I just wanted to say great job so far on adding to the TCG section. It's an area of the Bulbapedia that's needed attention desperately since we started. Thanks a lot. --Zeta 16:07, 23 January 2007 (UTC)
TCG stuff
- Regarding the names of the Theme Decks; I know all of the original decks have "Theme Deck" below the name and the newer ones just have "Deck", but the fact that nearly all of the expansions and all related categories/articles have TCG after the name (to avoid confusion with other media) and the fact that the Theme Decks are listed in an article aptly named "Theme Deck", there really doesn't seem much point in renaming them from (TCG) to Theme Deck. To save you renaming all of those articles, it would seem sensible to revert those you moved back to their original location. Sorry to nag, but it just seems a gargantuan and pointless task to undertake.
- Thanks for including levels in the checklists, as it saves confusion with like named cards in the same set. However, do you have a solution to those after the Neo series, as they no longer include levels?
- Also, the Japanese list structure for Base Set needs to be modified slightly. I've been working on these myself but haven't uploaded them yet. Although they don't have numbers, they stick to a pattern (which you've got partly right), which goes Type (Grass-Fire-Water-Lightning-Psychic-Fighting-Colorless-Dark-Metal), National Dex number, and ascending rarity (Common-Uncommon-Rare-Holographic Rare-EX Rare-Star/Lv.X).
Regards, nuva-kal 16:50, 10th February 2007 (BST)
- As for Theme Decks, I just thought it would make more sense to use the whole name. That, and I'd like, say, "Blaine (TCG)" to be reserved for the Trainer card. I don't really think that we need the (TCG) thing for every TCG-related article. Besides, it can't be that huge a task compared to making an article on every card there is, right? If (TCG) is that important, you could always move stuff to "(something-or-other) Theme Deck (TCG)." As for levels, cards that don't have them simply won't list them. That should be easy enough, right? For the sets that aren't numbered, I used the numbering system of the card list on the Japanese Pokémon Card Game site. For the sets that are numbered, they'll simply be listed by number.
- The (TCG) thing is just something I have become accustomed to using, because it was somehting everyone else was using when I started to do the expansion set articles - what can I say, I'm a sucker for continuity and neatness! I just think that ordering it in such a fasion makes everything feel more "ordered", you know? Plus I think it is a standard system everyone editing within the TCG categories uses.
- As for the Trainer cards, this has been an ongoing discussion, especially between Pie and Zhen Lin on how to order the cards regarding name extensions. Although trainer cards were originally linked "name" (TCG), I changed those in Base Set to "name" (Base Set), as some cards (e.g. Potion) have multiple incarnations in later sets, so not to be confused with the original (so any other sets with a different potion like e Expedition and EX Ruby & Sapphire can be put in separate articles). Although with Potion, the only major difference is the art, but with others, text may have been altered to better fit understanding or to follow with updates in playing format. In the case of Blaine, instead of Blaine (TCG), it could be Blaine (Gym Challenge).
- The way I see it, each Pokémon will have a page listing all cards of that Pokémon, and each Trainer card will have an article listing all prints of that card. There'd be "Bill (TCG)" and "Bill (Base Set)" as separate articles. That's why I'm trying to keep articles that are the names of cards reserved. -Happy Mask Man 20:02, 10 February 2007 (UTC)
- Fair point, the only thing holding this whole project back is decent images of the cards themselves, which would replace the reverse card image you have on the card articles. I'd submit a lot of the images myself, but my scanner is awful at producing suitable images, and it would take a heck of a long time (i'm only on dial-up here). --nuva-kal 20:19, 10th February 2007 (BST)
- Image problem is taken care of. -Happy Mask Man 18:39, 18 March 2007 (UTC)
Why are you changing the naming scheme for fossil from "Lv. ##" to "LV.##"? --Pie ~♪♫ 19:05, 15 April 2007 (UTC)
- Ah, well, according to the official Pokémon Trading Card game site, it's LV.##. They just announced the return of them, see. The LV.X game mechanic. -Happy Mask Man 19:08, 15 April 2007 (UTC)
- So you're going with "LV.##"? Because I'm not leaving half the cards named one way and half the other. --Pie ~♪♫ 19:16, 15 April 2007 (UTC)
- Yes, yes. Like I said earlier, I like to keep naming consistant. I'm planning on moving everything after I'm done with the Fossil set. -Happy Mask Man 19:22, 15 April 2007 (UTC)
- So you're going with "LV.##"? Because I'm not leaving half the cards named one way and half the other. --Pie ~♪♫ 19:16, 15 April 2007 (UTC)
I've been talking about it to Archaic - every time I look at the TCG section I hate it. There's no good reason not to use the English numbers because this is an English-based encyclopedia and for the few that never made it into English we can use something besides the number in the name - like (Base Set Japanese) instead of (Base Set 124) or whatever. Find me an editor who agrees with using levels and we'll go for that system, but as a Style Editor - I feel this system is just bad, pointless, ugly, etc. And so I'm ruling that we don't use it. --Pie ~♪♫ 01:36, 20 May 2007 (UTC)
- I've really put a lot of work into thinking of all of the classification, formats, and such. Every card series that changes the style of the cards. I spent months working on it. I found that the English numbering was the least effective. I did have Zhen Lin look over everything to make sure it was all good, which it was. Oh, and scroll up a bit and you will see that Zeta also likes it. I looked over the cards in every set to make sure it would work. It works perfectly for sets that are rearranged, split, or left out, which happens with every set nowadays. I really don't see what makes levels so much more hatable and ugly than the other numbers. They work a lot like them, but better. Please. I am trying my best to make this card database greater than any before it. I've put careful thought into all of the details. I haven't seen any terrible flaws yet. -Happy Mask Man 02:41, 20 May 2007 (UTC)
- This is just the names and category sorting of the articles - the content is fine. I cannot find anyone who thinks the current system is good. You check any list and they are ordered by the English set number. This is how most people sort and identify them. I have talked to Archaic, head of Bulbagarden, PPN, head of PPN, and the Bulbagarden IRC chat, multiple other editors - everyone agrees with me that it's better to sort by set number. There's no reason why for the few cards which do not have set numbers we can work out an alternative arrangement. We're English-based - let's sort them the way all English lists sort them. --Pie ~♪♫ 04:04, 20 May 2007 (UTC)
- But they are sorted by English set numbers. The articles on sets have the English lists first and foremost. There's no problem with it at all. All of the Pokémon articles are sorted by their Pokédex numbers, but Bulbasaur is not named "Bulbasaur (No. 001)". The name of the article doesn't have a thing to do with sorting and order on the set's page. Let's say, for example, the set EX Power Keepers. That set wasn't even released in Japan. If you look at the article on that set, it will have a list of all of the cards in that set by the English numbering system. After all, that is the only one that exists for that set... But even though that set was made with the numbering system, there's no need to have the set's numbers in all of the articles. Really, all that's needed is, say, "Aggron (EX Power Keepers)". There's no need for a number there. Sure, there's no number in the name, but the set is still very much sorted by the numbers, just like every other set. It was never about "not using the numbering system", just not putting them in all of the article names. All of the lists and such of the English set will still order by number, just like all of the Pokémon lists order by number even though the articles don't have numbers in their title. -Happy Mask Man 04:16, 20 May 2007 (UTC)
- You deliberately took out the numbers to put them in set order for their categories. Categories are intended to double as auto-generated lists. This is why I am also talking about category sorting. And if it doesn't matter what they're numbered, then why not name them according to the number most people identify them as? In fact, while I was against it before, we might as well just identify them by set in the early sets where there aren't separate ones. Better than sticking the levels in the name of every article when it's a rather pointless piece of information and, quite honestly, looks ugly. --Pie ~♪♫ 04:24, 20 May 2007 (UTC)
It will work until you get till the EX Series - when you have sets with multiple Pokemon with different cards and no levels to differentiate them. Then it will all fall apart. --Zeta 03:46, 20 May 2007 (UTC)
- That has all been planned for as well. The only reason that there are cards with the same name in the newer sets is that more than one Japanese set is mixed into an English set. By separating the sets out, that problem will be taken care of. -Happy Mask Man 03:54, 20 May 2007 (UTC)
- That's not very helpful for people who play the US game, though. : / --Zeta 04:33, 20 May 2007 (UTC)
- The categories, set lists, and the such will still list English sets. Because of some complications, of jumbled English sets, however, the names will be spread out. The set lists and categories will still be by English sets though. -Happy Mask Man 05:15, 20 May 2007 (UTC)
I was adding some links to the Base Set page when I noticed the Japanese list was all skew-iff, so I reverted it back to what it is on the official website. I didn't realise until after reading your heated discussion that you've dropped the level naming system on the cards (don't worry, I've reverted the Japanese links to what they were). Anyway, after seeing your system, I began to name the DP cards in the same way, now that levels are back, so is it likely to assume these will be dropped too? My one concern is the links to some of the new DP-P promos (namely the starters as they have about 4 multiples), so any way of getting round that? Another point, do you think it would be an idea to list the descriptions of the booster packs in the Trivia section of each Expansion, or just place images to the right as you have done with Base Set? BTW, I have a higher resolution scan of the Japanese Base Set booster [[1]] if you want to use it (just copy it). - nuva-kal 15:26, 6th June 2007 (BST)
- Well, actually, the other order that was on the Base Set article was the one used in the card database. Since the site's list uses the Type\Rarity order for the lists, even with sets that actually do have numbers and the db sorts cards the other way and uses number order when sets do have numbers, I thought that the db order would be the one to go with. We might use the level naming for some of the cards in sets that have LV.X versions. As for promos, I decided that the Japanese to English to POP to numbers to something-or-other was so confusing that we might as well just go with the Japanese naming scheme for the promos. If a card is moved from promo to non-promo or something for English, it keeps the one name like "Mew (Fossil)". As for the booster pack image, I used that one because it was on the Japanese site. I put it by the set list because there's a lot of room around that area and that area focuses on the English/Japanese versions of the sets anyway. -Happy Mask Man 21:07, 7 June 2007 (UTC)
Pokémon Card Images
Hi, nuva-kal sent me this way. I've got a lot of English Pokémon card images that I think would be useful to you. If I zip them all up, is there any way to send them to you? Double Dash 15:06, 26 June 2007 (UTC)
Energy templates
I think it's best if they're condensed into one, easier to use, one, rather than have a separate one for each of the types. I made the {{e}} template for easier use, and I've uploaded the Psychic and Darkness energy icons at their correct location, instead of at "Physic-attack.png" and "Dark-attack.png". Just thought I'd let you know, since you're the TCG guy. TTEchidna 00:07, 8 August 2007 (UTC)
- Also, don't forget to use the
{{e}}. And categorize the Pokémon with "Dark" in their names appropriately, into the new category I've made: Category:Pokémon with "Dark" in their names. I think that that'd be a good idea for every variant Pokémon in the TCG. TTEchidna 08:00, 18 August 2007 (UTC)- Well, I was already planning those sorts of categories before the articles started being created. I was planning on giving the categories names that were easier to use, like simply "Dark Pokémon". Useful categorization is one of the things I'm trying to focus on in this project. Also, concerning the e template, I think that when referring to Colorless energy, such as in an attack's cost, one should put it as {{e|Colorless}} and when referring to Energy in general, such as in Retreat costs, one should simply use {{e}}, which will make it so that the "Colorless" does not show up when you hover the mouse over it. Also, the name of the Energy when using the template should be capitalized, to make the hover-over message properly capitalized. Actually, the reason that the e template was not used in the Dark Persian promo article I created was that I had that page's content saved as a text file so that I could create it easily after I put enough research into the trophy cards to make articles on them. I have a number of pages saved like that. As I said, I like to keep things very orderly, so I'm retracing the steps of every card's release and creating the articles in the proper order. -Happy Mask Man 08:17, 18 August 2007 (UTC)
- The TCG ID link templates were fine as they were in the Team Rocket (TCG) article. If you wanted to add a column, you could have done it without removing the link templates and messing up the article in the process. The links for the Porygon and Meowth cards should NOT lead to anime pages, such as TR's Porygon and TR's Meowth. And if you want to include card links to the Japanese cards, I'd recommend using the TCG ID link templated version of its American counterpart. --Shiningpikablu252 15:04, 18 August 2007 (UTC)
- The format was redesigned, and the TCG ID template is no longer in use. I had a long talk with the administrators and such over it, and we decided on a new format of my own design with a few tweaks. However, the manual of style has not been updated to the new formats yet. Please do not add the link templates back to the articles. I am still working on the formatting and do not want it to get out of hand. -Happy Mask Man 19:21, 18 August 2007 (UTC)
- The TCG ID link templates were fine as they were in the Team Rocket (TCG) article. If you wanted to add a column, you could have done it without removing the link templates and messing up the article in the process. The links for the Porygon and Meowth cards should NOT lead to anime pages, such as TR's Porygon and TR's Meowth. And if you want to include card links to the Japanese cards, I'd recommend using the TCG ID link templated version of its American counterpart. --Shiningpikablu252 15:04, 18 August 2007 (UTC)
- Well, I was already planning those sorts of categories before the articles started being created. I was planning on giving the categories names that were easier to use, like simply "Dark Pokémon". Useful categorization is one of the things I'm trying to focus on in this project. Also, concerning the e template, I think that when referring to Colorless energy, such as in an attack's cost, one should put it as {{e|Colorless}} and when referring to Energy in general, such as in Retreat costs, one should simply use {{e}}, which will make it so that the "Colorless" does not show up when you hover the mouse over it. Also, the name of the Energy when using the template should be capitalized, to make the hover-over message properly capitalized. Actually, the reason that the e template was not used in the Dark Persian promo article I created was that I had that page's content saved as a text file so that I could create it easily after I put enough research into the trophy cards to make articles on them. I have a number of pages saved like that. As I said, I like to keep things very orderly, so I'm retracing the steps of every card's release and creating the articles in the proper order. -Happy Mask Man 08:17, 18 August 2007 (UTC)
Decks, theme and otherwise
Hey again, TCG guy. I just started up a new project on decks in the TCG, that I'm gonna see about trying to integrate articles on all decks into. Of course, the preconstructed theme decks will need to be moved to it, adding a strategy to them as well as having the card list, and decks like Haymaker should be tweaked to include a "typical" list of cards. What do you think? TTEchidna 05:53, 22 August 2007 (UTC)
Rules
Hi, I'm the number 1 POkémon fan, and I was wondering...
I need some help. I live in England, and I would really like to go to a Pokémon TCG competition. However, I will need to know some of the rules (and if there ate any at the moment) before I enter.
1: Is there any restrictions to the cards you use? 2: Are you allowed old cards? 3: Are you allowed to participate with a number of decks, varying on some matches? --Sonic(No.1fan) 18:35, 21 September 2007 (UTC)
- If you want to know about Pokémon TCG tournaments, I suggest checking the official Pokémon Organized Play website. http://www.go-pokemon.com/op/tournaments/ You can find all of the information on tournaments there. As for your first three questions… There are restrictions on cards that you can use. You can only use cards that have been released from a certain point on. Also, you can not change your deck in the middle of a tournament. As of now, the restriction is that you can only use sets from Holon Phantoms on. However, the modified format is a bit different from country to country until they return to a unified release schedule, apparently. -Happy Mask Man 22:45, 22 September 2007 (UTC)
Project TCG
Is there a problem? Shiningpikablu252 was doing a really nice job with the articles. I'm the one who writes most of the Deck archetype articles, and red links do not look good. I'm having to put MY work on hold because they are not allowed to write much-needed articles! This holds up the objective of Project TCG. -Politoed666
- The problem lies in the reprint issue. I'm about to finish up work on Gym Challenge, mainly because that issue doesn't exist in that set. In fact, unless you count a Japan-only promo version of Super Energy Retrieval with the Neo Genesis version of the card, the reprint issue doesn't even come up until Expedition and doesn't really become much of a problem until EX Ruby & Sapphire. I'll resume doing the articles Project Decks needs once the reprint issue's been solved, freeing Project TCG of all problems that had ever ailed it in the process. --Shiningpikablu252 01:32, 24 September 2007 (UTC)
- There has been disagreement over the project. Big disagreement. See, I had these really big plans to make an absolutely perfect card database. If you notice, all of the articles for the cards in the Base Set, Jungle, and Fossil sets were created by me and are of uppermost quality. After that, there was some disagreement with the format, so I decided to put work into settling those disagreements. While I was working on settling things, some articles started springing up around various sets. They used a different format from the originals. When I attempted to put work toward correcting the format, pikablu reverted my edits with some rude comments. He even moved some of the articles that I created. After that, the whole thing got really out of control. The disorganized jumble of articles did not have the same quality as the first three sets. Now a big part of my plan was to go through the whole project with a very concentrated order. That way, everything could be kept track of. With people going this way and that way, it became very difficult to make sense of things. So until everything is settled, we are trying to keep the articles from going too quickly. That way, it will be easier to clean up everything. -Happy Mask Man 02:03, 24 September 2007 (UTC)
- Okay. First of all, I'd like to point out an error. Warp Point was reprinted, both in EX Crystal Guardians and Diamond & Pearl. Next, I'd like to say that I understand the issue and hope it gets resolved soon. I offer my apoligies for the harsh tone of my earlier comment. I don't know who's side this is, but I'm all for keeping the articles the way they are. I like TCG ID|Card Set|Card Name|Card Number as opposed to Card Name (TCG). It's more specific and prevents more than one article being created for the same topic. -Politoed666
- There has been disagreement over the project. Big disagreement. See, I had these really big plans to make an absolutely perfect card database. If you notice, all of the articles for the cards in the Base Set, Jungle, and Fossil sets were created by me and are of uppermost quality. After that, there was some disagreement with the format, so I decided to put work into settling those disagreements. While I was working on settling things, some articles started springing up around various sets. They used a different format from the originals. When I attempted to put work toward correcting the format, pikablu reverted my edits with some rude comments. He even moved some of the articles that I created. After that, the whole thing got really out of control. The disorganized jumble of articles did not have the same quality as the first three sets. Now a big part of my plan was to go through the whole project with a very concentrated order. That way, everything could be kept track of. With people going this way and that way, it became very difficult to make sense of things. So until everything is settled, we are trying to keep the articles from going too quickly. That way, it will be easier to clean up everything. -Happy Mask Man 02:03, 24 September 2007 (UTC)
Japanese Promos
I've been going over the old Japanese promos and started to add links, clearing up confusion about which ones were translated by Wizards (now that people are starting to do the Wizards promos). I'd love to have a crack at doing some of these articles myself, but I can't read Japanese. Could you add your magic touch and provide translations and images where needed, since you did such a good job on the promos you originally did? nuva-kal 14:48, 22 November 2007 (UTC)
Platinum Rips
How did you rip the moving trainer sprites from Platinum? Did you take screenshots during play or did you extract them from game data somehow? --Maxim 08:50, 28 September 2008 (UTC)
Where are you getting your translations from?
For the TCG. Just wondering. -RexRacer -talk 02:46, 14 January 2009 (UTC)