I'm sorry but this game is about either raiding or pvping (or collecting, which you have to raid for...) and both those activities need strong mons with stardust, candy, xls, etc... so you definitely have an edge when you pay.
@@yurishorino633 Well said. I dont think it is fully p2w but you have definitely an advantage if you pay. However as a f2p player myself im hitting the leaderboard from time to time just by avoiding the Master League. So it is possible to perform decently in PvP without spending money.
It’s so unfortunate that the it’s true The old niantic felt like a member of a the community who understood our problems and resolved them and now niantic have also become like other big companies who get consumed by greed on gaining popularity
Niantic definitely tricked you into thinking they cared about you in the beginning of them game it was all an act to get an initial following they just stopped acting🤷
I had a friend try to get into pokemon GO completely free to play and the thing that ended up pushing him away from the game was the storage. He would tell me that he would struggle to catch any new pokemon or spin any stops because his storage was always full and he didn’t know how to manage it. When it became clear to him that he couldn’t keep a copy of every pokemon with the basic storage Niantic offers he quit.
It's pay to win to the extent that it's annoying, we old players know about it more than anyone. Even the bonuses during event that used to completely free earlier are locked behind paywals now
They don’t want you to “win” or feel like you’ve completed the game, because people would stop playing. They’ll eternally rob you where they can of feeling like you’ve succeeded at completing the game.
I feel like the phrase "pay-to-win" invokes a specific image of other games where the "winning" is a lot more cut and dry, whereas with a game like PoGo "winning" is a bit different. That being said, yes. Without question. If an immobile rural player has no balls, the default option Niantic expects them to take is to spend money. Obviously there are resources for adding friends and such so these things aren't as significant of an issue as you'd think, but it's just one of many examples on how PoGo operates in its own ecosystem of paying to win.
I’ve been free to play since 2016. The casual game experience is excellent. If you’re diligent with gyms you get like $3 worth of poke coins a week. The issue isn’t that you have to spend money on the game it’s that spending money on the game isn’t worthwhile and you have to spend hundreds of dollars to see any return
I don't think sinking money in the game gets you as much of an advantage as location does. The trade off urban players have for paying more to live in a populated city is vastly more spawns (for free IV, shiny, candy, Stardust, and exp grinding), Stops for free resources, in-person community raiding power, and multiple Routes for trying the Zygarde Cell RNG on; in-game they may only need to pay for Incubators and battle/raid passes, but they really don't need to pay for anything else to build up a healthy account (in terms of collection and battle teams). For rural players, spending money can almost be a necessity to make the game more enjoyable and in some cases playable. The most desolate players may need to buy Balls just to keep playing, and because legendaries (except for Mythicals) aren't truly free anymore (not since they were in Research Breakthroughs), many of us need to spend money for remote raid passes to get any legendary at all, even Mega Pokemon depending on the community size. Some may want to get the paid Timed Research despite how dumb the concept is, just for extra encounters to make up for a lack of spawns. My point is, for rural it's paying to keep up with urban.
good stance on the ripple effect thing! I personally have a more active example which applies to me: One day, in order to get tickets for a music festival, I joined a group chat via reddit. That lead to me meeting a bunch of my now closest friends all over the world. That lead to me traveling to asia, deciding to study there for an exchange programme and now moving to asia for work. Ive met friends, found love and learned so much, all because I wanted more info on how to get tickets for this festival. I understand its a process of many small steps and lessons and decisions like you said but it truly does feel like that one key moment lead to so much greatness. Really appreciate you taking the time to go through the comments and actively getting back to us. Makes me feel seen and part of the journey. Keep up the great things dax, enjoy the remainder of the travels
4 месяца назад+1
Thanks for sharing that is an insane story - its crazy how every choice leads to completely different life
Something for go fest in the states that i feel like is overlooked is traveling. People think that anybody that's in the states could just drive there for a couple of hours or fly there for cheap is wrong, it's far. It's like flying from london to moscow, not to mention the expensive hotels
Paying in Pokemon Go allows you to reach certain things faster and have bragging rights. Is this considered P2W? Maybe, it depends on how you view the game and what goals you have. For example, if you want to play Master League PvP and reach Legend, you need strong legendary Pokemon. What is the process of preparing a legandary for ML? Raiding. More specifically : 1) find a hundo or at least an 98 % with max attack iv 2) gather the necessary amount of candy and XL candy 3) use those candies to reach level 50 and teach a second charged move The process above can be done for free by doing one raid per day, whenever the pokemon we want is on the rotation for 5 star raids. Let's assume it stays for a week. That results in 7 total raids, not much at all. However, if I spend money and buy a lot of premium passes, now I can do more than 1 raid per day. If I do 10 raids per day, now I have done 70 raids. More chanses for the hundo, more candy and more XL candy. So compared to an F2P, I will reach the pokemon to level 50 faster and this will allow me to participate in the Master League faster.
ok example, but when it comes to pvp, u can play other leagues that dont have legendaries. You can still reach legend that way, so no need to go hard on raids.
@@randomizerofdoom9255 totally that. Last season i got to 20 mostly by Little Catch cup. There I was using a lot Charcadet who worked perfectly. Ofc someone can say that i hatched him only because i paid for the incubators but You don't have to pay for them and hatch him anyway. It will just take longer.
Good example, I used to go hard on raids… especially when they were introduced, it didn’t seem a problem to spend money on this hobby cos I needed more coins than I could collect each day at gyms. Raids were fun, in person, and with fellow players who formed the local community when raids dropped. I live out of the city so during Covid to keep up that intensity of playing I relied heavily on remote raid passes to continue to collect good mons and at same time contribute to others dex too. The remote raid pass nerf changed how I play. I won’t spend more coins than i can collect at gyms. I no longer buy coins in the shop - a good 75-100€ a month saved by me; and I will only buy in for 0,99 cents community day events; the other themed events with more Pokémon behind a paywall just no that interesting to me.
@@PoolKid75 Excuse me. I wasn’t clear. Let me rephrase, It is a “square of concrete”. A concrete square (as in the shape not the location) can be misleading.
I find that pacing is the key. How I pace myself determines my outlook on the game. If Im going hardcore and still missing out on something, I do feel the pressure of a paywall. If not, I can focus on different things, like medals, reaching Lv.50, figuring out new PvP tactics etc.
In short, yes. While its true you can get everything for free (the pokecoins system), its a lot slower so expanding storage is more pat to fast, but raiding is definetly pay to win, i can save coins for a month and the best offer ill be able to buy as f2p is the 1025 coins box with 15 passes, but another player can just buy 100 passes or more and theyll raid a lot more than me, therefore having an advantage in for example gbl. And yes, in person event are also p2w, you get early acces for some mons and stuff and youll defo get it easier than in the global fest To sum up, pokemon go is p2w in pvp (specially in Master League) and even pve, since it grants you lot more of resources and better pokemon
Im a F2P so I Only really use money on some of the big events, but mostly just buying stuff with the coins I grind. really dont think its pay to win, there is pay for making it "easier" with more changes if we are talking raids, but at raid hr, I meet up an take 2 with the daily's raid pass, only more if its a good legendary that will help me out in the long run(mega evo) But think the way they use raid, are a pure money grab, where most of the time you dont really need it, an there are just as good alternativs that are easier to grind the candy for. Last but not least, SHADOWS, again put in raids for money grab, but the grunts an leaders I personally find fun to do, the kinda better shiny odds on the leaders, but now just the normal shiny odds on some on those on grunts is nice + extra dmg, whats not to love there, since it take some "work" to do. Just today I got my nr 3x 100% shadow, out of 6960 grunts an leaders. Chimchar, Staravia an Metagross.
Pay to win isn’t just about winning. It’s about being able to buy power and making time consuming tasks quicker. Even if pvp didn’t exist. Spending money on things like raid passes and incubators allows a player to build up their roster and power much faster. A free to play guy may have like 10 raid passes and catches a nice legendary…but doesn’t have the candy to power them much. The player buying a bunch of raid passes will get more candy and probably a higher IV pokemon to power up just cuz more opportunities means better odds.
4 месяца назад
well its in the name pay to win right? So is it not about winning?
Pokemon Go is definitely pay to win from the fact that if you have no friends in your area to take down legendary 5 star raids, you can't get any legendaries.
What I find is the most expensive is double moving legendaries, and maxing them out for the Master League. I would like my Shadow Mewtwo to have Psystrike and Shadow Ball, but I don't even have it to level 40 yet. The most obscene show of wealth is watching Brandon Tan do a raid with six, maxed out, Shadow Metagross,
The key word is “advantage”. Games are by designed to be competitive, whether it’s yourself or against others. Paying always give you an advantage otherwise why pay. Regardless if it’s collection or pvp. Paying will gives you advantage to get a Pokemon faster, powerup faster which help raid easier, better to obtain a legendary, shiny, better IVs, more storage. A person can spend a life time as a F2P and never complete their pokedex. So just picking PvP is the only advantage is a little incentuous. No hate here for any P2P, happy for y'all. Have fun everyone! The most important part is have your expectations set accordingly. As a F2P player, my expectation is very low as to getting what I want or need. Developer makes money by selling things that gives you advantage period!
What me and my husband have learned is when you spend money on the game, the shiny chances increase. We have played and not spent a dime and didn’t get any shinys. We spent some money and the very same day shinys appeared lol ninantic rewards you when you spend actual money I swear lol
Opposite for me. I've spent more money since the Origin raids than I did in my time playing from 2016 till then, and my shiny rates have gone down significantly. I think I've maybe caught a dozen since the Origin raids, comm days notwithstanding. ETA, went out with a buddy today to hatch some eggs. Got a shiny Litleo from the free timed research. I know they're boosted odds right now, but the timing on that is glorious.
Not really, it’s pay to PLAY, you can throw thousands of dollars down this thing and that’s not guaranteed you’ll get even ONE hundo. Not to mention shundos…
Essentially what it boils down to if there is a multiplayer aspect to the game that allows you get ahead or progress faster buying spending money, it’s P2W. Call of duty used to have stat changing variants in supply drops that made it pay to win.
This game is CLEARLY Pay 2 (something). The way I see it, there is no 'winning' at pogo. If you dwindle the p2w aspect to the only place that's 'competitive' it would be GBL, and even still you can 'win' the battle, but there is no ultimate 'war' to win. There is no "I beat pogo" there is only "I accomplished what I set out to do in pogo".
4 месяца назад
true good point about there isn't really winning in pogo
Of course, Pokémon Go is a pay-to-win game! Even if an exclusive pokémon from a paid ticket comes out for free for everybody else at the end of 6 months, it's still pay-to-win. Because when everyone has access to it, the game's meta has already changed probably for another pokémon behind a paid ticket. Within those 6 months (or more), that brand-new paid pokémon could be the heaviest of its type. And being so, it will guarantee a victory on any showcase - when the contest's rule is for the overall heaviest of that specific type - over everyone who has not purchased the ticket. Not to mention the Battle League because you already spoke about that. Also, free-to-play players have very limited resources to do raids and hatch eggs. Considering that recently, most new releases are behind those methods. And let's not forget that only a tiny percentage of the player's base (mainly renowned RUclipsrs) has the luxury to afford to have Spacial Rend or Roar of Time active for hours and hours.
Keldeo it’s not relevant in pvp so that’s not a good example of pay to win, that would be more like pay to have a premium stuff even if it not helping you win more
@@guauguaugaming8061 Good point. I could be as many consider completing their Pokédex as "winning" the game. But you're right, real pay to win could be found in raids.
The way I see it, if we're okay with categorizing the vast majority of games as "pay to win," then yes -- there are hardly any free games nowadays that offer things you can pay for that do not give some sort of advantage. I think most of those exceptions are mainly free first person shooter games, but feel free for anyone to dispute that... On the other hand, I think there is a difference between "pay to win" v "pay to access content" which I think people often mix up. On one hand people say you can pay to access and get good things, but on the other hand, there's a part of the community that also complains about you being unable to access content EVEN BY PAYING. Some might say this is terrible, there's "two barriers" that lock content for certain people... but at the same time, I see it as a balanced blend of you having to work hard to ultimately do what you want to do, and items here and there to "enhance" an experience you can already access. The fact that I can do what I want to do, and access 99.9% of content purely by working hard at the game and optimizing what they give for free makes the game less "pay to win" in my book; but again, it seems like from all the "discussions" I have seen about P2W in general, the definition definitely varies from thread to thread... I think the distinction here is that these games people label P2W are free to begin with... you don't NEED to pay money into it, and I think ultimately if you are a F2P player, your level of satisfaction with games typically shoot way up. Imo when I've invested time into a game, I'm way satisfied by the outcome than when I have invested money into it (might argue that for most aspects of life...)
I JUST got my carbink up to level 50 with the last event. And now it's not really as meta, so those who had it up to level quickly by attending GoFest have an advantage over me, and more time to learn to play the team in PvP, etc. We would still need to put time in to the game to learn about PvP specifics, etc, but I spent a TON of time hunting this one pokemon, that I could have been spending on PvP instead if I were able to have the Pokemon sooner. It's not a clear "win," but definitely an advantage, and that's just one Pokemon. I do appreciate the discussion. :)
The way I see it is if you don't have/want to spend a lot of time playing the game then you pay for items to help you reach your goal (hatching eggs/collecting shinies) faster. I feel like non paying players are punished time-wise compared to those who pay. Meaning that if you want to play the game without paying, you'll need to invest a lot of time to be able go get what you want. Essentially the only people who can play for "free" are casual players. If you want to be more than a casual player then no matter what you need to use money.
I'm unsure if I grasp your justification here. I believe there's no valid blame on players who used real money to gain advantages in shiny collecting or to build a more competitive team in GBL; it's their decision, and they earned their rewards from the game they deserved. If your aim is to ascertain whether PoGo fits the definition of a pay-to-win game, the answer can't be more straight: yes.
Daxi, for PvP Players it is "pay to win". Yes you are right. You can have a Hundo Palkia O. and still loose, but for the free to play player it is near imossible to get one legendary to level 50. Example: I got a hundo Reshiram. I play free to play. How should i get all the XL candys ? Walk with Reshiram ? Come one. 20 KM and the XL candy is not garantueed. I walk 20 to 35km a week. So this way would take years. Lets look on raids. I only earn 50 coins a day. Not garantueed. The three raid box cots 250 coin. So i need 5 days to get this box. With this box and the daily pass i make four raids. When i get enough people to make the raids. With a mega evolution, what will i get (wenn i cought every Reshiram) 5 XL candys. So you can calculate how many raids i need to geht this one on Level 50. With the free coins, its a long way. And the other problem is: Reshiram spwans one time (?) a year. For one or two weeks. So i need all the raid passes. I need the people for the raids. I must cought it. And i must have in this one or two weeks the time by myself. So again. It will take years for a free to play player to max it out. Its not neccesary for my raiding. The pokemon collection. But for PvP ists important to get the legendary to level 50. Yes i can fight with Dragonite. But it has not the damage output then other dragons. Espaccially legendarys. Sory for by bad englisch. I hope you understand everything what i mean. Oh sorry, what i forgot: mathematical probability. Yes, it is possible to make one raid and get the hundo. But the chance for people which a raiding a lot is higher to get one good legendery, then a "normal" (not only free to play) playerwhich is doing only one raid a day or a few the week. And my last words: What is with the stardust. Its not all about the candys. You need the dust. Peoply who raid a lot, hatched eggs a lot, buy starpieces and so on, will get the dust easier. So, is that not a defintion of pay to win !?! You need the dust for power up all pokemon. GL, UL and ML.
As long as you’re paying to get something before others then it’s a pay to win. Trying to dumb down this game by saying “it’s only collecting Pokémon” is trying to convince yourself and others it isn’t.
4 месяца назад
Im trying to keep an open mind and understand the situation - you are not winning just cause you have something before others that's not the definition of winning
Great topic. In my 2 cents - You absolutely can get more out of the game by paying for stuff. "More" meaning stronger and/or rarer mons, more shinies, etc etc. From going to Go Fests, buying remote raids or incubators, etc, pretty clear how you can end up with a lot more stuff than a free to pay player. But what does "win" mean in PoGo? To me winning implies some sort of contest or competition, so my mind goes to PvP. But we always hear about how little of the player base plays PvP. So if we put that aside, then what does it mean to "win" in PoGo? There's not really any other built in competition systems in the game (other than minor things like showcases), so on this side I struggle to say it's truly pay to win by definition. But in the spirit of "pay to win" as we know it today, yeah PoGo definitely fits the mold since you can get a lot more out of it by opening the checkbook, even if you don't have to in order to have a successful collection or experience
It's a very nuanced argument that as you were in this video, tough to define. PvP is pretty clear since a person who pays to play this game has more resources than a F2P player with extra stardust, candy, etc. Going back to when you were talking about collecting, I think completing the dex/collection would be the "winning" part for Pokemon GO since that is the whole purpose of the game. So Pokemon limited to egg hatches and raids favor the player who pay for this game since they have more opportunities. With all that being said, it doesn't mean that doing this game for free makes it impossible to play, which is why it's tough to define Pokemon GO as P2W beacuse a F2P has the ability to match those who pay for this game, if you are smart enough and have the resources. You can do trades to complete hard to get Pokemon for your dex. You have lucky trades to improve odds of getting a hundo Legendary Pokemon. Spawns that happen at GO Fest will happen across the world and be readily available to everyone. Pokemon GO has done a good job at balancing the F2P with a person who pays to play this game on average. I think the only difference you would see would be on the extremes of someone who pays a lot for this game and one who grinds this game a lot as F2P. If everything is equal, the advantage would always belong to the pay to play player due to having more opportunities, which is what paying this game ultimately gives. But the amount of people who fall under that would probably be around 1% of the total player base, if that.
Shinies are also pay to win. Legendary raids are 1/20 odds for a shiny. Your average free to play player won’t be able to do 20 raids while one legendary is out, while a p2w player can do like 60 if they use 5 remote raid passes a day and their daily. Even more if they buy premium passes too
I'd say that it's more play to keep playing, which is fine as long as it's fun. If it's not fun, don't keep playing. That's where I'm at with the game as a F2P player. I play until I've done what I can. I don't mind that actual premium options are paywalled. My resentment comes from an unfair way to do it. So, if you're at a disadvantage to get them because you can't access a ton of gyms within a walking distance, I have a problem with that.
Definitely not for most players. Most players are collectors, and every Pokemon is given for free eventually. Free players can do raids just fine. Most collection goals are personal goals. Complaints about "pay to play" almost never mention PVP. Most people confuse FOMO regarding special events for "pay to play" but it's not. There is just a delay between a Go Fest (or other event) release and public release.
To me, it’s more of a win to lose. I got a Galarian Articuno an hour ago and then it glitched the encounter. Cool spawn, then lost it without a chance to try to catch it.
I have started playing last month. I'm already lvl 28 from being f2p. I also just caught Galatians Zapdos this morning. It's possible but time consuming.
@@flarexero2161 I got Moltres in its Galar form a while ago, I wasn’t saying it’s impossible. (Not tryna flex but it was my Xmas Gift, I caught it on Christmas Day)
It's about the odds, the more passes you have the more consistent the odds are. Raids are the most important thing to farm since they tend to be one of the best things to collect
11:00 hatching is where you can easily draw the line that it’s p2w you have to buy incubators to get those pokemon no other way. Perfect example at the moment is shiny Larvesta. A casual player that is full of eggs won’t even be able to get the eggs for the event before getting rid of old eggs. I feel they should give a weekly or even monthly research to earn incubators even if one time use. Not being able to delete eggs and forced to buying incubators will always deter casual players. If you could earn an incubator it would help casual players so much with such a small change. Imo
I am from Switzerland so logicaly my answer is neutral :D I think, the game has a good balance. Paying definetly speed things up - big times. But you get 50 coins for free each day - which makes 350 a week. Saving up - you can buy Raid passes... which is the only thing you need to buy after you focused in the beginning on item bag and pkm storage (you are too weak for ready anyway). Also the game always has a way to pay without money (great League and master League). What do you need? Great IV-PKM and Stardust. As long as you have to walk and catch and can't buy stardust - in my eyes - Pokemon go isn't pay to win. If you wait long enough, hard to get by pokemon are free in a event in the future.
You didn’t need a 44 minute video to answer the title’s question. It OBVIOUSLY is. Want to raid for a good shiny legendary? Fork over some cash. Want to try for shiny larvesta? Buy those super incubators. Want to play GO fest with better odds? Gimme the dough. Want to grab a SINGLE catch card? Boy you paying for travel, living space, AND the event ticket. Want the research we’ve been hyping up all season? Oop. It came with a price tag. (And in the forseeable future, a “monthly subscription” will be set in place. The only things not tagged with a price are normal wild spawns, the one daily raid, the single incubator, and I guess sending gifts as long as there isn’t an event ticket to conveniently expand that for a little monetary compensation.
Definitely - as an intermediate lvl player(37) that never uses money on pkmn go i def can't catch/get as many legendaries from 5 star raids as the remote raid passes costs so much. I feel Niantic should decrease the prices of the raid passes or increase their odds in the weekly research breakthrough box
The real question should be "How pay to win is Pokémon GO". We all know it is, but it is maybe 2/10 pay to win at the most. Getting free coins and free raid passes means you can do everything a paying player does (with very few exceptions). Playing for free just means you get things a little bit slower, but you do still get everything. Even a pokémon like Diancie was only pay-to-get-early, now we all have it for free.
Think about new players coming to the game. For example this coming 8th anniversary event the shiny celebi was paid even though it was free earlier. F2p is much, much slower compared to paying for things.
It’s complicated, this a season I’ve only played master league, I’m playing with Lando, Dialga A and Palkia O, and I noticed something, yeah I have a strong team but so everyone in my league level does too, then when everyone has very strong teams it all comes down to luck, the one with the luck of having the positive lead and safe swap it’s more likely to win. And for example even if I have a level 50 landorus, Dialga and palkia, a random guy with a level 35-40 layover and two level 30-40 charmers in the back it’s gonna destroy me all day. So in the end it is pay to participate and the luck it’s gonna define the rest cause even if you are the player with the highest skill in the world with the strongest Pokémon, you will loose against someone with the counters to your team.
Dude. I mean this with the greatest of respect. But seriously go and get checked for ADHD. I have ADHD and you're just like me on tangents! Medication helps me concentrate and stay on point. Getting the diagnosis is one thing. But honestly once you know it's there and you get the support, you find you can harness it as a super power. I love your content and you've helped me out massively with this game! Just want to pay back the help!
Anything where you pay for any sort of advantage is pay 2 win. Simple as. You can dress it up all you want and it doesn't matter how much of an advantage you get it's paying to get ahead that's pay 2 win.
I definitely think it’s PAY MORE TO GET MORE OUT OF THE GAME. For example these random paid Timed Researches or paid Special Researches in the shop ranging from $.99 to maybe $4.99 for extra XP & Stardust and maybe a new shiny pokemon or mythical. The end goal of the game I think for the majority of us players is to get to LVL 50. And hopefully one day LVL 60 will be the new goal. I think it’s more P2W for those who really hardcore play PVP & actually enjoy maxing out & powering up their pokemon for battles. Or maybe they one day hope to join the PVP Championships, which is very cool & versatile about PokemonGo. But there is also the FREE TO PLAY players who may take longer to reach LVL 50 but still enjoy the game either way because they are collectors of shinys, hundos, or just have a favorite pokemon they love to collect.
Getting perfect/excellent IVs to take down legendaries and raids is real. You need paid extra passes just to have the OPPORTUNITY to get better IVs. Not to mention Niantic fixes raid Pokemon IV chances based on levels and such.
I don't feel PoGO is a Pay to Win game. That being said, if you do spend $$ on the game it will give you a big advantage to make your Pokemon team stronger and larger due to the items you receive (Especially for Legendary/Ultra Beast Pokemon). Also, I could do 1 free raid and get a hundo and my friend could do 200 raids and not get a hundo. It is like playing the lottery, as long as you have one ticket, you could win but with 200 tickets you have a better chance of winning.
sometimes, people just play casually and not really looking to "win". those people might have low expectation because they put in little to none to the game. maybe Niantic should focus on getting these people to spend a little more (probably a huge portion of their player base), rather than "squeezing out the juices" from people who regular spend money on the game.
Collection is still paid to win. You need storage, shiny hunting, pvp IVs all these things you will not get if you don’t invest and time alone and gym grinding won’t bridge that gap. No experience that the game offers is free.
no need for such mental gymnastics. You brought up the definition... pay to win is something that gives you an advantage compared to when you did not pay. Does it apply in PvP? Obviously, even in the Great League (dust, levels, perfect IV mons are all accelerated to get = advantage). Does it apply to your collection? Of course... you have a massive advantage in filling out your dex, raiding, everything. Can you play for fun and ignore the pay to win mechanics? Sure! But that doesn't stop it from falling under the pay to win category.
Yes, it's Pay2win. Master League is insane. So is for Ultra League to get a good IV Mandibuzz for PvP when XLs was new. But no doubt that ML is insane pay2win. You have a massive advantage with a level 50 Dialga vs level 30-40. So yes you do get an unfair advanrage. But in terms of you winning depends on what achieevement you have. If you want to have the high win percentage yes. But one thing is that any team that is a free-to-play friendly can also beat a full legendary team. Dialga gets hard countered by Excadrill. Dragonite can take care of Giratina and Palkia. Metagross can take care of Togekiss (also good that it had a Com day) for those who've kept Beldums and traded them.
I'm an AVID Mac Miller fan, and I'm wracking my brain trying to think what album the phrase "Plazas and Patios" reminded you of... Are you thinking of the song "Suplexes inside of complexes and duplexes" or something like that
My opinion is that the game is not pay to win if you play against yourself, but the minute someone who pays tries to flex, then the game becomes Pay to Win for you. I think that’s what you are trying to say. I am free to play, so no one that pays can match my account. I grind. So i get the credit.
Considering how many pokemon are locked behind paywall tickets, and new Pokemon that have been locked behind raids and eggs probably says otherwise. Plus the amount of raids you would have to do if you want good Ivs on legendary Pokemon. like that $8 Keldeo ticket and Go fest tickets are usually $15 for a mythical.
Don't even have to watch the video to confidently say "Yes." Think about how many regional pokemon there are and if you had no one to trade with and how much it would cost to travel to get pokemon like Sigilyph, Hawlucha, and Comfey.
I agree with most of what you said but in the collection aspect it is still pay to "win" because say for instance there is a certain pokemon that I want in my collection to be "happy" or have "fun" Well not every pokemon can be collected without paying. For instance, the pokemon that comes to mind when I think about this is Zarude because from what I've know the only way to have gotten Zarude is through buying (not even by using coins you got for free) a ticket for research. And this goes into your response to Damson as well You've also mentioned Marshadow, Will Zarude and/or Marshadow be released for free later? Probably but for Zarude it's been quite a while since it's been available and . . .
what is a winning collection is opinion based i think. showcases: no i find way more xxl and really big xxl pokemon in the wild. only if its like biggest pokemon of a certain type you have a bigger chance of winning. because for the flying type catagory its celesteela. so having a xxl celesteela is gonna make you win. but other than that id say showcases are not pay to win at all. (yes i win a ton of em as im in a small town but still got some competition XD)
Dax I respect your opinion about the collection aspect not being pay to win but I disagree when it comes to big events such as go fests. A lot of people consider getting a certain number of shinies as the win aspect. And go fest for example have increased shiny odds for buying a ticket. Com days are an even ground for free to play and pay to play however. So your opinion does hold value and is true still. But I view differently for in person go fests personally.
Yes it's pay to win, obviously. All the best pokemon come from raids and some eggs. Also having to spend to have the bag space/storage is one of those things the big streamers never really think of but it's a dogshit value/money spent.
i'm gonna be completely honest, pokemon go is only pay to win if you normally do raids and specifically master league pvp; i have been able to reach veteran and expert rankings without ever doing master league, and usually i only keep mons that are pvp iv friendly, so i do not have much legendaries, xl candies, rare candies, etc. i do think, however, that pvp is probably the best way to get more items fast such as stardust, rare candies, fast & charge tms, and even weekly legendaries in raids. so if you want more items without paying, GET GOOD AT PVP IN GREAT AND ULTRA LEAGUE
I think certain aspects are p2w depending on your definition of winning. If you're only raiding to get good ivs because it's cool,and you don't do pvp, then it's not p2w imo, because you're not doing anything with them besides collecting. But outside of that specific kind of circumstance, then yes, it's p2w, or at least pay to have a higher chance of winning.
its more like "pay to get ahead" particularly when things like extra poipole or cosmog encounters are behind paid tickets and then for extra incubators and raid passes and such too
I don‘t think it‘s really pay to win ( except master-league, just to many meta mons that you need to do more raids for than you could if you don’t pay money ). You need to grind for the things you want to have and grinding just costs your time. But if you pay, I think you get more value out the time you put in, cause you can boost stardust, exp shiny odds etc. wich I think makes you feel more satisfied after putting in the time
i think my issue with pogo is the sheer amount of overseas only events like go fests should just be like com days and be global only otherwise the rich people that travel get way better exclusives (also the pokemon sleep event was super pay to win you needed a 50$ go plus just to participate)
The definition said "gives you an advantage." By all aspects of the game, Pokemon Go Players who pay $$$ get an advantage. BUT, people who also spend more TIME playing the game also have an certain advantage. If I just do the bare minimum of what is given to me (1 raid pass, 1 egg incubator), then I am going to end up taking quite a while to level up. However, if I am spending a couple of hours a day playing this game, I'm going to have an advantage over the person doing the bare minimum. If I then spend $$$ on the game, I will be afforded more opportunities to Hatch egg exclusive Pokemon & Raid more than once a day. On top of all of this, in order to Level up (once you get to Level 40), there are some 'Platinum Medal' Requirements along the way to Level 50. The one you discuss most on your channel is getting to 35 Platinum Metals. Now wouldn't paying $$$ to Raid more help 'give you an advantage' over players who don't pay and allow you to get to 2000 Legendary Raids? Wouldn't paying $$$ to buy incubators 'give you an advantage' to help you get Platinum on the Egg Hatching Medal? At the end of the day, it is Pay to Win, based off the definition. Thank you for putting out this top notch content! Really been enjoying it! Keep up the Fantastic work! PS: (for those who watched his Madrid Stream) Will you be rocking the Lord Farquaad gear for NYC Go Fest?
I got the 35 platinum medals without completing the 2000 raids ( I have like 400) and the incubator one (I move like 10 km per week haha. You can complete all 35 you need without spending money.
But it completely is play to play. You still can't get Gimmighoul without someone paying money. And if you can't get enough raids in to get a good cresselia or other premier pvp legendary, then you area at a MAJOR competitive disadvantage. You won't be able to compete at worlds as a free player. You also have to be able to get to a place that the game is accessible. You have to pay to get there. Being a location game, it literally is pay to play.
Pokemon is about collecting them all the more rare the better. The fact that raids is one of the best way to get these very rare pokemon and its one of the best ways to get hundo/shundo it is pay to win since getting hundo/shundo pokemon is a win in my opinion. Def in rural places like where i live were the community is me and my wife doing these rare raids f2p is impossible we live 40km away from the first bigger city (20k people). So getting pokemon like rayquaza is close to impossible f2p in rural places and that also makes it pay to win. Maybe in big citys its less pay to win.
I would say ultra league isnt pay to win in any significant way, its kinda high investment but I have built a dual move tapu bulu off of mostly candy I got while it was in raids without spending any green cards, its more be there at the right time to win cause normal rare candy is fairly f2p friendly for anyone who plays frequently... but not everyone has been around to get giratina altered but if you got one its not hard to use rare candy. I think everyone can agree master league is pay to win & luck to win, even a pretty hardcore player who saves coins for cards on specific events its very difficult to get enough xl candy in one cycle, and even over a couple cycles it can be hard... nevermind getting it on 3 pokemon
Is Pokemon GO pay to win? Absolutely. Now yes, F2P players can still catch cool pokemon, but collecting pokemon (in a luck based, RNG game) is a lot like starting a business. The more businesses you start, the higher your chances of getting a lucky break and succeeding is. The more money you spend, research tickets you buy, incubators you're able to purchase, the more raid passes you can buy, the more chances you will have at getting Hundos and Shinies as well as doing more raids than any F2P players. And lets make this clear example; a new player just saw a video on a Pokemon Go Community day and they decide to get the game 2 weeks before the event starts. If they grind as hard as they can and max out their 50 coin gym limit every day, that's 700 pokecoins. Now they want to grind the comm day like crazy, but they only have 300 pokemon storage, they now have to spend 600 coins on 150 storage and have enough coins left for some pokeballs or a premium raid pass or something. Their max grind is now capped by 450 storage because the game doesn't have a good linear progression (or at least every account starts with absolutely trash quality of life). The linear progression of the game takes soooooo long for F2P players that it almost forces you to spend money just for viable quality of life in the game. You can "win" while F2P, but P2W players will be 1,600x ahead of you. The quality of life and progression of P2W is just so much more exponential than F2P...
"Winning" PoGo in terms of collection would be completing the dexs ie. We have technically completed/won the game when all our dexs are complete. I would say P2W have a serious advantage over F2P given we have shiny dex & need regional pokemon. Personally, I look at PoGo as being P2W- as if you sink enough $ into PoGo you are at an advantage to someone that is F2P, as a P2W person will reach the end goals much faster be it in PvP or dex completion etc. However, PoGo is playable & even enjoyable to a certain extent F2P for those that like a challenge & are not in a hurry to "win" the game. I think most players fall into both P2W & F2P as many won't actively sink money into the game outside of coins & tickets for certain events to enhance those experiences. Best examples I can think of as being P2W in PoGo are 1- incubators for egg hatching events, 2- rocket radars & 3- raid passes. 1. Someone willing to pay for as many super incubators as it takes to hatch a shiny larvesta or whatever the event pokemon is, is at a clear advantage to someone only using the free incubator, as the P2W person can easily hatch over 12x as many eggs in the same time as a F2P player can hatch 9. The P2W player is also stacking up 12x stardust as well. 2- Someone willing to pay for as many rocket radars as it takes to get the leaders pokemon in hundo, shiny or shundo form is at a clear advantage to F2P, as every P2W encounter is a leader encounter vs f2P having to do 6 grunts to get a single leader encounter. 3- Someone willing to pay for as many raid passes (regardless of the type) until they get the hundo, shiny or shundo of whatever they are raiding is at a clear advantage to a F2P player who has limited numbers of passes to use & once they are gone that is it, they are left with only the one free raid per day, so they must rely on getting very lucky with the RNG or getting lucky with trading (if they have the dust) for a chance of what a P2W player can be assured of getting. People P2W with raiding are also stacking extra dust + xp with every raid as well. Edit- Keldeo is P2W as it was only available via paid ticket, for newer players the same is true or Zarude. There are pokemon like Hoopa & Zacian that newer players have been locked out of getting outside of trades for at least the last couple of years- will be interesting to see if Niantic drop these in paid tickets or available to all via raids.
As someone who returned after years and started day 1. It is so sad to play now, i even spent £50 on stuff overall to try enjoy it more but its just disappointing. I think the cumminuty day being locked into a set amount of hours is a real example of how this game is on the downturn. Why is this needed? As someone who can only really play on my days off work (Wednesday and Thursday) it is depressing and i will probably quit in a week. I have to take time off work to participante in anything, cant find anyoene to even help me with 3* shadow raids(for Weevil) I have tried 3 weeks in a row even using campfire groups and chats. I tried pvp with the 1500 league and i cant even afford to buy any second skills or change my moves. Let alone raise a mon up to 1500 if they arent already close.
Definitely pay to when especially when it comes to Master League. It was even more prevelant before the remote raid nerf. Before the remote raid nerf, anyone that paid to play could have any legendary that came through raids. It's not as broken now as it used to be but it's still a luxury I can't afford. If I want legendary for the master league I have to be very calculated in what I want to max out, where as someone who pays to play can just buy raid passes to their hearts content.
It’s not pay to win, definitely pay to speed up the process. You’re not guaranteed good IVs no matter how much money you pay. & PVP ivs cannot be payed for . Play games like NBA2K, that’s pay to win. Every dollar will give you an advantage with increasing your characters overall. Guaranteed. You can raid Mewtwos, but you won’t have stardust to level it, you have to play the game. In 2K, I just have to pull out my wallet, I don’t have to go shoot 20 jumpers in the driveway. There’s a massive difference when you break down the difference between the two and “pay to win” doesn’t seem right
I think as long as money is involved in a game to achieve a better chance at winning 🥇 at the end it will be a “pay 2 win” game. As a person that plays PvP I do agree that having the best doesn’t mean it’s the “best” 😢 Pokémon go is a collection game. It does use micro transactions to progress players further. Wise players know where to invest or pass on something. And I think everything in moderation will make for a pleasant experience.
It is a pay to win game but not in a traditional sense because the more pokemon/better pokemon that we get faster through paying we just help the communities imo
It is very much pay to win. In the collection case, you need money to travel around the world just to finish your pokedex, how are people from third world countries have the money to just fly around to colect pokemon? Only those with lots of free time or money can have enough stardust to level up their pokemon and do raids for xl candy
I think you’re missing the point and getting too stuck on the winning part but there is a clear advantage when you’re spending money. You shouldn’t really downplay the hype of the rare pokemon you catch when your content is focused on those same mons. Personally I think spending a little for a hobby is fine, and I agree with you in that aspect.
when i play pokemon go my biggest fear is that i bother people in any way shape or form. so im really tryin to listen and see what is going on around me when i play. to the point that i wish other people would do the same for me XD. like in the netherlands its quite common to walk on the other side of the road when ur walking on a road. so that you can see cars coming towards you and know when to jump aside pretty much. or thats how iv been taught. and i get so frustrated when other people dont do the same, see me comin and then dont make space for me to continue..
Long answer: most definitely, short answer: yes
I'm sorry but this game is about either raiding or pvping (or collecting, which you have to raid for...) and both those activities need strong mons with stardust, candy, xls, etc... so you definitely have an edge when you pay.
@@yurishorino633 Well said. I dont think it is fully p2w but you have definitely an advantage if you pay. However as a f2p player myself im hitting the leaderboard from time to time just by avoiding the Master League. So it is possible to perform decently in PvP without spending money.
@@hdvblankyy Yeah! It is definitely possible but you are limited to a certain extent.
200 coins for 50 space capacity that's all I'm going to say
💯, why isn’t it the opposite
Coins aren't that hard to get though
me thinking the exact same every time I have to get storage...like, WHY????
You can have that every four days if you really apply yourself 😅
Why the need to max bags?i play everyday,still have pogo bag 4500 item bag 5700 be good at delete stuff you dont need
It’s so unfortunate that the it’s true
The old niantic felt like a member of a the community who understood our problems and resolved them and now niantic have also become like other big companies who get consumed by greed on gaining popularity
Except they aren't even gaining popularity.
@@Theparadoxd7 Yea they are losing it but they are lost In their own world
Niantic definitely tricked you into thinking they cared about you in the beginning of them game it was all an act to get an initial following they just stopped acting🤷
Its a buisness. Get over it.
@@ShadowingBlaze7 just like free2play people who brag about 5 bucks
I had a friend try to get into pokemon GO completely free to play and the thing that ended up pushing him away from the game was the storage. He would tell me that he would struggle to catch any new pokemon or spin any stops because his storage was always full and he didn’t know how to manage it. When it became clear to him that he couldn’t keep a copy of every pokemon with the basic storage Niantic offers he quit.
It's pay to win to the extent that it's annoying, we old players know about it more than anyone. Even the bonuses during event that used to completely free earlier are locked behind paywals now
Absolutely pay to win
yep unless you pay its over id say.
Lol I love the guy but the fact he's trying to jumble words to make it sound better is not working we play we all know 😂
I still pay and sometimes don't win. I've been pulling back on spending unless its a raid boss legendary I really need
@@lewismcelroy6946I hit level 50 in under two years free to play
I agree
I’ve been playing for eight years. Have I won yet? I can’t tell.
They don’t want you to “win” or feel like you’ve completed the game, because people would stop playing. They’ll eternally rob you where they can of feeling like you’ve succeeded at completing the game.
none of us can LOL
I feel like the phrase "pay-to-win" invokes a specific image of other games where the "winning" is a lot more cut and dry, whereas with a game like PoGo "winning" is a bit different. That being said, yes. Without question.
If an immobile rural player has no balls, the default option Niantic expects them to take is to spend money. Obviously there are resources for adding friends and such so these things aren't as significant of an issue as you'd think, but it's just one of many examples on how PoGo operates in its own ecosystem of paying to win.
Good points
I’ve been free to play since 2016. The casual game experience is excellent. If you’re diligent with gyms you get like $3 worth of poke coins a week. The issue isn’t that you have to spend money on the game it’s that spending money on the game isn’t worthwhile and you have to spend hundreds of dollars to see any return
Ya it takes alot of money to really get value
I don't think sinking money in the game gets you as much of an advantage as location does. The trade off urban players have for paying more to live in a populated city is vastly more spawns (for free IV, shiny, candy, Stardust, and exp grinding), Stops for free resources, in-person community raiding power, and multiple Routes for trying the Zygarde Cell RNG on; in-game they may only need to pay for Incubators and battle/raid passes, but they really don't need to pay for anything else to build up a healthy account (in terms of collection and battle teams).
For rural players, spending money can almost be a necessity to make the game more enjoyable and in some cases playable. The most desolate players may need to buy Balls just to keep playing, and because legendaries (except for Mythicals) aren't truly free anymore (not since they were in Research Breakthroughs), many of us need to spend money for remote raid passes to get any legendary at all, even Mega Pokemon depending on the community size. Some may want to get the paid Timed Research despite how dumb the concept is, just for extra encounters to make up for a lack of spawns. My point is, for rural it's paying to keep up with urban.
Good point about location
good stance on the ripple effect thing! I personally have a more active example which applies to me:
One day, in order to get tickets for a music festival, I joined a group chat via reddit. That lead to me meeting a bunch of my now closest friends all over the world. That lead to me traveling to asia, deciding to study there for an exchange programme and now moving to asia for work. Ive met friends, found love and learned so much, all because I wanted more info on how to get tickets for this festival. I understand its a process of many small steps and lessons and decisions like you said but it truly does feel like that one key moment lead to so much greatness.
Really appreciate you taking the time to go through the comments and actively getting back to us. Makes me feel seen and part of the journey. Keep up the great things dax, enjoy the remainder of the travels
Thanks for sharing that is an insane story - its crazy how every choice leads to completely different life
New York has gotten to host enough Go Fests already. It's time for Toronto to get one.
cope Sadge
??@@TheWaross
Would love to see one in Toronto
@JustinObi54 probably not gonna happen, but I would love to see it. At the very least a City Safari.
I'm just cynical 🫠
@@TheWaross okay but what's with the cope comment? Why are you being a troll about it? And who is Sadge?
Something for go fest in the states that i feel like is overlooked is traveling. People think that anybody that's in the states could just drive there for a couple of hours or fly there for cheap is wrong, it's far. It's like flying from london to moscow, not to mention the expensive hotels
Paying in Pokemon Go allows you to reach certain things faster and have bragging rights. Is this considered P2W? Maybe, it depends on how you view the game and what goals you have.
For example, if you want to play Master League PvP and reach Legend, you need strong legendary Pokemon. What is the process of preparing a legandary for ML? Raiding. More specifically :
1) find a hundo or at least an 98 % with max attack iv
2) gather the necessary amount of candy and XL candy
3) use those candies to reach level 50 and teach a second charged move
The process above can be done for free by doing one raid per day, whenever the pokemon we want is on the rotation for 5 star raids. Let's assume it stays for a week. That results in 7 total raids, not much at all. However, if I spend money and buy a lot of premium passes, now I can do more than 1 raid per day. If I do 10 raids per day, now I have done 70 raids. More chanses for the hundo, more candy and more XL candy. So compared to an F2P, I will reach the pokemon to level 50 faster and this will allow me to participate in the Master League faster.
ok example, but when it comes to pvp, u can play other leagues that dont have legendaries. You can still reach legend that way, so no need to go hard on raids.
@@randomizerofdoom9255 totally that. Last season i got to 20 mostly by Little Catch cup. There I was using a lot Charcadet who worked perfectly. Ofc someone can say that i hatched him only because i paid for the incubators but You don't have to pay for them and hatch him anyway. It will just take longer.
Good example, I used to go hard on raids… especially when they were introduced, it didn’t seem a problem to spend money on this hobby cos I needed more coins than I could collect each day at gyms. Raids were fun, in person, and with fellow players who formed the local community when raids dropped.
I live out of the city so during Covid to keep up that intensity of playing I relied heavily on remote raid passes to continue to collect good mons and at same time contribute to others dex too.
The remote raid pass nerf changed how I play. I won’t spend more coins than i can collect at gyms. I no longer buy coins in the shop - a good 75-100€ a month saved by me; and I will only buy in for 0,99 cents community day events; the other themed events with more Pokémon behind a paywall just no that interesting to me.
4:40 Daxi: "I don't think we have (plazas) in Canada."
Yonge Dundas Square: "Am I a joke to you?"
soon to be Sankofa
It’s not a plaza. It’s a concrete square with slots for water spouts. 😂
@@No-One-Important-Here it's a public square, aka a plaza. Look it up. I did.
@@PoolKid75 Excuse me. I wasn’t clear. Let me rephrase, It is a “square of concrete”. A concrete square (as in the shape not the location) can be misleading.
Yes, Yonge Dundas Square, YOU ARE A JOKE!!
I find that pacing is the key. How I pace myself determines my outlook on the game. If Im going hardcore and still missing out on something, I do feel the pressure of a paywall. If not, I can focus on different things, like medals, reaching Lv.50, figuring out new PvP tactics etc.
In short, yes. While its true you can get everything for free (the pokecoins system), its a lot slower so expanding storage is more pat to fast, but raiding is definetly pay to win, i can save coins for a month and the best offer ill be able to buy as f2p is the 1025 coins box with 15 passes, but another player can just buy 100 passes or more and theyll raid a lot more than me, therefore having an advantage in for example gbl. And yes, in person event are also p2w, you get early acces for some mons and stuff and youll defo get it easier than in the global fest
To sum up, pokemon go is p2w in pvp (specially in Master League) and even pve, since it grants you lot more of resources and better pokemon
Yes. Unlike most games it’s also pay to win irl
The game is pay to progress 10x faster.
Im a F2P so I Only really use money on some of the big events, but mostly just buying stuff with the coins I grind.
really dont think its pay to win, there is pay for making it "easier" with more changes if we are talking raids, but at raid hr, I meet up an take 2 with the daily's raid pass, only more if its a good legendary that will help me out in the long run(mega evo)
But think the way they use raid, are a pure money grab, where most of the time you dont really need it, an there are just as good alternativs that are easier to grind the candy for.
Last but not least, SHADOWS, again put in raids for money grab, but the grunts an leaders I personally find fun to do, the kinda better shiny odds on the leaders, but now just the normal shiny odds on some on those on grunts is nice + extra dmg, whats not to love there, since it take some "work" to do.
Just today I got my nr 3x 100% shadow, out of 6960 grunts an leaders. Chimchar, Staravia an Metagross.
Pay to win isn’t just about winning. It’s about being able to buy power and making time consuming tasks quicker. Even if pvp didn’t exist. Spending money on things like raid passes and incubators allows a player to build up their roster and power much faster. A free to play guy may have like 10 raid passes and catches a nice legendary…but doesn’t have the candy to power them much. The player buying a bunch of raid passes will get more candy and probably a higher IV pokemon to power up just cuz more opportunities means better odds.
well its in the name pay to win right? So is it not about winning?
Pokemon Go is definitely pay to win from the fact that if you have no friends in your area to take down legendary 5 star raids, you can't get any legendaries.
What I find is the most expensive is double moving legendaries, and maxing them out for the Master League. I would like my Shadow Mewtwo to have Psystrike and Shadow Ball, but I don't even have it to level 40 yet. The most obscene show of wealth is watching Brandon Tan do a raid with six, maxed out, Shadow Metagross,
The key word is “advantage”. Games are by designed to be competitive, whether it’s yourself or against others. Paying always give you an advantage otherwise why pay. Regardless if it’s collection or pvp. Paying will gives you advantage to get a Pokemon faster, powerup faster which help raid easier, better to obtain a legendary, shiny, better IVs, more storage. A person can spend a life time as a F2P and never complete their pokedex. So just picking PvP is the only advantage is a little incentuous. No hate here for any P2P, happy for y'all. Have fun everyone! The most important part is have your expectations set accordingly. As a F2P player, my expectation is very low as to getting what I want or need. Developer makes money by selling things that gives you advantage period!
What me and my husband have learned is when you spend money on the game, the shiny chances increase. We have played and not spent a dime and didn’t get any shinys. We spent some money and the very same day shinys appeared lol ninantic rewards you when you spend actual money I swear lol
I need to come play with ya'll then. I pay and my shiny luck is trash. 😂
Pure coincidence ahah
Opposite for me. I've spent more money since the Origin raids than I did in my time playing from 2016 till then, and my shiny rates have gone down significantly. I think I've maybe caught a dozen since the Origin raids, comm days notwithstanding.
ETA, went out with a buddy today to hatch some eggs. Got a shiny Litleo from the free timed research. I know they're boosted odds right now, but the timing on that is glorious.
That's just confirmation bias, and I've seen worse RNG than what this game has.
This is how religion starts. It’s just confirmation bias.
Not really, it’s pay to PLAY, you can throw thousands of dollars down this thing and that’s not guaranteed you’ll get even ONE hundo. Not to mention shundos…
Essentially what it boils down to if there is a multiplayer aspect to the game that allows you get ahead or progress faster buying spending money, it’s P2W. Call of duty used to have stat changing variants in supply drops that made it pay to win.
This game is CLEARLY Pay 2 (something). The way I see it, there is no 'winning' at pogo. If you dwindle the p2w aspect to the only place that's 'competitive' it would be GBL, and even still you can 'win' the battle, but there is no ultimate 'war' to win. There is no "I beat pogo" there is only "I accomplished what I set out to do in pogo".
true good point about there isn't really winning in pogo
Of course, Pokémon Go is a pay-to-win game!
Even if an exclusive pokémon from a paid ticket comes out for free for everybody else at the end of 6 months, it's still pay-to-win. Because when everyone has access to it, the game's meta has already changed probably for another pokémon behind a paid ticket.
Within those 6 months (or more), that brand-new paid pokémon could be the heaviest of its type. And being so, it will guarantee a victory on any showcase - when the contest's rule is for the overall heaviest of that specific type - over everyone who has not purchased the ticket. Not to mention the Battle League because you already spoke about that.
Also, free-to-play players have very limited resources to do raids and hatch eggs. Considering that recently, most new releases are behind those methods.
And let's not forget that only a tiny percentage of the player's base (mainly renowned RUclipsrs) has the luxury to afford to have Spacial Rend or Roar of Time active for hours and hours.
Seeing that Keldeo was only available through a ticket (December 2022) and hasn't been released since for free tells me it's pay to win.
Sometimes I find him when spinning pokestops. So he is available.
Keldeo it’s not relevant in pvp so that’s not a good example of pay to win, that would be more like pay to have a premium stuff even if it not helping you win more
@@guauguaugaming8061 Good point. I could be as many consider completing their Pokédex as "winning" the game.
But you're right, real pay to win could be found in raids.
Sure it will be released later
The way I see it, if we're okay with categorizing the vast majority of games as "pay to win," then yes -- there are hardly any free games nowadays that offer things you can pay for that do not give some sort of advantage. I think most of those exceptions are mainly free first person shooter games, but feel free for anyone to dispute that...
On the other hand, I think there is a difference between "pay to win" v "pay to access content" which I think people often mix up. On one hand people say you can pay to access and get good things, but on the other hand, there's a part of the community that also complains about you being unable to access content EVEN BY PAYING. Some might say this is terrible, there's "two barriers" that lock content for certain people... but at the same time, I see it as a balanced blend of you having to work hard to ultimately do what you want to do, and items here and there to "enhance" an experience you can already access. The fact that I can do what I want to do, and access 99.9% of content purely by working hard at the game and optimizing what they give for free makes the game less "pay to win" in my book; but again, it seems like from all the "discussions" I have seen about P2W in general, the definition definitely varies from thread to thread...
I think the distinction here is that these games people label P2W are free to begin with... you don't NEED to pay money into it, and I think ultimately if you are a F2P player, your level of satisfaction with games typically shoot way up. Imo when I've invested time into a game, I'm way satisfied by the outcome than when I have invested money into it (might argue that for most aspects of life...)
I JUST got my carbink up to level 50 with the last event. And now it's not really as meta, so those who had it up to level quickly by attending GoFest have an advantage over me, and more time to learn to play the team in PvP, etc. We would still need to put time in to the game to learn about PvP specifics, etc, but I spent a TON of time hunting this one pokemon, that I could have been spending on PvP instead if I were able to have the Pokemon sooner. It's not a clear "win," but definitely an advantage, and that's just one Pokemon. I do appreciate the discussion. :)
The way I see it is if you don't have/want to spend a lot of time playing the game then you pay for items to help you reach your goal (hatching eggs/collecting shinies) faster. I feel like non paying players are punished time-wise compared to those who pay. Meaning that if you want to play the game without paying, you'll need to invest a lot of time to be able go get what you want.
Essentially the only people who can play for "free" are casual players. If you want to be more than a casual player then no matter what you need to use money.
I'm unsure if I grasp your justification here. I believe there's no valid blame on players who used real money to gain advantages in shiny collecting or to build a more competitive team in GBL; it's their decision, and they earned their rewards from the game they deserved. If your aim is to ascertain whether PoGo fits the definition of a pay-to-win game, the answer can't be more straight: yes.
Daxi, for PvP Players it is "pay to win". Yes you are right. You can have a Hundo Palkia O. and still loose, but for the free to play player it is near imossible to get one legendary to level 50.
Example: I got a hundo Reshiram. I play free to play. How should i get all the XL candys ? Walk with Reshiram ? Come one. 20 KM and the XL candy is not garantueed. I walk 20 to 35km a week. So this way would take years. Lets look on raids. I only earn 50 coins a day. Not garantueed. The three raid box cots 250 coin. So i need 5 days to get this box. With this box and the daily pass i make four raids. When i get enough people to make the raids. With a mega evolution, what will i get (wenn i cought every Reshiram) 5 XL candys. So you can calculate how many raids i need to geht this one on Level 50. With the free coins, its a long way. And the other problem is: Reshiram spwans one time (?) a year. For one or two weeks. So i need all the raid passes. I need the people for the raids. I must cought it. And i must have in this one or two weeks the time by myself. So again. It will take years for a free to play player to max it out. Its not neccesary for my raiding. The pokemon collection. But for PvP ists important to get the legendary to level 50. Yes i can fight with Dragonite. But it has not the damage output then other dragons. Espaccially legendarys. Sory for by bad englisch. I hope you understand everything what i mean. Oh sorry, what i forgot: mathematical probability. Yes, it is possible to make one raid and get the hundo. But the chance for people which a raiding a lot is higher to get one good legendery, then a "normal" (not only free to play) playerwhich is doing only one raid a day or a few the week. And my last words: What is with the stardust. Its not all about the candys. You need the dust. Peoply who raid a lot, hatched eggs a lot, buy starpieces and so on, will get the dust easier. So, is that not a defintion of pay to win !?! You need the dust for power up all pokemon. GL, UL and ML.
As long as you’re paying to get something before others then it’s a pay to win. Trying to dumb down this game by saying “it’s only collecting Pokémon” is trying to convince yourself and others it isn’t.
Im trying to keep an open mind and understand the situation - you are not winning just cause you have something before others that's not the definition of winning
Great topic. In my 2 cents - You absolutely can get more out of the game by paying for stuff. "More" meaning stronger and/or rarer mons, more shinies, etc etc. From going to Go Fests, buying remote raids or incubators, etc, pretty clear how you can end up with a lot more stuff than a free to pay player. But what does "win" mean in PoGo? To me winning implies some sort of contest or competition, so my mind goes to PvP. But we always hear about how little of the player base plays PvP. So if we put that aside, then what does it mean to "win" in PoGo? There's not really any other built in competition systems in the game (other than minor things like showcases), so on this side I struggle to say it's truly pay to win by definition. But in the spirit of "pay to win" as we know it today, yeah PoGo definitely fits the mold since you can get a lot more out of it by opening the checkbook, even if you don't have to in order to have a successful collection or experience
It's a very nuanced argument that as you were in this video, tough to define. PvP is pretty clear since a person who pays to play this game has more resources than a F2P player with extra stardust, candy, etc. Going back to when you were talking about collecting, I think completing the dex/collection would be the "winning" part for Pokemon GO since that is the whole purpose of the game. So Pokemon limited to egg hatches and raids favor the player who pay for this game since they have more opportunities.
With all that being said, it doesn't mean that doing this game for free makes it impossible to play, which is why it's tough to define Pokemon GO as P2W beacuse a F2P has the ability to match those who pay for this game, if you are smart enough and have the resources. You can do trades to complete hard to get Pokemon for your dex. You have lucky trades to improve odds of getting a hundo Legendary Pokemon. Spawns that happen at GO Fest will happen across the world and be readily available to everyone.
Pokemon GO has done a good job at balancing the F2P with a person who pays to play this game on average. I think the only difference you would see would be on the extremes of someone who pays a lot for this game and one who grinds this game a lot as F2P. If everything is equal, the advantage would always belong to the pay to play player due to having more opportunities, which is what paying this game ultimately gives. But the amount of people who fall under that would probably be around 1% of the total player base, if that.
Shinies are also pay to win. Legendary raids are 1/20 odds for a shiny. Your average free to play player won’t be able to do 20 raids while one legendary is out, while a p2w player can do like 60 if they use 5 remote raid passes a day and their daily. Even more if they buy premium passes too
I'd say that it's more play to keep playing, which is fine as long as it's fun. If it's not fun, don't keep playing. That's where I'm at with the game as a F2P player. I play until I've done what I can.
I don't mind that actual premium options are paywalled. My resentment comes from an unfair way to do it. So, if you're at a disadvantage to get them because you can't access a ton of gyms within a walking distance, I have a problem with that.
the water is wet
Water actually isn't wet, it's a proven fact. Look it up.
So fire is burned?
Apparently that's debatable due to what does "wet" mean @joshwall4263
@@maganhassan2627 nah something being wet indicates its abiliy to be dry and water cant be dry therefore it cant be wet
@henryhughes8049 bruh....apparently this is debatable you just demonstrated that 😂
Definitely not for most players. Most players are collectors, and every Pokemon is given for free eventually. Free players can do raids just fine. Most collection goals are personal goals. Complaints about "pay to play" almost never mention PVP. Most people confuse FOMO regarding special events for "pay to play" but it's not. There is just a delay between a Go Fest (or other event) release and public release.
What is "winning" anyway? A lot of ways to "win" in this game that money can't help
To me, it’s more of a win to lose. I got a Galarian Articuno an hour ago and then it glitched the encounter. Cool spawn, then lost it without a chance to try to catch it.
I have started playing last month. I'm already lvl 28 from being f2p. I also just caught Galatians Zapdos this morning. It's possible but time consuming.
@@flarexero2161 I got Moltres in its Galar form a while ago, I wasn’t saying it’s impossible.
(Not tryna flex but it was my Xmas Gift, I caught it on Christmas Day)
@@CaptPuppyGamer oh, I don't see it as a flex at all. In fact, I'm happy for you. You caught the one that has escaped me twice 😂
AWWW NO RIP!!!
It's about the odds, the more passes you have the more consistent the odds are. Raids are the most important thing to farm since they tend to be one of the best things to collect
Is this in response to my comment before about being a free-to-play player and reaching Level 48? (I haven't started watching the video yet).
I'm almost level 41 completely F2P. Been playing for almost 21 months. How long did it take you to reach level 48?
@@nancyzipperer8819 went from 35 to 48.5 in 15 months. 92 million XP in one year.
@@nancyzipperer8819I been playing for a month as a free to play and I'm at lvl 28. It's slow but doable.
11:00 hatching is where you can easily draw the line that it’s p2w you have to buy incubators to get those pokemon no other way. Perfect example at the moment is shiny Larvesta. A casual player that is full of eggs won’t even be able to get the eggs for the event before getting rid of old eggs. I feel they should give a weekly or even monthly research to earn incubators even if one time use. Not being able to delete eggs and forced to buying incubators will always deter casual players. If you could earn an incubator it would help casual players so much with such a small change. Imo
I am from Switzerland so logicaly my answer is neutral :D
I think, the game has a good balance. Paying definetly speed things up - big times.
But you get 50 coins for free each day - which makes 350 a week. Saving up - you can buy Raid passes... which is the only thing you need to buy after you focused in the beginning on item bag and pkm storage (you are too weak for ready anyway). Also the game always has a way to pay without money (great League and master League). What do you need? Great IV-PKM and Stardust. As long as you have to walk and catch and can't buy stardust - in my eyes - Pokemon go isn't pay to win. If you wait long enough, hard to get by pokemon are free in a event in the future.
You didn’t need a 44 minute video to answer the title’s question. It OBVIOUSLY is. Want to raid for a good shiny legendary? Fork over some cash. Want to try for shiny larvesta? Buy those super incubators. Want to play GO fest with better odds? Gimme the dough. Want to grab a SINGLE catch card? Boy you paying for travel, living space, AND the event ticket. Want the research we’ve been hyping up all season? Oop. It came with a price tag. (And in the forseeable future, a “monthly subscription” will be set in place. The only things not tagged with a price are normal wild spawns, the one daily raid, the single incubator, and I guess sending gifts as long as there isn’t an event ticket to conveniently expand that for a little monetary compensation.
Definitely - as an intermediate lvl player(37) that never uses money on pkmn go i def can't catch/get as many legendaries from 5 star raids as the remote raid passes costs so much. I feel Niantic should decrease the prices of the raid passes or increase their odds in the weekly research breakthrough box
The real question should be "How pay to win is Pokémon GO". We all know it is, but it is maybe 2/10 pay to win at the most. Getting free coins and free raid passes means you can do everything a paying player does (with very few exceptions). Playing for free just means you get things a little bit slower, but you do still get everything. Even a pokémon like Diancie was only pay-to-get-early, now we all have it for free.
Think about new players coming to the game. For example this coming 8th anniversary event the shiny celebi was paid even though it was free earlier. F2p is much, much slower compared to paying for things.
It’s complicated, this a season I’ve only played master league, I’m playing with Lando, Dialga A and Palkia O, and I noticed something, yeah I have a strong team but so everyone in my league level does too, then when everyone has very strong teams it all comes down to luck, the one with the luck of having the positive lead and safe swap it’s more likely to win.
And for example even if I have a level 50 landorus, Dialga and palkia, a random guy with a level 35-40 layover and two level 30-40 charmers in the back it’s gonna destroy me all day.
So in the end it is pay to participate and the luck it’s gonna define the rest cause even if you are the player with the highest skill in the world with the strongest Pokémon, you will loose against someone with the counters to your team.
I started to play because I want to fill my Pokédex at Pokémon Home... But the players and community are so amazing, I really love the game.
Dude. I mean this with the greatest of respect. But seriously go and get checked for ADHD. I have ADHD and you're just like me on tangents! Medication helps me concentrate and stay on point. Getting the diagnosis is one thing. But honestly once you know it's there and you get the support, you find you can harness it as a super power. I love your content and you've helped me out massively with this game! Just want to pay back the help!
Anything where you pay for any sort of advantage is pay 2 win. Simple as.
You can dress it up all you want and it doesn't matter how much of an advantage you get it's paying to get ahead that's pay 2 win.
I definitely think it’s PAY MORE TO GET MORE OUT OF THE GAME.
For example these random paid Timed Researches or paid Special Researches in the shop ranging from $.99 to maybe $4.99 for extra XP & Stardust and maybe a new shiny pokemon or mythical.
The end goal of the game I think for the majority of us players is to get to LVL 50. And hopefully one day LVL 60 will be the new goal.
I think it’s more P2W for those who really hardcore play PVP & actually enjoy maxing out & powering up their pokemon for battles. Or maybe they one day hope to join the PVP Championships, which is very cool & versatile about PokemonGo.
But there is also the FREE TO PLAY players who may take longer to reach LVL 50 but still enjoy the game either way because they are collectors of shinys, hundos, or just have a favorite pokemon they love to collect.
Getting perfect/excellent IVs to take down legendaries and raids is real. You need paid extra passes just to have the OPPORTUNITY to get better IVs. Not to mention Niantic fixes raid Pokemon IV chances based on levels and such.
I don't feel PoGO is a Pay to Win game. That being said, if you do spend $$ on the game it will give you a big advantage to make your Pokemon team stronger and larger due to the items you receive (Especially for Legendary/Ultra Beast Pokemon). Also, I could do 1 free raid and get a hundo and my friend could do 200 raids and not get a hundo. It is like playing the lottery, as long as you have one ticket, you could win but with 200 tickets you have a better chance of winning.
sometimes, people just play casually and not really looking to "win". those people might have low expectation because they put in little to none to the game. maybe Niantic should focus on getting these people to spend a little more (probably a huge portion of their player base), rather than "squeezing out the juices" from people who regular spend money on the game.
Collection is still paid to win. You need storage, shiny hunting, pvp IVs all these things you will not get if you don’t invest and time alone and gym grinding won’t bridge that gap. No experience that the game offers is free.
no need for such mental gymnastics. You brought up the definition... pay to win is something that gives you an advantage compared to when you did not pay. Does it apply in PvP? Obviously, even in the Great League (dust, levels, perfect IV mons are all accelerated to get = advantage). Does it apply to your collection? Of course... you have a massive advantage in filling out your dex, raiding, everything. Can you play for fun and ignore the pay to win mechanics? Sure! But that doesn't stop it from falling under the pay to win category.
Is reaching level 50 winning? I am halfway through 45 and haven’t spent a dime. And I just won my 100th showcase.
Yes, it's Pay2win. Master League is insane. So is for Ultra League to get a good IV Mandibuzz for PvP when XLs was new.
But no doubt that ML is insane pay2win. You have a massive advantage with a level 50 Dialga vs level 30-40. So yes you do get an unfair advanrage. But in terms of you winning depends on what achieevement you have. If you want to have the high win percentage yes. But one thing is that any team that is a free-to-play friendly can also beat a full legendary team. Dialga gets hard countered by Excadrill.
Dragonite can take care of Giratina and Palkia.
Metagross can take care of Togekiss (also good that it had a Com day) for those who've kept Beldums and traded them.
I'm an AVID Mac Miller fan, and I'm wracking my brain trying to think what album the phrase "Plazas and Patios" reminded you of... Are you thinking of the song "Suplexes inside of complexes and duplexes" or something like that
My opinion is that the game is not pay to win if you play against yourself, but the minute someone who pays tries to flex, then the game becomes Pay to Win for you. I think that’s what you are trying to say.
I am free to play, so no one that pays can match my account. I grind. So i get the credit.
Is reaching level 50 winning? I am halfway through 45 and haven’t spent a dime.
Considering how many pokemon are locked behind paywall tickets, and new Pokemon that have been locked behind raids and eggs probably says otherwise.
Plus the amount of raids you would have to do if you want good Ivs on legendary Pokemon.
like that $8 Keldeo ticket and Go fest tickets are usually $15 for a mythical.
Don't even have to watch the video to confidently say "Yes." Think about how many regional pokemon there are and if you had no one to trade with and how much it would cost to travel to get pokemon like Sigilyph, Hawlucha, and Comfey.
I agree with most of what you said but in the collection aspect it is still pay to "win" because say for instance there is a certain pokemon that I want in my collection to be "happy" or have "fun" Well not every pokemon can be collected without paying. For instance, the pokemon that comes to mind when I think about this is Zarude because from what I've know the only way to have gotten Zarude is through buying (not even by using coins you got for free) a ticket for research. And this goes into your response to Damson as well You've also mentioned Marshadow, Will Zarude and/or Marshadow be released for free later? Probably but for Zarude it's been quite a while since it's been available and . . .
what is a winning collection is opinion based i think.
showcases: no i find way more xxl and really big xxl pokemon in the wild. only if its like biggest pokemon of a certain type you have a bigger chance of winning. because for the flying type catagory its celesteela. so having a xxl celesteela is gonna make you win. but other than that id say showcases are not pay to win at all. (yes i win a ton of em as im in a small town but still got some competition XD)
Dax I respect your opinion about the collection aspect not being pay to win but I disagree when it comes to big events such as go fests. A lot of people consider getting a certain number of shinies as the win aspect. And go fest for example have increased shiny odds for buying a ticket. Com days are an even ground for free to play and pay to play however. So your opinion does hold value and is true still. But I view differently for in person go fests personally.
Yes it's pay to win, obviously. All the best pokemon come from raids and some eggs. Also having to spend to have the bag space/storage is one of those things the big streamers never really think of but it's a dogshit value/money spent.
i'm gonna be completely honest, pokemon go is only pay to win if you normally do raids and specifically master league pvp; i have been able to reach veteran and expert rankings without ever doing master league, and usually i only keep mons that are pvp iv friendly, so i do not have much legendaries, xl candies, rare candies, etc. i do think, however, that pvp is probably the best way to get more items fast such as stardust, rare candies, fast & charge tms, and even weekly legendaries in raids. so if you want more items without paying, GET GOOD AT PVP IN GREAT AND ULTRA LEAGUE
I think certain aspects are p2w depending on your definition of winning. If you're only raiding to get good ivs because it's cool,and you don't do pvp, then it's not p2w imo, because you're not doing anything with them besides collecting. But outside of that specific kind of circumstance, then yes, it's p2w, or at least pay to have a higher chance of winning.
its more like "pay to get ahead" particularly when things like extra poipole or cosmog encounters are behind paid tickets
and then for extra incubators and raid passes and such too
I don‘t think it‘s really pay to win ( except master-league, just to many meta mons that you need to do more raids for than you could if you don’t pay money ). You need to grind for the things you want to have and grinding just costs your time. But if you pay, I think you get more value out the time you put in, cause you can boost stardust, exp shiny odds etc. wich I think makes you feel more satisfied after putting in the time
i think my issue with pogo is the sheer amount of overseas only events like go fests should just be like com days and be global only otherwise the rich people that travel get way better exclusives (also the pokemon sleep event was super pay to win you needed a 50$ go plus just to participate)
Yes I do think PG is pay to win but I don't really have a problem with it. If you do have a problem just play a different game.
The definition said "gives you an advantage." By all aspects of the game, Pokemon Go Players who pay $$$ get an advantage. BUT, people who also spend more TIME playing the game also have an certain advantage. If I just do the bare minimum of what is given to me (1 raid pass, 1 egg incubator), then I am going to end up taking quite a while to level up. However, if I am spending a couple of hours a day playing this game, I'm going to have an advantage over the person doing the bare minimum. If I then spend $$$ on the game, I will be afforded more opportunities to Hatch egg exclusive Pokemon & Raid more than once a day.
On top of all of this, in order to Level up (once you get to Level 40), there are some 'Platinum Medal' Requirements along the way to Level 50. The one you discuss most on your channel is getting to 35 Platinum Metals. Now wouldn't paying $$$ to Raid more help 'give you an advantage' over players who don't pay and allow you to get to 2000 Legendary Raids? Wouldn't paying $$$ to buy incubators 'give you an advantage' to help you get Platinum on the Egg Hatching Medal?
At the end of the day, it is Pay to Win, based off the definition.
Thank you for putting out this top notch content! Really been enjoying it! Keep up the Fantastic work!
PS: (for those who watched his Madrid Stream) Will you be rocking the Lord Farquaad gear for NYC Go Fest?
I got the 35 platinum medals without completing the 2000 raids ( I have like 400) and the incubator one (I move like 10 km per week haha. You can complete all 35 you need without spending money.
But it completely is play to play. You still can't get Gimmighoul without someone paying money. And if you can't get enough raids in to get a good cresselia or other premier pvp legendary, then you area at a MAJOR competitive disadvantage. You won't be able to compete at worlds as a free player. You also have to be able to get to a place that the game is accessible. You have to pay to get there. Being a location game, it literally is pay to play.
You’re speaking truth. It’s more than just about Pokémon. Acceptance is the answer to all problems
The real question is “Is pokemon go free to play?”
Isn't it?
HAHA true
Pokemon is about collecting them all the more rare the better. The fact that raids is one of the best way to get these very rare pokemon and its one of the best ways to get hundo/shundo it is pay to win since getting hundo/shundo pokemon is a win in my opinion.
Def in rural places like where i live were the community is me and my wife doing these rare raids f2p is impossible we live 40km away from the first bigger city (20k people).
So getting pokemon like rayquaza is close to impossible f2p in rural places and that also makes it pay to win.
Maybe in big citys its less pay to win.
Pay to participate fully and meaningfully is the best way I can think of to describe it.
Maybe they could add a platinum medal or something that shows who paid zero or the least. That would be a good level 60 challenge.
I would say ultra league isnt pay to win in any significant way, its kinda high investment but I have built a dual move tapu bulu off of mostly candy I got while it was in raids without spending any green cards, its more be there at the right time to win cause normal rare candy is fairly f2p friendly for anyone who plays frequently... but not everyone has been around to get giratina altered but if you got one its not hard to use rare candy. I think everyone can agree master league is pay to win & luck to win, even a pretty hardcore player who saves coins for cards on specific events its very difficult to get enough xl candy in one cycle, and even over a couple cycles it can be hard... nevermind getting it on 3 pokemon
Is Pokemon GO pay to win? Absolutely.
Now yes, F2P players can still catch cool pokemon, but collecting pokemon (in a luck based, RNG game) is a lot like starting a business. The more businesses you start, the higher your chances of getting a lucky break and succeeding is. The more money you spend, research tickets you buy, incubators you're able to purchase, the more raid passes you can buy, the more chances you will have at getting Hundos and Shinies as well as doing more raids than any F2P players.
And lets make this clear example; a new player just saw a video on a Pokemon Go Community day and they decide to get the game 2 weeks before the event starts. If they grind as hard as they can and max out their 50 coin gym limit every day, that's 700 pokecoins. Now they want to grind the comm day like crazy, but they only have 300 pokemon storage, they now have to spend 600 coins on 150 storage and have enough coins left for some pokeballs or a premium raid pass or something. Their max grind is now capped by 450 storage because the game doesn't have a good linear progression (or at least every account starts with absolutely trash quality of life). The linear progression of the game takes soooooo long for F2P players that it almost forces you to spend money just for viable quality of life in the game.
You can "win" while F2P, but P2W players will be 1,600x ahead of you. The quality of life and progression of P2W is just so much more exponential than F2P...
"Winning" PoGo in terms of collection would be completing the dexs ie. We have technically completed/won the game when all our dexs are complete. I would say P2W have a serious advantage over F2P given we have shiny dex & need regional pokemon.
Personally, I look at PoGo as being P2W- as if you sink enough $ into PoGo you are at an advantage to someone that is F2P, as a P2W person will reach the end goals much faster be it in PvP or dex completion etc. However, PoGo is playable & even enjoyable to a certain extent F2P for those that like a challenge & are not in a hurry to "win" the game.
I think most players fall into both P2W & F2P as many won't actively sink money into the game outside of coins & tickets for certain events to enhance those experiences.
Best examples I can think of as being P2W in PoGo are 1- incubators for egg hatching events, 2- rocket radars & 3- raid passes.
1. Someone willing to pay for as many super incubators as it takes to hatch a shiny larvesta or whatever the event pokemon is, is at a clear advantage to someone only using the free incubator, as the P2W person can easily hatch over 12x as many eggs in the same time as a F2P player can hatch 9. The P2W player is also stacking up 12x stardust as well.
2- Someone willing to pay for as many rocket radars as it takes to get the leaders pokemon in hundo, shiny or shundo form is at a clear advantage to F2P, as every P2W encounter is a leader encounter vs f2P having to do 6 grunts to get a single leader encounter.
3- Someone willing to pay for as many raid passes (regardless of the type) until they get the hundo, shiny or shundo of whatever they are raiding is at a clear advantage to a F2P player who has limited numbers of passes to use & once they are gone that is it, they are left with only the one free raid per day, so they must rely on getting very lucky with the RNG or getting lucky with trading (if they have the dust) for a chance of what a P2W player can be assured of getting. People P2W with raiding are also stacking extra dust + xp with every raid as well.
Edit- Keldeo is P2W as it was only available via paid ticket, for newer players the same is true or Zarude.
There are pokemon like Hoopa & Zacian that newer players have been locked out of getting outside of trades for at least the last couple of years- will be interesting to see if Niantic drop these in paid tickets or available to all via raids.
As someone who returned after years and started day 1.
It is so sad to play now, i even spent £50 on stuff overall to try enjoy it more but its just disappointing.
I think the cumminuty day being locked into a set amount of hours is a real example of how this game is on the downturn.
Why is this needed?
As someone who can only really play on my days off work (Wednesday and Thursday) it is depressing and i will probably quit in a week.
I have to take time off work to participante in anything, cant find anyoene to even help me with 3* shadow raids(for Weevil)
I have tried 3 weeks in a row even using campfire groups and chats.
I tried pvp with the 1500 league and i cant even afford to buy any second skills or change my moves. Let alone raise a mon up to 1500 if they arent already close.
Definitely pay to when especially when it comes to Master League. It was even more prevelant before the remote raid nerf. Before the remote raid nerf, anyone that paid to play could have any legendary that came through raids. It's not as broken now as it used to be but it's still a luxury I can't afford. If I want legendary for the master league I have to be very calculated in what I want to max out, where as someone who pays to play can just buy raid passes to their hearts content.
It’s not pay to win, definitely pay to speed up the process. You’re not guaranteed good IVs no matter how much money you pay. & PVP ivs cannot be payed for . Play games like NBA2K, that’s pay to win. Every dollar will give you an advantage with increasing your characters overall. Guaranteed. You can raid Mewtwos, but you won’t have stardust to level it, you have to play the game. In 2K, I just have to pull out my wallet, I don’t have to go shoot 20 jumpers in the driveway. There’s a massive difference when you break down the difference between the two and “pay to win” doesn’t seem right
I think as long as money is involved in a game to achieve a better chance at winning 🥇 at the end it will be a “pay 2 win” game.
As a person that plays PvP I do agree that having the best doesn’t mean it’s the “best” 😢
Pokémon go is a collection game.
It does use micro transactions to progress players further.
Wise players know where to invest or pass on something.
And I think everything in moderation will make for a pleasant experience.
It is a pay to win game but not in a traditional sense because the more pokemon/better pokemon that we get faster through paying we just help the communities imo
It is very much pay to win. In the collection case, you need money to travel around the world just to finish your pokedex, how are people from third world countries have the money to just fly around to colect pokemon?
Only those with lots of free time or money can have enough stardust to level up their pokemon and do raids for xl candy
It's not really pay to win, it's mainly pay to expand, because you can have no stops or gyms and free to play and still have a good time
Definitely enjoy your ramble sessions and intuitive thoughts. I have issues with lacking inner confidence. I feel im more conceeded/arrogant instead 😅
I think you’re missing the point and getting too stuck on the winning part but there is a clear advantage when you’re spending money. You shouldn’t really downplay the hype of the rare pokemon you catch when your content is focused on those same mons.
Personally I think spending a little for a hobby is fine, and I agree with you in that aspect.
Tour event in NYC next year!! Unova is based off of NYC.
You should ask the question - is PoGo pay to have fun? since the "win" concept is different and kinda non-existing in literal way
when i play pokemon go my biggest fear is that i bother people in any way shape or form. so im really tryin to listen and see what is going on around me when i play. to the point that i wish other people would do the same for me XD. like in the netherlands its quite common to walk on the other side of the road when ur walking on a road. so that you can see cars coming towards you and know when to jump aside pretty much. or thats how iv been taught. and i get so frustrated when other people dont do the same, see me comin and then dont make space for me to continue..