People asked how he was doing at the bottom of the well. Truth be told, it was very cold and lonely.
picture coming whenever Photoshop decides to stop freezing
What is it like answering questions from the bottom of a well?
It's dark, cold, and I'm starting to get hungry. It's also weird to shout them out. I wish I could talk with people face to face rather than over some sort of limited communication system. Hrm.
Is it comfortable in there?
No it's damp and my feet are getting soggy. Help me :<
Gary Johnson or Jill Stein?
Maybe I am a bad person, but I had to google both of them. I have a very limited knowledge of them, but I guess I'd go for Jill Stein because she's in the Green Party and, from what I know, they stand for environmental stuff and peace. Again, I emphasize that I know almost nothing about these two.
Just got a car last Saturday, actually! My first one in four years; it's incredibly exciting to have one. I want to drive it everywhere, haha. It's a gold/tan 2005 Jeep Liberty. His name is Tirk!
How can I be as awesome as you are?
Just love yourself and always work towards improving yourself. Do your best at everything you do; never do things half baked. Make sure you love the things that you do. If you don't like them, then seriously debate why you are putting up with them. And just be nice! If you have something nice to say, say it without hesitation; if you have nothing nice to say, then stuff it.
Right now, I'd argue that Politoed is the best Pokemon in Overused just for the crucial role it plays on so many teams. I mean, it's pretty easy to slap toed on your offensive teams with scarf (spam hydro pump) just to allow your weatherless team to be other weathers. Rain Offense has so many new toys in BW2 as well, and Politoed supplies the rain for all of that. Other than those two, I'd probably go Genesect and Dragonite.
Worst? I've never been particularly impressed with Donphan and find it to be a pretty weak spinner. Maybe I'm just missing something, but I don't see why it's doing so well in Overused. Not a huge Toxicroak fan either; it's really getting outclassed in Rain Offense anyways by all of the new BW2 mons.
What Pokemon do you think deserve more use in OU?
I don't think anything necessarily "deserves" more use in OU; usage stats are used for a reason! Slowbro and Kyurem are two that immediately stand out to me that will probably start seeing more usage, at least I hope. Slowbro is an absolute tank and is a solid addition to a lot of teams. Kyurem's new toys in BW2 (in particular Roost) means that it should be seeing a lot more usage; I expect that to go up.
Of course! I've been snacking on my mom's chocolate chip oatmeals recently. She brought me down a fresh batch to college. She's such a lovely lady and an even lovelier cook~
When looking at posts, do you prefer quality or quantity?
Your questions all kind of are tied together, so I'm sorry if I preemptively answer a later one in this response. Personally, as a forum goer, I obviously prefer quality over quantity. The most ready example of this is CAP. There are users who post relentlessly in threads and harp on the same ideas for multiple paragraphs. I'd rather read a response that is concise, yet filled with relevant information. So naturally, I look for quality. That being said, if two users of equal quality make a post, and one of them is longer than the other one, then they can obviously hold more quality information. Essentially, I think that the quality is an important base point, but then expanding on that with quantity is great as a bonus. I hope that answers your question.
What do you think of Smogon's philosophy? Is it asking to promote knowledge of the main metagame for others or simply to promote a large number of posts that are nice?
Here is the link for those of you who are reading and have not yet read the philosophy (shame on you). I reread it through right now, yee, just to make sure I was getting relevant information. To start off, I agree with all of Part 2, unless I'm reading something wrong. In terms of Part 1, I obviously agree with the vast majority of it. I think the entire page is written eloquently and does a good job in describing Smogon's general philosophy. From my discussions with you, you seem to us the philosophy as fuel for declaring the superiority of Overused in terms of Smogon's resources and focus. However, I haven't found anything on the philosophy that would indicate that. Perhaps you are misinterpreting this phrase: "However, the "OU metagame", an entity that has existed in an official state since Pokémon Stadium's Poke Cup, is the main concentration of
this document." Note that the end emphasizes that OU is the focus of the
philosophy, not Smogon as a whole. So yeah, I agree with that part of it. If there is a specific section that you'd like me to comment on, then specify and I'll let you know.
Where do you think Smogon in general stands on these questions? Also what about when you first joined / saw the site?
I personally think that Smogon has a pretty good balance of standards in terms of quality vs. quantity. I think sometimes it unfortunately leans a little more towards quantity; it's easier to identify those who speak out frequently than those who do not. To be honest, I think many things are possible of achieving on Smogon if you just talk yourself there. Theorymon is the golden model of this: he posts a preposterous amount of information (often stuff I am not particularly interested in), which has gone on to him being one of the main leaders of #pokemon. I don't think that we completely forgo quality by any means, but I think the emphasis sometimes hits on quantity too much.
I think that most of Smogon agrees with the philosophy (particularly badged users) because that's obviously what's allowed them to succeed on Smogon. I think that you might be referring to a specific section of the philosophy with this question; I'm willing to answer more in-depth if you like. But for the most part, I think people follow it.
When I first came to Smogon? I thought they valued quality much more than I've found out they do. I've come to kind of understand that some things are delegated simply by "who steps up to the plate" and while I don' think that's necessarily a bad thing, it is simply not what I expected as a new user. I thought most users who go here agree with the philosophy; if they didn't, then they would go to one of the other gagillion Pokemon sites out there.
Hope this answers your questions adequately! Love the questions.
can you show us a picture of you?
Yes, I have the ability to. We have the technology!
True opinion of user aldaron?
I lol'd when I read this question. You asked for my true answer, so I'll give it at the risk of sounding like I'm sucking up. I actually value Aldaron's thoughts and opinions highly on Smogon. I know that's a controversial stance to take for some, but whatever. He has a level head and he obviously wants what's best for Smogon. I like creative people who come up with good solutions; his proposal for Drizzle + SS molded me to having a high opinion of him as a new user. As I've come to get to know him through Overused, I've got to learn a lot more about his character. He's a bit of a jokester, which sometimes throws me for a loop, but it's cool. He's also very blunt when he needs to be. We had a bit of a scuffle last week that was mostly about something stupid that I was wrong on. He was right, but he was also really blunt with me, which kinda rocked my opinions of him. I went on to resolve that he was the right one in this particular situation and thanked him for it. I'm glad he value accountability, but still wish he'd been a bit less blunt about it. But whatever, it got the point across pretty darn well apparently =P.
We're cool now, except for the fact that he reeks. Smelldaron.
Yes, much to my chagrin -_-
That was only one nomination!! Still think I was justified at the time, and I had some approval from other mods. Meh whatever.
How are you older than me? This seems like it should be a biological impossibility.
Let me teach you about birth dates. When an infant is expelled from its mother's uterus, that day is marked within the Gregorian calendar system. Simply put, my mother birthed me on a date that was much earlier than yours.
Where do I fit in in your Smogon family (IGNORING THAT I'M YOUNGER DON'T YOU DARE CALL ME A YOUNGER BROTHER OR ANY KIND OF YOUNGER FAMILY MEMBER!)
Uhh I dunno. You're probably like my cousin. We're from the same roots (Overused) and it's cool to go over to your house for reunions (Dream World). However, it sucks when you ruin my stuff and it makes me upsetsy wetsy (banning Blaziken).
What were your favorite three DW sets?
Ugh gotta go back in the records for this; haven't played DW in a long time. I remember loving SubSeed Serperior with Leaf Storm and HP Ice. Serperior in general was a great DW mon and I worked on a lot of different sets with it (sorry Matthew, scarf sucks). Baton Pass Blaziken was such a cool mon too. Having the option to send boost to something like Garchomp waiting in the wings is awesome; it also does a good job of sweeping on its own lategame. This will probably sound weird, but I liked the presence of Imposter Ditto. While I didn't necessarily like using it, I think it had a positive effect on the metagame of giving a solid check to stat uppers.
Evaluate my performance as a boss.
pfft moderate at best
(nahh you do good work. that's why you're a mod!)
I looked into my heart of hearts and found that I do indeed wub you :>
This post should suffice (hint: it's The Lion King).
You say that you believe God is an absolute truth, but God's existence is not a truth for me. I do not believe in him nor have I been presented with any evidence of his existence, so how can he be defined as an absolute truth for me? How can a truth be unprovable? What if I made a claim that the lack of existence of God was an absolute truth (which I feel is an equally wrong claim)? Further, how do you reconcile the Christian God with the observable world and all of the bad things that occur in it, outside of human control?
I am not sure you understand the concept of absolute truth. It's the concept that something is true for literally everyone. I think we all experience things differently, but the things that give those experiences are exact in their existence. You and I tan differently under the sun (you probably do while I never ever have a chance of getting any color), but the sun still exists. Its existence is absolute. That's the concept.
What dictates that a truth must be provable? This is coming from a student who has a significant background in the sciences. I don't understand the connection you're making.
If you were to make such a claim, then I would tell you that you are wrong. Absolute truth doesn't really play favorites, haha. You can tell me all you want that the sun does exist and that you don't believe in it. You can say those things, but you're wrong.
I could go on for ages on your last point, so I'm gonna try to be brief. I think a lot of it is set up in a world that we essentially chose to live in through sin. The "bad" stuff that happens is all relative in terms of what we as humans think is bad, but we don't really see the whole picture like God does. I know that's a pretty robotic answer for me to give you, but it's the truth. When a death occurs, it absolutely does suck and I bet that God relates to our sadness in those times. However, good does and can come out of those situations. We can't see the whole picture, so I think it's a pretty unfair argument for us to pretend like we can and then blame God for being the bad guy.
PS why is your favorite tree pretty much a giant dick
It's just that picture; they don't always look like that.
What do you consider to be your most important attribute in moderating OU? Is it your extensive metagame knowledge or something else?
Out of the fire of Tobes' final question and into the furnace that is undisputed's thoughts, haha. The coolest thing about the Overused moderating staff is that we cover a
huge spectrum of specialties. I like to involve myself most with getting new users involved and encourage current posters into sharing their thoughts. So for me, it's important to have patience with new users and to give them individual attention through PMs about how to get further involved.
In terms of metagame knowledge, I think it's important for each moderator to have at least a general understanding of the metagame. I personally am probably the mod with the lowest understanding (still quite a bit thoug), but I like to think that I make up for it with how much I get the community involved. If there's ever an intense metagame point that is somehow out of my reach (usually there isn't), then I can defer to moderators like Pocket, ginganinja, and Taylor on that stuff.
Why are posters like tehy allowed to run wild throughout the OU forum? What do you think about OU forum bans (much like a forum bans) for unintelligent users like tehy? He jumps out at me as a frequent offender.
This is a pretty gutsy proposition to make. Care to provide some specific posts? I think it's even more unfeasible to forum ban someone from Overused simply because of the large amount of posts that come in every day in comparison to a forum. I don't think they're an awful idea, but I don't necessarily find them practical either.
What drives you to write such long posts? In a similar vein what drives you to spend so much time on the OU forum? Is it fun? I personally couldn't do it.
I have thoughts to express and wish to express them thoroughly. I would be doing a disservice to myself if I didn't write out my thoughts completely.
Like I mentioned before, a lot of new users visit Overused, and that's generally what keeps me motivated to post there. I also am pretty active, so I like being able to use my time to enable others to share their valuable thoughts on Overused. I like developing projects and find joy in talking with users about them. It's fun on occasion. To be perfectly honest, I feel like I can't do it on some days. Frequent breaks helps rejuvenate my desire to spend time there, haha.
Why do you think the Q&A with the Overused Council thread died? Was it because no one could ask questions they might want the answer to? Was no one interested in the non-existent, nepotic "inner workings" of the council? I also find it hard to believe that few people were interested in what Haunter does in his free time.
It was none of those things. I don't think the Overused Council had a huge drive to answer all those questions, so it died. There obviously wasn't a lack of questions. That combined with the shift to a very open system of suspect testing lead to a general disinterest in the project. Nothing wrong with that; it served its purpose for the brief time that it was popular.
Like most sane forum users, I do not have the willpower to read a 500+ word response, so you should confine your answers within that limit.
I was tempted to write write more, but I tried to keep things extra short for you. Hope it worked out ;)
you don't think i'm nicer than you? ):<
you're peachy keen :D
smith deliverin' the goods what's up what's up
What do you think of ska as a genre of music?
Think it's good stuff. I have a friend who's absolutely obsessed with it. I really should listen to it more; I like the stuff I've heard in the past.
What's your romantic life like as of right now? What's your "type"?
Pretty darn dead, haha. Dated a girl for three years and that burnt me out hard on the whole dating scene. I've had girls interested since, but I guess that experience really sobered me up on how serious some of that stuff can be. I'm pretty much not available unless some girl just like comes out of nowhere and just completely wows me, haha. I'd rather just make friends that are girls at the moment.
My "type"? I try not to have a bunch of pre-conceived ideas about what my future lady should look like, because that just sets up expectations and that's a recipe for disaster. I guess I have a few preferences though. I want her to be solid morally and an intelligent girl. She should also be able to have fun and have lots of natural energy, like me! Creativity is really important too. Physically, eyes are the bees knees for me. If a girl's got a good set of peepers, I basically melt, haha.
If you could speak any language in the world with perfect fluency, which would you pick?
Japanese. I don't follow anime or manga or anything like that, but the Japanese culture fascinates me. It'd also give me the ability to at least pursue a little bit of my dream job as a musical composer for Nintendo, haha. It also looks cool when written out.
Would you rather teach biology or music?
Music. Conducting is a blast and I find a lot of value in getting people to use the right side of their brains; something that is often neglected in public education. Biology Education is more of a side thing if I need to get a job; bio ed positions are a lot more available than music ed.
Who is the coolest Avenger?
Flying around, high tech gear, and unlimited resources (and intellect to boot) is awesome. Iron Man's wit always cracks me up; it's a peculiar sense of humor that really hits home with me. I exploded in laughter at "doth mother know you weareth her draps?"
What is your favorite aspect of Smogon? Least favorite?
I like how intellectual we are here. At CAP, we always talk about how we're the most comprehensive creator of fakemons on the Internet. Frankly, it's true. Our polls gather hundreds of users and our discussions are thoughtful and decisive (I know that some CAPers would disagree, but I'd encourage you to see think about how well other sites would do given the focus we thrust on intellectual integrity). This permeates throughout all of Smogon. Everything we do has purpose AND it's fun, and I like that.
Dislike how closed off we are to new users. Our "lurk more" mantra is not feasible in a time period where we need to be encouraging users to get involved. I think there are a lot of steps we could take to improve this, but it primarily needs to be a cultural change that Smogon wants as a whole (in particular, badgeholders). Just because we are the most intellectual and competitive Pokemon community out there doesn't mean we also need to be the most closed off to new talent and ideas.
Are there any users on Smogon you just sincerely don't like (a simple yes or not will suffice)?
Nope! This is legitimately my answer. There is something that I like about every single user that I have interacted with on this site.
Do you think that, in order to vote, you should be required to take some sort of test / class on current events, with some exception for longtime voters?
I am presuming this is for the presidential vote. I think that's a good idea in theory, but I have huge doubts about how it would look in practice. I like to think that people who vote do their best to become informed about all the relevant parties and candidates, but that obviously doesn't happen. I dunno where I stand on this, to be honest.
If you had to be reincarnated as an animal, which would you be?
A penguin, no doubt. I'd look like an absolute baller and swim around all the time. I'd get my wife the prettiest pebble in the universe and go sledding on my tummy everyday.
What is "We have the technology." supposed to mean? Is it a reference to something?
[youtube]HofoK_QQxGc[/youtube]
I'll leave it for you to interpret the meaning behind it (if there even is any!).
What's your best cocktail-party story?
Never been to one, so I can't say. Unless a cocktail-party story is something different? Is that like, what's my best story I'd say when chilling with people? If so, lemme know and I'll answer this.
Who is your favorite male actor?
Probably Michael Caine. I don't think I've ever seen him in a role and thought "wow he really did a lackluster job." From what I can tell, he always puts forth his best, and he succeeds. He's able to evoke some pretty emotional responses from his audiences, so I just like him a lot. The Prestige, Inception, the Nolan Batman triology, he rocks wherever he is. And I
adore Secondhand Lions, and he does a fantastic job there too.
=D!
Anything with the nose dots -.- o.o x.x (sorry jelli)
Ugh. The men on my father's side of the family have the natural curse of being able to make a pun at any time without warning. I too have inherited this curse, much against my own will. I try not to make puns, but I don't know how long I will be able to resist my fate. I'm destined to make puns sooner or later.
also i've been reading hejibits and have been thoroughly enjoying it, so ty for the link!
Glad you like them! For those of you reading, we're talking about
this comic series. It's awesome and you should all read it.
also of late due to my awesome abundance of puns people have been confu
sing normal statements/jokes for puns. How do I fix this???
There is no cure. You too seem to be cursed with the ability to tell puns. So badly, in fact, that you're now philosophizing about them.
insert terrible joke about this thread going rather WELL so i hope fate doesn't end up seeing this post
insert general thank you remark and likewise terrible joke about how I hope that all is WELL for you
bs!!!! i seem to recall you generically asking Zarel for a command at which point he decided to make /birkal
but maybe i am misremembering, idk
Nahh, this might be true. All I know is that I was the one who initiated the conversation to make /birkal a reality. I think the direction I gave was "make it do something undeniably radical" and he delivered ;)
edit: also I don't really know what you get when you name a Magmortar Mr. Mime.
[20:22] <Birkal> woodchuck, there you are. we need your help
[20:22] <Woodchuck> eh??
[20:22] <Woodchuck> what
[20:22] <Woodchuck> more puns >.<
[20:23] <Birkal> answer this question in an appropriate fashion "what do you get when you nickname a magmortor "mr. mime"?"
[20:23] <Mikel> lol
[20:23] <Woodchuck> a stealth flamethrower?yeah i have no idea what that was about
I wish I had the log from before you entered the room; I was specifically looking for you to help me out. If someone else has it, please reveal it so we can get this important question answered. It was in #showdown for the record.
user you are most sexually attracted to?
lol none, because I haven't met any Smogon females and being sexually attracted to someone (something??) over the Internet is weird. Sorry for the lame answer, haha.
favorite genre of musique?
I responded to this earlier, so I'll be a bit more brief here. In general, I like Celtic, jazz, classical music, good ol' rock and roll, Spanish meringue, acapella music, and an assortment of other stuff. My roommate is from a huge city, so he's getting a bit more accustomed to "dem urban beats" too, haha.
do you like the muppets? if so which one is your favorite?
Uhh, is that even a question? Unfortunately, I developed my taste for the Muppets much too late in life. I always knew of them, but my roommate really got me into them my first year of college. Once he showed me though, I was hooked. I've watched a ton of clips on YouTube and really need to start watching more.
[youtube]FlpPEDuwO3w[/youtube]
Rolf is obviously my favorite. He's hilarious and adorable, so what's not to love? He's also the designated music nerd of the group, which is like the coolest thing ever in my book. The above video is actually one of my favorite videos of all time; it's just got some great humor that especially hits home in the musical world. Veterinarian Hospital is absolutely one of the funniest reoccurring skits anywhere on TV too; I could quote that stuff all day. It's a real rip.
if you do not like the muppets, why are you here?
Invalid question. Regardless, I don't know why anyone would seek joy in their life if they didn't enjoy the Muppets.
will you play a game of chess with me?[/QUOTE]
I see you online practically 24/7/365, but you also say you are very active in college and whatnot. How much of your time per day is actually spent on Smogon versus your outside life?
Well, I browse Smogon on my phone, so a lot of time I leave pages open without thinking about it. I'm not quite as active as you think! I spend a few hours on Smogon every day though; sometimes more if I am having good IRC chats and sometimes less if I have better things to do.
Ahaha, this question is brilliant. I was talking with my piano professor this week about Mozart. He's an old and hardy Austrian (complete with flowing mustache) who gave me his typical, "Birkal, you really need to add some more of x composer to your repertoire." This time around, he's suggesting I pick up a Mozart sonata. I have four down the pipelines at the moment and I'll decide on one by the end of the weekend. I will get back to you then when I've decided!
Cute #grammar peeps and nice mods... No Jelli mentions... No, no, it's cool, Birkal; I love you, too ;-;
Nope. I am just completely forgetful; it has nothing to do with you. I forgot Harsha too, lol. You are absolutely adorable and ten times nicer than I will ever be Jelli you're so great :>
I was lurking another Pokemon forum the other day and saw they had a mod name Jellicent. It felt weird.
When is Mowdown Hoedown gonna win it big? Jeeeeez :P
When Team NU-Sucks-The-Big-One stops using cheap tactics >:|
(gonna go to town on Valley this time snap snap)
You mentioned something about regretting physical things with a chick... Deets!?
Ugh, I feel bad giving out deets without the other member that is treats. Deets and treats should always be deserved together in harmony. I will grab a cookie and eat it before responding. You get something good to eat before reading this post and we'll call it ok :>
Cookie obtained~
This is going to sound really dumb to almost everyone reading this thread. Ever since I was a little kid, I dreamed of saving my first kiss for my wife. I always thought it'd be awesome to share that gift between just the two of us. I stuck with that really well; the first girl I dated actually dumped me because I refused to kiss her (wanted to real bad though). By the time I got to my latest relationship, I felt that maybe a kiss was necessary for a relationship to be successful in today's society. She
really wanted to kiss too, and being a hormonal teen, I obviously wanted to too. So on her birthday, I kissed her. From there, things just kept going downhill. We didn't have sex, but we did things I never dreamed of doing with someone who wasn't my wife. I guess my regret is that I let down my past self my not sticking to my guns. From now on, I'm going back to those roots and following through =)
Based on your religious views, and some of your questions from my well, you seem a bit... anti-booze >.> What is your position on drinking, and would you ever imbibe yourself?
I'm not really, actually. I myself don't drink, but I'm not against other people doing it. In fact, I'm sitting in a room right now where the majority of my roommates are getting drunk and we're having a ball just chatting, haha. I guess I don't approve that it is illegal, but other than that I don't really care. Is that wrong of me? I dunno, I personally don't drink, but I don't mind if others do, especially when the point of it isn't to get as drunk as possible.
What fictional character (books, TV, movies, games, whatever) do you relate to most? Why?
Hmm... Probably Link from the Legend of Zelda series. That series has stuck with my since I was a little kid; stuff like LttP, OoT, MM, and Wind Waker molded who I am, both as a gamer and as a person. We both try to strive to do the right things. I think that people underestimate both of us too, which is something that we strive to prove them wrong about. It also is a healthy reminder that the world around us is an expansive place; we just need to choose to get out there and explore its intricacies~
Your musical taste seems quite... antiquated (Roll over Beethoven!). Any current stuff you listen to? Thoughts on post-punk, garage, art-punk, etc.? I can actually dig random classical or various world music jams, but there's something about the bare-bones rock'n'roll that I just love... Do you dig any of that?
Honestly? Not really. The "random classical and various world music jams" are my meat and potatoes. I hear "current stuff" in passing all the time, and I can appreciate a lot of it and actually enjoy even more of it. I like punk music and can listen to it a bit. Some of my friends push me into some Indie stuff, and I guess I can appreciate that too. Oh, I do adore bare-bones rock and roll though. That stuff is great.
You gonna join in more movie nights? Arceus is next~
The difficulty is that I never watched the Pokemon anime while growing up. I'd love to watch the movies now (I've enjoyed the few I've watched), but I just a) don't have that intrinsic motivation driven by nostalgia and b) time time time.
You seem to dig OU and OU similar metagames (CAP, DW, OM). Do you ever give lower tiers like RU a spin? :3
That is a very accurate point to make! I haven't ever given other tiers besides Ubers and LC a spin, but I've watched matches in those tiers and follow their usage statistics. Again, I'd be all over it if I had more time. Gotta draw lines somewhere.
Fondest in-game main series Pokemon memory: GO!
Beating the Elite 4 with my Pokemon Silver team. For some reason, I was just
really emotionally attached to my team as a kid. I was like, almost in tears over us overcoming the odds and winning. As a result, the GS Hall of Fame Staff Roll has always been one of my favorite video game songs of all time. That moment of achieving all you'd been working for is just such an accomplishing and all-encompassing moment; I love it.
Have fun with your well; I'll be back~
But with booty ;O?
/me pet jelli