By Experience or By Information?

Something that is a key point of this blog is that it is quite experiential, in that much of it is based on experience rather than previous information (materials). This is in contrast to other sites that post articles that are more often based on that information rather than experience, although that is more by necessity than by choice. Yet both seem to have their merits, especially when it comes to dealing with all the things related to Pokémon. As such, I've opted to discuss the approaches while framing them with what goes on in Pokémon affairs.

I was prompted to write this post by the dealings of a very special friend of mine (whom I've already mentioned in the nether reaches of this blog). As predicted, that friend also deals with articles on a web site, and one of them involves the recently rolled-out Routes feature in Pokémon Go. The only difference with my take on the feature - besides date of posting, for which the aforementioned article was published way earlier than my post - is that the article was made with the other approach, purely based on the information given by Niantic, whereas mine was written mostly based on experience with only slight supplementation.

Fundamentally, there is nothing wrong with either approach, as with any approach in general. I can write great posts my way, and the other approach can be used to write great articles as well. What can (and does) go wrong is if one allows mistakes to creep in, whether by including dubious sources or by mixing up certain things. I'm not one to say that I've been free of mistakes in this regard, as I've already stated at the beginning - and if so, I try to fix them wherever I spot them or whenever I am alerted to them - but as with certain ailments, prevention is better than the cure. Yet that can be a little hard to come by at times.

As a matter of fact, I would dare say that both approaches are not only necessary but also complementary. Case in point: Niantic does say many details (or not) about planned things - Community Day, as a very popular example - but the realization of those details may be very different, as in what happened with Squirtle Field Research tasks on its Classic edition. As such, I may be considered to do what Niantic doesn't - and so does that article related to my very special friend to a certain capacity. With all the things that Pokémon has going on, this has to become rather appreciable for many Pokémon fans who need information.

The takeaway from the above is that informative articles spun off of existing materials are useful and necessary, but so are experiential articles taken from actual happenings. Thus, the question I posed in the title of this post seems a bit superfluous as it suggests one or the other is good, when both are in fact just as good. Pokémon will continue to bring much information and lead to many experiences, and that should speak well for the necessity of both approaches when posts or articles have to be written about them.

One year ago: The Importance of Training in Café Remix

Two years ago: Realized Personal Social Media Experiments with Pokémon

Three years ago: Let's Talk About Events, Conventions, and Beyond

Four years ago: A Tale of Two (OK?) Performances

Five years ago: Ode to Magikarp

Six years ago: Snorlax's Awakening