Favorite story from “old smogon”, define that however you wish
Probably the "migration" attempt with Great Sage and Kathy.
This has been semi-public, and I'd say is old enough to qualify.
Vbulletin, XF1, XF2, rank best to worst
Eh, not really qualified on this but:
XF2 > VBulletin > XF1?
IRC, PS chat, discord, rank best to worst
Discord > IRC > PS Chat.
You’ve seen quite a few senior staff and regimes in your days, why is nexus the worst smod ever
He smells.
Really bad.
Who is objectively the worst waifu that one can go after? And why?
Anything that is a loli.
Although Brynhildr triggered me for a while.
in shakeitup fashion, top 10 (or 5, 10 is a lot) smogon moments?
For us dramawhores, top 5 smogon drama moments? :3
I'm just going to kind of combine some of these questions and just name memorable / drama / cringe / funny(?) moments to me. Keep in mind that some of these I just may have forgotten or wasn't around much for them.
Snake 1 Drama was pretty interesting in how practically an entire team ghosting still lost pretty terribly.
Lavos Ragequit was sadly a pretty peak drama moment. It kind of sucked how he was a good contributor, just had a pretty garbage attitude over time.
Tigers / SPL Drama No real explanation here, other than an entire bot creating such utter chaos.
Great Sage / Cathy Migration These two attempted a "coup" of sorts with attempting to migrate people from Smogon to another splinter website. Other than Nugget Bridge, it was a one-of-a-kind situation. Nugget Bridge was done on more "peaceful" terms though.
Putting My Foot Down Gen 5 was a clusterfuck, and
Philip7086 put his foot down to attempt to just say "fuck it, we need to make progress". Actually a good moment, so not a drama moment.
Joycap Oh boy where do I begin with this one? When you post about Thundurus-T without offering a reason to raise or drop it, but to "stir discussion" in a VR post, you know you fucked up. I won't reveal details, but let's say the comparison to why he did it was even more laughable. Joycap is a lesson, though, in not to take people's ignorance for pure innocence, as I've found out later this year.
shake vs WCoP 2020 Honestly, this was just a ??? moment overall that's still kind of memorable and fresh in the head. Probably one of the first of bigger steps to attempt to clean up the community too, in my general opinion.
SD Buzzwole
DougJustDoug's puns DougJustDoug do you still have the Chest story from when you were board?
Destruction of Team Rocket In the olden days you could have splinter groups in Xenforo forums (I think) and a popular one was Team Rocket. One day Vader was high or some shit and decided to screw around with it. Fun times.
ggfan Okay I remember reading about ggfan EONS ago when I first joined and reading THE ALTERNATIVE. I remember being like "man, this dude is something else." Finally I got to meet him on Smogon. Interesting experience overall.
There are definitely a lot of other interesting moments, such as learning of LonelyNess going to jail, sprinkles posting his dick on Smogon for everyone to see on accident, BugManiacBob writing that clusterfuck that is the Claydol analysis just to piss me off, the original conception of Luvdiscs (this partly started with someone being rather irate at users abusing the rating system that was originally in place), and so much more. Some of the cringe moments were reading some things from my time as a moderator, but there are some things I cannot really disclose publicly. Even what I have here is probably
too much, but point is there are a lot of these "moments" and I think that's part of the appeal to coming back to this place. Keep in mind if I've listed you does not mean I think lowly of you personally - it's just a moment in time, that's all.
should contributors to smogon be paid?
Short answer: Yes
Long answer: I definitely would love contributors to be paid, but I think how we see them may be slightly different. First, I want to be explicitly clear on something - I get that doing things like maintenance does cost money and programming is not an easy task. I am not as forceful in wanting paid contributors, but I also think the priority of who should be paid is personally different. That all said, I don't feel I have a good hill to stand on to force someone to pay for contributors and also know that, above all else, this is a hobby first and foremost. When I originally wrote analyses, I did it for fun and not necessarily for wanting to be paid. While having a payment would be nice, I just don't know if I really
deserve to be paid nor do I know if it's really a
necessary. There's also a lot of potential holes that open up with paying for contributors that I'm unsure of how to effectively police. Example - how to prevent people from using the system to write a shitty quality analysis, bad Grammar checks, programming without noting, etc. It's something that has to be policed and I think it would be difficult to do. You also have conversion of currency too, how you pay someone, etc.
That all said, I get the reason to fight for paying contributors and I don't completely disagree - I just think it's a murky area that's hard to double down on. I also do think that programmers for PS, GP team, and others that help with maintenance of the site (I mean general maintenance, by the way, such as writing code and fixing site issues) probably should be in priority of payment before someone who writes analyses. It's not that I think lesser of them either since metagame knowledge and having high quality analyses are very important. I think a lot of the contributors I've seen come and go, from casual people like lyd to high level tournament players like yourself, and I definitely appreciate the work. I think the solution, too, could be more of an incentive for Contributors that could be non-monetary too, such as the options for a custom PS sprite or a few other things. Think of it more as "more solutions to the problem, but I don't think any particular solution is necessarily lesser than the other."
I apologize for the vagueness. This is a subject that I've gone back and forth on many times. Much like paid tournaments, I think they can be really good to have and I wish we could expand on it. What I'd really love are more charity tournaments - like around Christmas with different foundations or organizations that benefit others (think like Toys for Tots) and the tournament would be a buy-in. The team that wins has a significant portion of the money donated to the organization, with the runner-up having some money donated to their organization as well. More of a community coming together to do cool things. It doesn't have to always be political.
If they have BOObies.
Geddit?
favourite sith lord? (other than yourself)
I love Darth Maul, but I'm more a OG Vader guy. /shrug.
Give us your insight into why 'Colonel' is pronounced 'Kernel'. Would you change this if you had the power to?
I love seeing people slaughter this, so no. It has to stay.
I'm not sure why it's pronounced that way, other than probably a literal translation (probably from Germany if I had to guess without actually looking it up, or Russian maybe?)
Did you like Smogon culture more when it was smaller?
I'll be honest I never was around when it was very small. That said - not really. While rose-tinted glasses are cool and all, I think a large community with a variety of interests and hobbies is a lot better. There certainly is more controversy that follows with it, but not everything is perfect.
You've been on a bunch of forums in your day, so:
Which forum had the dumbest users on average?
Which forum had the smartest users on average?
I don't think there's really a right or wrong answer to this. Gamefaqs usually has a lot of "newer" users since people often use the boards to ask questions. Sometimes there are some general discussions.
Smarter users on average? I think just due to the general populace, here. But, again, I see a lot of diversity here than, say, Gamefaqs. I see programmers, competitive battlers, etc.
Which forum was your favorite (probably Smogon so which is your second favorite)?
Serenes Forest. Undersquare was fun, but it definitely was super small and it was hard to get a feel on what the group of admins were like. I was also really new to the internet too, so do the math there.
Most memorable forum moment of all time (probably something from Smogon, so in that case then from another forum then)
Probably anything from smash_fanatic, especially smash_fanatic vs Interceptor. This was in Serenes Forest. The amounts of round and round discussions and clever insults were just very iconic at the time to me.
Which generation had the best sprites?
Gen 5. Gen 4 has some clean ones, but also some really dirty ones.
Most memorable computer issue you've had to help someone with?
Years ago when I worked retail a gentleman came in to do a Western Union transaction. One of my co-workers called me over, and the gentleman explained his computer was compromised and he had to pay a fee to have it unlocked. I told him I'd come over, and investigated it. Thankfully, OEM computers have factory resets that aren't difficult to do, so I did that with his machine. It's also nice that 8 and 10 have that feature built in (7 sort of did, but you had to have a product key on hand usually). Eventually, he had me be his "tech" person. Occasionally I would help him with small things.
One day, he said his icons were missing. I went over to his house and saw that the icons were missing. I looked at the Recycle Bin, and I also looked at a folder or two. I did a systeminfo command in Command Prompt, which then showed me the OS was somehow installed the same day I visited him. I asked him if he touched anything strange. Of course, he denied it. The dude has internet that is legit slower than 3G, so I took it home to fix. Thankfully it wasn't his Windows 8 machine. Fun fact - when you factory reset a Windows 8 machine, even if it's on 8.1, you have to install all the updates for Windows 8, download 8.1, install 8.1, and then install all the fucking updates for Windows 8.1. People shit on Vista, but at least Vista was a good step forward and had rather cool ideas that would later be used in later OSes.
Anyway, I install all of his programs (like, 2). I decide to see if his icons went elsewhere because his icons were literally just shortcuts to websites that loaded from Chrome. Found an IT person's worst nightmare - porn. So I looked thoroughly to make sure that what he had wasn't illegal, so I took the PC back to him. I told him I was trying to find an icon and clicked on a folder. He's like "that's where I stash my picture of women"... and proceeded to show me the porn folder again. Thankfully was vanilla, just naked women posing or lewd. Still, dude was an interesting rollercoaster.
I accidentally hit “Ignore Colonel M” today, and as I momentarily panicked, I wondered (and now pass the inquiry to you), “is this the natural order of things?”
Yes.
Ignoring me is probably the wisest thing for your health, as
TSR and
Jordy can confirm.
1. What is your favourite colour speedo? (if you had to wear speedos)
Uh... might as well wear pink.
2. What is the cutest pokemon in your opinion?
Dunsparce.
I know I'm getting weird eyebrows from people, but let me explain:
- It's rare
- It has a rather cool pattern and shade of colors. Like, I hate yellow but this mon is my jam.
- It burrows with its spiral tail
- It was a danger noodle in ADV PU
- Has a rather interesting movepool
Maybe you don't agree, but maybe you're a subhuman too.
3. fmk: cathy rodan shearerbird
Uhhh
Can I just pass?
4. What is your favourite nationality of woman?
Don't really have a favorite.
5. This is a song dedicated for you in the upcoming festive season <3
Many thanks in advance for honouring me with a reply!
tyvm, have a good day. :)
Are you really a colonel?
You're not are you...
Bet your real name isn't M as well.
You're right on all of these accounts. :(
What do you think of Christmas cakes these days
Since I'm an old man, they're closer to my age group and they're cute.
LEAST favorite DKC 1-3 tracks?
This is hard.
DKC 1 - Candy's Love Song I guess? It's okay, just the other tracks have a lot of ambience to them and match their themes so well. I know some people don't like Voices of the Temple, but I really like it.
DKC 2 - Probably Bayou Boogie, but again, not a bad track at all. It's also some of the levels with some great platforming.
DKC 3 - Rocket Run. Fuck that level.
hello colonel m!!!
fun fact - this is my first post on smogon in over 8 years (since 16th august 2012)!!! I broke my silence especially for this thread, but moreso for you. I have long considered you one of my very best friends on this forum since I joined 13 years ago and we've shared some amazing moments together. my experience on this forum would have been infintely worse without your friendship, and I hope you know how much I value you as a member but also as a friend. you are an amazing human being cm. I hope you have been keeping well my friend, and I hope we can catch up soon
Hello gec, it's great to see you again, and it's amazing it's been so long! Sorry I didn't post earlier, I've been extremely busy. I hope you're doing very well as well as the group, and I'm glad to hear you again.
as we never had our planned debate regarding the greatest in-game pokemon of all time, I would like to ask you this in your infinite wisdom. what are your top 5-10 in-game pokemon across specific generations? for example, I would say pokemon along the lines of RBY nidoking, DPP staraptor, RSE swampert, BW darmanitan etc would be mine. keen to hear yours my dear amigo.
your good friend, gec
Man I really forgot about this too.
RBY - Nidoking, would have to agree. I think there are some hidden gems (Clefable actually has pretty good stat distribution and doesn't need to wait to evolve). I would say Alakazam is up there too if you can do the trade.
GSC - Alakazam if you can trade, Totodile otherwise. Honorable mentions include Magmar (diverse movepool), Spearow (Kenya).
RSE - Pert or Blaziken, probably. I actually am not a huge fan of RSE. Abra with trade if you got it too.
FRLG - Abra if you got trade, but probably just Nidoking otherwise.
DPP - Infernape is really hard to top, especially in DP where the choice of Fire-types are a meme. Staraptor is really fucking strong for an early bird, though, have to agree there. I think Gastly and Abra with trade are really strong too. Gyarados can be a late-game cleaner.
HGSS - Totodile, Abra or Gastly with Trade, Scyther, Gyarados late-game.
BW(2) - Tepig, Darmanitan, Drillbur
XY - Not playing the game is a better favorite.
Charmander is actually really strong IMO this time around. Squirtle / Bulbasaur too. Only problem is their dependencies on Mega Evolution a bit too much (same with Lucario, but it can swing without the Mega often).
ORAS - Blaziken. I think it's a bit better than Pert this time around, especially with Speed Boost during Mega often helping it clear Speed gaps for sweeping. Gyarados is also stupid strong IMO.
(U)S(U)M - Hawlucha is a big contender, though Magnemite is huge too.
SS - I don't even remember what I used in this playthrough, that's how dull the game was to me. Guess Corviknight is really good, and Obstagoon has its moments.
I have a black lab.
Commenting on your favorite 'mons, there was this guy on another forum that I'm on (UPN) that went by the name Tyranidos because his favorite Pokemon were Tyranitar and Gyarados. You don't happen to be the same person do you? I don't think so but if so, what's up lol
Not much how about you lol?
(It wasn't me). Interesting though, did he have a fusion made for it?
what are your top 3 favorite tracks in DKC games?
DKC 1 - Aquatic Ambience, DK Island Swing, Fear Factory
DKC 2 - Stickerbrush Symphony, Forest Interlude, Kannon's Klaim (this was so fucking hard)
DKC 3 - Water World (honorable mention to the DKC3 version with David Wise), Nuts and Bolts, Rockface Rumble
Top from all 3 games combined - Aquatic Ambience, Stickerbrush Symphony, Nuts and Bolts
Not in that order specifically.
what gachas do you play? if more than one, which is your favorite?
Used to play FEH, but play FGO (barely, lately I'm burnt) and Arknights. I really like Arknights because I can sort of afk it if I need to and the content is nice.
as a lover of video game OSTs, have you/will you ever delve into the world of VGM records?
You mean like vinyl or their CD equivalents? I can't say I have, but if their acoustics are better (like ORAS Maxie / Archie Theme slaps on actual hardware), I would consider it.
favorite alcoholic beverage?
Crown Royal Apple, though usually I drink Redd's. Captain / Coke is a classic combo too.
Most annoying user you had to ban?
If we count collaborative, Silent Ghost.
I think Mekkah showed me this. It's beautiful.
If Colonel M still had mod powers and were more cruel a person there could be a great joke at your expense here. Or at mine, now that I think about it
Anyways, Colonel M, can you give us your insight into why, when you had authority, you decided to squash all discussion of the greatest pokemon set of all time instead of allowing the meta to develop naturally?
the crime in question
It was a terrible set at the time. Much like when Joycap "predicting" Skarmory going to UU, it wasn't really a prediction so much as a coincidence.
But, seriously, Timid Kartana was fucking awful. It got more viable towards the end of USUM because teams got a lot more aggressive and sometimes teammates could leave things weak enough for Timid Kartana to finish off.
Related to that, did you ever get frustrated with the amount of people who would suggest really bad sets like jolly kart or pokemon and then get mad at the OU council when the ou council said "that's dumb"? Look at any suspect test ever for a reminder of how insane the suggestions get
Any standout "what a terrible set"s you have from all those years ago?
Nothing really stands out from the top of my head. I think the problem was, over time, I became more accepting that sometimes specific sets can be tailored to fitting into the team and its niches. Though, anything MegaStarUniverse posted was pretty cringey with some of his sets. Even then, you could maybe argue the niche of it was warranted because it was unexpected.
Thoughts on the ASMR reading of bmb’s claydol analysis? In that thread you only commented on the analysis itself and passed on commenting about the reading.
Haven't listened to it yet. I'll listen to it if I get a chance tomorrow and re-respond.
what’s your favorite cocktail?
Probably Captain and Coke.
What’s your fav non Pokémon non jrpg game series?
Megaman Battle Network was really high on the list.
I also really loved Age of Empires II.
===
If I missed your question, let me know, but hopefully I'm caught up now! Great questions, and great to interact (and re-interact) with people as well. :)
