Image: www.theverge.com
Pokémon Go has already taken the app stores by storm and has climbed up to the top of the iOS app store by beating chart-busters like Clash of Clans and Candy Crush Saga. However, the players still feel that the game has a lot of areas to improve upon.
The developer of the game, Niantic Inc, even voiced out similar thoughts and revealed that they will work towards improving the experience of the game. The first step to that will be the addition of the Pokémon trading option via an update in the near future.
In an interview with Business Insider, John Hanke, CEO of Niantic, said that they had planned Pokémon trading a long ago and it is one the “core elements” of the game. He also added that Pokémon trading will soon be a part of Pokémon GO. Hanke, however, didn’t mention how the trading will work.
During the days of the Game Boy, Pokémon trading used to happen when two devices were in a close proximity and connected with a link cable. Now, with the introduction of internet, the distance shouldn’t be a problem anymore. Players should now be able to swap Pokémon from their homes with friends from other regions using the internet.
On the other hand, there can also be some negative effects of Pokémon trading. The trading feature may allow the highly ranked players to exploit the system to their advantage, which will take away the fun from the lower ranked players.
The higher ranked players may find ways to take control of a particular team by dominating all the gyms in a local town as there are no limits in the occupation of gyms while trading strong Pokémon. This will definitely ruin it for the players who are a lower levels.
The other problem that the Pokémon Go players are already facing is the inconsistency of the servers. The player base is growing strong day by day, and the problem is going from bad to worse. The introduction of Pokémon trading will definitely need the servers to get better, and hopefully Niantic is working on that. Nobody wants to lose a Pokémon in a trade due to servers crashing in the middle of it.
Niantic will also need to have some regulations before introducing Pokémon trading regarding the proximity restrictions, or else the players will exploit the system when there is bidding. Such a situation has already occurred earlier in games such as World of Warcraft.
The developer has to be extremely careful since the game is also played by many children. They will also have to make sure that the game doesn’t have too many exploits and provides a fair chance for all of its players.
Pokémon GO is now available in Android and iOS devices (except some selected territories).