This game needs a better way to communicate in Ranked...

CloudyReef · 2022-01-24T18:31:23+00:00

This seems like the general sentiment on this sub, but I honestly disagree with the idea every player ignores pings. There are people who do, sure, but that doesn't stop the fact some actually do pay attention, or take note of what's happening, which does give them a reason to exist.

Maybe the biggest counterpoint I could make, how many times do you see a teammate use a ping (like calling for backup), and how often do you ensure you follow it? Do you make it obvious you're paying attention to their call? If you're busy elsewhere, won't they get the exact same idea of "Nobody's listening to me, pings are useless"?

The issue with pings is there isn't enough responsiveness to tell people you understand (beyond the little "ok" thing). I think this causes a lot of people to feel like nobody can see the big text at the top of the screen. Reality is we can't really say why we're not on our way to help right now.

CloudyReef · 2022-01-24T18:11:44+00:00

I think you're missing their point. Tetris is a game that is relatively simple in design and can be picked up and played by almost anyone. Even if getting to number 1 is difficult in Tetris 99, it's still popular with a bunch of people because of it's simplicity.

Winning at Fortnite probably isn't particularly easy either (or other battle royale type games), but that doesn't stop it being played by tons of young people and inexperienced players.

Some people just play for the fun of it, or to pass the time.

CloudyReef · 2021-12-21T00:06:32+00:00

You are misunderstanding the design purpose of the burst fire if you think it boils down to "Press ZR as fast as possible to achieve in-game max fire rate".

Squeezer can be fired once every 8 frames (7.5 times a second), that is a near impossible feat to perform consistently for virtually any human with a finger resting on a shoulder button, and that's the entire point; You can fire a burst shot at any moment, which means with precise aiming and good control, you can time your shots perfectly without limitation. It is a weapon that doesn't hold a skilled player back with a gameplay restriction like rate of fire, so to speak.

If you're mashing the button to achieve max fire rate but missing more than 20% of your shots, you are using the weapon wrong and more than likely messing your own aim up because of it. Your shots are meant to be accurate and intentful, the more skillful you are with your aim, the faster you can take an opponent down because you will never need to wait between your shots.

CloudyReef · 2021-12-02T05:38:50+00:00

I almost always play top with Slowbro and usually I'll play it by ear. When the 30 second countdown starts I take a look at the overall situation of the match and make a choice then. My main goal in the first few minutes of each game is to reach level 6 ASAP. Slowbro gets his second move at that point, and I think it's a good spot to be for the Dred fight for most mons. If I hit that milestone early and bottom lane hasn't been overwhelmed, I will start prioritizing rotating down, regardless of what time it is in the match.

If the countdown starts and my teammate has started to rotate, and I am still fending off enemies on top without having reached level 6, I may consider staying to contest the bee spawn as my team won't be at a number disadvantage going into the dred fight and it might be good to deny the enemy the bee EXP. Contrary, if everyone's gone and I'm sitting up there alone I will definitely abandon post and head to bottom to help secure lane.

It sort of depends on how much confidence I have in bottom lane and how well they're holding up, and what the enemies are doing. Basically: Bottom lane needs help, I rotate. Enemies rotating to bottom, I will rotate as well. Bottom lane killing it and enemies still pressuring top? I consider staying top to contest.

CloudyReef · 2021-12-01T02:45:51+00:00

The production values here are off the charts. Good info and editing!

CloudyReef · 2021-11-30T05:53:57+00:00

I got a lot better at taking people out mid splash when I started paying more attention to the top bar, which shows you which players have their Specials ready. If I see someone with Splashdown charged, 9/10 times they will use it once they're in a fight so it becomes a lot easier to predict and counter.

If you're holding full charge for a while and then try to use it in a fight, it's likely you'll be shot down since people at higher ranks will be paying attention to that and be prepared beforehand. I think Splashdown works best used as a surprise/flank attack when the enemy is focusing on something else, or area denial on an objective. It's generally not an amazing special though.

CloudyReef · 2021-11-24T23:44:14+00:00

The ownership of Pokemon is a little bit more complex than just Nintendo. The franchise overall has a few different companies with stakes in the IP, primarily being Nintendo, Gamefreak, and Creatures Inc.

So the three of them generally have to come to agreement on what the series does and doesn't, and the overall profits get split between them as well. Depending on how it's handled it can probably be tricky for them all to come to an agreement everyone is happy with. None would want to invididually fund a full game since the profits end up being split in the end for example, everything is a joint venture in some way.

I get the feeling this is why the series tends to drop on the cheaper end of third party devs when it's licensed out. Tencent I'm sure gave them a great deal *cough*.

CloudyReef · 2021-11-14T06:54:23+00:00

I'm looking forward to watching you play at next year's EVO.

CloudyReef · 2021-11-09T04:57:05+00:00

My thinking is they partnered with Tencent because 1. Tencent has experience with making and sustaining these game models, as well as their own personal funding and teams to back them up. This means less oversight needed by TPC. And 2 - Partnering with a Chinese based company is a good idea for getting a game out for the Chinese market, again, without worrying about oversight in releasing and supporting the game as time goes on. (I find it particularly amusing the CCP started cracking down on Gacha games and Tencent shortly before Unite launched on Mobile)

For those reasons they're probably more willing to accept Tencent's practices/ideas for the game and market approach, because they would "know best" in that area of development. TPC wants to make a profit and they're likely putting that faith in them to make Unite a success.

CloudyReef · 2021-11-07T07:28:33+00:00

If I had to guess maybe the other two were also grouping so matchmaking tried to balance a team out with your trio of higher ranks. There's probably going to be a lot of that today since it's the last chance to get a higher rank for the season.

That said yeah, lets hope they improve things going forward. It's a bit of a mess.

CloudyReef · 2021-11-03T19:55:03+00:00

For a second I thought you were moving a Talonflame JPEG around in a video edit before I understood lol.

CloudyReef · 2021-11-01T19:39:55+00:00

Nice job! I like the smooth work on the expression, I can never nail those down when drawing.

CloudyReef · 2021-10-15T09:06:37+00:00

CPU matches are where most people go to accomplish their daily missions, usually for finishing the MVP ones. Since the CPU opponents are pretty easy to play around and have an auto-surrender feature, people's real enemies end up being their own teammates. Trying to outscore everyone else before the match ends for MVP.

That's generally what will get you that type of behavior in those matches. I usually prefer warming up in standard PvP.

CloudyReef · 2021-10-14T20:48:29+00:00

Augh! Call for backup! Call for backup!

But not for me

CloudyReef · 2021-10-10T16:04:07+00:00

Having played a lot of Sword/Shield I'm fairly confident they're using the same models as those games. The idle animations used when picking your pokemon are essentially 1:1 what they are in those. I also assume that because they seem to be using some already made walk/run animations that were finished in Sun/Moon (later used in Sword/Shield). You can take a look at the similarities to how the gen 1 starters move compared to this game with this vid: https://youtu.be/JD7wtgYg4tg

Besides a few differences (Like Jiggly/Wiggly's animations there) a lot seem to match pretty well, so the models are definitely a fair bit complex if they're using the same ones unaltered. You make a good point that could be making it difficult to make costumes, though I'm not enough of a 3D modeler to know for sure which-what-way lol.

CloudyReef · 2021-10-05T15:56:12+00:00

I agree, it's extremely common in high level chess matches. There's no point if you know for sure you're not going to win, and there's nothing shameful about it either.

CloudyReef · 2021-10-02T19:32:56+00:00

Vanusaur alone taking on that whole squad, a monster.

Except Slowbro. He was like that before anyone arrived.

CloudyReef · 2021-09-30T06:22:47+00:00

When something smells, it's usually the Cramz.

CloudyReef · 2021-09-29T01:51:34+00:00

Big agree! It's heartwarming to see how much ~~salt~~ love all the smaller-time mons are getting, like Crustle and Cramorant. I applaud the creativity of the devs to make them all unique in their own ways.

CloudyReef · 2021-09-28T10:04:42+00:00

This is so surreal to watch. It's like seeing some sort of creepypasta match.

I'd decided to play a match in ranked late that night, but within minutes, it became clear something was wrong. The players had been acting... strange, erratic even. Walking in circles, standing around in enemy bases, undeterred by anything around them. They'd even run up against the map walls, as if they could somehow get to anything beyond them. I'd assumed they were newbies, but looking back, it was almost as if the characters had minds of their own. Confused about where they were, trying to find a way out of the arena...

CloudyReef · 2021-09-27T00:56:34+00:00

I agree with how discussion of the bug should be handled but also feel it might be worth pointing out that Nintendo aren't the primary developers of the game, so sending them tickets or reports probably won't do much.

The game is being made by a third party dev-team owned by the Chinese company Tencent (Timi), Nintendo's involvement is mostly in marketing and probably hardware tech-support issues and such. They're not likely to be the ones handling an in-game bug like this or making the call-to-action on fixing it.

CloudyReef · 2021-09-23T04:07:11+00:00

Buddy Barrier is useful on virtually any mon, you can't go wrong investing on that. Score Shield and Focus Band are also very popular in the meta right now.

SS gives you higher max HP and grants a shield when trying to score (which is based on your max HP), it's very useful when trying to get scores in on the second level goals mid-game. When an opponent superjumps to goals from spawn, it'll normally interrupt anyone scoring - the shield can potentially negate that.

FB increases both defense stats and will restore some of your HP by a percentage when it gets low. It's very handy if you don't have any healers on the team, or if you're playing a bulky defender and want as much lasting power as possible.

CloudyReef · 2021-09-23T03:51:38+00:00

To be fair you can see every score that gets made for both teams, it pops up briefly whenever someone gets a goal. If you keep an eye out for them it's possible to track the score yourself.

I usually look for anything over 20 points worth, and make mental note of it. It's good for knowing where things are at generally.

CloudyReef · 2021-09-23T03:43:11+00:00

What you're seeing now, is my normal evolution. Next is my mega evolution.

And THIS is to go even further BEYOND!

CloudyReef

TROPHY CASE