Despite having over 100 million views between them and accounting for nearly 25% of pageviews on PokeBase, our MSQ threads don't get a whole lot of care.
That will change next month (June/July) as I roll out the biggest update to MSQ there's been in over a decade. My goal is to make MSQ a real competitive resource that a decent player could take seriously. That will involve fixing a few problems:
- In practice, the MSQ threads can't be relied upon to have a good moveset for the major competitive formats. Frequently they don't even include the standard sets.
- The top moveset on any given MSQ thread is likely to be from a past generation. This happens systemically as older posts have more time to accrue votes.
- Often, the submitted sets are made by (with all due respect) nobodies you can't necessarily trust. The explanations you see don't always inspire confidence in the author's ability.
- Many MSQ threads combine sets for Pokemon with multiple forms whose roles/niches don't overlap. For example, Landorus-T sets live in the same place as Landorus-I sets. This increases the likelihood you'll read movesets that aren't relevant to your needs.
- The organisation of the MSQ threads can't be understood easily from their descriptions. They need to set out precisely what belongs and what doesn't.
The MSQ threads compete primarily with Smogon's strategy dex. Instead of trying and failing to replicate the strategy dex, MSQ will lean further into its own qualities:
- MSQ is the internet's most popular place for user-submitted movesets. By making the threads better, we can shore up this niche.
- Smogon's strategy dex has an extensive and time-consuming QC process. That's a good thing, but it also means they're slow on the uptake with new games (most Champions mons still have no sets) and don't track developments in the meta until they're old. MSQ has a chance to pick up the slack.
- Smogon's analyses are wordy, bookish, and hard to skim. MSQ has the chance to provide a digestible alternative, especially one that bridges the casual and competitive audiences more effectively. I find that in keeping with PokemonDB's values and purpose at large.
So, with all of that... here is my three-part plan to make moveset questions great again!
#1: Pinned sample sets generated from high-ladder usage
Recently I made a website that creates movesets out of competitive usage stats. If you select a high rank weighting, those movesets turn out to be pretty good. In many cases, no tweaks are required.
To leverage this, I made an additional tool that mass-generates these movesets for each Pokemon. It picks the format(s) with the highest number of players for the Pokemon in question and then turns the resulting movesets into an answer for PokemonDB. My plan is to populate every MSQ thread with an answer like this and pin them to the top using the BA feature.
People will be able to contribute explanations for each moveset. All experts+ will immediately have this ability, and everyone else will be able to fill out a form to submit explanations. Some movesets will be a bit funny (for example, there's a Scarf Gholdengo with Nasty Plot in the pipeline) but that can easily be fixed by experts+.
Currently, I plan to roll out a couple PokéBase Community answers per day, with popular Pokemon prioritised. It will be an automated process that always runs at the same time of day. When new generations or major formats roll around, the script can be run again to update the answer or post a new one. The current generation's PokéBase Community answer will always be given BA.
This feature will ensure there's a good moveset available for every Pokemon, and the top answer always has something relevant, and the movesets reflect top-level play, and we can add new sets within a month of new games releasing.
If people want it, PokéBase Community answers can be added for Gen 1 to 8. Some Pokemon that aren't in Gen 9 will get a Gen 8 answer during the initial rollout. Very unlucky ones will get Gen 7.
#2: Standardisation of MSQ descriptions
I threatened to do this years ago but never got around to it, partly because it turned out to be surprisingly complex (prevos belong on fully evolved pages, except for when they don't, also look at all these alt forms that sometimes have their own page but not always, wtf do we do with split families, etc etc etc...)
Fortunately, complex programming projects got way easier in the past couple years. So, you'll soon be seeing this on the MSQ threads...
Trust me the caps are necessary, we get rid of rubbish sets all the time. If you have any suggestions for changes to the wording, leave a comment.
#3: New questions for alt forms
It's always bothered me how the MSQ questions combine alternate forms on the same thread. They do it for most but not all Pokemon, and as I mentioned above, it's distracting to scroll past Kyurem-B/W sets when I just wanted regular Kyurem.
Also can't think of any good reason something like Landorus-Therian shouldn't be separate when Galarian etc forms already are.
I want to post new threads for a majority of the following alternate forms that don't have their own threads. In some cases, you could argue these are better together, but most of them I expect to be giving their own spotlight soon via Fizzbot. The current (existing) threads will NOT be removed, just edited.
- Deoxys-Attack, Deoxys-Defense, Deoxys-Speed
- Wormadam-Plant, Wormadam-Sandy, Wormadam-Trash
- Shaymin-Sky
- Dialga-Origin
- Palkia-Origin
- Giratina-Origin
- Landorus-Therian, Tornadus-Therian, Thundurus-Therian, Enamorus-Therian
- Kyurem-Black, Kyurem-White
- Hoopa-Unbound
- Zygarde-10%
- Oricorio (Baile), Oricorio (Pom-Pom), Oricorio (Pa'u), Oricorio (Sensu)
- Lycanroc-Midnight, Lycanroc-Dawn
- Necrozma (Dusk Mane), Necrozma-Dawn Wings)
- Urshifu (Rapid Strike)
- Indeedee-M
- Calyrex (Ice Rider), Calyrex (Shadow Rider)
- Tauros-Paldea (Aqua Breed), Tauros-Paldea (Blaze Breed)
- Basculegion (Male), Basculegion (Female)
- Ursaluna-Bloodmoon
- Ogerpon-Wellspring, Ogerpon-Hearthflame, Ogerpon-Cornerstone
- Arceus?
- Silvally?
Comment which (if any) of these you object to having a separate MSQ for. We'll need to enlist the help of Pokemaster to move old answers to the correct thread, but that's not super urgent.
And of course, any other suggestions you have for these threads are very welcome. I don't have direct control of the site but you may be surprised by what can be automated. Let your imagination run and I'll tell you if it can be done.
