Your thoughts on EVs/IVs/Breeding

[Cello]

Please remember to be mindful of everyone's opinion, this is not meant to create heated arguments, rather discuss/share your views and opinions.

So, after reading Kotaku's recently published article on 10 Way to Make the Next Pokemon Game the Best There Ever Was, I noticed they raised and interesting point on how they feel EVs/IVs/Breeding has been holding the Pokemon games back from being at their best.

I personally used to EV train like crazy, and even breed for appropriate natures prior to EV training, but after reading this I actually find myself agreeing wholeheartedly with Kotaku's suggestions.


So, how do you feel about the EV, IV and breeding system within the more recent Pokemon games?


Like I said, I don't really think EVs, IVs, or even breeding is necessary anymore.
Sure, they've added more functionality within the game's battling system, but I feel it's made long-time players far too paranoid and not willing to play with Pokemon they like. Instead, players are too busy basing their team around Pokemon sites such as Smogon say are OK, too powerful, or too weak.

Personally I just don't see the point in battling other players when nobody is using what they want to use rather than what is suggested to use.
Not to mention I can't tell you how many times a player wouldn't battle me just because I was using one of my favorites, which Smogon had deemed to be an over-powered Pokemon.

As for breeding, the thing I don't like about it is mainly just as Kotaku put it: It took the thrill out of going in the wild and catching Pokemon yourself. It pretty much makes the only Pokemon that are valuable are legendaries.

 

[Killjoy]

I don't play the competitive aspect of the game, so It's really not something that comes to mind very often. I just like to play the game, weather my Pokémon have good stats or not. Not that I even really understand the whole idea of EVs and IVs to the full extent that I could.

I don't know, but I'm interesting in seeing what others say

 

[Keyaki]

I did competitive battling back in Platinum and I actually did quite good, though I still don't FULLY understand how to keep track of the current amount of EVs my Pokemon would have. But once I got Soul Silver I decided to stop training competitively.

BUT learning about EV training and the importance of Natures and choosing the right moves for my Pokemon have helped me become a much better training and even when I do occasionally battle on Wifi I still do well, though I only focus now on the Nature, the item the Pokemon is holding and its moveset.

 

[RingoH]

Ever since Emerald I have been hooked on breeding. At first it was like a gotta catch em all challenge for me... But a "gotta breed em all" I wanted a level 5(remember gen III they hatched at level 5 not 1). When I learned about IV breeding and such I spent days literally days catching ditto after ditto looking for ones with one or more perfect stats then running to the frontier guy and getting his view on them.

I had no other Pokemon fans to trade or battle with it was enjoyable to me to get baby's with multiple perfect stats and or egg moves. I kept coming up with new personal goals. It made me proud to breed. And it was super fun.

My favorite was a Chansey with three perfects which had Hidden Power dark around 60. I also had a Tyrogue with perfect Atk and Def. and I loved creating novelty move sets on Smeargal.

Now I know how to RNG and I still breed a lot, but I RNG for shiny now. I spend just as much time breeding but get what I want a little quicker. I think breeding was a great addition to the game. Between natures/gender/IVs/egg moves it really let's you customize your team. I think people who only battle with what someone else says is good are losing out on a part of the experience.

 

[Elite Overlord LeSabre™]

I've bred before, back on Platinum when I could actually get on wi-fi to battle. But even so, I just did it with a team of six Pokemon that I liked, not necessarily the most powerful ones. I just tried to raise a team of six of my favorites to be the best they could be, instead of working with Pokemon I didn't like. Still, for those six I was pretty hardcore into breeding, making sure they had good IV's, beneficial natures, and I even had to work very diligently with one so it got a good Hidden Power type and strength. Then I was pretty into EV training as well, using the "Counter" Poketch app to keep tabs on exactly how many EV's I had put into my Pokemon.

Heck, in Platinum, once I finished the post-game, I fed my in game team the EV reducing berries and then properly EV trained them. For what reason, I dunno. Must've been bored xD

I haven't done the "competitive-style" breeding and raising since, because (a) I can't get on wi-fi anymore; (b) those six I did back in Platinum still serve me well, and (c) even perfect IV's/EV's aren't gonna save you from the hax that goes on in the Battle Tower/Subway/Frontier. So it became a waste for me to try to properly train any more Pokemon once I had my all-star team of six assembled in Platinum.

 

[RingoH]

Yeah, I hear you...

EV training is tedious, and I've done very little of it myself. But I also don't battle. Other than my in game team and a few random poke's I was raising to beat one gym or because I briefly liked, most of my pokemon are very low level or completly untouched.

 

[Outkin]

The way I see it, this kinda thing is because of two things. People who ALWAYS want to win, and people who are too lazy to figure thngs out themselves. Result? Just search the web for a "good team" and use that. I think it's kinda nice for people to be able to put some extra work into their pokemon, but you will always have those people who here....and in any game....always have to calculate the perfect stats and will not settle for "what they like" or "second".

 

[Sydian]

I find that article terrible. It looks more like someone with nostalgia goggles wrote it. It didn't open my eyes to anything, and I could go on about how I disagree with it.

If you don't like the EV/IV system, that is perfectly fine. No one said you had to use it. You make the game what you want it to be. Use the team you want, disregard natures, don't worry about the EVs or IVs. Play how you want to play. I don't see the big deal about the system to where it needs to be complained about. Besides, if the EV system wasn't there at all, wouldn't we not be able to have stat gains? Or at least, they'd be quite minimal. I do agree the IVs make things more cryptic, but they do influence Hidden Power, so there is some purpose there. But I'm done with that.

I EV train very rarely. Only if I plan on battling a friend or if I happen to get a Pokemon with a good nature, ability, etc and I feel like it deserves to be EVed and put into reserves. If someone wants to battle casually, then hey, I can do that too. Most of my Pokemon are not EVd so that's not a problem at all.

 

[Jellicent♀]

That article was ridiculous. It honestly seemed like that person was more of a fan of the feeling of nostalgia rather than an actual Pokemon fan.

I personally love the EV/IV system in the game. I like my Pokemon being the best they can be in the stats I want them to be good with. It makes it more personal to me when I raise my Pokemon that way, actually. You work with them more individually, which is honestly more of a blast than just training my Pokemon off of the Elite Four repetitively. I grew close to a freaking Watchog that way! Who'd 'a thunk?

 

[GhostQuill]

While I admit I never compeltely understood the Ev and IV system, I know there are people that like it
But unfortunately my view on it is that of the article, not that it has made Pokemon training a chore, but rather tahn even when doing a friendly battle with soomeone (PO or games) he has that competitive team

Sicnerely, I prefer the playground style and that is that
But |I don't think it should be taken away ...
Specially when you accidentally EV train (happens a lot with me)

 

[Xander Olivieri]

They should possibly rename that article, 10 ways to Kill the Pokemon Games. Seriously that guy listed the ten easiest ways for Gamefreak to kill its franchise. All they have to do is do exactly what he said.

Also too bad he can't do research as EVs have been with the games since Gen 1. They even tell you at some point (Blaine's Gym I think) that a Trainer Raised Pokemon is stronger than one in the Wild at the same level, this is only because of the EV factor which while it wasn't a critical system in Gens 1 and 2, but still existed.

 

[Sydian]

Also too bad he can't do research as EVs have been with the games since Gen 1. They even tell you at some point (Blaine's Gym I think) that a Trainer Raised Pokemon is stronger than one in the Wild at the same level, this is only because of the EV factor which while it wasn't a critical system in Gens 1 and 2, but still existed.

I was thinking that too. That guy didn't do his homework on the "terrible" EV system. It's been in place ever since those golden years where apparently nothing mattered. Of course, ever since that system was revamped in gen III, battling hasn't been the same, but they've always been in the series. Like I said, if you want to use it to your advantage, go right ahead. Play the game how you want to play.

That article was ridiculous. It honestly seemed like that person was more of a fan of the feeling of nostalgia rather than an actual Pokemon fan.

Glad someone else can see his nostalgia goggles.

 

[Outkin]

It sucks that people go overboard with this...but you gotta remember this makes pokemon more interesting. Just like in real life, some creatures will be born stronger then others....and a trained pokemon will be better in battle then a untrained wild one. People abuse this, but otherwise, it makes the game cooler imo.

 

[PlatinumDude]

"Remove the EV/IV system." That's what I totally disagree with.

Anyway, on topic: When I first read about what EVs/IVs/breeding were on Serebii, I didn't know what they were. After failing in the Battle Tower one too many times, I read up on that article again, and I decided to try it out. Sure, it was tedious, but I was able to get my Pokemon's stats up to a top-notch level.

 

[Yoshikko]

I gradually got into EVs and IVs after that, after starting to pay attention to natures and whatnot. It's not necessary to use, it's just game mechanics that you /can/ make use of but you don't have to. It's all about what you make of it that makes it fun. It's not like when you discovered EVs/IVs, you can't go back to playing the game casually. Of course the knowledge of how EVs work will always be there which would probaby make you want to avoid beating certain Pokémon with certain other Pokémon because they might get EVs that they don't need at all, but if you really want to play casually then you can just put that out of your mind. Also, if you want to go competitive, I wouldn't do it in-game anyway because it's not really suited.

sorry this post is kind of incoherant >.>

 

[cappayne]

I like the EV/IV systems because of the diversity and competitive element. It's natures I don't like - at least they should be changeable. When I'm playing story mode and I catch an Abra for example, and he has an Adamant nature, I don't even want to use/train the damn thing.

 

[rhycochet]

i think you take what you want out of it.

personally i find EV/IV bring a lot of replay value to a game i otherwise wouldn't have played after i finished the primary objective, or storyline. i was never a guy who went around catching all the pokemon to fill the dex, and always found that extremely mundane. i used to assemble teams based on types that i liked...and after finding out about the EV/IV thing way back in G/S/C i never looked back.

it's not always about competitive battling, it's about the potential to do that if i wanted to. i still use the UUs and RUs, and not just grab whatever six i can stomach out of OU to make a team. the challenge, and the most fun i think, comes from creativity - that is, creatively using pokemon you really like, then tweaking their held items, movesets, IV/EV, natures etc to fit a somewhat capable, competitive team...without stringent adherence to the tier list and the very limited amount of meta-movesets everyone else throws around.

 

[Antisocial.]

I've never cared; for me, it's always been about picking your favourites (only being picky when it comes to types, you don't wanna be the guy with only bug Pokémon), then training them to a certain level, not bothering with certain stats. I mean, isn't that the way we played back in the R/B/Y days? Competitive training is okay if you're into that, but I'd rather just mess around with the Pokémon themselves.

 

[rainbowism]

I personally think it's a fine system. During a normal playthrough of a game, casual or not, it doesn't really matter what happens behind the numbers. The game is paced simply enough that if you don't rush from gym to gym, it'll be a breeze.

With that, I always see competitive players complain about it, because going through and manually training each Pokemon you want to use is definitely a pain, and that's why I usually see them use a tool (PokeSav/PokeGen), which is perfectly fine in a competitive aspect as long as they haven't done ridiculous cheating.

 

[Kirbychu]

My only gripe is these these hidden mechanics are so inaccessible for the more casual players.

I think that they should abolish the concept of different types of EVs. Instead of speed EVs, attack EVs, etc. let's have one universal type of EV that the player can allocate on the summary screen. All EV caps would remain intact. If you don't even want to deal with that you could have the option to auto-assign them.

This makes more sense too, since the trainer is training his Pokemon in certain areas that he believes are useful.