Feature Suggestion

[monkfish]

In some magazines you find chess puzzles where a board is laid out and options are discussed. I think this would be a great addition to the magazine (with pokemon not chess obviously) if we could get a few of the established leaders discussing options in a certain position. It would certainly be interesting if not helpful to those trying to learn about prediction and its long and short-term effects.

A twist on this would be to release the original user's ACTUAL moves in the next issue and explain how the game was won/lost because of the move they picked.

Thoughts?

[Dogfish44]

Good. Not only promotes battles, but any user can see mistakes.
Still, game changing moves are hard to come across.

Great if someone could run it, and also:

• Users names omitted
• Perhaps incorperated into quiz/prizes
• Ubers/OU/UU battles

Great idea overall.

[RBG*]

Or maybe something like this: http://www.smogon.com/forums/showthread.php?t=39435

[monkfish]

Perhaps something like that, but in a competitive scenario - one that would help in battle (for example, trying to work out if the enemy's ScarfHeatran is Modest or Timid from the damage it does to your Vaporeon etc)

[Legacy Raider]

I quite like this suggestion. The only real problem I see is that there is never really a guaranteed 'right' move to use in Pokemon, as what your best move is is highly dependent on what you expect your opponent to do while you use it. This could work if we remove that random element and have the mystery be something subtle like you've said - a scarf heatran being modest or timid depending on how much damage it did to your vaporeon, and then a scenario with a shaymin-s or something and leaving it up to the reader as to whether it's worth earth powering or switching. I like this idea because it allows the reader to interact a bit more with the e-zine as well, which is always a plus.

[cim]

What's the difference between this and a warstory? I mean, you could just take a warstory, a turn out of it, and go more in depth about your options.

This isn't a bad idea though.I like it a lot.

[mingot**]

An interesting twist may be to present the same scenario to a few competent battlers (basically, give them each a shoddy log that stops at a crucial point) and see what each would do in the same situation and why.

[monkfish]

Originally Posted by Fat mingot

An interesting twist may be to present the same scenario to a few competent battlers (basically, give them each a shoddy log that stops at a crucial point) and see what each would do in the same situation and why.

Yup this is the kind of thing I had in mind. I think doing it collaboratively would be more productive; personally I find a discussion easier/more fun to read than just someone mulling over possible options. You'd also be more liely to get a conclusion of what's generally the best approach to the rest of the game.

[Kristoph]

I definitely like this idea, it's somewhat similar to something I suggested where top players would analyze specific team matchups, though obviously a lot less complicated.

I could almost see this turning into a contest where if I submit an "answer" that best agrees with the "panel" or whatever, I get rewarded in some way.

[Hadn]

Its a different way to analyse battling stratergies which may make it easier for some people to understand. It seems like a good idea, I wish i thought of it.

[Revolution.Z]

Yeh thats a really ingenious idea to in the smog. The only question is coming up with one good enough and exciting enough to be in the magazine. It must be Hard but not too hard. I believe we should assign two trustworthy members to between them:
1.Discuss a Plot/Log
2. Carry out 'Said' Plot/Log in a controlled environment
3. Take the Log and give it to an editor of the Smog

I Generally think this section is going to be very successful

[auramaster]

This is a great idea. However it would be better if anyone could submit a puzzle, then a small group of experts pick their favorite before deciding what the correct moves are. As long as no one could see the puzzles and solve them before the issue came out, it would attract a lot of extra attention. Only problem is the time required to look through them all, but if the group is willing they could be sent by PM in secret.

[monkfish]

There could just be a poll of "best options at this stage", open to everyone, backed up by moderated discussion of the situation. The great thing about online magazines is that they can be interactive in real-time.

[Revolution.Z]

Yes I get what your saying. So we host a poll to see what is the most 'popular' idea for the magazine. That's a good idea.

The current Chess game Idea really does challenge players into immersing themselves into the game is if they were the player I think this is going to be quite a revolutionary idea for the magazine!

[Thorns]

I'm willing to organise this with m0nkfish. It would be fun.

[Seedot11]

Might I propose the usage lists of each month in the magazine? Although perhaps because I'm not as active as other members (ignore my post count; I lurk for fear of judgement), I don't notice when the usage lists come up each month, and it will be handy to have a link external to the forums for such useful information.

Just a small box in the metagame analysis section like it appears in the forum post would really be awesome.

[Revolution.Z]

Originally Posted by Fat Seedot11

Might I propose the usage lists of each month in the magazine? Although perhaps because I'm not as active as other members (ignore my post count; I lurk for fear of judgement), I don't notice when the usage lists come up each month, and it will be handy to have a link external to the forums for such useful information.

Just a small box in the metagame analysis section like it appears in the forum post would really be awesome.

That usage list might be useful but in general people know where the usage list is. (DJD's Thread on Stark Mountain)

[Luxormaniac]

Originally Posted by Fat mingot

An interesting twist may be to present the same scenario to a few competent battlers (basically, give them each a shoddy log that stops at a crucial point) and see what each would do in the same situation and why.

That sounds great. However, I'm afraid of the masses of logs the writers of this segment will have to wade through. Perhaps taking them from some high-profile battles of a recent tournament or the like would ease the selection process.

Originally Posted by Fat Seedot11

Might I propose the usage lists of each month in the magazine? Although perhaps because I'm not as active as other members (ignore my post count; I lurk for fear of judgement), I don't notice when the usage lists come up each month, and it will be handy to have a link external to the forums for such useful information.

Just a small box in the metagame analysis section like it appears in the forum post would really be awesome.

A small article of statistics would be nice, although I'm not sure this is the place to bring it up.

[monkfish]

Originally Posted by Fat Luxormaniac

That sounds great. However, I'm afraid of the masses of logs the writers of this segment will have to wade through. Perhaps taking them from some high-profile battles of a recent tournament or the like would ease the selection process.

Picking top-level tournament games not only ensures a good team to work with, but usually the players will be of a similar skill level which will present lots of opportunities to take this 'snapshot' of the game at a crucial point.

[Revolution.Z]

Originally Posted by Fat m0nkfish

Picking top-level tournament games not only ensures a good team to work with, but usually the players will be of a similar skill level which will present lots of opportunities to take this 'snapshot' of the game at a crucial point.

Hmm i see. I would probably take one from the upcoming world cup. This ensures high calibre players and also a good log.

[Luxormaniac]

Originally Posted by Fat mingot

An interesting twist may be to present the same scenario to a few competent battlers (basically, give them each a shoddy log that stops at a crucial point) and see what each would do in the same situation and why.

I completely agree with this. Three would probably be the optimal number here, preferably with three different moves all backed up by solid evidence and logic. I'm pretty much assuming that we're going to have three responses at this point, correct me if I'm wrong.

Originally Posted by Fat m0nkfish

Yup this is the kind of thing I had in mind. I think doing it collaboratively would be more productive; personally I find a discussion easier/more fun to read than just someone mulling over possible options. You'd also be more [likely] to get a conclusion of what's generally the best approach to the rest of the game.

See above quote; yes. I think it could viably work as either more formal forum-style replies (well, good forum-style replies anyway) or a more informal roundtable discussion, although I would lean towards the first.

Originally Posted by Fat Legacy Raider

I quite like this suggestion. The only real problem I see is that there is never really a guaranteed 'right' move to use in Pokemon, as what your best move is is highly dependent on what you expect your opponent to do while you use it. This could work if we remove that random element and have the mystery be something subtle like you've said - a scarf heatran being modest or timid depending on how much damage it did to your vaporeon, and then a scenario with a shaymin-s or something and leaving it up to the reader as to whether it's worth earth powering or switching. I like this idea because it allows the reader to interact a bit more with the e-zine as well, which is always a plus.

I'm not that crazy about making the entire decision be based on a variable that can be deduced by mathematical means, as in your Modest vs. Timid Scarftran example. This would certainly be a fine part of it, but I think the main reason that this would be an appealing and interesting topic to read about is to see the thought process. This might include an analysis of whether the opponent will make the obvious choice or try to outpredict, speculation over how the opponent will try to deal with the player's probable moves, etc. It could be like diving into a player's head in the middle of the match, with everything that entails. I do like your second example with Skymin. Anyway, all this talk is getting confusing, so I'm done responding.

Originally Posted by Fat Chris is me

What's the difference between this and a warstory? I mean, you could just take a warstory, a turn out of it, and go more in depth about your options.

This isn't a bad idea though.I like it a lot.

I think it's most like one turn of a warstory with three different commentaries on three different choices by three different people (if we do go with three, I'm somewhat hung up on that idea).

Originally Posted by Fat Blame Game

I definitely like this idea, it's somewhat similar to something I suggested where top players would analyze specific team matchups, though obviously a lot less complicated.

I could almost see this turning into a contest where if I submit an "answer" that best agrees with the "panel" or whatever, I get rewarded in some way.

That could even work its way into the article itself- the contest could come before publication and, for example, be to fill one of the slots in the article itself.
In case you can't tell, I've got a pretty clear idea of what I think this will be like.

It seems like this is moving towards being a reality pretty quickly. I'd be happy to volunteer to help it get to completion and select a battle, format it, go through applications for writing opinions for it (if we do so), etc.

[Cantus Tropus]

I personally think that this is a great idea. Anyone who really knows their stuff about pokemon will flock to the opportunity to show it off. The only thing I'm concerned about is whether or not we could show the thought process behind the moves accurately. After all, everone's different, so I might respond to a particular situatuion differently to everyone else.

We could also make it clear that, say, Bob is afraid of scarf heatran because his team also has CB heracross and DD Salamence, whereas Jim isn't afraid nearly as much, because he's got a bulky Milotic and a Scarf Flygon.

[Luxormaniac]

Originally Posted by Fat Cantus Tropus

I personally think that this is a great idea. Anyone who really knows their stuff about pokemon will flock to the opportunity to show it off. The only thing I'm concerned about is whether or not we could show the thought process behind the moves accurately. After all, everone's different, so I might respond to a particular situatuion differently to everyone else.

We could also make it clear that, say, Bob is afraid of scarf heatran because his team also has CB heracross and DD Salamence, whereas Jim isn't afraid nearly as much, because he's got a bulky Milotic and a Scarf Flygon.

If, as I have previously assumed, we do have three responses to the situation, we do want different results. There is more than one "right" move; in reality, there could be several different effective moves. We're going for exposing the reasoning behind the moves, which I think is great.

As for your second point, we have a communication error. We'll have response(s) about what to do in a given situation, given the team to use and the shoddy log up to that point. There will certainly be issues in deciding the move over eliminating a certain threat, but this situation will be common to all responses.

[Shuckle48]

That sounds like a really cool idea. Then you could also see what you should do if you are facing a pokemon that can beat yours.

[TAY]

We are probably going to do this. Thank you for the (good) suggestion.