Thoughts on limited time events?

[PoryKid575]

Limited time events where specific Pokemon and items are locked behind going to a store or inputting a download code within a certain period have been a part of the franchise since the beginning, although they've always seemed a bit questionable to me. I can't say I'm the biggest fan of having content in the game you already paid for being locked behind an arbitrary time window; although I can see how some of them could be fun to experience. How do you feel about them and why?

 

[Janp]

I always found them stupid. Especially the ones where you have to go to the store, because they always picked a store that have no representation in my country. So usually the official distributor got some codes and locked them up behind 60€ purchase. Or did random "like this post to have a chance to win a code." Yeah, I hate them actually.

 

[Corveone]

Dislike. I don't want to be coerced into playing games at a specific time or buying stuff from specific places to be able to enjoy some of its content.

I understand that game servers eventually get shut down, and some online features may be unavailable if I buy a game ten years later. But arbitrary time restrictions are a different story.

 

[Devalue]

Not a fan. Leave it up permanently. Becomes no better by restricting it to a limited timeframe.

Might be afraid of overloading players with too many small events. How many people would do all these 7-star Tera raids online if you could have done them whenever? Could be tough to get a group with so many different Pokemon, each requiring some good strategy. Should release an update at the end with a catalogue of all the previous events (if not sooner).

 

[Sheep]

Please no. It was always a pain to get these when you had to go to a physical location, and was even worse when you had to go in and ask the staff for a code or something lol. Had that at some events in GameStop back in the day. I would highly prefer being able to download events off of WiFi in the modern day.

 

[Meganium]

Yeah, no. Back when i was younger I wasn't able to physically go to a store because I didn't have a car or my parents thought it was pointless. Now that I am an adult -- with adult money -- my answer could have been different, but then again, I would gladly take a gift via wifi over physically visiting the store.

 

[nl4real]

Anything that stands between me and filling out the Pokedex within the game itself is an automatic no. I paid for the game, I expect the full game.

 

[Elite Overlord LeSabre™]

Imagine this scenario: You happen to have a number of these limited-time promotional Pokemon in your game, some of which required you to make a special trip to Gamestop or Target or wherever to get a scratch-off card with the code, and BAM! Save file gets corrupted. Since those Pokemon are no longer obtainable, and trying to get them on the GTS was a risky venture, you can essentially kiss those limited-time Pokemon good-bye.

(Not so) fun fact: That happened with my original save file of White 2. Never got them back since I sure as hell wasn't going to enter the uncharted waters of the GTS.

So yeah, not a fan, although this seems to be something Nintendo in general likes to do, not specifically just Pokemon. I had to remember to buy and download the re-release of the original Fire Emblem before it was removed from the eShop after a limited time.

 

[Lysander]

Arguably the worst thing about Pokémon games in general. They plague the Pokémon Ranger games as well as there are certain special postgame missions that are now unavailable through normal means in Shadows of Almia and Guardian Signs.

 

[Zeostar]

I don't like them in the same way that I dislike content being locked out for preorder bonuses.

 

[Alex_Among_Foxes]

Oh, I hate them. And not just in Pokemon games, but just in games in general. I get that a company or brand will sometimes make exclusive merch or something for an event, but event exclusivity makes absolutely no sense when the code for a videogame is already made and working. That can stay fully the hell out of my virtual media please...

 

[Setsuna]

Oh it's so funny this entire thread is just "No, it sucks", I think this is one of those things we can universally agree upon and I'm just gonna add onto the dogpile, don't mind me.~

I don't really enjoy limited content like this in games no matter what it is. It could be my favourite game of all time and pull this nonsense and I wouldn't forgive it. It's got the same feeling as a gacha game offering a rare seasonal card for a limited time because they want you to spend money and/or induce FOMO, it clearly works but no one really feels good about it.
Something I only realized a few years ago is that in a series marketed towards kids, every new generation is going to have people who are simply gonna miss out on old Pokemon they could have loved or enjoyed simply because they weren't playing Pokemon (or hell, maybe even weren't born yet) a few generations earlier. It's a problem that's just gonna make things worse as it continues.

When we had the 20th anniversary mythical giveaways, it was a time when my social anxiety started getting worse and worse and that made it hard to travel to my local stores and go up to the cashier and go "I want a code for a Pokemon" every time they released a new one. I can't imagine what it'd be like for kids my age who either had it worse or just aren't around any stores participating in that distribution because they just wouldn't be able to get the thing they want in such a short time. I understand mythicals are supposed to be rare but they've never done a good job at making them feel rare, and outside of events in Gens II-V they're not really special either, just "enter the code and get the thing". If you're making a franchise like this meant for the long-term, it feels like a really mean decision to purposefully create things that won't be accessible for 99% of that franchise's lifespan.

 

[Palamon]

They're cool, but they're nothing more than memorabilia. I loved getting event mons when I was a kid! But I get people aren't as thrilled as me. Nowadays I cba to remember when there's time limited mons or tera raid dens.

 

[dogparty]

Anything that stands between me and filling out the Pokedex within the game itself is an automatic no. I paid for the game, I expect the full game.

This. On paper it sounds fun, like an event to get a lot of fans together in one place, but then you remember how it's often the only way to get some Pokemon legally and it quickly turns ridiculous. How are we supposed to "catch them all" if like 20 of them are impossible to legally catch at any given point in time. It's so stupid, I think it's a shameless cash grab.
And that's not to mention how, for some players from certain countries, this was never even a possibility to begin with. Unless you live in japan/europe/usa, you'll probably never even see an official irl event... *cries in south america*

 

[ReKoil]

I don't exactly mind it. I've only ever managed to get one of the store ones though, which was the SwSh distribution of Marshadow, Volcanion and Genesect. The code or time limited online ones aren't that bad... I usually just end up missing them due to not paying attention, which does kinda suck.

I think the way they handled Pecharunt is better. You completed all of the main game in both the base game and the DLC and then you can go catch it, with a little story attached to it even. Though I suppose Deoxys in ORAS was handled better in that regard as it didn't require any DLC. You just beat the game and the postgame episode with some story for it just starts when you load in after the credits.

I also quite like the tucked away mythicals they've been doing, like that thing with the camera in the Terrarium for Meloetta, or the camping thing for Keldeo in Crown Tundra.