The Best of Pokémon

My History, Unfinished Business, and Revelations

, 13th May 2011 at 02:12 AM (389 Views)

Hello. If you're reading this, you either: are pissed at me for taking a hiatus of 3 months, have no idea what's going on, or have nothing better to do. Well since I've been gone for so long, let me re-introduce myself: my (user-)name is I WannaBeTheVeryBest. I've been here since September of 2010. I have better things to do than to waste my time yapping on and on in pointless threads, which is why I have such a low number of posts.

My only reason for joining was initially to create a list of the images of the then-recently revealed Gen V Pokémon and share them with the community. It was not all-that-warmly received, but I don't care. Then, I began a thread in which I wanted to discuss what the best sprites of each Pokémon were and why. I showed my selections and hoped others would comment. A mod soon locked the thread and pointed me to the Blogs. I was miffed that I had to re-do virtually the entire list of the 20 or so entries I had done, but I got past that setback too.

The Blog community was much more welcoming. I was encouraged to further advance my list of the Best Sprites of Each Pokémon. When the first entry hit 100 views, I knew I had begun something that people liked. Although the number of comments was less than I would have preferred, I never complained but continued to encourage comments. Currently, each entry has several hundred views.
BSoEP ended on Dec 22, 2010, with the advance of Gen III. I had completed two entire generations and began doing the third, but after the starters, I realized that each one only had 2 or 3 truly unique sprites. None of those selections were truly exciting. I spent about a minute each, typing and all. I would think, Well, half are the same, the rest are hardly different, and none are all that great. Perhaps if people wanted me to finish Gen 3, I might, just for the sake of views and comments, but I probably wouldn't enjoy it.

With the new year came a new project. Best Designed Pokémon is something that surprised me when I decided to undertake it. I've had artistic inclinations since childhood, and coupling that with my childhood obsession was a fresh new challenge for me, the kind that continuing BSoEP wouldn't give. The premise was that I would look at a Pokémon and judge how well it was designed based on Form, Color, and Variety (explained in the blog description). A self-indulgent addition is the Favorite Renditions segment, where I scour the Internet (by which I mean the first 10 pages of Google Images and the first 120 results from DeviantArt) for artistic renditions of the given Pokémon. Beautiful pieces of art in stylistic, digital, and many other kinds of styles are included. I offered to include a Top Cosplayer segment, but no word on that has been given.

And that's a brief history of my time on Bulbagarden. Now to business. I'll cut to the chase: life sucks. It sucks balls. You can't ever do what you want all the time, and when you can, you have to prioritize what to attend to, get it out of the way, and try to clear other goals. Case in point: I have over 230 YouTube videos queued to watch. I have around 150 bookmarks to deal with. At some time I'll snap and simply delete them all even though I know what I'll be missing. But enough rambling, my point is that the reason that I had a 3-month hiatus was due to life. This project was pushed to the back of my mind. The second edition of BDP sat unfinished. Today I can announce that I've finished it. The next edition will feature the Nidos. Though I may change plans and make each entry dedicated to just one family of Pokémon. That way I can get on the news feed more often. I'll still be careful not to become some whiny loser who puts up a half-dozen blog posts per day talking about their petty problems. God, the thought makes me shudder. I say that confidently because no one who does that would ever read something interesting or, you know, that someone put much effort into. And that's what I do.

I always ask myself if I'm doing the right thing. In this case it's, Am I wasting my time? Sure, hundreds of Pokémon fans read my work, or click on it accidentally, whatever. I don't get paid. I have spent countless hours on BSoEP and BDP. I don't know why. I could have mastered the guitar that sits alone in its case in my room. Gotten a job. Grown the balls to go on a real Goddamned date instead of hesitation, mixed messages, and letdowns. I know I beg for comments all the time, but this time is particularly crucial. Is this worth doing? I like to think that what I do is appreciated, but is it appreciated enough? Maybe I'll finish these projects in my old age when I have nothing better to do. Who knows. As of now, I am on hiatus indefinitely. I'll check back some days to see if it's worth it to continue. If I had all the time in the world, I would. I really would. But I don't. I'm an 18-year-old college kid with a life to begin. I don't have time for personal indulgences. I sleep about 5.5 hrs per night on school nights. I have clinical procrastination. I do my best and have plenty of regrets. I am human. And right now I can't do this anymore.

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Comments

Tsurugi - 13th May 2011 04:26 AM
I remember those Best Sprite articles, I found them entertaining. I would have commented, but I thought something like that would be getting plenty of attention even if I didn't comment.

And here's a blunt answer for you, as cynical as it is. If you feel like it isn't worth doing, it's likely because it isn't.

The "whiny loser who puts up a half-dozen blog posts per day talking about their petty problems" is a whiny loser. But is still the person who gets the most attention. Because they likely already have a swarm of friends who came to them out of pity when they started whining.

When someone posts something of the same length and depth of your projects, people don't care unless the person posting it is already their friend. Because that's how it works, sadly. People only care about the tiny bubbles they live in and nothing else.

If this comment comes off as a bit cruel, it's because it's how it really is. From my own point of view, at least.
winstein - 15th May 2011 01:07 AM
I decided to chime in and comment here, because you asked for comments. I am not sure if you will be able to read this, but here you go: one long comment coming right up!

Well, seeing how you have high ratings in your blog, I kind of assumed that you have already had a secured reputation, as in you are well-known enough for your work. I am surprised to see that if your ratings got lowered, you made a blog entry about it, which I am not sure what it was about, but I can tell that you take your work seriously.

In regards to your concerns that your blogs don't garner attention, I can relate to my review blogs that used to not have the attention I thought I will have. You know, I also thought that my reviews wouldn't be worth it because there was one blog that I didn't receive a lot of comments in my third entry (Ghost-types Generation 4), but I went on anyway because I want to see it done and not have any unfinished business. When I thought I was about done after I posted the next review, I was surprised to see a lot of comments posted expressing interest, which was actually the point that I knew what I did is great and enjoyed by a lot of people.

Even when I didn't have the comments to show that I've got attention, I went on, because I wanted to complete the reviews and also because I know that there will be at least someone whom enjoys what I am doing. The reviews also provide me some benefits too, like learning of certain things (I wasn't aware that Whimsicott and Lilligant were based on European mythical beings) and making friends (like GengarEatBanana).

While I don't really pay attention to your work, it doesn't mean it's bad. If you believe that you want to keep doing this, great, but if you don't, it will probably be a pity because it may never be finished. You should at least complete it, but only if you feel that you want to go on because it doesn't really seem hard. In fact, your "Best Sprites of Each Pokémon" is good, to say the least, and I was considering using the recommended sprites in my reviews, but that never came to fruition because it was left unfinished.

I am not sure about the "whiny loser who puts up a half-dozen blog posts per day talking about their petty problems" statement, but while I do have my envious moments on those who did that (because they have more comments than me), I know I don't have their capacity, so I didn't do what they do, because I am not interested in doing this a lot. Instead, I post in the blogs what I do best (which takes effort to get done). It helps that I got attention, because what I did was stellar, according to some people.

If I were to make recommendations if you decided to go on, it's to make your entries more presentable and post them all in one shot rather than update them regularly, because it is less likely that someone will see what you did until the end, unless they like your work so much they keep checking back. It also helps if you have some good friends here, because that means guaranteed readership. Seeing how you have little contact with the majority of people here, it's not surprising that not many people comment on your work. Maybe I should comment on your work to keep you interested, if you want, but not now (I am also not free at this time).

Also, another thing, I guess it's good if you do decided to post "Best Designs" for each family in each entry, because that will leave room for more images (fan art) within the blogs, which is recommended because it means you don't have to click the links to go to the aforementioned pages (though it's best to give credit to those artists).

At least, that's my (long) opinion here.

Thanks for reading.
Aviator Zero - 16th May 2011 01:59 AM
Originally Posted by Ten-Ten-Tenko

If you feel like it isn't worth doing, it's likely because it isn't.
When someone posts something of the same length and depth of your projects, people don't care unless the person posting it is already their friend.

That's very true, but there's still a part of me that wants to continue. For some reason right at this instant I feel like continuing BSoEP for Gen III. Strange, I know.
I understand the importance of the friend network. I am at best a familiar face to a few users and have simply not engaged enough to have made "friends." I should have taken this into account when wondering about the views/comments numbers.

Originally Posted by winstein

I am surprised to see that if your ratings got lowered, you made a blog entry about it, which I am not sure what it was about, but I can tell that you take your work seriously.
If you believe that you want to keep doing this, great, but if you don't, it will probably be a pity because it may never be finished. You should at least complete it, but only if you feel that you want to go on because it doesn't really seem hard. In fact, your "Best Sprites of Each Pokémon" is good, to say the least, and I was considering using the recommended sprites in my reviews, but that never came to fruition because it was left unfinished.
I post in the blogs what I do best (which takes effort to get done). It helps that I got attention, because what I did was stellar, according to some people.
If I were to make recommendations if you decided to go on, it's to make your entries more presentable and post them all in one shot rather than update them regularly, because it is less likely that someone will see what you did until the end, unless they like your work so much they keep checking back. It also helps if you have some good friends here, because that means guaranteed readership. Seeing how you have little contact with the majority of people here, it's not surprising that not many people comment on your work. Maybe I should comment on your work to keep you interested, if you want, but not now (I am also not free at this time).
Also, another thing, I guess it's good if you do decided to post "Best Designs" for each family in each entry, because that will leave room for more images (fan art) within the blogs, which is recommended because it means you don't have to click the links to go to the aforementioned pages (though it's best to give credit to those artists).

1. That was a mix of a hurt ego and anger over an obvious sabotage of my position on the Best Blogs list. In reality it is meaningless, but like you said, I felt insulted.
2. Nothing bothers me more than a job left unfinished. It's better to have never started than to have done half the work and left. One day I will finish what I've started, but it will take many months. (Probably years for BDP.)
3. That's my mentality. I feel that I have something to contribute and if there's something that I feel needs doing, and I am apt to do it, I will.
4. Sound advice. The reason I've posted in large chunks ever since BSoEP was precisely to avoid mini-posts that would be seen as more annoying than interesting (Imagine over 251 posts just for BSoEP alone). Since it appears that annoyance is the only way to recognition around here, I will reduce the number of entries per post to a single evolutionary family or a small group of related Pokémon (Magmar/Electabuzz/Jynx, for example). As much as I've asked for comments in the past, I will no longer, since I've realized that it is my own disconnection that is the cause. I welcome your comments as you so desire, but don't feel like doing so out of pity or obligation; just out of interest.
5. That's a great point. I was wary about linking to all the images at first but forgot about it soon afterward. One problem is the size of the images. To display them in their full-resolution glory would take up too much space on the page, but using a smaller version would reduce their details. Anyone's suggestion on this would be much appreciated. For now, I will replace the One, Two, Three, etc, with the artist's username.

Ten-Ten-Tenko and winstein, I thank you. You've both given me top-notch feedback, from which I've learned much. Without a doubt you have made a beneficial contribution to the advancement of this little blog of mine. You have my eternal gratitude.