It happens way too often that players forfeit or stay inactive in the first 3 or so turns of a battle, thereby giving their opponent an unsatisfying free win. This is especially prevalent in random battles of any kind. This behavior stems from the fact that this player got dealt a bad hand, had a bad matchup, or simply because they were afk.
Pokemon showdown is a laid-back online game, and i dont want this to change. To me, implementing a punishment systems seems ineffective. I am afraid the behavior wont change, only the reaction to it will. Other then that, it might promote an overly competitive atmosphere, which would take away the idea of a relaxed battle during a work break, and possibly making the dialogue between players more toxic.
I would like to suggest the implementation of a reward system for the players affected by this behavior. This reward should be outside the current point system, since it would affect ratings in a negative way.
My first thought was the possibility of a currency that can only be earned in these specific situations (opponents leaving in 0-3 turns). Then with this currency players could buy in-game skins, emotes for the chat, or even strange fonts for usernames. A problem i can see occurring if this was implemented is that players would try to farm this currency. This behavior could appear in battles where players would ask their opponent to forfeit in the first few turns, or they forfeit themself, giving their opponent the currency. Perhaps to prevent this a limit to daily earnings could be set in place, for example: making 5 earnings a day the max.
I would like to add that i abhor the idea of this currency being used for monetary reasons. It should only be used to add to the online battle experience, not to take from it. But since the addition of IRL currency to showdown will probably make legal problems, and since i have faith in the developers, i dont think this will be a problem.
The addition of this reward system, or something like it, would take away most of the annoyance felt when opponents dont engage in battles, and would give more flavor to the online pokemon battle experience. Overall it would be a positive addition, making showdown more enjoyable.
But what do you think?
Pokemon showdown is a laid-back online game, and i dont want this to change. To me, implementing a punishment systems seems ineffective. I am afraid the behavior wont change, only the reaction to it will. Other then that, it might promote an overly competitive atmosphere, which would take away the idea of a relaxed battle during a work break, and possibly making the dialogue between players more toxic.
I would like to suggest the implementation of a reward system for the players affected by this behavior. This reward should be outside the current point system, since it would affect ratings in a negative way.
My first thought was the possibility of a currency that can only be earned in these specific situations (opponents leaving in 0-3 turns). Then with this currency players could buy in-game skins, emotes for the chat, or even strange fonts for usernames. A problem i can see occurring if this was implemented is that players would try to farm this currency. This behavior could appear in battles where players would ask their opponent to forfeit in the first few turns, or they forfeit themself, giving their opponent the currency. Perhaps to prevent this a limit to daily earnings could be set in place, for example: making 5 earnings a day the max.
I would like to add that i abhor the idea of this currency being used for monetary reasons. It should only be used to add to the online battle experience, not to take from it. But since the addition of IRL currency to showdown will probably make legal problems, and since i have faith in the developers, i dont think this will be a problem.
The addition of this reward system, or something like it, would take away most of the annoyance felt when opponents dont engage in battles, and would give more flavor to the online pokemon battle experience. Overall it would be a positive addition, making showdown more enjoyable.
But what do you think?
