Ok CHENN thanks for the suggestions, but i have another question now, sorry for bothering you guys: Do i have to register in any specific shoddy server? for example the smogon university server, or is it enough to have registered in another server and played there? (im refering to the requirements to be a tutee)
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Battling 101 Q&A
- Thread starter Philip7086
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Philip, I'm wondering if your current skill level has anything to do with whether or not you get assigned to a tutor. I'm not bad at battling, I've just plateaued, and I don't know what key factors are missing from my team building. It's never been a huge struggle to reach leaderboards, but I'm still no match for the best, and I would love to be tutored by a talented user. I won't ramble on about what I'm good and bad at, just curious about what kind of students you are looking for.
I pretty sure that as long as there is a Tutor round up, if you can sign up then do so. I don't know if it's required or not, but I would recommend at least having an account on Smogon University or CAP.
VKCA
(Virtual Circus Kareoky Act)
The only time when you might be considered "too skilled" to be a tutee would be if you can consistently get top 10 on the leader boards. If you think your skills have plateaued, and your not as good as you can be, then your not too skilled to be tutored.
Thanks for clearing that up, I will definitely apply without shame XD.
Im not trying to be rude at all, but when is the next round going to go up? I honestly waited long enough.
You do understand that even if I open signups right this instant, you will still end up waiting the same amount of time as if I were to open them weeks from now, right? Either way everybody who signed up before you will need to be assigned a tutor before your turn comes up. Should I just open signups and let dozens upon dozens of people sign up and have to wait a year after the date of their post to get a tutor? I'm just trying to make it so that as soon as you sign up you get a tutor, instead of putting your name on an impossibly long list.
Please have faith that we're trying all we can to get things moving faster, including opening up tutor applications to get more members on the staff and hopefully tutor more people at once.
Before I begin, I just want to point out that this post isn't aimed specifically at you, Hood Dream, but you do fall into the group of people I'm about to talk about.
Having run Battling 101 myself for over a year, I can attest to the fact that people complaining that they've waited "long enough" for tutor gets very tiresome. Whether you meant to be rude or not is irrelevant, because this is probably the single most annoying type of post you can encounter here. The simple fact is the Battling 101 staff volunteer their time to help players who ask for it. They are not obliged in any way to do it at all - it's not as if it's a paying job.
One of the reasons I eventually stopped running Battling 101 personally was because I was sick and tired of people acting like the staff and myself owed them something. It wasn't the sole reason, of course, but it was definitely a factor. We don't owe you our time, we choose to give it to you. There's a huge difference - and in a lot of cases it's this what makes the system so rewarding for everyone involved. However, constantly being hounded by impatient onlookers really drains your motivation. I understand that you're excited, but it's not as if anyone is intentionally slowing the process down. It takes time to teach - how would you feel if you signed up and you were rushed through the basics and then sent on your way? It wouldn't really be worth any sort of wait on your part and it would really have just been a waste of time for both tutor and tutee.
It's not as if it's impossible to go out and learn this game for yourself. Make no mistake - tutoring is luxury. A very helpful luxury for a lot of people, but a luxury nonetheless. Tutors are a finite resource, and if they begin to lose their motivation to teach, Battling 101 activity will dry up and won't exist for the people that appreciate it so much (note, this post isn't directed to you people). At the core, the message behind this type of post is really "you're not donating enough of your free time to benefit me". At the core, this type of complaint is extremely selfish, and a great way to drain the motivation of everyone who makes Battling 101 what it is. Don't take it for granted.
Just a thought.
QFT. Now if we could only make people be forced to read this. ( Not that it would stop all those kinds of questions, but i'm sure it'll stop quite a few)
QFT. Patience is a virtue here, and the demand for tutors is greater than the supply of people willing to be tutors. Wait your turn quietly like the rest of us, and maybe look at the numbers of people willing to tutor, the people in line, and then look at the law of supply and demand to have your question of 'when's my turn gonna be?' answered. They are not going to skip over other people who have waited in line to get to you faster.
Sorry if this looks ranty, I just feel the message needs to be repeated.
yup, i read it, and I agree :P
I was actually gonna ask when the last round started, but i'll keep it to myself.. :P
I was actually gonna ask when the last round started, but i'll keep it to myself.. :P
Lots of people Qing this FT, but read it from this perspective.
How many people on smogon would absolutely LOOOVEEE to be a mod? Well, that would encompass just about everyone here and their mom.
And the mods here are generally accepting the mods to be some of the greatest people ever, and I totally respect Blue Kirby for saying this.
But one thing kept striking me as I read this: sure, they aren't paid, but they're the mods. The mods and admins and even tutors are the people we look up to. In terms of the competitive Pokemon Community, we look to them for the latest and greatest advancements.
And in all honesty, they are probably just a person like you and me, donating their time to help Pokemon battlers out, as well as keep the community alive and running.
But, let's look at how many people are on Shoddy right now, as well as in the forums. THEY are as well giving up their time to keep the community running, as well as have some fun. There is undeniably something we all could be doing right now, other than this.
Let's look at some battlers in particular, I'm not going to say names, but particular shoddyers and smogoners help new players very far beyond what mods do. If you ask a question on shoddy chat, or IRC, I can guarantee you the first people that will answer won't be mods. The players give a lot of their time as well.
So when I hear an admin or mod say "Well, I'm really busy and I feel like you guys are being selfish because I don't have the time to do something I said I would", well, that disturbs me. Especially when there are solutions: get more tutors, if that means doing it by CRE and asking those people, take what measures need to be taken.
Im not in line to be tutored, nor would i really care to be, but I was kind of frustrated at this message posted by Blue Kirby. Think about it: if the leadership is gonna volunteer their time "for us" and then not do things "for us" that many people would gladly do (I mean really, I know TONS of people who would love to be tutors), well, perhaps the demand for more leadership is greater than they would like you to believe.
Seriously? I don't really think you are in a position to argue and disagree with BK. First of all, the mods aren't just people who are great battlers and have been given moderator status. Instead, people who have earned it by showing an interest in improving smogon and have devoted a significant amount of time in doing so.
Second, since these people are mods, they don't necessarily have the free time as the average smogoner. They have been trusted with keeping this place productive and free from the common idiot. They surely have more important things to do than spend their time helping other newcomers learn how to be better battlers and intergrate them into the community. Like you said, the mods are people like you and me. Unless they live in a box with their computor in the middle of nowhere, they also have real lives just like you and me.
Finally, not just anyone with a high CRE can be chosen to be a tutor. Like the mods, they have to earn it by showing similar aspects and be very skillfull battlers.
I'm glad to see that BK put that message out their. People need to realize they are grateful for the B101 program. I hope anyone who reads this doesn't get mad at me for "a guy like me speaking on behalf of the mods," but I felt like I had to reply to Jess's response.
I'm not trying to be disrespectful here, but there were some things that should strike the average smogoner, in my belief.
First of all, I am not arguing, I am disagreeing. While you said I am in no position to disagree with BK, well, wait, I'm not allowed to disagree with BK just because I'm at a lower status? THAT in my belief is the sign of a problem.
You said they have more important things to do then help people become better battlers. Um... isn't that what battling 101 wishes to achieve? In my opinion, they should have never started this if they aren't going to be doing that.
Also, I agree with you on them being able to keep the place free from the common idiot, and perhaps I am one of those idiots.
But, on the same side, I think this is a major wake up call. You said I am not in the position to disagree with BK. Well, as I said, that is a sign of a problem. Simply put, any community where there is this kind of relationship between authority and your average user will struggle eventually.
I only say that you are in no position to disagree, simply because I think that Blue Kirby hit the nail on the head in saying that tutees and soon-to-be-tutees shouldn't be badgering the mods and tutors, and instead treat them with respect.
When I say "the mods have more important things...", I refer to all the mods in general. For example, if you asked a question on IRC about battling, you wouldn't expect a mod, lets say cookie, answer your question just because he is a mod. Sorry if I wasn't clear.
I certainly agree that having a strong relationship between mods and users is the only way to have a strong community.
Anyways, I don't want to start some sort of flame war, so I'm going to leave it at this; feel free to disagree with whatever you want.
Jess Mii, my post was simply meant to provide some perspective for the people that seem to have lost it. I have no intention of derailing this thread into an argument, so I'll keep this short. Two questions pretty much sums up my response anyway, so have a think about these.
1) Do you ever see any forum staff or tutors complaining that the general Smogon community is not giving up enough of their time?
2) Do you think that simply wanting to be a tutor is the same as being a good tutor? I believe there is a point where there simply has to be a line drawn to keep tutoring quality as high as possible. There's more to a teacher than simply having a wealth of knowledge - you have to actually be able to pass it on. This is why we get people to apply first.
1) Do you ever see any forum staff or tutors complaining that the general Smogon community is not giving up enough of their time?
2) Do you think that simply wanting to be a tutor is the same as being a good tutor? I believe there is a point where there simply has to be a line drawn to keep tutoring quality as high as possible. There's more to a teacher than simply having a wealth of knowledge - you have to actually be able to pass it on. This is why we get people to apply first.
I'm not really sure what you were trying to get at with the rest of your post, so I'm just going to respond to this (not to mention all of this is not what this thread was made for, but anyways...). Sure I can go on the Smogon University server and do a /wall saying "Everybody with a CRE of 1500+ may now be official tutors for Smogon", but how effective do you think they will be? There's a significant difference between being able to get a decent rating on the ladder and being able to teach others. The way I see it, we have an option here: either keep the quality of our tutors at the highest it can be at the expense of having fewer tutors, or decrease our quality requirement in order to flood our program with more tutors and provide everybody with one (even though they might not be good). Now I think the people who signed up for this program would be rather unhappy if they were assigned a tutor who didn't really know how to teach at all, don't you?
Yes, as a moderator, it is my duty to ensure that this program runs smoothly. I think I would be failing my duty pretty hard, though, if I just blindly increased the number of tutors we let on staff just to throw them at tutees faster. In order to preserve the integrity of this program, we are not willing to budge on our high standards for our tutors.
Finally, if you really want a tutor so bad, and you don't care if we just pick them off the leaderboard, then why don't you ask those people yourself? If what you're saying is true about how tons of other users are more than willing to give their free time for the betterment of the community, then it shouldn't be very hard to do this. Why does it matter to you if those same people get the official "Smogon Tutor" stamp or not? The reason people don't do this and instead opt to wait for their turn in our Battling 101 program, is because they realize the value that we offer since we don't let just anybody tutor for us. They realize that the service we provide (again, for free) is something they can't just find by asking whoever is ranked 20th on the ladder, and this differentiating level of quality is what you're asking us to throw out the window with your suggestion.
Again, we're doing the best we can in terms of juggling our real life responsibilities, our responsibilities in other areas of the community, and our responsibilities as a tutor. It is highly disrespectful to try and squeeze us into giving more than we can, and then try to call us out when we can't. It is your choice to wait for a Smogon Tutor if you want one - nobody is forcing you, and nobody owes you anything. We therefore ask that you sit and wait patiently like everybody else, instead of asking every few days when the signups will open up again.
internet forums are not, have never been, and never will be democracies. we are at the mercy of the moderator/admin's every whim (benevolent or not)
welcome to the internet, i say this without a shred of irony
also i cant wait for battling101 to start, are the places doled out on a first come first serve basis? do i need to keep camping here to make sure i dont get left out?
Note that I never said that just because I'm an administrator people cannot disagree with me at any time.
And I respect all of the above posts, I was never trying to cause strife.
I was misunderstood about my CRE post though: I don't want you to say that. What I'm thinking is that I would like the moderators, administrators, etc. to talk with some of the top players on the leaderboard that are not currently involved. They could see if they are capable of teaching, and if they are, then look- you just got another tutor. BY NO MEANS am I saying everyone above 1500 CRE is qualified- what I am saying is that many of those people COULD be qualified, and if there is a demand for more tutors (which I would say there most certainly is) you have a supply of great battlers- surely there are at least a few people on the leaderboard that can fill that role.
At pika, I actually completely agree with that. At the same time... It is important to keep in mind that even BK said it's alright to disagree, and that's how I think it should be.
And overall, I was not asking for the mods to squeeze more time. What I think is that sometimes, I know I need to do this to, we need to take a check. I was put into a position of leadership, so it is obvious I need to devote myself to that. I am NOT accusing anyone of not giving enough of their time, but I believe it is a question anyone in any form of leadership, even moderation or administration, needs to ask themself: "Am I really giving enough time to be a leader?"
I was misunderstood about my CRE post though: I don't want you to say that. What I'm thinking is that I would like the moderators, administrators, etc. to talk with some of the top players on the leaderboard that are not currently involved. They could see if they are capable of teaching, and if they are, then look- you just got another tutor. BY NO MEANS am I saying everyone above 1500 CRE is qualified- what I am saying is that many of those people COULD be qualified, and if there is a demand for more tutors (which I would say there most certainly is) you have a supply of great battlers- surely there are at least a few people on the leaderboard that can fill that role.
At pika, I actually completely agree with that. At the same time... It is important to keep in mind that even BK said it's alright to disagree, and that's how I think it should be.
And overall, I was not asking for the mods to squeeze more time. What I think is that sometimes, I know I need to do this to, we need to take a check. I was put into a position of leadership, so it is obvious I need to devote myself to that. I am NOT accusing anyone of not giving enough of their time, but I believe it is a question anyone in any form of leadership, even moderation or administration, needs to ask themself: "Am I really giving enough time to be a leader?"
First of all, just being at the top on the leaderboard doesn't make someone knowledgeable or capable of teaching the game to anyone properly. The standard for measuring success on Smogon is still through tournaments. There are no awards given out to people who get #1 because there are ways of attaining it that don't require skill. Competition on ladder is also generally very low, even when you have a good CRE.
It is not our responsibility to seek out users to apply for Battling 101. There are more aspects to this program than just, "making people a better battler." I consider integration into the Smogon community to be an important part of the process. That's not something a random user who has a mediocre CRE can do. As Blue Kirby and Philip already touched on, we pride ourselves in maintaining a certain level of excellence to ensure everyone's experience reaches their expectations and then some.
You are looking at this the wrong way. The moderating staff isn't too busy to run the program nor is there the amount of tutors too little. There are a lot of people who want the kind of experience I said above, which means there will be some downtime. A lot of work goes into making the program run from an administrative perspective. There are more facets to running such a big project than you give credit for. Everything is managed in a timely fashion. It just may not seem that way if you don't get assigned a tutor right away.
It is not our responsibility to seek out users to apply for Battling 101. There are more aspects to this program than just, "making people a better battler." I consider integration into the Smogon community to be an important part of the process. That's not something a random user who has a mediocre CRE can do. As Blue Kirby and Philip already touched on, we pride ourselves in maintaining a certain level of excellence to ensure everyone's experience reaches their expectations and then some.
You are looking at this the wrong way. The moderating staff isn't too busy to run the program nor is there the amount of tutors too little. There are a lot of people who want the kind of experience I said above, which means there will be some downtime. A lot of work goes into making the program run from an administrative perspective. There are more facets to running such a big project than you give credit for. Everything is managed in a timely fashion. It just may not seem that way if you don't get assigned a tutor right away.
Jesse:
Imagine if you were working in a compony and something was going to happen and you knew around when it was going to happen. now imagine people who don't know when that thing is going to happen and constantly asking you and you start getting annoyed and get steadily ruder when answering. Thats what the Tutors are going through in my mind, but they are trying their best to not have an angry outburst at the people constantly asking the same question over and over again, but their tolreance is getting smaller and smaller each time it's asked
Imagine if you were working in a compony and something was going to happen and you knew around when it was going to happen. now imagine people who don't know when that thing is going to happen and constantly asking you and you start getting annoyed and get steadily ruder when answering. Thats what the Tutors are going through in my mind, but they are trying their best to not have an angry outburst at the people constantly asking the same question over and over again, but their tolreance is getting smaller and smaller each time it's asked
@above: lol
@jess: its within the admin/mod's rights to go "youre a dickhead" and then unleash the banhammer on said dickhead. of course the good communities are good because the mods DONT do that, so people gradually start to forget that they exist within a dictatorship and start demanding stuff in the name of Justice, Equality, and Love!
like: when is the next round starting
@jess: its within the admin/mod's rights to go "youre a dickhead" and then unleash the banhammer on said dickhead. of course the good communities are good because the mods DONT do that, so people gradually start to forget that they exist within a dictatorship and start demanding stuff in the name of Justice, Equality, and Love!
like: when is the next round starting
Exactly... just throwing more tutors around as the solution wouldn't be enough, since, as Phil expressed, Smogon tutors are high quality. Even if there were more tutors, the high demand would still result in some people having to wait. Even if there were more tutors, there would still be a long queue; there's such a long queue because the B101 tutors are damn good at the many roles they take on as teachers. The B101 staff run things efficiently and are constantly looking at ways to enhance and improve the process of assigning tutors appropriately. Not to mention that the heads are definitely very aware of who would make a good tutor and who wouldn't, as demonstrated by the high quality of tutoring and the fact that they are involved users themselves. Only tenured tutors whom the current leaders know to be completely qualified become leaders in the first place; it's not an issue of devoting time, since tutors are able to take breaks where necessary, and the tutors put a lot of time into each tutor already.
Even though it feels like there aren't enough to go around (and there's always room for more), it's, frankly, naïve to assume that the staff aren't on the ball about the problem. Of course, since you can't see what goes on behind the scenes, you can't verify that for yourself, so it's understandable that you'd get such a misconception -- but a little thought about it would have revealed what's being told to you now. It sucks that not everyone can receive instant gratification, but if you stick around and receive tutorship, you won't regret it.
@impatient people: Haste makes waste, have any of you ever heard of this idiom?
I totally agree with the mods that it is important to keep up the quality, rather than trying to meet the demand quantitatively. Heck, I'll blatantly admit that I'm one of those people who has been waiting (and will continue to wait) for my turn for like six months already, since this past December.
Like BK had already said, tutors volunteer their time here, and they're here to exclusively teach you how to be a better battler. What I have noticed some people are selfishly demanding for a free, great service that is almost always in high demand. Are you kidding me? Even in real life, in order to get something of high quality, you will have to pay something (not necessarily money) in exchange for them.
Here's my two cents advice: Can't wait? Then learn how to play yourself. Otherwise, shut your hole.
PS. I'm sincerely sorry to mods for my reply's somewhat off-topic element/mini-modding. Please remove it at your discretion.
I totally agree with the mods that it is important to keep up the quality, rather than trying to meet the demand quantitatively. Heck, I'll blatantly admit that I'm one of those people who has been waiting (and will continue to wait) for my turn for like six months already, since this past December.
Like BK had already said, tutors volunteer their time here, and they're here to exclusively teach you how to be a better battler. What I have noticed some people are selfishly demanding for a free, great service that is almost always in high demand. Are you kidding me? Even in real life, in order to get something of high quality, you will have to pay something (not necessarily money) in exchange for them.
Here's my two cents advice: Can't wait? Then learn how to play yourself. Otherwise, shut your hole.
PS. I'm sincerely sorry to mods for my reply's somewhat off-topic element/mini-modding. Please remove it at your discretion.
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