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Raz & ASB

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Not frequently asked, but these are some basic questions I can answer for you.

What's your real name?
 
As far as you're concerned, it's Raz.  Sorry, but if I intended people to know my real name, I would have made that my screen name.  If everyone calls me by my screen name, then there won't be any people left out wondering "who is so and so?"
 
What rank are you?
 
I am a rookie ref, which is a step above the entry-level novice.
 
How active are you?
 
My activity level rises and falls from time to time.  Some times I am extremely active, reffing several rounds in all of battles in one day.  Other times I am fairly sluggish, taking several days up to a week to ref even one round.  Do not PM me to ref your match, I'll get to it when I can.  ASB is not a job, nor is it the most gripping of my hobbies and on top of that  I'm doing a service for you by taking time out of my day to ref your match.  Just be patient, from what I have seen I'm one of the more active refs anyways.
 
Have you rigged matches for [insert name here]?
 
No, I do not cheat to help anyone.  The only person I know personally on ASB is Cyrus, and I do have never reffed a match unfairly to help him.  It is true that back in my early days Cyrus won several matches against Super Pika, but I can explain this easily.  For one Super Pika was also a new player to ASB and Cyrus seemed to catch on faster than his opponent.  Also, I was very new to reffing, so my damage system, fatigue judging, and attack rulings were constantly changing.  I don't see a real point to cheating in ASB, since you get no cash reward or prize and no normal person is going to care you won at a game on some pokemon message board.  As for being "in cahoots" with any other members of ASB, those are completely false, since I would never risk my credibility for some person I didn't know.
 
What is your reffing style?
 
I keep my reffings on the short side, because I don't want people to read a lot of redundant text and the less there is to read, the lower the chances I have at confusing someone.  I like to keep it fairly simple.  I also tend to spend each round focusing on one of the combatants (almost from their point of view).  When I do this (it's fairly common) do not think I have singled you out or that I gave your opponent an advantage, this is simply my style of reffing.  Other than that I just go with what feels right.
 
Well....what kind of reffings will we NOT see from you?
 
I will never hold a "conversation" with members from my own ASB team.  I know this is a popular form of reffing for some, but there is no way in Hell I'm going to talk to myself.  I also do not use smilies.  Matches are never about my "emotions" or the something along those lines, and I feel I'm creative enough to describe the look on a combatant's face, rather than type in an overused combination of letters and punctuation.
 
How long have you ben reffing?
 
I have been a ref since early December 2002, so I'm pretty new.
 
How long to you plan on being a ref?
 
I'm in it for the long haul.  I join TPM to play in the ASB, so if I am kicked out or ASB dies, then I'll probably leave TPM or be extremely inactive on it.  Unlike other areas of TPM, I try to remain fairly professional on ASB.
 
How much do you battle?
 
I'm not too into battling.  I generally take on no more than two battles, just in case I am challenged or an interesting match comes up.  When I battle, I prefer creative arenas as opposed to standard ones.  So, if you want me to battle you, I suggest you try something more than a grassy field if you want to grab my attention.
 
How often is this site updated?
 
I update it when needed:  there is no set updating schedule.
 
I am a new ref and I have a reffing question...
 
Please talk to the mods.  Just about all of them are experienced refs who will give you a better answer than me.
 
I have a complaint about your reffing.
 
Send me a private message or send me an instant message (check my profile for screen names).  Use IM only if you need to go into detail about why I'm wrong.  Do not, and I repeat, do not IM me playing 20 questions asking how attack X and Y will work.  I made up the Individual Attack Ruling section for a reason, and I will not forecast the entire round for you.  Do this too much and I'll block you.  But don't be afraid to say I'm wrong, unless you rant and rave I'll hear you out.