Serious Newbie here -- still unsure...

[Morsel]

Hi everyone,

I recently got interested in Pokemon after having not played in years. I've been having a blast replaying soke childhood favourites like platinum, as well as dabbling with fan games such as Pokemon Insurgence. I have also recently taken interest in competitive battling, which has led me here.

I have heard many opinions of Smogon -- both good and bad. For starters, I am very impressed with the layout and level of quality of both the forums and showdown website. I can clearly see that a lot of work has been put in both. In contrast, I've heard that the Smogon community is 'toxic', elitist and cruel on 'bad' players. However, rumors are just that -- rumors. As well, every community has their fair share of wankers. I decided to the community a shot, so I entered the "OU discussion" chat and joined in a discussion on stealth rocks. And then this happened...

I politely introduced myself and stated that it would be a good idea if it was nerfed. I was then called a retard (among other more offensive personal attacks) by multiple members of the chat, was ridiculed for having a bad 'GXE' (recently discovered what that is), and was told that because I had a bad ladder rating, my opinion was crap. Not one member of that chat posted a valid counter argument -- I was flamed on for trying to start a discussion.

This is exactly what some people told me to expect from this community. While not exactly providing a good first impression, I don't want a bunch of a-holes to form my opinion of this community. I have played many online games and have interacted with many different communities (in fact, i am a recognized community contributor for world of tanks) I am on the fence in terms of my opinion, so what do you all have to say to change it? Thanks for reading.

 

[Rugi]

Smogon is just like any other competitive community. The loud, annoying and offensive will always show up the most because well, they want to be seen. Smogon is honestly the only place online were you can play competitive Pokemon that doesn't suck or isn't overly focused on VGC. Gamefreak does a horrible job at balancing 6v6 and a place like this is necessary for proper competitive Pokemon. Unfortuantley the downside of a community and a meta that sets its own rules is that a lot of people get really REALLY vocal about things. I would reccomend you stick around though. Even if discussing competitive Pokemon isn't your thing and you just end up the casual player who messes around on side accounts on PS! (like me) this website genuinely has got a really good community. Since I don't talk on PS, don't try to ladder anymore and I have no formal staff position I think I'm the best person to say that this websites community is the only thing that has kept me attached to it.

Besides the good thing about having a chat full of idiots is that its a great place to go panning for gold

 

[billymills]

tbh you've summed us up pretty well.

But do you want in?

 

[Gabe]

Sorry you had to experience that. Smogon has improved a lot over the years, I hated the elitist users too when I joined but a lot of them are gone. You should know that different sub forums have their own regular users and you should try them out, maybe you'll find friends. Keep in mind that just like any forum on the internet there are immature users so don't pay too much attention to them. Just lurk more and get an idea man.

 

[Shadow_Sneak]

I suggest you stick around and look what PS has to offer, I would advise staying away from the OU or Lobby room because to be quite honest their cancerous and we have a lot of our community who are cancerous, elitist, etc. (This is from my experience do what you want). I guess I can point you in a couple of directions to get you started and maybe you can find what tier you like or maybe you will just stay casual which is fine two.

If you wanna get started in any of this gens tiers or even the other meta games made by people on the site I suggest going here: http://www.smogon.com/forums/forums/competitive-discussion.249/ as these are thew main forums for each tier. Although I would advise that your read the rules of every forum before posting in there (should be pinned near the top) so your thread won't get locked by the staff of the forums. Also if you want to ask a question you can get an answer in the tier's respective thread. (here is OU's for example: http://www.smogon.com/forums/thread...the-op-first-now-with-100-more-rules.3542207/)

Now if you wanna get into old gens go to the ruins of alph and there are resources there that you can use, albeit that some of these resources are dated.

If you wanna get into competitive tournaments go here (http://www.smogon.com/forums/forums/tournaments.34/) as this is where all of smogons tournaments are hosted.

If you want some help with your team we have a forum dedicated to that too. Our raters will usually help you with your teams and stuff but before posting there please read the rules so your thread won't get locked by the staff (http://www.smogon.com/forums/threads/rmt-rules-resources-required-reading.3534875/) (http://www.smogon.com/forums/forums/rate-my-team.52/) Post your team in the appropriate place too if you can.

Battling 101 is great if you want to start learning more about mons but the new round started pretty recently so you will have to wait but be sure to watch the schedule. (http://www.smogon.com/forums/threads/2016-battling-101-schedule.3558834/) Basically what happens here is if you get within the signups the staff will pair you with a tutor and you will be their tutee and they will teach you the tier that you want to learn based on their knowledge.

Looks like you have found the social side of things already.

Hopefully, you will stay and enjoy what smogon has to offer. If I posted something you already know well then sorry about it. If you have any questions you can PM me or one of smogon's various staff memeber about a certain this relevant to the site. Good Luck!

 

[Morsel]

tbh you've summed us up pretty well.

But do you want in?

Yea you guys are hilarious

 

[Kink]

Here's the simplest way I can explain this.

Smogon is a place where asking the right questions and being critical of discussions will take you extremely far in almost every aspect of the site, including your basic integration. If you ever have questions or opinions that counter the norm, it's probably best to ask individuals as opposed to attempting to convince a whole chat that a staple entry hazard shouldn't be used.

Believe it or not, politics is a thing here; the way one formulates their opinions and outlooks is heavily scrutinized on this site. If you want an in depth conversation, send me a pm and I'd be happy to go over Stealth Rock in OU with you. But I hope you see what I was trying to say. It's ok to be critical, but you're dealing with a critical and complex system of contributors who've taken tons and tons of time to address almost every concern imaginable... Remember that if you have a comment to make about Stealth Rock, you're definitely not the first. Approach it from that perspective, and I have no doubt your future experiences will be more positive.

Welcome to Smogon. UU is the best, so come join us n_n

 

[vonFiedler]

The thing is that every noob hates stealth rock and veterans get tired of that

The other thing is that every noob who hates stealth rock is absolutely right

 

[HelenTheHero]

Seeing as I don't even touch the competitive stuff (Tried, couldn't get beyond my Ferrothorn wall, didn't go back.) I like the community here for what I see. Lots of good people in OI where I lurk a lot. I'm still a pretty new user, but I've learned a lot from my time here. I hope you'll enjoy it here. As others have said, with every community the most annoying are the most outspoken. Get past those people and ignore them, the good people are there.

 

[GoodMorningEspeon]

I basically agree with most of the stuff being said here. I came here with high hopes of becoming better at competitive battling, only to realize that it was a lot deeper than I thought and overall decided that I wasn't cut out for it. I still decided to stick around since there's always stuff that's interesting to me and always something to take part in. The community is great, especially if you find an area where you can enjoy participating and just talking about something you're interested in. Shadow_Sneak covered most everything, but yeah good luck trying to find a place :)

 

[Cresselia~~]

I kind of play VGC, and I think Smogon is more active than Nugget Bridge.
I also slightly prefer Smogon's layout compared to Nugget Bridge.
Anyway, I come to Smogon mainly to discuss random Pokemon stuff in Orange Islands forum. Most of my friends are there.

 

[Samoyed]

Sorry for the cold welcome, but like said above, OU and Lobby (and tourney sometimes) are somewhat cancerous. I recommend trying to get into one of the smaller communities with less people (like CAP, that's where I started.) Get into a good small community and build from there, don't throw yourself headfirst in to the maelstrom, ease your way into the breeze.

 

[Morsel]

The thing is that every noob hates stealth rock and veterans get tired of that

The other thing is that every noob who hates stealth rock is absolutely right

So are you saying that it's right to hate stealth rocks? I'm confused by the last part of your sentence.

 

[Ampharos]

Believe it or not, politics is a thing here

ladies and gentlemen, the understatement of the century

 

[Kink]

ladies and gentlemen, the understatement of the century

your century must've been pretty dull :(

 

[billymills]

understatement of the century

 

[gvmgvm40]

 

[bjoernboombastic]

I am a pretty new Player too. I am playing Showdown actively since autum but tried it out pretty much when fith gen started and played PO for some months before. I signed up in this forum a month ago since I plan to join the Battling 101 school in round 107.
I don't even change my avatar on this forum since I am somewhat unsure about the copyright issue.^^

The point of politics and how you say something is what I experienced too.
To be honest I had no problem with it and just accepted it. It was my choice to join this community so I try to learn by viewing and playing. At first I didn't talk so much since I don't want to sound like a noob. I am watching Smogon Tour on smogtours since in my opinion I am not skilled enough (lurking on the OU ladder around 1500) to try it out myself but I want to join tourneys at some point so I want to know the common attitude.

I think this "I don't want to sound like a noob-attitude" is a good way to start. I once learned there is a huge difference between an Newbie and a Noob. Everyone is a newbie at some point but a special behaviour is what makes someone a Noob. And without offense I think question a such integrated element of the game as hazards is such a behaviour. Yeah you could think about what a meta without hazards would be and look at every perspective of it but argue about an accepted part of the game without a lot of experience is a bit tricky. To give a maybe shaky comparison: I don't start playing chess and suggest new mechanics for a certain figure.

Yeah but that's only my opinion about it to maintain a cautionary attitude.

When I only want to chat about something I use the German room since that's my mother tongue or if it is game related I use the Competitive tutoring room to show I am a very new player.

Yeah that's my first post outside of any introduction-oriented thread in this forum.

 

[newtonja]

Yeah, don't worry really. Having a bad start isn't that big of a deal (trust me, I know). But don't take anything the chat says seriously, that chat is basically twitch chat 2.0. I think you will find the community on the forums a lot more agreeable and nice. I've been part of this community for a while I had a pretty rocky start with a controversial cong thread, I learned from that and stuck with the community. Honestly this community has really grown on me. Despite not playing competitively anymore I find myself coming back to these forums for some reason or other. I would just say, welcome and have a nice day:)

 

[Morsel]

Hi all, I've made attemps to not say noob things and my reputation has improved and things have been much better. I definitely will be sticking around -- this is a great community. One thing I've learned about being here, however, is that you need a sense of humour LOL.

 

[newtonja]

One thing I've learned about being here, however, is that you need a sense of humour LOL.

This is definately something I will second, the worst is when somebody goes to firebot and takes everything seriously, it's really ugly.

 

[Kyergr]

I've also had my fair share of people telling me my opinion is bad. It's always been counteracted by the people on the rest of the site that are really nice and helpful.

 

[Kyergr]

This is definately something I will second, the worst is when somebody goes to firebot and takes everything seriously, it's really ugly.

especially with the upcoming invasion by small firebot

 

[v]

hey Panther5001 who has been more helpful to your integration to this community, me or skylight?

 

[Morsel]

hey Panther5001 who has been more helpful to your integration to this community, me or skylight?

you're both perfect