RMT Forum - nothing but fluff?

TheMaster42

TheMaster42

I was noticing that the vast majority of replies in the RMT were from other beginners. Many threads get lots of suggestions, but it's usually not what a team really needs - more often they're just opinions disguised as expert advice, like, "Such-and-such is a cooler move/pokemon, you should use that in your team."

This perhaps, gives the forum a serious false sense of security - as a beginner, I might think: "nobody has pointed out any glaring flaws, my team must be solid." Newcomers browsing the threads might think the same thing: "this thread has a lot of replies, it must be what a good team looks like."

First-timers may just walk away thinking that their team is solid, only to be 6-0'd by Gyarados and then disappointed at the advice they got "from smogon". In the long-term, these people will also never get the advice they need to grow into seasoned players - ones that could someday contribute back to the boards.


Because of this, I offer a fun idea:

Every couple of days, the Smogon experts pick one RMT and focus on it. One of the mods could pick out a team that looks at least bearable to discuss, and points everyone with any real skill towards that thread. This could have several advantages:
  • The seasoned smogon posters could toss ideas around with each other in a focused manner - having something to pique their interest other than droll newbie spam.
  • It could draw attention to good threads, letting newcomers/beginners see what good input is like, and see what the real concerns are when creating teams.
  • It would make an archive of solid teams that are truly fleshed out by experts, and the discussions that led to their creation; critiqued by the best of pokemon trainers (Smogon's, of course!).
  • It could eventually raise the standards of the RMT forum, as more and more people get accustomed to seeing what the common problems are in teams, and learn how to offer the good advice themselves.
I guess it would be sort of similar to the discussion threads here on Smogon, except for team ratings. The discussion threads serve as an excellent, top-notch source of information and creative insight - maybe it would benefit the RMT forum similarly.


I by no means want to tell you guys how to run your website. Smogon is a great place, and I find it infinitely useful for virtually anything I could want to know about pokemon. I'm just tossing out a suggestion because I figured it couldn't hurt. I won't care whether it gets used or not, I just wanted to try to contribute back to the boards in some small way.

Thanks and good luck!
 
This sounds like a pretty good idea to me. I'll see if anyone else "up here on our pedestal" wants to do it too. Anyone else up for it? (You know who I'm addressing.)
 
Just wait for Competitor. Right now there is a severe shortage of battling experience but once Competitor is up people will become more experienced and will be able to give more meaningful advice.
 
Well, I don't know about the rest of you but I just hate rating teams. There is no way I'm gonna go through a million of them. I'm ok with this idea though since Surgo seems to like it
 
It would make an archive of solid teams that are truly fleshed out by experts, and the discussions that led to their creation; critiqued by the best of pokemon trainers (Smogon's, of course!).
Click to expand...
That part is really cool; things like that really helped me out when I first picked up Pokemon. This is a pretty cool idea, props to you.
 
Perhaps this could be something like the apprentice system, just with teams instead? A team of so-many experts, people volunteer their teams, and one of them rates it? Either way sound great to me.
 
They are too many rate my teams on board with not enough people to rate them.In past you would get at least three good opinions on your team.Now if put to be rate with 2 hours it will be like to 2 page back.

Couple of stuff will help the rate my team board

-Make a Template for Rate my board and make everybody follow it to the letter.Basically you no half assed team with out the proper stuff items,evs,etc.Their already a basic form in place on board but something concrete is needed.

*Also add to that make person put Battle Use OU/Standard Play

--This lets you know what the person is teams for ,so you can get a better feel of what person wants.I wifi team mean that person will have less chance changing pokes,using hidden powers,change natures.OU teams needs to be able counter certain pokes.

*Team Concept-Drop Spikes,Use Sand Storm,Use trick room to set Rampados.........................................

--Have the person,explain a little about how they are going to use their team.


This example of basic form i guess,I just grabbed it from a random rate my team

Tyranitar @ Choice Band
Trait: Sandstream
EVs: 60 HP / 252 Atk/ 196 Spd
Adamant
- Crunch
- Stone Edge
- Earthquake
- Focus Punch/Pursuit/Ice Fang

Pretty standard Tyranitar really. I will use him earlier rather than later, to get a couple of early kills in. Immunity to physics really helps Gengar out.

-Make everybody put the full threat list on the team rate.Yeah it is annoying as Hell to do but If everybody did threat list at worst they spend sometime figure out how they are countering certain pokes which is good thing.

-You can only post 1 team per week.This may seem a little extreme but you want good team should focus on it for awhile.Also it clears the clutter on board.

-Also this basically the first person suggestion.Basically Assign people who jobs is to rate teams.Their jobs is to rate at least two teams a day.If you get like five people to do this.The team rate board will be in much better shape.
 
Currently, I'm sure RMT subforum is basically a hole created to keep them out of the main Stark Mountain forum. I mean, who really wants to go through a bunch of teams thrown together for no real reason with no thought in mind or prior research?

This idea is interesting in that it'd help highlight the more unique or interesting teams. I'm sure the raters aren't going to pick a team with no synergy to highlight.
 
I quite like the idea, seeing as the only helpful advice people seem to get are from Phuqouph and other Mods/Admins. Also many newbies come to Smogon with hardly any experience at all in competitive battling and I think they would much rather get their team rated by professionals, then some other relatively new person with no patience.
 
Newcomers browsing the threads might think the same thing: "this thread has a lot of replies, it must be what a good team looks like."
Click to expand...

Funnily enough, it is actually the opposite. If a RMT thread has a lot of replies, it usually means someone is defending their team and people are quote-replying everything and it ends into a flame war that gets locked.

Or the team is being repeatly reposted in the same thread with fixes or something.

Other than that I like this.
 
I will be in China for 9 weeks, and unlikely to be online a lot - and definitely without IRC. That said, I am willing to do my bit regarding this idea if/when I can.

Personally, I try to avoid the RMT forum like the plague. I used to click the threads with the most replies, hoping for some valuable originality to justify said replies, but that was never the case. I only read RMTs from recognizable posters nowadays, and usually find little wrong. I also tend to suggest stuff in #smogon rather than post replies. The only team I have actually rated with a reply is Phuquoph's.
 
It's a really good idea. I know my opinion doesn't count for much, but I think it'd help a lot... basically for the reasons people have already stated here. We have analyses for individual pokemon here already... it seems natural that we have something similiar for teams of pokemon too.

It'll make the RMT board less of a hell-hole, too, or at least make part of it less of a hell-hole.
 
I usually like rating teams (and I really want a Team Rater badge), but the RMT forum is getting to the point where it is literally the same 10-12 Pokemon on every team, in different combinations. I love helping people with their team, but it is getting harder and harder to do. Furthermore, a lot of people make their first post in that board, and those people usually have a long way to go before they are "ready" to put a team up to be rated.
 
IMO the main problem is that most of the teams are boring and just a bunch of standards thrown together. Not that this is disallowed but it gets boring to see the same 10 or so Pokemon in every team. I like seeing the more unique teams and I will bother to rate those, but the boring standard 6-pack teams like Garchomp/Salamence/Blissey/Dusknoir/Metagross/Tyrantiar teams aren't fun to rate.
 
True. Although I will use some of the Standards (no kidding, I like Skarm's design and was fond of him way back in GSC), I always make sure to mix it up a little.
 
Really good idea! But it probably wouldn't change the amount of OU boring teams posted. I guess at least a couple of people would be helped.
 
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