GO EVENT (OVER) Special Trading Event (Aug 2nd - Aug 19th)

[TeaWest]

Hey guys, we have a new event announced that's all about trading! Start and end times for the event are both 1:00 PDT. Here's the bonuses that are active:

• All trades, including Special Trades, will cost 25% less Stardust, no matter the friendship level
• Secondly, players can earn 6 Candy per trade
• Players who add a new Pokemon to their dex will get triple XP

Have fun!

 

[Zexy]

I consider this event very fun and unique, but for it to be so you need a good friend/trade buddy (thankfully I have this in @nmihal ) and get some planning done before jumping into action.

For players who have completed the Pokedex/are Level 38+ like us two, register XP doesn't matter, so the main attraction is most certainly the bonus Candy, with the reduced Stardust cost as a nice bonus. For just 75 Stardust (and 1.200 for Special Trade of mutually registered legendaries between Ultra Friends), you can trade away any desirable species for 4-6 Candy and a chance for Lucky/good IV on your friend.
The only drawback here is that we could instead wait for Best Friends for 800 Stardust on special trades and potentially better IVs for non-Lucky, but missing out on the Candy's not a good idea.

So we started trading like crazy. Dratini/Larvitar/Bagon, Pidgey/Whismur/Wurmple/Caterpie/Weedle (to help him hit 40 eventually), all sorts of pairings of the big 5 legendaries (Kyogre, Groudon, Rayquaza, Mewtwo, Raikou) as our daily special trade to save up on Rare Candy, all the Eevee from CD we'd have otherwise transferred... Pokemon from our downtown city paired with those I caught on vacation to maximize distance.

This way we got lots of Candies and a fair share of useful Luckies each, I'll elaborate on the appropriate threads later.

While I've heard complaints from local players that overfocusing on trades is boring and turns a game of exploration into one of micro-management, I enjoy it a lot. So many little decisions to think about, and it can all be done from our homes, enjoying the game together as if it is a puzzle. It's something GO has not delivered for a while, so I welcome this change for a bit.