WhetBish
Banned deucer.
Hey. First I'd like to say that I am not a scrub as I've lurked for nearly over 4 years and decided to make an account to address a more seemingly whimsical issue to many eyes who will read this as I can't post in PR. In fact I'm sure it'll be instantly discounted and condoned. The common response will be I do / say whatever the hell I want argument without actually thinking "Could he be right? Might he have a point?"
First I'd like to say that Bandwagon means to agree with a person with little to no experience for lack of better term just because of their status. I won't be sharing any user names for confidentiality.
For years I've seen indiscriminate Bandwagon as a pressing issue. I've seen some exceptional account holders make some interesting contributions to the Creative and Underrated Sets thread but what instantly happens is that a notable user or mod replies near instantaneously and discounts the set before even trying it for themselves. Many times excellent replays had also been added but obviously ignored to simply condone the set before it's even seen by others. And we all know that if a Mod makes a comment or a notable user/BH people who view it next will simply Bandwagon just because the user is. Then what happens is that a notable user or mod posts a core and every single person loves it and wants to try it?! This is a common trend throughout the entire forums. Its makes a biased environment where only the BH and mods are paid attention to simply because of rank.
This also holds true for the Viability Rankings. A great example I saw was when someone mentioned the Ranking of the Nido's which was by a notable user and a fairy type followed after that nomination (Slurpuff I believe) which was full of comparisons to Azumarill which I will say the user went wrong at as they have completely different roles. Back on topic the Nido's became ranked but not Slurpuff who I daresay has a significant amount of Viability over the Nido's with BD and Unburden?? Why is that nearly all nominations made by normal users never truly evaluated simply because they aren't the Mods or notable users acquaintance?
I believe there is a gap between normal users and notable / Mod users. I've seen that many Mods and notable users are on friend level and often play the game of "I like him/her so I agree" without actually viewing the facts of other nominations and such. Quite actually many a time after truly evaluated the normal users opinion was superior yet still discounted.
Smogon's primary goal is making a varied and enjoyable Metagame but how can it be varied if all thoughts of Pokemon from lower tiers have stats or ability that make's it workable are instantly dashed without a second thought simply because we're normal users and you're special users? I'm not arguing that a singular mon was tiered wrongly but I'm saying that by bandwagon nothing can really get done as only a few notable users and Mods actually contribute to make the Metagame more varied. This makes a more stale Metagame obviously as you see the same pokemon every single game. But I'm not saying I don't use a lot of the same pokemon as many do but that no new pokemon can really be ranked or spoken of in the Creative Sets thread unless a notable user or mod says anything about it. Today I saw a Landorus-T set in the Creative Sets thread and people loved it. A completely new user could have posted it and not a single user would even bother it because they aren't a notable user or mod.
To further my point in the good cores section many good cores are made but never made note of in the OP under the spoilers for easy convenience. I understand not everything will fit but if you go through many of the cores most of them are by notable users! I scroll by so many actually good cores but they aren't made note of because they're random people. I'm not saying the obvious bad cores should actually be thought about but none the less evaluated in place of simply "liking" a core, create set, or nomination because of the user. A notable example of this is that I saw Swellow of all Pokémon in the good cores and of course since it was a notable user it was made note of. It's a guarantee that if a normal user made the core it'd be condoned and frowned upon. This is also true in the RMTs. If a notable user or mod makes a team everyone will come and rate it but it's obvious they don't need your rate as they are more than likely good as you. Instead all new users rely on those aiming to get a badge whilst the other more experienced users don't give the RMT a glance.
To close out this is a real issue that needs to be addressed. We all know that only active users actually take part in discussions and those who simply come to see good cores or notable Ranked Pokemon won't bother see what good cores others made throughout the thread or nominations.
As I said at first there's a large chance the first reply will be to condone my entire post and defend the notable users and Mods. Obviously it's not all of them as not all interact on a regular basis. Some call my concern Tomfoolery and taking a game too serious yet I find it a real issue especially in a site that claims that you can contribute but even the most significant users don't pay it any mind. It's misleading and makes the forums a sorta unfriendly place. It's more deserving of saying you come and watch all the higher ups make every decision without truly seeing what the normal public and not the "special" users have to say. Because if you post and at least one and I seriously mean one notable user disagrees they all bandwagon indiscriminately. The only true place you can ask something or contribute something without being mauled is the Q&A thread. There you don't have to compete with users out of your league outside of Showdown.
Serious Questions to think upon
- Why is it like this?
- Will this be an example of indiscriminate Bandwagon?
- Will this thread last 5 minutes or instantly closed by a pissed mod?
First I'd like to say that Bandwagon means to agree with a person with little to no experience for lack of better term just because of their status. I won't be sharing any user names for confidentiality.
For years I've seen indiscriminate Bandwagon as a pressing issue. I've seen some exceptional account holders make some interesting contributions to the Creative and Underrated Sets thread but what instantly happens is that a notable user or mod replies near instantaneously and discounts the set before even trying it for themselves. Many times excellent replays had also been added but obviously ignored to simply condone the set before it's even seen by others. And we all know that if a Mod makes a comment or a notable user/BH people who view it next will simply Bandwagon just because the user is. Then what happens is that a notable user or mod posts a core and every single person loves it and wants to try it?! This is a common trend throughout the entire forums. Its makes a biased environment where only the BH and mods are paid attention to simply because of rank.
This also holds true for the Viability Rankings. A great example I saw was when someone mentioned the Ranking of the Nido's which was by a notable user and a fairy type followed after that nomination (Slurpuff I believe) which was full of comparisons to Azumarill which I will say the user went wrong at as they have completely different roles. Back on topic the Nido's became ranked but not Slurpuff who I daresay has a significant amount of Viability over the Nido's with BD and Unburden?? Why is that nearly all nominations made by normal users never truly evaluated simply because they aren't the Mods or notable users acquaintance?
I believe there is a gap between normal users and notable / Mod users. I've seen that many Mods and notable users are on friend level and often play the game of "I like him/her so I agree" without actually viewing the facts of other nominations and such. Quite actually many a time after truly evaluated the normal users opinion was superior yet still discounted.
Smogon's primary goal is making a varied and enjoyable Metagame but how can it be varied if all thoughts of Pokemon from lower tiers have stats or ability that make's it workable are instantly dashed without a second thought simply because we're normal users and you're special users? I'm not arguing that a singular mon was tiered wrongly but I'm saying that by bandwagon nothing can really get done as only a few notable users and Mods actually contribute to make the Metagame more varied. This makes a more stale Metagame obviously as you see the same pokemon every single game. But I'm not saying I don't use a lot of the same pokemon as many do but that no new pokemon can really be ranked or spoken of in the Creative Sets thread unless a notable user or mod says anything about it. Today I saw a Landorus-T set in the Creative Sets thread and people loved it. A completely new user could have posted it and not a single user would even bother it because they aren't a notable user or mod.
To further my point in the good cores section many good cores are made but never made note of in the OP under the spoilers for easy convenience. I understand not everything will fit but if you go through many of the cores most of them are by notable users! I scroll by so many actually good cores but they aren't made note of because they're random people. I'm not saying the obvious bad cores should actually be thought about but none the less evaluated in place of simply "liking" a core, create set, or nomination because of the user. A notable example of this is that I saw Swellow of all Pokémon in the good cores and of course since it was a notable user it was made note of. It's a guarantee that if a normal user made the core it'd be condoned and frowned upon. This is also true in the RMTs. If a notable user or mod makes a team everyone will come and rate it but it's obvious they don't need your rate as they are more than likely good as you. Instead all new users rely on those aiming to get a badge whilst the other more experienced users don't give the RMT a glance.
To close out this is a real issue that needs to be addressed. We all know that only active users actually take part in discussions and those who simply come to see good cores or notable Ranked Pokemon won't bother see what good cores others made throughout the thread or nominations.
As I said at first there's a large chance the first reply will be to condone my entire post and defend the notable users and Mods. Obviously it's not all of them as not all interact on a regular basis. Some call my concern Tomfoolery and taking a game too serious yet I find it a real issue especially in a site that claims that you can contribute but even the most significant users don't pay it any mind. It's misleading and makes the forums a sorta unfriendly place. It's more deserving of saying you come and watch all the higher ups make every decision without truly seeing what the normal public and not the "special" users have to say. Because if you post and at least one and I seriously mean one notable user disagrees they all bandwagon indiscriminately. The only true place you can ask something or contribute something without being mauled is the Q&A thread. There you don't have to compete with users out of your league outside of Showdown.
Serious Questions to think upon
- Why is it like this?
- Will this be an example of indiscriminate Bandwagon?
- Will this thread last 5 minutes or instantly closed by a pissed mod?
