It's time we fixed the Shadow Pokemon questions once and for all

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FairyPrincessCynthia
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It's time we fixed the Shadow Pokemon questions once and for all

Post by FairyPrincessCynthia »

Now, these questions have been around for a good while now but two particular issues keep plaguing the community over and over again. They're frequently interlinked with each other, causing people to keep giving the wrong answers.

These particular issues are as follows:
- Questions are poorly worded.
- Answers are context sensitive.

Let's look at one particular question, which is actually the catalyst for me making this suggestion in the first place.

What is the lowest level you can obtain a Meowth in Generation 3?


Okay, when the word "obtain" is used here, do we mean caught, bred, traded for, stolen, or event? A different value applies for each.
- Catch: in LeafGreen and FireRed, you can catch a level 10 Meowth on Route 5.
- Bred: Prior to gen 4, all Pokemon hatched from eggs are on level 5.
- Traded for: This one is tricky because it has 2 values. In Pokemon Emerald, there is an NPC in the Battle Frontier who will trade you a Meowth named MEOWOW for your Skitty. The level of MEOWOW is dependent on what level your Skitty is. If you catch a Skitty in the wild, it'll be level 7, and so too shall be the Meowth. BUT. If you breed for a Skitty first, it'll be on level 5, which will also be the level of MEOWOW traded to you.
- Stolen: In Pokemon XD Gale of Darkness, you can Snag a Shadow Meowth from a Cipher Peon in Phenac City at level 22.
- Event: There was actually a number of events for Meowth in Japan, but the lowest level Meowth was a level 5 celebrating some form of random giveaway, which is quite frequent if you live in the region.

As you can see, the values of 5, 7, 10, and 22 can apply depending on how you want to interpret the meaning of the word "obtain."

This is where the second issue comes in at.

Let's say the correct answer is 5. The answer is context sensitive. Do you type 5, five, or Five? Two of these are guaranteed to be wrong no matter what, forcing you to challenge if you get it wrong and a staff member to decide that the answer is correct.

This is just one example.

There's another question in there where you're asked who created Mewtwo, which the answer could be Giovanni, Mr. Fuji, or Dr. Fuji depending on what canon you want to use. The context sensitivity goes off the charts if Mr/Dr Fuji's name is the correct answer. I actually don't know. I've never been able to answer that one correctly.

Oh, how about the one where the answer is Pokemon XD: Gale of Darkness? Content sensitive issues here pretty much guarantee that you'll get the answer "wrong."


There's a better way we could be doing this. In order to mitigate the problems questions such as these have, I propose the system be overhauled from a free choice answer to a multiple choice answer. The context sensitive messes, alternative interpretations of data, and variables of canon will all be remedied using such a system.

I'll post an example question using the format:

What was May's first Pokemon in the anime?
o Torchic
o Treecko
o Mudkip
o Pikachu

[submit]

You pick your answer and you hit submit. Simple, to the point. You get it wrong it's your own fault, not the question, or the context sensitivity, and no more challenges have to be made. Everybody wins.
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Karasume
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Re: It's time we fixed the Shadow Pokemon questions once and for all

Post by Karasume »

I'm not sure how I feel about the multiple choice, but I do agree beyond the shadow of a doubt that some answers are poorly-worded. One of them risks becoming out of date with every new region and probably is out of date already.

No doubt about it, the questions need to be gone through and just plain re-worded or removed. I'm sure there are a couple of people here who are good enough at formulating sentences that would make a proper question. I apologize if that sounded rude, but the wording stinks at times.

If a question risks becoming outdated as new regions come out, it needs to be removed completely.
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Tango
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Re: It's time we fixed the Shadow Pokemon questions once and for all

Post by Tango »

I agree some questions could be reworded a bit. On a Green Scent one time I sat there basically the whole time limit just trying to figure out what it was asking.

Not sure about the multiple choice though, as that simplifies the questions and means people don't have to figure out the correct answers for themselves; instead turning into a brute force kind of question. I think rewording some of these so there's never any doubt about what it means/is referring to would be sufficient.
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Kaede
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Re: It's time we fixed the Shadow Pokemon questions once and for all

Post by Kaede »

Rewording and a rule for the answers like "small and without punctuation marks " would be my suggestion.

Also more flexible answers were Things like Mr or dr fuji is nothing to care about because both would be correct (if fuji is the name the question was sea3ching for)
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Karasume
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Re: It's time we fixed the Shadow Pokemon questions once and for all

Post by Karasume »

That question is particularly bothersome. ^

Reword some of the questions and allow multiple answers to be inputted for applicable ones. That's all we really need, to be honest.
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Tango
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Re: It's time we fixed the Shadow Pokemon questions once and for all

Post by Tango »

Ah yes! I forgot about that one, most definitely yes.

With those couple of tweaks it'd be a huge improvement.
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Re: It's time we fixed the Shadow Pokemon questions once and for all

Post by MrQuaza »

Or maybe questions such as "Who created Mewtwo" can be removed and questions with simpler answers can be added(answers being simple wouldn't mean the questions will be easy). For example "Which Ultra Beast fused itself with Lusamine?"

I also agree on that some questions should be re-worded
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Yasha
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Re: It's time we fixed the Shadow Pokemon questions once and for all

Post by Yasha »

Maybe we can make a list with questions we find should be reworded? Without the answers, of course :)
That way it would be less work for yankees...

(Although I'm not sure if even posting the questions is allowed or not o.o?)
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Karasume
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Re: It's time we fixed the Shadow Pokemon questions once and for all

Post by Karasume »

Spoiler:
  • What is the lowest level you can obtain a Meowth in Generation 3? (Needs better wording)
  • Who created Mewtwo? (A little similar to the question "Who had Mewtwo created in the anime?" Also probably needs multiple correct answers.)
  • What type has the least amount of Pokémon with that single type? (Subject to change with literally every new region. Needs removal.)
  • In what game can Mew learn Fake Out? (Needs to have multiple correct answers)
Didn't give any answers, but I did list the biggest problem questions and what needs to be done about them. I only know the answer to the last one, so I can't make better suggestions to the others.
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Yasha
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Re: It's time we fixed the Shadow Pokemon questions once and for all

Post by Yasha »

Spoiler:
Which main-series game has the largest amount of obtainable legendary Pokémon as of 2013? Even after intensive googling I still think that there are two games (from one generation) that fit this question... do I need to name both? Is the order important? I don't know XD
What is the only main-series game where you begin the game with 2 starters? Again, after some googling... I found not a single "main-series" game with two starters... unless you count what I think the answer is to be "main-series", which I personally wouldn't...
What Pokemon has 6 evolutions? The first Pokemon is counted, too, so "evolutionary stages" would be better. Also, Megas are included here, too, which I personally would't see as an "evolution", since it is not permanent
Which stat determines how quickly a Pokémon can act in battle? Not really a difficult question, but this is something I stumbled upon, since I'm german... and the germans call it something else as the english speakers, but the german word for it is a word stat exists in the english language, too, with the same meaning... so maybe asking for a different stat would be better...
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49ER
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Re: It's time we fixed the Shadow Pokemon questions once and for all

Post by 49ER »

There are some questions about in which game something can be obtained, or something along those lines and in one of them you have to say ____________ and in some you have to say Pokemon _____________
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Re: It's time we fixed the Shadow Pokemon questions once and for all

Post by Karasume »

49ER wrote:There are some questions about in which game something can be obtained, or something along those lines and in one of them you have to say ____________ and in some you have to say Pokemon _____________
These should honestly have multiple answers, and I'm not sure why they don't.
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Re: It's time we fixed the Shadow Pokemon questions once and for all

Post by Junior Tycon »

I read through this, and I *cough* haven't used the spray bottles in a while *cough*, but I do remember a fill-in-the-blank offered more of a challenge. Potentially a partial solution to this is that cheaper spray bottles receive multiple choice, while more expensive (thus offering higher quality Pokemon) spray bottles require a fill-in-the-blank answer. I personally think that if the staff is willing to take the time to approve disputed answers, then keeping some of the questions is a good idea (although I can understand some of them should allow for multiple variations of the correct answer).

One other solution is to have questions which only ask for a number or for a year.

Example: What year was Heart Gold and Soul Silver released for the Nintendo DS? (Answer in numeric form)

Answer: 2009

Example: As of generation 6, how many pokemon types are available? (Answer in numeric form)

Answer: 17

Example: How many different pokemon could a player be in Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Sky? (Answer in numeric form)

Answer: 19

This might cause less folks to answer incorrectly if they are instructed to answer using numbers. I personally like the fill-in-the-blank, because they cause a greater pressure for getting the answer right, and it makes the shadow pokemon more rare. However, I can see a potential disadvantage to users from other countries, as they may be using a translated page of the question and/or their flurry of google searches to determine the answer, but I'm sure this problem would exist regardless of the format for questions?
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Karasume
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Re: It's time we fixed the Shadow Pokemon questions once and for all

Post by Karasume »

Junior Tycon wrote:I read through this, and I *cough* haven't used the spray bottles in a while *cough*, but I do remember a fill-in-the-blank offered more of a challenge. Potentially a partial solution to this is that cheaper spray bottles receive multiple choice, while more expensive (thus offering higher quality Pokemon) spray bottles require a fill-in-the-blank answer. I personally think that if the staff is willing to take the time to approve disputed answers, then keeping some of the questions is a good idea (although I can understand some of them should allow for multiple variations of the correct answer).

One other solution is to have questions which only ask for a number or for a year.

Example: What year was Heart Gold and Soul Silver released for the Nintendo DS? (Answer in numeric form)

Answer: 2009

Example: As of generation 6, how many pokemon types are available? (Answer in numeric form)

Answer: 17

Example: How many different pokemon could a player be in Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Sky? (Answer in numeric form)

Answer: 19

This might cause less folks to answer incorrectly if they are instructed to answer using numbers. I personally like the fill-in-the-blank, because they cause a greater pressure for getting the answer right, and it makes the shadow pokemon more rare. However, I can see a potential disadvantage to users from other countries, as they may be using a translated page of the question and/or their flurry of google searches to determine the answer, but I'm sure this problem would exist regardless of the format for questions?
Alternatively, for question 2 of your example, typing seventeen and Seventeen should also be correct. You could go even further by adding extra answers from different languages, although compatibility with other languages is a completely different beast. It still opens the way for possibility, though.
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