The voices of the community have been heard. In the autumn of this year, Pokémon Trading Card Game Pocket (PTCGP) will be phasing out the use of Trade Tokens.
Currently, trading in the program works by exchanging excess copies of cards for Trade Tokens. These trade tokens are then used as a form of currency to facilitate the trading of cards between players.
Unfortunately, a lot of players take umbrage with the current state of affairs because the trading system is tied to specific levels of card rarity.
Firstly, many players are frustrated that gaining trade tokens requires a level 3 or higher rarity Pokémon card. Then to exacerbate the situation, certain trades can have a higher cost of trade tokens required. Again, this is dependent on a card’s rarity value.
For example, a level 3 rarity card might need 120 trade tokens for the transaction. In comparison, a level 4 rarity card is a lot more expensive, as it costs 500 trade tokens. This creates a negative feedback loop where it never feels like you're getting your money's worth.
For the planned upgrade, TPCi is going to implement Shinedust to facilitate trading transactions. Currently, Shinedust is used to give a player’s card a particular shiny aesthetic or “flair”.
So far Shinedust isn’t used for anything else, and this could be a good direction for the overall health of the game. Currently, Shinedust is accumulated by just receiving excess copies of cards you already own. This is naturally done by just going through the basic gameplay loop perpetuated by PTCGP.
Of course, there is a lot of work to be had before this feature can go live -like the overall prediction of cascading effects on the player economy-, hence the (currently tentative) target timeframe for the end of autumn.
So far, there’s a general mixed set of reactions from the player base. On the more positive side of things, players are happy that their feedback is being given some thought and are supportive of the changes to be had.
Others are not quite that receptive and are just asking for a total lifting of trade restrictions citing that PTCGP should just emulate the physical counterpart and allow players to trade cards as they see fit.
Overall TPCi is taking steps to uplift the experience of its consumer base. But like with anything in life, history will be the evidence if it will be a change for the positive or not. And history will take time, so we’ll have to wait and see how things will unfold.