Topic: Pokémon Sword and Shield: AKA This year's Fallout 76 apparently. /clickbait

[nickmitch]

I've been wondering how people were getting Jirachi and Venusaur in the game. I played some raids online with people using Pokemon who weren't in the game.

[BeautifulShy]

Yep Pokémon Home became live the other day.

[relicgear92]

I've been wondering how people were getting Jirachi and Venusaur in the game. I played some raids online with people using Pokemon who weren't in the game.

There are legit Jirachi from previous games because of past Mystery gift giveaways such as the 20th Anniversary event during Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire era. Those Jirachi can be transferred to Pokemon Bank and then Pokemon Home to Pokemon Sword and Shield. Although I have to warn you about some illegitimate Pokemon circling around Surprise trade. They might cause a crash to your game.

[nickmitch]

I've heard about the surprise trade issue, and that's pretty disappointing.  I thought GF had a check for illegitimate Pokemon?  Isn't there a little symbol you should see when checking the Pokemon's summary?

[Mop it up]

I believe there have always been certain Hackémon setups which can get around the checks.

[nickmitch]

Oh dang. 

Well, in any event, the new Pokemon to be announced on Pokemon Day 2020 has had its silhouette revealed on serebii.net.

[BeautifulShy]

Bumping this topic since I have Pokemon Shield now.  I have been planning out teams for each starter and for the Psychic/Fairy type on my team.   Going to start with Cinderace.

[Adrock]

Nintendo won’t refund if you have purchased the wrong DLC for Pokemon Sword & Shield

Yikes. Not a great look, Nintendo.

More importantly, why aren’t there more failsafes for stuff like this? There’s a warning message if I remember correctly. However, some extra lines of code to check the account’s previous purchases and/or save file then disable the option on the UI is not a lot of work from an IT standpoint. 🤷‍♀️ Sure, Nintendo can make money due to people’s negligence. Customer satisfaction is probably worth more in the long run.

[nickmitch]

This is a bad move by Nintendo.

To their credit, when you're in SwSh, the link to buy the DLC that's in the pause menu takes you to the correct version in the eShop, and the versions are labeled "Sword Expansion Pass" and "Shield Expansion Pass".  When they announced the DLC, I remember there being some confusion over this issue, but I think they clarified at some point.  So, I assume they knew this would be an issue.

[Stratos]

That isn't clear enough to say "Sword Expansion" and "Shield Expansion" because there will be people out there thinking they can get both. Consumers may also think they should get the opposite pass of the game they bought so they can get the other version's content added to their game. Users need strict guidance or they will always find the outlier options.

I have heard stories online of people getting the refund/switch when they call support. A similar thing happened when Switch Online released and they said you could not get a refund to upgrade from the single to the family plan, but people called in and they made an accommodation (I was one person who did that). I suspect if you call and are persistent you can get them to fix it even if they say they "can't". But the typical consumer to fall for an expansion pass miss-purchase may not have the same persistence and confidence to drive a successful change.

[Ian Sane]

I bought the expansion pass for my brother for his birthday as an online purchase worked well during the pandemic.  I hope I bought the right thing.  It was a code from Best Buy and I don't think it specified Sword or Shield specifically.  He probably got to pick when he redeemed the code in the eShop.

Not offering a refund is just being a dick.  What incentive is there for Nintendo other than to pocket the cash of someone that didn't read the fine print?  The fact that there are two things to buy is stupid.  You should have to buy one and when you install it should recognize which game you have and download the correct content or ask you at the time which game you have.  Hell, why not make it so that if you pick the wrong one and try the load the game it says "It appears you have the DLC for Sword but you have Shield.  Do you want to switch to the correct DLC for the game you have?"  This is penny pinching ****.  This is the grocery store owner refusing to refund you on expired baby food without a receipt and risk losing your business permanently over a few bucks.

[nickmitch]

I think they're separate so that people who bought both Sword and Shield would have to buy the DLC twice as well.  They're not selling an "Ultra Sword" or a "Shield 2" this time around, so the best way to get double dippers to double dip again is to split the DLC.  Not saying I agree with the move, but that's my suspicion.

That isn't clear enough to say "Sword Expansion" and "Shield Expansion" because there will be people out there thinking they can get both. Consumers may also think they should get the opposite pass of the game they bought so they can get the other version's content added to their game. Users need strict guidance or they will always find the outlier options.

I'm not sure I'm fully sympathetic with people trying to game the system in that way.  If you're able to understand that there are separate versions, why would you think one version of the DLC would work with the non-corresponding version of the base game?

If someone buys the wrong version because they weren't reading carefully, got confused, or were buying a gift and weren't sure which to get, then I find that understandable.

[Mop it up]

This is why it's best to buy DLC through games themselves, not the eShop, when given the option anyway.

Not trying to excuse anything here (no refunds on digital has always been scummy), just explaining a way this can be avoided.

[Stratos]

That isn't clear enough to say "Sword Expansion" and "Shield Expansion" because there will be people out there thinking they can get both. Consumers may also think they should get the opposite pass of the game they bought so they can get the other version's content added to their game. Users need strict guidance or they will always find the outlier options.

I'm not sure I'm fully sympathetic with people trying to game the system in that way.  If you're able to understand that there are separate versions, why would you think one version of the DLC would work with the non-corresponding version of the base game?

Its not people gaming the system, its less knowledgeable consumers thinking that is how it might work. Nintendo needs to put safeguards in place if they want to keep customers happy and considering every other store (including theirs if you push hard enough with support) has a work around to help consumers that make mistakes they should get with the program and make it possible.

[Ian Sane]

I think they're separate so that people who bought both Sword and Shield would have to buy the DLC twice as well.  They're not selling an "Ultra Sword" or a "Shield 2" this time around, so the best way to get double dippers to double dip again is to split the DLC.  Not saying I agree with the move, but that's my suspicion.

I agree with that suspicion.  But how many people honestly buy both Pokemon games?  The idea is that you trade with friends not buy two games that are almost identical.  And in this scenario, Nintendo has made more money from someone double dipping than they would from selling them two DLCs.  This small minority of double-dippers isn't worth the bad PR that comes from being strict about refunds.  Really Nintendo can have the exact same setup but say "if you bought the wrong version, contact our support team and they'll change the version or provide a refund if you bought both by mistake".  Done.  Double-dippers don't get to buy only one DLC and people that got confused don't get upset with Nintendo.

[pokepal148]

I've been gearing up my old Pokemon Bank Celebi as my new capture slave since Parasect is still locked out of Sword and Shield. It's really fortunate that Sword and Shield makes it easy to max out a pokemon's EVs and IVs because otherwise I probably wouldn't be investing in it.

[nickmitch]

I use a Venusaur with sleep powder and a wide lens for capturing. Not as good as spore, but it does the job.