i mean. i just honestly don't really like super massive sites for a lot of reasons but i also really don't like pokesites that have been around for too long just because they tend to stratify out really fast in terms of the super established players versus the absolute newbies and i just... don't really tend to enjoy my experience when i'm basically trying to run around leveling up my basic level 5 starter while most of the core memberbase is chilling with level 100 megas, y'feel? (which this is something i feel for more than just pokemon too - i'm not really a huge fan of a lot of sites with leveling / progression that are set up in similar ways, like digimon or vrmmos, just because it doesn't tend to take very long for the site to stratify out and i just... i'm here to have a good time, man, not worry about grinding to catch up with the rest of the site.)

but that also just. builds right in with me wanting some variety to my choices beyond the same very small number of pokemon sites currently out there, all of whom seem to either be really huge or super established (or both).

i mean, there is a certain value in that, but after a certain point, even that becomes largely unfeasible. (like real talk, there's like.... 4, 5, 6 pokemon sites that have been running for like 5+ years by this point, and even if almost all of the community hasn't been there from the start, there's still gonna be characters that have been there for years compared to everyone else). and i honestly don't know what the answer is since like....... imo as a newbie, i would super appreciate some kind of "newbie bonus" system that would help me catch up faster, but as an older member, i would be understandably annoyed if i'd been there for two years working my tail off to get to level 70 and then some new member burns through to 70 within a few months.

which isn't necessarily to slam on sites that use leveling/progression systems! if that's what people like, hey, go for it, and i can even understand the appeal from a certain standpoint. i just. personally have a very limited window where i'm willing to actually consider sites with those kinds of systems, and after that point, i tend to lose interest just because i don't find it appealing to play at level 1 when i'm surrounded by people who are level 25+.



which i guess to make a related "site i would like to see" - honestly, any kind of system-heavy site that's made the conscious choice to do away with most/all of the systems (or structure them so as to be simple enough that the "power difference" between new members and old members is so minuscule as to be largely moot in the grand scheme of things) and just let things be what they are because y'all are doing fantastic work and i would love to see more sites that are focused more on just existing in the worlds of these grind-heavy genres over largely gamifying the experience.