Pokémon GO: Kind gesture from a trainer stimulates discussion about new feature in the game
In Pokémon GO you have been able to send event tickets to friends for some time. Now, however, a trainer shows why this is not such a good idea and also demands a new function in the game. We at MeinMMO explain to you what this is all about.
Which function is it? In addition to the free content that Pokémon GO mostly offers, there are also certain events that you need a paid ticket for, such as the GO Fest or for special research at the Community Days.
So that you can play these events together with friends and family, Niantic introduced a gift function in May. You can not only purchase the event ticket in the in-game shop for your own account, but also give it away to friends if you have at least super friend status.
After all, one is always happy about such a gift. Or maybe not? Because it is precisely this new gift function for event tickets that is currently causing a lot of discussion in the reddit community. We explain why.
That’s why a free ticket causes trouble
Anyone who likes to play Pokémon GO regularly, and above all, will certainly be happy about a free event ticket. That’s what a trainer friend of the reddit user KappaCritic obviously thought, but he doesn’t know him personally at all.
In his reddit post, he reports that he received a ticket for the final event of the GO Fest 2022 from one of his friends. And even if he is grateful to this friend for the gift, he is not at all satisfied with the current function.
Because as good as the other coach meant by allowing him to play at this special event, KappaCritic has no time at all to participate that day. But his friend couldn’t have known that, because as KappaCritic explains in the comments, they have never met.
For this reason, he is annoyed that another player has now spent extra money on a ticket that is not used and which cannot be returned or given away. Therefore, he calls for the introduction of a “no gift tickets” function.
What is the function required?
With the help of such a function, KappaCritic would like to avoid such situations in the future. He would prefer it if you could set that you don’t want to get tickets. In the best case, no tickets can be given to you and players do not even get into such a situation.
From his point of view, however, it would also be conceivable if Niantic at least installed an option here to reject such gifts, return them or alternatively give them to another trainer so that the ticket paid for at least does not expire.
Community support
The other trainers in the reddit community also think so and support the opinion that there should at least be an option to accept or reject such a gift.
In addition, user dawnward118 points out that she has already seen players who have renamed their buddies accordingly: “no gifts please” (via reddit.com). KappaCritic doesn’t seem to be the first Pokémon GO player to have had this happen.
Why do coaches do this? Many cannot understand why the trainers give other players event tickets at all. Because, as with KappaCritic, they often don’t even know each other in real life or have only exchanged a few words on social networks.
In addition, there is the fixed event time in which the ticket can only be used, which also led to the problem with KappaCritic.
This is how user zGnRz writes (via reddit.com): “Honestly, it’s crazy when people give away something for $10 in a mobile game, but other than that, why gift someone with a time limit? I mean, nice touch, but I only use the gift feature for people I know will be there…”
And swanny246 would also like to know why KappaCritic was given a ticket by another trainer he doesn’t even know (via reddit.com): “Yeah, I’m really curious as to why OP was gifted a ticket in the first place. I got my original GO Fest ticket as a birthday present and it was only given to me after they asked me if I had bought a ticket and if I wanted to play.”
It is not known what prompted the coach friend to be so generous and simply give him a ticket. However, KappaCritic suspects that he was simply at the top of his friends list.
Is Niantic already planning a change to the gifting feature?
The Pokéminers, a group of dataminers, recently stumbled across a piece of text in the game’s source code that hints at a possibility that in the future you’ll be able to set whether you want to receive paid gifts (via pokeminers.com).
This is a first indication that such a function could be worked on. Whether and when this function will actually come is still open at this point in time. If there is official information from Niantic about this, you will of course find it here on MeinMMO.
Until then, it is best to ask your friends in advance whether they already have a ticket and whether they even want to play for this event before you give them such a gift. Because then they will definitely be happy about your surprise.
What do you think of the gifting feature in Pokemon GO? Have you used them yet? Or have you already received event tickets from other players? Feel free to write us your opinion here on MeinMMO in the comments and exchange ideas with other trainers.
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Reference-mein-mmo.de