Pokémon TCG Pocket just made its most loyal players very, very upset

Summary

Players are unhappy with the convoluted limitations and requirements of the new trading system in the Pokémon TCG Pocket game.
The game’s development team issued a statement thanking players for their feedback and promised to investigate the concerns.
Trading in the game requires Trade Tokens and Trade Hourglasses, and the types of cards that can traded are restricted.

Pokémon TCG Pocket’s launch last year was a massive success for the Pokémon Company, with millions of players worldwide downloading and spending money on the game. However, it seems the game has hit a snag with players after its recent update, which finally introduced trading.

The game’s new trading system has not been received well by players, with some saying it is too convoluted and has too many requirements and restrictions. In response to the backlash, the Pokémon TCG Pocket development team released a statement thanking players for their feedback and promising to investigate their concerns.

“We understand some of the restrictions put in place are preventing players from being able to casually enjoy the feature as intended. We are actively investigating ways to improve the feature to address these concerns. Going forward, we also plan to offer multiple ways to obtain trade tokens including through event distributions,” the company said in a press release.

Pokémon Trading Card Game Pocket

Developer: The Pokémon Company
Release: October 30, 2024
Ads: No
In-app purchases?: Yes

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What went wrong with trading in Pokemon TCG?

Players believe the system is too restrictive and confusing

The trade system introduced to the game limits the feature in several different ways. First, only cards with the same rarity level can be traded. Second, only cards with a rarity between 1 and 4 diamonds as well as 1-star cards are eligible to be traded.

An in-game currency is also required to initiate a trade, known as a Trade Token, which can be gained by trashing cards you don’t need. Trading also uses stamina, which is regained by using a Trade Hourglass, which you can get a mission reward. The Pokémon TCG devs said the trading features was “designed to prevent abuse from bots.” Players on Reddit were quick to criticize the feature.

The exact solution to this trading fiasco is uncertain. One player thinks a level cap for trading would be a better solution than Trade Tokens. However, some believe the tokens are here to stay as an incentive to buy card packs. The developers will have to tread carefully to please players who are clearly annoyed at a confusing system.