@Old_Yoer Ed’s list may be fine enough, and it’s hilarious, but it’s referencing yo-yos from ~20 years ago. I don’t think that list is relevant to today’s yo-yo design at all. Not even a little.
Yes, definitely, the idea is to hone in on what aspect of the design made it a bad yo-yo, not just pour haterade all over stuff 
For example what sunk the Nine Dragons is flat out complexity – so many rotating parts in close proximity to each other with such fine rotational tolerances. But that’s OK, it was an experiment, not a gross error of design judgment or anything.
Funny story, even after we were done testing this Magicyoyo n12 for vibe by hitting one half it repeatedly with a hammer, and (eventually) throwing it into concrete with increasing force to simulate “accidents”… my 9 year old son turns to me in the final testing after throwing it and says …
Still plays smoother than the Nine Dragons!
ouch… ice burn… that was not a statement I had prompted in any way, nor had I brought that yo-yo up recently with him that I can think of. (I sold mine here on the b/s/t, for $25, many months ago).
I want to second this one, I was so excited to get a pocket rocket and then after throwing it a few times… it immediately went on the shelf. For me, the “friction pads” are the element that breaks it. As far as mini responsives go, you are better off converting a Popstar to responsive, which is actually an amazing throw set up that way.