What's your opinion on IVs?

Started by Darkroman September 14th, 2013 1:04 PM
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  • 19 replies
Male
Seen January 2nd, 2014
Posted November 28th, 2013
180 posts
11.6 Years
This is just about IVs. What is your stance on them? Are they perfect the way they are? Should they be completely omitted from the Pokemon series? What would you change about them if you don't like how they're implemented?

My stance is that they should remain how they are in game, but when it comes to competitive battling, they all should either be maxed by default (31 in all stats), or go half-way (15 IVs in all stats). Going about IVs this way means everyone is on a level playing field, and any differences between pokemon will be more based on strategy rather than luck (besides move accuracy of course). This would also mean pokesav, AR use, or RNG will not be a factor in online battling. Your pokemon training and differences for competitive battling will only proper EV training, and team criteria. IVs are just a misplaced 'hardcore' element. What about unique Pokemon? Well who cares when people who play competitively find a shortcut anyway for high IVs when legit players want to battle online, only to be discouraged because of hacked "legit" pokemon?

That's my stance anyway, what's yours?

Flushed

never eat raspberries

Seen November 4th, 2017
Posted May 18th, 2017
2,301 posts
9.7 Years
IVs should be a part of the Pokemon world. This allows for a more in-depth gaming experience, not to mention, on a more personal level, the uniqueness that comes with every Pokemon because of IVs. From a competitive battling view, IVs are what differentiate the trainers who do put in the effort to raise "perfect Pokemon", from those who don't, and obviously the ones with max IVs are rewarded. This spurned the rise of technological shortcuts, i.e. RNG, which, depending on your ethics, may or may not be justified. But overall, IVs should be kept the way they are in my opinion. There are those who will boost through unorthodox methods, but that's a factor of choice and will continue to be a topic of discussion in the future.

Livewire

Male
Sunnyshore City
Seen December 3rd, 2022
Posted August 2nd, 2019
14,091 posts
13.8 Years
IV's need to be there because they're a great parallel to real world genetics and inheritance. There has to be a rhyme and reason as to why even individual Pokemon of the same species are actually quite different underneath, just like real organisms. They give a sense of individuality to your Pokemon, I think.

bobandbill

one more time

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A cape
Seen 7 Hours Ago
Posted 23 Hours Ago
16,786 posts
15.2 Years
I like the IV system. As mentioned by Live, it parallels the real-world genetics and etc decently, especially with the likes of the breeding system.

Just because some people have hacked Pokemon or used methods like RNG (which are controversial) doesn't mean the idea behind IVs is bad, it just means that better checks need to be in place against hacks.

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Lucky1Yena

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Age 29
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Seen June 19th, 2022
Posted March 11th, 2022
156 posts
11 Years
IVs are what differentiate the trainers who do put in the effort to raise "perfect Pokemon", from those who don't
I don't know how some people have the time and patience for that though. I know I wouldn't. And how would you know if you have the perfect IVs anyway? You can't exactly go into the stats and view them.
What would I like to see in the future? A few things, actually.
1) A trio of ROM hacks [gen1, gen2, gen3] that, aside from the generation, are pretty much identical: You start in Kanto and post-elite four you travel through Johto as it would have been "3 years ago".
2) A demake of Heart Gold / Soul Silver. Possibly using Fire Red as a base.
3) An official Pokémon game, following the standard "gotta catch 'em all" format, but aimed more at the older players.

danks_

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Male
Darmstadt, Germany
Seen December 12th, 2013
Posted October 2nd, 2013
106 posts
9.9 Years
The IV system should stay as is, I think it gives variety to the game. How boring would it be if ALL pokemon were the same?

Exactly all Pokemon were the same, imagine all Pikachus having the same stats. I think the competitive mode would suffer if IVs stopped existing, there would be no real difference between two Pokemon in a fight, all strategies would end up being the same, there would be no such thing as Pokemon Builds...

I like the system as is, even if you can't tell without training the Pokemon a bit and without calculators. Although, they said that IVs and EVs would be easier to see/examine in the up coming gen...

Aeroblast

Male
Basement
Seen February 25th, 2017
Posted February 25th, 2017
4,173 posts
9.8 Years
I view IVs as a sort of a necessary evil. I really don't like the concept of "perfect Pokemon" and inferiority, and grinding my time to get perfect Pokemon, but life doesn't work that way, Pokemon doesn't have to, too. Plus all the same Pokemon having the same stats would be a bit boring.
Male
Seen January 2nd, 2014
Posted November 28th, 2013
180 posts
11.6 Years
I don't know how some people have the time and patience for that though. I know I wouldn't. And how would you know if you have the perfect IVs anyway? You can't exactly go into the stats and view them.
If you EV train and keep track of your EVs, you can calculate what your IVs are. The most accurate way is to do some kind of EV based online battle of some sort where it automatically sets your pokemon's level to 100, and then view your pokemon's stats during battle. Write down the stats, and then plug in the numbers at some site that has an IV calculator.
Seen September 12th, 2016
Posted June 17th, 2016
1,254 posts
15.3 Years
It's conflicting, I like how every Pokemon are different from each other by stats it's realistic that way, like how animals differ from one another, even they are the same species.
In the meantime, I love how PMD series cancelled IV and EV, you could almost make any Pokemon a strongmon, then one can play with their own favs.

Nolafus

Aspiring something

Age 27
Male
Lost in thought... again
Seen March 3rd, 2018
Posted March 11th, 2017
5,722 posts
10.9 Years
I love em, and hate em. They're definitely necessary, but the process to get a perfect set for competitive battling is insane. They need to be there, but it would be nice if they were to make it easier to at least look at them.
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Sydian

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Age 30
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Seen May 22nd, 2022
Posted November 29th, 2021
33,354 posts
15.2 Years
They make a difference, but I'm not a competitive battler, so I don't make a big deal out of it. I do RNG my Pokemon with good IVs though. I mean, that's kind of the point of RNG. It makes them look more appealing for trading as well, and I mean, I can RNG for good IVs, so I mean...why not?
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Seen September 12th, 2016
Posted June 17th, 2016
1,254 posts
15.3 Years
They make a difference, but I'm not a competitive battler, so I don't make a big deal out of it. I do RNG my Pokemon with good IVs though. I mean, that's kind of the point of RNG. It makes them look more appealing for trading as well, and I mean, I can RNG for good IVs, so I mean...why not?
Syd, I like your unique thought of IVs, honestly I have never thought about that aspect.
When I think about IVs and EVs, it's about my team, my Pokemon, my winning chance with this Pokemon's IV. You changed my opinions about IV, thank you! :)

Black Dynamite

Resident Noob

Age 28
Male
Australia
Seen October 24th, 2013
Posted October 24th, 2013
65 posts
9.7 Years
This is just about IVs. What is your stance on them? Are they perfect the way they are? Should they be completely omitted from the Pokemon series? What would you change about them if you don't like how they're implemented?

My stance is that they should remain how they are in game, but when it comes to competitive battling, they all should either be maxed by default (31 in all stats), or go half-way (15 IVs in all stats). Going about IVs this way means everyone is on a level playing field, and any differences between pokemon will be more based on strategy rather than luck (besides move accuracy of course). This would also mean pokesav, AR use, or RNG will not be a factor in online battling. Your pokemon training and differences for competitive battling will only proper EV training, and team criteria. IVs are just a misplaced 'hardcore' element. What about unique Pokemon? Well who cares when people who play competitively find a shortcut anyway for high IVs when legit players want to battle online, only to be discouraged because of hacked "legit" pokemon?

That's my stance anyway, what's yours?
only issue is hidden power, that changes depending on IV's. i would like it if all pokemon had the same IV total but speialised in different stats. so maybe the max IV total is like 120, that way you can still find pokemon with maxed out IV's on the stats you want but are not 30+ across all stats, also all pokemon have atleast 1 stat with 31 IV. makes farming for the pokemon you want alot easier and the community doesn't have to depend on other means to get maxed IV pokemon for competitive gaming.

charmander
HP: 20
Atk: 31
Def: 15
SpA: 20
SpD: 10
Spe: 24
IV tot: 120
Male
USA
Seen December 27th, 2021
Posted July 4th, 2014
322 posts
9.8 Years
I don't know how some people have the time and patience for that though. I know I wouldn't. And how would you know if you have the perfect IVs anyway? You can't exactly go into the stats and view them.
That's how I feel about them. I like that it's a part of the game so people can do it if they choose, but I have no interest. By the way I like your top 6 Pokémon! I can tell that you're a fan of the dog style Pokémon so am I.
I don't use "uber" Pokémon, I don't calculate stat values, I don't use cheating devices, I don't breed my way to perfection, and I don't care about natures. I catch my Pokemon the way they are, and treat them like individuals instead of brainless drones. If you use this philosophy, copy & paste this into your signature.

Decimosoma

Free to dream, free to smile

Seen February 13th, 2014
Posted February 9th, 2014
268 posts
9.7 Years
I once thought that IV was the way to go, but what's the point. Really? Yeah, it's quite nice that you can get your trades done easier and it's a good strategy for online battling.
But after a while I thought of myself "You're just making yourself look boring".

I'm the kind of guy that want to use mostly underused Pokémon or Pokémons that has been forgotten by many, with weak stats overall and put myself in a ring where only Hard challenges awaits as individual and see for myself which particular Pokémon have what kind of limits and how far they can go. I believe that's the most interesting thing to do in any Pokémon game.
Seen February 26th, 2015
Posted February 8th, 2015
1,908 posts
10.3 Years
Yep, this is what gives diversity in Pokémon skills, like human nature. I think it's needed to get more varieties of the same Pokémon, so one Pokémon seems all the less replaceable. Since it's a contributing factor to Hidden Power and things, it's also a pretty unpredictable thing. For the competitive battler, they are a pain to RNG up, and yet get everything on their side.
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Male
Seen January 2nd, 2014
Posted November 28th, 2013
180 posts
11.6 Years
IMO, the hidden power mechanic is dumb, and I think IVs are still a crappy mechanic for competitive play, which makes hidden power crappy (insert infinite loop joke here). Hidden power is just a weak move to cover a weakness. You can cover a weakness that's better with almost any other move that a Pokemon learns. Overall It just seems like hidden power was some sort of quick-fix for balance issues in the game. I think it'd be more interesting if hidden power's mechanic was somewhere along the lines of a random type whenever you used it, or random type whenever you'd go into battle.

IVs and genetics? More like real life? It's a game made for kids, and even for older teens and adults, IVs are useless. Granted that at level 100 IVs make 1 stat point of a difference per IV value (level 100.. 0 IVs attack is 300, with 31 IVs it's 331), and half that (15) at level 50, but it's still big enough of a difference. EVs make an even bigger difference really (63 stat points with 252 EVs at level 100), so no matter what IVs a player's pokemon has, he/she is still gonna go with the same Pokemon build depending on what strategy he/she chose. IVs don't play a role at all in strategizing in competitive play, it only affects total stats that that certain pokemon has. Again, IVs (and hidden power adjacently) are totally useless in the overall grand scheme of things.

Natures are fine, at least you have a lot more control over natures and has an actual strategy element to them.

I don't mean to sound harsh, I'm just keeping the debate open.