Social Swamp's Social Thread 3 - And now, the end is near, and so I face the final curtain...

[Deleted member]

I don't really miss the Ice Climbers much, but for those who do, they're being added to Super Mario Maker.

 

[Chrono.]

Now a side note:

In sun and moon the rival shown is not the main one.

He has the starter weak to yours. Which means there is another rival who takes the other one that's strong against yours. I think they come into play later though as there seems to be no sign of them.

Oh thank God.

I was dreading having another friendly rival.

 

[DoodleDuck97]

I don't really miss the Ice Climbers much, but for those who do, they're being added to Super Mario Maker.

Ma babies they're finally on the Wii U in a new game :')
I'll take it (Hopefully that NX port will happen and help them return)
It's great to see them back in the spotlight for a bit

EDIT: Woke up just to post this now

 

[Deleted member]

Whoa whoa easy there, Satan.

That minigame's the only reason I can do competitive Pokemon now.

You shouldn't be doing competitive
That's for *******, real men do Nuzlockes

Meganium?
Also, I don't see a problem with Delphox. It's just more that people were expecting Delphox to be more like Braixen, rather than go full mage. Also, the long coat looks unnatural compared to Greninja's and Chesnaught's add-on outfits.

Meganium is neither cute or cool lol

 

[ChikoLad]

I just got the first half of my braces today. They ain't fun.

 

[Z25]

Oh thank God.

I was dreading having another friendly rival.

I mean, he could still be cool. I'm also naming him maku because it fits well imo.

I'd want to see a game where the friendly rival slowly gets to be more fierce/mean.

It be an surprising twist to say the least.

 

[Aetheri]

Interesting... I definitely think that, this is where N Stars will appear as well.


Now a side note:

In sun and moon the rival shown is not the main one.

He has the starter weak to yours. Which means there is another rival who takes the other one that's strong against yours. I think they come into play later though as there seems to be no sign of them.

The other rival is probably the other gender for the player character...
This fella is probably the Shauna for this game (not talking personality but role as a rival) whereas the other Gender would be the Serena/Calem...

I do hope we're not going to have another big group of rivals like we did last game...two rivals is fine...I'd definitely like to see another Blue or Silver character as a rival, one that you'd want to kick their ass...

 

[Z25]

The other rival is probably the other gender for the player character...
This fella is probably the Shauna for this game (not talking personality but role as a rival) whereas the other Gender would be the Serena/Calem...

I do hope we're not going to have another big group of rivals like we did last game...two rivals is fine...I'd definitely like to see another Blue or Silver character as a rival, one that you'd want to kick their ***...

Probably, I want some unique personalities on both, as well as a challenge when fighting them, I hope they bring back challenge mode for it.

 

[Fenriraga]

The Newcomers still aren't being shown outside of their advertised events... I'm worried.

But hey, Spagonia Soccer and Tropical Resort Volleyball are neat.I can't for the life of me identify the location in between the two though... I don't think it's based off anything.

 

[epicmartin7]

Huh, something I noticed.

In the unused files found on the Super Mario Maker game disc, it only listed Popo, not Nana. Kinda weird unless that turns out to be their internal name in the patch data.

Also...

Spoiler

Does the Ice Climbers costume also mean that this is a possibility now!?!

EDIT: In Japanese, it apparently says Popo and Nana. Nevermind then lol.

 

[Deleted member]

Out of the 3 startes that were shown, i can definetly say that Litten is my favorite design wise, with Rowlet beign a close second (sorry Popplio).

I also want to say that i really prefer the Sun Legendary. The Moon Legendary doesn't look appealing to me in all honesty.

Oh yeah and Disney Infinity seems to have kicked the bucket, i wasn't interesed in that series, but that kinda sucks for the fans.

.........I just wish they made Roy and Ryu costumes for Super Mario Maker already, is that too much to ask for?

 

[Z25]

So Kuiki is either married or has a mega ring

And People want the professors to be married to eachother which would definitely be a surprising move.

 

[Substitution]

The Newcomers still aren't being shown outside of their advertised events... I'm worried.

But hey, Spagonia Soccer and Tropical Resort Volleyball are neat.I can't for the life of me identify the location in between the two though... I don't think it's based off anything.

Not gonna lie... The more I see it, the more I'm worried this'll end up like Ultra Smash.
I pray not, but you never know.

 

[LegendOfZeldaNut]

I am so excited for Sun and Moon! I'm loving those starters, the game looks really good (visually) or at least as good as my eye can see, and my sister now owes me 10 bucks. We had a bet on what type of region it was. I picked Hawaii, she had a China inspired one. Whelp looks like I won. Here's to hoping I can save up enough to get it. My Genesis (bow) decided that the primary and secondary strings would break...that cost me an arm and a leg, not to mention a new target, new arrows (I HATE CRAPPY FLETCHING) and some bow hunting equipment. For those that care, I have actually shot down some pretty good kills. My best was a 200 pound deer. Yeah, we had to call for help to lug it home.

 

[Mario & Sonic Guy]

HORDE EV TRAINING IS BETTER! It gets the job done faster, isn't obnoxious for lefties, and Pokerus doubles it. Stupidly good

Horde battles do not work very well if the Pokemon you're training does not have an attack that hits multiple targets.

Super Training is overall, the better way to EV train, as you can acquire training bags that you can give to your Pokemon to increase their EV gain, especially upon defeating a Balloon Bot.

Of course, each Pokemon utilizes a certain shot type, which can influence how well the Pokemon can handle each bot.

Regardless, as your Pokemon gains more EVs, it becomes more capable of handling the higher levels. And when combined with the Double-Up training bag, you could earn as much as 24 EVs for a specific stat after defeating a level 3 Balloon Bot.

The Newcomers still aren't being shown outside of their advertised events... I'm worried.

But hey, Spagonia Soccer and Tropical Resort Volleyball are neat.I can't for the life of me identify the location in between the two though... I don't think it's based off anything.

It has already been confirmed that there will be event exclusive characters, and it appears that only the 20 characters who were playable in the last three games will be usable in every event.

 

[Mythra]

Horde Training is great with proper preparation + Le Shiny chance.

-Have a fully trained Pokémon with a move that his multiple targets.
-Exp. Share activated.
-Dude with Sweet Scent
-Pokérus and Macho Brace on the Pokémon you want to train.
-Horde Tiem

Super Training is for early game and to get Stones imo... and cool music of course

 

[Aetheri]

Horde battles do not work very well if the Pokemon you're training does not have an attack that hits multiple targets.

Super Training is overall, the better way to EV train, as you can acquire training bags that you can give to your Pokemon to increase their EV gain, especially upon defeating a Balloon Bot.

Of course, each Pokemon utilizes a certain shot type, which can influence how well the Pokemon can handle each bot.

Regardless, as your Pokemon gains more EVs, it becomes more capable of handling the higher levels. And when combined with the Double-Up training bag, you could earn as much as 24 EVs for a specific stat after defeating a level 3 Balloon Bot.



It has already been confirmed that there will be event exclusive characters, and it appears that only the 20 characters who were playable in the last three games will be usable in every event.

EV Training with Horde Battles 101

Lv. 100with Pickup (to get goodies while you train, Teddiursa may pick up leftovers at Lv. 100)
Sweet Scent (attracts hordes)
Earthquake (knock out all pokes)
Rock Slide (knock all floating pokes)
Brick Break (take out leftover pokes)

try to get Poke-rus on your pokemon...

give it the appropriate item that will boost whatever attribute you're training...

ALL of your party will receive an attribute boost if you have EXP Share on...as their EV's will increase when they recieve EXP (whether or not they were present in battle)

 

[Fenriraga]

Horde battles do not work very well if the Pokemon you're training does not have an attack that hits multiple targets.

Super Training is overall, the better way to EV train, as you can acquire training bags that you can give to your Pokemon to increase their EV gain, especially upon defeating a Balloon Bot.

Of course, each Pokemon utilizes a certain shot type, which can influence how well the Pokemon can handle each bot.

Regardless, as your Pokemon gains more EVs, it becomes more capable of handling the higher levels. And when combined with the Double-Up training bag, you could earn as much as 24 EVs for a specific stat after defeating a level 3 Balloon Bot.



It has already been confirmed that there will be event exclusive characters, and it appears that only the 20 characters who were playable in the last three games will be usable in every event.

Ugh that is so duuuumb. What an absolute waste.

 

[Mario & Sonic Guy]

In terms of figuring out your Pokemon's IVs though, Super Training is pretty much the only way to do it without leveling up your Pokemon.

 

[Z25]

Crazy theory, but what if Kuiki is the other rival in Sun and Moon?

Hala assigns him to learn more about the region and go on an adventure before he takes over.

He chooses the remaining starter and acts as a guide to the sights in the region?

Probably not going to happen, but it be pretty cool imo.

 

[LegendOfZeldaNut]

Y'all have completely lost me :D While I do use Super Training, I'm more of casual player, but do have the entire moveset, typing, and nature (I think that's what it's called) of all the gen 4, 5, and 6 Pokemon memorized.

 

[Aetheri]

Y'all have completely lost me :D While I do use Super Training, I'm more of casual player, but do have the entire moveset, typing, and nature (I think that's what it's called) of all the gen 4, 5, and 6 Pokemon memorized.

Natures vary from pokemon to pokemon and are not determined by species, though some natures benefit different species differently...do you perchance mean abilities?

unless you mean how natures effect certain stats (ex. Jolly increases Speed, but lowers Special Attack; while Timid increases Speed but Lowers Physical Attack, etc)

 

[LegendOfZeldaNut]

I meant how they affect stats, thanks for clearing that up. My sister doesn't quite get why I'm so meticulous with that kind of thing. She grabs her starter and runs off full steam ahead. I pick who I want, then if it's A. not shiny or B. has a nature I really don't like, I soft reset. I once soft rest 230 times because I was going to get that shiny Fennikin if it killed me. I'm a shiny hunter and I love it, it's so darn satisfing to chain fish for a while then FINALLY find that Pokémon! Now off to SR for a shiny Bulbasuar...I'm hopeful for about 30-40 attempts. I tend to have insane luck. I was trying to get a shiny Mewtwo in ORAS. I went in, and it was shiny. On my first attempt. I didn't even SR. I made such a loud shriek my mom thought I was seeing fireworks (a sign of me going blind)

 

[PsychoIncarnate]

Did you ever get a paranoid feeling that people you don't know are looking and acting strangely around you, like they know something you don't?

 

[Opossum]

So I mentioned that I was going to make a post about the whole Disney Infinity situation and because I'm passionate about things and love writing too much, it ended up being a three page Word document without double spacing. That being said, it's a long post, so I don't expect everyone to read it, but hey, I cared enough to write it at least.

Spoiler: Finite After All - A Disney Infinity Retrospective

The news of Disney Infinity's sudden cancellation struck today. Midway through the game's third iteration, this news broke and left the fanbase heartbroken. This announcement came just two months after Disney Infinity released its latest expansion, the Marvel Battlegrounds playset and related characters, and the standalone Baloo figure. It has been confirmed that the final characters to be produced will be Alice, Mad Hatter, and Time from Tim Burton's Through the Looking Glass, and a Finding Dory playset, which has Dory packaged with the playset. Nemo is also getting his own standalone figure compatible with the playset. After that, no more additional content will be produced for Disney Infinity. June is its expiration date.

While it was sudden and upsetting for me and the rest of the fans, I can only imagine how it feels to those who have worked on the game for so long, as they're now out of a job come June. Avalanche Software employs 300 people on its own, and that isn't factoring in other people who held positions on Disney Infinity's staff, such as the marketing team, the production managers, and the community managers. The two sort of figureheads for the game included John Vignocchi, the VP of Production under John Blackburn, and Allison Petrek, the Lead Community Manager. For fans of Disney Infinity, these two were like Reggie or Bill for the audience, with the weekly Toy Box TV episodes being almost like mini Nintendo Directs. Were they scripted commercials made to sell toys and a video game? Yes. But hey, we loved them. They established a sort of connection between the production crew and the fans.

And the team genuinely cared back. It wasn't just some act they put on; they legitimately loved what they did, and always were eager to do community events and other such things. This game was basically JV's baby, and he loved every second of the experience. And to make matters worse, Allison Petrek is pregnant with her first actual baby, and now she's going to be unemployed as well. I can't express how sorry I feel for everyone who's now out of a job. I do find solace, though, in what one ex-team member said. This was posted on disneyinfinityfans.com, a fan forum I frequent, by an ex-staff member.

First off let me say that Disney is treating us well. As with many layoffs we are getting severance pay, but they are going the extra mile to give us time to cope with changes. We'll be allowed time and access to our assets so that we can update our portfolios. They're also providing counseling for resume-building and job-hunting. While it may seem like we're being blind-sided, there is no kind or gradual way to tell a group that their job is going away. What Disney is doing is as close to that as possible though, and when I compare it to past layoff stories from my coworkers, I feel that this situation is rather kind.

So in all I'm glad that at least Disney's assisting them with the layoffs as opposed to leaving them on their own. Small victories, I suppose.

Beyond that though, from a consumer and production standpoint, this announcement came at the worst possible time: midway through the production of 3.0. The team had content planned until the end of 2016 for 3.0 before moving on to 4.0. They had just recently said they not only plan on continuing 3.0 through the aforementioned timespan, but also that there were additional playsets (one for Star Wars, which was assumed to be Rogue One, and one for Disney Animation, which was thought to be Moana), at least six more Disney characters given the empty slots in the Hall of Heroes, and more additional Marvel characters (at least one unannounced female character and Thanos, with Doctor Strange being likely as well).

Disappointingly for a lot of people, one figure that was announced will actually never be made now: Peter Pan, the winner of the Toy Box Artists' Choice contest last summer. He was supposed to enter production around now and be released in late August, but now that the game is ceasing production in June, he'll never be in Infinity.

Me personally? I'm lucky in the sense that most of the characters I really wanted are in the game already. And really, there were only six characters that I actively wanted to be added to the game, and among them, I at least wasn't as disappointed about them when I heard the end-of-production news. Those four had the chance of not happening. Quasimodo's more obscure than most of the roster and lacks a sort of relevancy needed to stand a good shot at being made. Dipper Pines? Gravity Falls ended, so they may not want to push the series with figures. Beast? There was always the chance of them doing the live-action version instead, which I wouldn't have wanted. Scarlet Witch? The complicated licensing issue with Fox may have stopped her from getting in anyway, like it did in Marvel Future Fight.

The ones I'm more upset about are the ones that I, and everyone else, saw as inevitable that now won't be coming to fruition. In addition to the confirmed-for-production-but-will-never-be-made Peter Pan, two other characters fell into this for me: Doctor Strange and Goofy. My collection will forever just feel...off now, due to this. They were just incredibly integral characters that were among my favorites, and it's telling that I'm actually more upset at not getting them than I am at not getting my actual favorite, Quasimodo. These two are the tragic victims of timing. Doctor Strange was a lock for release this fall when his film is set to come out. Goofy was a shoo-in for 4.0, given that the team added one of the big classic characters per version (Mickey in 1.0, Donald in 2.0, Minnie in 3.0), and had they been told earlier, I fully believe that Goofy, at the very least, would have entered last-minute production. He even had concept art in the game.

So, now that that's out of the way, what caused this? Now we're getting into my own view of the situation, based on what's been said and recent trends that have been seen. Disney Infinity is, in essence, a victim of its own success. According to a statement from Bob Iger, Disney Infinity started out as, more or less, an experiment. At the time, the concept of a toys-to-life game was virtually unheard of, and in general untested waters. The only other one on the market at the time was Skylanders. Their idea was a solid one: jump on the bandwagon and use the company's vast amount of IP to drive sales.

Disney Infinity's first iteration sold very well, and gave the team confidence to create a second version, 2.0. This time, they'd introduce Marvel's superheroes to the game as a big selling point, as well as fan-favorite Disney characters like Aladdin, Donald, and Stitch. However, the team over-anticipated the demand. They produced way too many starter packs and figures, leading to the 2.0 starter packs, marked at seventy dollars MSRP, selling for fifteen on a regular basis. Stores still have an overstock today. The suits start to get a bit worried. Needless to say, their ace in the hole was seen as Star Wars, the last major pillar yet to be explored. However...it just wasn't enough.

Many, myself included, attribute this entirely to market saturation. During 1.0, toys-to-life games were still a novel idea, and one that hadn't been attempted with pre-existing IP (minus Spyro and Cynder being in Skylanders, the rest were original characters). As such, Disney had a definitive niche. Then came amiibo and, later, Lego Dimensions, which took the concept of toys-to-life mixed with well-known IP even further. There were now four different toys-to-life brands on the market all competing for consumers' wallets and, importantly, shelf space. Many Disney Infinity figures had to be sold at clearance aisle-level prices due to the sheer amount of overstock.

Eventually, I guess, the problem just got too great. It just came at such a surprise, since Disney Infinity was actually the best-selling toys-to-life game in 2015. I always expected it to end eventually, but I thought they'd at least get to 4.0 or 5.0 before it happened. And really, the only thing I can attribute it to is market burnout. Disney Infinity got really expensive. At the end of this, there will be 104 figures in total, and that's not even getting to the Light FX Star Wars variants or the 1.0 crystal variants, or the power discs. Add in weekly mini-Direct equivalents and actually really high figure quality, and it had a massive production value. According to those who worked for the company on the game, this came as a huge surprise, since they recently had 4.0 budgeted as a priority for next year. To have it end so suddenly just blindsided a ton of people.

That being said, I don't regret a second of my time spent on playing the game. Hell, there are still a few things I plan on picking up for it, namely the Marvel Battlegrounds playset, and the Elsa and Stitch figures, in addition to some more Marvel figures to bolster the Battlegrounds roster. Plus, I'll likely pick up the Finding Dory playset as a final sendoff. As a huge fan of all things Disney, I loved the game. It was a loveletter to the company and its fans. And amusingly enough? It was the game that came the closest to recreating the joy of a Disney Park in video game form. It was the only game that made it possible to have Baloo throw Lew Zealand's Boomerang Fish at Captain America while riding on Bullseye and getting chased by Stormtroopers. And what's not to love about that?

Plus, I mean, the figures still make great little statuettes of the characters when not in play. And hey, 3.0's still going to exist, so I can still make and share things up until the servers shut down. At that point I can still make things in the game for my own enjoyment, just without sharing them.

So in essence, consider this my send off to Disney Infinity. It served as a fantastic game and creation tool, and man am I sad it's all going to be over come June. Take care, DI. You took us to Infinity, but now it's time to go Beyond.

Shout at to fellow Infiniteer @APC99. Still wondering how the results of your poll came out.

 

[Aetheri]

I meant how they affect stats, thanks for clearing that up. My sister doesn't quite get why I'm so meticulous with that kind of thing. She grabs her starter and runs off full steam ahead. I pick who I want, then if it's A. not shiny or B. has a nature I really don't like, I soft reset. I once soft rest 230 times because I was going to get that shiny Fennikin if it killed me. I'm a shiny hunter and I love it, it's so darn satisfing to chain fish for a while then FINALLY find that Pokémon! Now off to SR for a shiny Bulbasuar...I'm hopeful for about 30-40 attempts. I tend to have insane luck. I was trying to get a shiny Mewtwo in ORAS. I went in, and it was shiny. On my first attempt. I didn't even SR. I made such a loud shriek my mom thought I was seeing fireworks (a sign of me going blind)

On a regular playthrough I just go with it...no need to be stingy unless I'm going for competitive team building after the playthrough...

I haven't shiny hunted for starters by soft-resseting...though I did Masuda methad a shiny Froakie once....(never again)

 

[Mythra]

though I did Masuda methad a shiny Froakie once....(never again)

How many attempts it took?

 

[Aetheri]

How many attempts it took?

Lost count but probably close to 2,000...I ran out of room for all the little non-shiny froakies several times...even after releasing a bunch...

I'm surprised I even bothered to keep going after a few hundred...after finally hatching a shiny Froakie I was then disappointed that it didn't get Protean...it was then that I decided a different colour was no longer worth it...

 

[Verde Coeden Scalesworth]

Lost count but probably close to 2,000...I ran out of room for all the little non-shiny froakies several times...even after releasing a bunch...

I'm surprised I even bothered to keep going after a few hundred...

If they had Hidden Abilities, you could wonder trade them.

 

[Mythra]

Lost count but probably close to 2,000...I ran out of room for all the little non-shiny froakies several times...even after releasing a bunch...

I'm surprised I even bothered to keep going after a few hundred...

My worst record is 1,201 without Charm and 1,603 with Charm.
RNGesus can be a demon sometimes.

I want to hatch a Shiny Froakie to send it to Alola, but your story diminished my motivation to pull a Masuda again lol.

 

[Aetheri]

If they had Hidden Abilities, you could wonder trade them.

I did WonderTrade some, but that's still a lot of froakies to go through and it was faster to just release them anyway....

 

[Verde Coeden Scalesworth]

I did WonderTrade some, but that's still a lot of froakies to go through and it was faster to just release them anyway....

True, but you're at least helping others in the end.

Any with Torrent, well, I can understand releasing them. That's super common nowadays.

 

[Aetheri]

True, but you're at least helping others in the end.

Any with Torrent, well, I can understand releasing them. That's super common nowadays.

Truth be told even with Protean it's rather annoying getting a bunch of Froakies in Wondertrade...unless on the off chance I was doing a Wonderlocke...then I wouldn't mind as much receiving a Protean Froakie which I had plenty of Wondertrades with...

same is true for Honedge which due to Aegislash being a competitive beast as well as the entire line having really nice shiny forms they became very common on Wondertrade...

 

[Mythra]

I got so many Protean 3-5IV Frogs on WonderTrade that I even traded them again.

 

[Verde Coeden Scalesworth]

Truth be told even with Protean it's rather annoying getting a bunch of Froakies in Wondertrade...unless on the off chance I was doing a Wonderlocke...then I wouldn't mind as much receiving a Protean Froakie which I had plenty of Wondertrades with...

same is true for Honedge which due to Aegislash being a competitive beast as well as the entire line having really nice shiny forms they became very common on Wondertrade...

I find Honedge/Doublade more useful for catching Pokemon. Just give it False Swipe. But that's also true. The issue is getting a Dawn Stone is hard. :|

 

[PsychoIncarnate]

I find Honedge/Doublade more useful for catching Pokemon. Just give it False Swipe. But that's also true. The issue is getting a Dawn Stone is hard. :|

What about Scizor? He gets a boost from technician

I actually use Mega Scizor for catching

 

[Verde Coeden Scalesworth]

What about Scizor? He gets a boost from technician

I actually use Mega Scizor for catching

Honedge/Doublade are Ghost and Steel. This provides immunity to Poison alone. Likewise, they can escape from anything now, which is nice.

Also, to be fair, getting a Scizor isn't as easy without grinding in some way. Either through the Battle Facilities or using Thief on Magnetons. Plus, you need to trade with someone in general to get a Scizor. He's great, but less accessible overall.

 

[PsychoIncarnate]

Honedge/Doublade are Ghost and Steel. This provides immunity to Poison alone. Likewise, they can escape from anything now, which is nice.

Also, to be fair, getting a Scizor isn't as easy without grinding in some way. Either through the Battle Facilities or using Thief on Magnetons. Plus, you need to trade with someone in general to get a Scizor. He's great, but less accessible overall.

Scizor is ALSO immune to poison though. Although the escape from anything? Is that a ghost thing?

I just happen to have a mega scizor I bred to perfection! Except it's not shiny... I guess it's not for everyone though

 

[Verde Coeden Scalesworth]

Scizor is ALSO immune to poison though. Although the escape from anything? Is that a ghost thing?

I just happen to have a mega scizor I bred to perfection! Except it's not shiny... I guess it's not for everyone though

Yeah, it's a Ghost thing. A very nice change.

That said, Scizor is indeed awesome.

 

[Aetheri]

Scizor is ALSO immune to poison though. Although the escape from anything? Is that a ghost thing?

I just happen to have a mega scizor I bred to perfection! Except it's not shiny... I guess it's not for everyone though

Ghosts as of Gen 6 are able to escape from traps such as Mean Look, Arena trap and Fire Spin, yes...

Either way...at a high enough level any Pokemon with a high attack works well as a False Swiper, usually if the pokemon has access to sleep or paralysis moves then you should be good...I trained a Technician Smeargle with False Swipe, Spore, Soak, and Taunt (or Gastro Acid for Insomia pokes) for catching pokemon...