I agree to some extent with you and @zslane, but I find yoyos like the draupnir to feel like nothing but a tool. Like zslane said it’s hard/impossible to describe what it means for a yoyo to be fun or have personality. It’s kind of subjective
1 Like
I get the impression that before the whole organic craze took off a couple of years back, a lot of yoyos were geared towards performance and being the next Draupnir, especially bimetals. I feel like I remember someone saying that some of those felt soul-less and more like just uninspired designs ticking off the competition checkboxes trying to be the next Draupnir. The more recent organic craze that endures today felt like a reaction to that. (Full disclaimer that I started yoyoing around then so I’m speaking as someone who wasn’t around for all of that.)
I think what reviewers and others mean by “fun” is that it’s a design that puts personality and a unique and pleasant feel over performance. That’s not to say that a performance beast can’t feel amazing to someone, but that these yoyos appeal to people who might be burned out on the Draupnirs on the market. “Fun” and performance aren’t mutually exclusive; performance just isn’t the primary focus.
That’s just how I interpret it when reviewers say a yoyo is “fun.” I agree with the previous comments that fun is subjective and that term seems to be losing meaning with regards to describing yoyos.
3 Likes
“Is Fun a code word for Bad?”
Honestly, kinda, but I think it is too disparaging to use the term “bad” to describe it. Yoyo design has got to the point where the criteria for objective performance has been outlined: low walls/large catch, rim weighted, etc. Anything deviating from the criteria ultimately results in a tougher yoyo to use. What these deviant yoyos lose in performance, they gain in their subjective feel when using them. Im sure that most people here have played with a “competition” throw, and the nature of the throw just begs them to play faster. Well, there are some yoyos out there that don’t, and perhaps completely vibe with your speed of play: this is what I (and maybe others) refer to as a chill yoyo. It seems to be happy with my slow and plodding play as opposed to a sports car yoyo that thrives at its power band. The other benefit of “fun” yoyos are typically a more comfortable hand feel as well as being softer on the catch.
The way I see it (and I think I mentioned this in the past), is that “competition” throws are like high performance sports cars. They are great for racing (just like the yoyos are for competition), but arent exactly the most comfortable to drive in casual scenarios. “Fun” yoyos are like every other normal vehicle on the road. They aren’t going to win any races, but driving to the store to pick up groceries in a luxury sedan is much more relaxing than using a race car when all you are doing is driving the speed limit and dealing with normal traffic. Some people prefer to always drive the sports car, always having the power to deal with any situation at their fingertips, but many would argue that a luxury car that isn’t so fast, nimble, etc is a more comfortable tool to get to the destination. And then you have unique niche cars, where maybe they aren’t more comfortable, but have a certain subjective feel to them that satisfies the driver. Like driving a pickup truck as opposed to a Miata. Even if there is an objective “best” car, people will still pick and choose whatever car they find to be the most appealing and/or enjoyable to drive.
As a casual player I prefer to normally use casual throws. I still like my racecar yoyos like the Butter, but I typically prefer the casual play of something like my General Yo 5 Star. It is objectively a lower performer than the Butter, but the experience of playing with it is more satisfying in some ways. Since yoyos are relatively cheap compared to cars, I prefer to own both.
And then you have the wild card that is responsive and fixed axle play. Light fixies vs heavy ones, wide catch zones vs stall friendly organic ones, etc. Responsive metals spin longer, but wooden fixies are more responsive and better for modern 0A style play. In this case, organic shape can yield higher performance than a v-shape, as ironic as it might seem compared to 1A.
In the end I am just happy for the variety of yoyos that all play differently to one another. All yoyos are fun, but some are just more suited for certain moods than others.
2 Likes
This is why A-RT is a favorite brand amongst players and they are very few critical reviews by the YouTubers when it comes to A-RT. You just can’t tell someone how to play with their purple platypus.
4 Likes
To me that just sounds like someone who had difficulty doing their favorite tricks on a Draupnir (and maybe even resented the price of the Draupnir…souring their grapes even further). Like any review/opinion given on something so personal and subjective, we all have to put our critical thinking caps on and make up our own minds about it.
For my own part, I don’t do any tricks where I need to be able to nudge the yoyo off plane (on purpose). In fact, all the tricks I do (and am trying to master) require the yoyo to stay on plane as much as possible. I need all the gyroscopic stability I can get! That’s why organics are less “fun” for me than competition bi-metals, which sounds utterly contrary to the usual sentiment expressed. I think more than anything that just demonstrates how much distance there is in terms of experience between myself and all the long-time throwers out there who have a deeply-ingrained or nostalgic-driven perference for organics over competition designs.
And so I think you can often tell a lot about someone’s yoyo history by where they stand on this issue, and what sort of yoyo they call “fun”.
Care to elaborate?
I’ve observed that a lot of yoyoers who started back when organics were the norm have a nostalgic love for them, and will usually find organics more “fun” than modern competition throws. I’ve also observed that a lot of yoyoers who have been around long enough to have “tried them all” will be bored by the current 1A repertoire, and turn to styles considered “alternative” today for their “fun” (organics, wood fixies, etc.).
However, newcomers (such as myself) are typically inspired by today’s top 1A competitors, and seek to master the core body of 1A tricks, for which high-performance throws kinda rule supreme.
I just have noticed a pretty strong correlation between a yoyoer’s history with the hobby and their view of what they currently find “fun”. But it’s only a correlation; not an immutable Law of the Universe.
5 Likes
After further consideration I have come to the conclusion that fun yoyos are indeed bad. Very bad. I would urge anybody who has any fun yoyos to promptly send them to me, and I will ensure they never fall into some innocent thrower’s hands ever again.
4 Likes