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Speculation Why were the type gems removed?

Yeah, that doesn't make any sense. They nerfed the gems and added a fairy one, yet the gems aren't even avaible. Maybe they will be avaible in some sort of event?
 
because game freak is an intelligent company

I'm actually more upset about the nerf, destroys any hope of them ever being usable anywhere (aside from unburden mons)
 
I'm betting the gems are probably being saved for the next Gen VI installment. I'm not sure why the nerf was considered necessary, the gems didn't really see that much use (The only example I can really think of is stuff with Acrobatics).
 
graymelancholia said:
I'm betting the gems are probably being saved for the next Gen VI installment. I'm not sure why the nerf was considered necessary, the gems didn't really see that much use (The only example I can really think of is stuff with Acrobatics).
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They were pretty common in VGC. Dragon Gem + Draco Meteor was fairly popular and was pretty much a nuke.

If they nerfed them they should have at least included them in the games - I was hoping ORAS would have them. It would give Hawlucha another option for activating Unburden besides Sitrus Berry and Power Herb, which is my main reason for wanting to see them return...
 
Could they just change the way acrobatics work though if it was that cheap?
 
I really doubt Acrobatics was the reason they all are removed...

(and if Acrobatics is so overpowered why aren't there more Pokemon using it?) Something should only be nerfed when it has a negative effect. Does Acrobatics have a negative effect on the game? No it does not.
 
Bolt the Cat said:
PhilosophyPhlare said:
Could they just change the way acrobatics work though if it was that cheap?
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Actually, nerfing Acrobatics sounds like a good idea. Base 110 damage for not holding an item is pretty OP.
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I completely agree. Ice Beam is OP too actually, since Nevermeltice Ice Beam has 108 BP, which is pretty much the same. Same with Flamethrower, Surf, etc. 90 BP moves? What's Game Freak thinking? And I thought Aerial Ace was strong.
 
Zeb said:
I really doubt Acrobatics was the reason they all are removed...

(and if Acrobatics is so overpowered why aren't there more Pokemon using it?) Something should only be nerfed when it has a negative effect. Does Acrobatics have a negative effect on the game? No it does not.
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I doubt it too but exceptions could be dealt with is what I'm saying. I was talking about the 165BP combo specifically which now that I think about is kinda puny for one time but it does fill a hole stabwise. But back on topic perhaps the rare usage created a type imbalance that the didn't want maaaaaaaaaybe...? I don't know I miss the gems.
 
Gems were overused in Gen V competitive, they steered the meta towards Hyperoffensive. Why mess around with different playstyles when you can kill anything in one hit with a Dragon-Gem powered Outrage or Draco Meteor? And it's not like it was only Dragons abusing Gems. They were incredibly common items that I felt were detrimental to the metagame, in addition to permaweather.

I'm glad they nerfed both, Gen VI is much more varied and fun than Gen V was.
 
Gems were overused during Gen V. I can't count how many Scizors I ran into that always had Bullet Punch and a Steel Gem, and I don't like Scizor much anyway. Metagross was the same way, another Mon that was a bane to my wi-fi days (and still is, thanks to its Mega). Gems packed too much of a punch, nearly turning the metagame upside-down (and, believe me, if I know this, someone who never dabbles in meta, then it must've been bad). Nuking them then limiting them did alleviate the problem, as they are no longer readily available, so moves like Unburden, Outrage, and Bullet Punch no longer have super powerups. But the probable reason behind both the nuking and limited access is because the turned the metagame into a all-out brawlfest. I liked collecting them, thanks to the treasure hunter in me, but I never bothered to use them. And thanks to what they did in Gen V, I'm glad they were depowered, as it's made wi-fi battles actually bearable.
 
A baffling mystery indeed, I'm not sure why they got removed at all, if anything they were strategy items, and with the addition of some new ones introduced in the Postgames, you'd think Gamefreak wouldn't cut off something like that? Yes there's Hawlucha and Acrobatics, but I'm disappointed about the nerf AND being withheld from the Gen 6 games. My guess is that if the developers went out of their way to dampen the Gem items' effects, one would think they'd have a plan to make it available.

On a battle video in hte 5th gen games I saw a triple battle team include two "Helping Handers" and a Hydreigon in the middle, ready to make use of the boosts with a Normel-Gem Powered Hyper voice. Did CRAZY damage and almost OHKO'd an Umbreon. Imagine a Mega Guardevoir in the middle with that gem equipped; so deadly and so beautiful. Gems, if used correctly were outlets of destruction back in the day.
 
MagicNinetales said:
On a battle video in hte 5th gen games I saw a triple battle team include two "Helping Handers" and a Hydreigon in the middle, ready to make use of the boosts with a Normel-Gem Powered Hyper voice. Did CRAZY damage and almost OHKO'd an Umbreon. Imagine a Mega Guardevoir in the middle with that gem equipped; so deadly and so beautiful. Gems, if used correctly were outlets of destruction back in the day.
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I am so not going on triple battles again if they bring back the gems D: Imagine running into a similar one... with two "Helping Handers" and a Kyogre using Water Spout? WITH THE WATER GEM WHEN IT'S RAINING?
 
MagicNinetales said:
On a battle video in hte 5th gen games I saw a triple battle team include two "Helping Handers" and a Hydreigon in the middle, ready to make use of the boosts with a Normel-Gem Powered Hyper voice. Did CRAZY damage and almost OHKO'd an Umbreon. Imagine a Mega Guardevoir in the middle with that gem equipped; so deadly and so beautiful. Gems, if used correctly were outlets of destruction back in the day.
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Actually, Mega Gardevoir can't hold items, but I imagine if it could, that combination would be really deadly. Hydreigon unfortunately probably isn't the most powerful user of the move Hyper Voice, and it can get even worse like you have shown with the Pixilate users. Luckily one can try to stop it with Wide Guard/KOing the spread move user but typically one does not have the luxury of having those options at all times.


Kyriaki said:
I am so not going on triple battles again if they bring back the gems D: Imagine running into a similar one... with two "Helping Handers" and a Kyogre using Water Spout? WITH THE WATER GEM WHEN IT'S RAINING?
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Actually Kyogre with Choice Specs would probably be more devastating since they nerfed the gems. Even so, a Kyogre that can use the Gem and at the same time be able to switch its moves according to the situation, can be a deadly threat one doesn't want to deal with.


Anyways, with that said, I believe that the gems are gone for several reasons.

For one, even with the nerf, they are still somewhat overpowered as I believe they give a boost equivalent to the Life Orb without the recoil, and almost no opportunity cost other than the fact that they take up an item slot (which is what all items do, but I suppose one could argue that there may be better items out there like Life Orb), its only a one time use (which still has a problem which I get to later), and the fact that it only affects moves of a certain type (which can be worked around often by letting the wielder use the type of gem of the move they use most). That feels like a relatively low cost for such a powerful item.

Given that most of the official rules use a pick 3/4 out of 6 style, gems could mean everything in the game. I mean, most of the powered up moves can KO the opposition, and one move is all it takes to get the opponent in a bad position. Half the time one only realistically needs to KO one Pokemon to get the upper hand and gems provide such an easy path. This usually means it will turn the competitive game into a simple click the right move and win style matches. I'm not sure this is the best argument around, but I hope you get the idea.

Now I don't believe that they won't release the gems ever in this generation; it's just due to their nature, they probably need to be saved for later. For me, it's always exciting to get new tools to play with in the game even if they are tools we have had before. Let's take move tutors for an example. They usually hide these until the second set of games are released and they always help shake the game up a bit. They breathe some life into previously useless Pokemon by giving them new moves to play with, and perhaps some of these moves are just what they need to get themselves relevant on the competitive scene. This also goes for other items like Soul Dew or the event berries, or perhaps even the blue pentagon legends to some extent. Gems may not do the same thing, but they allow us to play around with the new tools a bit to come up with new strategies, and new ways to play the game. Of course, like the way move tutors are structured, they have to make sure that the gems aren't overpowering the game, but rather balance it. Also, it's a nice way of seeing the game without the items as we can see the differences between a gem-free game and a gem-released game and perhaps find out which one is more preferable.

Due to this, they also give reasons for the player to either pick up the game again or to get the new one where the gems are released. I know Mega Evolutions provide some role in mixing up the game nowadays, but even so, more Mega Evolutions + new items like the gems (or move tutors) give more of an incentive to buy the new games. Sometimes I feel that the game is incomplete or largely irrelevant if it doesn't change the battle structure enough and gems can probably fix that. They could theoretically put the berries on the Global Link or whatever its called, just like they did with the berries but even then, it will be a good reason to pick up the game and play again.

It's really up in the air at this point as to whether or not the gems will be re-released. Are they hidden tools we will get to later, or are they too overpowered to be put back into the game? I guess only time will tell.
 
Just to weigh in with the argument about balancing issues that gen VI made, the move Incinerate and the ability Unnerve have been changed to also include gems as well as berries. Why even bother making those adjustments without gems available?
 
I wasn't evven aware they were nerfed. Since they were then yeah it doesn't make much sense they're no longer able to be used... maybe we'll see them in the future.
 
MagicNinetales said:
A baffling mystery indeed, I'm not sure why they got removed at all, if anything they were strategy items, and with the addition of some new ones introduced in the Postgames, you'd think Gamefreak wouldn't cut off something like that? Yes there's Hawlucha and Acrobatics, but I'm disappointed about the nerf AND being withheld from the Gen 6 games. My guess is that if the developers went out of their way to dampen the Gem items' effects, one would think they'd have a plan to make it available.

On a battle video in hte 5th gen games I saw a triple battle team include two "Helping Handers" and a Hydreigon in the middle, ready to make use of the boosts with a Normel-Gem Powered Hyper voice. Did CRAZY damage and almost OHKO'd an Umbreon. Imagine a Mega Guardevoir in the middle with that gem equipped; so deadly and so beautiful. Gems, if used correctly were outlets of destruction back in the day.
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most megas can't hold items.
However, Mega Rayquaza isn't most megas
and besides, Mega Gardevoir's ability turns normal-type moves to fairy-types, so should it be the Fairy Gem that boosts its Hyper Voice

Anyway, I think it is because the dust cloud mechanic (the easiest way to get gems in gen 5) was removed, and Trollfreak forgot to come up with a compromise (I thought that the other gems would be obtained in the same way as the Normal Gem (the only gem that made its way to gen 6 was the Normal Gem), but NO, they removed the other gems)
 
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