs to give to a Pokemon. There is a lot more strategy to a Pokemon battle than there is to Chess. Go in to a competitive battle without any strategy and watch how well your spread sheet memorization works.
Dreiko said:
Here's what you're failing to realize, in Pokemon the strategy happens as you choose the team you'll be using. Battles are a segment of the pokemon game, not it's entirety.
There's 600+ pokemon and each can learn around 40 moves, which pokemon, with which moves, with which other pokemon, which which other moves etc. etc. is the best combination for your team is a purely strategical aspect of the game and how your team is equipped to deal with every threat is purely a matter of strategy as there are many ways of dealing with something.
If you think everyone just picks any 6 buggers cause they like them and then try to shallowly guess their way into victory you're sorely mistaken I'm afraid.
All those arguments come down to the same: a lot of pokemons with a lot of moves.
Now let's remove the pokemons and moves that are basically useless, the exact same thing, work fundamentally the same way, or are countered the same way.
...woops.
Double woops once you consider playing the same person a second time. Surprise element's gone. Now even if you have millions of pokemons it's irrelevant. You know what your opponent has.
Triple woops: There's only one pokemon active at any one time.
That said, all of that would be very relevant, if it wasn't a spread sheet nonetheless. A very big spreadsheet. But a spreadsheet nonetheless. The match is decided before it starts... Except for the very bane of a good player's existence, the good'ol random factor. Isn't it nice when an attack just suddenly fails, fucking you over royally, due to a random statistic? Yeah. Pokemon seems saturated with that... "True" comp games eliminate random as much as possible. This isn't even like card games where you need the "random" factor of the draw... It's just there to fake some depth.
But hey, if you enjoy it, that's cool. The idea of competitive pokemon to me is akin to competitive rock, paper and scissors[footnote]Competitive Rock, Paper and Scissors ACTUALLY exists... I never laughed so hard as I when I discovered that. Random factoid.[/footnote] - hilarious.
