"[Discussion] We don't have a Stardust problem - We have a problem with candy/strong Pokémon availability due to Raids"

#PokemonGO: Hello TSR! After the introduction of raids, I was excited to see more social interactions amongst the community and a resurgence of the popularity of Pokémon Go. However, over time, I started to realize that the rewards reaped from raids proved to be quite destructive, both to the stardust mechanic and Pokémon Go's foundational gameplay/themes. Below are a few summarizing points of discussion around this topic. Game Balance/PacingStardust constraints are the only real thing holding this game together at the moment. Otherwise, there would be no challenge to acquiring any Pokémon you want, invalidating the hard work most players invested in the year prior. The issue we're seeing now is that we're being given too many of one resource (New strong Pokemon, Pokemon candies) with no changes to the other (stardust). This is why so many people are going through a stardust shortage to no surprise.I'm not advocating any changes to the stardust rewards, but if we weren't so inundated with the other rewards/strong Pokémon, half of the community wouldn't be struggling nearly as much. The pacing feels off, and it just doesn't feel right from a game balance perspective.In order to balance said pacing, raid rewards either need to be cut back (raid rewards nerf was a step in the right direction) or stardust needs to be increased (to the detriment of competitive gameplay). Unfortunately, reducing Rare Candies isn't enough to solve the stardust and strong Pokémon imbalance, lowering the player base morale while not solving the problem itself. Lack of Competitive DirectionBecause the game lacks a real test of min/maxing, skill, and knowledge, many players have turned to creating raid boss counter teams as an end-game goal. Players feel pressured to perform at raids due to the dependence on one another to take the boss down. Due to the nature of raids and rotating legendaries, stardust collection and investment has been put on a tight timeline. The domino effect of taking down one raid boss to use it on another (i.e. Machamp --> Tyranitar --> Alakazam, etc.) further compounds this issue. Inherent ValueHaving consistent access to catch a fully evolved, >=66% IV rare Pokemon is powerful enough in its own right. The fact that raids also have three unique rewards tied to it is quite overpowered. Every time I enter the shop, I'm inclined to not even look at anything other than raid passes because their inherent value crushes lures/incubators/incense (lucky eggs have their own niche). The reasonable and informed player should fundamentally shift their gameplay to favor raids due to such a value saturation. This causes a sudden influx of potentially strong, meta-defining Pokémon that demand stardust to be used effectively.In the same vein, there is too much of a value discrepancy for those resource investments to feel good about suboptimally using Rare Candies or Stardust. There are some Pokemon where acquiring candy through any means other than Rare Candies is asinine (looking at you, legendaries), and Pokemon like Tyranitar or Dragonite have such time saves through Rare Candies that it feels bad to use them on anything else. Being inundated with so many strong raid bosses and Rare Candies, along with the need to keep up with raid counter teams, almost forces your hand to power up what's fed to you instead of your fun, less powerful options. That thematically takes away from a series that has built its foundation on using your favorite characters to fight. All in all, raids have been so over-centralizing to the meta that their rewards are forcing the hand of the player to reciprocate with stardust. Being handed some of the best Pokémon in the game/meta and ignoring them to power up what you want feels punishing and diminishes what the Pokémon franchise is all about.TL;DR: Due to a lack of other competitive outlets, overtuned availability of strong Pokémon, and wide variance in Rare Candy/Stardust value between Pokémon, raids have given too much to the player and demands them to reciprocate through Stardust to keep participating. Social pressures to perform well at raids forces the player to focus their resources on strong meta Pokémon given to them through raids rather than their favorites, to the detriment of Pokémon's core theme as a whole.Edit: I realize that my opinion may be unpopular, but the goal of this post was to spur dialogue about the future direction of Pokémon Go in regards to raids. I really appreciate many of your comments below, whether they're criticism or agreement to my sentiments. Open dialogue is what this subreddit is all about! via /r/TheSilphRoad http://ift.tt/2vdgopl