[Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl] EXP Share Issue!

I gotta be honest the permanent exp share is the one thing that kills my interest in the remakes. It was useful for Let's Go for those that didn't want to catch Pokemon after Pokemon to level grind. But keeping it like that for SwSh and now BDSP is just stupid. Even more so the justification of the whole 'uh well in rpg games your entire party levels up' excuse (at least that's how i'm remembering it) is just pathetic.

Yeah your party in RPG games all level up because EVERY SINGLE MEMBER is fighting AT THE SAME TIME!

Don't get me wrong the exp share is great to help level Pokemon to prepare them for major battles or evolve them to fill out the Dex.

But it would be nice if we had the choice to turn the damn thing off!

That said does anyone have any advice or idea on how to maybe hack the game so that one could switch it off?

I'm trying to think of this optimistically, but maybe it's simply a way of keeping the game balanced? It seems like the entirety of Ultra Sun/Moon was absolutely designed around players keeping the EXP share on, and those kept a decent challenge.

In Sword and Shield, it did feel like this change was inevitable. EXP share on was a default option before those games. At the same time, Switch/Set mode has been an option since the Pokemon games began in generation 1. So there's not much logic to EXP share being removed as an option.

I played through a good chunk of Platinum recently and I think it'll be nice to have a streamlined experience. I don't like grindin, I get very bored but I do think you should have the option of turning it on or off.

ZeoStar said:

I'm trying to think of this optimistically, but maybe it's simply a way of keeping the game balanced? It seems like the entirety of Ultra Sun/Moon was absolutely designed around players keeping the EXP share on, and those kept a decent challenge.

In Sword and Shield, it did feel like this change was inevitable. EXP share on was a default option before those games. At the same time, Switch/Set mode has been an option since the Pokemon games began in generation 1. So there's not much logic to EXP share being removed as an option.

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I don't want it removed I just want to be able to turn it on and off whenever i want.

I don't know why so many people are so against the exp share not being able to be turned off? I think it's a lot better Pokemon all get exp so my others don't fall behind, but that's just me, I guess.

I get the reason why they put it on, they don't think people like the grind. I'll concede that I'm in the minority. I grew up on gens 1, 2 and 3 and I LOVED the grind. It was the best part. It made me feel a genuine connection to the Pokemon I caught and trained, because the time sunk made them a cut above the rest. I would plan my teams based on what wild Pokemon are where, and what types I wanted to add to my party. I knew when I'd have to take a break from story progression to catch a 'mon and grind their levels up to match the rest of my party.

Pokemon isn't a story-driven game, and the world is designed in a linear fashion. The grind is THE reason I felt invested in the game. Take that away and I am just mashing A through the entire thing. So boring.

tbh that is the top of the iceberg of things that killed my interest with these games. it was clear when the third trailer came out but now it's even clearer: this game is not for veterans. the first hint was the fact that the story is 1:1 with originals. With no regular HMs, this kind of exp share, fairy types and so on, the game was made EASY. i mean, yes E4 and Cynthia is hard, but not THAT HARD. About exp share, nothing so surprising: it works like swshi and they said they would use newer mechanics to these games. it would have been more interesting if the game let u choose what to. For example, having exp share on or off or letting u teach HMs anyway. That would make the game more versatile and therefore more enjoying, especially for non newbies. About grinding, tbh I didn't find it to be a problem in gen4 games tbh.So, thinking about that, the game is for people who have never played Sinnoh games. Then, i get people buying it for nostalgia and i m not saying they shouldn't, if they like it. What I think tho is that those remakes have kinda nothing new for us veterans. i will be honest, if a person has never played a Sinnoh game, i wouldn't recommend them to play those, but pokemon platinum, because it's definitely more complete than these remakes.

Palamon said:

I don't know why so many people are so against the exp share not being able to be turned off? I think it's a lot better Pokemon all get exp so my others don't fall behind, but that's just me, I guess.

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Yeah I don't really mind either but I think what people get hung up on is, why not just make it an option? It feels strange to force us into it when we have had EXP shares in the past that can be toggled and that is just one less minor thing people have to bitch about.

Palamon said:

I don't know why so many people are so against the exp share not being able to be turned off? I think it's a lot better Pokemon all get exp so my others don't fall behind, but that's just me, I guess.

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I personally like it on all the time as I do like my party to be leveling up too. I was a dumb kid and didn't know how to grind so my starter mon was always highest level.

I'm totally cool with this item existing and being on by default for story mode, but I'd love to be able to turn it off. A couple of times in Shield I've forgotten I had Pokémon that I wanted to EV train in my party and ended up doing a battle, that of course makes them gain some EVs (usually the ones I don't want). Didn't happen too often since I adjusted quickly at least. I won't be too bothered by this trend continuing or anything, just would be nice to have an off option sometimes. :droplet: Seems like this will be the norm going forward.

Exactly my thought, this makes the game sooo much easier that it almost kills my interest, glad i still have that joy in playing a pokemon games after a long time.
But i would want to be able to switch it off or just follow the old exp share where it need to be hold by 1 pokemon. If not, the game is way too easy for me at least, cause maybe im older now. hahaha

Palamon said:

I don't know why so many people are so against the exp share not being able to be turned off? I think it's a lot better Pokemon all get exp so my others don't fall behind, but that's just me, I guess.

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They want the choice to turn it off because it makes the game a joke like giving you mega then having three bosses with it.




(I'm still salty bout the kalos elite four.)

Alex said:

I get the reason why they put it on, they don't think people like the grind. I'll concede that I'm in the minority. I grew up on gens 1, 2 and 3 and I LOVED the grind. It was the best part. It made me feel a genuine connection to the Pokemon I caught and trained, because the time sunk made them a cut above the rest. I would plan my teams based on what wild Pokemon are where, and what types I wanted to add to my party. I knew when I'd have to take a break from story progression to catch a 'mon and grind their levels up to match the rest of my party.

Pokemon isn't a story-driven game, and the world is designed in a linear fashion. The grind is THE reason I felt invested in the game. Take that away and I am just mashing A through the entire thing. So boring.

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One time I got a lvl 2 pidgey named Ryu because I needed a flyer, grinded it up to my other teams level and it won the champion battle.
dang thing was a legend, but if I had the exp share on the whole time my team would of be overleveled making it where that moment would of never happened.
If less grinding means I never get another moment like that then I don't think I can ever enjoy the newer games to the level I did the originals.
I don't want the perma-share if it removes the grind, because in the end it's the only thing giving me those moments.

Sorry for the long reply.

I'm seriously debating not getting the game, simply because I found I lost interest in Sword and Shield replays because... over-leveling at the drop of a hat made it not so fun to play, honestly. and I was going out of my way to get trashy weak mons like route 1 critters WITH SET ON, often switching a critter every route or so, and I was still EASILY mowing down everything and leveled past or equal all the gym leaders, which just... you kinda need the gym leaders to be a little ahead of or equal where you'd be by default by the time you get to them or they won't be challenging at all. It was like the game was discouraging me from actually using the Wild Area to roam around and look for mons.
I'm very frustrated that, as a hacker, I know how insanely simple it is to add on very simple optional difficulty options like 'levelizer' mode where all the enemies are the same or slightly ahead of you (for bosses). That would also remove grind and be way more fun. I also feel it's beyond time they start adding on some nonlinear options - let me choose to head to a different starting town or do a different gym leader route. Or let me choose what season to start the game in and have different mons available depending on that. Something.

As a hacker, I think a better option than just on/off is option to make exp share give LESS exp or level cap - don't give any exp to mons at your highest mon's level unless they actively participate in battle or all are same level, something like that.

Speaking of, level caps can also be a fun difficulty option. No grind /and/ no leveling, mwahaha.

Something I did in SWSH so the exp share thing didn't bother me much was when I was going on a catching spree to fill out my dex I just switched my party out to a group of pokemon I didn't use for my main team and level them up to evolve for my dex or just as filler mon while catching. Though I do have to say the exp share being stuck on is kinda annoying...

I don't have much of an issue with the EXP-Share. I play on Switch mode which means I can switch out without the Pokemon I retrieve getting full experience for doing basically nothing. I also try to level everyone up evenly. That means I occasionally intentionally don't switch something out and let it continue to fight, instead.

It actually adds up over the course of the game. And it kinda shows that GF didn't really consider the differences between Switch and Set mode. Instead they seem to balance the games with Swich mode in mind. I wouldn't be surprised if their testers played with that mode on.
I think it would be ok if Pokemon that participate in the fight still split the EXP instead of getting all of it. The people who play on Switch mode can still play "optimally" while the people who play on Set have things a little bit harder.

I don't like Exp. Share either, it turns everything too easy.
But if I'm not mistaken, there will be an option to turn it off.
I remember reading about this a few days ago.

I'm a little perplexed that people get so worked up over this, because it doesn't make the games any easier - just substantially less time consuming. I've said it before and will probably say it again many times, but contrary to popular belief, needing to grind does NOT make a game more difficult. Just because it takes longer to do something doesn't mean it is more difficult to do, it just means you have less patience to do it. In any Pokemon game, if you know your type matchups and outlevel your opponent, you will win easily. Being able to reach that goal faster does not make the game you are doing it in any harder than any other.

That said, being able to turn this off and on at will is such a simple and easy thing to do that I'm disappointed it hasn't been implemented here...Masuda's doing, I'm certain. It's a definite quality of life improvement to have the EXP Share affect every Pokemon, because it streamlines the experience for players and cuts down on grinding that many do not have the time or patience for. But for those that do, and want to experience the games this way, it's quite the detriment to be forced to play this way...although this is something that has characterised first-party Nintendo titles for several console generations now: you play their way, or not at all. Freedom to play your way has never been high on the list of priorities for Nintendo and they could really stand to learn a thing or two about accessibility in their games.

But really, there are plenty of ways around this for players who want a challenge that it seems like a lot of noise over nothing. But if I want a challenge I will look elsewhere, so I can't say that I'm particularly invested in this argument personally. I would suggest that anyone who thinks this makes the games easier look closely at what defines difficulty in video games, however. Because grinding isn't it.

Honestly, I hate grinding and appreciate the exp. share, but not being able to turn it off is such a weird choice. I don't get it because I'm pretty sure it used to be optional in previous gens, so why the change?

Palamon said:

I don't know why so many people are so against the exp share not being able to be turned off?

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I think people are so against the exp share not being able to be turned off because these are supposed to be faithful remakes so you should be able to turn off the exp share like you can do in the original games.

Mewtwolover said:

I think people are so against the exp share not being able to be turned off because these are supposed to be faithful remakes so you should be able to turn off the exp share like you can do in the original games.

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in the original games, the exp shares was a held item, not key item.

I see people's points, but I guess I'm in the minority of liking the exp share giving exp to the entire party because I hate grinding.