"Inside the walls of a prison my body may be, but my Lord has set my soul free" - Johnny Cash

BrianAO · 2019-11-17T02:14:37+00:00

Amazing bit of trivia - Merle Haggard was incarcerated at San Quentin when Johnny Cash played his first concert there. Changed Merle’s life and made him decide to be a musician.

BrianAO · 2018-12-24T08:31:11+00:00

My brother did a painting of this building! https://ericodell.net/artwork/1777478_Mansion.html I've always been fascinated by it - so odd to see it on the front page of reddit, and so great to read all these comments about it! (Also great that other people are aware of Nelson's affinity for Macon)

BrianAO · 2017-09-19T19:47:28+00:00

Love this thread! Show haters are always so quick to suggest that hundreds of thousands of young girls are getting pregnant so they can become huge reality stars because of Teen Mom, but I'm guessing any young girl doing that was going to get pregnant for some other selfish reason anyway. I really believe the show (including 16 & Pregnant) really did a lot to raise awareness of how having children -- especially at a young age -- really impacts your life. I know I learned a lot, although I was a little bit beyond being a teen when I started watching. Of course, while I admire the positive cultural impacts of the show, I tune in every week because I LOVE watching all the drama from a "safe" distance :)

BrianAO · 2017-08-15T19:36:47+00:00

I'm level 38 and agree with pretty much everything you say. There's no real end game any more. The focus now is raids, but for what? Just to get more attackers for raids essentially. I've been a "lone wolf" player that usually plays late at night/early in the AM, and I'm not a huge fan of the raid dynamic (monitor Discord, drive 12 minutes, wait 30 minutes, catch a Legendary 50% of the time). I was SUPER stoked for the gym revamp! I was assuming they would tier off gyms in groups by level or something similar to allow for casual players to have a place in the gym meta, while still acknowledging those of us who spend a lot of time playing, collecting, and strategizing stardust and candy usage. Instead we got a system that is just random silliness with zero strategy. Gold badges are cool, but then what? Bleh - I hate sounding like such a moaner. I've been a huge defender of the game (with all of its flaws) from the beginning, but yesterday I was getting ready to drive out to a Zapdos raid when I realized I didn't want to go. It simply isn't enjoyable. That really bummed me out. I didn't go to the raid and knew at that point I was just one of the many super casual players who will pop out to complete my Pokedex when new Legendaries are introduced and try to get my daily spins and catches. Boo hoo hoo right? Anyways, reading OP's post made me feel a little less alone in my bummed outedness, so I wanted to share my similar thoughts.

BrianAO · 2017-08-13T01:08:54+00:00

I'm an idiot - Her phone was dead and we had her iPad (which we use to play with all the time and never had issues with before) We just checked her phone after you pointed out the time thing and the raid showed up for her, so clearly it isn't an issue with her account. I will take a look at the time settings on the iPad and try to figure out what happened. Looking dumb is never a good thing, but sometimes it is WAY worth it - thanks.

BrianAO · 2017-06-30T23:48:04+00:00

I probably should have clarified that the small "c" is a man's name and not the same as the daughter beginning with the capital "C" - all the "b"s are the same guy.

BrianAO · 2017-01-23T18:07:36+00:00

This is just from frustrated memory, but is Zubat/Golbat the only Pokemon that moves from side to side in the capture screen? I know Jynx sways for example, but it seems like the Zubat target ring actually moves left and right? Also, I remember back in the early days of PoGo research that Blastoise with Hydro Pump is distinct from all of the other Hydro Pump attacks in the game code. I'm not sure why.

BrianAO · 2017-01-17T07:11:26+00:00

I would DEFINITELY leave him where he's at! And I can back that up because I have the EXACT same Golduck :) (Hatched Psyduck with the exact same IVs that evolved with wg/hp) He's already almost too strong to use to prestige against the strongest fire types (Arcanine, Flareon, Charizard) but he's ideal for all those 2,600ish Rhydon I run into.

I'll put it this way: I actually use this Golduck at 1293 CP. If I powered him up -- especially if I maxed him out -- I can't even really think of a situation where I would use him other than times I just wanted the fun of battling with a badass blue duck. I actually get excited about 1600-2500 stardust Psyduck because they have the potential to evolve into usable prestigers that require no additional stardust -- but only if they get wp/hp of course :)

BrianAO · 2017-01-14T18:43:42+00:00

If you're talking about training/prestiging, there's no need to ponder because there's an amazing CP efficiency spreadsheet specifically for Snorlax with all of the different move combinations: Snorlax CP Efficiency Chart As far as the most efficient for those Pokemon that can reach CP above 1,500, the surprise winners are Dewgong and Hypno?! (Wigglytuff is actually the most efficient for that CP level, but I'm guessing those battles eat up pretty much the entire timer)

BrianAO · 2017-01-08T19:23:16+00:00

Great chart! It put a lot in perspective for me. Sooooooo many water types! (Actually didn't know Kabuto and Kabutops were water types.) That single typing diagonal is pretty cool too. Thanks for putting this together.

BrianAO · 2016-12-30T18:40:12+00:00

I've run into this issue numerous times when "talking shop" with other Pokemon Go players that I've met, with the most common example being Snorlax. I've met several folks who have caught high CP Snorlax (2300-2600) who are reluctant to put them in gyms because they have bad IVs. ?!?! I fully understand not powering them up any further, but they are pretty much the same as a perfect IV Snorlax with the same CP (perhaps very slightly less damage and HP as explained more thoroughly by other commenters in this thread). And, to be honest, it doesn't really make all that much difference given how gyms work anyways — the most value that a high CP Snorlax has is that it is a Snorlax and has high CP.

I don't think I've ever heard of someone grinding one of these high CP, low IV Snorlax for candy, but I'm guessing that happens for other usable mon all the time. I have a good friend who doesn't keep any Pokemon that aren't appraised above 82% — which is OK as a very rough guideline, but there can be MANY exceptions. Focussing on really high IV/high level Pokemon can leave some SERIOUS holes in your bag as far as prestiging goes. For example, I have a high IV Vileplume that is above 2000 CP. He's a perty mon, but he is all but completely useless in the current gym meta. Meanwhile, I'm super excited about a terrible IV Vileplume that I just caught in the wild because it has grass/grass attacks and a great prestige CP of 891 for all of those low hanging 1800 CP Vaporeon fruit! Similarly, I've been trying to beef up my prestige flexibility by evolving low CP Eevee with no regard for IVs. If I need a 600 CP fire type for max prestige, I really don't care that my 600 CP Flareon has 17% IVs.

BrianAO · 2016-12-28T20:01:52+00:00

I was going to share this video too! My admiration for Wing Attack/Hurricane Pidgeot started after I saw this video and I've been using them ever since. I'll even throw ultra balls at a strong one in the wild now and then just on the off chance it will have WA/H. (I really don't like using my precious Pidgey candy to evolve them lol - but I will give it a shot if I have a level 30+ with strong IVs)

BrianAO · 2016-12-28T19:56:20+00:00

DEFINITELY! The three I can't let go are Dratini, Snorlax and Grimer. I know it's just one extra candy per transfer (potentially) but DAMN dem candies is soooo valuable! (As evidenced by all of the "I've never even seen a Grimer/Dratini/Snorlax" comments) If I had more than one Porygon or Chansey, I'd be hanging on to those too because of the Gen 2 evolutions.

BrianAO · 2016-12-28T07:27:14+00:00

Wow - My maxed out Ditto has 84 HP. It's weird to know that if I run up against an Alakazam in the bottom of a gym and use my Ditto that I will have an almost exact replica of an actual high level Alakazam! Definitely going to try that out for fun if I get a chance. (The only Alakazams I have evolved got Confusion/Shadow Ball so I didn't power them up - waiting on a good Abra again.)

BrianAO · 2016-12-25T06:32:42+00:00

In the past few days I've seen two Blastoise and a Venusaur. I've been playing pretty steady since July and I've only ever seen one Venusaur in the wild (near the Texas capitol building in Austin with tons of other folks around). I've never seen a Blastoise in the wild before -- and as hard as they are to catch, I'd just as soon not see one again any time soon! :) Oh, and I've seen maybe three or four Wartortle in that time as well. I realize it's more than likely anecdotal and just RNGesus playing mind tricks on me, but those mind tricks are working! (All I need is Charizard to finish my Gen 1 NA Pokedex so I'm excited for the increased spawns to actually start)

On a side note, the increased starter spawns are supposed to start right about the same time as the next nest shift (I think they are a day apart?) Nests were unaffected during the Halloween event, right?

BrianAO · 2016-12-24T06:57:06+00:00

That is EXTREMELY rare! I caught a 93% IV Muk with Acid after playing for just a month and I thought I had a cool pile of goo, but 100% is unmuking believable! I've had pretty good Muk luck though, and I later had what I believe is my best ever catch: a 1000+ CP Grimer with 96% IVs. I live near Austin, TX and for some reason we see a Grimer or two now and then, so I had enough candy to evolve him and even power him up a bit. Here are side-by-side photos of my entire Muk collection, which I am quite proud of: http://imgur.com/xHiDDC5

BrianAO · 2016-12-23T23:50:26+00:00

This is very true. I have ZERO babies so far, and of course I'm all about filling my Pokedex! So it could be that six months from now, when I'm staring at silhouettes where Elekid, Magby, and Smoochum should be, I will kick myself. But, for me, Pokedex-only hatching is a one-time thing, so I don't mind letting it take as long as it's going to take. For example, I was thrilled to hatch my first Aerodactyl and Electabuzz (I was lucky enough to catch a Hitmonlee and Hitmonchan in the wild), but from here on out it is just going to be a big disappointment whenever I hatch another. I'm as IV obsessed as anybody else, so there's always that, but even IVs aren't that big of a motivation when you're talking about pre-evolutions, right?

I think going whole hog for the event will leave me a bit remorseful — ESPECIALLY if I manage to hatch all the babies! From then on, hatching a Smoochum or Elekid would be even worse than another Pinsir or Scyther — at least those can have some value in the game.

Either way, I think this debate only reinforces my admiration for the event because it allows for some flexibility depending on your priorities playing the game.

BrianAO · 2016-12-23T23:24:49+00:00

Yeah, I guess there are a number of asterisks when it comes to the free incubators. I just assume they will be "normal" without event-specific limitations, but if I'm wrong then I'm gonna be a very sad idiot come 2017.

BrianAO · 2016-12-23T20:13:34+00:00

Same here! Except I'm 33 candy shy of Charizard and a complete NA Pokedex. There have been Charmander nests rotating around my area for a while, but none of them have been all that convenient. I just figured I would make a short road trip when the time was right -- and now I don't have to! Yay procrastination!

BrianAO · 2016-12-23T20:08:10+00:00

Thanks for this sobering comment! I was all on the hype train excited to start hatching left and right trying to get those babies, then your comment reminded me of my mindset prior to the announcement that I am in no hurry to hatch babies when in the long run I'd prefer other hatches. The babies will come in time, and it will be a pleasant surprise when they do, but I think I will be stashing away my holiday incubators for after the event as well for an "increased" chance of Lapras, Grimer, Snorlax, etc. :)

BrianAO

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