Are GameFreak favoring the World Championships and competitive battling over in game facilities?

[godiego]

Then you're missing the point, it's not supposed to improve things for both groups in equal measures, it improves things for the hardcore audience that Game Freak alienated and evens things out a bit more. The casuals don't need to benefit because the games are already designed around them.

no, but it's about cost analysis. why spend 5 dollars for this function that barely does anything for casual players and is intended to be for hardcore players when those some hardcore players are also probably going to go on reddit and other forums and still complain about how GameFreak is pandering to those filthy casuals again, alienating their precious hardcore-neckbeard user-base.

See, the thing with the older games isn't that they were designed around a hardcore audience, they were designed more around a general audience. They made the games family friendly and didn't include mature elements in the series, sure, but aside from that there was no sense that they were trying to narrow their audience based on age or gaming preferences, it's only recently that they've tried to narrow their target audience and specifically pander to little kids that don't put much effort into their games.

1) i hate to break it to you but the 'general' gaming population you describe, is a part of the casual gaming population.

2) i'm waiting on those examples. if you won't (or rather can't) give me any, i'm just going to be done with you.

These two statements contradict each other. Forcing games to be linear doesn't make them appeal to a wider audience or justify their price point, it does the exact opposite. Their audience shrinks because the people who like to explore are alienated and linearizing their games decreases content and reduces the value of those games.

believe it or not, not everyone buys a game for a non-linear experience. i know. it might be hard to grasp. you'll work through it i'm sure. at any rate, there's a bunch of game design history you don't know about so lest you go do some research yourself, i'm not even going to bother. a recurring theme.

Um... no. If they're not bothered by RNG or having to familiarize themselves with the Pokemon, then it's actually their best option.

u: rental facilities would be easier for casual players; it eliminates the need to catch and breed.
me: unless the teams are in a very fixed rotation and the player is fairly knowledgeable about both the Pokemon and strategies, it's actually going to be harder.
u: if they don't care about RNG, they'll be fine. plus they probably don't know many Pokemon either.
me: ....that still makes it harder.

breeding isn't the only barrier to facilities and online battling: you can have a perfect 6 IV, HA, all that jazz team and have zero knowledge of the synergy or even proper prediction and still suck. again, rental facilities would likely be harder because it forces casual players, who tend not to have a wide-breadth of knowledge of the game, into unfamiliar territory. i honestly don't get why you can't grasp this.

 

[Silktree]

The only thing I like about the Battle Frontier is the Battle Factory. It isn't casual at all, but I appreciate not having to waste time on training for it.

 

[Almonds]

The only thing I like about the Battle Frontier is the Battle Factory. It isn't casual at all, but I appreciate not having to waste time on training for it.

I wish they brought back Factory again. Or other rental-facilities. You get to use trained Pokemon that would otherwise be a chore to get (think about all those eggs and stuff you need to go through before getting one competitive pokemon for your team), and there are interesting movesets that gives you information if you're not familiar with competitive battling (or don't want to use smogon's ideas). Back when I played Emerald and DPPt, I practically lived in the Battle Factory after clearing the main campaign because I loved the rental system - you even get to use competitive legendaries after achieving certain streaks. Besides, even if I lost I could just blame it on the hax RNG and be done with it. I didn't start competitive training until Gen 6, so imo the Battle Factory is a great place to see how competitive battling works and try battling with various pokemon that you'd otherwise miss out on. I mean, it could get frustrating if you really want that Symbol (Noland and Thorton are so hard to reach), but it's really good for the experience both competitive AND casual-wise. It's the most least tedious and least boring battle facility imo because the patterns are less predictable.

As for GF favoring the WCS over the Battle Facilities... can't blame them for wanting people to get interested in an international gaming tournament. It's great advertising and all. Idk how it's like this year, but I do know that it was a blast when Pachirisu won. Even people who didn't know much about pokemon were wondering what the heck was all that Pachirisu fuss was about on the internet.

The Battle Facilities, while offering new challenges and experience and all, are limited to just the players and it does get tedious over time. You'll notice what opponents use which pokemon (i.e., the kimono girls always use Eeveelutions), the patterns get predictable, and sometimes the RNG hates you so much that you get unlucky at the 49th streak. I never went back to the Maison after unlocking Wally. BP? I get enough BP from trading and participating in the occasional competitions hosted by the Global Link.

Online, you get to battle people with different strategies. Occasionally you do get to see Pokemon that aren't in the 'Top 12 most-used'. At least RNG doesn't hate you so much when you're playing against other players. Besides, interactions lead to other activities like trading and enlisting FC's for extra Friend Safaris.

 

[Virbank Video]

1) i hate to break it to you

2) i'm waiting on those examples. if you won't (or rather can't) give me any, i'm just going to be done with you.

believe it or not, not everyone buys a game for a non-linear experience. i know. it might be hard to grasp. you'll work through it i'm sure. at any rate, there's a bunch of game design history you don't know about so lest you go do some research yourself, i'm not even going to bother. a recurring theme.

i honestly don't get why you can't grasp this.

OK, I'm sorry for hijacking a conversation that I have not been a part of but I just really wanted to say that I find your tone and attitude when replying to people absolutely disgusting. If a mod hasn't pulled you up on this then I am done with these forums. You have just personified the reason I have been using these forums less and less over the past few months. I'm so sick of all this 'holier than thou' condescending bullshit and it's not the first time I've seen it come from you. Far from it. I realise I am putting my self at risk of infraction or whatever by calling you out on this but it's really difficult for me to just sit back and see people talk to others in the way that you do. You're immature, classless and rude.

 

[godiego]

OK, I'm sorry for hijacking a conversation that I have not been a part of but I just really wanted to say that I find your tone and attitude when replying to people absolutely disgusting. If a mod hasn't pulled you up on this then I am done with these forums. You have just personified the reason I have been using these forums less and less over the past few months. I'm so sick of all this 'holier than thou' condescending bullshit and it's not the first time I've seen it come from you. Far from it. I realise I am putting my self at risk of infraction or whatever by calling you out on this but it's really difficult for me to just sit back and see people talk to others in the way that you do. You're immature, classless and rude.

no, i'm just an asshole. thanks for the feedback.

 

[Proxima Centauri B]

Ok guys, lets quit the argument in the two posts above me and get back to the thread's topic, as it's unnecesary and off topic, thanks. If you have problems with other users or think they're breaking any rules, instead of calling them out in thread, report it.

 

[SquadalaGuy]

I was thinking... At the Battle Resort in ORAS, there are a few guys advertising the World Championships, saying they are training for that.

So, not only about ORAS and XY, but in general (since gen V actually) , could the reason GF decided to cut the Battle Frontier, and outright state it isn't interesting today, be that it would distract fans from online battles?

Could it be they want to "force" more fans to enter competitive battling, and think that more battle options ingame = less people trying competitive?

Instead, they made the Battle Maison as efficient and playable as possible, to serve as a preparation for competitive battles, they made breeding super easy, also EVs, etc... It really looks like they're inviting us to play competitive/online?

YES.

I WANT MY BATTLE FRONTIER BACK. (sucks thumb and cradles his Lucy plush)