Self Imposed Rules?

[Corveone]

I don't do nuzlockes because they go against what I believe a Pokémon experience is actually about. But I do allways have a few self-imposed rules in my playthroughs:

-Battle style obviously allways SET.

-Never use 'Bag' items in trainer battles (even if the opposing trainer is a dirty full restore spammer, a victory achieved through using trainer items doesn't count as victory for me)

-No overlevelling: never exceeding next gym leader's strongest Pokémon level. For E4/Champion, if there's a too big level difference like first E4 starting at level 50, and champion at 60, I'll try to keep my team at around 55, or start at lower levels then use rare candies in between battles to keep it balanced.

-No use of legendaries or pseudo-legendary things with 600 BST, and no use of OP megas (a mega Mawile or Beedrill is allowed, but a mega Blaziken or Gengar is not). Only pseudo legendary I indulge so far is Tyranitar (but still no mega), since its typing gives it so many weaknesses keeping it away from being broken.

-No using more Pokémon than the opposing trainer (at least for important battles). Even if I have a party of 6 Pokémon, if I'm fighting a gym leader that uses 3 Pokémon I have to win using no more than 3 Pokémon.

So essentially, it's just rules to make trainer battles feel as fair and challenging as possible and to ban myself from using Pokémon that are too OP.

 

[Figure]

I don't do nuzlockes because they go against what I believe a Pokémon experience is actually about. But I do allways have a few self-imposed rules in my playthroughs:

-Battle style obviously allways SET.

-Never use 'Bag' items in trainer battles (even if the opposing trainer is a dirty full restore spammer, a victory achieved through using trainer items doesn't count as victory for me)

-No overlevelling: never exceeding next gym leader's strongest Pokémon level. For E4/Champion, if there's a too big level difference like first E4 starting at level 50, and champion at 60, I'll try to keep my team at around 55, or start at lower levels then use rare candies in between battles to keep it balanced.

-No use of legendaries or pseudo-legendary things with 600 BST, and no use of OP megas (a mega Mawile or Beedrill is allowed, but a mega Blaziken or Gengar is not). Only pseudo legendary I indulge so far is Tyranitar (but still no mega), since its typing gives it so many weaknesses keeping it away from being broken.

-No using more Pokémon than the opposing trainer (at least for important battles). Even if I have a party of 6 Pokémon, if I'm fighting a gym leader that uses 3 Pokémon I have to win using no more than 3 Pokémon.

So essentially, it's just rules to make trainer battles feel as fair and challenging as possible and to ban myself from using Pokémon that are too OP.

Could you expand on what you mean about nuzlockes?

 

[Commander Saturn]

I do not suppose it is a rule, but I very rarely evolve my starting Pokemon. I prefer to play the game in a way similar to Ash Ketchum.

 

[Corveone]

Could you expand on what you mean about nuzlockes?

Pokémon is about catching, raising and building a team with Pokémon you like, while battling, taking the different challenges and enjoying adventures as you travel through the region and grow as a trainer together with those Pokémon.

Forcing yourself to ditch and replace a Pokémon because it "died", and restricting what you can catch and what not has nothing to do with that. They're just self-imposed rules to make the games more challenging and punishing, which can be achieved through other ways that I prefer and enjoy more.

 

[Figure]

Pokémon is about catching, raising and building a team with Pokémon you like, while battling, taking the different challenges and enjoying adventures as you travel through the region and grow as a trainer together with those Pokémon.

Forcing yourself to ditch and replace a Pokémon because it "died", and restricting what you can catch and what not has nothing to do with that. They're just self-imposed rules to make the games more challenging and punishing, which can be achieved through other ways that I prefer and enjoy more.

Well really, it is about whatever you want it to be about but I understand why you wouldn't enjoy nuzlockes.

 

[Duck]

Pokémon is about catching, raising and building a team with Pokémon you like, while battling, taking the different challenges and enjoying adventures as you travel through the region and grow as a trainer together with those Pokémon.

Forcing yourself to ditch and replace a Pokémon because it "died", and restricting what you can catch and what not has nothing to do with that. They're just self-imposed rules to make the games more challenging and punishing, which can be achieved through other ways that I prefer and enjoy more.

I wouldn't say they have nothing do with what you described as the definitive Pokémon experience.

The catch restrictions often make people actually use and appreciate certain Pokémon they wouldn't have used otherwise as well as make using the Pokémon you actually wanted to use even sweeter.

And while the death clause can be a pain, it can also make the player more attached to the Pokémon ("I really don't want them to die") and create a rotation in the team if one dies that isn't usually seen with other rules - people have a tendency to catch one Pokémon, use it until the end and that's that.

If anything, I'd say that your viewpoint is about enjoying what you already know you like, while Nuzlocke challenges can be about discovering new things you like.

That said, I do agree that some other rules can be more enjoyable than a Nuzlocke.

I'm also not a huge fan of the death rule and when given the chance, I prefer using theme teams - monotype, monocolor, etc.

Scramble rulesets - each Pokémon has an extra rule that applies to them / the party - can also be pretty fun. In fact, a challenge I want to do some at some point or another but have yet to do is something like a Lorelocke - but you know, without it necessarily having to be a Nuzlocke.

As for more prosaic rules, recently I've been avoiding using items in-battle (only allowing them on Elite Four matches) and starting to use the Set battle mode.

 

[Corveone]

The catch restrictions often make people actually use and appreciate certain Pokémon they wouldn't have used otherwise as well as make using the Pokémon you actually wanted to use even sweeter.

Well, good for them if that's the case. I did a lot of playthroughs across the games I've played using an entirely different team almost everytime (there's very few Pokémon that I've used more than once), and there's still many Pokémon I would like to try but didn't get the chance yet. A Nuzlocke would probably just make me more likely to repeat Pokémon that I've already had than trying new ones.

I've seen certain Youtubers in Nuzlockes outright despising "bad" Pokémon and allways going with their comfort zone Gyarados, Snorlax, Vaporeon, Swampert, etc. so it's kinda subjective how much it actually encourages trying out new things. They obviously don't want to have something that could "die" easily, so their bulky and more reliable ones allways have priority.

Nuzlockes are one type of challenge, but I prefer other options.

 

[Duck]

I've seen certain Youtubers in Nuzlockes outright despising "bad" Pokémon and allways going with their comfort zone Gyarados, Snorlax, Vaporeon, Swampert, etc. so it's kinda subjective how much it actually encourages trying out new things. They obviously don't want to have something that could "die" easily, so their bulky and more reliable ones allways have priority.

Nuzlockes are one type of challenge, but I prefer other options.

Of course, different people will tackle a challenge in different ways. Just to be clear, I'm not saying that Nuzlockes are the better challenge or something like that, just that I've seen documented Nuzlockes that felt very much like the experience you described.

It's perfectly fine to prefer other challenges. I myself am in that group.

And now so this won't be completely off-topic:

I'll also say that I don't really appreciate the overly conservative mindset that Nuzlockes and "death rule challenges" in general seem to bring: always have a full party, always grind, always play it very safe. On the other hand, I have yet to find a way to make challenges without them feel as tense - without it, it feels to me that there's very little stakes envolved.

Has anyone found a way to address that feeling? Or create some tension in other challenges?

 

[Figure]

Of course, different people will tackle a challenge in different ways. Just to be clear, I'm not saying that Nuzlockes are the better challenge or something like that, just that I've seen documented Nuzlockes that felt very much like the experience you described.

It's perfectly fine to prefer other challenges. I myself am in that group.

And now so this won't be completely off-topic:

I'll also say that I don't really appreciate the overly conservative mindset that Nuzlockes and "death rule challenges" in general seem to bring: always have a full party, always grind, always play it very safe. On the other hand, I have yet to find a way to make challenges without them feel as tense - without it, it feels to me that there's very little stakes envolved.

Has anyone found a way to address that feeling? Or create some tension in other challenges?

I think having the restriction of not over leveling keeps things tense. You are always at risk of losing a Mon to a crit, for instance and in games like Sword and Shield where you can't turn off your EXP share, you might have to take a Pokemon out of your party for a while as to not over level it.

 

[Meister_anon~Master_o f_None]

Well I moslty only play emulator now, so I kind of only limit myself to not changing pokemon moves to anything they can't learn in some other generation.

That said, I do agree that some other rules can be more enjoyable than a Nuzlocke.

I'm also not a huge fan of the death rule

What do you dislike about the nuzlocke, pokemon die on faint thing? Just trying to get your opinion.

 

[Duck]

What do you dislike about the nuzlocke, pokemon die on faint thing? Just trying to get your opinion.

It has a lot of ramifications that I don't really enjoy.

For one, it encourages conservative plays and only going in when you're absolutely sure of what you're gonna do. I prefer playing fast and trying different strategies until I find one that works instead of having every attempt be so final.

It also encourages grinding - which I don't like - and if a Pokémon does faint, it also means that all the time and effort you put in grinding - and some times, money or other hard to find/farm resources, by using TMs or MTs or things of the like - are gone. Which is also not my cup of tea.

I can totally understand why people would like it - it is one of the easiest ways to create a tense atmosphere - but it's just not for me.

 

[Meister_anon~Master_o f_None]

.

Ok thanks for the input, I ask because I'm getting ideas for my own potential hack.
So what if the death mechanic could somewhat reasonably be avoided, was potentially less punishing(final) when it did happen.
and TMs were reusable?

There's not much I could do for how grindy it would be, but would that be more to your tastes?
(I'm using you as a stand-in for anyone that doesn't like playing nuzlockes)

 

[Duck]

Ok thanks for the input, I ask because I'm getting ideas for my own potential hack.
So what if the death mechanic could somewhat reasonably be avoided, was potentially less punishing(final) when it did happen.
and TMs were reusable?

There's not much I could do for how grindy it would be, but would that be more to your tastes?
(I'm using you as a stand-in for anyone that doesn't like playing nuzlockes)

I mean, if you're doing a hack you really shouldn't have a nuzlocke death mechanic without the player being able to toggle it at will. Especially without a lot of game testing. Players will often get in situations you didn't foresee and a mechanic like that will come back to bite you.

Reusable TMs - or at least farmable in some way, like having a shop selling you copies of TMs you already found or a Move Tutor like that or something - is really just a good idea in general. Even the Gen VIII TRs can be bought somewhere.

That said, you really should define what is your target audience and work for that. You'll never please everybody, so pick a niche and focus on it. If you want to focus on the Nuzlocke crowd, go for it. Although I really don't think baking the Nuzlocke rules into the game is a good idea. You'd be better off just making the game generally harder (while still being fun, which is not trivial).