RUMOR - Morale At GameFreak at an all time low.

[Horohorohoro]

I feel like people are vastly overrating the toxicity of the fanbase on websites like ERA. I definitely do think there are some people who participate in lazy dev rhetoric, but if you go back through the leak and spoiler thread, when we were getting new Pokemon designs leaked and whatnot, most of the detractors of the game on this website were actually positive. Every time a new Pokemon was leaked, people were excited for it. Obviously tunes have changed now that the dex cut was worse than most expected, but I feel like that's justified, considering a lot of people do have a personal attachment to this series. I don't personally care as much about the dex cut as others do, but there is definitely some validity to any criticism Pokemon has been getting, and I feel like it shouldn't be seen as "toxic" or "whining" to criticize, just like I don't think anyone should be looked down on for wanting to enjoy the game either.

I know this thread isn't supposed to be about this, but that's definitely what it's turned into now lol.

 

[MegaManTrigger]

The OP gives no information whatsoever so people are playing "create the narrative you want to see."

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Or people should be better at reading the links instead of assuming shit from the OP.

 

[NHarmonic.]

That's funny. I remember the recent media previews being extremely positive.

I might buy two copies just to show how little I care about the dex cut lol

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Buying the game out of spite, what's with this childish behavior?

 

[nintendoman58]

I hope you're all proud of yourselves.

 

[That Naive Cube!!]

Buying the game out of spite, what's with this childish behavior?

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I was always going to buy the game. I'm a huge pokemon fan.

 

[Rodrigues solitaire]

Or people should be better at reading the links instead of assuming shit from the OP.

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Which gives a three word quote from Austin on which the entire article is based on.

 

[Future Gazer]

Feel like they would be better off letting those "fans" go.

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Yep. Screw those fans who actually want to see the series reach its full potential.

 

[Sandfox]

Well that really isn't showing as per this thread 🤷🏻‍♂️ for real.

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Nobody in this thread said that every criticism is toxic. They called out toxic comments in general for the low moral and called out certain post in this thread.

 

[RockmanBN]

Negativity with GF has been consistent since the announcement in E3. Never seen the Poke crowd this angry. Though I doubt it will last months after the games release.

 

[Lothars]

I guess we'll have to wait and see.

I disagree FWIW. The backlash will be low on the list of reasons why this will (probably) open less than S/M in the U.K. (The first concrete data we'll get), behind the price increase (both for hardware + software), the Switch vs 3DS install base and the lack of a boost from Go.

It'll work out in the end I think but that thread won't be pretty if people's reasoning here is any indication.

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That's all we can do but if it doesn't smash let's go sales then that's pretty telling to show it's not affected. If it only does around the same as let's go than I don't see how the sales can be looked at anything but a dissapointment, its not like 11 million sales isn't good but they are not ideal for the new pokemon game.

 

[PancakeFlip]

The reactions to the games from the media have actually been extremely positive.

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I just mean in general, not the press. If you google the game the good and bad are right in front of you.

 

[MillionIII]

Pokémon had the worst transition to a console system, they are barely using the switch's hardware and on top of that they cut more than half on the Pokémon, how can you expect people to cheer for that.

 

[ItWasMeantToBe19]

Or people should be better at reading the links instead of assuming shit from the OP.

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The link is not good either!

Austin Walker claims that the morale of Game Freak employees is at an "all time low", but he doesn't elaborate on why that is.

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[Treestump]

Did I say they weren't listening to fans? You can go through my post history and you'll see I've praised their good decisions, such as overworld Pokémon, removal of needless breeding (letting us change nature and whatnot), QoL changes across the board and more, but there are still other aspects where they are lacking and that's where the criticism comes in: Cut Pokémon, lacking post-game, forward-compatibility of previously introduced features (Megas, Z-Moves, etc), among others.

I don't marry companies when criticism has to be expressed, I'll call them out whether they are Nintendo, Sony, Microsoft, Game Freak, Naughty Dog, Capcom or even Google.

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I didn't say you specifically said that, no, and I didn't mean to imply it either. I apologize for that and should have worded my post better and that's on me. I just wanted to get something going.

Reading your post, I understand. I personally have no issue with Pokemon being cut but I understand those that do, only I wish people could express it better than the majority did. Post-game content is something I can agree with though.

 

[hibikase]

Maybe

Just maybe

Adult Pokémon fans need to finally realize that the core audience of these games are children, and that they are just a vocal niche??

There's nothing wrong with enjoying something made for kids! I am not trying to insult anyone here. But there's a point where you have to concede that you are not the target audience, no matter how intensely passionate you are about it.

 

[Zoon]

I don't know if it has any relevance but I think one of the reasons could be the pressure to release games every year. Take your damn time. There are tons of successful spinoffs to fill the void.

 

[shadow2810]

Yep. Screw those fans who actually want to see the series reach its full potential.

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while harassing the devs? Yup, f them.

 

[Lelouch0612]

Negativity with GF has been consistent since the announcement in E3. Never seen the Poke crowd this angry. Though I doubt it will last months after the games release.

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Going through Let's Go threads was already a chore last year thanks to some great users here.

 

[daybreak]

If true, I'm sure ridiculously huge sales numbers in a week will help.

In all seriousness, I feel for the developers behind this game. I hope everything turns out just fine.

 

[Kouriozan]

Leaks suck especially when everything is out 2 weeks before the game's release. There is not much they can do especially for a huge IP that is Pokémon.
I imagine it's because the IP is so massive that they feel that way, I can understand that.

 

[Mobu]

theyll be fine when they sell 15+ million copies and get their 85+ metacritic

 

[Lothars]

I was always going to buy the game. I'm a huge pokemon fan.

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So am i but they have shown they don't give a shit and this is the first one im not buying

 

[Phellps]

I wouldn't be surprised if the devs saw the fury over on 2ch a few days ago after being unaware of the dex cut and them wanting to go after GF for advertising a false product to them.

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What? When did they ever falsely advertise anything?
Not once in their promotional material have they stated that all Pokemon would be available, you're just spreading misinformation.

 

[DNAbro]

Thread is a shit show as expected

 

[NHarmonic.]

while harassing the devs? Yup, f them.

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Yeah, we're all here harassing the devs. Nice way of dismissing any criticism with your magic words.

 

[Lelouch0612]

Pokémon had the worst transition to a console system, they are barely using the switch's hardware and on top of that they cut more than half on the Pokémon, how can you expect people to cheer for that.

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Lol

Did you even see Fire Emblem ? Sw/Sh looks way better than that.

And Fire Emblem turned out a great game.

 

[HardRojo]

I'm sure that applies for both sides.

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For sure it does, but you don't see me acting like there's absolutely 0 things that these games are doing well, because there are some pretty sweet things, just like there are plenty to criticize. I won't call out someone for praising QoL changes, but I will call the fuck out of someone saying "There are 400+ Pokémon to catch, so eh, no problem".

 

[MegaManTrigger]

Maybe

Just maybe

Adult Pokémon fans need to finally realize that the core audience of these games are children, and that they are just a vocal niche??

There's nothing wrong with enjoying something made for kids. But there's a point where you have to concede that you are not the target audience, no matter how intensely passionate you are about it.

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So explain why people of all ages are playing Pokemon Go? Or better yet, since you introduce the children argument, why do critics/adults/etc watch Pixar movies if they're only meant for children?

The fact that people like you are always trying to act like the core audience is ONLY for children continues to be incredibly disingenuous.

 

[Aaronrules380]

Have people considered that the low morale might be because of problems with the management or feeling like their voices aren't being heard within the company and not just because of the way the fandom reacted? Like we know there are disagreements about the direction the series are going within gamefreak and we know this was a controversial decision among the staff, so it's not impossible that the low morale is due more to internal factors than the fans reactions in the first place

 

[Scarlet Spider]

What? When did they every falsely advertise anything?
Not once in their promotional material have they every stated that all Pokemon would be available, you're just spreading misinformation.

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I'm not spreading anything, I'm relaying what these people's reasoning is. They believe they were having something falsely advertised to them.

 

[shadow2810]

Yeah, we're all here harassing the devs. Nice way of dismissing any criticism with your magic words.

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did I say "all"?

 

[Deleted member 35077]

I wouldn't be surprised if the devs saw the fury over on 2ch a few days ago after being unaware of the dex cut and them wanting to go after GF for advertising a false product to them.

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I knew Japanese pokemon fans were in an uproar recently, but did GF seriously not do an official announcement of the pokedex cut in JP. Sheesh, that is a horrible decision.

 

[Deleted member 9584]

Morale is low because they worked so hard on this game and they're dragged through the mud every day by the "
reals fans" I bet...

 

[ItWasMeantToBe19]

Lol

Did you even see Fire Emblem ? Sw/Sh looks way better than that.

And Fire Emblem turned out a great game.

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Fire Emblem's graphics are bad but it does have hundreds of hours of content and a ton of voice dialogue that wasn't cheap.

Also it was made by Koei-Tecmo who may have had fewer resources than Game Freak and Creatures.

 

[Lelouch0612]

Have people considered that the low morale might be because of problems with the management or feeling like their voices aren't being heard within the company and not just because of the way the fandom reacted? Like we know there are disagreements about the direction the series are going within gamefreak and we know this was a controversial decision among the staff, so it's not impossible that the low morale is due more to internal factors than the fans reactions in the first place

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It is not.

Just listen to the podcast.

 

[Sandfox]

Have people considered that the low morale might be because of problems with the management or feeling like their voices aren't being heard within the company and not just because of the way the fandom reacted? Like we know there are disagreements about the direction the series are going within gamefreak and we know this was a controversial decision among the staff, so it's not impossible that the low morale is due more to internal factors than the fans reactions in the first place

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The transcript posted said it was because of the backlash at E3.

 

[night814]

That's a very good way of putting it. Sometimes it's seems like people don't remember that Gamefreak is the dev that created this series that they have so much passion for in the first place.

It'd be one thing if Gamefreak was pushing addictive micro transactions (EA/Activision) or silencing free speech (Blizzard) or associating with pedos (THQ), but all they are doing is making a game that doesn't live up to people's lofty expectations - not exactly a crime worthy of eternal damnation I'd say...

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Most definitely, and it seems the game is actually quite good from the impressions and leak thread. People just want more all the time, I can see where people are coming from but a lot of people go beyond the pale with the criticisms.

 

[Aaronrules380]

It is not.

Just listen to the podcast.

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doesn't elaborate on why that is.

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[Giga Man]

The Y Comm. Not really the PSS but it's very similar to it, with improvements.

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Oh, that! Yeah, I totally forgot about it. It's hard to find things on the official website, but I was able to find the info I needed. Pretty exciting!

 

[Master Alucard]

crying their way to the bank

 

[Lothars]

Going through Let's Go threads was already a chore last year thanks to some great users here.

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Yeah the fanboys who dismiss any criticism are the worst.

 

[Kingpin Rogers]

Doubt it.

 

[zashga]

I can believe it. Last year's reception to Let's Go was pretty toxic, and this year the greedy devs/lazy devs rhetoric has only gotten worse. Hopefully things will calm down once SwSh are actually out, assuming they're good games.

I don't envy Gamefreak for their fanbase, that's for sure.

 

[Mekanos]

crying their way to the bank

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This is a really shitty way to talk about mid-low level employees who are probably overworked and underpaid. They aren't going to be raking in the profits of the sales.

 

[Combo]

I don't think Nintendo wants to make Pokémon

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It's in Nintendo's interest to make sure the game doesn't disappoint so many people. They need to at least offer a lot of guidance to the current devs.

If eschewing old ideas/concepts at the gain of new elements that won't last into the next iteration is a problem for Pokéfans now it's only bound to get worse under Nintendo's in-house devs.

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That is one of the problems that the fans have, but with Nintendo in-house at least it would satisfy the another desire of the fans: a more ambitious/modern looking game. Imagine a Pokemon game that looks like BotW and has a similar level of exploration freedom. It would sell like crazy.

Pokemon Go was evidence that this IP is being wasted. Its potential is far beyond any other Nintendo IP and they need to make a game to honor that.

 

[Phellps]

I'm not spreading anything, I'm relaying what these people's reasoning is. They believe they were having something falsely advertised to them.

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If you relay something false, you're spreading misinformation, so it's good to check it before passing it on.
Anyway, they don't truly believe that. That is clearly someone just trying to find some sort of legal ground to go after Game Freak for something as frivolous as the game not having all Pokemon, which is kind embarrassing and really dishonest.

 

[Lelouch0612]

I am on mobile but we had someone posting the extract earlier. It is because of the post E3 reception.

 

[RochHoch]

An incredibly controversial decision was made regarding the new games and the future of the series as a whole, something that would obviously result in upsetting a lot of people, and people responded with criticism, especially since Masuda doesn't seem to care that people aren't pleased about Dexit.

Are some people being total assholes about it? Yes, and that's going too far, but that's not to say there isn't legitimate criticism being directed towards Sword and Shield as well.

I feel bad for the employees, but people have a right to express their disappointment considering that half of the Pokemon got cut, they just need to not be assholes about it.

 

[Aaronrules380]

I can believe it. Last year's reception to Let's Go was pretty toxic, and this year the greedy devs/lazy devs rhetoric has only gotten worse. Hopefully things will calm down once SwSh are actually out, assuming they're good games.

I don't envy Gamefreak for their fanbase, that's for sure.

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I mean a lot of the criticism to let's go was met with "you'll get your game next year" and then it turns out that no, we really didn't get what we were actually asking for at all.

 

[DNAbro]

.

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Apparently that is a lie and it does elaborate

 

[NHarmonic.]

Gotta love the "it's just for kids, so fuck off" and "catching pokemon isn't a core aspect of the games" crowd with the bad faith disingenuous arguments to defend the shitfest this pre-release cycle has been.

 

[Scarlet Spider]

I knew Japanese pokemon fans were in an uproar recently, but did GF seriously not do an official announcement of the pokedex cut in JP. Sheesh, that is a horrible decision.

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The message was only relayed to us in the West I believe, hence why they're reacting this way in the screenshot. Some or all did not know about this. The posters in the thread think GF is falsely advertising a product and it just spilled out to them attacking James Turner on Twitter.