Post by Bombermanx21 on Apr 28, 2015 0:59:39 GMT -5
Me: Welcome to the show Douglas.
So how did you come to be in the ECPL?
Douglas: Thanks, it's a pleasure to be here!
I really joined the ECPL through one of my friends, who knew how much I was into Pokemon.
Chris was basically like, "Hey, these guys do a thing. Go do a thing too."
And here I am
Me: Excellent. So have you won any badges?
Douglas: Not as of yet, I have my Trainer Card together after a lot of waffling, but a few
of them are giving me breeding trouble, notably Rotom and Lucario.
I hope to start challenging gyms this summer after finals
Me: Not to familiar with rotom. But I can speak from experience that lucario can be a pain
in the ass to breed. So do you have a favorite type?
Douglas: Rotom's one of those genderless pokemon, so I have to breed it with Ditto. Not
the most pleasant of experiences...
Me: But ditto does it all..lol
Douglas: Umm in terms of a favorite type, I honestly have three. Given that my two
favorite pokemon ever are Ninjask and Drapion, I really like Bug, Poison, and Dark,
with Ghost coming in at a close fourth.
I've been really disappointed that Drapion wasn't Bug/Dark, but in terms of a
defensive/offensive typing, Poison/Dark isn't so bad anymore
Me: Nice. And drapion is actually my favorite Pokemon. Used to be blastoise.
So when you build a team, do you base it off favortism or tactics?
Douglas: it really depends on what I'm team building for. I definitely take my
favorites into account, but I really team build based off of strategies or defensive
cores that I'm familiar with. In the draft tournament I'm running, I'm using a combo
of Ferrothorn, Mega Slowbro, and Rotom-H because Fire/Water/Grass is my favorite defensive
core and those three together give so many teams problems.
Me: K. So how often do you play Pokemon?
Douglas: I play pokemon quite often. A little bit of background on me, I was a hard-core
singles player for Gen 4 and 5. When I joined the ECPL and was really introduced to doubles
as a metagame, everything changed and I began to see singles in a less favorable light. I still
play it, but definitely not as frequently as I used to lol
Me: Ok. Any other games outside of Pokemon?
Douglas: Certainly not to the degree that Pokemon's taken over my life, but I like to relax with
some Civilization 4 when I'm with friends, or some Team Fortress 2.
Me: So your a PC guy?
Douglas: Yeah definitely! I actually haven't owned a single console. My parents bought us a Wii,
but I don't really count that. I had a GameBoy Color and I currently have a 3DS, but that's the extent of it.
Me: Hmmm, interesting. See I can't do the whole pc gaming thing. Just something about a console. Anyway, so any hobbies?
Douglas: Yeah, it's also tough to PC game when your rig is a piece of crap But I digress lol.
I play bassoon pretty well, I'd like to think, and I'm a member of the Gamer Symphony Orchestra at
my university, we arrange and play our own music from video games. It's a hell of a lot of fun!
Me: An arts guy. Awesome. So what anime do you watch?
Douglas: Phew, that's a tough question to answer. I used to be big on Naruto back when
it was first on Toonami, I'd record that on VHS's (that's tapes for the youngins) and
watch it back because my bedtime was before it aired.
Me: Lol wait how old are you man?
Douglas: InuYasha was another big first, but anime really became something I enjoyed
watching the first time I watched Puella Magi Madoka Magica and it just killed me. Oh, and I'm 22 lol
My recent favorites have been Sword Art Online, Legend of Korra, Shigatsu wa Kimi no Uso, and Hibike! Euphonium
I still have this massive backlog of things I need to watch, and I'm always adding to it!
Me: K. So your not that young. I'm thinking Naruto? Bedtime? Lol girlfriend?
Douglas: lol nah
Me: Hey no problem..eventually. Lol so who wins, Gypsy Danger or Burning Gundam?
Douglas: I haven't watched Pacific Rim, sadly. but I never bet against a gundam. There's some things
you just can't see happening.
Me: Blasphemy! Go watch pacific rim after this!!!!
And gundams aren't all powerful. Although deathscythe in my opinion is the greatest Gundam ever.
Douglas: I'll add it to the list! Watching Season 3 of Korra right now, I have so many people
on me for not finishing it
Me: I've never watched Korra. Avatar was over, im calling it a day
Ever been to magfest?
Douglas: Man, you picked a good one there.
Dammit, how could I let that slip? LOL
I was the Normal gym leader at MAG this past year! for some reason, I forgot to mention that!
Me: Nice. What team did you run?
Douglas: I ran double Megas, with Lopunny and Pidgeot. Ran backup in the form of Staraptor,
Diggersby, Ambipom, and Pyroar. Had SO much fun.
Me: Pyroar? Isn't that a fire type?
Douglas: Yeah, it's Fire/Normal which is nice dual STAB for it! and great coverage for me!
Me: Ok. Btw im.gonna catch hell for this, but what in the fruit loops does STAB stands for?
Douglas: Really helped shut down Aegislash, as the rest of my team really couldn't touch it.
Pyroar was my main Taunt support as well. oh, sorry. STAB is Same-Type Attack Bonus, which
is a 1.5x multiplier when a Pokemon uses a move that is identical to its types. So all Fire
and Normal moves used by Pyroar have a damage buff, or STAB. I guess I shouldn't explain the
concept, just the phrase lol. sorry, I forget everyone isn't a scrub.
(like Ian)
Me: Oooohhh. Brotality!!!!
Yes I just made that up.
Me: Ahahahaha it's a good term!
So i assume you and Ian have a rivalry?
Douglas: Not really, I know he could easily beat me in any competition. It just kinda harkens
back to the days when he used to stream and we'd all call him a scrub constantly because he'd
never win Multi Battles while streaming. Those were good times. Also, he was the Fighting leader
at MAG, so naturally I had to smack-talk him a bit as my only weakness.
And if I can be frank, my biggest threats during MAG from challengers were Mega Lucario
(Vacuum Wave killed anyone and everyone not named Mega Pidgeot or Staraptor) and Assault Vest
Conkeldurr (took Hurricane like a pro and OHKOs with Drain Punch, plus the Guts Mach Punch easily cleans up).
Me: In your opinion, do you think smogon is a good source for a Pokemon community?
Douglas: Man, that's a good question. I think it's a good source for people starting out in
the competitive scene: they give good analysis of pokemon, team building, spreads, coverage options,
etc. They are a valuable resource. My issue is actually not in them, but in people. A lot of people
use Smogon as a crutch rather than a resource: when they can't separate what Smogon thinks of a
pokemon from the reality, then there's a problem.
Me: There are a lot of gamers out there who consider themselves elite where others just
consider themselves gamers. Where do you consider yourself in this category and what do you believe defines one as a gamer?
Douglas: I would prefer to call anyone who enjoys video games as an experience a "gamer".
There will always be those elite people that say "well you can't be a gamer until you
complete a Nuzlocke with a full team of six after defeating the champion" or some equally
difficult challenge, but I don't think it takes skill or experience to consider yourself a
gamer. if you enjoy experiencing games, and enjoy sharing those experiences with others, then you're a gamer. nuff said.
Me: Good man. i often times am annoyed with the concept that only certain games make you a
gamer or what not. but thats a subject for another day. moving on, what was your very first pokemon?
Douglas: My very first pokemon ever was Cyndaquil, since I actually started with Pokemon
Silver! But I had to scrap that run-through because I didn't make a balanced team, and T
yphlosion ran me all the way through the game until I hit the wall that was Clair's Kingdra.
So I reset, chose Totodile, and beat the game!
Ampharos still ranks up there as one of my all-time favorites because of Pokemon Silver.
Me: Nice. so when you finally get your team together to take on the ECPL, whose gym are you going for first?
Douglas: Well, I figure I'll go after Ian first so he can get back at me for all the comments
I made in this interview! From there though, I'll probably try to capture a region at a time
but honestly, I haven't ranked the gym leaders in terms of priority. each one is gonna be a
challenge in their own way, and I'm gonna have to get around each one as I go. but I gotta start
somewhere, right?
Me: True. man a lot of angst towards Ian. lol
Douglas: ahahaha I just know he's gonna really kick my butt the first time I fight him.
rather get good information round 1 so I can get the win on round 2!
Me: so you're gamera?
Douglas: that one goes over my head...
Me: smh, you young kids i swear. moving on, if you did make it to be in the E4 of the ECPL,
what team would you have?
Douglas: lol us youngins... hmm I'm guessing the E4 right now don't have restrictions on type?
I'd have to go with a team of my all-time competitive greats, or just random crap I came up
with that surprised a lot of people and was incredibly effective. In all honesty, those two
usually go hand-in-hand. Prediction Pants Bastiodon might have to get some love.
Me: i honestly have never seen anyone use that pokemon competively, i honestly think
it be awesome to see that. so have you ever had a girl give you the age old ultimatum, me or the game?
Douglas: ahahahaha no not yet, I'm still waiting though. I actually brought Pokemon
into the life of my last girlfriend and she found she really enjoyed it! so I mean
gaming and girlfriends sometimes can go hand-in-hand?
Me: this is true. but should that day ever come, i hope you make the right decision.
so what do you do for a living?
Douglas: well, right now I'm still in school, pursuing my Bachelor's in Geography.
I work part-time at WalMart though, so Pokemon really forms stress release from all
the customers and retail crap that go along with that.
Me: i work in food. so your preaching to the choir about using games as a stress reliever. lol
so your and educated young man and into the arts.
im wondering why your not beating women off with a stick. lol
Douglas: ahahaha well I was up until recently taken, so I haven't really been on the market for long lol
Me: so your last girlfriend got into pokemon thanks to you. did you ever battle her?
Douglas: but I drive constantly because I commute to school and I have work immediately after,
so it's tough to meet new people
and no, she wasn't the battling type, she's a collector
I tried my best, but it never really stuck for her
Me: ah. mind telling what happened? if its too personal we can do another question
Douglas: it's a bit too soon, only happened Thursday, so still fresh and all
Me: oooh. sorry. how long were you together?
Douglas: almost two years. I didn't really see our relationship continuing to the point
of marriage or kids, so I didn't want to keep stringing her along on that possible hope.
Me: well, theres still hope. you guys may get back together, you may not. and hey you
never know she may not be ready for that sort of thing either. but thats something you
both have to decide on. i can only give advice from experience. but it takes a real man
to be able to admit something like that. for that i tip my hat to you good sir
moving on, so when you game, what do you like to snack on or drink?
Douglas: thanks man. hmm I don't really like to drink or snack that often when I'm gaming,
but if I have the munchies, I'll grab whatever's around. water, beer, lemonade, chips,
cookies, doesn't really matter to me!
Me: Jack of all trades. ok. other then pokemon, what game would you say has taken the most hours of your life?
Douglas: RuneScape
inarguably
I spend waaaaaaaaay too much time on there
Me: i here that alot. lol
what would you say is the most challenging game you have ever played?
Douglas Eber: oooh, most challenging... hold on, opening up Steam- no wait, FTL: Faster than Light
the final boss is like hitting a brick wall with your face going 70 miles an hour
and even getting there can be disastrously difficult
Me: FTL? never heard of it
Douglas: it's an Indie game about exploring sectors of space with a pursuing Rebel fleet, so you
only have so much time in each sector. in that time, you have to purchase upgrades for your ship,
grab more crew, and deliver the message. And the game is played with random events at each stop,
so you have to choose what route you're going to take and how you're going to spend your resources.
It's like a dungeon crawler where going backwards is death. and the water is rising. and you have
to fight a goblin king with a million buddies when you leave.
and now the parallel is breaking apart a bit...
Me: damn.
so what systems do you own beside your ds?
Douglas: none lol, just my PC. I have an Xbox 360 I haven't open with Dark Souls just
waiting to be played. Dishonored, Assassin's Creed Black Flag, Borderlands 2... I think
that's all the games. bought it at Black Friday at my store last year, but I haven't
touched it due to school and I guess laziness?
Me: i feel like i should reach through the screen and choke the life force from you.
how dare you do your 360 like that.
lol moving on, are there any other games you play competively?
Douglas: I know, I know... May 16th though! Definitely gonna hook it up!
Competitively, no. I'm not a good competition person, really. I take the game waaaaay too
seriously as is, so they're really not for me. Even Pokemon and the Pokemon TCG I mostly
play for fun, because if I try too hard I expect too much from myself and get really upset.
Being a MAG gym leader was a real challenge, but I got into a rhythm where I expected to lose,
and I never got too angry about it!
Me: well as pernell stated yesterday, as gym leaders, we're supposed to lose.
Douglas: very true, and I guess that's really how I came to terms with my role at MAG.
Me: few more questions and we can call it a night, if you could see one pokemon obtain
a mega evolution, what would it be and why?
Douglas: Still think I put up a fight for most of my challengers, though
Oooh, I have to think about this one. See, it's tough, because no pokemon loses its primary
typing when it Mega evolves. Even Aggron is Steel/Rock, so it only loses its secondary. That
being said, if they changed that rule, I'd love to see Bug/Dragon Mega Flygon with the bug-type
Pixilate/Aerilate. Right now, it's very subpar in terms of its stats and typing, it's the
weakest and worst of the Ground/Dragon going by movepool and Base Stat distribution. I'd like
to see it get more SpAtk so it can use that bug-boosted Boomburst, and really have it come
into its own as a superior Dragon-type, rather than a forgettable beta-Garchomp.
Me: nice answer. what would you say is the hardest aspect of being a trainer?
Douglas: Becoming comfortable with being uncomfortable. Not every battle is gonna be a win,
and no team is infallible. At some point, every good trainer has to take a step outside of
their comfort box and try something different. Maybe they are fed up with a speed-based metagame
and want to try out Trick Room, or are so sick of entry hazards that they have to incorporate Defog.
Good trainers always have an abundance of ideas and strategies they can use to spice up their play
whenever they're too comfortable with a team. As they say, the definition of insanity is doing the
same thing over and over and expecting different results. Throw a little discord into your play
and be uncomfortable; you might find you like it.
I hope that made sense, my train of thought derailed like three times in there.
Me: lol no it makes good sense. at least to me
Douglas: phew
Me: what would you say was your most humiliating defeat?
Douglas: there have been so many of those, it's tough to think
www.youtube.com/watch?v=YQypH1nXI7U
I made a Team Building video and lost like twice in a row with the team I built, so that
was pretty embarrassing. Still uploaded it though! Today, we see the process of
understanding how great some threats can be when you put a specific team into the metagame
to see how it will hold up.
Me: hey trial and error
Me: In terms of a legendary for competitive play, I would love to use some Ho-Oh.
Brave Bird happens to be one of my favorite moves, Regenerator is one of my favorite
abilities, and I think the value of Punishment is sorely underestimated. Ho-Oh is
a very solid Pokemon that lost some of its shine due to the appearance of Stealth
Rock, but the thing can wreck.
Me: interesting choice.
smash bros recently added new fighters such as mega man and pac man to their already
legendary roster. whats one character you would like to see put on to the smash roster that hasnt been done yet?
Douglas: Man, that hasn't been done at all? That's tough. I'm a really big Fire Emblem
fan, so I might have to go with Hector, one of the three main lords from Fire Emblem 7.
In contrast to the sword-wielding forces you constantly see in Smash, he uses Armads,
a massive axe, and is incredibly defensive. I'd like to see him as another heavy
Ganondorf-like character that swings a massive axe with phenomenal range.
Me: alright. last question of the night.
we've had a remake of the first 3 gens of pokemon, what do you think will happen first?
a new pokemon game or a remake of diamond and pearl?
Douglas: We know Nintendo by now, they always release a new Generation with a new system,
followed by a remake to capture the nostalgia dollar. My money is on Generation 7 coming
out for the New 3DS, followed by the Diamond/Pearl remakes.
but only time will tell, right?
Me: true. although im a little concerned. what else can they do at this point? well thanks
doug, youve been an awesome guest and i hope things work out for you in the ECPL and as well with your love life
Douglas: Thanks man, I appreciate the sentiment, and thanks for having me on!
Me: till next time
Douglas: indeed, good sir
So how did you come to be in the ECPL?
Douglas: Thanks, it's a pleasure to be here!
I really joined the ECPL through one of my friends, who knew how much I was into Pokemon.
Chris was basically like, "Hey, these guys do a thing. Go do a thing too."
And here I am
Me: Excellent. So have you won any badges?
Douglas: Not as of yet, I have my Trainer Card together after a lot of waffling, but a few
of them are giving me breeding trouble, notably Rotom and Lucario.
I hope to start challenging gyms this summer after finals
Me: Not to familiar with rotom. But I can speak from experience that lucario can be a pain
in the ass to breed. So do you have a favorite type?
Douglas: Rotom's one of those genderless pokemon, so I have to breed it with Ditto. Not
the most pleasant of experiences...
Me: But ditto does it all..lol
Douglas: Umm in terms of a favorite type, I honestly have three. Given that my two
favorite pokemon ever are Ninjask and Drapion, I really like Bug, Poison, and Dark,
with Ghost coming in at a close fourth.
I've been really disappointed that Drapion wasn't Bug/Dark, but in terms of a
defensive/offensive typing, Poison/Dark isn't so bad anymore
Me: Nice. And drapion is actually my favorite Pokemon. Used to be blastoise.
So when you build a team, do you base it off favortism or tactics?
Douglas: it really depends on what I'm team building for. I definitely take my
favorites into account, but I really team build based off of strategies or defensive
cores that I'm familiar with. In the draft tournament I'm running, I'm using a combo
of Ferrothorn, Mega Slowbro, and Rotom-H because Fire/Water/Grass is my favorite defensive
core and those three together give so many teams problems.
Me: K. So how often do you play Pokemon?
Douglas: I play pokemon quite often. A little bit of background on me, I was a hard-core
singles player for Gen 4 and 5. When I joined the ECPL and was really introduced to doubles
as a metagame, everything changed and I began to see singles in a less favorable light. I still
play it, but definitely not as frequently as I used to lol
Me: Ok. Any other games outside of Pokemon?
Douglas: Certainly not to the degree that Pokemon's taken over my life, but I like to relax with
some Civilization 4 when I'm with friends, or some Team Fortress 2.
Me: So your a PC guy?
Douglas: Yeah definitely! I actually haven't owned a single console. My parents bought us a Wii,
but I don't really count that. I had a GameBoy Color and I currently have a 3DS, but that's the extent of it.
Me: Hmmm, interesting. See I can't do the whole pc gaming thing. Just something about a console. Anyway, so any hobbies?
Douglas: Yeah, it's also tough to PC game when your rig is a piece of crap But I digress lol.
I play bassoon pretty well, I'd like to think, and I'm a member of the Gamer Symphony Orchestra at
my university, we arrange and play our own music from video games. It's a hell of a lot of fun!
Me: An arts guy. Awesome. So what anime do you watch?
Douglas: Phew, that's a tough question to answer. I used to be big on Naruto back when
it was first on Toonami, I'd record that on VHS's (that's tapes for the youngins) and
watch it back because my bedtime was before it aired.
Me: Lol wait how old are you man?
Douglas: InuYasha was another big first, but anime really became something I enjoyed
watching the first time I watched Puella Magi Madoka Magica and it just killed me. Oh, and I'm 22 lol
My recent favorites have been Sword Art Online, Legend of Korra, Shigatsu wa Kimi no Uso, and Hibike! Euphonium
I still have this massive backlog of things I need to watch, and I'm always adding to it!
Me: K. So your not that young. I'm thinking Naruto? Bedtime? Lol girlfriend?
Douglas: lol nah
Me: Hey no problem..eventually. Lol so who wins, Gypsy Danger or Burning Gundam?
Douglas: I haven't watched Pacific Rim, sadly. but I never bet against a gundam. There's some things
you just can't see happening.
Me: Blasphemy! Go watch pacific rim after this!!!!
And gundams aren't all powerful. Although deathscythe in my opinion is the greatest Gundam ever.
Douglas: I'll add it to the list! Watching Season 3 of Korra right now, I have so many people
on me for not finishing it
Me: I've never watched Korra. Avatar was over, im calling it a day
Ever been to magfest?
Douglas: Man, you picked a good one there.
Dammit, how could I let that slip? LOL
I was the Normal gym leader at MAG this past year! for some reason, I forgot to mention that!
Me: Nice. What team did you run?
Douglas: I ran double Megas, with Lopunny and Pidgeot. Ran backup in the form of Staraptor,
Diggersby, Ambipom, and Pyroar. Had SO much fun.
Me: Pyroar? Isn't that a fire type?
Douglas: Yeah, it's Fire/Normal which is nice dual STAB for it! and great coverage for me!
Me: Ok. Btw im.gonna catch hell for this, but what in the fruit loops does STAB stands for?
Douglas: Really helped shut down Aegislash, as the rest of my team really couldn't touch it.
Pyroar was my main Taunt support as well. oh, sorry. STAB is Same-Type Attack Bonus, which
is a 1.5x multiplier when a Pokemon uses a move that is identical to its types. So all Fire
and Normal moves used by Pyroar have a damage buff, or STAB. I guess I shouldn't explain the
concept, just the phrase lol. sorry, I forget everyone isn't a scrub.
(like Ian)
Me: Oooohhh. Brotality!!!!
Yes I just made that up.
Me: Ahahahaha it's a good term!
So i assume you and Ian have a rivalry?
Douglas: Not really, I know he could easily beat me in any competition. It just kinda harkens
back to the days when he used to stream and we'd all call him a scrub constantly because he'd
never win Multi Battles while streaming. Those were good times. Also, he was the Fighting leader
at MAG, so naturally I had to smack-talk him a bit as my only weakness.
And if I can be frank, my biggest threats during MAG from challengers were Mega Lucario
(Vacuum Wave killed anyone and everyone not named Mega Pidgeot or Staraptor) and Assault Vest
Conkeldurr (took Hurricane like a pro and OHKOs with Drain Punch, plus the Guts Mach Punch easily cleans up).
Me: In your opinion, do you think smogon is a good source for a Pokemon community?
Douglas: Man, that's a good question. I think it's a good source for people starting out in
the competitive scene: they give good analysis of pokemon, team building, spreads, coverage options,
etc. They are a valuable resource. My issue is actually not in them, but in people. A lot of people
use Smogon as a crutch rather than a resource: when they can't separate what Smogon thinks of a
pokemon from the reality, then there's a problem.
Me: There are a lot of gamers out there who consider themselves elite where others just
consider themselves gamers. Where do you consider yourself in this category and what do you believe defines one as a gamer?
Douglas: I would prefer to call anyone who enjoys video games as an experience a "gamer".
There will always be those elite people that say "well you can't be a gamer until you
complete a Nuzlocke with a full team of six after defeating the champion" or some equally
difficult challenge, but I don't think it takes skill or experience to consider yourself a
gamer. if you enjoy experiencing games, and enjoy sharing those experiences with others, then you're a gamer. nuff said.
Me: Good man. i often times am annoyed with the concept that only certain games make you a
gamer or what not. but thats a subject for another day. moving on, what was your very first pokemon?
Douglas: My very first pokemon ever was Cyndaquil, since I actually started with Pokemon
Silver! But I had to scrap that run-through because I didn't make a balanced team, and T
yphlosion ran me all the way through the game until I hit the wall that was Clair's Kingdra.
So I reset, chose Totodile, and beat the game!
Ampharos still ranks up there as one of my all-time favorites because of Pokemon Silver.
Me: Nice. so when you finally get your team together to take on the ECPL, whose gym are you going for first?
Douglas: Well, I figure I'll go after Ian first so he can get back at me for all the comments
I made in this interview! From there though, I'll probably try to capture a region at a time
but honestly, I haven't ranked the gym leaders in terms of priority. each one is gonna be a
challenge in their own way, and I'm gonna have to get around each one as I go. but I gotta start
somewhere, right?
Me: True. man a lot of angst towards Ian. lol
Douglas: ahahaha I just know he's gonna really kick my butt the first time I fight him.
rather get good information round 1 so I can get the win on round 2!
Me: so you're gamera?
Douglas: that one goes over my head...
Me: smh, you young kids i swear. moving on, if you did make it to be in the E4 of the ECPL,
what team would you have?
Douglas: lol us youngins... hmm I'm guessing the E4 right now don't have restrictions on type?
I'd have to go with a team of my all-time competitive greats, or just random crap I came up
with that surprised a lot of people and was incredibly effective. In all honesty, those two
usually go hand-in-hand. Prediction Pants Bastiodon might have to get some love.
Me: i honestly have never seen anyone use that pokemon competively, i honestly think
it be awesome to see that. so have you ever had a girl give you the age old ultimatum, me or the game?
Douglas: ahahahaha no not yet, I'm still waiting though. I actually brought Pokemon
into the life of my last girlfriend and she found she really enjoyed it! so I mean
gaming and girlfriends sometimes can go hand-in-hand?
Me: this is true. but should that day ever come, i hope you make the right decision.
so what do you do for a living?
Douglas: well, right now I'm still in school, pursuing my Bachelor's in Geography.
I work part-time at WalMart though, so Pokemon really forms stress release from all
the customers and retail crap that go along with that.
Me: i work in food. so your preaching to the choir about using games as a stress reliever. lol
so your and educated young man and into the arts.
im wondering why your not beating women off with a stick. lol
Douglas: ahahaha well I was up until recently taken, so I haven't really been on the market for long lol
Me: so your last girlfriend got into pokemon thanks to you. did you ever battle her?
Douglas: but I drive constantly because I commute to school and I have work immediately after,
so it's tough to meet new people
and no, she wasn't the battling type, she's a collector
I tried my best, but it never really stuck for her
Me: ah. mind telling what happened? if its too personal we can do another question
Douglas: it's a bit too soon, only happened Thursday, so still fresh and all
Me: oooh. sorry. how long were you together?
Douglas: almost two years. I didn't really see our relationship continuing to the point
of marriage or kids, so I didn't want to keep stringing her along on that possible hope.
Me: well, theres still hope. you guys may get back together, you may not. and hey you
never know she may not be ready for that sort of thing either. but thats something you
both have to decide on. i can only give advice from experience. but it takes a real man
to be able to admit something like that. for that i tip my hat to you good sir
moving on, so when you game, what do you like to snack on or drink?
Douglas: thanks man. hmm I don't really like to drink or snack that often when I'm gaming,
but if I have the munchies, I'll grab whatever's around. water, beer, lemonade, chips,
cookies, doesn't really matter to me!
Me: Jack of all trades. ok. other then pokemon, what game would you say has taken the most hours of your life?
Douglas: RuneScape
inarguably
I spend waaaaaaaaay too much time on there
Me: i here that alot. lol
what would you say is the most challenging game you have ever played?
Douglas Eber: oooh, most challenging... hold on, opening up Steam- no wait, FTL: Faster than Light
the final boss is like hitting a brick wall with your face going 70 miles an hour
and even getting there can be disastrously difficult
Me: FTL? never heard of it
Douglas: it's an Indie game about exploring sectors of space with a pursuing Rebel fleet, so you
only have so much time in each sector. in that time, you have to purchase upgrades for your ship,
grab more crew, and deliver the message. And the game is played with random events at each stop,
so you have to choose what route you're going to take and how you're going to spend your resources.
It's like a dungeon crawler where going backwards is death. and the water is rising. and you have
to fight a goblin king with a million buddies when you leave.
and now the parallel is breaking apart a bit...
Me: damn.
so what systems do you own beside your ds?
Douglas: none lol, just my PC. I have an Xbox 360 I haven't open with Dark Souls just
waiting to be played. Dishonored, Assassin's Creed Black Flag, Borderlands 2... I think
that's all the games. bought it at Black Friday at my store last year, but I haven't
touched it due to school and I guess laziness?
Me: i feel like i should reach through the screen and choke the life force from you.
how dare you do your 360 like that.
lol moving on, are there any other games you play competively?
Douglas: I know, I know... May 16th though! Definitely gonna hook it up!
Competitively, no. I'm not a good competition person, really. I take the game waaaaay too
seriously as is, so they're really not for me. Even Pokemon and the Pokemon TCG I mostly
play for fun, because if I try too hard I expect too much from myself and get really upset.
Being a MAG gym leader was a real challenge, but I got into a rhythm where I expected to lose,
and I never got too angry about it!
Me: well as pernell stated yesterday, as gym leaders, we're supposed to lose.
Douglas: very true, and I guess that's really how I came to terms with my role at MAG.
Me: few more questions and we can call it a night, if you could see one pokemon obtain
a mega evolution, what would it be and why?
Douglas: Still think I put up a fight for most of my challengers, though
Oooh, I have to think about this one. See, it's tough, because no pokemon loses its primary
typing when it Mega evolves. Even Aggron is Steel/Rock, so it only loses its secondary. That
being said, if they changed that rule, I'd love to see Bug/Dragon Mega Flygon with the bug-type
Pixilate/Aerilate. Right now, it's very subpar in terms of its stats and typing, it's the
weakest and worst of the Ground/Dragon going by movepool and Base Stat distribution. I'd like
to see it get more SpAtk so it can use that bug-boosted Boomburst, and really have it come
into its own as a superior Dragon-type, rather than a forgettable beta-Garchomp.
Me: nice answer. what would you say is the hardest aspect of being a trainer?
Douglas: Becoming comfortable with being uncomfortable. Not every battle is gonna be a win,
and no team is infallible. At some point, every good trainer has to take a step outside of
their comfort box and try something different. Maybe they are fed up with a speed-based metagame
and want to try out Trick Room, or are so sick of entry hazards that they have to incorporate Defog.
Good trainers always have an abundance of ideas and strategies they can use to spice up their play
whenever they're too comfortable with a team. As they say, the definition of insanity is doing the
same thing over and over and expecting different results. Throw a little discord into your play
and be uncomfortable; you might find you like it.
I hope that made sense, my train of thought derailed like three times in there.
Me: lol no it makes good sense. at least to me
Douglas: phew
Me: what would you say was your most humiliating defeat?
Douglas: there have been so many of those, it's tough to think
www.youtube.com/watch?v=YQypH1nXI7U
I made a Team Building video and lost like twice in a row with the team I built, so that
was pretty embarrassing. Still uploaded it though! Today, we see the process of
understanding how great some threats can be when you put a specific team into the metagame
to see how it will hold up.
Me: hey trial and error
Me: In terms of a legendary for competitive play, I would love to use some Ho-Oh.
Brave Bird happens to be one of my favorite moves, Regenerator is one of my favorite
abilities, and I think the value of Punishment is sorely underestimated. Ho-Oh is
a very solid Pokemon that lost some of its shine due to the appearance of Stealth
Rock, but the thing can wreck.
Me: interesting choice.
smash bros recently added new fighters such as mega man and pac man to their already
legendary roster. whats one character you would like to see put on to the smash roster that hasnt been done yet?
Douglas: Man, that hasn't been done at all? That's tough. I'm a really big Fire Emblem
fan, so I might have to go with Hector, one of the three main lords from Fire Emblem 7.
In contrast to the sword-wielding forces you constantly see in Smash, he uses Armads,
a massive axe, and is incredibly defensive. I'd like to see him as another heavy
Ganondorf-like character that swings a massive axe with phenomenal range.
Me: alright. last question of the night.
we've had a remake of the first 3 gens of pokemon, what do you think will happen first?
a new pokemon game or a remake of diamond and pearl?
Douglas: We know Nintendo by now, they always release a new Generation with a new system,
followed by a remake to capture the nostalgia dollar. My money is on Generation 7 coming
out for the New 3DS, followed by the Diamond/Pearl remakes.
but only time will tell, right?
Me: true. although im a little concerned. what else can they do at this point? well thanks
doug, youve been an awesome guest and i hope things work out for you in the ECPL and as well with your love life
Douglas: Thanks man, I appreciate the sentiment, and thanks for having me on!
Me: till next time
Douglas: indeed, good sir
