Deck Knight
Blast Off At The Speed Of Light! That's Right!
It appears I made an error in not posting this sooner. Less work for me as I'd rather do it now than scramble tomorrow morning. I suppose it's time for a big round-up post. I'm terrible at speeches.
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The easiest way to descibe this CAP project is "roller coaster." Every element of Voodoom's process underwent immense scrutiny. Even from the Concept Assessment stage people were engaging in fierce arguments about how CAP 11 should continue. I have been around the CAP project since it's beginning, and this project only proves to me that no matter how contentious it gets in the middle, we can focus together to make a coherent end product. I'm not sure if Voodoom is going to be a "Perfect Mate" for Togekiss, or if they'll be a threatening offensive core together. What I do know is that in retrospect, a lot of the things we think are contrived when we start discussing them can still be adjusted for later. Our community is that creative and our process that flexible, and it only got that way because every day for the last two and a half years, dedicated CAP contributors have put their nose to the grindstone to analyze flaws and improve the system instead of just discarding it after "failure."
By all rights Fuzznip should be making this post, I'm just doing cleanup. Early in the process I, along with a lot of regulars in #cap, had a lot of doubts and second guesses about Fuzznip's choices. Nonetheless he guided us in the manner that a strong TL should have. That's exactly why we put that model in place, because sometimes you have to be hardnosed and do things the way they ought to be done, not according to the wishes of your peers. Fuzznip deserves all of the applause here. TL's do an amazing amount of work and have to excercise their best judgement at every stage. Sometimes this means following the process to the letter even if it won't be popular.
As for my part, I am always fascinated by the preferences people express during every part of the process. If you can't tell, preferential polls are my personal favorite despite their difficulty to count. I like them because I think they are the most just way to balance the competitive and the feedback function. Every CAP we always seem to pick up a few stellar new users who come out of the blue with excellent contribution quality. I'm one of the grayest CAP graybeards around and I am always pleased when somebody new gets a shot at the top. Having a process that gives good feedback, especially to new contributors is extremely important to me. There is always room for improvement, something that bears out both during the project and when we analyze our policies themselves.
The introduction of the new stats and movepool limits was a smashing sucess in my estimation. It kept the movepool sizes in check without sacrificing flavor elements and still lead to several variations depending on what the submitter's felt was important. Aside from a few flaws in the OP that are from more outdated processes, I forsee that method for doing movepools lasting in perpetuity. I look forward to seeing how our contributors apply it to the next project, now that they've had some experience with it. This is almost as monumental a shift if CAP Policy as the strong TL model, and I think the process is much better for it.
Playtesting will be coming up soon, and I'm sure you're all eager to start using Voodoom and see if it and Togekiss operate well in tandem. I've got a few set ideas in mind already, but I'll leave it to the battling experts to do the heavy lifting. My advice for any future TL's is that RAGE is to be avoided unless absolutely neccesary. The TL is supposed to have a strong and clear vision and occasionally excercise stubbornness over process elements. Their mind should still be open and they should have faith that the community can band together and make it work, no matter how many misteps are racking up in your head. Don't be paralyzed by frustration, keep your mind agile and think of new ways to work around "mistakes." You will rarely be dissapointed if you view each stumble as an opporunity instead of a defeat.
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All my rambling aside, here is the final product:
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The easiest way to descibe this CAP project is "roller coaster." Every element of Voodoom's process underwent immense scrutiny. Even from the Concept Assessment stage people were engaging in fierce arguments about how CAP 11 should continue. I have been around the CAP project since it's beginning, and this project only proves to me that no matter how contentious it gets in the middle, we can focus together to make a coherent end product. I'm not sure if Voodoom is going to be a "Perfect Mate" for Togekiss, or if they'll be a threatening offensive core together. What I do know is that in retrospect, a lot of the things we think are contrived when we start discussing them can still be adjusted for later. Our community is that creative and our process that flexible, and it only got that way because every day for the last two and a half years, dedicated CAP contributors have put their nose to the grindstone to analyze flaws and improve the system instead of just discarding it after "failure."
By all rights Fuzznip should be making this post, I'm just doing cleanup. Early in the process I, along with a lot of regulars in #cap, had a lot of doubts and second guesses about Fuzznip's choices. Nonetheless he guided us in the manner that a strong TL should have. That's exactly why we put that model in place, because sometimes you have to be hardnosed and do things the way they ought to be done, not according to the wishes of your peers. Fuzznip deserves all of the applause here. TL's do an amazing amount of work and have to excercise their best judgement at every stage. Sometimes this means following the process to the letter even if it won't be popular.
As for my part, I am always fascinated by the preferences people express during every part of the process. If you can't tell, preferential polls are my personal favorite despite their difficulty to count. I like them because I think they are the most just way to balance the competitive and the feedback function. Every CAP we always seem to pick up a few stellar new users who come out of the blue with excellent contribution quality. I'm one of the grayest CAP graybeards around and I am always pleased when somebody new gets a shot at the top. Having a process that gives good feedback, especially to new contributors is extremely important to me. There is always room for improvement, something that bears out both during the project and when we analyze our policies themselves.
The introduction of the new stats and movepool limits was a smashing sucess in my estimation. It kept the movepool sizes in check without sacrificing flavor elements and still lead to several variations depending on what the submitter's felt was important. Aside from a few flaws in the OP that are from more outdated processes, I forsee that method for doing movepools lasting in perpetuity. I look forward to seeing how our contributors apply it to the next project, now that they've had some experience with it. This is almost as monumental a shift if CAP Policy as the strong TL model, and I think the process is much better for it.
Playtesting will be coming up soon, and I'm sure you're all eager to start using Voodoom and see if it and Togekiss operate well in tandem. I've got a few set ideas in mind already, but I'll leave it to the battling experts to do the heavy lifting. My advice for any future TL's is that RAGE is to be avoided unless absolutely neccesary. The TL is supposed to have a strong and clear vision and occasionally excercise stubbornness over process elements. Their mind should still be open and they should have faith that the community can band together and make it work, no matter how many misteps are racking up in your head. Don't be paralyzed by frustration, keep your mind agile and think of new ways to work around "mistakes." You will rarely be dissapointed if you view each stumble as an opporunity instead of a defeat.
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All my rambling aside, here is the final product:
DougJustDoug said:
DougJustDoug said:Name: Perfect Mate
General Description: Pick a good-but-not-great OU pokemon, and design the perfect teammate for it, similar to the way Celebi & Heatran, or Blissey & Skarmory complement each other so well on competitive teams.
Justification:
This would allow us to explore in detail how synergy between two pokemon can be achieved, because currently there are only a few perfect teammates in OU. And depending on the base pokemon we choose to give a "perfect mate", we can open a new niche in the metagame based around the efficient pairing.
The niche we create will be inherently tied to an existing pokemon in the metagame, which should provide a natural limitation to prevent this concept from being broken or "too different" from standard OU.
Questions To Be Answered:
- Is the base pokemon's usefulness (and usage) in the metagame increased as a result of having a "perfect mate"?
- What strategies are more effective for the base pokemon, as a result of having a perfect teammate?
- What are the most effective aspects of the new pokemon, for purposes of making a great teammate with the base pokemon?
- Is the new pokemon viable in the metagame without the base pokemon as a teammate
Typing: Fighting / Dark
Stat Spread: 90 HP / 85 Atk / 80 Def / 105 SpA / 80 SpD / 110 Spe
Abilities: Volt Absorb / Lightningrod
Name: Voodoom
Movepool:
Code:[B]Total Moves:[/B] 74 [B]Total VGM:[/B] 35 [B]Level Up[/B] H Wrap H Revenge H Night Slash* --- Astonish --- Copycat --- Pain Split* --- Spite 7 Pain Split* (repeat) 11 Spite (repeat) 15 Grudge 19 Charge 20 Follow Me 25 Pin Missile 30 Faint Attack 35 Close Combat* 40 Acupressure 45 Aura Sphere* 50 Substitute* 55 Beat Up [B]Egg Moves:[/B] (Egg Groups: Humanshape / Ground) Perish Song* Smellingsalt Screech Pursuit* Memento* Imprison Mach Punch* Baton Pass* [B]TMs/HMs[/B] TM 01 – Focus Punch* TM 06 – Toxic* TM 08 – Bulk Up* TM 10 – Hidden Power* TM 11 – Sunny Day TM 12 – Taunt* TM 15 – Hyper Beam* (ugh) TM 17 – Protect* TM 21 – Frustration* TM 26 - Earthquake* TM 27 – Return* (repeat) TM 29 – Psychic* TM 31 – Brick Break* TM 34 – Shock Wave TM 41 - Torment TM 42 – Façade* TM 43 – Secret Power TM 44 – Rest* TM 45 – Attract TM 46 – Thief TM 49 – Snatch TM 52 – Focus Blast* TM 56 – Fling TM 58 – Endure TM 60 – Drain Punch TM 66 – Payback* TM 68 – Giga Impact TM 73 – Thunder Wave* TM 75 - Stone Edge* TM 78 – Captivate TM 79 – Dark Pulse* TM 80 – Rock Slide* TM 82 – Sleep Talk* TM 83 – Natural Gift TM 85 – Dream Eater TM 87 – Swagger TM 90 – Substitute* (repeat) HM 04 – Strength HM 06 – Rock Smash [B]Move Tutor:[/B] Ice Punch* Counter* Metronome Mud Slap Mimic Uproar Snore Vacuum Wave* Pain Split* Spite Nightmare Magic Coat* Low Kick* Knock Off*
Pokemon Stage: Stage 1 (Evolves from Voodoll)
Dex:FlareBlitz said:"VOODOOM has stuck a pin in its heart to make sure it never feels anything but pain again. It is said that its true potential is only unlocked when it feels loved enough to take the pin out."
This is a rough approximation of DougJustDoug's height, as he is the inspiring artist (and Concept Contributor). Voodoom also has the build of a fairly tall Pokemon, and this puts it at a little more than Blaziken height. I'm also doing a little play on "The Beast's Number." Also, Voodoom curses the metric system.
Weight: 166.6 lbs.
Competitively, this makes Grass Knot/Low Kick 80 Base Power on Voodoom. Otherwise it's a believeable Height/Weight ratio for a Fighting type with a decent level of both bulk and speed. And again, a play on "The Beast's Number." Dark flavored CAP, mmmmm.