GCEA Discord Concerns

[[Desolate Divine]]

Is this the place to bring up concerns? I'm not going to bring up past issues, despite still feeling that they're issues. It's been made very clear that those won't be dealt with.

But does it seem a little unfair to anybody else that Jacob rolls a shiny pokemon for someone who can't catch it, sets his own condition for anybody else to catch it, allegedly,

Then times it to the minute to catch it for himself, the Main Character?

Like, I have several problems with this from a GMing standpoint (give your players a chance to feel good?), a mechanical standpoint (this is the first GM post since it was available, so nobody else had an opportunity to catch it), and honestly just a personal one (you make it publicly available, but then snatch it up for yourself. If you're going to give it to yourself, why even give the other players false hope? If nothing else, it's mean.)

And I know there's no need for me to write this, you'll come in self-righteous and indignant and make some excuse about why it's the Best Way and If Only I Could See. But I think this is big enough that maybe someone else will see what I'm talking about, and say something.

This is really the way I wanted to spend my afternoon...

Firstly, I will open with how encounters are decided.

In alphabetical order of username, a d20 is rolled for each to determine whether they catch a Pokemon (most likely), battle a trainer or find an item. If they roll for Pokemon, a d100 is rolled and each route has a table depending on the roll. If it is a Pokemon that is already owned by the trainer, the dice is rerolled. After that there is a d20 rolled for each Pokemon. If they get a 20, the Pokemon is shiny.

So no, it's not like I rolled the Pokemon randomly and assigned them, and like the evil mastermind I apparently am, assigned the Psyduck to someone who can't afford it so that I can catch it. The RNG dictated that Pokemon.

Additionally, the scenario I just mentioned in the line above is also not true because it wasn't impossible for Shruikan to catch it. Psyduck has 16 points, however Pokemon that are part of the Sinnoh Regional Pokedex can be battled and then caught for half price (8 points). Neith has a Grotle with 18 points, which would have a type advantage over the Psyduck and beat it easily.

In which case Neith would only be two points short, and a Journal Entry or Sketchpad would have easily provided enough points to pay for the Psyduck. Additionally, had I known (as I will admit fault for not realizing Shruikan couldn't afford the Pokemon when I made the post), I would have asked Xanthe or Noble to get the entries graded on the double so that Shruikan could get it. I actually checked the list, and the most expensive wild Pokemon is 30 points, so 15 if battled.

As for the condition, that is because RNG blessed the two currently most inactive players with a shiny. Had that condition not been there, then as far as I am aware, had those two players either not come back, or come back and not known about it, those Pokemon would have never been caught. I did send Brettles a message via facebook to let him know, and sent Shruikan a message via discord, however it didn't go through because we have no common servers (however Shruikan ended up seeing the post and contacting me anyway, saying;

"Is it okay if I ignore the Shiny Psyduck, or does Neith have to fight it? (Not planning on catching it, but if I leave it alone maybe someone else can?)"

)

I made that condition to allow for Shiny Pokemon to not be wasted due to inactivity.

As for your problems with this:
give your players a chance to feel good?
Will address this under the third problem.
this is the first GM post since it was available, so nobody else had an opportunity to catch it.
This is irrelevant as the GCEA rules allow for three posts per player between GM posts, and even then, I tend to let that slide if it is good for story development. Had I not posted until the next morning, anyone else could have still posted between it becoming available and myself posting.
you make it publicly available, but then snatch it up for yourself. If you're going to give it to yourself, why even give the other players false hope? If nothing else, it's mean.
I had no unfair advantage in catching that Pokemon. I did what anybody else could have done. The time stamp was publicly visible to all players, as was the 5 day rule. Of the six active players at the point in time I caught the psyduck, three of them (Xanthe, Noble and Shruikan) had let me know they weren't going to catch it, one of them hadn't said anything, though he had just caught a Shiny Wurmple (Brettles) which left it down to myself and Lychee (who has referenced the three post rule in the past, so knew she could post to get it), and I had made it clear in the discord that Lychee would be racing me for it (in good nature), so it came down to who wanted it more enough to act.

Yes, I wrote the post during the day, and set a timer for when it became available (which was 11:21pm on a Saturday night, which is the same time zone as Lychee, so we were on equal footing there). Lychee could have done the same thing, and $10 says if she did, she would have gotten the Psyduck, as I messed up and didn't reopen the thread, so the token expired and wouldn't post and I wasted thirty seconds trying to close it and reopen it. And before you start saying that was intentional, that I wrote the post when I did so that the five day mark would be when I was available, no it wasn't. I had the day off Monday and Tuesday, so wrote the post then because I had the time. I had no GM advantage in this, nor any advantage over any other player. There was absolutely nothing stopping anyone else doing the same and beating me to it. It came down to who wanted it the most and who was willing to do the most to get it.

As for that last section, if you're gonna start throwing slander like around about me, don't expect that it will be taken to kindly, by myself or others. I am happy to address concerns, but can see when people just have an axe to grind for the sake of it, and it's been clear you've had a personal problem with me since before you even started playing Platinum. The fact that you brought this up, about a game you aren't even involved in, instead of letting someone such as Lychee or Shruikan speak for themselves (and I am happy to talk this out with them if they feel like they have been ripped off) is evidence enough.