"Evaluation: Are star pieces actually that worthy?"

#PokemonGO: After the release of the new Star Piece item, many of my local raid group members were quite disappointed since the earned Star Dust (SD) is only boosted by 50% instead of doubling like Lucky Eggs do with EXP or pinap berries do with candies.I tried to evaluate if this new special-event box item is actually worth to buy and to use, or if it is just another bag-filler.Looking at the ways to earn star dust in the current gameplay, there are four notable ingame actions that are rewarded with this precious resource:Raids, Feeding berries, Hatching eggs and Catching pokemonRaidsRaids are rewarded with 500 SD per raid. Multiplyed by 1.5, that makes a total of 750 SD per Raid without catching the pokemon afterwards, as one gets the stardust even without defeating the boss after the first try. Considering a) the amount of (soloable) raids needed, b) the amount of raid passes needed, c) the long waiting times in the lobby and d) the duration of the raid itself, this is by far the worst activity to use a Star Piece for.Feeding berriesFeeding the pokemon deposited in a gym of your team gives you a total of 20 SD (30 with Star Piece) per berry. With an amount of 100 berries one can feed each 30 minutes, that would make 3000 SD.Hatching eggsDepending on the type of egg, the earned SD can vary from: - 400 to 800 (2km Egg) - 800 to 1600 (5 km Egg) - 1600 to 3200 (10 km Egg)I googled those numbers. Considering you saved 9 10 km eggs and you are super lucky to get the maximum of SD per egg, you can earn up to 28,800 SD in just a few seconds if your eggs hatch at the exact same moment. Adding 50% comes to a total of 43.200 SD. Restarting the app directly after the first hatch-animation saves you a lot of time for the last activity:Catching pokemonDepending on the evolution stage of the caught pokemon and the current weather, catching pokemon rewards you: - 100 / 125 SD for any base-form - 300 / 375 SD for any first evolutionary stage - 500 / 625 SD for any second evolutionary stageAdding up 50%, the SD yields increase to: 150 / 187, 450 / 675, 750 / 937 depending on evolutionary stage and weather bonus.The real question is: how many pokemon are manually catchable in 30 minutes? How about GoPlus?To test this, I went to a place with lots of pokestops, and with lots, I really mean LOTS. At Centro Oberhausen, it is possible to reach 10 (!) Stops at once. I tossed all normal pokeballs and stocked up with superballs to improve the catch rate without having to switching balls all the time.I managed to catch 75 pokemon in 30 minutes.That are 2.5 pokemon each minute. With that many spawns, it is somehow possible to choose which pokemon to encounter, of course the focus lay on weather-boosted or higher evolutionary stages. I'll assume that each pokemon was a weather-boosted base pokemon, granting 187 SD per catch:75 pokemon * 187 SD = 14,025 SD in 30 minutes.The GoPlus needs about 10 secs for one catch, meaning 6 possible catches per minute. As one lure generates 1 pokemon each 3 minutes, you'd have to reach 18 pokestops to get the absolute maximum out of it. Sadly, the chances of catching pokemons this way are relatively low, so getting all 18 pokemon is more than unrealistic, ignoring the 18 stops in one place. But just for the numbers:6 encounters per minute * 30 minutes Star Piece = 180 possible catches 180 pokemon * 187 SD (weather-boosted stage 1) = 33,660 SD in 30 minutes.To sum it up, I came to the conclusion that the Star Piece can be enormous valuable under certain conditions. If you manage to hatch 9 10 km eggs and afterwards catch as many pokemon as possible at places like Centro Oberhausen or other Unibail-Malls, it is possible to get roundabout 50k SD in 30 minutes.Imagine that during a Double SD Event! Taking into account that you stay at these malls for at least a few hours, it is to say that even 50% are a really nice boost for those days.Otherwise, the Star Pieces seem more like a bag filler to me.TL, DR: Star Piece is not that worthy at all, only under special conditions. via /r/pokemongo http://ift.tt/2DWLbHR