Kalos Recolours

I am sure this has been answered, but is there a reason why you update sprites and recolor instead of just... adding new ones, like literally PumpkabooUpdated or Pumpkaboo2.0? So people who like the old sprites can keep and display them while those who like the new can just collect and swap? Is it a storage issue? A labeling issue?

In the same way that you cannot use the old red and blue sprites in pokemon black and white, as we improve the game, we replace old sprites. You cannot use them again because we are updating the game as a whole. If you wish to reuse old sprites, many of them are still available on the wiki and you can always use CSS to replace sprites for yourself

CSS fixes/changes only show for us, correct? Not others on the site? And it is something we have to update every time you update when there is a new sprite to change, as opposed to one big overhaul blocking new changes?

yes CSS is only for your viewing, you wouldn't need to update it every time, if we updated the pumpkaboos another time after you replace them it wouldn't change the CSS you have in place, but you would have to add new things to it as they get replaced with sprites you do not like

In theory I can understand but also... You have to understand too. PFQ is not a finished, closed game. It is always going to be updating, changing... it's in Beta. It's a work in progress still. If change bothers you to such a degree, PFQ may not be the place you want to spend your time. It will continue to change and evolve, that's how it improves over time. It's a fact that you'll have to learn to live with to be happy here. If not, I'm sure there are other games with less changes you could enjoy more if that's your heart's desire.

I understand that, but the problem ends up being that there is a LOT of effort involved in gathering certain pokemon, depending on what is "updated." Luckily I am not someone who puts actual money into a game that I cannot own and have no say over, like this, but it should be taken into consideration that the whole attraction of a site such as this, what you built the entire premise on, is collecting and then getting to display your "achievements" aka the pokemon you like. You do have an actual achievement system for collection. It's not like you have a vast amount of activities and mechanics to distract or "smooth over" the sour note of having traded rare pokemon, items, or having spent months hatching a particular pokemon only to have the very reason you hunted for it pulled away from you. Does that make sense? If the expectation is that "it's always in beta," then the issue becomes "why can't we add these new features to improve the quality of the game"? A sprite toggle doesn't seem impossible from a programming perspective. I don't understand why it's so off-putting as a feature option? A game belongs to the developers, but in part it succeeds based on community effort. You put a lot of work into this site and I don't want to disregard that, I just recognize that it's disheartening as a player to put anything into a system that doesn't respect your time or energy. The general feeling is "why bother" when you see how far away and impossible the only goals this site has (such as melan hunting) are/feel. I guess you're right. I will consider/think about dumping all my pokemon into the shelter and leaving. Especially since this couldn't have been left at "we understand the struggle, but we're working on improving." Instead of "well maybe you should just leave if you don't like x feature, because we can't accept criticism"? That isn't what you're doing, or saying, but it is the tone of the post as it comes off to me. Best of luck.

Admittedly, I have to echo some of this. It's understandable to want to update sprites, especially as the art team improves. But... oftentimes people are scared for the new wave of sprite updates, because there are times that a lot of, if not most, people aren't happy with the new ones and are ignored. Even melan Aurorus, which was edited because of feedback, still isn't particularly loved by a lot of people, especially compared to the old colors. And in theory that's not a big problem, but the issue here is that, as was mentioned in the quoted post, people often spend real money and effort to get melans. There's been a lot of feedback about recent melan colors being "muddy" and people no longer enjoying the melans they spent their time and money on, so it's not like it's just a few individuals having this problem. I'd just like to point out that while creators are free to do what they wish, there is a reason that, for instance, gacha games try to avoid nerfing characters. It's possible to get characters without paying, but the rates are low, and a large amount of people spend real money on units that they like. If they were to then nerf that unit, removing the aspects of the character that people enjoyed, those people who paid will have wasted money. So they try to avoid doing that. Stats aren't really an issue here like they are in gacha games, but the general principle with regard to appearances are still the same. It ends up feeling like it isn't worth it to put time and effort into a basic feature of this game for fear of the changes that will be made. Don't get me wrong, there are new sprites and melans that are lovely. It can simply be disheartening to have no idea what the outcome will be, whether you'll like your melan (or even albino) anymore or not, and to know that even if a majority of the user base isn't happy with a change, it won't matter.

The sprite revamp discussion is becoming more and more of a dead horse by the day, but just for the hell of it, here's my two cents. Melan recolours are going to happen. That's just the start and end of it. I understand people's frustations about putting in time and effort and even real life money to hunt for a melan that they appreciate for its unique colours, only for those colours to change. I've had those frustations myself in the past. And it's why I don't hunt melans for their colours or designs any more. If I'm not hunting a pokemon for delta points, gems, someone else's request, etc, I just melan hunt pokemon where I can ask myself the question, "would I still cherish this mon if its colours were changed to be the most personally unappealing thing imaginable". I still love the melans with personally appealing colours, but "personally appealing colours" has become a lot lower on the priority list when it comes to deciding what I want to put my time and effort into hunting. And as much as I do love those designs, I just can't justify putting my time and effort into hunting for what's going to be a temporary and unpredictable thing.

I kind of agree with alot that has been said here. The only things that stay the same are the shinies and that's only because they are tied to the games. Thank goodness for that I say. Albinos and Melans on the other hand well...its a mixed bag... I don't bother going for Melans at all simply for the mostly bad palets to start with. Granted, there are a few good ones but with the possiblility of changes, theres not a lot of a big rush to go after them since they take so long to obtain in the first place. Albinos have the same issue. While there are more nice ones and don't take as long for the most part, they too have the risk of becoming less desireable and it really stinks in my honest opinion. The only viable ones to really hunt are shinies. The community at large really doesn't get much of a thought when it comes to Albino/Melan colors, even if those originals are really popular already. They just get changed to whatever and thats that. Its rather disheartening.

I wonder if there is a way to handle this kinda like some pet sites handle revamps. Like, none of us are saying revamps are bad or that they shouldn't occur, but with the time, effort, and yes, real money that gets put in to hunting, it can be a real bummer when something goes from a win to a tank. Yes, this will happen regardless, but maybe there could be a system to help alleviate this. I'm going to use Aurorus as a sample because it seems many users have picked on it: Aurorus gets updates, and the users are clearly not a fan/upset. When this happens on most pet sites, they will do a poll with a few things in mind. First they go with design, then color, then a general feel. Hunting for melans isn't a whole lot different than trying to save up currency to get that perfect pet color on pet sites, so that's why this comes to mind. So for Aurorus, it would be like Which pose do you prefer old/new Which colors do you prefer old/new Any specific feedback besides that I personally have no issues with the new pose, but the colors aren't as charming for me. So I'd say new, old, and then nothing in the third because I don't have anything to add. I also think....saying "changes happens, get over it or leave" is...maybe not the best way to get the point across. Like, don't get me wrong, I acknowledge that yes, change will happen and not everyone will be happy. But it feels harsh to tell your playerbase to leave instead of offering feedback or ideas to mitigate the outcry. Not everyone has been polite, and I do sincerely feel for the art team for that. However, having staff say "well just leave" when someone was simply asking for an alternative is rather abrasive.