Pokémon TCG Pocket players are losing motivation to play after a string of poor decisions

Pokémon TCG Pocket players are growing increasingly frustrated with some decision-making around the game, and as new sets become more likely every month, they’re starting to wonder if it’s worth continuing to play with all the fallout.

In a recent thread on Reddit, players have been discussing a series of decisions made to the game, ranging from the “joke” of a trading system, terrible pull rates, an ever-changing meta that requires new cards all the time, and a general lack of motivation to play the post-Space-Time Smackdown expansion.

The community has also been discussing what it’s called “money-hungry” tactics when it comes to the sheer amount of events and the low rates of rarer cards for those trying to complete master sets. With a slew of new mini and big expansion sets prepared for the game every couple of months, it’s proving more challenging and more demanding for players to collect ’em all, especially when trading won’t allow you to trade anything of two-star rarity or higher or any card at all from Space-Time Smackdown.

Some players are also calling for additional options, such as a ranked mode for online battles for those who want to climb a ladder, over the Emblem events that happen every so often, asking players to win a certain amount of games in a row or overall to get a reward. But considering the game’s casual nature, we can’t see a ranked mode getting added anytime soon.

Most of the complaints re-emphasize the poor decisions being made in the game, and players are saying they feel burnt out and lack motivation to continue playing until pack rate improvements, trading changes, and other changes get made to the game in the future.

Granted, not every player has been feeling the same way, with some trainers making their feelings known to the amount of complainers in the thread. Others have been disputing arguments, such as EX cards not being vital to playing the game, as you can just enjoy opening packs over playing the casual battles.

“Some of you complain like this is the only thing you do all day,” one player said. “Play some other games, touch grass, go outside, workout, something, anything… you don’t have to play this everyday.” Others also chimed in, saying that if players feel so downbeat, they should stop playing the game or do something else. Calling it a “silly little mobile game.”

Others have also called out players feeling a need to build beta decks, with some free players saying they have won more than enough games building cheap F2P decks like Lucario builds or Cynthia decks from the recent packs. Some even claimed they enjoy making anti-meta decks to destroy those who sink money into the game to play too seriously.

It’s all a matter of perspective, but one thing is for sure: The community is as divided with its opinions on what needs to be fixed now more than ever before—and new booster packs won’t stop that.