Festival Plaza

Started by Hikamaru June 7th, 2017 10:42 PM
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  • 35 replies

Hikamaru

Age 30
Female
Australia
Seen January 24th, 2019
Posted September 4th, 2018
50,214 posts
12.2 Years
So, this feature has been under huge criticism from players in S/M due to its instability with connection for trading and battling, sometimes causing people to log out when their internet goes down, which can happen during the worst times like in the middle of a trade.

Festival Plaza does have other features like the shops that can be used for stuff like dying clothes, raising Pokemon's stats and levels, and even obtaining items. Every "enhanced" version has improvements from the first paired version, and here it will be no different.

That said, do you hope to see improvements with Festival Plaza in US/UM? Would you like to see the shops upgrade as you collect FC, akin to B2/W2's Join Avenue? Do you hope the connection issues could also be improved?
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Take. It. Out.

Seriously, this was the most convoluted bullmuk in the entire game. It was a massive downgrade from the simple, user-friendly interface that the P.S.S. had, and I want it gone. They won't touch it at all in all probability, unless they add a QR code function for player-designed clothing, which might be included in it if they do. But I can't see this changing at all. Which is a shame, because it's by far the worst thing about Sun and Moon. It's so inaccessible its ridiculous.

Nah

Age 30
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9.5 Years
Connection issues isn't really the fault of the feature, but rather people's internet connections and/or Nintendo's servers I would think.

What Festival Plaza looks like to me is an attempt to fuse B2/W2's Join Avenue and Gen 6's PSS, which were two well liked features, so in theory this sounds like a fantastic idea. The execution however wasn't exactly well done and we got this kind of user-unfriendly thing instead.

Would love to see it improved/fixed, because it could be something great, but my expectations for everything in regards to these games are low, so....
Nah ンン
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Hikamaru

Age 30
Female
Australia
Seen January 24th, 2019
Posted September 4th, 2018
50,214 posts
12.2 Years
I can definitely get you there, Nah. I probably won't expect Game Freak to change it much but I still hold out hope they'll at least put effort to make it slightly better.
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If nothing else, they could make it more user friendly. So many button presses just to exit the damn thing...I know it seems like a small, petty thing, but these things should not be so inconvenient. I'm sure if it took as long to save now as it used to in the older games there would be an outcry, and Pokemon is perhaps the only series I can think of outside of Dragon Quest that puts you through so much unnecessary text every time you want to do something you have to do a lot of...like heal your Pokemon. In a way it's worse than the cutscenes, and Festival Plaza was like...all of that, all in one place. If they can't make it more economic and user-friendly, they can AT LEAST make it faster.
Male
Stuck in Generation 3 :(
Seen July 23rd, 2017
Posted June 9th, 2017
1,761 posts
14.8 Years
Take. It. Out.

Seriously, this was the most convoluted bull**** in the entire game. It was a massive downgrade from the simple, user-friendly interface that the P.S.S. had, and I want it gone. They won't touch it at all in all probability, unless they add a QR code function for player-designed clothing, which might be included in it if they do. But I can't see this changing at all. Which is a shame, because it's by far the worst thing about Sun and Moon. It's so inaccessible its ridiculous.
If nothing else, they could make it more user friendly. So many button presses just to exit the damn thing...I know it seems like a small, petty thing, but these things should not be so inconvenient. I'm sure if it took as long to save now as it used to in the older games there would be an outcry, and Pokemon is perhaps the only series I can think of outside of Dragon Quest that puts you through so much unnecessary text every time you want to do something you have to do a lot of...like heal your Pokemon. In a way it's worse than the cutscenes, and Festival Plaza was like...all of that, all in one place. If they can't make it more economic and user-friendly, they can AT LEAST make it faster.
Yeah; ideally, I would hope that the Festival Plaza is replaced with something superior in Pokémon Ultra Sun/Ultra Moon... I haven't even used it, but the fan consensus seems to be that it is utterly horrible. And I've skimmed some of the mechanics of it, and they seem really convoluted (Generation 3 seems way simpler in comparison).. Game Freak should just bring back Join Avenue functionality as it was in Pokémon Black 2/White 2 and just use the works-anywhere Player Search System of Pokémon X and Y.

And did they really make dyed clothing/color options version-exclusive? -_->:(:|{D:}o_O Like, my gosh - that is just nonsensical; there are enough "version-exclusive" things in the game already!
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jombii

Crobat is ProBat

Male
Philippines
Seen June 28th, 2019
Posted April 13th, 2019
3,412 posts
8.9 Years
I'm not really fond of festival plaza as it is too much of a hassle when I just wanted to trade. But I don't think it's going away as it is packaged as Sophocles' baby project.

Hikamaru

Age 30
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Australia
Seen January 24th, 2019
Posted September 4th, 2018
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12.2 Years
I know I hate to admit it, but PSS returning seems very unlikely. Next generation it could be a possibility though.
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tokyodrift

got me looking for attention

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11.9 Years
They should just remove it, and bring back the PSS. It was simple, and WAY LESS steps to have to go through just to do something as simple as trading. I mean third versions seem to fix things that really didn't work out in the first iterations, let's just hope they actually listen to the consumer.

Radiating

Male
United States
Seen March 7th, 2021
Posted December 21st, 2018
5,787 posts
6.3 Years
Honestly I don't care if it goes away or gets replaced. I never had any issues using it and it's easy to navigate. My only complain is that it takes a bit more to get started than the old PSS.

Hikamaru

Age 30
Female
Australia
Seen January 24th, 2019
Posted September 4th, 2018
50,214 posts
12.2 Years
I thought that the reason I made this thread was made to spotlight on Festival Plaza features being improved because of how much it's been complained about, not a "I want PSS back" thread. PSS will not be returning in this generation because of compatibility issues with S/M which is because I know Festival Plaza will be carried over to US/UM.
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I think the point is that Festival Plaza could be improved if its accessibility was more akin to PSS, not that PSS should replace Festival Plaza outright, which we know probably won't happen. As a feature it has some interesting ideas, but as far as online connectivity goes, its clunky, slow, and frustrating to navigate. It doesn't really matter how they expand it, they NEED to make it more user-friendly...like PSS was. It was a colossal step backwards where it wasn't necessary; they HAD a working system, and these online features it had could have easily been separated, or more accessible than they were.

It's a badly designed bunch of good or interesting ideas, basically. The design is what needs to change. The ideas, not necessarily.

Hikamaru

Age 30
Female
Australia
Seen January 24th, 2019
Posted September 4th, 2018
50,214 posts
12.2 Years
I think the point is that Festival Plaza could be improved if its accessibility was more akin to PSS, not that PSS should replace Festival Plaza outright, which we know probably won't happen. As a feature it has some interesting ideas, but as far as online connectivity goes, its clunky, slow, and frustrating to navigate. It doesn't really matter how they expand it, they NEED to make it more user-friendly...like PSS was. It was a colossal step backwards where it wasn't necessary; they HAD a working system, and these online features it had could have easily been separated, or more accessible than they were.

It's a badly designed bunch of good or interesting ideas, basically. The design is what needs to change. The ideas, not necessarily.
I think the main reason why Festival Plaza was a menu feature in S/M was because the bottom screen's primary feature was Rotom Dex's map, which I do admit was lame because it literally kept showing where you were meant to go. I saw no appeal in that other than to please newcomers, much like the hand-holding through the entire Melemele Island portion.
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I think the main reason why Festival Plaza was a menu feature in S/M was because the bottom screen's primary feature was Rotom Dex's map, which I do admit was lame because it literally kept showing where you were meant to go. I saw no appeal in that other than to please newcomers, much like the hand-holding through the entire Melemele Island portion.
Those two things together are one of the primary reasons I think that Sun and Moon were rushed out for the 20th Anniversary - neither the RotomDex nor Festival Plaza were features of the quality that we have always been able to expect from Pokemon titles.

However, where the RotomDex was painfully limited but had a relatively simple (albeit rather static) interface, the Festival Plaza had a host of features but the muktiest interface I've seen in the games since the first generation titles...and they have the excuse of being limited by the technology of the time. Given that XY had the better interface in the PSS, despite being lower-tech titles, means there was no excuse for Festival Plaza to be as badly designed as it was, unless it was a technical issue.

I think this is why the focus is on the interface itself rather than the features - the features were fine. It was just...everything else. That's where it needs to be enhanced or improved upon. Expanding Festival Plaza with new features but still having it be dismally inaccessible is essentially wasted effort.

Mawa

The typo Queen

Age 30
Female
Canada
Seen August 13th, 2020
Posted March 1st, 2020
I like the Rotom Dex, but please bring back a better way to battle and trade!! :o I can't believe how awesome XY was for that and how awful SuMo were for stuff like that... I don't battle and trade as often now and I am pretty sure this influence me... In XY I could make my eggs hatch while waiting for a battle opponent or trade offer. Now I can't do that. They had a good formula imo and they ruined it.
I miiiiight be back?
And why am I not a supporter anymore >.<

smocks

fiat lux

Female
California
Seen March 25th, 2019
Posted March 10th, 2019
Was this just me but for a good amount of time, I didn't understand how the point system worked. Not knowing how to collect those points really did make the Festival Plaza seem sooo useless.

+ I agree it was just a whole step down from the P.S.S., routing for the P.S.S. to come back but since its following SM, the Festival Plaza will most likely come back.
Female
Seen February 7th, 2023
Posted February 26th, 2021
303 posts
7.7 Years
It needs to be gone honestly, if not, fixed up. There are so many questionable decisions that are made here that I don't even know where to begin. I don't understand why in order to trade online you have to log into the Wifi everytime. Why is there no type of Hot Key for this? And even worse, I can't even see my own Pokemon when I'm in there? I have to log out EVERY. SINGLE. TIME just to see what I have?! There's a PC for my Festival Plaza records but no PC for my Pokemon? What kind of nonsense is this? Oh yeah, the facilities give you the same items you can get at a Pokemart only instead, they're better here because they're technically free? Why am I going through such a hassle with facilities when I can just buy it at a Pokemart with less time and effort?

I get it honestly. They wanted some sort of Joint Avenue system. I agree that the ideas they have for it are pretty nice, the problem is the execution and man did Gamefreak screw up on it. I feel this could've worked better if they had some more time to go over and polish it, but instead this is what we got.

I wouldn't be so salty about the Festival Plaza if it wasn't the only way to get dyed clothes a certain way or having facilities that basically give out items I can already get in-game via Pokemart. Seriously, why are clothes separated by games? Why should I have to get lucky with a facility to get the clothes I want? (If I don't have a generous friend to help me). At least with Kalos they only seperated the clothes by gender. smh.

Overall, I feel that if they can't fix it, they should axe it or at least make it less annoying to use. If US&UM make the festival plaza bearable, I might like it more.
Ducolamia^_^

Hikamaru

Age 30
Female
Australia
Seen January 24th, 2019
Posted September 4th, 2018
50,214 posts
12.2 Years
I wouldn't be so salty about the Festival Plaza if it wasn't the only way to get dyed clothes a certain way or having facilities that basically give out items I can already get in-game via Pokemart. Seriously, why are clothes separated by games? Why should I have to get lucky with a facility to get the clothes I want? (If I don't have a generous friend to help me). At least with Kalos they only seperated the clothes by gender. smh.
I agree with this, because while I want to try different combinations with the clothes, I don't like having to constantly grind up FC to use it (despite my Festival Plaza currently containing three dye stands) so I often make my trainer wear blue clothes, though I guess it's because I like the colour.

I do hope US/UM don't restrict clothes and colours to a certain game, but knowing me they likely did it to try and get more people linking up. It was a failed execution of the customization if you ask me.
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Female
Seen February 7th, 2023
Posted February 26th, 2021
303 posts
7.7 Years
I agree with this, because while I want to try different combinations with the clothes, I don't like having to constantly grind up FC to use it (despite my Festival Plaza currently containing three dye stands) so I often make my trainer wear blue clothes, though I guess it's because I like the colour.

I do hope US/UM don't restrict clothes and colours to a certain game, but knowing me they likely did it to try and get more people linking up. It was a failed execution of the customization if you ask me.
It's the same for me as well! It wasn't until recently I realized how much I was missing out on when it came to dark clothes ( I did a run of my moon copy and I realized that I liked the clothes in that game waaaay better). To me, it really only feels like a hindrance on the player to have to constantly grind for more coins to get exactly what you want. I get making challenging parts to a game, but even then, this seemed a bit tedious considering how other features like PokePelago are so convenient for the player.

I agree the execution failed here too. Maybe if we could trade materials for clothes (like berries or a dye type of item) it would work, but here it really doesn't. Also, apparently, I was searching around and I read that even on the Japanese websites people didn't like this system at all. So hopefully, since it's closer to home, Gamefreak might change it up a bit. (Hopefully)
Ducolamia^_^

Hikamaru

Age 30
Female
Australia
Seen January 24th, 2019
Posted September 4th, 2018
50,214 posts
12.2 Years
It's the same for me as well! It wasn't until recently I realized how much I was missing out on when it came to dark clothes ( I did a run of my moon copy and I realized that I liked the clothes in that game waaaay better). To me, it really only feels like a hindrance on the player to have to constantly grind for more coins to get exactly what you want. I get making challenging parts to a game, but even then, this seemed a bit tedious considering how other features like PokePelago are so convenient for the player.

I agree the execution failed here too. Maybe if we could trade materials for clothes (like berries or a dye type of item) it would work, but here it really doesn't. Also, apparently, I was searching around and I read that even on the Japanese websites people didn't like this system at all. So hopefully, since it's closer to home, Gamefreak might change it up a bit. (Hopefully)
Actually, you can use berries to get colours that the dye stand normally wouldn't have. Unfortunately, it's mainly the rare berries you need, like the ones that weaken attacks of a certain type.
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countryemo

Kicking against the earth!

Age 29
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Seen February 9th, 2021
Posted September 10th, 2018
2,367 posts
13.5 Years
You can dye clothes???

I didnt mind the festival plaza, it worked for me, except when I tried adding someone who wasn't close by, and that took a while. Though trading and battling was okay after that. I had a similar issue with PSS, in which it was filled with Asian players and I couldn't find someone next to me.

My main problem with the plaza was upgrading buildings, I skipped on one and found out I couldn't revisit. Which was kinda weird. Also I hated walking in a circle and seeing the same buildings but different people.

Hikamaru

Age 30
Female
Australia
Seen January 24th, 2019
Posted September 4th, 2018
50,214 posts
12.2 Years
My main problem with the plaza was upgrading buildings, I skipped on one and found out I couldn't revisit. Which was kinda weird. Also I hated walking in a circle and seeing the same buildings but different people.
I can admit that was an issue as well, the fact that the buildings offered are entirely random and can even have a lower star rating than what you currently have. I do have four dye stalls currently but they're different colours just so I have decent options, and probably because that would be the only feature I'd care about.
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