Give it a few weeks and I might bite the bullet though :< is anyone else currently -off- hacking?
I am...sorta. I came back because I had an idea for a hack and I wanted it to be great, so I thought that by examining other hacks and, at the same time, helping others in areas where they might need work (usually in the form of opinions, I'm not completely sure my hacking skills now are what they used to be, given that it's been years since I've hacked seriously). Plus, with all of the resources, new tutorials, and the like that are available, it's easier to get into hacking than ever.
Actually, on that point...I do want to talk about something that kept me from coming back for a long time. Even before I had this hack idea, I would glance at the hacks forum every now and again, and I would feel a little sad. Sad because I'd always hoped that there would be more non-GF styled hacks, but even today I see things like "You are a X, a kid living in Y town. You aspire to collect the badges of the Z region, while combating the evil W team." With variations here or there. And this isn't a bad thing in itself, I've seen some rather impressive hacks come out of this.
Though it still makes me feel as if there is so much untapped potential that can and should come out of Pokemon rom hacking. I've watched as the capabilities of hacking have evolved and, similarly, how the hacks have. Yet, the more time that passes, the more I wonder "Why aren't there more non-Pokemon hacks" or "Why aren't there more gym-less or team-less hacks out there?" I can completely understand an up and comer thinking learning that they can make their own game and then immediately jumping for the GF formula, but I find it staggering how few hacks actually try to be either of those (and, that I know of, no complete ones exist).
Though, for me, it would be ideal that less Pokemon-based Pokemon hacks would be created thanks to the games' malleable nature (in terms of hacking), I would even like to see more gym-less or team-less hacks in the case of those that are about Pokemon, for the sole reason that I think it bottlenecks creativity when people limit themselves to those two ideas. Not to say you couldn't have a non-linear adventure type hack with gyms, indeed you could, but having them as mandatory points to advance would make that difficult. In fact, many times I read through stories and wonder why there are teams or gyms at all, and why the hack didn't just opt for more free-form antagonists or some other form of boss battles, ones that, in the grand scheme, didn't seem like mandatory side attractions to the story.
One hack that I think takes this idea and does wonderful things with it is Pokemon Ruby Destiny - Rescue Rangers. Though I didn't notice when I was younger, that was quite the unique hack. Not only did it boast a party system for most of its playthrough (which is something that pretty much unique to it, I don't think you can find it in other hacks), but it also managed to have quests and a lot of side features without being completely nonlinear (and, at the same time, not being too linear and opening up as the player progressed).
It's that sort of non-standard concept that I would like to see more of. Whether that will actually happen or not...I'm not sure. After all, I see a lot of Rom Hacking forum dwellers saying things like "Once I get done with X hack, I'll play this,"...and I see it a lot. Heck, I look at the counter for how many people are viewing the forum sometimes and just awe in wonder. As a result, it would seem that I'm an incredibly small minority in this, so I guess all I can say is that this is my 2 cents on...the state of Pokemon hacks. I might be asking for too much, or maybe even expecting too much, but I'll at least remain hopeful.