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General What brought you to Smogon?
- Thread starter skylight
- Start date
Is Smogon just for weak-minded losers? Why would "normal" people join Smogon? The answer is that one of the greatest strengths of humanity is also one of our greatest weaknesses. What makes humanity dominant on this planet is our ability to share knowledge. Because we can communicate, information learned by one individual is passed on to others. We have organized into societies that are so complex that only a fraction of the information that we rely on is actually stored in our own brains. The upside is that it allows us to benefit from the tremendous wealth of combined knowledge of the human race. The downside is that it is a serious security hole in the human computer. If the information we rely on is flawed, then we can end up living a life of illusion and deception.
In a healthy Smogon, people are ethical and responsible with each other. The relationships are based on a sane and productive system, and the focus of Smogon is something worthwhile. People are trusted because they are trustworthy. People have faith in each other and the group because people have earned faith through being responsible. This keeps the downside to Smogon to a minimum. Even in the best of circumstances there are mistakes made, and it takes hard work to keep things on course.
So the reason I joined Smogon is that people need to organize as groups for a normal healthy society. But there are good groups and bad groups and a lot of groups that are somewhere in between. When people become part of the group they put their faith and trust in the group, and the group information becomes part of who they are and what they believe. The individual starts seeing reality through the lens of Smogon, and if Smogon is based on fiction, then Smogon members will see the world relative to the fiction.
In a healthy Smogon, people are ethical and responsible with each other. The relationships are based on a sane and productive system, and the focus of Smogon is something worthwhile. People are trusted because they are trustworthy. People have faith in each other and the group because people have earned faith through being responsible. This keeps the downside to Smogon to a minimum. Even in the best of circumstances there are mistakes made, and it takes hard work to keep things on course.
So the reason I joined Smogon is that people need to organize as groups for a normal healthy society. But there are good groups and bad groups and a lot of groups that are somewhere in between. When people become part of the group they put their faith and trust in the group, and the group information becomes part of who they are and what they believe. The individual starts seeing reality through the lens of Smogon, and if Smogon is based on fiction, then Smogon members will see the world relative to the fiction.
I never responded to this O_O
Anyway, my story is a bit long, so I'll cut it short a little. I came to Smogon because I wanted to learn more about the competitive side of Pokemon. Pokemon was the series (along with Mario and Smash Bros.) that I grew up with and I wanted to learn how to play it on a competitive level. I came here during BW, and after I grew tired of how stale BW OU felt, I decided to dive down into RU, which is easily my favorite tier and the tier I'm most known for playing. I'll tell anyone willing to listen that RU is a great tier and I have a lot of fun playing it. And that's the primary reason I came to Smogon in the first place. To find a tier that I enjoyed playing and wouldn't get tired of very easily. Smogon has become a place where i can be myself, use my skills / knowledge to help others, and still be one of the more prominent community members without having to be someone I'm not.
Anyway, my story is a bit long, so I'll cut it short a little. I came to Smogon because I wanted to learn more about the competitive side of Pokemon. Pokemon was the series (along with Mario and Smash Bros.) that I grew up with and I wanted to learn how to play it on a competitive level. I came here during BW, and after I grew tired of how stale BW OU felt, I decided to dive down into RU, which is easily my favorite tier and the tier I'm most known for playing. I'll tell anyone willing to listen that RU is a great tier and I have a lot of fun playing it. And that's the primary reason I came to Smogon in the first place. To find a tier that I enjoyed playing and wouldn't get tired of very easily. Smogon has become a place where i can be myself, use my skills / knowledge to help others, and still be one of the more prominent community members without having to be someone I'm not.
Hey y'all!
I'm actually mostly active on nuggetbridge, but I decided to come to Smogon just to see what it was about. I've heard of Smogon before, and kind of just lurked on the strategy pages of some Pokémon I was interested in using/countering when I began to play competitively back in 5th gen. I'd say I'm a pretty experienced player now, and I mainly play VGC and doubles; however, I really want to try battling on the Battle Spot singles and triples ladders, and I felt Smogon would have valuable resources available for me to learn how to excel on these ladders!
I'm actually mostly active on nuggetbridge, but I decided to come to Smogon just to see what it was about. I've heard of Smogon before, and kind of just lurked on the strategy pages of some Pokémon I was interested in using/countering when I began to play competitively back in 5th gen. I'd say I'm a pretty experienced player now, and I mainly play VGC and doubles; however, I really want to try battling on the Battle Spot singles and triples ladders, and I felt Smogon would have valuable resources available for me to learn how to excel on these ladders!
I'll respond from the perspective of why I returned to Smogon, as I can't remember what exactly got me to join in the first place.
OR/AS has revived my interest in Pokemon and specifically with competitive Pokemon. I haven't bred/battled/traded competitive 'mons since Gen IV - completely skipped V and the XY part of VI. I've started getting a stash of competitive Pokemon on my Omega Ruby game, and building up a pool of parents via Wonder Trade. Going to start coming around here more and build a team for ORAS OU in the near future. I came back to Smogon to get caught up on everything I've missed, will be lurking around and asking questions as they come up.
OR/AS has revived my interest in Pokemon and specifically with competitive Pokemon. I haven't bred/battled/traded competitive 'mons since Gen IV - completely skipped V and the XY part of VI. I've started getting a stash of competitive Pokemon on my Omega Ruby game, and building up a pool of parents via Wonder Trade. Going to start coming around here more and build a team for ORAS OU in the near future. I came back to Smogon to get caught up on everything I've missed, will be lurking around and asking questions as they come up.
firebot
just passing by lol been playing pokemon but not an avid player,
only played pokemon yellow, pokemon heart gold and pokemon omega ruby
only played pokemon yellow, pokemon heart gold and pokemon omega ruby
Through clicking various "recommended videos" on YouTube, I found myself on a Pokemon video. Through more clicking, somehow, I found a video that mentioned smogon. I ended up here and registered an account.
Timeskip, two years later I found Pokemon Showdown and I have no idea how. Thankfully this is not about that, but Showdown showed me back to this site after two years or so.
and here I am
Timeskip, two years later I found Pokemon Showdown and I have no idea how. Thankfully this is not about that, but Showdown showed me back to this site after two years or so.
and here I am
I found smogon as i want to get battle at pokemon especially monotypes, if anyone has any links to articles i could read it be much appreciated
fkn Darkerones dragged me here a few months after XY's release.
But really I was drawn simply by the idea of getting better and improving in OU play seeing as it's the format most of my friends play irl.
Unfortunately due to work, school, and whatnot my activity has been limited.
But I still enjoy keeping up with all the news in the OU tier and plan on being more active later this year hopefully.
But really I was drawn simply by the idea of getting better and improving in OU play seeing as it's the format most of my friends play irl.
Unfortunately due to work, school, and whatnot my activity has been limited.
But I still enjoy keeping up with all the news in the OU tier and plan on being more active later this year hopefully.
Well, I started playing Pokémon with Emerald, then sometime during BW, realised I was getting crushed in online battles. I never really had the patience for EV/IVs, so I decided to find a battler simulator, bringing me to Showdown. Almost immediately afterwards, I noticed the existence of the forums here. 
So um, I got here on Smogon because I was watching a video by the super awesome TamashiiHiroka, and she mentioned that Smogon and PS! might help me out in competitive Pokemon. Jumping into the unknown, I got to meet some people like Redew and stuff like that.
Just by pure chance. I remember people mentioning constantly Smogon and I was like: "What the heck is this Smogon?".
I made a quick research and I found out about this site. I even downloaded Net Battle back then and tried some random teams, with copypasted sets and not well defined EVs for fun. I even made a new friend by battling him. However, it took me several years to join Smogon, mainly because I was deterred by the "haters" and casual players.
I'm still semi-competitive and need to learn the ropes, but I'm willing to learn all what I need to learn in order to become a decent player, at least.
I made a quick research and I found out about this site. I even downloaded Net Battle back then and tried some random teams, with copypasted sets and not well defined EVs for fun. I even made a new friend by battling him. However, it took me several years to join Smogon, mainly because I was deterred by the "haters" and casual players.
I'm still semi-competitive and need to learn the ropes, but I'm willing to learn all what I need to learn in order to become a decent player, at least.
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I've known about Smogon for years, but didn't care for joining until I became interested in competitive battling, which was in 2013. Made some friends over at the Wi-Fi section of the forum and quickly fell in love with breeding pokemon, something I mostly do just to help newer members. Smogon's my favorite online forum without a doubt. n_n
I've just joined today, but I've lurked around Smogon and used its' team-building dex since gen 4, which is when I was old enough to care about the depth of video games. I really think that Pokemon is an amazing RPG simply because of the plethora of options out there for trainers to choose from. I like the idea of tier systems that make clearly outclassed Pokemon more viable. Some of my favorites are outclassed by a lot of Pokemon, but the tier system helps keep battles fair. I appreciate the discussion and hard work that goes into team-building and the dedication of this community over the years.
I've played quite a bit on Showdown / Shoddy and I consider myself a great competitive battler already, but I would love to learn more and contribute to expanding the team-building options for lower tier Pokemon.
I've played quite a bit on Showdown / Shoddy and I consider myself a great competitive battler already, but I would love to learn more and contribute to expanding the team-building options for lower tier Pokemon.
I joined because I got tired of playing alone behind the sidelines and wanted to be a part of a community again. No one my age plays anymore and I find it hard to get to know people strictly on Showdown. Ive been competitive battling for going on 7 years so I thought it was time to join up.
I've been playing by smogon rules for about 3 years but I haven't been serious till about a year ago. I figured that I should probably join here since I want to have input in the community.