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Pokemon Bank

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I honestly think the fee isn't a big deal. 5 dollars a year? Try paying for WoW with 5 bucks a year. Seriously, it isn't that big of a deal. I do understand that it does seem cheap to charge for a once free service ,but, the Pokemon Bank is so much more than that. It can store a lot and it's basically like Pokemon Box but without requiring a game system and another game. I appreciate what Game Freak is doing with this, and giving us a free trial is basically letting us transfer for free as long as your Duckletts (bud dum tss) in a row when it comes to your Gen 5 game.
 
I really don't get the people who are complaining about the $5 cost. First of all $5 annually is nothing. Keeping all the change in your pocket for a year should give you at least that. Secondly, this is actually saving us a lot of money. If the transfer system was the same as in Gen 5 where we would need another device, it would cost us roughly $170, which is the same as 34 years of Pokémon Bank service charges. Considering the fact that new devices come out every 4-5 years, in the long run the service is saving us hundreds of dollars.
 
I just kept my DS when I bought my 3DS simply to make it easier to transfer pokemon and I tend to hoard video game systems(I'm looking at you gameboy color, NES, Super NES, gamecube, N64, Playstation, and PS2). But I'll definitely give the pokemon bank a trial go. I assume when they say it will be something they will use in future pokemon releases that means it will be the same bank, not a separate one for each game. So a flat $5 a year. I really want to transfer an Oshawott over to play with in pokemon-amie.
 
Transferring Pokemon was only free from Gen III to IV.

As long as you had access to a second DS (basically if any friend/ family member had one) it was free for 4->5. And if you had access to what you needed to trade with in Gen 2 (again any friend/ family member having a GBC and 1 of you having a link cable), then Gen 1-> 2 is fine. So yes I can agree that money may have needed to spent, but in most cases it was for things that people could use for other purposes more useful than extra storage, instead of being spent on something specifically for trading pokemon. Don't get me wrong I think Bank is a good thing for people who don't have access to the physical means, I just think it's worth pointing out the system is pretty expensive in the long run, potentially more expensive than previous methods. And also now, if they could somehow future handhelds to be compatible with older ones, there would be no cost for a link cable.

For Bank to be "more expensive" in the long run you'd need to use it for 30+ years.

It is nice that you had friends and family that are seemingly always available to lend video game consoles to you but many don't have that option.

If 5 bucks a year is a lot of money to you, then you might wanna find a more affordable hobby. After all, you likely recently purchased a $120-200 console and $40 video game.

In previous generations, storage cost $10 (Ranch) or $50-60 (Box) and both necessitated the purchase of a separate, home console. So they're combining two things into one with the only alternate option of having no forward compatibility at all.

So there's the two choices: Either have no forward compatibility, or pay for the app that includes additional development as well as maintenance and other necessary expenses. Since the services being purchased is also storage and that Bank/Transport will be used for the long term, they opted for an annual fee.

I really don't see any other options, besides the conspiracy theories (which are, well, conspiracy theories), paranoia (see: illogical worries of microtransactions, charging for other supposed "basic" features of the game, etc..), and the SD card storage option (which has had its faults pointed out several times ITT).
 
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As much as I like the idea of the pokemon bank, I wouldn't really consider it cheap. Bear in mind it is $5 for every year you need to transfer pokemon from generation to generation as I believe they said they are planning to make this the new way for every game (might end up being more than $5 for various countries). So if there are 4 years you need poke transfer (not if you actually want it for the whole year and only use it once) you end up paying $20. Yes this is affordable, but still pretty expensive considering most people were able to do it for free.

So unless they release free trials after every new game's release, people who don't use pokemon bank for anything other than transferring pokemon will have to pay a years fee for something they will use for a couple of days. So basically $5 to transfer pokemon to every new game. I they do give a free trial with every new game I will be fine, but I don't know how likely that is.
Five bucks is cheaper than an entirely new game cart, which is what I had to buy in order to store my shinies and Dex while I was playing Black and Black 2. Even the total sum of $20 is a lot cheaper than throwing down $35 to $40 for a new cart. Five bucks is cheaper than an SD card; my 16 gig card cost me ten dollars and that was a special price offered on black Friday of last year. The normal cost for an SD card at my Walmart is around $15.

And trust me, I'll be using this Bank constantly. I'll be using it for Dex and Legendary storage; my shiny Automatons will stay on my copy of X. i just don't have the room to store my Dex on a game card anymore; there are simply too many Pokemon and I have too many shinies to nurture. So yeah, in my case this is a great deal.
 
How awesome would the pokebank be if they released all the previous generation games in the eshop and you could use the pokebank to transfer pokemon into the newest generations? Like from Red and Blue and Yellow. :D
 
I honestly think the fee isn't a big deal. 5 dollars a year? Try paying for WoW with 5 bucks a year. Seriously, it isn't that big of a deal. I do understand that it does seem cheap to charge for a once free service ,but, the Pokemon Bank is so much more than that. It can store a lot and it's basically like Pokemon Box but without requiring a game system and another game. I appreciate what Game Freak is doing with this, and giving us a free trial is basically letting us transfer for free as long as your Duckletts (bud dum tss) in a row when it comes to your Gen 5 game.

To be fair, WoW isn't just a digital storage shed. When you are paying a monthly fee for WoW it is for the hosting of a much more system intensive GAME.

That being said, I'm hopping on the Pokémon Bank train just as SOON as I am able.

What's funny is it seems like all of the forums I am a part of, or casually Google my way past, I inevitably see someone who says, 'If x dollars is too much, you should find a more affordable hobby!"

This includes the following hobbies:
Cosplay
Warhammer 40k / Tabletop gaming
Shooting

Pokémon is by FAR the cheapest hobby of these. Even if you consider that I bought a 3DS just for XY, it is FAR LESS EXPENSIVE than, for example, my Axton costume.

What I have spent in time playing this game, I have saved from puttering on the computer spending money on the internet.
 
How awesome would the pokebank be if they released all the previous generation games in the eshop and you could use the pokebank to transfer pokemon into the newest generations? Like from Red and Blue and Yellow. :D

There's a compatibility break in 2-3. Due to a variety of reasons, Pokemon from those generations aren't compatible with 3 and up.

But you can transfer those Pokemon anyway. From FRLG, and Yellow was essentially re-made with HGSS. And the vast majority of those Pokemon in those Kanto games are available in XY.

I honestly think the fee isn't a big deal. 5 dollars a year? Try paying for WoW with 5 bucks a year. Seriously, it isn't that big of a deal. I do understand that it does seem cheap to charge for a once free service ,but, the Pokemon Bank is so much more than that. It can store a lot and it's basically like Pokemon Box but without requiring a game system and another game. I appreciate what Game Freak is doing with this, and giving us a free trial is basically letting us transfer for free as long as your Duckletts (bud dum tss) in a row when it comes to your Gen 5 game.

To be fair, WoW isn't just a digital storage shed. When you are paying a monthly fee for WoW it is for the hosting of a much more system intensive GAME.

That being said, I'm hopping on the Pokémon Bank train just as SOON as I am able.

What's funny is it seems like all of the forums I am a part of, or casually Google my way past, I inevitably see someone who says, 'If x dollars is too much, you should find a more affordable hobby!"

This includes the following hobbies:
Cosplay
Warhammer 40k / Tabletop gaming
Shooting

Pokémon is by FAR the cheapest hobby of these. Even if you consider that I bought a 3DS just for XY, it is FAR LESS EXPENSIVE than, for example, my Axton costume.

What I have spent in time playing this game, I have saved from puttering on the computer spending money on the internet.

The point of telling people whining about the cost to find something more affordable/sell their games is they are whining about $5 when they have no problem shelling out $120-200 for a console and $40 for a game. If $5 is going to break the bank, they should take up, I don't know, something cheaper than video games.
 
The point of telling people whining about the cost to find something more affordable/sell their games is they are whining about $5 when they have no problem shelling out $120-200 for a console and $40 for a game. If $5 is going to break the bank, they should take up, I don't know, something cheaper than video games.

I just find it funny that this similar point keeps coming up over and over. I assume that since this is a community that is fairly broad in ages, that there are probably some folks here who got a system and a game for a birthday or Christmas. Some of the players may not have personally paid for it. I don't know if that deserves such a cavalier, Xbox Live Call of Duty mindset.

Bottom line, there is a service that needs to be paid for. Some people will and some people won't. I'm reminded of a webcomic from several years ago that detailed the differences between 'Free' and 'Premium' players, one of the boons of being a paid 'premium' player was that in this hypothetical game universe, Premium players got to eat the lesser 'Free' players. Point is, people will either value it or they won't. There will, however, become an increasing amount of animosity between the two groups when the players without the bank start running up against pokemon that are exclusive to Gen 3-5.

I spent so much stinkin' time between Emerald, SoulSilver, Pearl, and Black 2, dammit, that $5 dollars a year is worth it to forward my completed pokedex.
 
The point of telling people whining about the cost to find something more affordable/sell their games is they are whining about $5 when they have no problem shelling out $120-200 for a console and $40 for a game. If $5 is going to break the bank, they should take up, I don't know, something cheaper than video games.

I just find it funny that this similar point keeps coming up over and over. I assume that since this is a community that is fairly broad in ages, that there are probably some folks here who got a system and a game for a birthday or Christmas. Some of the players may not have personally paid for it. I don't know if that deserves such a cavalier, Xbox Live Call of Duty mindset.

Bottom line, there is a service that needs to be paid for. Some people will and some people won't. I'm reminded of a webcomic from several years ago that detailed the differences between 'Free' and 'Premium' players, one of the boons of being a paid 'premium' player was that in this hypothetical game universe, Premium players got to eat the lesser 'Free' players. Point is, people will either value it or they won't. There will, however, become an increasing amount of animosity between the two groups when the players without the bank start running up against pokemon that are exclusive to Gen 3-5.

I spent so much stinkin' time between Emerald, SoulSilver, Pearl, and Black 2, dammit, that $5 dollars a year is worth it to forward my completed pokedex.

People who aren't paying for games themselves have plenty of avenues to still be able to pay for Bank. Nintendo E-Shop pre-paid cards are available at most major retail outlets. Or people can ask a trusted family member or close friend to pay it via their debit or credit card. There's also plenty of young gamers (IE under 18) on services that require a monthly form of payment such as Xbox Live and somehow they have managed to do it without access to their own personal credit or debit card. I mean it is five bucks. Even kids can do some chores or help out and get that much money easily, hand it to mom/dad and ask them to do this or that on the E-Shop.

There is absolutely no reason someone who is young can't also purchase Bank/Transport. But on the other hand, the young gamer is far less likely to have the older games needed to use these services, and thus is less likely to need the additional PC storage space. In contrast, a gamer who has been playing since Gen 3 is far more likely to have several hundred, possibly even thousands, of Pokemon built up over time spread throughout his carts and generations, and will also have the ability to pay his or her own way.

As for the Pokemon exclusive to 3-5, that number is a very, very small amount. Between X, Y, and the current event Torchic, the number of Pokemon that aren't available in either game is a very, very small number and surely can be traded for once Bank is released.

The people who actually have no way for paying for Bank is very small (either directly or otherwise), and might even be 0. By far, most of the whining of the cost isn't for people who don't have a way to pay for it but come from an entitlement attitude.
 
The people who actually have no way for paying for Bank is very small (either directly or otherwise), and might even be 0. By far, most of the whining of the cost isn't for people who don't have a way to pay for it but come from an entitlement attitude.

What you call 'entitlement' I call the slow creep of microtransactions. I'm going to pay for the service for the additional breeding space, but it is troubling when a company says, "Hey remember this thing that used to be free? (i.e. transferring pokemon from generation to generation) Yeah, we're going to make you pay for that now." You get a free month of play for most MMORPGs, but that usually requires you to put in a credit card. We'll see if this 'free trial' does something similar in the hopes of getting at least one year's worth of $5 out over several hundred thousand players who just wanted to push their legendary pokemon up from previous gens.

But I suppose people will pay for a service what they think it's worth. If Team Fortress 2 is any indication, they will pay unlimited money for their digital objects that don't actually exist (hats).
 
I'm going to pay for the service for the additional breeding space, but it is troubling when a company says, "Hey remember this thing that used to be free? (i.e. transferring pokemon from generation to generation) Yeah, we're going to make you pay for that now."
Have you read the official FAQ? Nintendo specifically mentioned that the differences in Wi-Fi communication specifications/protocols between DS and 3DS games are insurmountable.

And remember that there's only ever been one gen in which you could transfer Pokemon without requiring a second system to do so: 3 -> 4. I'm sure they could have made an eShop app for direct transfer between G5 and XY, but then you'd need two 3DS's to actually use it (just like the Pokeshifter from G5 required two DS's).
 
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The people who actually have no way for paying for Bank is very small (either directly or otherwise), and might even be 0. By far, most of the whining of the cost isn't for people who don't have a way to pay for it but come from an entitlement attitude.

What you call 'entitlement' I call the slow creep of microtransactions. I'm going to pay for the service for the additional breeding space, but it is troubling when a company says, "Hey remember this thing that used to be free? (i.e. transferring pokemon from generation to generation) Yeah, we're going to make you pay for that now." You get a free month of play for most MMORPGs, but that usually requires you to put in a credit card. We'll see if this 'free trial' does something similar in the hopes of getting at least one year's worth of $5 out over several hundred thousand players who just wanted to push their legendary pokemon up from previous gens.

But I suppose people will pay for a service what they think it's worth. If Team Fortress 2 is any indication, they will pay unlimited money for their digital objects that don't actually exist (hats).

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The fact that there's no game or 6 pokemon at a time limit makes it so worth it. The time you can save transferring alone is worth far more than $5. In any other generation, it's been an extremely tedious procedure. That's not an issue anymore.
 
The fact that there's no game or 6 pokemon at a time limit makes it so worth it. The time you can save transferring alone is worth far more than $5. In any other generation, it's been an extremely tedious procedure. That's not an issue anymore.
Tell me about it. I was dreading sending my shiny Automatons over to X; I have 480 of them and doing six at a time would cause me to tear my hair out. It was maddening enough just doing this between Black and Black 2. Thankfully, this has been resolved. That in and of itself is worth the five bucks in my eyes.
 
What you call 'entitlement' I call the slow creep of microtransactions.

Slippery slope is absolutely the worst type of logic to use unless you got some damn good evidence. Considering that prior to now, Bank-like storage by itself cost $10-60 by itself, that is really an unsupported claim.

I'm going to pay for the service for the additional breeding space,

Oh, you poor thing.

but it is troubling when a company says, "Hey remember this thing that used to be free?

You're lying or ignorant, take your pick.

For the cost of "free" transferring from Gen I-II, you could pay for 24 years of Bank service.

(i.e. transferring pokemon from generation to generation) Yeah, we're going to make you pay for that now."

You aren't paying for transferring.

You're paying for an entirely separate app, that costs additional development resources and requires ongoing support for maintanence of cloud storage and the app, that allows you to transfer Pokemon from 5-6. In addition, it also stores Pokemon outside of your games as well. That isn't something that was free because there's really no comparable service that has ever been offered.

You get a free month of play for most MMORPGs, but that usually requires you to put in a credit card. We'll see if this 'free trial' does something similar in the hopes of getting at least one year's worth of $5 out over several hundred thousand players who just wanted to push their legendary pokemon up from previous gens.

If you bothered to read the FAQ, you'd know how odd your little conspiracy theory sounds.

You people who are paranoid over microtransactions and "CHARGING OVER FREE STUFF!!!!" really should take a stand against these horrible, money grubbing, blood sucking corporations, sell all your Pokemon and Nintendo products, and pledge never to support their practices ever again. Hit them where it hurts: their wallets.

But I suppose people will pay for a service what they think it's worth. If Team Fortress 2 is any indication, they will pay unlimited money for their digital objects that don't actually exist (hats).[/QUOTE]
 
I can think of another good reason to get bank if you happen to be competitive.

A lot of moves can only be gotten from breeding or move tutoring in specific generations. There are some attacks you can only get onto a pokemon with clever use of the move tutor and chain breeding. That are impossible to get if you don't have the right generation and bank.

Which I think adds even more to the growing pile of reasons why this is awesome.

(to recap reasons why this is awesome)

Game freak employees don't have to figure out ways to port things from console to console and can devote more energy to dev time

We don't need to own multiple of the same systems ever again to transfer

We can restart our game without loosing all our pokemon

We've got all the room to horde pokemon of every egg group and important moves/nature/ability/IV spread we'll ever want

Never again will we worry about insurmountable compatibility issues between consoles and games

All for 5 dollars a year! (Does anyone know what happens if you stop paying that 5 dollars a year? I bet they just freeze the account until you pay up).

I'm probably missing something but seriously this is a steal at 5 dollars, and with data storage costs going DOWN all the time, I find it really hard to imagine that it would creep up. If I look around at other things that are pay for content, none of them have increased their costs to keep up with inflation so there really isn't any reason game freak would, especially given the target age group.
 
It seems that a lot of the people fussing over the $5/year charge and comparing it to a micro-transaction have been swept up in the "them greedy vidya game companies and their money-grubbing ways" wave trying to fight the good fight. Problem is that they've set up camp in a relatively quiet meadow far from the front.
 
I did consider the fee a bit cheeky at first, but given that every hobby I have ever done has been more expensive (Archery £3/arrow, Warhammer 40k £2.50/paint pot), £5/year is really next to nothing. The maths just doesn't add up to make Pokémon Bank a bad purchase. Even if the cost isn't necessary, transferring pokémon was only free between Gen III - IV. I mean, seriously, why has anyone ever needed a second hand-held console for anything other than transferring pokémon?
 
Oh, you poor thing.

1) I wasn't saying that I was going to pay for it out of any perceived notion of martyrdom. I wasn't making the point like I was heroically offering to pay for the service because... of what exactly I'm not sure what you're getting at. I think the service is worth it, so I'm getting it.

2) You're right. Transferring to gen 3-5 is not free. It was functionally free to me and a lot of people I know because we have access to multiple DS systems. Pokémon is a game meant to be played with friends, and was done so for a long time with friends you knew in Meatspace. When then Gen IV to Gen V transfer option came around, many people had friends that also had a DS. The interaction probably went a little something like this:
"Hey, can I borrow your DS so I can transfer some pokemon from SoulSilver to Black 2?"
"Sure"
"Cool man"
People have pointed out (frequently) that is not "free", so maybe I'm being selfish when I appreciated a feature that I was able to use without any additional expense to myself. For me it was free. I'm sorry if you felt like you had to buy a sixty dollar dollar used DS to transfer your pokemon. I know that as a bit of a gadget guy, I have three DSs now. I have the original when it came out, a DSiXL several years later because I was travelling a lot and because it was really neat compared to my old scratched up gray brick, and I bought a 3DS because I knew Pokémon was coming out for it. I know for a fact I am not the only person who has done this, which was basically Gamefreaks' thinking when they came up with the feature. You probably know someone who has every generation of DS, just like you have that one friend who has at least one limited edition Xbox 360, despite the fact that his other works fine. You can tally up the damages if you like, but how many of you who used the IV -> V transfer feature were actually out money because you bought an additional DS for it? If this does not apply to you, please picture me like Scrooge McDuck, swimming in my gold coins and used DS's.

2a) Also, since from my point of view, transfers from gen 3 to 5 were free, or functionally free to people with at least one other person to play with, that is a space of 10-11 years (Sapphire and Ruby released in 2002-2003) to present where the service was inconvenient, but functionally free of charge. So the argument (it's only been in the last couple of gens that you can make transfers at all!) is ridiculous.

3) You're right. You caught me. I didn't read the FAQ. I only read the occasional article about its release and saw the page on Serebii.net about it. Allow me to prostrate myself before the internet forum gods (trolls) for not reading every single bit about it. So yes, you're right, from the looks of it, it does not look like credit card information will need to be placed before using the trial, but saying that I have a "conspiracy theory" over a tactic that is incredibly common in the 21st century is, I'm not sure. Again, I'll quote you and give you the choice between being a liar and ignorant.

4) And yes, I am paying for transferring my pokemon. Part of the service I am paying for is the ability to transfer from older generations up to present. For example, if I want to go through the mind numbing task of importing 1000 pokemon at a time to My Pokémon Ranch to get a Mew egg, and then forward it to my XY account so I can trade it on the PSS for a Wailord, then that is my prerogative. If I want to teach one of my 'mons a whole bunch of tutor moves in three months and then send it forward to my XY, that is my prerogative. I am paying for the service, and that is one of the features of that service. Storage is the key point, but in the FAQ you helpfully pointed out, the transporter and the bank come as a bundled function.

5) The software may have been created by a separate subset, but let's not pretend that this is some colossal undertaking. This is no herculean task as far as programming goes. This is not a development team of half a dozen people in a tiny office sweating and wondering whether or not their project is going to make it up off the ground. While I don't really believe that any corporation, especially something like this, is ever moustache twirlingly evil, the thought that "It's a video game company, they produce fun! They would never stoop to less than honest tactics to make a profit" is just as naïve as my point has obviously been perceived as paranoid.

So to put a nice ribbon on it: I'm paying for the service because I think it's worthwhile. Other people won't if they don't feel it's worthwhile. A lot of people will complain and pay for it anyway. I guess I never saw how much people were sacrificing to get their pokemon from 3 to 5. I will now quietly wander into the sunset. Good job, RandomSpot. You have defeated the internet villain. The day is saved.
 
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