Topic: Should Game Freak take a break from Pokemon?

@TheTetrisGuy It used to be cosmetic stuff. These days you can buy weapons, abilities, and whatnot via loot boxes. By the time Pokemon catches up, we can pay €1.99 to get that shiny Pokemon right now, or pay €0.99 for that one legendary Pokemon with a notorious low catch rate

@Kimyonaakuma @Octane Given how they've been doing special giveaways since Red and Blue for free, or during events, it would seem a bit odd to change it now. But if they do make loot boxes the new normal, I would hope they don't put Pokemon behind a pay wall. In a series where you enslave cute creatures, it seems straight up wrong to have that😄 I would be fine with items and clothes, and maybe Mega Stones, but Pokemon themselves is where I draw the line. I'm sure there are a whole bunch of ways to put them in though, even if I'm not the biggest fan of it.

@TheTetrisGuy They're not enslaved, it's FRIENDSHIP! 😂

I really hope it doesn't become a common thing, I can't afford a lot of games already and paying extra will ruin my experience. Optional content is fine most of the time, but loot boxes are too much.

And that's the problem. As long as enough people are fine with it, it will happen eventually. I hope we'll never see that day personally.

@Octane I'm fine with it because items and clothes aren't necessarily important to the main game. That's why I'm iffy on mega stones, because I don't want the meta game to become pay to win.

@TheTetrisGuy So you're fine if something that used to be free was locked behind a paywall? Anyway, we're getting off-topic, sorry for going on about this.

As long as Pokemon prints money, they're never going to slow down.

Personally I'd prefer them to release one version at a time instead of two, and then release any extra content through DLC instead of a third game at full price. That'll never happen though.

Since loot boxes are mentioned, making any pokemon exclusive to loot boxes would drive me away from the games. Any sort of extra charges in order to obtain a Pokemon would make me think twice about the series, but loot boxes are a definite no no for me.

Also, it took them 6 generations before they finally allowed us to customise our trainer. If they started locking character customisation to loot boxes, then they're stepping back in the wrong direction.

Yeah sorry about that. We're just to crazy about this series😄 But back to GF I looked at the games they made and about its about 60% Pokemon and I was surprised to find out they made the Game Boy Camera. That doesn't mean much, but I guess it proves they will take on... Interesting ideas? I think it would be cool to see them take on a Mario RPG, if they must predominantly make stuff for Nintendo. Or maybe something completely different all together, like a action game. I'm sure they have some ideas for other genres.

DLC would ruin Pokémon for me, and they don't really have a reason to do it anyway. It's not like it's struggling to make money

I'm already unhappy with Gamefreak offering event only pokémon at stores, it means that I'll never complete my Pokédex...

I wouldn't complain if Gamefreak made a sequel to Harmoknight on switch, the first was a cute little timewaster.

To stay on topic should we make a Pokemon Dlc Forum, or do we think it's relevant enough to this forum?

@TheTetrisGuy I'd just keep it here. It's kind of related to the Switch version and the topic is starting to wind down anyway.

...but I'm just a nobody here, a moderator problem knows best!

@Kimyonaakuma DLC is a problem, but a €45 third version isn't?

@Octane Third versions don't bother me as much because I like being able to replay the game without losing my progress on the original. The extra areas and forms are bonuses to me.

My only experience with third versions are Platinum and Emerald though. I loved pearl so much that I got platinum and the altered story and battle frontier were enough for me. I went back to play emerald after that and I hadn't seen Hoenn outside of the show before, so it was mostly new. There haven't been any third versions to come out in my existence so I can't say much about them

EDIT - Turns out I was wrong, I was born before Crystal came out in Europe but I never had a GBC. I'm not sure how it differs from Gold and Silver...

@Octane To be fair a 3rd version would be able to change more than DLC. Just look at Emerald and Platnum with new areas and stories and new characters, and new cutscenes along with new gyms. You can't add all that with DLC. So a $40 3rd version is better than DLC, at least for Pokemon.

@Kimyonaakuma You can make a new profile on Switch and start a new playthrough that way.

@TheTetrisGuy Never played The Witcher 3? The €10 DLC added more content than a third Pokemon game ever did. The map was expanded, new towns, new characters, new quests. On top of that, the game was supported like Splatoon with new weapons, gear, items and quests for free after launch! You can do a lot with DLC.

@Octane That's true. I don't have a Switch yet so I'm not sure if I would need more than one account. Maybe I'll need one for the JP eShop?

@Octane Just to go back to the 'just one version'. You have to take a step back sometimes and look at the games structure. To a kid, catching and trading pokemon with their friends is a huge pull to why it continues to be so successful. Those subtle differences (i.e exclusive Pokémon) is an enabler. They are there so the game works the way it is supposed to. Now, ok, we all grow up, get wise and see it for what it is, but don't be a kill joy and spoil it for the kids unless you can come up with a way of enabling that trade to be worthwhile and meaningful, because if everyone had the same game, there would be no need to trade and thus it would have become a very insular game. Kids talk about Pokémon like they are real things! It's glorious. Pokémon GO might not have been the social phenomena it was. Microtransactions are not very kid friendly and the Pokemon Company is more than likely responsible enough to not deem them appropriate. Now, I am in no way saying "Pokémon is for kids" all I am saying is kids play Pokémon.

@Octane Well you have a point, although I don't know about "adding more than any 3rd version" seeing as the biggest third version change was Pokemon Yellow adding color😄 But really, I 100% agree DLC can change a game like crazy, like smash or street fighter etc. For me though when you have major changes, like 3rd versions, I like a new blank slate.

@GrailUK If there was only a choice you made early in-game that could determine the "exclusive" Pokemon. Pick the grass starter, you find Oddish, pick the fire starter and you find Bellsprout, pick the water starter and you find.. uhh.. Budew? There are other ways to "force" exclusive Pokemon if they really want to.

@Octane True. I am sure there are people paid more money than me to work out the implications of a 'one size fits all' approach. (It would be open to abuse and dilute the game experience or something. 'Just hold my pokemon while I reset my game and choose the next pokemon etc etc)