I'm still a little mad that my joke post in sevag's thread (which was itself a joke) was deleted, so I wanted to make a more serious thread about the issue the previous thread was spoofing.
Background:
When your Pokemon is transformed into an opposing mon, the optimal play is writing down the moves and ability (often in chat) so you don't forget them later on, because once you switch out, the simulator once again gives you no information about the Pokemon you were transformed into.
In metagames where Transform and/or Imposter are common, it has become common practice for neutral spectators to ask for the set when one player has a transformed Pokemon out, because knowing the moves helps them see what kind of shape the game is taking and which plans both sides should go for. This leads to an overall much better spectating experience.
Recently, asking for the set was ruled as ghosting, because it reminds players to write down the moves and ability of the Pokemon which constitutes an advantage. This decision was widely controversial within each metagame it affected, leading for example to sevag creating the timer thread as a satire of it. In this post I would like to argue against it.
Overall, this ruling is too focused on rules lawyering and is ignorant of the actual circumstances surrounding this mechanic, and on average makes the game worse, instead of better.
First of all, I do not consider recording moves and ability while transformed to be a valuable aspect of competitive gameplay. It doesn't constitute "good playing" any more than remembering to make your Protean Greninja male constitutes "good building". Consider an ideal world where we could make any change we wanted to the simulator with no effort on the part of the programmers. In this ideal world, this mechanic would be fixed. For example, sending moves/ability when your Pokemon transformed could be an automatic thing, rather than the player having to type it out manually.
One might argue that this is similar to something like figuring out an EV spread based on a hit, which we ban spectators from doing. I agree that in this ideal world this mechanic would be built into the simulator too, but I would argue there's a difference between a spectator asking for the set and your friend Edward 200WPMhands opening the calc on his third monitor to give you damage ranges on all your moves within five seconds. One objectively saves you time, the other reminds you to get past a meaningless barrier of entry that every serious player is past anyway.
Can spectators asking for the set help a player's winning chances? Yes, but not in the sense of improving their gameplans or key decisions. Because of this, I would argue it's more in line with reminding the player about the timer or cheering for them.
I'll end this post with a modified version of Merritt's post in the timer thread:
Background:
When your Pokemon is transformed into an opposing mon, the optimal play is writing down the moves and ability (often in chat) so you don't forget them later on, because once you switch out, the simulator once again gives you no information about the Pokemon you were transformed into.
[Chansey's Imposter]
Chansey transformed into Groudon!
☆Asou&Chihiro: regen ut/arrows/poison fang/spectral
Chansey transformed into Groudon!
☆Asou&Chihiro: regen ut/arrows/poison fang/spectral
In metagames where Transform and/or Imposter are common, it has become common practice for neutral spectators to ask for the set when one player has a transformed Pokemon out, because knowing the moves helps them see what kind of shape the game is taking and which plans both sides should go for. This leads to an overall much better spectating experience.
Go! Chansey!
[Chansey's Imposter]
Chansey transformed into Kyogre!
The opposing Kyogre used Swords Dance!
The opposing Kyogre's Attack rose sharply!
Turn 19
lazzerpenguin: quojova set
☆quojova: sd glance rend nuzzle
[Chansey's Imposter]
Chansey transformed into Kyogre!
The opposing Kyogre used Swords Dance!
The opposing Kyogre's Attack rose sharply!
Turn 19
lazzerpenguin: quojova set
☆quojova: sd glance rend nuzzle
Recently, asking for the set was ruled as ghosting, because it reminds players to write down the moves and ability of the Pokemon which constitutes an advantage. This decision was widely controversial within each metagame it affected, leading for example to sevag creating the timer thread as a satire of it. In this post I would like to argue against it.
Overall, this ruling is too focused on rules lawyering and is ignorant of the actual circumstances surrounding this mechanic, and on average makes the game worse, instead of better.
First of all, I do not consider recording moves and ability while transformed to be a valuable aspect of competitive gameplay. It doesn't constitute "good playing" any more than remembering to make your Protean Greninja male constitutes "good building". Consider an ideal world where we could make any change we wanted to the simulator with no effort on the part of the programmers. In this ideal world, this mechanic would be fixed. For example, sending moves/ability when your Pokemon transformed could be an automatic thing, rather than the player having to type it out manually.
One might argue that this is similar to something like figuring out an EV spread based on a hit, which we ban spectators from doing. I agree that in this ideal world this mechanic would be built into the simulator too, but I would argue there's a difference between a spectator asking for the set and your friend Edward 200WPMhands opening the calc on his third monitor to give you damage ranges on all your moves within five seconds. One objectively saves you time, the other reminds you to get past a meaningless barrier of entry that every serious player is past anyway.
Can spectators asking for the set help a player's winning chances? Yes, but not in the sense of improving their gameplans or key decisions. Because of this, I would argue it's more in line with reminding the player about the timer or cheering for them.
I'll end this post with a modified version of Merritt's post in the timer thread:
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