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how to: pokemon? written Jan 10, 2022 16:47:34 GMT
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I'd really like to create an ideal pokemon rp where people can just vibe with their pokemon in the pokemon world and live their daily lives. Maybe there is a threat, maybe there is a over-arching plot hanging in the background, or maybe it's just character-driven. 

But, at the end of the day, I despise stats and levels, and I've seen pokemon sites do well without them -- so that's not really an issue.

The only thing that is super annoying and hard to get around are the constant pokemon mods though. I don't mind doing them at first, but after like ten threads, it begins to drag on my muse and I don't even have a desire to write my own characters anymore. Which is awful because, as a previous pokemon staff and admin, you end up putting so much time and effort and energy into making a pokemon roleplay, only to burnout rather quickly.

Would there be a way to do mod threads to a lesser extent, or perhaps do them in a way that lessens staff involvement? Would there be a way for members to "buy" a mod thread, or happen upon one themselves?

I feel like a terrible person for even asking, but I feel like there has to be.. a way? What have you seen on other Pokemon sites? What do you think works?
last edit on Jan 10, 2022 16:48:11 GMT by Deleted
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how to: pokemon? written Jan 10, 2022 19:20:03 GMT
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i think it comes down to two things. personal preference, and the focus of the site.

the majority of pokemon sites seem to focus on the theme of adventure that the world has to offer. staff moderated pokemon spawns serve two purposes.

1. ensure the player doesn't immediately walk in and walk out with the rare pokemon of their dreams

2. help players to level up their pokemon for future events/battles


you've mentioned already that you don't want to have levels and stats, so that answers the second part of the question already. that leaves you with one purpose - modded pokemon would strictly be to help ensure that players are fair when building their parties.

does this seem necessary in your case?

i have written at many pokemon sites through the years, and the one i was most active at - by far - the majority of my 200+ posts were responses to group wild threads. and i have to say, i didn't enjoy them one bit.

occasionally there was the great interaction, a real adventure from having random pokemon thrown at you, but the majority of the time? i noticed players (& me too in some cases, i'm just as guilty) going out of their way to ignore or shut down my character in order to focus on the wild spawns - which resulted in zero development and honestly? wasn't much fun for me! of the couple hundred posts i did, going through them all, the most fun i had was in threads focused on interaction rather than rng pokemon and grinding out attack posts.

long story short, i do not consider rng wild spawns a necessity for pokemon sites, and in truth, i'd love to see more that move away from this system.

as for alternative ideas, listing the wild pokemon in each area and letting players determine their own threads seems like a good answer to the problem. if they want to battle, catch, or study, they know where to go, and it doesn't require staff at all. you could even have limited time events where pokemon appear in swarms, or in different locations, or their regional variant arrives - but none of it would require staff to sit there and roll dice.

if you want to keep mod threads, and just lessen the number, having players purchase modded threads for more significant events or the surprise legendary visit could be fun a way to go. purchasing modding for gacha rolls might be - ... harrowing for players on both sides. xD
last edit on Jan 10, 2022 23:59:01 GMT by navigator
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how to: pokemon? written Jan 10, 2022 20:28:23 GMT
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What is the scope of "Pokemon mods" here? Are you writing the Pokemon as NPCs? Are you crunching numbers in battles? Are you DMing a story for the PCs?

If you don't want to do that, a previous site I played on just had mods RNG the spawns, maybe with a bit of a plot hook attached, and let the PCs interact with the wild however they wanted. If they want to play with it or befriend it, great! If they just want to knock it out in a few rounds of battle? They can write something sensible-sounding and move on to the next encounter. It preserves the mystery of not being able to gen the exact spawn you want all the time but doesn't require any further work on the part of the mod, nor mod investment in playing out other characters' stories at the expense of your own.
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how to: pokemon? written Jan 10, 2022 22:38:24 GMT
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what do you want to know? my height, hobbies, quirks, the color of my underwear?
i've retired from staffing pokesites for like. idk, 7 years now? and i've done both the "active modding" (where the staffer actively rps the pokemon for the encounter) and the "passive modding" (where the staffer just rolls the stats and such but you gotta rp out the encounter) and just. as a member, active modding was kind of neat, i enjoyed it + got development out of some of them, but it was super annoying + time-consuming as a staffer; passive modding was obviously a lot easier, but it just turned mod threads into a chore from a member pov.

to that end, there were. two approaches to the modding dilemma i always wanted to try out but never got the chance to.

option one was meant to go with my old pokemon vrmmo site concept and it was just. putting out a list of what could appear where + letting members do the modding. they weren't able to do much beyond rolling species anyway (since the player picked abilities + moves + gender and i threw levels out the window and i am a firm believer in "rare lists are dumb because if everyone wants an eevee, trust me, they will get their eevee one way or another, no matter how much effort you put into saying that eevees are rare"), and like. imo if someone's being a jerk or showing blatant favoritism, you could always report it to a staffer + we'd deal with it. it would also give people something to do if they had extra time on their hands + were between posts, as well as would help give out some extra currency, so it was a win-win.

option two was meant to go with a detective pikachu style site (aka a "normal city" but with pokemon, so no stats + no battling, just species), and it was just. you could go into a shop and buy either a randomized "base pokemon" (aka you'd get an eevee if you rolled on a fire-type set) out of a given type (with a free reroll available) or you could buy a slightly higher value to pick a specific pokemon. again, it was a detective pikachu style site, so it was meant to have a team cap of 3-4 and throw combat out the window, so to a certain extent, nothing really mattered, so the system was. obviously built with that in mind.

personally, i think that unless you're actively modding the pokemon for the encounter (which it very much sounds like you're not wanting to do), mod threads are more trouble than they're worth just because the development you'd see in them could theoretically be shoved into any other thread (or done off-screen or in a drabble in a dev board). to that extent, i'd much rather get my on-site currency for posting with other players + being active around the site and then just outright buy a standard evolution item or a new team member than i would do 10 different battles to catch a pidgey and evolve my charmander.

but i also recognize i say this as someone who is long burnt out on the trainer journey + the pokemon elements surrounding that, so obviously, ymmv for either system (and your general site experience) if those are still things you actively want.

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how to: pokemon? written Jan 10, 2022 22:46:48 GMT
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if u don't want to do them then just don't!

why do u need them? how do they impact ur rp? what benefit do they give u for the time spent?

personally, i prefer the older pokespe! type of RP where u just come in with 4-8 pokemon of your choice. let members buy a standard pokemon of choice for X amount of money or pick one of their choosing after every event.

tbh... i don't know why anyone would need more than 10 pokemon anyway.
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how to: pokemon? written Jan 13, 2022 16:38:18 GMT
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Like the others have said, if you don't have levels/stats, there's no need for modded encounters. Heck, it's probably a lot more common for trainers to buy/adopt a pokemon than to catch one in the wild.

If you want to keep certain pokemon rare, you can limit certain ones to one per player, and allow people to spend forum currency to unlock more.

Or, you could just ignore rarity altogether and see if your community does a good job of self-regulating. After all, if it really is a character-driven RP, people wouldn't really be hoarding rare pokemon. They'd probably just pick whichever pokemon make the most sense for their character to have (like if they are playing a pokemon nurse they may have two or three fairy/normal types. If they want a charizard, they will build a character who makes sense owning a charizard.). When reviewing a character application you could even make them give a justification for each pokemon they have. 

But ultimately, any restrictions are your call! Just do what you think gives people options while having something to build towards. 

---

As for coming up with your general site concept, my advice would be to sit down and really reflect on what you like about the Pokemon world.

For me, what really excites me is the idea of humans living alongside fantastical creatures in harmony. I enjoy thinking about how humans and pokemon would interact in contexts outside of battling. In a world where nearly everyone has a magical pet that they take everywhere, society would be structured very differently from ours.

I also like to explore the implications of a pokemon world (while avoiding the darker implications like pokemon being used for war. Good vibes only!). Would pokemon species have multiple color morphs/breeds? Do students get scholarships for doing well in pokemon tournaments? Are there any new industries that would exist only because of a certain pokemon? How hard is it to find an apartment if you have a fire pokemon? Obviously it isn't necessary to answer all of these questions, but it may be fun for an RP community to work together to answer them over time.

Based on what you like about the Pokemon world, what setting would you be interested in creating? If you just want to focus on people vibing with pokemon rather than the trainer's journey, my suggestion would be to focus on one community (A city if you want a huge variety of people/pokemon, or a town/village if you want a more rural feel) and use the story to explore how pokemon and humans rely on each other. There could be one or two Pokemon gyms in town for people who like roleplaying battles, but there would be plenty of other activities for people who want to focus on other things.
last edit on Jan 13, 2022 16:42:25 GMT by dellybird
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