Amid a wave of backlash, the Pokemon TCG Pocket devs stood behind the decision to lock trades behind a new currency but offered a compromise.
Pokemon TCG players poked holes in the new trade system and argued that it is flawed and needs a drastic overhaul. One of the primary complaints about trading is how players need to spend Trade Tokens, which forces players to sacrifice duplicate cards.
This is an issue because many users have already eliminated duplicates in exchange for Flair, which makes their cards shinier. Flair is essentially useless with the introduction of trade tokens, leading to questions about why the devs would make such a controversial decision.
On top of that, there is also a stamina system that limits the amount of trades you can make, and there are restrictions on what cards you can trade. Users made their voices clear that they don’t like being told how and when to trade, forcing a response from the devs.
Pokemon TCG Pocket devs double down on trade tokens, but offer slight compromise
Despite calls to scrap Trade Tokens entirely, the Pokemon TCG Pocket devs decided to go a different direction in how to improve the overall experience.
The devs admitted, “We understand that 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 those concerns.”
This includes offering more trade tokens in event distributions. Some fans will be disappointed by the news as they wanted a more significant overhaul. However, the devs are also exploring more options to improve trading.
As to why the restrictions will remain, the devs argued, “The item requirements and restrictions implemented for the trade feature were designed to improve abuse from bots and other prohibited actions using multiple accounts.”
For now, players will have to make do with these changes. For more on Pokemon TCG Pocket, check out the Best Darkrai ex deck build.