Forum Rules

This forum is for discussing the new Pokémon games, Pokémon Black & White, which were released on September 18th in Japan! Before posting here, first familiarise yourself with the global forum rules. This forum also has the following additional rules:

1. Before posting a new thread, please check the thread index to make sure there is not already a thread dedicated to your topic. Use the search feature to help you find existing topics and read this thread. Do not make duplicate threads.

2. All posts should be based on actual in-game information. Please do not post speculation or your suggestions for fantasy Pokémon.

3. As mentioned in the global forum rules, no discussion of ROMs is allowed. However, discussion based on importing the game is entirely allowed and welcome.

4. In threads discussing the metagame, do not assume any particular Pokémon are banned. Additionally, do not suggest that certain Pokémon should be banned, or that they will probably be banned. Finally, do not post predictions on which Pokémon will be banned. This is a completely new game!

5. Do not create threads just to ask a question. Simple gameplay related questions, that do not promote any form of discussion, go in the Ask a simple question, get a simple answer thread. Be sure to read the first post before asking or answering questions.

6. Warstories:

Guidelines and Format

If you just had a great battle but are unsure of how to write about it, here’s a format to help you get started:

• Define the rules List the rules used in the match before detailing the battle. It's also helpful to state whether the battle took place on WiFi or ShoddyBattle.
• State the teams Show the teams of both battlers beforehand. Just the Pokemon themselves is fine, there is no need to give away your movesets. Adding some pictures is also recommended to make your post more visually appealing.
• Highlight important turns Give some insight as to what you were thinking at the time. Explain certain moves and the reasons you did things that may not appear obvious to the reader.
• Keep track of the score If a Pokemon faints, state the score. 6-6 means both players have 6 Pokemon and if one faints the score drops to 6-5, etc. To keep things simple, always state your own score first.
• Summarize the battle Give a recap of what the reader should take away from your battle. Most war story writers include a "Props" and "Slops" section at the end to summarize both the positive and negative points of the battle.

Examples good war stories can be found in the Warstory Archive. These will serve as useful guide for the type of battles that users found enjoyable to read.


Rules

While the above was a guide to presenting your story, the following are hard and fast rules that must be followed. Failure to do so will result in your thread being locked.

• Do not trash your opponent in a war story. Providing your thoughts on what they might have been thinking regarding the match is fine, but insulting your opponent is not acceptable.
• Warstory interesting battles. Nobody wants to read about how you 6-0'd an opponent with Garchomp; we want to see interesting battles with plenty of strategy. Again, look at the Warstory Archive for good examples.
• No War Stories during active tournaments. War stories about tournament matches may not be posted until the completion of the tournament or until such a time as both players involved have been eliminated. The purpose of this rule is to prevent the premature exposure of details of teams to be scouted in later rounds. If team revealing is not an issue thanks to the nature of the tournament, however (for example, if the tournament requires different teams to be used each round), feel free.
• Make your post readable. Avoid poor grammar, employ correct punctuation, and present your story in a clean, and easy to follow format.
• Preview your warstory before posting it. When copy/pasting a log, font tags will sometimes end up around the text. Copying it to notepad and then to the posting box usually fixes this.
• Less log, more commentary. Avoid posting logs in their entirety. Every instance of Leftovers recovery, Sandstorm damage, etc. does not need to be reported unless it is actually crucial to the outcome of the game. Your focus should be commentary and not simply posting a log with a few simple comments after each turn.

All stylistic and technical aspects are subject to moderator discretion which is, as always, supreme and not to be questioned.


Have fun! If you want to talk about the game with your fellow Smogon users, you may also want to come to #dreamworld on irc.synirc.net. See the Smogon IRC page for details.

Before posting a thread please read Discussion Indices and a "Guide to Dragonspiral Tower Labels".

[Rule changes - add to this if you edit this post
Sept. 26, 2010: Added link to new index thread. - Stellar
Sept. 22, 2010: Added Pokemon index link. - Firestorm
Sept. 17, 2010: Revised rule 4. - Cathy
March 7, 2011: copy-pasted Warstory Rules from Stark Mountain - Haunter
March 15, 2011: changed all instances of "Uncharted Territory to "Dragonspiral Tower"
April 3, 2011: added SQ\SA rule - Haunter
July 4, 2011: #dreamworld is the main IRC channel now]