Deck Knight
Blast Off At The Speed Of Light! That's Right!
Policy Review: Updates Adjustments (Mid-Update Review)
Approved by: DougJustDoug
Welcome to the Policy Review to assess our new updates process as we approach the second round of CAPs. In this thread we will discuss some of the happenings of our first set as well as our policy going forward. We should start with a major announcement:
Due to a counting error on my part, I must correct the record and state unequivocably the Technician won Arghonaut's Ability Poll. While this is sufficient for that specific topic of Misty Surge vs. Technician, we will also be discussing the scope of abilities eligible for updates, and coming to a more solid conclusion on that matter.
Specifically, CAP Staff has discussed the matter of what we consider "defining abilities." These are effects so powerful that they warp the entire way the Pokemon plays on both an individual and team level. The best example of these effects are Auto-Weather and Auto-Terrain, which are in offensive and team support categories within themselves. Many other Abilities such as Huge Power, Water Bubble, and Magic Bounce have similar warping characteristics, but those are generally restricted to primary discussions to begin with. In general our Secondary Ability Ban List is a a decent guide for many of these discussions, but not a complete one.
It is the consensus of CAP Staff that our Updates, even major ones, should be strongly limited by not redefining our previous CAP creations in ways that change their entire role on a team. To take a few examples of our recent and ongoing CAPs, many are concerned about Triage redefining Revenankh to be more akin to a Gen 7 Talonflame, while Voodoom's updates are considered generally tasteful and modest and Naviathan's significant Ability change in line with that CAP's goals.
To address the process itself, our original concluding discussion left much of out implementation up to the discretion of ULs and GLs. As a result each thread has had its own different style and way of going about discussions. I generally feel this has been healthy overall and will allow us to come to a consensus on a good way to lead updates. While this particular set of updates will be the largest in scale (updating Gen 4 to Gen 7), we would still like a practical policy going forward for major changes in subsequent generations.
With all this background out of the way, we would like to discuss the following subjects in this Policy Review:
Should we have a specific, separate banlist for Updates? Should it incorporate our Primary and / or Secondary Banlists?
Going forward, all our updates will be either "minor" or "consistency" updates. Should we still discuss competitive ability changes in these threads or should discussion be limited to consistency movepool updates?
There is presently a gray area between "competitive" and "flavor" updates which "consistency" is inhabiting. Has this been good or bad for our updates process and the discussions it has been generating?
Of the updates that are ongoing or have been concluded, which do you believe were managed most effectively, and gave you the most sense of remaining true to CAP Update Principles?
- - - - -
Overall I feel like our Updates Process has been largely positive, and these bumps and growing pains we are experiencing are a natural result of allowing flexibility in our process and being able to address excesses as they arise. I think our GLs and ULs have done a broadly fantastic job managing the threads, and I believe once implemented we will have a healthier CAP Metagame where each CAP "feels" complete and relevant as well. Please stick to our initial questions, but other observations or concerns are welcome.
Approved by: DougJustDoug
Welcome to the Policy Review to assess our new updates process as we approach the second round of CAPs. In this thread we will discuss some of the happenings of our first set as well as our policy going forward. We should start with a major announcement:
Due to a counting error on my part, I must correct the record and state unequivocably the Technician won Arghonaut's Ability Poll. While this is sufficient for that specific topic of Misty Surge vs. Technician, we will also be discussing the scope of abilities eligible for updates, and coming to a more solid conclusion on that matter.
Specifically, CAP Staff has discussed the matter of what we consider "defining abilities." These are effects so powerful that they warp the entire way the Pokemon plays on both an individual and team level. The best example of these effects are Auto-Weather and Auto-Terrain, which are in offensive and team support categories within themselves. Many other Abilities such as Huge Power, Water Bubble, and Magic Bounce have similar warping characteristics, but those are generally restricted to primary discussions to begin with. In general our Secondary Ability Ban List is a a decent guide for many of these discussions, but not a complete one.
Air Lock
Aura Break
Bad Dreams
Battle Bond
Color Change
Dark Aura
Defeatist
Delta Stream
Desolate Land
Disguise
Fairy Aura
Forecast
Fluffy
Full Metal Body
Fur Coat
Huge Power
Illusion
Imposter
Moody
Multitype
Parental Bond
Power Construct
Primordial Sea
Prism Armor
Protean
Pure Power
RKS System
Schooling
Shadow Shield
Shadow Tag
Shields Down
Slow Start
Stance Change
Teravolt
Truant
Turboblaze
Victory Star
Water Bubble
Wonder Guard
Zen Mode
Arena Trap
Comatose
Drizzle
Drought
Electric Surge
Grassy Surge
Innards Out
Magic Bounce
Magic Guard
Misty Surge
Prankster
Psychic Surge
Sand Stream
Snow Warning
Speed Boost
Battery
Big Pecks
Friend Guard
Grass Pelt
Healer
Honey Gather
Illuminate
Pickup
Power of Alchemy
Receiver
Run Away
Symbiosis
Telepathy
Aura Break
Bad Dreams
Battle Bond
Color Change
Dark Aura
Defeatist
Delta Stream
Desolate Land
Disguise
Fairy Aura
Forecast
Fluffy
Full Metal Body
Fur Coat
Huge Power
Illusion
Imposter
Moody
Multitype
Parental Bond
Power Construct
Primordial Sea
Prism Armor
Protean
Pure Power
RKS System
Schooling
Shadow Shield
Shadow Tag
Shields Down
Slow Start
Stance Change
Teravolt
Truant
Turboblaze
Victory Star
Water Bubble
Wonder Guard
Zen Mode
Arena Trap
Comatose
Drizzle
Drought
Electric Surge
Grassy Surge
Innards Out
Magic Bounce
Magic Guard
Misty Surge
Prankster
Psychic Surge
Sand Stream
Snow Warning
Speed Boost
Battery
Big Pecks
Friend Guard
Grass Pelt
Healer
Honey Gather
Illuminate
Pickup
Power of Alchemy
Receiver
Run Away
Symbiosis
Telepathy
It is the consensus of CAP Staff that our Updates, even major ones, should be strongly limited by not redefining our previous CAP creations in ways that change their entire role on a team. To take a few examples of our recent and ongoing CAPs, many are concerned about Triage redefining Revenankh to be more akin to a Gen 7 Talonflame, while Voodoom's updates are considered generally tasteful and modest and Naviathan's significant Ability change in line with that CAP's goals.
To address the process itself, our original concluding discussion left much of out implementation up to the discretion of ULs and GLs. As a result each thread has had its own different style and way of going about discussions. I generally feel this has been healthy overall and will allow us to come to a consensus on a good way to lead updates. While this particular set of updates will be the largest in scale (updating Gen 4 to Gen 7), we would still like a practical policy going forward for major changes in subsequent generations.
With all this background out of the way, we would like to discuss the following subjects in this Policy Review:
Should we have a specific, separate banlist for Updates? Should it incorporate our Primary and / or Secondary Banlists?
Going forward, all our updates will be either "minor" or "consistency" updates. Should we still discuss competitive ability changes in these threads or should discussion be limited to consistency movepool updates?
There is presently a gray area between "competitive" and "flavor" updates which "consistency" is inhabiting. Has this been good or bad for our updates process and the discussions it has been generating?
Of the updates that are ongoing or have been concluded, which do you believe were managed most effectively, and gave you the most sense of remaining true to CAP Update Principles?
- - - - -
Overall I feel like our Updates Process has been largely positive, and these bumps and growing pains we are experiencing are a natural result of allowing flexibility in our process and being able to address excesses as they arise. I think our GLs and ULs have done a broadly fantastic job managing the threads, and I believe once implemented we will have a healthier CAP Metagame where each CAP "feels" complete and relevant as well. Please stick to our initial questions, but other observations or concerns are welcome.