Pokemon TCG Pocket’s Next Update Could Fix Trading (But Is It Enough?)

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The fact that a game with “trading card game” in the name launched without the ability to trade was pretty wild. But even when trading did finally arrive in Pokemon TCG Pocket, it faced significant backlash. DeNA soon issued a statement promising to overhaul the feature, which it has slowly done. But even with fewer in-game currencies to juggle, many players feel trading in Pokemon TCG Pocket still falls short. A new feature that’s quietly sneaking in with the game’s next new booster packs, however, could help.

Pokemon TCG Pocket Will Add Quality-of-Life Updates Alongside Fantastical Parade Pack Update

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On January 22nd, Pokemon TCG Pocket unveiled its next new booster packs. Come January 29th, the mobile Pokemon game will get a major update to usher in the new Fantastical Parade boosters. A new pack drop is always an exciting reason to come back to Pokemon TCG Pocket, but this one isn’t just adding new cards.

Because an update gets pushed whenever new packs arrive, this is often when DeNA makes other changes to Pokemon TCG Pocket. New event lineups often get added, as do any quality-of-life features. But the trailers often focus on the new cards headed our way, so it can be easy to miss the other elements of a fresh update. And Fantastical Parade is bringing in a few you might want to take note of.

The free update slated for January 29th will add 2 new features to the game. The first is the option to do a random solo battle, where “an opponent’s deck will be a surprise until the battle begins.” If you’re into PvP, this could be a winner. But in my opinion, the real highlight of this Pokemon TCG Pocket update is the addition of a new message function for trading. It sounds far from perfect, but it could still vastly improve the trading setup we have now.

Trading In Pokemon TCG Pocket Keeps Getting Better, But Is It Enough?

When trades first arrived in Pokemon TCG Pocket, they were a bit of a mess. The requirement of several different currencies, along with quite a limited pool of tradeable cards, led many players to ignore the feature altogether. Since then, Pokemon TCG Pocket has made some huge improvements. Trades now use Stardust instead of the old Trade Tokens. A Wishlist feature was also introduced, making it a bit easier to see which cards other players were looking for.

However, many players still find trading in Pokemon TCG Pocket underwhelming. It can be tricky to communicate exactly what you’re looking for in-app, even with the wishlist feature. It’s also still not all that easy to see your potential trading partner’s full wishlist. But the new update headed our way on January 29th could help.

The new message function will let players “choose from preset messages to share whether they’d like to trade for a wishlistsed card or a card in an alternate language.” In-game messaging to clarify trading is a huge step in the right direction. However, the initial description makes this seem pretty limited. Choosing from presets might limit the potential to misuse the in-game chat, but it also limits what you can communicate.

It’s hard to say how much better this feature will make trading until it’s fully implemented. But the small, incremental changes to trading don’t quite seem to be making it worthwhile quite quickly enough for players. Thoguh Pokemon TCG Pocket remains popular, its trading feature still is not widely used or beloved. And that could be a problem.

Not being able to trade certain card rarities or easily communicate with other players to trade could give players collecting fatigue long-term. Many fans are already frustrated at how quickly new packs are released, making it tough for free-to-play users to catch up. Trading and sharing cards is one potential way to help players complete their collections. But if trading in Pokemon TCG Pocket is still more difficult than it is worthwhile, it doesn’t really serve its intended function.

Given the number of changes DeNA has implemented so far, I’m hopeful. If they can improve wishlisting and make it easier to connect with other players, trading could eventually get to a good place. I’m just not quite convinced this message function will get us all the way there.

Are you still playing Pokemon TCG Pocket? Do you use the trade feature? Leave a comment below and join the conversation now in the ComicBook Forum!