Online disabled for Randomizer?

[nburgin]

It mentions online being disabled for Randomizer mode... Is that permanent, or can you disable that at the end of the story like the other challenge settings and turn online back on? I kinda want to play randomizer mode, but I'm also afraid I might get something with perfect IVs and not be able to use it for competition/breeding because it's stranded in that save file forever.

[Lord Windos]

I believe that the Online functions of Randomizer is permenantly disabled BECAUSE of the volatile nature of such a game mode, as patient and devious players could transfer over tier 3 Evos or Legends over to their non Random file and run amuk with their power beyond belief! If you want to play competitive, you are better off finding someone on the Discord chats to introduce you to the circuit....if they even exist at this point in time.

[nburgin]

as patient and devious players could transfer over tier 3 Evos or Legends over to their non Random file and run amuk with their power beyond belief

Wouldn't that be possible anyway with normal saves, just a lot slower?

Anyway, I'm a little bit afraid to play it for fear the Random Number Gods will decide to bestow a 31/31/31/31/31/31, or something close enough to be helpful for breeding one, while I'm playing it. That's probably a bit silly of me, but... oh well.

EDIT: Is more than just the species random?

If it's so random that it can have things that aren't even possible in a regular save (pokemon knowing moves they normally can't learn or having abilities they normally can't have, unreleased pokemon like Baitaotao appearing, etc.) then I could see why it would be barred from online.

But otherwise, if that's not the case, then I'm not sure I get it. If the individual pokemon are the same as in the regular game, I can't think of what difference it would really make for online, except perhaps making otherwise-rare species much more common on Wonder Trade...

[Dragonstrike]

The first and most common of impossibilities that randomizers introduce is pokemon caught in locations they don't normally appear in, followed by pokemon that are lower leveled than they should be.  Having legendaries under level 50 and evolved pokemon below level 10 that you caught on Route 01 are just two common examples.  iirc, the randomizer doesn't randomize movepools and types currently, but that would further complicate things.

Randomizers are a mess when it comes to thorough legality checks, so it's unlikely the mode will ever have working online.

[nburgin]

Randomizers are a mess when it comes to thorough legality checks, so it's unlikely the mode will ever have working online.

So it's more of a technical issue than a fairness issue per se... Well, I guess that's understandable. If it breaks the methods that are used to verify that pokemon being used online aren't illegal, then I can see why it would need have to have online disabled...

Though TBH, having pokemon with impossibly low levels seems like a relatively minor issue compared to serious balance-breakers like illegal movesets, so I'm not even sure why the verification would bother testing that. But if they really consider that as still being significant enough to warrant blocking out, I guess I can respect that...

[Dragonstrike]

It might seem minor, but the legality checker for Nintendo's online services does the exact same thing.  Though I know those ones are rather lax when it comes to the type of pokeball the pokemon is in...

Anyways, the point of the legality checks is so only pokemon that are possible to obtain through normal gameplay are allowed online.  And a few of the ways to check that are:
-various values of hidden ids
-the location and level the pokemon was caught at
-the pokemon's stats, moveset, and ability
-the pokeball the pokemon is in (ex: Urayne can only be in a Nuclear Ball, period)
-if the pokemon has a nickname when it shouldn't (this check really only applies to event pokemon, though)

There might be other identifiers, but those are the main ways to check a pokemon's legality that I know off the top of my head.  And randomizers throw ALL of those rules out of the window.  There's really no way to make reasonable exceptions to those checks without giving hackers leeway to do whatever the heck they like with what they trade and battle with online

[nburgin]

Though I know those ones are rather lax when it comes to the type of pokeball the pokemon is in...

Speaking of that, I know I've received several Wonder Trades right here in Uranium that were at level 1 but were in a Pokeball besides the regular red one that's normally used when hatching an egg, but didn't seem strange otherwise. Does that mean they were hacked, and the verification code missed it because everything else about them was legal?

Anyhow, the idea of verifying a pokemon's legality based on what route it was caught in seems a bit odd as a deterrent to save hacking, as what route it's supposed to be in is public knowledge, and thus wouldn't seem to be an obstacle to coming up with a convincing counterfeit.

[Dragonstrike]

Speaking of that, I know I've received several Wonder Trades right here in Uranium that were at level 1 but were in a Pokeball besides the regular red one that's normally used when hatching an egg, but didn't seem strange otherwise. Does that mean they were hacked, and the verification code missed it because everything else about them was legal?

Anyhow, the idea of verifying a pokemon's legality based on what route it was caught in seems a bit odd as a deterrent to save hacking, as what route it's supposed to be in is public knowledge, and thus wouldn't seem to be an obstacle to coming up with a convincing counterfeit.

Nothing wrong with those hatchlings as long as everything else is legal about the pokemon and the pokeball is one they can actually be captured in.  Pokeball inheritance is a thing in pokemon breeding starting in generation 6 of the main series (so long as the pokeball isn't one of the two uninheritable types: the Master Ball and the Cherish Ball). I'm talking more about nonsense like the shiny Incineroar in a Premier Ball I received over WT in Sun and Moon (Incineroar, at this point in time, can only ever be in a normal pokeball), or the Beast Ball Porygon2 that showed up at an official competition early in Sun and Moons' lifespan (Regardless of game origin, Porygon and its evolutions can't be in a Beast Ball since there's no wild Porygon in Alola)

Location is something that needs to be checked anyways so hackers can't be lazy if they do hack pokemon in. If you're too lax with your protections, that's just asking for trouble.  And yes, location doesn't affect anything, really, but an illegitimate location captured serves as proof that the pokemon was hacked in somehow.  It's an easy thing to check, too, so neither the devs nor potential hackers have any excuse to not check it to make sure it's correct.

[Lord Windos]

Essenitally, putting hacker blockers/detectors and keeping them secret is more of a disincentive for more experienced/tech savvy hackers and a screening process to get rid of the dumb/short sighted ones. The best hacks are the ones that are totally unnoticeable and can't be traced back reliably to one party, so anyone trying to hack Shinies and Pokeballs that just are not possible is just asking for a load of trouble heading their way...