Jess

@Wolfox I don't remember much, but at some point we were talking about Hunger Games simulations.

@Zargerth It's simply a clash of perspectives. I am a bit bitter about how things ended up. Needless to say, some pokemon will always be better than others. Centralizing is a problem though. Z-moves are a problem, due to their playing a huge role in modern gameplay. They either force certain strategies or force bans on certain pokemon simply because they might abuse said strategies (even if the pokemon was completely viable without a Z-move or even inferior and needed it). 

My point on "mindset" is the tolerance you mention. Limitation inherently destroys creativity. I keep bringing Gen6 as the most common relevant example because its main asset was the multitude of threats and possible teambuilding scenarios. Teams kept going more diverse (with the casual 'waves' of stall, then HyperO, then balance and so on). 

I was asking for more Megas because the basis was good. IMO, if they expanded on that, they could improve te gameplay, provide some alternatives and further boost our poke-pool with the new pokemon with new type-combinations (etc etc) in the following generations. Dropping all that for something inferior feels cheap. 

You argue that it's ok to play in a frame that limits gameplay, because in the end it forces you to improve. I disagree, because I argue that creativity promotes progress. Right now it's more like grinding.

I might have become old, idk.

I find myself trying new pokemon in Reborn, because I can no longer do it on showdown. 

@NickCrash I actually agree with you on that limitation hurts creativity. If anything, working with limited options is coping in current circumstances. By saying that certain group of people have accepted the fact that not every character is equal I mean sort of "the strong prevail" kind of thing.

My brother used to play on Showdown a lot back in Gen 6. He climbed pretty high in the ladder (1700 at best iirc) with Fighting and Rock. But now that Gen 7 happened, he pretty much lost interest after a while. So despite what you and Jess might think, I can at least somewhat relate to you.

I tend to try new Pokemon in fan games as well. I don't have to constantly delete my save files, and I can see what the mons I picked can do in a more demanding environment (fan games have more advanced strategies).

First of all; as others have said tbh laddering isn't for everyone. I occasionally get spurts where I get really motivated to do it(like the a few weeks back when I nearly climbed to 1800 in OU)but it quickly becomes boring because of said repetition. Hence why it's generally more fun to play in tournaments and with friends due to the smaller amount of people there's likely a higher chance for them to be using something different; hence it isn't as repetitive. It's certainly what I tend to have more fun doing more often than not.

The reason those specific mons are so high up for mono bug are because they tend to cover it's weak points well and are good win conditions. This is also inherently because Bug as a typing has a lot of repetition in it's Pokemon itself. Lot's of Quiver Dance moth's for which are inherently outclassed by Volcarona. On the other hand the more unique ones such as Araquanid and Armaldo tend to stand out because they bring specific valued niches to the type as a whole.