Lurker > ElatedVenusaur

Ok, I had to calc T-Bolt Rhydon, just to see what it can('t) do. So, why not pit it against Gyarados, switching into it(for...some reason).
And max Special Attack Rhydon does 49.3-58% damage, good for a 62.1% chance of a 2HKO after leftovers recovery.
Against a pokemon with a 4x electric weakness.

Calwings posted...

Are we allowed to give mega evolutions in our efforts to fix Pokemon? Because I have an idea for two of my favorite Pokemon of all time (that are sadly total shit)

Of course! Forms and normal evolutions are in play too.

We have seen a full 7 generations of pokemon games, and the tide has changed innumerable times. Some lucky few(Alakazam, Starmie, Zapdos, Gengar, etc.) have always managed to find their way to the top(or near enough) while many others have come and gone(Pokemon like Tauros, Milotic, and Jolteon once reached lofty heights, only to be left behind). Many others were never any good at all.(Think of the Arboks, Sunfloras, and Crabominables of the world).

The aim of this topic is to put a new shine on old pokemon. It is not necessarily to turn them into titans of the OU metagame, but to buff and tweak them in such a way as they become better but remain familiar. As its seems the upcoming Switch versions are entitled Let's Go Pikachu!/Let's Go Eevee! , that seems a good place to start.

Pikachu Base Stats: 35HP/55ATK/40DEF/50SPA/50SPD/90SPE (320 total)

Raichu Base Stats: 60HP/90ATK/55DEF/90SPA/80SPD/110SPE (485 total)

Alolan Raichu Base Stats: 60HP/85ATK/50DEF/95SPA/85SPD/110SPE (485 total)

Pikachu is fine: its BST is well in-line with the base forms of other starters, and it has its special-snowflake exclusive item: the Light Ball, which doubles its offensive capabilities(making it hit harder than its evolved form!)

Right away, you notice that Raichu has a paltry base stat total. The 1st-gen starters come in at 525(Venusaur), 530(Blastoise), and 534(Charizard), respectively. Furthermore, each of them has a Mega Evolution(and Charizard has 2!) which further enhances their stats(+100 stat points). So, real quick, I'm going to bring Raichu up to 525(+40 stat points).

Raichu Altered Stats: 65HP/100ATK/55DEF/105SPA/80SPD/125SPE
There. Not much more durable, but better offenses combined with buffed speed allow Raichu to live faster and hit harder, because it's certainly going to die fast.

Its abilities are Static/Lightning Rod , which are fine.

Let's see what CE can do!

Hinakuluiau posted...

I really hope gen 8 is a soft reboot for the franchise. Moving to the Switch helps in many ways
I really would not mind it if they looked at the existing pokemon and changed some types, stats, and movepool.

I've been thinking of making a "Fix That Pokemon!" thread. Whether by evolution, mega-evo, a new form(Kantonian form is appropriate, by the sound of the rumors), stat boosts, new abilities, and/or straight stat buffs, it would be our mission to improve sorry garbage like Swalot, Fearow, Crabominable):, etc.

Swalot is pretty bad stat-wise, but it has a pretty good move-pool. Gunk Shot's the money-maker, as its sheer power can compensate for Swalot's deficient attack somewhat. It can learn Earthquake, Shadow Ball, and Ice Beam from TMs, and can fish for paralysis with Body Slam(which it learns naturally). And it learns Explosion too.

Sun/Moon blow X/Y out of the water, IMO.
And Ultra Sun/Ultra Moon are a fair bit better than S/M.

Gen 7 was fine, IMO. Not great, but good.
ORAS had a great post-game, but they did that thing where they remade an old pokemon game without bothering to enhance the number of pokemon available(until practically the post-game). Of course, I ported in some pokemon from Y, so it didn't bother me much.
X/Y were pretty weak though, particularly on the heels of Gen 5. Basically, Plat through B/W2 were as good as the series has ever been.

I love that book, but I'll probably never read it again. Never before or since have I read something so depressing.

I'm not collusion, YOU'RE COLLUSION!

Honestly, none of the Gen 7 starters are bad. I even like Incineroar now, because it's characterized as a being like a heel-wrestler who loves to be hated but doesn't like fighting unworthy opponents.
The Rowlet line is my favorite though.

One last bump.

Bumping this before bed.
I'm pleasantly surprised Distant Stars is coming so soon.

So, Paradox did its little convention thing(in luxurious Stockholm), and they announced a bunch of stuff. The head-liner, of course, is the absence of Victoria III, but other than that, Imperator: Rome appears to be a follow-up to Europa Universalis: Rome. Like many Paradox games of its era, EU: Rome was a game with some great ideas that ultimately failed to realize any of them.

That's the announcement trailer. It will arrive some time in 2019. The game starts around 303 BCE: Rome has recently adopted its revolutionary new military systems and is poised to begin its meteoric ascent. The map extends into India, and the Mauryans are specifically referenced, so you'll have your pick of mighty states, rising powers, small tribes, and plenty of tiny-ass Greek city-states.

We also have expansions. Although no new expansion was announced for Stellaris, the latest story pack(and its accompanying patch), Distant Stars, will come out this Tuesday(5/21).

Crusader Kings II is getting what may be its last expansion: Holy Fury.
https://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/index.php?threads/baptism-or-war-force-the-choice-in-crusader-kings-ii-holy-fury.1098280/
It and its accompanying patch promise religiously-focused improvements: including the ability to customize reformed pagan faiths, a much more in-depth crusade system, but also bonuses to famous blood-lines, sainthood, and new succession laws.

Europa Universalis IV is getting an India-focused expansion: Dharma. It and its accompanying patch bring a map overhaul for the Indian sub-continent and its surroundings as well as new tags. It also promises new mechanics for Indian and European states.

Hearts of Iron IV is getting a naval-focused expansion: Man the Guns!(it just doesn't sound right without the ! mark!). It promises improvements to the naval side of the game, including ship design, as well as more alternate paths for the USA and other countries on the American continents.

Last, but not least, Paradox is publishing a new Age of Wonders game: Planetfall.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WTHxBqqNONA&feature=youtu.be
It's another sci-fi strategy game. Never played any of the Age of Wonders games, but they seem well-regarded.

Lastly, there are on-going sales for Paradox titles on Steam and the Paradox store.

Is it any wonder? It's never been more expensive to have a child, and real wages have been declining for nearly 40 years now. Plus, a lot of the typical blue-collar fields(manufacturing, mining, etc.) have shed jobs due to automation and off-shoring. You need a (ludicrously expensive) bachelor's degree to even get your foot in the door to most decent-paying jobs.
A large portion of my (small) income goes to paying off student loans. I can't afford to buy a house, and I certainly can't afford to raise a child, let alone afford to send that kid to college. I'd like to have kids, but it's economically unfeasible, even if I was with some one.

I could never get into it back in the day, but I remember finding some of the aliens pretty interesting. If nothing else, I can mine it for more custom races for Stellaris.

I would love to visit a lot of them to see ruins, ancient buildings and the like. Tunisia, Mali, Ethiopia, Sudan, and, of course, Egypt. Unfortunately, many of those places are really dangerous right now.
Wouldn't mind getting out and seeing all the great natural beauty Africa has to offer too. The savannas, jungles, mountains, and even the deserts are full of cool creatures and beautiful scenery.
It'll be hard though. There's way too much to see in this world for one lifetime.

Wonder Woman was good. It's a shame she's tied into the mediocre-at-best DCCU.

Absolutely. A total ban would be unconstitutional, of course, so we either need to pass somewhat less drastic legislation or repeal the 2nd Amendment.

Popular vote is better, and it isn't as though small states aren't already over-represented in both chambers of Congress.
However, we definitely need to change who we vote: like a ranked-preference system of some kind. The first-past-the-post voting system we have now renders a ton of votes essentially irrelevant(i.e. basically every vote for a third-party candidate).

Actually, I don't see the harm in scrapping the military exercise.

I called out of work today to iron out the details of my return to college. It's fine though, next weekend I'm covering maintenance in addition to my normal duties because they suck at hiring people and there's only 3 other people who can do maintenance but my manager doesn't consider me valuable because that makes sense.

What we badly need(other than abolishing the EC with extreme prejudice) is to stop capping the size of the House of Representatives and implement something akin to the "Wyoming Rule"(basically capping the amount of population per district in-line with the least-populous Congressional District, which is currently the state of Wyoming).
We'd need a new capitol building though. The old one can be turned into a museum.

Well, considering the only way he could possibly win re-election would be a rematch with Roy Moore and that there basically aren't any opportunities for national-level Democrats in Alabama...
It's plausible, though my bet is he'll just get into lobbying.

Good. The national Democratic leadership is clueless, at best.

mehmeh1 posted...

ElatedVenusaur posted...

If they're really doing Kanto, they need to expand that thing. At least there's the opportunity for cool lava caves underneath Cinnabar now.
Oh, and Johto post-game should go without saying. Also use the Sevii Islands for something and have, like, 300 pokemon available before post-game. Switch up some gyms, stuff like that. Have Lillie and/or Gladion around, have Silver be Champion or some such, Rainbow Rocket, and, hell, it's been a while since they've given Cynthia a cameo, so do that too.

she appeared in the battle tree in the gen 7 games

Oh, well give her another, because she's awesome, and returning players need to be taught the truth of Her Garchomp.

If they're really doing Kanto, they need to expand that thing. At least there's the opportunity for cool lava caves underneath Cinnabar now.
Oh, and Johto post-game should go without saying. Also use the Sevii Islands for something and have, like, 300 pokemon available before post-game. Switch up some gyms, stuff like that. Have Lillie and/or Gladion around, have Silver be Champion or some such, Rainbow Rocket, and, hell, it's been a while since they've given Cynthia a cameo, so do that too.

Honestly, I think the only way anything will be fixed is if Founding-Fathers it: just assemble a convention and get everyone to agree to consider the results. Like, completely outside the scope of our current constitution. I'm increasingly convinced the only place it belongs is a lavish exhibit at the Smithsonian.

I read the The Sleepwalkers : How Europe Went to War in 1914 four years ago. Probably the best history book I've ever read, and we're coming up on the centennial of the war's end.

As far as fiction goes, I recently read The Brothers Karamazov, and it's definitely one of my all-time favorites. Right now, I'm starting on a collection of some of H.P. Lovecraft's stories.

whitelytning posted...

Antifar posted...

whitelytning posted...

Like Trump or not, like Israel or not, words have meaning and "genocide" is objectively the wrong word to use to describe what is happening in Jerusalem today.

The violence is happening in Gaza, so

You are right, my fault.

Like Trump or not, like Israel or not, words have meaning and "genocide" is objectively the wrong word to use to describe what is happening in Gaza today.

Would "ethnic cleansing" pass muster? Israel has systemically annexed would-be Palestinian territory and confines Palestinians to ever-shrinking(and grievously over-crowded) enclaves in Gaza and the West Bank. Again, Israel typically doesn't allow them to leave these areas, and routinely responds to any sort of unrest by leveling entire neighborhoods(text-book case of collective punishment).
I'm confused by the hair-splitting. These are crimes against humanity no matter how you wish to slice it. The Israeli government has committed them, is committing them, and will undoubtedly continue to commit them, because the government of our country(U.S.) ensures they cannot be meaningfully punished for their blatantly illegal conduct. The scope and magnitude of their actions is in no way justified.

It's still pretty hard too, even.
Always used the best turtle: Donatello.

fire_bolt posted...

Jasper is definitely one of the more interesting characters in the show, hopefully Steven heals her soon xD

See, the thing is, I doubt that would work. Even if Steven unravels the whole corruption business(my hunch is that he needs a Diamond's help, minimum), Jasper would still be Jasper. She would never accept the truth about Pink Diamond. She'd go right back to trying to crush the Crystal Gems and reclaim Earth for Homeworld.

The tragic thing about Jasper is that she herself is very atypical. I assume that's why she was able to wipe the floor with Garnet the first time: Jasper fights in a much different way from your typical Quartz soldier, so Garnet wasn't able to predict her attacks initially. She also seems to be something of a rogue or loner, but she is ultimately consumed by rage and bitterness long before she becomes physically corrupted.
Her basically begging Lapis Lazuli to fuse with her again also suggests some degree of self-loathing: that relationship was horrible for both of them, but Jasper is so obsessed with succeeding she views that as preferable to failure. She views even her own corruption as preferable to failure, even though they're the same.

K181 posted...

WWI was the worst. Almost all of our casualties in that conflict were in a two month span, so just have to remember that on a day by day basis that was the costliest.

Hell, just look up the casualty figures for Verdun. Or, for a WW2 battle, try Leningrad or Stalingrad.

It probably wouldn't take long to crush Iran's conventional military. It's what comes after that that would be a goddamned nightmare. Iran has over double the population of Iraq, it is much more ethnically and religiously homogeneous, and has a lot of rough terrain, often in close proximity to major population centers(such as Tehran). There is no reasonable opposition party which would cooperate with us(and even if they did, they would lose all legitimacy by doing so). There are no ethno-religious fault-lines to be leveraged to make things easier. We wouldn't be fighting insurgents in flat lands, but mountains and forests. A war of aggression and occupation would serve only to empower the worst people on Iran's political spectrum. It would make Vietnam, Afghanistan, and Iraq seem quaint by comparison.

Accolon posted...

I feel like if youwiped out half of humanity instantly it would be quicker to repopulate to that level than to fix all the damage to infrastructure and such.

Hell, he would probably wipe out MORE than half of humanity if it was truly random: what if the pilots of a jumbo-jet get disintegrated, for example? The post-credits scene even includes a car-crash caused by one motorist randomly ceasing to exist. Multiply that by a factor of billions.

It's good news. I believe I saw somewhere that the plan is for 5 14-episode seasons.
Flockaveli posted...

Rick and Morty 100 times. Ricky and Morty adventures for 100 days, for a hundred years. Rick and Morty forever. Just you and me, Morty, over 100 years.

If they complete this order, that'll put the series at 101 episodes(including Bushworld Adventures). Which means that the show becomes eligible for syndication.

Yeah, many RPGs are better suited for a screenshot format. The same goes for most strategy games.

Kabutops, Omastar, and Aerodactyl couldn't learn Rock Slide in RBY.
Which is weird, because both Omastar and Kabutops can learn Submission, for some reason.
Oh yeah, and Kabutops can't learn Mega Drain either(though it's not as though it could put it to good use).

Bison is delicious.

The best Mega Man games were 2&3, but even then neither is perfect.
The X series is overall better, particularly the first few are great, but it also loses steam in a big way after X4(if we're being generous). Haven't played any of the other iterations enough to comment on them, but from what I hear, they seem to all follow that pattern.
Really, the formula is strong: run-and-gun gameplay combined with precision platforming(the lack of momentum makes this possible), but there's so much to balance. It's basically a series that's mostly above-average to good with a small handful of entries that are great.

I'm enjoying a Two Roads Persian Lime Gose right now. No bitterness, just silky sourness. Got a 4-pack of Boulevard bourbon-barrel aged Quadrupels in the fridge, along with a Left Hand Nitro Porter and a Clown Shoes Undead Party Crasher(that last one is actually a little bitter, but the right amount of bitter, IMO).

Hopefully. It would be cool if we got Plague Knight too, or an assist trophy(Shield Knight would be a pretty unique one).

The current political system seems to be on its last legs.

spudger posted...

All congress should have term limits
Literally makes no sense not having them

Term limits would serve only to destroy institutional knowledge and further empower lobbyists.
Also, they're blatantly undemocratic.

It's a single poll from the "liberal media", I'm surprised all of you are so wound up about it. Which is to say I'm not.
We'll see if this gets reflected in any another poll. Also, by the way, Democrats have a 12% lead among self-described "very enthusiastic" voters.

I saw that. That's aggressively depressing.
Also, poor Rocket Raccoon. He's the Guardian of the Galaxy now.

iPhone_7 posted...

Spooking posted...

It's been said time and time again that Obama should have sought after congressional approval instead of EO his way through his presidency. He didn't do it for whatever reason: laziness? Incompetence? Arrogance? Who knows. The fact of the matter is congress should be the ones making these decisions and enforcing them by law, not an EO that you hope to pass down to the next president hoping he'll honor them. LOL

Maybe its because the rightwing hardliners and warhawks with their fear mongering would go after any member of Congress that voted for a compromise. Goodbye re-election. The party of No.

Lets just go back to before the deal, telling Iran to stahp while they continue to developed their nuclear capabilities.

Or, you know, nobody but us sanctions Iran and they get real cozy with Russia and China.
There's also the war option. It's the worst possible option, so it has a decent chance of happening.

Iran posted...

This is total bullshit. TOTAL BULLSHIT. Why does anyone trust America anymore when in four years time someone with a drastically different personality will take power and reverse everything the previous guy did? You have no integrity on the international stage anymore. I hope you enjoy becoming the political backwater of the world.

If only we would be a political backwater, but we have this massive economy and ridiculously over-compensating-for-something military.
But yes, other countries have no reason to believe any agreement they reach with the U.S. will survive the current president's term. Also, Iran intends to continue honoring the deal as long as the other signatories(EU countries, Russia, and China) will uphold it, which will significantly blunt the impact of any sanctions we impose unilaterally.

AvlButtslam posted...

Is that glitch still in the eShop releases?

All of the glitches are still there. Hilariously, you can even utilize one of them to get a Mew Pokemon Bank will think is legitimate.
https://www.reddit.com/r/pokemon/comments/5q4meg/how_to_trick_pokebank_into_thinking_your_gen_1/
But of course it involves one of the most dangerous glitch items: 8F. 8F is capable of executing arbitrary code, because of course it is.