Pokémon TCG Pocket trading becomes major disasppointment for players

Pokémon Trading Card Game Pocket has launched its anticipated new trading update, but it has generated increased disappointment rather than satisfaction.

The launch of the trading feature in the Pokemon TCG angered players beyond their initial disappointment from learning the update one week ago. They shared their concerns on social media about the trading feature, which hides behind excessive restrictions and complexity.

Trading requires two distinct in-game items that a player obtains during gameplay, unlike Wonder Pick and opening booster packs. The first one is Trade Stamina, which restores its value with time. Players may purchase it with real money-valued Poké Gold.

However, it is the other item, Trade Tokens, that made things complicated for the players.

To trade cards with rarities of 3 Diamonds and above, players need Trade Tokens. 120 tokens for a 3 Diamond card, 400 for a 1 Star card, and 500 for a 4 Diamond card, which is an ex Pokémon.

To earn Trade Tokens, players need to sell their own cards. Players receive 25 tokens for selling a 3 Diamond card, 100 tokens for 1 Star card, and 125 tokens when they sell a 4 Diamond card. The Crown Gold cards reward players with 1500 tokens.

Players must submit five ex Pokémon before they are allowed to trade one in return. To exchange a 1-star card, players must give up five cards with the same level of rarity. Both trading features’ extensive demands and high costs have led players to feel angry.

Players find the Pokemon TCG trading system greedy and exhausting

After reading about the trading update, one user called it an insult, sharing his thoughts in a Reddit post that received over 2000 upvotes. He then committed to spending no more money on the game.

One user described the system as “absurd” because it makes sense to stop bots, but “It’s silly to have to burn two immersive cards to be able to trade just one 4 Diamond ex.”

Pokemon TCG created the trading system to unite the player community, but it has failed on multiple levels and instead drags players through an exhausting process. Players need to invest several minutes navigating menus because completing one trade requires 15 seconds per exchange.

Another Reddit user said the trading system is a predatory structure based on its extremely greedy Trade Token conversion rates. “This isn’t sustainable at all. If you want to trade in this game, you better buy a ton of packs and keep buying them.”

According to many users, the system’s prime purpose is to promote microtransaction buying. This is because trading cards of 2 Stars or higher aren’t allowed, and players must use real money to help complete their decks.

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