Is too many Pokemon good or bad?

[Fluffyunicornz]

While Pokemon may not be as popular as it was during Gen I and Gen II, it still has quite the fanbase, including myself! I never stopped loving Pokemon, and as companies like Hot Wheels and Barbie can prove, franchises such as Pokemon could last 30+ years! Here i am about to become a Junior in highschool and i still find myself playing for hours upon hours in my free time. So if Pokemon can sustain a fanbase and continue to lets say, 10 generations and there are nearly 1500 Pokemon by then, how will it affect the game? I consider myself quite competetive when it comes to battling, and if there were a massive 1500 Pokemon, the variety would be amazing, no one would have the same team! However, for more casual players, it would take ages to "Catch them all" as the franchise's slogan would say. Anyways, i just would like to know other peoples thoughts on this, will Gamefreak continue to make games and slow down the new Pokemon production, or will the 6th Gen be out in the months to come?

 

[m3s0aws0m3]

bad:
it can effect the game by,
- getting the wrong pokemon u want.
- having to train so much pokemon just for one game.
- takes time for choosing the poem on u want to use.
- u will have to sort ur pokemon which will take time to do and a waste of time.
- it will take to much time to catch the pokemon that u want.
good:
- u will know all of the pokemon well.
- beat the game faster in a way.
- u will have all pokemon and all attributes.
- learn where to get a lot of them.

Thats all for now but i will add more reasons for good and bad reasons.
XD

 

[droomph]

Actually to point out something...Pokémon is one of the best-selling series in the world. If anything, its fanbase is even larger than before.

Anyways, too many Pokémon is good and bad.

Good thing is, more variety, and reflects our real world in diversity.

Bad thing is, being that these creatures are made up, you will run out of good ideas at some point.

My stance: good, but don't go overboard.

 

[MiTjA]

Note that by saying "TOO many" you already imply that it is inherently bad.

Bad thing is, being that these creatures are made up, you will run out of good ideas at some point.

Not really.
There is millions of creatures and variations of them in the real world.
They can use mythological/fantasy creatures too.
And they are not just limited to those, as pokemon can also be personifications of things like martial arts, cultural references, jokes.
And they can even be abstract or based on inanimate objects.

And even then, with BW they proved that they can simply use concepts they already used, and still come up with fresh designs.




Personally I think, with the pace they had till now, they can continue forever.

 

[Squirrel]

Note that by saying "TOO many" you already imply that it is inherently bad.

Lol I was going to say this too.

But yeah, like most people here I think it's both good and bad. We'll be given some more gems of Pokémon like Sandshrew or Emolga, but then we'll also get given some desperate rubbish like Vanillite and Timburr. So as long as they keep up the good design work from Gen IV and before, then I can't see too many being a bad thing - if anything it'll just make the games a lot more varied and especially add a lot of extra fun & surprise to competitive battling. But if they release lots more rubbish Pokémon like they did in Gen V then yes, stop now, too many is too many. D:

In short; if they're good quality Pokémon then there can never be enough <3

 

[MiTjA]

Lol I was going to say this too.

But yeah, like most people here I think it's both good and bad. We'll be given some more gems of Pokémon like Sandshrew or Emolga, but then we'll also get given some desperate rubbish like Vanillite and Timburr. So as long as they keep up the good design work from Gen IV and before, then I can't see too many being a bad thing - if anything it'll just make the games a lot more varied and especially add a lot of extra fun & surprise to competitive battling. But if they release lots more rubbish Pokémon like they did in Gen V then yes, stop now, too many is too many. D:

In short; if they're good quality Pokémon then there can never be enough <3

I think they were trying to specifically mimic both the simple and the weird cases from generation I to get an even bigger "back to the roots" feel with gen V.

In a way like they took a pokemon like Grimer for example, which was perhaps the result of just a random idea back then, and made a new more fleshed out version, resulting in Trubbish.

I'm confident the sudden reappearance of pokemon who have or grow multiple heads or parts is no coincidence either (Diglett, Magnemite, Doduo, Exeggcute, Koffing...then nothing all the way till Combee, and now Vanillish, Klink, Deino).
Vanillite particular to me is like a cute modern opposite of Koffing.


But any way, fellas like these have always been part of it, and actually do have interesting aspects to them and are just as carefully designed as the rest. In other words, quality pokemon. Which to me means they have to be interesting in some way, whether by being cool, cute, hilarious, have personality... possibly more at once, and are result of creative combination of inspirations and puns, fitting into the pokemon universe.

They are doing a great job as there is barely pokemon that you could point to and say they are just there for the sake of quantity, without someone telling you they are actually based on some japanese tale about a cursed mirror XD

 

[Oryx]

Lol I was going to say this too.

But yeah, like most people here I think it's both good and bad. We'll be given some more gems of Pokémon like Sandshrew or Emolga, but then we'll also get given some desperate rubbish like Vanillite and Timburr. So as long as they keep up the good design work from Gen IV and before, then I can't see too many being a bad thing - if anything it'll just make the games a lot more varied and especially add a lot of extra fun & surprise to competitive battling. But if they release lots more rubbish Pokémon like they did in Gen V then yes, stop now, too many is too many. D:

In short; if they're good quality Pokémon then there can never be enough <3

I think a more accurate summary would be "If they're Pokemon I like then there can never be enough". It's highly arguable whether or not Gen V was "high-quality".

One thing that worries me about getting more and more Pokemon is the power creep. Pokemon have gotten more powerful over the generations, and if that trend continues then the Gen 1 Pokemon might become obsolete.

 

[MiTjA]

I think a more accurate summary would be "If they're Pokemon I like then there can never be enough". It's highly arguable whether or not Gen V was "high-quality".

One thing that worries me about getting more and more Pokemon is the power creep. Pokemon have gotten more powerful over the generations, and if that trend continues then the Gen 1 Pokemon might become obsolete.

thats a good point.

but I think the main damage has been done.
Sure 140ish offensive stats werent as common and lots of the old pokes have very hybrid stats, but gamefreak is keeping the stat totals where they belong, so for example starters will always have 525-535, they just distribute them in more specialized ways more often now.

Sometimes I wish they would make a do-over of the older generations, in terms of stats, and in some cases perhaps even change a type or two...

 

[droomph]

I think a more accurate summary would be "If they're Pokemon I like then there can never be enough". It's highly arguable whether or not Gen V was "high-quality".

One thing that worries me about getting more and more Pokemon is the power creep. Pokemon have gotten more powerful over the generations, and if that trend continues then the Gen 1 Pokemon might become obsolete.

Quality is arguable, but you have to keep in mind that there were inherently a lot more "filler" Pokémon so they would have enough Pokémon to warrant a "reboot". Whether the quality of these "filler" Pokémon is good is arguable but I think what he's trying to say good or not, filler Pokémon can't be as abundant as it was in Gen V, or else it will become stale.

 

[Clark]

I don't think there'd be much of a problem, at least not until they started getting into several thousand Pokemon (though I doubt the series will last long enough for that anyways). Bear in mind here, the "Gotta Catch 'Em All" phrase hasn't really been used or put anywhere since... Gen 2, I think? They seem to understand that catching every single Pokemon has become a daunting task, even now, especially when there's no real reward for completing your Pokedex. Then again, now there's the Shining Charm item in BW2, which increases your chances of finding wild shiny Pokemon and is only obtainable after filling up the 'dex. If they keep that around in future generations then there will always be a legitimate incentive to "catch 'em all", but it is supposed to be difficult, yanno? A thousand or so Pokemon to collect wouldn't make it unnecessarily cruel; it'd make it more fun.

The PC would probably be upgraded to accommodate all the new Pokemon, too. It wouldn't be hard to give the PC searching and sorting features, or to allow you to move several Pokemon at once. And the trading system could be improved as well. If they added some more powerful search options and the ability to trade multiple Pokemon at the same time, filling your Pokedex would go a lot quicker.

As for the debate over "quality" designs, personally I don't see any hint of decay in quality happening yet, and I don't expect to see any in the future. I think it's less an issue of "new Pokemon designs are lousy and unimaginative" and more an issue of "some old fans don't like new Pokemon designs", which really can't be helped. Sure, the Pokemon of Generation 9 will inevitably look and feel a lot different from Pokemon of Generation 1. But ideas aren't a finite resource, and so far the designers seem to be doing a pretty good job.

 

[Oryx]

Quality is arguable, but you have to keep in mind that there were inherently a lot more "filler" Pokémon so they would have enough Pokémon to warrant a "reboot". Whether the quality of these "filler" Pokémon is good is arguable but I think what he's trying to say good or not, filler Pokémon can't be as abundant as it was in Gen V, or else it will become stale.

What makes a Pokemon an official "filler Pokemon"? That's another opinion-based assessment. He was specifically referring to Vanillite and Trubbish, which are, if anything, the opposite of filler Pokemon since they've received a ton of attention since they were released. He didn't mention filler, he mentioned "rubbish".

Basically you're separating Pokemon into your own categories, which is fine, but your categories are far from official when it comes to Pokemon and making sweeping statements such as they "can't be as abundant" implies that your opinion on the Pokemon is more correct than anyone else's opinion.

 

[Snowdrop]

Hey, by filler do you mean putting a lot of useless evolutionary lines to a Pokemon?

Anyways, you can never have enough Pokemon IMO. Keep on keepin' on, Nintendo!

 

[LightningAlex]

bad:
it can effect the game by,
- getting the wrong pokemon u want.
- having to train so much pokemon just for one game.
- takes time for choosing the poem on u want to use.
- u will have to sort ur pokemon which will take time to do and a waste of time.
- it will take to much time to catch the pokemon that u want.

What do you mean by getting the wrong Pokemon? If there are 1500 of them, you have a huge amount of Pokemon to choose from, and I doubt anyone would be able to make a "wrong team"...

And the rest of the "cons" you listed can't really be considered bad, since all of that is what makes the Pokemon games fun! Choosing the right team, training Pokemon, catching them, that's what makes the game fun. That's why there are many Pokemon.

Hey, by filler do you mean putting a lot of useless evolutionary lines to a Pokemon?

This is the only bad thing I can think of. Gamefreak adds a lot of unnecessary pre-evolutions. IMHO, Pokemon like Azurill, Cleffa, Igglybuff, Happiny and many others are unnecessary and take up space, and time to "catch" them. Worst of all, most of them can rarely be found in the wild and can only be acquired by breeding. But that's just my opinion, I'm sure a lot of people like them, so it wouldn't do anything bad for the franchise.

 

[droomph]

What makes a Pokemon an official "filler Pokemon"? That's another opinion-based assessment. He was specifically referring to Vanillite and Trubbish, which are, if anything, the opposite of filler Pokemon since they've received a ton of attention since they were released. He didn't mention filler, he mentioned "rubbish".

Basically you're separating Pokemon into your own categories, which is fine, but your categories are far from official when it comes to Pokemon and making sweeping statements such as they "can't be as abundant" implies that your opinion on the Pokemon is more correct than anyone else's opinion.

there is no particular definition, yes, but you have to admit some are just there to make the Pokédex larger, though they have since seen more useful purposes. Like Vanillite and Trubbish. They were most likely meant to just be there to expand the number of the Pokédex to 649, but they have since seen a lot more action, and are a cherished part of the fandom, along with non-filler Pokémon, like the starters.

I'm not saying that anything is anything, I'm just saying, you have to admit, because the Gen added so many new Pokémon there are bound to be Pokémon there just to fill up the Pokédex, but it won't necessarily be unimportant. I'm not saying any one Pokémon is more important than another, I'm just saying that that may be the case.

I think the moral here is to create Pokémon with a purpose. Even if they made three Pokémon, if they don't put effort into one, both to make and to keep it in the fandom, it is pointless to have new Pokémon.

 

[MiTjA]

IMO all of the pokemon are made for the sake of making more pokemon.

If they thought that some particular don't make the franchise justice, they wouldn't have included them and tried coming up with better ones.

They have no obligation to make a certain amount of pokemon.

Well sure if they had 130 pokemon and not one of them was say a Ground type, they would wanna create some Ground types, but doesn't mean they wouldn't try as hard as for the rest.

So except for starters and main legends, which were both noted in interviews to intentionally take longer to make in order to assure the most interesting and likeable properly fleshed out designs, I don't believe any of the rest are more filler than any other ones to the point where you could categorize them as such.

 

[Darkroman]

I thought back in the days of Gold/Silver/Crystal that 251 Pokemon were enough. Once Ruby/Sapphire came out, I just let out a loud "FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU....." ...ok not that dramatically, but you get my point.

Now it's 649 pokemon. It's bad, just stop there please for the love of God and all that is holy!

The good thing about having more pokemon is the balance of the game between other monsters is not as big of a gap. You do have more monsters to select from, and more attacks. I don't think some people realize outside the Pokemon fandom how much thought and planning could go into making your final team. Pokemon is a great game on that point.

 

[voicerocker]

I thought back in the days of Gold/Silver/Crystal that 251 Pokemon were enough. Once Ruby/Sapphire came out, I just let out a loud "FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU....." ...ok not that dramatically, but you get my point.

Now it's 649 pokemon. It's bad, just stop there please for the love of God and all that is holy!

There are countless real animals in the world, with new ones being discovered all the time. Not to mention that since Pokemon are all fictional, they can be based on ANYTHING, an object, a theory, a myth, a religion, the supernatural....the list goes on and on. Plus, compared to other popular franchises with fictional creatures, 649 isn't much. (Digimon has over 1000 by now I believe, and who knows how many Yu-gi-oh is up to.)

 

[LinooneFriend]

Pokemon may continue for eternity for all we know, I think it's too early to start wondering when it will stop. However, it is a good time to look back and see how far we've come. I checked some release dates online, and the first games were released a year before I was born! It sounds like people are being too pessimistic, I hope someday I can watch my kids play their Gen X Pokemon games. If there's one thing we can predict for the future, it's that the newest Generation will always look sucky to the old fans but any older generation will look awesome. You guys are too hard on Gen V!

 

[MiTjA]

Pokemon may continue for eternity for all we know, I think it's too early to start wondering when it will stop. However, it is a good time to look back and see how far we've come. I checked some release dates online, and the first games were released a year before I was born! It sounds like people are being too pessimistic, I hope someday I can watch my kids play their Gen X Pokemon games. If there's one thing we can predict for the future, it's that the newest Generation will always look sucky to the old fans but any older generation will look awesome. You guys are too hard on Gen V!

I know several people who've been in from the beginning and appreciate every new generation as its released... its probably more that they don't feel the need to tell everyone (think about it, why would you make a thread about all generations being equally well designed, except to counter ones saying the opposite lol), which is why you only get to see is the nostalgia complains kind of stuff.

But yep they'll keep going, haters gonna hate, Im gonna enjoy as long as it goes.
To me it seems like the people behind it do it with a passion besides the enormous cash this franchise grew to make, and as long as both of these still exist, there is no reason for them to stop.


The only real concern is perhaps that thousands of creatures would be hard to keep track of or familiarize yourself with.. but gamefreak pretty much figured out the solution for this back in RS.
The regional dex.
Limiting the species you are introduced with per game to a number mimicing the first generations (~150-210). Simple as that xD

So in other words,
there is no such thing as "too many pokemon"
because there has ALWAYS been hundreds to begin with anyway. Its a core part of the franchise and perhaps what makes it so interesting.

This is basically the realisation of the premise!
A world inhabited by hundreds of diverse unique creatures.. it felt lacking at first because it was easily to think of something thats missing, but with more generations, the gaps are continuously getting filled and the ecosystem finally feeling overwhelming.

 

[P0kemonMast]

Both. While each region should have its own pokemon. Its also bad because there just too many. In time they will run out of idea and it will just start to look weird.