'Pokemon HOME' to Launch with Free and Premium Features, GTS, IV Checking

Rcxd9999

Aspiring Trainer
Member
Very nice, a significant improvement from PokeBank. Sadly, that is definitely represented by the significant increase in price and the lack of a package deal with PokeBank is disheartening. Otherwise, I'm quite pleased with Pokemon Home, even if the price leaves something to be desired.

One thing I would like to know is what the filter options are for GTS. Hopefully they are a vast improvement over just selecting gender and level range. Edit: Nevermind, the only new specification is what game you want the Pokemon from, welp.
 
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MtSilverHermit

Aspiring Trainer
Member
National Pokédex is the feature that most excites me. I'll have to wait and see if the new features are worth the 3x price tag.
 

Wolfgirl90

Professor Luna
Member
It's pay to win because every gen they come up with a new system you have to pay for to transfer all your good Pokemon from previous games.

But you can't use those Pokemon in competitive matches anyway, so what difference does it make? And in most cases, you would need to have a good held item for that Pokemon to work efficiently, which you aren't going to be able to transfer into HOME.

You might be able to show off in front of your friends, but that's about it.
 

Mimikeon

Aspiring Trainer
Member
It's pay to win because every gen they come up with a new system you have to pay for to transfer all your good Pokemon from previous games.

What are we winning?

I think you're mistaken on the definition of "pay 2 win." It means that you have to pay for a significant competitive advantage, not that you have to pay a lot of money.
 

Yaginku

H-on Will Save Pokemon
Member
Even with a large part of the Dex coming back through free DLC, they're still locked behind the Home paywall.
Extracting Pokemon from the bank should be free.
 

Fawnlily

Aspiring Trainer
Member
I wonder what happens if you let your subscription lapse, since pokemon that can't enter s&s can't return to their original games either
 

N's Rhyperior

Aspiring Trainer
$16 a year, Oh My Gosh. Cash grabbing to the highest level. Not gonna lie, even an average employee can't even afford it. But if you want all of your Pokemon you obtain since the Pokemon Transfer came out, no choice but to do it.
 

StarlightSearcher

The Blonde Brainiac
Forum Mod
Advanced Member
Member
I wonder what happens if you let your subscription lapse, since pokemon that can't enter s&s can't return to their original games either

It would be like Bank. They would just be locked behind the paywall until you re-upped your subscription.

$16 a year, Oh My Gosh. Cash grabbing to the highest level. Not gonna lie, even an average employee can't even afford it. But if you want all of your Pokemon you obtain since the Pokemon Transfer came out, no choice but to do it.

It's a once-a-year 16 dollar payment. I don't think it's $16.00 per month, per year. If that's the case (which I doubt), we'd have a problem here.
 

Number51x

Blasting off at the speed of light!
Member
I wonder what happens if you let your subscription lapse, since pokemon that can't enter s&s can't return to their original games either
They die and you're a horrible trainer who will have to live with that.
 

Hongo

Aspiring Trainer
Member
Does the subscription leave a lot to be desired? Absolutely.

Is it going to break the bank? Not even close.

$16 for a year is nothing.
 

DMYSYS

Aspiring Trainer
Member
Does the subscription leave a lot to be desired? Absolutely.

Is it going to break the bank? Not even close.

$16 for a year is nothing.

Are you willing to send me $16 a year for nothing? PM me and I'll give you my PayPal and we can get this sorted.
 

Hongo

Aspiring Trainer
Member
Are you willing to send me $16 a year for nothing? PM me and I'll give you my PayPal and we can get this sorted.
Like I said, it leaves a lot to be desired. I’m not subscribing to it as I’m not really the type of player who needs all of my Pokémon transferring between various titles so it’s moot for me personally.

But I’ve also spent more than $16 on various games for one-time purchases that could be debated as ridiculous and nothing for what the player actually got. Dragalia Lost rupies, Pokémon Go storage expansion for Pokémon and Items, Pokémon Bank, Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Links, etc.

It’s just part of the market, specifically mobile. And Pokémon Home is (for better or worse) a mobile centric and mobile focused application. It’s even presented as such with the feature list between mobile and Switch versions. I don’t agree with how they’re doing it, but I also don’t think that the admission price for “premium” (according to them) features is appalling.

I personally think this app should have been a Pokémon Bank/Pokédex 3D Pro hybrid app. With name pronunciation and full model viewer and even AR or something. Little things that could have maybe built a little more value into just being a cloud storage and transfer application.
 
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Skeleton Liar

サーナ~
Member
images


The only real frustrating thing is locking the ability to transfer from Pokemon Bank behind the paywall. Offering Pokemon Bank and Poke Transporter for free for a month after Home's launch is nice, but mostly only relevant if you're already paying for Home. ...And if you're only transferring Pokemon that are already available in SwSh. Otherwise you have to wait for additional Pokemon to be added to SwSh with the Expansion packs, which there's a chance that not all of the Pokemon you'd transfer would be added. So the thought of those services being free for a month is nice, but it's kind of moot.

Putting aside the off-putting taste of there being a paywall, the prices for the premium plans are fine. It is what it is. Personally, I don't see much of a need to pay for more than a month (or as needed), though. You have an entire month to transfer everything. I think that's more than enough time to accomplish whatever you're doing. And if, at some point in the future, you have a need to transfer Pokemon again, that's just another $3 for a month.

The other incentives for paying for a premium plan just seem... meh? At first, I thought the idea of the IV checker was nice. For some reason, I was under the impression that it would give IV numbers, which would be great! Despite the continued improvements on EV training and such, checking IV's in-game has always been overly simplified to the point of not being useful, outside of checking IV's of Lv.1 egg Pokemon. But then I saw the "Decent" and "Pretty good" ratings in the Judge screenshot. Nevermind. And what does "Decent" even mean? In the context of that screenshot, Mimikyu's HP and Attack IV's look like they'd be lower than 10, but its Speed is close to 20, yet that's all considered "Decent?" Whatever. You're still better off using an IV calculator for free online.

The National Dex is interesting, but not at this time. Without all of the Pokemon being available to transfer into SwSh, I don't like the thought of the rest of the missing Pokemon being in limbo in Home (behind a paywall), until they're possibly added into SwSh.

A potential huge positive? Unless I'm misunderstanding something, you're allowed to transfer to and from SwSh with the free option of Home. Also available in the free option is the GTS and it seems trading with friends. Did they really give a workaround for not having to pay for Nintendo Switch Online? I don't have Sword or Shield, so I'm not sure how trading online works in these games, if at all. But if what I'm seeing is true, that's by far the best thing about Pokemon Home.

Lastly, I like the classic Gen 3 - 5 sprites being used for your avatar in Home. It's a nice touch!
 

Mimikeon

Aspiring Trainer
Member
Like I said, it leaves a lot to be desired. I’m not subscribing to it as I’m not really the type of player who needs all of my Pokémon transferring between various titles so it’s moot for me personally.

But I’ve also spent more than 6 on various games for one-time purchases that could be debated as ridiculous and nothing for what the player actually got. Dragalia Lost rupies, Pokémon Go storage expansion for Pokémon and Items, Pokémon Bank, Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Links, etc.

It’s just part of the market, specifically mobile. And Pokémon Home is (for better or worse) a mobile centric and mobile focused application. It’s even presented as such with the feature list between mobile and Switch versions. I don’t agree with how they’re doing it, but I also don’t think that the admission price for “premium” (according to them) features is appalling.

I personally think this app should have been a Pokémon Bank/Pokédex 3D Pro hybrid app. With name pronunciation and full model viewer and even AR or something. Little things that could have maybe built a little more value into just being a cloud storage and transfer application.
Just stop. As a Pokemon fan, you're either completely against everything or an apologist. If you try to be anything other than extreme you'll be called the other extreme by people on one extreme.
 
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