Hello Pokemon Perfect community.
As many of you are aware there’s an ongoing, divisive issue pertaining to the move Counter and other moves that potentially de-sync the battle in Gen 1. In recent weeks this has been a heavily debated topic within the inner RBY community, on Smogon and elsewhere and it is clear to me that even among top RBYers there is not a clear consensus as to how this situation should be handled.
Before going further I’d like to acknowledge that I, Callous, am completely self-aware that I am not the right guy to make a decision others are to follow on this matter. I just so happen to be the leader of Pokemon Perfect at the time of this incident but I am not a prominent RBY player nor am I an expert in coding or patching, which would be required as part of the solution in some scenarios.
I’m here today not because I have the solution for you all but rather because I firmly believe that proper leadership does not remain silent and leave people to fend for themselves during challenging times and proper leadership makes a point to communicate and be transparent with community members. Pokemon Perfect was founded as an RBY community. RBY is the heart, soul and foundation of what we’ve built here. I wholeheartedly respect and appreciate that. I myself grew up playing Red and Blue in grade school and I have very fond memories of doing so. I want to assure everyone if there are any doubts that while I do not play competitive RBY I do, sincerely, care about it and I have long-standing, excellent relationships with a number of top RBYers.
I also want to assure everyone that the staff of Pokemon Perfect- several of whom are strong, experienced, respected RBYers- have talked, and are continuing to talk, about the best course of action. At the time of this writing there is a Smogon vote on this topic coming in just over a week. I want to emphasize that what we do here on Pokemon Perfect is not bound by whatever the results of that Smogon vote end up being. We’ve already confirmed with our guy (Enigami) that it would be easy to implement a patch to “fix” Counter or, alternatively, to simply ban or unban it in its current form. Basically, we can do whatever the community wants us to do. The real issue here is figuring out exactly what that is.
Our staff agreed very quickly that we want to have our own vote here on Pokemon Perfect and we will honor whatever the results of that vote end up being. The tricky part, and what we’re still trying to iron out, is establishing exactly who can and cannot vote on this matter without just handpicking people and letting personal biases, conscious or subconscious, interfere with what should be a fair, neutral, objective process. Various potential parameters/qualifications are being discussed internally and it is our hope that we’ve come to an agreement as to what a fair system would be by the time the results of the Smogon vote come down. We think it is important to wait until after the Smogon vote has concluded before conducting our own vote because, inevitably, the results of their vote will influence some people who will be eligible to vote here.
So, right now, we wait, but I thought it was important to communicate with you guys and let you know that we’re aware of this situation, we care about this situation and we’re actively working towards contributing to a solution. At the end of the day Pokemon Perfect not only supports the competitive RBY community but in many ways Pokemon Perfect is the competitive RBY community and our staff will have your back with this one way or another, regardless of what Smogon ends up doing. So long as I’m in charge I assure you competitive RBYers will have a home here and we are very appreciative that you choose to continue to play here. We will do right by the community and implement a solution, one way or another, that satisfies our player base at large.
Thank you for continuing to play on Pokemon Perfect.
-CALLOUS
As many of you are aware there’s an ongoing, divisive issue pertaining to the move Counter and other moves that potentially de-sync the battle in Gen 1. In recent weeks this has been a heavily debated topic within the inner RBY community, on Smogon and elsewhere and it is clear to me that even among top RBYers there is not a clear consensus as to how this situation should be handled.
Before going further I’d like to acknowledge that I, Callous, am completely self-aware that I am not the right guy to make a decision others are to follow on this matter. I just so happen to be the leader of Pokemon Perfect at the time of this incident but I am not a prominent RBY player nor am I an expert in coding or patching, which would be required as part of the solution in some scenarios.
I’m here today not because I have the solution for you all but rather because I firmly believe that proper leadership does not remain silent and leave people to fend for themselves during challenging times and proper leadership makes a point to communicate and be transparent with community members. Pokemon Perfect was founded as an RBY community. RBY is the heart, soul and foundation of what we’ve built here. I wholeheartedly respect and appreciate that. I myself grew up playing Red and Blue in grade school and I have very fond memories of doing so. I want to assure everyone if there are any doubts that while I do not play competitive RBY I do, sincerely, care about it and I have long-standing, excellent relationships with a number of top RBYers.
I also want to assure everyone that the staff of Pokemon Perfect- several of whom are strong, experienced, respected RBYers- have talked, and are continuing to talk, about the best course of action. At the time of this writing there is a Smogon vote on this topic coming in just over a week. I want to emphasize that what we do here on Pokemon Perfect is not bound by whatever the results of that Smogon vote end up being. We’ve already confirmed with our guy (Enigami) that it would be easy to implement a patch to “fix” Counter or, alternatively, to simply ban or unban it in its current form. Basically, we can do whatever the community wants us to do. The real issue here is figuring out exactly what that is.
Our staff agreed very quickly that we want to have our own vote here on Pokemon Perfect and we will honor whatever the results of that vote end up being. The tricky part, and what we’re still trying to iron out, is establishing exactly who can and cannot vote on this matter without just handpicking people and letting personal biases, conscious or subconscious, interfere with what should be a fair, neutral, objective process. Various potential parameters/qualifications are being discussed internally and it is our hope that we’ve come to an agreement as to what a fair system would be by the time the results of the Smogon vote come down. We think it is important to wait until after the Smogon vote has concluded before conducting our own vote because, inevitably, the results of their vote will influence some people who will be eligible to vote here.
So, right now, we wait, but I thought it was important to communicate with you guys and let you know that we’re aware of this situation, we care about this situation and we’re actively working towards contributing to a solution. At the end of the day Pokemon Perfect not only supports the competitive RBY community but in many ways Pokemon Perfect is the competitive RBY community and our staff will have your back with this one way or another, regardless of what Smogon ends up doing. So long as I’m in charge I assure you competitive RBYers will have a home here and we are very appreciative that you choose to continue to play here. We will do right by the community and implement a solution, one way or another, that satisfies our player base at large.
Thank you for continuing to play on Pokemon Perfect.
-CALLOUS