Someone give me a good reason why I should rejoin FB

[deoxys]

I've been thinking about it lately. I always loved FB (back in the days when I was known as Deoxys, anyway). I tried rejoining, but I just couldn't bring myself to get motivated enough to keep checking every week and playing or something else would come up. Don't get me wrong, I've always loved the idea and enoyed it thoroughly and started participating in it about 9 years ago at BMGf.

So anyway...yeah...I know this is kind of random and all...but I just wanted to um, see what's up with my old FB friends

[Loki]

Friends come and go, but Fizzy Bubbles is still a place to have fun.

It is a bit tough to find time for FB when you're working a lot or going to school/college or just more socially active in the real world. But it is fun when you have free time, like being on the internet, enjoy writing and obviously like Pokemon.

[Another Fan]

The community. Hang out with people, talk. Eventually you get too attached to leave.

Make characters you care about, it is great, even if you don't have much time to use them.

[Talon87]

Originally Posted by VGM Hiero

I tried rejoining, but I just couldn't bring myself to get motivated enough to keep checking every week and playing or something else would come up.

The best advice I can come up with, I suppose, is you can't do it all, so find what you need to do most and work on making that real first.

For example, the predicament I find myself in right now is: I want to rp with a fully-evolved Jumpluff more than anything else in the whole world (and have wanted to since like July ¬¬), but at the same time, you can't get a PC until your starter hits Level 50, so I've been keeping my rare candies and debating with myself, "Do I want to feed 'em all to my starter and get my PC? Or do I want to have fun with the Jumpluff?" In the end, I want both, and so I get neither, because I don't spend my candies on either.

My advice is to avoid my predicament, or to defeat my predicament should you encounter it for yourself. Part of the beauty of FB is that there is SO MUCH YOU CAN DO, so much that you will want to do; but at the same time, if you're like a child in a candy shop like me, you're not going to have a fun time of things. "Ooh, let's see ... I have £1.50 ... this Wonka Bar costs 69p, this Wonka Licorice costs 45p, this Wonka Chocolate Egg costs £1 ... this costs this, that costs that ... oh, I want them all!" *kid just loiters in the store, not spending his money on anything*

So now, specific advice for your own "predicament." You said that you want to play, but you also can't be bothered to check up on all the updates. Indeed, there are a lot of optional updates. Candies on Mondays, Berries on Wednesdays, random gifts on various holidays, so on and so forth. There are also a ton of shops you can do stuff in. If one tries to do it all (as some members do), you can easily see how FB would soon consume a huge chunk of your life -- without any RP'ing, even! Just shop updates! So my advice to you is, know your limits and set them early and don't let people give you shit for it. If you know that you can only check in once a week (or else the game will lose its magic and feel like a chore for you), then just check in on Sunday nights (since that's Monday morning in England and so you have access to most shop updates). If you know that partaking in every shop will drive you nuts, then don't do it -- decide which shops you will partake in (0, 1, 2, 10) and just do those. If you set your limits and stick to them, you should be okay. It's all about knowing what you want, what you really want more than anything else in the game, and going for that one goal. If you make too many goals, you'll get sidetracked onto too many different paths and accomplish next to nothing.

This is my horribly, HORRIBLY newbish advice ... but hey, it looks like most of the vets ignored your thread all day, so I figured that was an invite for me to at least offer something -.-

[deoxys]

Wow, that's depressing. None of the vets posted cept Loki and AF.

Well, Talon, I like your idea, but after reading that, it sounds like FB has gotten too complex for me. Berries? Shops? Bases? We didn't have all of this back in the FB I knew.... just the PokeCenter, PC's, Pokemart, Breeding Center and the grooming place. And everyone went to zones and just played around and leveled up their pokemon. I used to be a ZA at Cloud Garden...eh. I want the old FB back, with Patches (who's said she won't come back for reasons I can't talk about), Chahaan, Ichi, krist, F_93, Marion Ette, and some of the other older peoples. Ah well. I guess I could give it a go...if I rejoin, will I get my old Pokemon back? I only remember Blaziken, Spheal, and Shiny Phanpy...

[Talon87]

From what I understand, people were spoiled rotten in the old FB (partly by their own mischief-making), so it's only natural to be moody and to say, "I miss the old FB. " But the way I see things (as an unjaded newcomer who's heard stories, from both sides of the fence, mind you!), I have to say that I think the new FB is a lot more "awesome" in its own way. The old FB was too easy, too "cheap" from the sound of things. You didn't have to sacrifice anything to gain anything. Everyone had easy access to even the rarest of creatures. It would be like WoW if everyone could have a full suit of purple armor on Day 7 after signing up. Or Star Wars Galaxies if it was so easy to become a Jedi that 90% of people were running around swinging lightsabers. It kills the magic.

The way things are now, yes, it's going to seem "lame" perhaps to an old-timer like you. Good things are hard to come by. But that makes the moment when a good thing does come by all the sweeter. People will point and stare (only digitally, perhaps, but still) and will say, "Look! Look! He got another Level 100!" or "Oh wow, she just got a 4th generation starter! Those are the rarest ones we have here!" or "Holy crap, he has a Master Ball. o_o He can do anything." ;)

Normally, I dislike hard games. I think I made a big rant about that in the VG forum. But I will say, I don't think the current FB is too hard. I think the level of difficulty and complexity you'll find here today makes everything worth having. Whereas, from the stories I hear (again, from both people like you who miss the old days and from the change-makers who don't), I have to say that the old days sound like they were as cheap as Monopoly money. As a newb of this generation of FB, I stand in awe when I see somebody hatch a starter, purchase an Eevee for 250,000 coins, or reach Level 100. I think if I had joined back in the day, those events would have held no magic at all. It would have been just as easy as waving my fingers in the air, hitting the enter key, and saying, "Oh look. My Blaziken just grew from Level 97 to Level 100."

For better or for worse, the old FB you knew sounds like it was one where everyone ran around in purple armor and swung lightsabers. I can't say I am unhappy that that FB is gone, frankly. More like "good riddance." But hey, that's just how I feel tonight. Who knows if another Talon in another life would have felt differently, a Talon who played FB back in 2002 or some such.

[center:3mhcovd0]=======================================[/center:3mhcovd0]
Post-script: I forgot to mention, so this makes for a good epilogue of sorts ... if you need any more convincing that I am right ( ), just consider what happened to people's perception of rares and shinies in the real Pokemon games when the American and European releases came out. Shinies went from being really rare to everywhere thanks to the GTS and the "shiny patch of grass" trick. And rares! Ho, rares! They went from being truly rare to worth less than toilet paper overnight thanks to a combination of Emerald cloning and GTS cloning (before the latter was banned). I have three Azelfs, yet I still don't have some of the rarer uncommons in the game (especially RBYmons), and only because you can't use the GTS to request things you haven't already seen. If you could request things you hadn't seen, then hell, there'd be no challenge left to completing a PokéDex. People like Lindsay who have always worked really hard to "catch 'em all" and share the news of her personal accomplishments with people would be totally derailed by the GTS. The value of their years of hard work would be flushed down the toilet in the 20 hours it takes a 10 year old to get all 480+ using the GTS.

I view the old FB (versus the new FB) the exact same way. Old FB is FB with the real-world's broken GTS and cloning system. Rares aren't rare at all. I don't care about that in the video games (i.e. I think everyone should have access to a rare and I'm all for cloning so long as it doesn't mess up a kid's cart or get him blacklisted from the GTS), but I sure as hell do care about in the main story RPG or in a self-made RPG like Fizzy Bubbles. What the hell would be the point if I ran into Zapdos tomorrow, and Articuno next week, and Dialga the week after that? The fact that I've only run into an Oddish, a Mankey, a Pidgey, and an Ekans so far will make it that much sweeter when the day does come that I ran into something juicy.

[deoxys]

What? No, I meant that there are way too many additions now. I have no clue why you say that we were spoiled; I myself wasn't spoiled. I worked for what I got, and so did everyone else I knew. I have to say, my shiny Phanpy was a mistake, really, as Jirachi really had no clue what he was doing and completely ignored the rule about no shinies in zones...Arn quickly made it well known after my incident that it was not to happen again. I offered to just abandon it since it was techically illegal, but he said that it was okay (for me at least).

I also remember there was a huge halloween adventure and each group got something awesome out of it. My group wound up fighting a giant mutated zombie-Mew thing that was super badass and was really powerful. In the end, we killed it and got Master Balls painted orange and black (which, I technically still have ).

Anyhow, I wouldn't know about purple armor or whatever as I don't play WoW and I have no intention of ever doing so...but I do see your point. Except for the fact that we weren't spoiled. Where did you get that idea, anyway? Oo;

Now the ORIGINAL FB (Well, not the original, which was a water pokemon rpg, I decided not to be a part of that one), but the SECOND FB anyway, back at Bulbagarden in '99, THAT was spoiled. I think I had like, all of the eevee-lutions Oo; and I don't think I worked hard for them.

Oh, I just remembered, I had an Arcanine in my party here, too. Something is telling me I had an Umbreon but I can't remember

[Talon87]

I was talking old-old. As a newbie who has no idea what he's talking about outside out of what he reads, hears, and is told, I had no way of specifying further. 1999? 2002? Last Saturday? :P Beats me. All I know is, there was a time within memory where people could basically accomplish their every dream (all starters and Eevees and whatnot) with no real effort. Today, for a person to even get one Eevee is amazing, never mind all seven. Err, eight if you count an unevolved-and-not-going-to-be-evolved Eevee.

I get the idea from two parties, as mentioned ... well, three, really.

1- People who say "They were spoiled back then :P" and list why.
2- People who say "Man, FB's a shithole these days compared to what it used to be," and then wow me with their stories of old. Except ... their stories of old actually seem distasteful compared to the present, in many respects. Not all, but many.
3- People who don't really even do FB much anymore (made-up example: Morg) and just drop details here or there about the old times.

Oh, I guess I should add ...

4- Kuno's Wiki, which explained some stuff. But I can't find the Wiki now. ;_; Lost my bookmark.

[deoxys]

Okay, well, I was saying that the current FB isn't like what it used to be back in 2003. If you want to go back as far as '99, hell yes, we were extremely spoiled. But I guess I just didn't want to come out and say it because I didn't want to embarrass myself. Alright; The new FB looks confusing, which is why I don't like what I see. There, I said it. Yes, confusing. It's probably not as bad as it looks, though.

[Talon87]

Not at all. In fact, I'd say it's pretty simple. Again, you're listenin' to "da newb," but everyone else is ignoring you or too busy sharpening blades with which to kill me for my foolish nonsense, so here we go ... before I die, a few more words of explanation ...

1. Mondays are "Shop Days." Because most shops are only open for initiating business on a Monday. Things like getting one rare candy from the PokéMart, or dropping Pokémon off with the Move Tutor, or the Training Centre, or the Daycare. You'll do a lot on Mondays. To figure out what you want to do, it's probably best to just see what threas other people are replying to and in what manner. That's how I figured it out -- like a small child, learning via observation.[/*jcsqb4lq]
2. Wednesdays are "Berry Days." One new berry comes out each Wednesday. (It's already Thursday in England as I write this post, though, so it's too late today for you to grab the Wacan. Maybe next Wednesday.)[/*jcsqb4lq]
3. Wednesdays, Fridays, and Sundays are the days the Casino is updated. You can reply any time in the interim between updates, no problem. The Casino is how most people acquire coins, via which they acquire a few rare Pokemon or (more commonly) TMs (at Coins for Prizes) and Mart Items (at the PokeMart). So, you'll want to go to the Casino if you plan on stocking up on Pokeballs and the like.[/*jcsqb4lq]

That's it, in a nutshell. If you can figure that much out, you're 90% of the way there. RP Zones haven't changed much (I'm guessing) from when you were last here. And there are a few cool things I left out of my explanation, but that was to avoid overwhelming you with too much information at once.

The key to solving any large problem is to reduce it to its first solvably-sized chunks and to go from there. You don't need to tackle the monolithic problem that is "New FB" all at once. Just take it in steps. Learn one new thing a day, maybe every two days. And build up from there.

Hell, I'd say you're already light-years ahead of me, anyway. You already have a team of a million levels. You're good to go. I'm still waiting for Thursday to ... for Thursday to ...

w007! It's Thursday! *goes to withdraw Pokemon to prepare Zone reply*

[enchantress]

It hasn't changed much at all. It's still basically the same as it used to be, only more structured. The additions are just that - extras. We're trying to include everything the games have to offer plus a little more and we're slowly getting there. Pokémon Contests have been around for a while, secret bases were added when we were asked about the possibility of including more "Free RP Areas" like the Bar, and zones are the same with the exception of the stipulation that you need to write a decent reply unlike the old days when two to three lines was considered acceptable. Trainer Battles, after much debate, have also finally come onto the scene because it's something members have been wanting for years and is really the only thing left that hadn't been included.

As for the older members, people move on. They come and go, but just because they're no longer here doesn't mean it's not worth getting to know our current members.

Long story short is that FB is the same as it used to be, just bigger and more structured than before.

As for your team, you have:
Lv.38 Male Blaziken
Lv.9 Male Umbreon
Lv.6 Male Lombre
Lv.7 Shiny Male Phanpy
Lv.9 Male Spheal

If you decide to return I can PM you a full copy of your old regi post.

[deoxys]

I'll take it under heavy consideration. I don't really do much on the internets anymore, so I'll definitely think about it. I'll let you know if I decide. Talon, if I do join, you should be my FB partner or whatever... :P

[Talon87]

Absolutely not! @_@ You have a hell of a lot more experience than I do. I've only made two RP posts outside of the Arcane Realm. You'll want somebody way more experienced. Hell, I'm probably the lowest guy on the totem pole here!!! Even people who signed up after me have had more experience (and gained more levels and stuff) than me!

[Another Fan]

If you find shops and crap too complicated, just do what I do, as in, ignore everything but RP areas,

It is totally cool too like that, and people forget that.

I mean, sure, 4 of my 6 pokemon are from shops, but the way I got them was in many ways spontaneous, which allowed me to relax and just play along rather than deal with complexities. So, I guess if you find shops complex, just relax, and take things as they come.

Totally the best way to play, in my opinion.

And Talon, I am still under the impression that as long as an RP post is good as a RP, it is good as an FB post. Well, that and it ends with an action that has some effect.

[Loki]

Aside from FB Bank, Pokemart, and maybe Coin Exchange, Cable Club and Beauty Salon, nothing is necessary for the standard trainer.

FB Bank & Pokemart for candies. Pokemart for supplies. Coin Exchange to pay for stated supplies. Cable Club & Beauty Salon to evolve those that require beauty, happiness, or trade evolutions. Everything else is practically extras.

You don't need to go to the Casino. You don't need the Pokeblocks. etc. etc.

And joining now will be helpful come next month

[deoxys]

I'd kinda like to know why, but yeah...whatever :P

I've been talking to Patches, she said she doesn't want to rejoin >_> I'm still considering it though...

[The Morg]

The reason "vets" probably ignored the thread for a long time was that "Someone give me a good reason why I should rejoin FB" is easily construed as a troll. Rawr!

Old FB certainly was good times: the land of one-liners, its "go there to increase your post count" reputation, the campaign battles against mechs and other non-pokemon, the rare candies that were actually rare, and of course the Christmas campagins etc. that would usually last into the summer of the next year. w

The first stride towards ending the one-liners and other "bad" RPing came from Aipey, a crossover from the traditionally FB-hating ASB. When someone wrote "I guess I'll just walk around for a while..." his update was: "You walk around."

[Talon87]

Originally Posted by dosuser

"I guess I'll just walk around for a while..." his update was: "You walk around."

Aipey sounds awesome. If he had the patience for it, I'd have him go on AIM and be my MUD-bot for me.

Talon: enter west wing
Aipey: You enter the West Wing.
Talon: look
Aipey: You take a look around the room. There is a desk, a fireplace, photos lining both walls, and a backwall that is essentially one large window with a veranda behind it.
Talon: take desk
Aipey: You cannot do that.
Talon: pick up desk
Aipey: You cannot do that.
Talon: look desk
Aipey: You approach the desk and take a closer look. There are documents strewn all over the top: a red one, a blue one, and a yellow one.
Talon: look red document
Aipey: It says "CLASSIFIED" and is sealed shut.
Talon: open red document
Aipey: The Secret Service shoot you down. *GAME OVER*
Talon: ... that was fun.
Aipey: :P

[Loki]

Well, she came back a while back, but then disappeared again. I don't think I saw her RPing anywhere, but I'm not updating or RPing anyplace currently, so I'm not 100% sure.

Other vets either left FB out of 'outgrowing Pokemon' or having less time or more of an active social life. Not unlike how vets of 2003 outgrew the PASBL. Where's Sciz? Or Kaz? It happens with a lot of things. We were all mostly in High School or early College when most people joined FB, so it's pretty easy for us, 5 years later, to no longer have the free time we used to.

[deoxys]

No, I talk to Patches every day. She said she doesn't want to FB anymore >_>

But uh, who is around from my times, anyway? Anyone? Did itsybitsy or ichi or kristalline or f_93 or chahaan or anyone at all come back??

[Loki]

I hope ItsyBitsySpider never comes back. She was trouble from day one. I remember doing my update right after school, then she joined a few hours later and posted in the Water Zone. Like an hour later, she started complaining that I was ignoring her. WTF?! Updaters aren't your personal slave. And she was awful at adventuring.

Originally Posted by This Literally Happened in the Water Zone

"You walk into a Krabby"
IBS: "Run away."
"You run away, but bump into an Aipom."
IBS: "Run away."
"You run away, but trip on a Geodude."
IBS: "Run away."
"Having tripped on Geodude, he grabs your leg before you can get away."
IBS: "I'm gonna hit him on the head with my gold nugget and run away."
"WTF??!!! GET OUT!"

Ichi is back in college & work full time. Krist went MIA. She was a very cool member, good at RPing and story telling and it'd be awesome if she did come back. Feraligator_93 is also MIA. He was cool, albeit young. Chaahan also went to college full time but he quit because of Final Fantasy XI taking over his life for a good number of months, then getting a much more social life, which sounds like polar opposites, but it happened. He's still on AIM, but he doesn't really chat much anymore. He came back for a little while, but went back to the real world.

[Talon87]

Sounds like IBS played one too many Final Fantasy games. lol

Gold is a really soft metal. o_o I don't think hitting a *human* on the head with a gold nugget would hurt as bad as being hit with a regular stone the same shape and size. Bad RP'ing indeed. :P

Loki: I *meant* the *OTHER* parts of her replies? Oh forget it. >_>

[Loki]

I didn't say she was bad at RPing (even though she was), I said she was a bad adventurer. She didn't do anything unless it was all good according to her. She ran from fights because she didn't want to catch the Pokemon or waste any precious sentences battling them. She made nonsensical posts like assaulting a Geodude herself (yeah fucken right). And she was never funny. I don't know how many pages of quotes were wasted with her drab. She was worse then Serebii. At least his are just really bad attempts at jokes. She just said mundane stuff, said that it was funny, and expected people to say, "Haha. You are right. Haha. We should immortalize this forever. Haha."

[Another Fan]

Originally Posted by KoalaDevourer

I didn't say she was bad at RPing (even though she was), I said she was a bad adventurer. She didn't do anything unless it was all good according to her. She ran from fights because she didn't want to catch the Pokemon or waste any precious sentences battling them. She made nonsensical posts like assaulting a Geodude herself (yeah fucken right). And she was never funny. I don't know how many pages of quotes were wasted with her drab. She was worse then Serebii. At least his are just really bad attempts at jokes. She just said mundane stuff, said that it was funny, and expected people to say, "Haha. You are right. Haha. We should immortalize this forever. Haha."

Huh, sounds like how I reply.

Damn. Well, I like the freedom RPing like that gives me. Even if updators don't.

[Talon87]

Originally Posted by Another Fan

Damn. Well, I like the freedom RPing like that gives me. Even if updators don't.

That's very selfish, though. Fizzy Bubbles' methodology for RP'ing is intrinsically multiplayer. You're essentially saying, "So long as I'm having fun, I could care less how Player 2 is feeling." Is that how you feel when you play Smash Bros. or Mario Kart with friends?

I'm not saying your preferences are wrong. What I am saying is, it would be nice if you could find an updator who enjoys replying to your RP posts as much as you enjoy making them. And that no updator who dislikes your RP style ought to be told, "Well, tough." That'd be about as fair as you being told you can't switch updators and your current one has a style that is the complete opposite of yours.

Who is your updator now? Would you see it's a good match?