Technology has gone too far

[Rivvon]

Rotom started calling me by a nickname today. I thought it would be fine because "lel memz" but about 5 seconds after I let him do that I started to regret every life decision I've ever made. And he won't. Stop. Giving. Me. "Advice." Yes Rotom, I know you can poison opponents thanks, you told me that three times already in the past 30 seconds. I can't use the map feature any more because he's talking to me about useless stuff every 2 seconds and blocks the map. Yeah okay he has O-powers now but honestly I don't think receiving 200 Encounter Powers makes up for this eternal torment.

I didn't figure out how to drop him into the water during the water trial so my opportunity for that has passed. But surely there must be some power switch I can access to put an end to this misery. I didn't see anything in the Options menu, so it must be located elsewhere. Any help on this matter will be most appreciated.

In all seriousness, jeez my enjoyment of this game has dropped when Rotom started becoming "friendly," he's just so invasive. I have to actively ignore the bottom screen at all times now. I think this was way more successful at the start of the game where Rotom only occasionally quipped at you. Is there at least some way to stop him from calling you the nickname? I don't want him calling me "Roto-N" every time I see a wild Pokémon...

 

[colours]

imo a fair bit of an overreaction, but that's because Rotom has kinda grown on me; i think it's a cute traveling companion. ive also learned to kinda tune out the useless stuff it says.

try not to burst a blood vessel by looking at the bottom of the screen is the most i can tell you. /shrug

 

[Rivvon]

imo a fair bit of an overreaction, but that's because Rotom has kinda grown on me; i think it's a cute traveling companion. ive also learned to kinda tune out the useless stuff it says.

try not to burst a blood vessel by looking at the bottom of the screen is the most i can tell you. /shrug

Thanks for the advice! I hope Rotom can once again grow on me the way it had when it wasn't so invasive the way it has for you!

 

[colours]

no prob, it's what i do

at most it's disruptive when you actually want to use it for something and it's too busy making conversation, but other than that... not really a big deal

 

[Kieran]

I loved interacting with mine on Moon, and now UltraMoon have me loving it even more.
I love talking to it though it asked me to bring my Pokemon to the Pokemon Center in the midst of the Elite 4.

 

[The Green One]

Lol I definitely enjoyed reading your rant. Not reached that stage yet with Rotom, will have to keep my eye out

 

[Sabrewulf238]

I just got to this point and I'd have to agree it's pretty overbearing.

It wouldn't even be so bad if what Rotom said was interesting or cute but it's literally just "Hey player, here's where I give you advice you didn't ask for..." on constant repeat.

It's not endearing at all.

 

[Arcanine is best doggo]

I didn't figure out how to drop him into the water during the water trial so my opportunity for that has passed.

Wait what? I'm not very far into my game yet and I don't like the sound of being harassed by Rotom. How do I do that?

 

[DarkPokeball1985]

I'm only on the second island but will still go back and forth as I still have plenty of Pokemon to catch and the fact that I've fallen in love with Mantime surfing. But I love my Rotem. He helped me find locations, he helped me learn more about Pokemon, he even help me find places to take pictures of wild Pokemon.

 

[Rivvon]

Wait what? I'm not very far into my game yet and I don't like the sound of being harassed by Rotom. How do I do that?

I think because all Rotom forms have Levitate, it's actually not possible to drop it into the water, despite its fear of this occurring.

No I agree, it's really overdone

I loved Rotom in S/M, I loved it even more when I got to Ultra because of the enhanced interaction.

Except that literally ever since I reached the third island, it won't. ****ing. Stop. Coming up with "here's where I give you advice you didn't ask for." That you can't skip. All you can do is hold touch screen to make the text go faster, because letting us use the A button was too hard.

Every single time I leave a battle (yes, including wild battles.) Every single time I open my Pokémon menu or my bag. Every single time I open the Pokédex. Every single time I land after flying somewhere. Every time I come back from Poké Pelago or Festival Plaza.
I am not exaggerating, for anyone who hasn't gotten up to that point yet. It's literally that bad.

It's especially infuriating when I'm trying to navigate through an area and I want to look at the map so I can look through every nook and cranny without missing anything (would be nice if I could zoom out the camera, I might need the map less then.)

Who designed this?

Bolded for emphasis; if I didn't make use of the bottom screen maybe it would be easier to overlook or ignore Rotom? But I appreciate the bottom-screen features and his constant "advice" literally gets in the way of that.

See what I mean?

https://gfycat.com/QuarrelsomeLargeDotterel

You're goddamn right, advice I didn't ask for.

This makes me think that this whole ordeal could have been a really clever way of integrating appropriate tutorials and tips for newer players if Rotom didn't do it so often and they were timed based on in-game things. Like, I vaguely caught glimpse of him saying something about how Rain increases Water-Type attack damage and lowers Fire-Type damage. Which is like, okay yes, I've been playing VGC since 2011, I do know about weather, thanks. But... he told me this after the Water trial. The one that takes place with rain conditions. To me, his advice doesn't matter. But to a novice player... wouldn't it have been better to tell them that hint before that trial??

Making his quips random doesn't really help anyone; even the most novice player will understand that poison lowers HP and how to equip items after the 15th time he's mentioned it. Worst part is, I think he actually says some helpful things, like he says there's some place that people will upgrade your Photo Club stuff or something, but since I'm trying so hard to tune him out, I don't even get to read that stuff.

If they're going to have a tutorial constantly at the player's side, the timing of the advice needs to be more appropriate given what is currently happening in the game. And honestly, with a franchise that has been around as long as Pokémon, I don't think it's the best idea to treat all players like novices. At the very least, Rotom should have asked the player how often they wanted to receive his "advice" throughout their journey so they could opt for little to no "advice" if they chose.

I just got to this point and I'd have to agree it's pretty overbearing.

It wouldn't even be so bad if what Rotom said was interesting or cute but it's literally just "Hey player, here's where I give you advice you didn't ask for..." on constant repeat.

It's not endearing at all.

I was alright with him in the very beginning of the game because: one, he only ever piped up on occasion, and two, because he asked questions. Not the most thought-provoking, and there was definitely some repetition, but at least it was interactive, Rotom spoke to you and you answered. But being stopped from utilizing the bottom screen every 5 seconds to be told how to play a game that I've been playing for years and years is, as you've said, not endearing at all.

 

[colours]

man, rotom talks too little (as is the case in SM), people complain

rotom talks too much (apparently in USUM), people complain

no use making anyone happy unless there's a toggle in what rotom says and what rotom does

 

[Sirfetch’d]

The Rotom Dex is one of my absolute favorite features. For years we had a static/boring bottom screen and now we have something full of interaction. It feels like we are on this adventure with a companion as opposed to traveling alone. It's fun!

 

[Haggerella]

Honestly, rotom in s/m was the second worst part of that game (and anime tbh)

My bag is my tool. The bottom screen has my wizzbang gadgets and that's been perfect for 6 generations. I don't want my tools talking to me unless it is beneficial to my gameplay experience??? (yes hello zelda botw you could have used a rotom)

Like above posters said, if he said useful crap that'd be fab, but he ...doesn't need to tell me to heal my 1 pokemon that took 5hp damage.

Basically, like many games do already, there should be an option to turn off "rotom hints and tips" so y'all that enjoy him can keep doing so.

tldr. I'm pretty nervous now. C:

 

[Flowerchild]

I don't really see how it should bother anyone; compared to the excess of cutscenes and characters that demand your attention every few minutes in this game, Rotom is a completely passive companion. You can easily just not look at the bottom screen when it's talking if for some reason you don't enjoy what it has to say. Personally the cute interactions with Rotom were some of my favorite moments in this game.

 

[colours]

I'll be the first to love the enhanced interaction with Rotom, but no one needs him to pop up with unwanted and unasked for "advice" every time you just open and close out of menus. Rotom dex already only has like three features, blocking one of them for several seconds at a time every time you just make an action isn't ideal.

Maybe i'm not at the part where this happens yet (I'm about to face Olivia currently) but Rotom rarely really speaks for me... I don't see the issue? Every time I make an action, I don't see Rotom interjecting with anything; in fact, it hardly ever speaks until I tap the bottom screen.

(Also, side note, I don't really recall people complaining about Rotom talking too little in S/M.)

You don't, but I sure as heck do. I remember the many, many people back in the good ol' SM days complaining that Rotom taking up good ol' space at the bottom of the screen with it's supposedly useless map when we can have the static menu of past generations.

Just because you don't recall doesn't mean the complains don't exist.

I don't think it's really fair to say that the bottom screen was useless for years, considering how much it offered in the latest games of the previous generation, and, all things considered, the only real benefit you get from Rotom Dex in Ultra compared to S/M are the Roto Loto powers. Everything else is still a downgrade over the PokéNav Plus.

I don't know if I would personally say "useless", but previous generations' bottom screens, at least if you're comparing it to the Rotom-Dex seems... boring and bland? I suppose ultimately it depends on whether you enjoy Rotom's conversational quips or not; but so far (at least where I'm at), Rotom is hardly offensive with conversational interjections.

 

[colours]

Like I've already mentioned, it's not something I've noticed started happening until sometime into the start of the third island. Then it hits some kind of trigger and it just starts pooping out the same 5-6 pieces of advice every time I leave a battle and whenever I navigate through my menus.

i suppose we'll see once I get to the third Island. for now though, it seems extremely passive.

I'm not sure how that's what you got from those complaints.
In there I see people complaining that Rotom was a downgrade in terms of features, not people complaining that they wanted Rotom to talk more.

you're missing the point; rotom talking very little essentially meant that it was taking up space and as such the complaints were all like "waahh i want my previous generation's menus back"

anyway we can go back and fourth about the nature of the complaints in particular but it'd hardly be productive conversation. the bigger point being is that the essence of the complaints focused on the pointlessness of the rotom-dex due to it not functioning much of anything. while very little has changed functionally in usum with it, people are now upset at the very thing that they claimed they wanted changed: for rotom to actually have a point being there.

it's a traveling companion. that's the point, and it's supposed to be making conversation. i suppose offering needless advice more often than not is perhaps grating and not the most ideal way of breaking the ice with the player, but not (imo) a significant issue when there's genuine conversations that it wants to have with you, something that i think is a cute improvement over SM.

 

[Desert Stream~]

Kinda reminds me of Cappy in mario odyssey, or all those NPCs that want you to look at the action guide xD
This is what we get if we ask for no tutorials I guess...

 

[TrendyHipsta]

Reminds me of Navi from Zelda. . _ .;

 

[clbgolden]

Like stated before I wouldn't find it too much of a problem if he didn't give me advice basically whenever I want to look at the map or want to use Roto Loto. Seriously, it's like "Shokay time to see where my next goal is!" And then Rotom's like, "LEL NOPE HERE'S SOME ADVICE YOU ALREADY KNOW."

But I really can't hate Rotom because Roto Loto saves lives.

 

[colours]

Has anyone clearly expressed dissatisfaction about Rotom specifically talking too little? Or are you choosing to interpret the complaints that way because it conveniently fits your narrative?

forgive me for my utter bluntness but why the heck would i twist anything to fit my own argument. drop the ad hominem ridiculousness, please.

secondly, the point i was trying to emphasize several times over (that you seemingly ignored?) was that the complaints were about how useless Rotom were because it didnt do much functionality wise, including inciting conversation.

Is this clearer now?