One thing I keep seeing in these Q&A is how many people are saving mons for "when trading happens." Is this realistic? Are you really keeping mons that you would otherwise get rid of just in case trading happens?
So far, people have been pretty far off when predicting what will happen with with Niantic.
My guess is trading will totally destroy the game if it happens without any restrictive rules. If you allow trainers to buy and sell mons (this is what trading is actually introducing...player-to-player sales) then anyone with gobs of money can have any mons they want. ...What about the level 20 guy who buys level 35 mons?
Am I the only person not looking forward to "trading."? I think it removes the integrity of the game. Once you don't need to catch a mon, just trade for it, where's the incentive?
And don't tell me about how XXX mon just isn't available in your area. Get out there and drive there. I have a few dozen mons that don't spawn near me. I drove all over Florida so I could spend hours walking in new places. I have a total of 930 km towards my 1000km medal. Do the work.
I would love a Mr. Mime. But again, if people can trade for them then what's the point of making them region specific at all?
I totally agree.
I'm very against trading mons for all the reasons you list and some other reasons that I have as well.
But I'm for a "trade-in" scheme with niantic when it comes to items in my backpack. I trash so many items, I'd much rather trade them in for items that I need/use.
But the "trade-in" scheme will make less $ for niantic, so I can see why it is not in their best interest.
It will totally destroy the game you think it should be, maybe... what's to say it won't make it better with a few level restrictions or GPS requirements? Spoofers and bots have already decimated whatever level of "purity" you imagine the game had at any point.
People are selling whole high-level accounts for a fraction of the cost it must have taken in either actual money or labor to create right this second. The genie is already out of the bottle.
This is my personal opinion: Trading won't destroy the game, hackers are destroying it, I only have played on Game Boy Pokémon blue/red and silver/gold and one of the things I really loved was meeting with my friends and trading our mons, use them a few weeks and then trade them back, there was a lot of mons you could only get with trading and I think Pokémon is about catch em all. Be realistic, 99.999999% of the people won't travel to another country to get a region exclusive and if you can't get them all sooner or later the game will start dying. Now there is a few region exclusives, but when the new generations keep coming people will see gaps of probably 10 or 20 mons that they can't get and eventually get tired, no one wants to catch pidgey and rattata forever...
I have walked more than you, 975km now, and without driving, and the point is to socialize, to meet people and go out, I think they should implement trading in the future, but first things first, remove all hackers, don't let people trade more than 1-2 mons per day, put restrictions on locations, player level, pokémon level etc...
There are tons of ways of making trading a viable and enjoyable experience and I hope that Niantic will figure it out, if the only thing they do to the game is drop us new generations each 6-8 months without legendaries, pvp, trading etc, this game is already dead, and they know it for sure.
Trade is what Man does since the beginning.
3000 years ago, we were trading vine for cotton.
By now, we trade tauros for Mr Mime.
I don't see the problem at all.
Having a pokemon lvl 35 as you are lvl 2, why not?
Even Prof Oaks GAVE you a pokemon at the beginning of the game.
Yes, he didn't trade it, he gave it to you.
How many people are living in areas where they can only catch caterpie/pidgey/weedle?
One of my friend had 27 pokemon caught in his pokedex as he was level 24.
It would be a pleasure for me to help him have a Dragonite 93% IV with DB/DP.
Or better if I can find one for him.
Trade is what built America. Trade is not always fair.
But 2 persons should be able to make an arrangement.
Don't you call that a "win-win situation"?
There are too many nuances in trading which makes it too complex / difficult to implement, IMO. I don't think it will happen.
It is very different to trade physical cards within your local group of friends vs. trading electronically on the Internet with a global group of users in the land of eBay... I can easily see someone auctioning off good mons for $ in exchange for a crappy one.
Yeah, except that's actually happening right now. Want a mon? There's a website that "borrows" your account, hunts down the mon you want, spoofs your GPS location, catches it, and gives you back your account. And all it takes is money. And not really that much at all.
The damage is already done. At this point, you're kidding yourself if you think "trading" will all of the sudden "ruin" the game. The game's already been "ruined" that way. Trading would actually alleviate the demand on the services of people looking to make a buck off the game (and unlike say five months ago, at the height of the craze, those "bucks" are now "pennies.")
I totally disagree with you that the "damage is already done". I've played the game in 4 major cities (New York, Boston, Montreal, Vancouver) and a bunch of other places and, if there are cheaters (I'm sure there are), they are few and far between. I have met many people who play the game honestly and are having a good time with it (myself included).
I just don't see what trading would add at this point. Trading for regional exclusives? Then what's the point of the regional exclusives? And if someone is missing a Muk or a Porygon to complete their pokedex, what's the point of trading for it when the whole purpose of this game is to explore the world? And, really, what would you ask for in return for someone who is desperate for a Porygon? A Snorlax?
What integrity? A guy with a GPS spoofer who lives in Pittsburgh just knocked down the level 10 gym you busted your rear to prestige, using fighters he caught via GPS spoofing in Los Angles using a third party tracker. A guy with three accounts will replace your 2200 Vape with his own 2700 Rhydon in another gym about ten minutes before you're set to collect your coins for the day. While you're busting your ass walking yet another 5K egg in your only incubator and trying to load up on supplies in 20 degree weather, some spoofer is sitting in his warm house spinning stops and hatching 9 10Ks with a glide of his finger.
The "integrity" of which you speak is an illusion.
Those are my feelings as well. I really hate people owning multiple accounts, specially when they take one mon down with one accoun to put theirs in the lvl10 you prestiged the previous day, and there is NOTHING you can do about it.
The worst part is that they don't even try to hide it, I see accounts loke ABCred, ABCblue, ABCyellow, etc all over my place.
Wow, drama much? I'm sure there are cheaters like there always are. But I personally know 25+ players and none of them cheat.
And if cheaters are so prevalent like you are saying, where are all the 2800 CP Lapras from the Lapras event in Japan that all the GPS spoofers caught from the comfort of their home? I haven't seen a single Lapras in a gym in a long time... And the rare ones I have seen have been 2000 CP.
I've played in NYC many times and don't know what "carnage" you are talking about.
All I know is that I play the game A LOT in a lot of different cities and I keep the same playing dynamics - knock down some gyms, prestige some gyms, hold 8-10 gyms for 1+ month at a time. Some eventually get knocked down and I rebuild new ones. I haven't seen much change in the availability of gyms and the ability to hold them (except when Niantic made the prestiging changes). The top mons I see in gyms are not dissimilar from the top mons in my pokebox.
I find some rares every now and then but not often enough so I still get really excited when I do. And all my friends report very similar experiences. Maybe your friends lie to you, but seeing my friends' top 36 mons, they look a lot like mine. No doubt there are cheaters, but I have not experienced it widespread enough to ruin the game like you insinuate.
What is the carnage you are talking about?
The only mons I keep for "trading" are my second and third best IVs for top attacking moveset mons per GamePress. I also have my second best IV for top defending moveset mons per GamePress.
The reality is though I still use those (for prestiging gyms especially) so it serves a double purpose. IF trading happens, then I have multiple 90+ IV mons available that people might want and if not, screw it, I have backups that are serviceable for a variety of things (since most are hatched level 20).
But yeah, TBH, the more I think about it the more I'm on the side of trading mons not happening.
You know, that's a great question. Haven't put too much thought into it.
Frankly I don't want/need top tier powerful mons. That's my chip. So I guess I'd want mons that would fill collector niches.
Off the top of my head that'd include Legacy mons such as Gyarados or perfect IV mons like a Pikachu with top attacking moveset or a perfect Ditto.
So for example, I have two perfect IV Dragonites with SW / DC. I'd gladly trade my second one for a perfect Pikachu as described above.
I'm all for trading, but a game that's for both kids and adults alike make this idea difficult. So many opportunities for Pedos I can see this being a PR nightmare for Niantic, but trading is potentially a great idea. I don't see the problem of trading away Pokemon for equal value, and the game is for casual and non casual players alike. A lot of city players don't have access to cars and can't travel around for Mon. I would not travel all over Florida to hunt for Pokemon, but that's just me..
I believe the majority of players think like you, I also don't see huge problems with trading. I believe it could actually reduce the hacking problem since you are giving a 'legal' alternative to get some rare pokemon. My friend never found a ditto, Im saving a few for an eventual trade with him if it ever happens.
Seems like there are lots of ways to play and enjoy this game - eg "catch 'em all", knock down gyms, prestige gyms, gather with friends etc. I personally use it along with Fitbit to motivate me for more distance and steps, so trading pretty much a non-issue. At level 31 I still have a few holes in my Pokedex but not too many - and this despite living in suburbs where common stuff predominate. Occasional vacations to other cities has been helpful.
