does gamefreak know?

[Caliber70]

how annoying HMs are? do they have a plan to be done with HMs forever?
if HMs are here to stay, then i want changes to the system. give pokemon 6 move slots, the final 2 move slots be reserved specifically for HMs. that and change HM skills better. FLASH? CUT? seriously, HMs would not be that much of a problem if there were move deleters in every city, or if they did have good use that they not be a liability in battle.

 

[Skillah]

Hm Slaves are your Friend.

 

[Sopheria]

I'm certain GameFreak knows how annoying they are...I mean, we complain about them all the time haha. I've always wondered if GameFreak actually lurks on Pokemon forums to see what the fans think o.o

I think the HM system is definitely due for an overhaul, but I'd say just ditch HMs entirely and just have certain Pokemon who can surf and certain Pokemon who fly, and others who can't. A Lapras should just be able to swim across water, right? No reason it should need a machine and a moveslot in order to do it haha

 

[Caliber70]

Hm Slaves are your Friend.

and you sir have lost one pokemon slot. which is fine if you are replaying a game so you know what to expect, but for the new players 6 pokemon slots and over 15 pokemon types, i think its 18 types now? they need every pokemon slot and each of the 24 move slots they get. i am playing through platinum 4th gen for the first time and i am setting away 2 pokemon slots for HM slaves. hopefully my theory works where building up my 4 unit team the extra EXP from the 2 missing battlers divided among my 4 units will overpower any opponent.
and there is like wut? 8 HMs i heard.

HMs need a redo. make it a badge requirement to use such move only. one water type should cover all the water HMs without the skill waste in attack slots. any type with visible bulky muscular build should be able to strength and rocksmash. and i heard there is rock climb now X_X screw HMs.

 

[machomuu]

They do need to go away. HMs are easily, and I say this with absolutely no exaggeration, the worst mechanic in Pokemon. They serve little purpose, and I say this because Pokemon's never been above shamelessly making boundaries just because. One instance in BW, in particularly, had a wall of NPCs guarding the entrance to an area for literally no reason at all. And they tell you specifically that they're there for no reason.

HMs not being mandatory was easily one of my favorite things about XY, and it made getting into ORAS after the fact very jarring. Having HM slaves again was not something I missed. But the whole idea behind HMs is that they either block the player off from specific areas until the time is right or to "entice" them to revisit areas after they get them. However, the problem comes with the fact that both of those are very frustrating. Can't say I remember a time where I had more fun getting lost in Dark Cave or smiled like an idiot when I ventured down a long route only to realize that I didn't have the staple of staples- Cut. And that's what's worse, a lot of the moves are either superfluous or just plain not very good (gen 4...defog...just y?). More, there are so many HMs that generally the player will have 1 or as many as 3 HM slaves, usually made up of the small amount of Pokemon that can learn multiple, limiting not only what movesets the player can use, but also pushing the player from making a varied party and choosing HM-versatile Pokemon like Pelipper, which really isn't a good idea for a game that now has 700+ monsters to collect. It detriments the entire concept of the game.

And I worry that the devs might consider this some sort of hallmark of the series that fans would feel is a major loss if they reworked or got rid of it in favor of something more interesting like, say, having certain Pokemon innately be able to use the functions of various moves (which makes sense for many reasons and would ultimately make individual Pokemon 3-dimensional, as if what Pokemon they are actually matters to the world at large) or something even more fundamental than that. Some people would be, but if a few huffs is what it takes to get rid of/rework a feature that is there literally only to frustrate people and limit what Pokemon they can choose, is that really such a loss?

They know. It would take a lot for a veteran developer of many people who've studied game design not to notice such an anti-fun, anti-monster collection mechanic.

 

[ProfChaos]

yea there are lots of way they could fix this. BUt i like the idea of having them be like secondary abilities. Like Scyther can have a Main ability of "swarm" which effect's battle and a second ability "cut" which is used outside battle. Even if they Keep the moves as learnable HMs, they don't take up a slot, just becomes the pkm secondary ability.

They could make items that summon pkm like the Eon fluke in OR/AS. Make one for each of the HMs. Though i'd imagine this would be way more complicated to implement.

 

[Coffee]

The better question is: will they do anything about it soon? We know Gamefreak knows how annoying they are since they have made some Hms become regular Tms. Still though, I don't see why we even have Hms in the first place.

 

[Caliber70]

I HAVE FIGURED OUT A FIX FOR HMs!!

allies!! just like in the anime, Ash travels in a group. if gamefreak can set you up with a travelling buddy/rival/brother/sister/girlfriend/boyfriend that follows you around like in the anime, we can literally have a HM slave if they code the ally to auto use HMs. this adds possibility to expand the story too. of course you still get the HMs+badge yourself but to use it yourself becomes a choice. when you enter a gym your ally waits outside by themself and when you beat the leader and exit the gym your ally challenges the gym next and when you finish at the pokemon center your ally is also finish with the gym and ready to continue.
and what if your ally becomes the champion you fight? instead like earlier challenging the gym later, your ally challenges the elite4 first.
just imagine Oneechan is your final champion obstacle lol.

 

[Skillah]

Surf is a decent battle option in the story mode for the games, and waterfall isn't too bad either as you can get a nice flinch. Some of the HMS aren't the worst attacking moves out there. Obviously there are bad ones like cut and such but a move like fly or dive can help in a pinch when you need to dodge an attack. You just gotta know how to use them.

 

[acatfrommars]

Don't get me wrong I think that HMs are annoying too, but I don't want them to change. I think that HMs are in the games because they are used for more of a strategy purpose, you can either take the time to catch a certain Pokemon a use him as an HM slave or "sacrifice" one of your main Pokemon's move and use the HM on him/her. Gamefreak may change the use of HMs in the future, but I think they would have changed it already if they had wanted to.

Also, I think that having certain Pokemon that just know how to swim, or dig would be a terrible idea. The games are already pretty easy, why make them easier? Also what would constitute them to be able to do these moves, the skills and abilities that allow you to use an HM on them. There would just be too large of a variety imo.

 

[Hiatus]

I've always liked the idea of allowing Pokemon to have a couple of additional move slots, which would only be filled with attacks that could be utilized outside of battle (moves that are in these slots cannot be used while in a match). I feel this would majorly help on eliminating the need of HM-slaves.

 

[Hikamaru]

I feel like Game Freak are really making a bad pick with us by making most of these moves have weak base power. Fly, Surf, Waterfall and even Strength feel like the only ones even worth using in battle at the moment.

 

[Flowerchild]

BUt i like the idea of having them be like secondary abilities. Like Scyther can have a Main ability of "swarm" which effect's battle and a second ability "cut" which is used outside battle.

I've always liked the idea of allowing Pokemon to have a couple of additional move slots, which would only be filled with attacks that could be utilized outside of battle (moves that are in these slots cannot be used while in a match). I feel this would majorly help on eliminating the need of HM-slaves.

These are basically the same thing. I prefer ProfChaos's term, as if they can never be used in battle I'd tend to think of them as abilities rather than moves, but in general I like the idea a lot. HM slaves are part of every game, and they're a part we all dread having to deal with. Of course I like surf, fly, etc., but they could easily be replaced by other battle-only moves while the HMs were relegated to being overworld-only abilities.

I HAVE FIGURED OUT A FIX FOR HMs!!

allies!! just like in the anime, Ash travels in a group. if gamefreak can set you up with a travelling buddy/rival/brother/sister/girlfriend/boyfriend that follows you around like in the anime, we can literally have a HM slave if they code the ally to auto use HMs. this adds possibility to expand the story too. of course you still get the HMs+badge yourself but to use it yourself becomes a choice. when you enter a gym your ally waits outside by themself and when you beat the leader and exit the gym your ally challenges the gym next and when you finish at the pokemon center your ally is also finish with the gym and ready to continue.
and what if your ally becomes the champion you fight? instead like earlier challenging the gym later, your ally challenges the elite4 first.
just imagine Oneechan is your final champion obstacle lol.

I can imagine this, but I think it would probably be a feature that would be implemented in one game if at all, and not something that becomes a recurring trait of all Pokémon games. I think it might restrict the freedom of the game and include your follower forcing the story down your throat by being with you at all times, but it's still an interesting idea. I would play a game with that feature.

 

[TEXg715]

Replacing HMs

HMs are a drag, we all know it. So I propose the following:

Let a Pokemon's characteristics replace the use of HMs.

I think it'd be pretty cool. Imaging entering a cave and, instead of using flash, choosing Litwick to lit the way (you know, besides the soul sucking).

It makes designing the games harder since progression can become messy, but I think that with dedication it can be pulled off. And it can help make a truly open-world pokemon game. And since rumors of the NX state that the it might be a console/portable hybrid, I think that it could handle the heavy load of the games.

 

[Palamon]

HM moves seem to be losing their value every generation. I don't even teach Cut anymore, since it's barely needed in the most recent games. I kind of wish you could delete HM moves naturally, especially since some Pokemon can learn them without needing to teach them...

Though, yes, I'm sure Gamefreak knows how annoying it is. Maybe they do it on purpose.

 

[Ammako]

Yeah, in more recent games, they've made HM moves a lot less required.
In Gen. V you didn't seem to really -need- them as much as in previous Gens, and pushable boulders would be permanently stuck into place once you moved them once, so you could bring one Pokémon with Strength temporarily and you never had to actually keep it to access those areas anymore afterwards.

In X/Y it felt like the only HMs that were really required were Surf and Strength, which are both decent in-battle moves anyway imo. Only places that require Cut are optional side-areas with an item or two to pick up. Fly -might- be considered a waste of a slot, but it have never been mandatory anyway. It's always been really useful though.
And yeah Waterfall is kinda similar to Strength in-battle except it's a different type.

The HMs that mainly caused annoyances before were Cut, Rock Smash, Whirlpool, Flash, Defog. None of those are really a problem anymore, and I'm sure you can handle having to bring one less Pokémon for the few areas that might require Flash or Rock Smash (or temporarily replace a move on one of your current team members.)

Thing they could do though is make it so -every- HM move is worth using in-battle, at least in-game. Then people won't mind teaching them all to their Pokémon as much.

 

[Master of Memes]

Poke'mon HM version

 

[Amore]

I only played up to Gen V but I wouldn't remove them. I liked how Black / White in particular made the HMs less necessary because the region was more developed.

The only time I really hated HMs were when Rock Smash was only 20 power, and Defog in DPPt. I'd like some of the moves to keep their functionalities but become TMs, like Flash in Gen IV. Could do it with Rock Smash and Cut - they're good moves early on in the game, but then lose value. I think 5/6 is about right - like it apparently was in Gen I, and was again in Gen V.

 

[Fureon]

HMs definitely need an overhaul.
All Game Freak needs to do is to have Pokemon have special slots for field moves.
That way, you can learn the HM as a regular move and the mechanics don't break.
However, if you don't want that move wasting a slot, you can learn it exclusively as a field move and you're good to go.