Spiritually Lost

I'd been intending to take care of a few Pokémon matters earlier today; however, a sudden happening put a complete stop to those efforts. In retrospect, it seems that it just wasn't meant to be, and I may be better off without it - at least for now. While that may be the case, missing out on it at the current moment has left me "spiritually lost" in a way, furthermore with some recent situations. Since the "MooMoo Milk has been spilled", I thought I'd take the topic and run with it to discuss it with Pokémon in tow.

A species family that may be emblematic of the current situation is that of Galarian Corsola. It's of the Ghost type, compared to its Water and Rock brethren, and its evolved form Cursola appears even more like a straggler. The point is still that the species (family) are seemingly apparent as "lost souls" in light of the original or firstly discovered form. It also does seem a bit coincidental that it fits my current situation, moreover as I'm dealing with them right now - thus, "lost" in more ways than one.

Now, for the efforts to deal with those matters involving Pokémon, I'm running into the conundrum that certain people associated with those matters have lost touch with what makes the matters so wonderful for people around them or the relations themselves with other people. As such, the state of being "spiritually lost" is a given, almost in the same way as the species mentioned above with the appearance as well as type. Finding those lost spirits will be the most difficult matter, perhaps for all.

This Pokémon blog seems not to be immune from the condition. It affects posts in two ways: delayed conception, where an idea languished for a long time before it got written (like the recent beta version post, which had been planned since mid-October last year), or shifted composition, which... is perhaps best not to be explained to readers for certain concerns. The condition may make some of the posts on this blog out of touch with certain spirits and therefore "lost" in due time - regrettably so.

Given the "spiritually lost" condition, I may be in need of healing, whether or not that would involve Pokémon. In that sense, the skipped over matter may have to remain skipped over for now, as disheartening as it may be without a real way of truly making up for it. But then, Pokémon is broad and especially now, so I can opt for something else related to it as the form of healing. To find what has been lost will surely not be an easy matter, but I still believe that Pokémon will still allow me to find (some of) the way.

One year ago: Pokémon Profile Frames and Video Backgrounds

Two years ago: Pokémon Go Community Day, 4/15/2023

Three years ago: Love Nature, Find Beauty

Four years ago: Great League, Remixed

Five years ago: On Pokémon and Computing

Six years ago: The Fullness of the Cup

Seven years ago: Cosplay: GAME - Games Animation Marketplace and Exhibition

Eight years ago: True Colors (...of a Logo)

Possibility of Pokédogs (+ Cats)?

Those who played the previous "era" of Nintendo consoles - that is, the Nintendo DS and its derivatives - will likely have recognized a series of virtual pet games called Nintendogs. These allow a player to become close with a furry friend of their choice (dogs, of course - cats came later on), taking care of them and doing things with them. That sounds suspiciously like something that one could do - or in fact also does - with Pokémon, of which some are known to be like dogs. Therefore, some have proposed that a spinoff could be made for Pokémon, in which case it could be called "Pokédogs" as in the title of this post. Naturally, I'm inclined to talk about it and flesh out the idea further.

Now, I haven't played the game proper, but according to its descriptions, the pet care element is there along with the activity element. Adapting these to a blend of real-life and Pokémon influences would be the key factor for this game; the pet care element would have to be as robust as the original game while incorporating some Pokémon twists, and the activity element doesn't have to be too realistic but still sensible for a real pet as well as a Pokémon pet. The results would seem to indicate a mixture of pet simulation and the PokéPark games, but that should be satisfactory for fans of both.

Even so, there are still a few other considerations. One of them is that "pet care" had already been implemented in different forms in the main series games, and an implementation for the purpose of "Pokédogs" may want to differentiate itself in comparison to that. It also goes without saying that the activity implementation might as well want or need to differentiate itself from something like PokéPark as the example game mentioned above. Long story short, Pokémon has already had shares of both elements in other games, and besides conforming with Nintendogs, differing becomes another related matter.

Implementing Nintendogs for Pokémon might still not be a ridiculous idea, however, since there are people on both involved sides who are familiar with both realms, and one of them might be a certain "steering" and "nearing" person. They'll have to make sense of the demand for it as put forth by the same people I mentioned above - perhaps including me - and may consider it a developmental possibility. Whether that would play out in due time is another matter entirely, though not a constrained one.

Having been around for almost three decades now, many Pokémon species have been found to resemble the familiar furry friends people also keep as pets rather than put into combat as some of the games would have people believe. Putting Nintendo's own virtual pet games to the task of caring and having fun with these Pokémon species seems like a natural choice and a plausible one - at least once all the hurdles have been overcome. That might just be an instance of "barking up the right tree".

One year ago: The Slowest Pokémon Day

Two years ago: Rising Heroes in the GBL, First Half

Three years ago: Keeping a Balance for the World Championships

Four years ago: Whence I Am, Whence We Are

Five years ago: Levels and Half-Levels in Pokémon Go

Six years ago: Cosplay: INOCHI 2019 - Sengoku Jidai

Seven years ago: Shiny Here, Shiny There

Eight years ago: Friendly Plays

Looking Back at Cycling Roads

The discussion about the beta version for the third-generation games also prompts me to think about a particular section unique to those games: the specifically-designated Cycling Road. Then, it also prompts thinking about similar places in other regions, whether or not they were specially designated as such. The special designation for the places certainly comes from when bicycles were a specific mode of travel between places in the main series games, one that would be fast but not as fast as just flying to places directly.

For the implementation in that region, a notable "racing" aspect was involved, in that if one traveled in a certain direction and used a specific bicycle, one would be timed for the duration one took to progress on that specific path. The "racing" aspect may or may not have appealed to some, but it might have been nice to make a mark on the aspect every so often. Regardless, the special Cycling Road was still a neat "expressway" of sorts for those who did travel using a bicycle, particularly to cut down on travel time.

Meanwhile, the first region's designated Cycling Road had a hilly aspect to it that really only facilitated speedy travel in one direction and not the other, as well as no external aspect like the above. In a way, only the "adventure" aspect was really there, and this would apply well to other places that aren't specifically designated as a Cycling Road but one could go through with a bicycle comfortably and at a certain clip. That may be just all that matters in the games as their primary focus is more on catching and battling.

Bicycles may now be considered as a "legacy" form of transport (in a way) in the games, but their influence still persists, including in the places that are specially designated as a "Cycling Road" and others that resemble them and allow for comfortable transport with bicycles as implemented in the games. In looking back at these places, a certain adventure was still to be had with them, even as an auxiliary one to the main Pokémon adventure of the games, and one with a certain speed to it.

One year ago: More on Outfit Grades in Café Remix

Two years ago: The Minuscule and Enormous Qualities of Pokémon Species

Three years ago: The Type Icons, A New Standard

Four years ago: Differing Amounts of Pokémon Knowledge

Five years ago: Pokémon Helmet Covers?

Six years ago: Pokémon Go Community Day, 4/13/2019

Seven years ago: Go at Home

Eight years ago: Paint It, Picross

Before Ruby and Sapphire

Almost all games of today go through a beta version of some sort, and Pokémon ones are no exception. Many years ago, I detailed the one for the second-generation games, which at that point had just come to light. The same has recently occurred for the games of the third generation some time ago, which becomes another prompt for a discussion here on this blog. It also makes this discussion somewhat late, but it's still got to be done to point out the interesting particulars of that beta version.

Like the previous one, some of the Pokémon species were pretty close to what was then finally had, but others looked very different. A notable one was an early form of what would become Blaziken, which looked more like a hawk and related to a different Pokémon. These and others in the beta were eventually retooled to the modern species families and evolution lines, as did their appearances. Of course, there were still many others that didn't make the cut - a good number - while only a few might be recognizable as similar to later Pokémon.

Meanwhile, the overworld maps had both major and drastic as well as minor and incremental changes. The latter was mostly conserved to cities and towns as well as some land routes, while the former occurred for a number of land routes and many of the sea routes. These sea routes in particular went from mostly barren to becoming more richly structured as seen in the final games. Notably, a few maps would only later on be developed for significant events like the encounters with the Titan Pokémon - also a late development.

Some miscellaneous tidbits are also pertinent. The early monikers for the versions appeared to have been "Vermilion" and "Indigo", which might have been an interesting twist. Wally, the sickly character, was also planned to have a more prominent role as a Gym Leader, albeit an up-and-coming one. Secret Bases had also been planned to be accessed differently with tools instead of the Secret Power move. Since quite a bit of the revelation was also recent, some of it also still needs to be dug through and examined even now.

Very much like the beta version for the earlier generation, a lot of things needed to be polished in the beta version for this one before they could appear fleshed out in the final version, something radically different from that. Yet much of the commonalities seem to suggest that development of the games were becoming quite standardized, in method and viewpoints. But then, that seems to be the point of most beta developments, and Pokémon going through that is only a (fine) matter of refinement.

One year ago: Making Road Runs with Pokémon

Two years ago: SA Factions: My First Four Weeks

Three years ago: How Many Pokémon for Each Role?

Four years ago: Pikachu and Bulbasaur Donuts

Five years ago: I Believe, in Love

Six years ago: (Wet and Wild) Local EX Raid, 4/12/2019

Seven years ago: Wallpaper: Pokémon 20th Anniversary

Eight years ago: Pokémon Couriers?

Themed Collections (and Secret Ones) in TCGP

As a wrap-up for the current run of discussions related to the TCGP game, I want to bring up something that's not exactly new in the game - it's been there since the get-go - but some aspects of it may be new to some, including me, making it worthwhile to be discussed. Part of the TCG experience, whether it's an electronic implementation like this or the physical one, is the effort of collecting the cards. To amp up the fun in doing so, the TCGP implementation includes a feature called Themed Collections, which has obvious and not-so-obvious aspects that contribute to that fun effort.

Themed Collections are accessed through the Missions section in a separate area... because that's what they are. The missions involve collecting certain cards from the expansions through all the usual ways, and some may even involve collecting multiple copies of specific cards. As each mission is cleared, rewards are also given; these are mostly tokens to be exchanged for emblems, but some are also Hourglasses for opening packs and making Wonder Picks, as well as profile picture icons. Pursuing the collection of certain cards for these missions may be a useful and pleasant diversion from other usual tasks in the game.

Fun also comes from an added twist in the form of Secret missions. These are hidden missions that are only revealed when the objectives (cards to collect) for them have been completed, thereby also when the missions are completed. As a result, one will need to discover them by oneself, or else by information (discreet and blatant) from those who have completed them. For example, I can give the hint that one of the Secret missions for the latest expansion requires one to collect many cards that feature a certain coin collector. Its reward is only prestigious, but it may be a nice diversion as noted.

With that, the "new" aspect would be the Secret missions, as it's likely that most players will only encounter them by happenstance, whether by unexpectedly completing them on their own or finding out about them from other players and/or friends - confer the hint above. Yet as the feature has been present since the very first expansion and continued to be present with the latest expansion, it can be expected that new expansions in the future will have their own set of missions for Themed Collections, which will preserve the feature while bringing newness and continuity with those new expansions.

It seems apparent that some new things might be in the eyes of the beholder, and the feature of Themed Collections in TCGP could be construed to demonstrate that. That would be especially the case as new expansions populate it with more card collection missions, including Secret ones that players might encounter and consider as "new" achievements. At the least, the missions that accompany the search and collection of new cards in expansions keep lending the processes a sense of newness, affirming them as a key part of the TCG experience even in this "new" form.

One year ago: Leafeon Apple Shampoo for My Needs

Two years ago: Cosplay: Pokémon Exhibition and TCG Regionals

Three years ago: Mega Evolution Fates, Again

Four years ago: Pokémon Go Community Day, 4/11/2021

Five years ago: Three Simple Rules for a Great Adventure

Six years ago: The Songs of the Detective Pikachu Trailers

Seven years ago: O Charizard

Eight years ago: Romanticism of Tall Grasses

Ranked Matches in TCGP

Modern Pokémon games have to have ways of evaluating how one fares against others in battle, which in some games would be in the form of rankings awarded through the results of successive battles. Evidently, the latest game to receive that treatment would be TCGP; an update some time ago finally added the feature for players to peruse and see how far they can get. That feature now demands to be explored to a certain capacity, even by me, who hasn't fully taken advantage of it, though just enough to understand it.

In general, though, its system is rather straightforward no matter where players might be on it. There are five rank "tiers" (Beginner, followed by the four classic capture balls from PB to Master Ball), and all of these have four levels each, with Master Ball having an extra level for players outside its top ranking, as its levels are based on player rating that is exposed at that point. The rest of the levels are based on points earned - and sometimes lost - as players go through battles while holding the ranks of these lower levels.

For that, things begin leniently at the lower levels and tiers up until one gets into the Great Ball tier, but then they get fierce and even levels and tiers may be lost if one doesn't perform well - certainly with lost battles. The key, as with ranking systems in other games, including Pokémon ones, is to win a lot of matches and preferably consecutively, as one will get more points that way in order to be able to rank up faster. Of course, this will always be the challenge, as other players will be apt to do the same, creating some snags.

As well, it should be noted that there have been other implementations of evaluating player skills in TCGP, in the form of emblems earned for winning as many matches as possible and/or doing so for consecutive matches. While these may not be associated with true ranked play as the above, the virtual "rank" is an achievement in itself - and one that may be easier to obtain in comparison. It seems that these might just continue, though they might be "deemphasized" in favor of the ranked play system now in place. 

With ranked play and the associated matches now implemented in TCGP, there is now a distinctly regular, persistent, and standardized way of evaluating player skills against those of others. The tiers and levels might be comparatively few in light of similar systems across other modern Pokémon games, but the challenge seems to be just as great - which is always the point of ranked play. And it'll have to be a challenge TCGP card players can stand up to in order to see themselves against others.

One year ago: A Song in My Heart, The Air That I Breathe

Two years ago: Tournament: SWEEP JR vs. Kingsman (SA Factions)

Three years ago: Pokémon Go Community Day Classic, 4/10/2022

Four years ago: Harkening Back to "Versus Guides"

Five years ago: Let's Get Going Today

Six years ago: Expecting the Detective

Seven years ago: Bandai Pokémon Sun & Moon Pokémon Lover Mascot 6 - Wobbuffet

Eight years ago: Evolution Revolutions?

Sneak Peeking into TCGP Wonder Picks

Next on the TCGP new affairs list is one that deals with the random selection process of Wonder Pick. Normally, it's a completely luck-based action, but through a recently started event, the luck factor has been decreased by a bit. That is accomplished through the feature or mechanism of "Sneak Peek", which by its name is a rather obvious indication: it allows one to take a look before making a pick. Yet it's not as simple as that, and the rest of the particulars make for and deserve a good bit of discussion.

The feature or mechanism itself is still pretty simple. When one commits to a Wonder Pick, the cards are taken and shuffled upside-down in preparation for it as usual. At that point, the feature can then become active; when active, the player is asked to pick one (and only one) card, and that card is temporarily exposed for the player to see. After a time, the card is hidden again and the Wonder Pick proceeds as normal. It is also worth noting that the reveal of other unpicked cards now occurs before the pick is revealed instead of after as it was initially, and the change may be for a dramatic effect for this and Wonder Pick in general.

A Sneak Peek changes things quite a bit. If a Wonder Pick has a targeted card - and I'm sure most players do have such a card in mind - one can stand to obtain that card directly if it becomes the peeked card, or from a one in four chance otherwise. Regardless, there is nothing to stop players from choosing or not choosing the peeked card or any other card, but the peeked card will surely have a bearing on the decision. Then, there are the possible Monty Hall-esque conundrums, but that's typical of certain gacha situations like these.

Some caveats are also abound. Even during the current event, not all Wonder Picks may allow for a Sneak Peek; chance will dictate whether or not one will have a Sneak Peek for a certain Wonder Peek or it will be just a normal one. And as I've said, it is an event... so the opportunity for Wonder Picks with Sneak Peeks will be a limited one for now up until the current event ends and Wonder Pick will become normal again. Given the flexibility and openness that Sneak Peeks allow for Wonder Picks, it is likely that the event will be repeated in the future, and perhaps many players (like me) will share these sentiments.

For a game with lots of random selection or gacha elements, the Sneak Peak feature or mechanism at the least offers a respite - even if only for limited periods of time - for Wonder Pick as one of those random selection elements. Though not completely foolproof in regard to setting aside luck, it might still be or already have been helpful in some ways, and thus the feature is especially deserving and welcome. There will still be quite a dependence on luck for Wonder Picks, which are now made seemingly more wondrous thanks to the feature.

One year ago: All Gym Leaders' Meetings?

Two years ago: Remote Raids: The Saga Continues

Three years ago: Quickies: Making Friends with Mud Skippers

Four years ago: The Sound of Instant Gratification

Five years ago: Pokémon Upbringings

Six years ago: Benefits

Seven years ago: Ex-Raids and Cancellations

Eight years ago: The (Current) Fate of the Megas