Tangoh

First thing first: "First"

Thanks to the writer of this article for providing a but of perspective on the fans that are upset.

I figure I share some of my own perspective as a traditional Pokemon TCG player & collector.

Opening packs on pokemon TCG-Pocket is "free", and making new accounts is free. Over time, that means infinite-ish supply of free cards.

While trading for higher end cards will be tough for newer players, gameplay-wise, only 2 copies (at most) of a card can be used at once. Additionally, Star-rarity1-4 are alternate arts of playable Diamond1-4.

In terms of game design, this trade feature rewards retention, and an additional way to obtain cards that wasn't previously available.

This trade feature did not remove anything from before, but instead provide higher rarity duplicates more utility beyond flair fodder.

I've been playing for free since mid November, so about 70-80 days now. I have amassed over 1600 cards, with plenty of 1-star duplicates. Currently sitting on enough hourglass to open 30+ packs of the new expansion, ~150+ cards.

Upon release, I don't expect this feature to help build every deck in the meta, but definitely will help completing 1-3 nearly-finished decks. As far as "Dex-collecting" goes, this feature means 1 more method to obtain a card no in my collection or deck.

If collecting every became so easy, the drive/motivation to collect wouldn't be meaningful. The game intends for it's playerbase and their collecting to grow at a steady pace.

Unless the game plans on closing/ending older expansions, the opportunity to collect will be available practically forever, meaning no scarcity.

"More is less and less is more"

The more you have collected the less you have to do in the game. The less you have collected, the more you have to do in the game. The only real question is do you want there to be less to do or more to do? Either way, adding the trade feature to the game means more ways to do stuff with your friends.