Pokeschool Back !?!

[Chedy]

Ok, guys, you speak we listen =)

I am going to have both the URL and the graphics adjusted to bring back the Pokeschool name. The plan is to have it be Pokeschool.TCGplayer.com for the URL (Pokeschool.com still works as well) and to have the graphics etc reflect the great name of Pokeschool. And yes, we will even include the great Psyduck should you wish. The color scheme will probably have to stay the same for right now as that is a bit of work, but otherwise we havebeen listening and will do what you guys want.

Let me know of other ideas please as I love this community and onestly had no idea that the Pokeschool name itself was so important.

I want to thank ALL of you for some very heartfelt feedback and saying exactly what you think. It means a lot and we will start work on getting the Pokeschool'nes back into the way this site looks and feels.

Wow, what a great community!

[PKS LeeTupper]

Thank you, Chedy.

[Baboon]

Yes. Thanks Chedy. :)

[praetoritevong]

To hell with the colour scheme, it's not nearly as terrible as a lot of places :P

Hmm, perhaps the "Other" section - Videogames, Anime and FanFic/Art could be updated? Some of that's been there for an awful long time...

But yeah, thanks for taking a step down this path Chedy.

[Prof. Cinders]

It's a start, certainly. A very good one. :D Thank you. And I think most of us are happy with the colour scheme; it's been here all the time I have, and I've never complained about it. Thanks for considering everything! :p

[RLRL]

Thanks Chedy, Its much appreciated! =)

[Bullados]

For the most part, we're going to be happy with whatever you do with the site, as long as two things happen...

1) The name on the top banner still says Pokeschool.
2) The general content does not change. (keep our vid games, anime, RP stuff)

I don't really care about layouts; that's purely cosmetic.

Prae: if you want updates on that stuff, why not just write it yourself?

[Baboon]

I actually kinda like the new color scheme now (given that "Pokeschool" returns). The more I think about it, the old color scheme was kinda stale. Nothing really changed that was important. All of the old material is still there, but rather than a huge left sidebar on the main site, it has been condensed. After all, the majority of those sections haven't been updated in quite a while. I'm going to try updating the TCG stuff (scans, spoilers, and set info) as I get time, but if a couple of people could get together and write new material to add, I would be overjoyed. I don't really have the resources to update videogame, anime, etc. myself. BUT, if people would write good guides/walkthroughs, get screenshots, write up things about the anime, and so on, Pokeschool would finally catch up to 2005 and could potentially be a good source of information.
I just don't understand why I get so little response to open calls for help. Writing things and finding information can actually be fun. How about we all meet up in a chatroom one day and determine who could contribute what things? Just reply to this if you're interested.
And as for the banner, we'll just have to see what it ends up being once Chedy changes it.

[Pikachu]

Awesome stuff, many thanks to Chedy and co.

As for the colour scheme, I'm happy for it to be different, like Baboon said the old one was getting stale.

[Bullados]

I can write for the TCG area. Gameboy I'm a little rusty on, but I might be able to toss together a couple of things for that too. I stopped watching the anime about a year ago...

This is all assuming that college doesn't come up to bite me in the butt over the next few months. I can help with card scans, if I can get a Pokeschool decal (what was that called?) to put on the scans.

Are we still affiliated with Zeo? If not, that's a great ally to have, mostly b/c it's one of the bigger Pokemon news sources on the web today, and many ppl visit it. Also, might want to try with Team Compendium (Pokegym) and Pojo for site affiliation. The more site trades we can get, the more hits and ppl we get into the site. We can make Pokeschool big again!

[Pikachu]

I could probably do a few things for the video games sections. I don't really watch the anime and I have never played the card game so I can't help there though. I'll see what I can come up with for any of the other sections.

[praetoritevong]

Well Bullados, I certainly could update the FanFic/Art sections. I'm too far behind in episodes down here in Oz to be of any use in Anime, but VG's I could probably also do, and help with VG's would probably be good Pikachu...

[Lugiasian]

*happy dance* Thankies, Chedy. We really appreciate that. ^.^

[Gibby]

Well, I am quite glad too see that we are getting along right now. This is making me happy. We are turning into one big happy family (sort of). Sometimes a situation arising that we personally do not like is what is needed to bring people together.

As for what is going on in this thread, lets see what I can say.

Baboon
but if a couple of people could get together and write new material to add, I would be overjoyed.

I would love to help. I always would have, and I feel that if I had a “reason” to return, then I would. That way I do not come and go like a fish out of water. However, the only problem is that I find information slow. I tend to learn about something a few months after it was brought up by someone else. I am willing to help out where needed, so I will leave that to all of your regards. Just give me some orders and I will do my best to fulfill them.

Bullados
Are we still affiliated with Zeo?

I do not know, but I do know that the online radio station that I listen too, “PIRN – Pokémon Internet Radio Netowrk (http://pokewatch.nick15.com/pirn/pirn.shtml)” still contains a link to PokéSchool. Other then them, I am not sure.

[Bullados]

Just checked Zeo. They still have a link to us, which is good, but I don't see any such link back to them on the site. Share and share alike!:D

[praetoritevong]

It'd be good to get someone who knows anime well and would be willing to help out a little.

[Abhorsen]

I would be happy to write more articles for "Pokeschool". Iv been a bit slack with PotW since I had exams and lots and LOTS of school work which hasnt let me get anything done (there's one coming in a few days :p). Hopefully I will be more free in the holidays at the start of December and I will be glad to help with GBA guides Like EV's, IV's, stats and all the technical stuff since iv been playing my Ruby for about 1000 hours (yes, I have no life) and I have picked up some tips and tricks from all over the net which I can also put in.

Iv been playing the TCG for a while so im quite up to date with new deck ideas and combos with cards so i guess i could contribute to getting scans or assisting with CotW since I have a wide range of knowledge. I did happen to pass the Professor Test in July which was a bonus for me and i do play at a league and on Apprentice occasionally.

I used to watch the anime but it stopped showing here and it did start to get boring so I was put off by it for a while, yet I do keep up to date with the recent evolutions, catches, gym battles, etc from Serebii.net but i couldnt help with any anime stuff.

[Lady Kara]

So far, things are looking mighty nice.

My only beef right now is that we still aren't able to put images in our signatures (which is something I really enjoy at other boards and I'm sure a lot of folks here would be delighted for that to become doable).

[Bullados]

Please no. I don't want sigs to be 30 pages long. The simple text and links are plenty good.

[Salamence-trainer221]

I really have to disagree. I would really love to have the image tags back since I like looking at the pictures people have in their sigs and the banners are nice. If you don't want to look at them, turn them off. So..Chedy, is it possible for image tags to return?

EDIT: Oh, cool. I just noticed the Psyduck with a new heading. lol...I like it. Thanks for putting it up, Chedy.

[Gibby]

I would love to see Banner capability again. I have felt nakid without them, but I delt with that. While It is not a big deal, I would just like to have them back again.

Bullados
Please no. I don't want sigs to be 30 pages long. The simple text and links are plenty good.

Actually, we have a preaty strick deal with banners (or we use to on the old forum). We were only allowed one banner per person, and they had to be a certain size or smaller. We allowed like one banner and then about three lines of text under that for the Sig, so that it did not get too large like some forums have. I actually thought it worked out well, and most people obligated by those restrictions.

But that is just a personal feeling.

[Baboon]

Yes, we had banner rules before, but people ignored them. :-p I would like to see them again too, but it would require effort to keep them from overtaking everything, and I doubt Chedy is willing to activate IMG tags.

[PKS LeeTupper]

I know. He can't instate them because those dumbasses in the other boards would abuse them. The thoughts of Beefray, Illustrated Edition horrifies me.

They already go out of their way to use the MtG Emoticons...

[RLRL]

Glad to see the old Psyduck is alive and well... However Personally i liked that it used to lead back to our main forum page, that possible to get back?

[Chedy]

A) I will let the graphic guy know to make the graphic link back to the forum home page (of Pokeschool)

B) IMG tags could be possible if I could find the right ADD-ON to help with the monitoring of their size etc.

C) I forgot what I was going to say =(

[RLRL]

Thanks for the Psyduck linking Chedy.. ^_^

[Yoshimitsu27]

I, personally, don't thank you, Chedy. What can I thank you for? Killing the boards, trying (and failing) to keep people here with false promises like IMG tags? You said the same thing about them before. And where are they? Exactly.

Chedy, the move here was the stupidest thing that's happened, even worse than all the spammers. How many people came over when the boards first moved? About a tenth of what was on the old boards. The switch to the boards was too much hassle for some people. Hell, I even had trouble getting in again. My account didn't get an activation thing, or whatever it was we needed. I had to sign up for a new one. I'm sure I'm not the only one.

And what about people who had to have PKS added to their names? Their names before were unique (Mostly *Glares at Pikachu*) and a reflection of who they are. For example, Lee Tupper. People with PKS added to the front, to me at any rate, seem more uniform, and similar. It's kinda like the army in my eyes. Or what I think of the army I know. Yeah, I know their old names were used, but that's beside the point. Since they didn't get a choice in the matter, and were forced to come over here, why not give the other members something like "YGO" or "MtG" in front of their names instead?

Now for the IMG tags. The avatars are nice, yeah. It's pretty cool having Maleficent in my Avatar right now. But I'd rather have a signature. I realise that the IMG tags can be abused. Lord knows that's true, some of the forums I've been to got spammed with all sorts of crap. It's still entirely possible to limit the images though. Look at the avatars again - 100x100 pixels, no more than 19.6kbs (I think). You could do something similar with those.

Now for the RP boards. Since the move, nearly all the RPers didn't come over at first, if at all. I know some people didn't come, Misty and Vaporeon (I think), Asmo, Ch@n (I didn't know them personally, but whatever). Either they didn't have the time, which I wouldn't count on, or they didn't see any point in wasting the effort switching to another forum. Now let's look at people who did come, eventually. I must admit that I, personally, found it hard to actually access the boards at the switch. Some people, I'm sure, would have had similar issues accessing the boards and activating their accounts again.

I'm not the only one who thinks this either. I'm sure loads of people do too. I mean, you changed Pokeschool's name to something like "Pokemon @ TCGPlayer.com" or something stupid like that. Pokeschool was our IDENTITY. We didn't want to conform to some stupid name. How did you think we'd react?

Pokeschool, as Gary once said, is a community. By moving us here, you killed our community. More people have left than joined. It's like everyone's moving away from home. And it makes me a very sad bunny.

[The Titan]

Wow nice way to Express your self.. So i see that pokeschool was once a site long before chedy came around.. Which no offense Cehdy.. all the things that have been promissed are always broken and never seen. I have seen that Pokeschool has most certainly died out and soon will be nothing but a dead valley for the memories of the ones who once rulled over her. I dont think that it is mostely chedys fault though.. if those " Members " like you said had left.. Then they wernt Hardcore Pokeschool Members to being with. If they left then i guess they had no love for the site anyways.

I also Love the idea of the whole images inside our signatures. It would make us look a lot more flashey.

[Yoshimitsu27]

You're wrong about that. Those members that left, or some at any rate, didn't leave because they weren't hard-core pokeschoolers. They left because the pokeschool we all knew and loved was dead. I agree with some members I've talked to about this. Pokeschool is dead. It might be active, but everything that it was is gone. Dead.

If you looked back on the old forums, you'd see just how much everyone loved the site, about a hundred new posts a day. If you look today, we're lucky to get ten.

[The Titan]

Well It might not be the formus eather.. If you havent noticed.. Pokemon has died out also.. People get older, get jobs.. Things like this dont matter to them anymore. But i can understand what you meen. Even at Vsu at the moment we are in a drought. The most Reason is becasue of school. But i think the probelm that chedy has is he keeps trying to make new boards work.. Like Hectatomb, Or Heroclicks, Or Deul Masters.. Even since he has been doing that all the sites have gone through trouble. We used to have this thing called Fcotw..( Fantasy Card of the week.) so dident Magic, And yu-gi-oh that was taken from us and with that took a lot of members. So If chedy would Pay more attention to the Things that are big now Things like As you said pokeschool would not have died out.. Or other tings wont die. It is all on effort. From everyones part.

[RLRL]

The topics at the moment that are flourishing are literally 2 games, and the topics about the fact that we are no longer Pokéschool. Also you have to remember, when we were pokéschool we had new members signing up literally every few days, most of them lasted maybe a few days or would be asking questions, normally about the video games etc, but at the same time we would be having a certain amount of people staying for long whiles and actively participating... We would literally have at least 10 topics active in the misc topics section... And at least 5 in most other sections... The forum games and misc polls (where i would normally be found) would literally be packed full of random games (Pokémon survivor, Hurt and heal, The Guy above me (which was huuuuuge!)) and tonnes more, all of which, died within moments of moving... I know for a fact that I didn't recieve a code for this forum when we first moved.. It was days before I could even access this place, to find that everyone had dissappeared... remember the first topic we had on here where we were saying that we had returned, and "omg whats wrong with this place" that was proof straight off that we would struggle straight away here... This place still doesn't feel like home... I personally have the URL plugged into bookmarks and have never learned the URL for this place, whereas the old address (as easy as it was) is literally tattood onto my brain... Personally I just make the best of a bad situation... Know what I mean...

[The Titan]

I can see waht you mean. So the old pokeschool is like Vsu or Mtg.. We get so many people now a days we dont know what to do with them. I kinda feel sad for you guys. It seems to me that you guys had a utopia that crumbeld underneath you like atlantis.:(

[Yoshimitsu27]

Pokemon has NOT died out. Every time a new pokemon game is released, it tops the charts by a good few million copies sold every day. And it isn't just to the little kids either. An example is my brother. Twenty two years old, and he still loves the pokemon series. What about pokeschoolers? Gary, Nemesis, Kara, DJKates, etc. All adults. People just think of pokemon games as kiddy games because of how they look.

Hell, I don't even see how the games can be made for kids. Look at the EV training, the IVs, the Hidden Power attacks. How many kids do you expect to be able to recognise those? Even the language. On the route just north of Vermillion, there's a trainer that said "Uncouth." How many kids know what 'Uncouth' means?

People stereotype the games too easily. It's a stupid mistake to make.

[The Titan]

Well I wasent talking about the Games.. Hell I still have some of those and once loved then like an Additcing drug. I was talking about the Show and the card game. The Cards have a kinda Slow basis to them. I bet ya if i dident find new things i would still be palying Pokemon. I am not dissing pokemon at all casue i could make fun of my self for reading comics or playing with superheros. It is all Media and concept. I think of it as what ever you like or what ever i like is moslty the same thing. If i played something then there is no reason for me to make fun of that thing casue i would be making fun of my self. I hopw that pokeschool has all the luck it can get. I hopw that you do also!:D

[Gibby]

Yoshimitsu27
And it isn't just to the little kids either. An example is my brother. Twenty two years old, and he still loves the Pokémon series. What about PokéSchoolers? Gary, Nemesis, Kara, DJKates, etc. All adults.

You forgot to list me on that list. But I can deal with that. I am not as well known as all of them, so I will fall under the etc. section just fine. :D

But I have to agree with you Yoshimitsu27 that people stereotype Pokémon in general, not just the GameBoy games, but the entire genre. I could guess that it is due to the fact that when it was “larger” then it is now (meaning that you could not turn a corner without seeing / hearing something about Pokémon), it was mostly kids / young adults that seemed to be open about it.

But times change, and that is evident within the genre itself now. While I feel that some aspects still reminds me of the kids / young adult feel of it (Anime), the rest of it does not give me that feeling.

I still collect the card game. I do not play it for I never really cared for that, but I do enjoy collecting them. I am a little behind in my collecting at this time, but that is another story. And the GameBoy games are my adrenaline drug. I cannot function without playing it some from time to time throughout the day.

But what The_Titan said is also true, to a certain extent. Media has given off the kid / young adult feel of the genre. That I have seen through commercials and just general advertisements. But I feel that Pokémon has way more into it then any one person could find. The depth within it can be startling, and I do not know of any kids who would spend countless hours “raising” their Pokémon’s stats. Many of whom I know play the game till the defeat it, then that is it; they are done; fine. But for those that learn about the whole concept of it, those that want to take the game to its full potential spend more time on it and continue to “evolve” (no pun intended) in the game (if that makes an sense).

I guess that is enough of a ramble from me. Sorry about that.

[PKS LeeTupper]

Actually, IIRC, Misty and Vaporeon is still around, Ch@n, if not transfered, is due to his usual incactivity if anything. I THINK Asmo came over under a new name for a while, but I'm probably wrong. We have lost members, but not those three in specific, if I want to split hairs. :p

So, I think I'm about ready for one HARDCORE resurrection drive right about now. It gets old sitting around and complaining, I say we go out there and get 'em! We can't just sit on our heels and wait for people to do what we want. I say that everybody should make an effort to post where ever they possibly can say ANYTHING. Let's give it some heart, people!

Elliot, take the tone down a notch. It isn't cool to ***** out people and be totally unforgiving for beginner mistakes. I've already discussed it with several others through MSN, but we're never on at the same time, so I'll say it here: Almost 1/5 of your 25 most recent posts can be taken as attacks against other people. I'd just like to say that most likely isn't helping the whole lack of activity thing. Sorry about being so harsh, I should have said something sooner instead of letting my frustration build up.

[Linkachu]

Almost 1/5 of your 25 most recent posts can be taken as attacks against other people.

You can say the very same thing, if not more so, about some other posters...

But that's besides the point. When are we going to be able to stop fighting to revive this place and actually ENJOY Pokeschool again? We've been trying "hardcore" revivial strategies for the past six months or more around here that just aren't working. Instead of simply posting a lot what we need to do is try contacting the members who have left or have declined in posts and find out exactly why.

Btw - we've got the Psyduck back now. What about bringing back the Pokeschool logo for the main site? (Edit: Do not ask why I wrote Farfetch'd instead of Psyduck. I have no bloody idea x.x)

Sorry if I came off as harsh, Lee. It's just that a lot of people have already been furiously trying to revive this place by posting more, but you can only do so much when people aren't replying. Unless we find out why we're just wasting our time.

[Bullados]

Well It might not be the formus eather.. If you havent noticed.. Pokemon has died out also.. People get older, get jobs.. Things like this dont matter to them anymore. But i can understand what you meen. Even at Vsu at the moment we are in a drought. The most Reason is becasue of school. But i think the probelm that chedy has is he keeps trying to make new boards work.. Like Hectatomb, Or Heroclicks, Or Deul Masters.. Even since he has been doing that all the sites have gone through trouble. We used to have this thing called Fcotw..( Fantasy Card of the week.) so dident Magic, And yu-gi-oh that was taken from us and with that took a lot of members. So If chedy would Pay more attention to the Things that are big now Things like As you said pokeschool would not have died out.. Or other tings wont die. It is all on effort. From everyones part.
This post is complete and utter bull, and everybody here knows it. How do we know it? The Pokemon GB franchise has recently surpassed 100 million units sold in the United States. That's not even counting the console games (which were mostly terrible, but sold well anyway). Pokemon TCG US Nationals had 400 players, and Worlds (an invite tourney) had OVER 400. TCG sales are flourishing, surpassing MTG once again, and approaching YGO levels. I know that there was a graph published earlier this year comparing Poke sales to MTG sales, and that it was pretty close recently. I can only imagine that Pokemon sales have increased in the past 6 months, given the sheer volume of events and leagues currently being run (op.pokemon-tcg.com, Leagues and Premier Events)

Don't even talk about DM. That game was dead before it even came out. Everybody knows that it's nothing more than a funnel toward MTG.

BTW, Chedy, whatever happened to the new Pokeschool banner along the top that everybody was clammoring for? Where's the delivery on promises?

[The Titan]

Like i said i wasent talking about the games. I know they bring in money.. but the card games, and shows, and little toys.. takes the conept and makes it look like a little kids game. not calling it a little kids game just stating a fact.

[Bullados]

400 person nationals.

400 person worlds, closed event.

Card sales greater than MTG.

Why are you still saying that the TCG is dead/dying?

www.pokegym.net <- try posting that there, and see the reaction.
op.pokemon-tcg.com <- do some research b4 u blab ur mouth.

[The Titan]

Claps.. Amazing.. Well Te tell you the truth it HAS been Dying out! no one around here plays it.. there are no toruneys around here. It used to be everywhere now it is only in certain places mabey were it is still big..? I used to play it now i dont. I dont need to fight with you since this isent my thread area.. But just on a Standard note dont fight with people over nothing more then a descussion.

[Bullados]

Just looked up: thx Chedy for putting that up there!

[Lugiasian]

Woohoo! We are now officially Pokeschool, people! The only thing that could possibly make it better is the replacement of those cards behind the words with a Pokemon(preferrably the Groudon of the old old boards), but this is good enough!

Thankies muchly, Chedy, we really appreciate it. ^-^

[ImJessieTR]

I, too, prefer having it back. True, I used a fic instead of endless spam to complain, but I was afraid this site was dead when those changes were made.

[Nyaa-Neko]

Yeah, well, this site isn't DEAD, just...very slowly moving. Like a turtle. A sleeping turtle.

To get onto the topic of IMPROVING Pokeschool, er, maybe I should tell a story *ignores groans*. When I got word of the 3'rd generation of Pokemon, like, five days before it came out, I looked online for a list of names and pictures. I googled something, and checked out Pokeschool. From that day on, I pretty much lived here, first getting hooked by the video game articles, then the fanfics, then the forum community. I still have Teleporter-chan saved on my computer (yes, I've personified my story. Deal.) I think that, because the video games were the reason I'm here, somebody should make it so that another Persian/Nyaa-Neko could find this site. That, and I stopped playing the card game years ago because I couldn't find anywhere convenient (like, nowhere within two hours) to buy them.

I'd be very happy to write some video game articles, post some news, or *cough*update the fan art and fiction areas. Seriously, the fanfic section of the site hasn't been updated pretty much since I came to the forums (late 2003, I think) and that's just sad. It's almost been two years (I think)! Now, if people would write some, like they USED to, then we could put them on the site. I don't mean the 3-4 authors, counting myself, but like the old times, when there were new chapters each day to countless stories.

And I'd be happy to write some Pokeschool-only fics, as well, if not just to fill that page up a little more. Meh, it's what I spend most of my time doing, anyways.