Okay, so.
I used to buy TCG packs all the time as a casual collector from about 2003-2006. I have dealt with the TCG since its North American introduction, but 2003-2006 was when I was actively paying more attention to things rather than just buying two packs a year and getting ripped off on the playground and then just forgetting about them. After 2006 I sort of slowed down and even skipped a few sets here and there, and by the time the DP expansion rolled out I decided to stop buying cards.
However I got some TCG cards for Christmas, and bought myself a tin in mid-January, and I've been perplexed at several of the changes that have been made, and after checking with two members here, they said it sounded okay to post a thread effectively asking "trivia" questions encompassing several questions. I have no doubt I could find the answers to all these questions with a bit of Google searches and forum lurking, but this saves me more time and gives me more exact answers, and hopefully provides an interesting thread.
The idea was set off for the purpose of asking about DP-series threads, but I'm going to get a bit carried away and ask about the entire TCG, and its relation to various other forms. I've personally never gotten to go to any tournaments and my competence at actually playing the game has never actually been put into practice beyond playing with some EX Ruby & Sapphire pre-constructed decks with my sister, so perspectives from people as both players, collectors, and both are welcome. Any answer you're actually able to answer/provide input on, please do. I wish I could say this was for some greater glory of some sort of study or website report or anything, but it's mostly feeding my own curiosities. I'm basically going to list them off randomly as they come to my mind, and your answers might inspire more questions.
I'm not necessarily looking for straight yes or no answers for most of these. Consider them prompts to discuss facts and your opinions rather than answer one question and move on. You don't have to answer every single question, so just answer the ones that really interest you and you have things to say. If I've made any incorrect assumptions (as I'm sure I have), please point them out.
Thanks in advance both for reading and for answering.
1. The most immediate thing apparent is that DP series cards boost the card count per pack from 9 to 10. Why was this done, and how did people respond? (Identically, how did people respond when the e-card series dropped the count from 11 to 9, and why didn't the DP series restore it to 11?)
2. The mid to later EX series sets had really nice reverse/alternate holographic cards. Perhaps this is subjective, but why did they switch back to the less appealing rainbow reflective reverse holographic style?
3. This one genuinely bothers me. Why was the 120 HP limit broken without some sort of detriment? i.e. only Pokémon-ex had been allowed to break the limit previously, and that was presumably justifiable due to the two prize draw for knocking any Pokémon-ex out. How is this justifiable, if at all?
4. How did old players, new players, and collectors react to the 120 HP limit being broken?
5. Repeat questions 3 and 4, but with the adjustment to Weakness and Resistance systems.
6. If the Unlimited format is even played at all, has the DP series completely outclassed all previous expansion sets? Again, I've always been nothing more than a casual collector, but my impression has been that Base series cards still stood a chance when Neo series came out, and Base and Neo still stood a chance when the EX cards came out, but the DP series has broken HP caps and in some cases are a lot harder to tally up damage against them with less of an Achilles heel regarding Weakness. Do I have the wrong impression, or has the DP series completely and utterly outclassed all older series?
7. This ties in with the last question and several others, but my favorite card sets to collect were Team Rocket, Neo Destiny, and EX Team Rocket Returns. I don't know how Team Rocket was received by the competitive community, but I read Light Pokémon in the Neo Destiny set were mostly ignored, and EX TRR didn't necessarily shake things up.
- In Team Rocket, Dark Pokémon all had exceptionally low HP (if memory serves, so did the Fossil expansion as a whole beforehand) to justify extremely powerful attacks. Were they competitive then? Do they even stand a chance now?
- In Neo Destiny, the trend for Dark Pokémon was identical. Light Pokémon did the reverse, with high HP and a focus on weaker damage attacks instead (doing tech-like things and healing instead). Maybe I simply read some idiot reviewer back in 2000whenever, but why were they snubbed? Would they still be useless?
- EX TRR, from my impression, ignored the HP and attack trends, solely focusing on the idea of being dual-typed Pokémon. Was this due to a trend towards higher HP in the TCG? (One that evidently continued into DP?)
8. What is the general sort of gameplay employed in the current format? The last time I payed attention, Haymaker (re: no evolution, do moderate damage ASAP and then worry about building up later) was the way to go, but nowadays I really only notice tech-style things for non-evolving Pokémon and heavy hits come from higher-evolutions and EX/Lv. X. Is the TCG about evolution as soon as possible now?
- If so/if not, there have been weird changes like Pokémon (usually Basic) being able to attack for zero Energy, and it's usually only Basics being given these sorts of built-in items (not familiar with the mechanic). Depending on your answer to Q8, do these factor into the game at all?
9. Tied in with 8: is the current format faster or slower than previous formats?
10. Tied in with 8 and 9: in some cases, Lv.X can be seen almost as a Stage 3 evolution of sorts. Does this speed up/slow down the game, and how has that changed the format?
11. If you've been playing the TCG for a while, what have been your favorite game mechanics and changes added (eg Pokémon ex/Lv. X, Dark/Light/Shning Pokémon, Pokémon-SP, Delta Species, Metal and Dark Energy finally being made available as basic Energy cards). What have been your least favorite?
- If you only started playing the TCG recently/relatively recently, is there anything from earlier sets you wish they would bring back? Anything you find absolutely insane? Interesting? Boring? etc?
12. What have been your favorite expansions? Least favorite expansions? And in both cases, why?
13. How much is my EX Unseen Forces Lugia ex worth? I'm just kidding, I'll Google that. But in general, I remember Base Set Charizards being worth 100 dollars. Does that sort of hysterical overvalue still occur? How do you feel about it? Personally, aside from some of those extremely rare Japanese promos, I don't understand why anyone would ever pay anything approaching or exceeding 50 dollars for any individual card.
14. Everyone said in 10 years, all their Pokémon cards would be worth 100 dollars. It's been 10 (or more??) years. What happened?
15. Something that made me discouraged from continuing to collect TCG cards was the fact it seemed a lot easier to amass more cards for less money as an actual tournament player, what with Prereleases, POP series cards, arbitrary promos, etc. where I'd throw 50 dollars max at any individual expansion and end up with bundles of doubles and nobody to trade with. There have typically never been any local tournaments, etc. within the city I live so not going to these things is a decision more or less out of my hands and a practical consideration more than anything. Was this a faulty assumption? Comment regarding this to some degree, I'm interested.
16. How much does the average collector throw at any given individual expansion? How much does the average person who plays at tournaments?
17. Has the TCG gotten more or less expensive as time has gone on?
18. I've read you can spend money on entire booster pack boxes and not have any chance at collecting the entire set, because they actively limit how many Pokémon-ex/Lv.X/Star/SH are in any given box. Does this discourage anyone from buying booster pack boxes?
19. Compare Japanese booster pack distribution, theme decks, promos, etc. to American equivalents. Does Japan have an unfair advantage in getting the cards they want/need for their decks?
20. I'm familiar with PokéGym (maybe other sites) and their apparent connection to TCG officials, etc. I don't really have any particular question, but just wondering if that has any impact if at all on anything I might have asked before, if officials go there for feedback to implement into the metagame/rulings/card production, if you feel obligated to go there, etc. Anything like that at all? (Sorry if it's a taboo to mention PokéGym, btw.)
21. Is there any instance where you could evolve your Pokémon into one with less HP? (For example, in early sets, Charmander usually had 40 ~ 50 HP, since Charmeleon usually had 60 ~ 80 HP, and in Dark Charmeleon's case, he only had 50 HP. Has there been a Charmander with 60 HP released, so that evolution into Dark Charmeleon would actually lose you 10 HP? I know the answer to that one is no, but it's a hypothetical and I'm wondering if anything similar is actually in place. And I'm not asking about things like evolution from Oddish -> Dark Gloom -> Erika's Vileplume, since that actively goes against the rules.)
22. Kadabra hasn't been available since the e-card series for legal reasons. Is that ever going to get undone.
23. Articuno, Zapdos, and Moltres weren't available as themselves in any EX expansion. They were only available as Pokémon-ex. Which means, for example, there was a giant gap (from Skyridge to Majestic Dawn) between which you could get two cards named "Articuno" (or "Zapdos", or "Moltres"). Has there been any other exceptionally large gap for the availability of a Pokémon species?
- Again, the three birds weren't available ~as themselves~ for the whole EX expansion. Not including them and Kadabra, was there anyone else not available in the EX expansion as ~themselves~?
24. I read "Delta" species referred to the idea of being the 'fourth' variation, after Dark, Light, and Shining Pokémon. Is that right?
25. Next month, there's actually going to be a tournament (for those curious, the Ontario provincials) that will actually be close to where I am for once (since I'm away for university). I'm 19 and have a modest collection of mostly older cards. I'm going to maybe e-mail the people in charge of the tournament, but what's the general atmosphere of these sorts of things? Is there anyone else my age? Can I go to these to just watch, maybe throw a pre-constructed deck around for fun, or is this serious stuff for serious people and I'd be sitting around bored?
I definitely have a lot more questions, but I have class in half an hour anyways. More questions are definitely floating around in my head, but I'll take this as a convenient prompt to see how the reception of this thread and these questions go. (Also, treading on Q20's material, would this thread take off well on PokéGym? No offense to Pokébeach, I went here first because THIS was the site I followed from 2003-2006 and continued to follow, but I'm really aiming to get as many answers as I can.)
Again, thanks in advance in all regards.
I used to buy TCG packs all the time as a casual collector from about 2003-2006. I have dealt with the TCG since its North American introduction, but 2003-2006 was when I was actively paying more attention to things rather than just buying two packs a year and getting ripped off on the playground and then just forgetting about them. After 2006 I sort of slowed down and even skipped a few sets here and there, and by the time the DP expansion rolled out I decided to stop buying cards.
However I got some TCG cards for Christmas, and bought myself a tin in mid-January, and I've been perplexed at several of the changes that have been made, and after checking with two members here, they said it sounded okay to post a thread effectively asking "trivia" questions encompassing several questions. I have no doubt I could find the answers to all these questions with a bit of Google searches and forum lurking, but this saves me more time and gives me more exact answers, and hopefully provides an interesting thread.
The idea was set off for the purpose of asking about DP-series threads, but I'm going to get a bit carried away and ask about the entire TCG, and its relation to various other forms. I've personally never gotten to go to any tournaments and my competence at actually playing the game has never actually been put into practice beyond playing with some EX Ruby & Sapphire pre-constructed decks with my sister, so perspectives from people as both players, collectors, and both are welcome. Any answer you're actually able to answer/provide input on, please do. I wish I could say this was for some greater glory of some sort of study or website report or anything, but it's mostly feeding my own curiosities. I'm basically going to list them off randomly as they come to my mind, and your answers might inspire more questions.
I'm not necessarily looking for straight yes or no answers for most of these. Consider them prompts to discuss facts and your opinions rather than answer one question and move on. You don't have to answer every single question, so just answer the ones that really interest you and you have things to say. If I've made any incorrect assumptions (as I'm sure I have), please point them out.
Thanks in advance both for reading and for answering.
1. The most immediate thing apparent is that DP series cards boost the card count per pack from 9 to 10. Why was this done, and how did people respond? (Identically, how did people respond when the e-card series dropped the count from 11 to 9, and why didn't the DP series restore it to 11?)
2. The mid to later EX series sets had really nice reverse/alternate holographic cards. Perhaps this is subjective, but why did they switch back to the less appealing rainbow reflective reverse holographic style?
3. This one genuinely bothers me. Why was the 120 HP limit broken without some sort of detriment? i.e. only Pokémon-ex had been allowed to break the limit previously, and that was presumably justifiable due to the two prize draw for knocking any Pokémon-ex out. How is this justifiable, if at all?
4. How did old players, new players, and collectors react to the 120 HP limit being broken?
5. Repeat questions 3 and 4, but with the adjustment to Weakness and Resistance systems.
6. If the Unlimited format is even played at all, has the DP series completely outclassed all previous expansion sets? Again, I've always been nothing more than a casual collector, but my impression has been that Base series cards still stood a chance when Neo series came out, and Base and Neo still stood a chance when the EX cards came out, but the DP series has broken HP caps and in some cases are a lot harder to tally up damage against them with less of an Achilles heel regarding Weakness. Do I have the wrong impression, or has the DP series completely and utterly outclassed all older series?
7. This ties in with the last question and several others, but my favorite card sets to collect were Team Rocket, Neo Destiny, and EX Team Rocket Returns. I don't know how Team Rocket was received by the competitive community, but I read Light Pokémon in the Neo Destiny set were mostly ignored, and EX TRR didn't necessarily shake things up.
- In Team Rocket, Dark Pokémon all had exceptionally low HP (if memory serves, so did the Fossil expansion as a whole beforehand) to justify extremely powerful attacks. Were they competitive then? Do they even stand a chance now?
- In Neo Destiny, the trend for Dark Pokémon was identical. Light Pokémon did the reverse, with high HP and a focus on weaker damage attacks instead (doing tech-like things and healing instead). Maybe I simply read some idiot reviewer back in 2000whenever, but why were they snubbed? Would they still be useless?
- EX TRR, from my impression, ignored the HP and attack trends, solely focusing on the idea of being dual-typed Pokémon. Was this due to a trend towards higher HP in the TCG? (One that evidently continued into DP?)
8. What is the general sort of gameplay employed in the current format? The last time I payed attention, Haymaker (re: no evolution, do moderate damage ASAP and then worry about building up later) was the way to go, but nowadays I really only notice tech-style things for non-evolving Pokémon and heavy hits come from higher-evolutions and EX/Lv. X. Is the TCG about evolution as soon as possible now?
- If so/if not, there have been weird changes like Pokémon (usually Basic) being able to attack for zero Energy, and it's usually only Basics being given these sorts of built-in items (not familiar with the mechanic). Depending on your answer to Q8, do these factor into the game at all?
9. Tied in with 8: is the current format faster or slower than previous formats?
10. Tied in with 8 and 9: in some cases, Lv.X can be seen almost as a Stage 3 evolution of sorts. Does this speed up/slow down the game, and how has that changed the format?
11. If you've been playing the TCG for a while, what have been your favorite game mechanics and changes added (eg Pokémon ex/Lv. X, Dark/Light/Shning Pokémon, Pokémon-SP, Delta Species, Metal and Dark Energy finally being made available as basic Energy cards). What have been your least favorite?
- If you only started playing the TCG recently/relatively recently, is there anything from earlier sets you wish they would bring back? Anything you find absolutely insane? Interesting? Boring? etc?
12. What have been your favorite expansions? Least favorite expansions? And in both cases, why?
13. How much is my EX Unseen Forces Lugia ex worth? I'm just kidding, I'll Google that. But in general, I remember Base Set Charizards being worth 100 dollars. Does that sort of hysterical overvalue still occur? How do you feel about it? Personally, aside from some of those extremely rare Japanese promos, I don't understand why anyone would ever pay anything approaching or exceeding 50 dollars for any individual card.
14. Everyone said in 10 years, all their Pokémon cards would be worth 100 dollars. It's been 10 (or more??) years. What happened?
15. Something that made me discouraged from continuing to collect TCG cards was the fact it seemed a lot easier to amass more cards for less money as an actual tournament player, what with Prereleases, POP series cards, arbitrary promos, etc. where I'd throw 50 dollars max at any individual expansion and end up with bundles of doubles and nobody to trade with. There have typically never been any local tournaments, etc. within the city I live so not going to these things is a decision more or less out of my hands and a practical consideration more than anything. Was this a faulty assumption? Comment regarding this to some degree, I'm interested.
16. How much does the average collector throw at any given individual expansion? How much does the average person who plays at tournaments?
17. Has the TCG gotten more or less expensive as time has gone on?
18. I've read you can spend money on entire booster pack boxes and not have any chance at collecting the entire set, because they actively limit how many Pokémon-ex/Lv.X/Star/SH are in any given box. Does this discourage anyone from buying booster pack boxes?
19. Compare Japanese booster pack distribution, theme decks, promos, etc. to American equivalents. Does Japan have an unfair advantage in getting the cards they want/need for their decks?
20. I'm familiar with PokéGym (maybe other sites) and their apparent connection to TCG officials, etc. I don't really have any particular question, but just wondering if that has any impact if at all on anything I might have asked before, if officials go there for feedback to implement into the metagame/rulings/card production, if you feel obligated to go there, etc. Anything like that at all? (Sorry if it's a taboo to mention PokéGym, btw.)
21. Is there any instance where you could evolve your Pokémon into one with less HP? (For example, in early sets, Charmander usually had 40 ~ 50 HP, since Charmeleon usually had 60 ~ 80 HP, and in Dark Charmeleon's case, he only had 50 HP. Has there been a Charmander with 60 HP released, so that evolution into Dark Charmeleon would actually lose you 10 HP? I know the answer to that one is no, but it's a hypothetical and I'm wondering if anything similar is actually in place. And I'm not asking about things like evolution from Oddish -> Dark Gloom -> Erika's Vileplume, since that actively goes against the rules.)
22. Kadabra hasn't been available since the e-card series for legal reasons. Is that ever going to get undone.
23. Articuno, Zapdos, and Moltres weren't available as themselves in any EX expansion. They were only available as Pokémon-ex. Which means, for example, there was a giant gap (from Skyridge to Majestic Dawn) between which you could get two cards named "Articuno" (or "Zapdos", or "Moltres"). Has there been any other exceptionally large gap for the availability of a Pokémon species?
- Again, the three birds weren't available ~as themselves~ for the whole EX expansion. Not including them and Kadabra, was there anyone else not available in the EX expansion as ~themselves~?
24. I read "Delta" species referred to the idea of being the 'fourth' variation, after Dark, Light, and Shining Pokémon. Is that right?
25. Next month, there's actually going to be a tournament (for those curious, the Ontario provincials) that will actually be close to where I am for once (since I'm away for university). I'm 19 and have a modest collection of mostly older cards. I'm going to maybe e-mail the people in charge of the tournament, but what's the general atmosphere of these sorts of things? Is there anyone else my age? Can I go to these to just watch, maybe throw a pre-constructed deck around for fun, or is this serious stuff for serious people and I'd be sitting around bored?
I definitely have a lot more questions, but I have class in half an hour anyways. More questions are definitely floating around in my head, but I'll take this as a convenient prompt to see how the reception of this thread and these questions go. (Also, treading on Q20's material, would this thread take off well on PokéGym? No offense to Pokébeach, I went here first because THIS was the site I followed from 2003-2006 and continued to follow, but I'm really aiming to get as many answers as I can.)
Again, thanks in advance in all regards.