Sparkle Points, a Shiny Pity System, or other alternative shiny obtaining/hunting system

Due to a recent discussion in Poor game mechanics (shiny hunting), it has come to my attention that some players are still unhappy with the methods revolving around shiny pokemon, and I would like to propose a solution to complaints found in that thread, and ones I’ve seen arise in the discord and in-game chat system over the duration of their existence. I propose an alternate method, that either is put in place in addition to current methods or replaces them entirely, I’ll leave it up to what staff and players think is right. I suggest that upon killing a shiny, they drop a Sparkle Point or some item along the point, that when accumated can be turned into a sparkle token, most games with low rates have some sort of pity system or another that helps account for bad luck, I think this way the number of players complaining about shinies not recruiting will be greatly reduced, as something will still be awarded to the player. As people have been saying since the beginning, “Finding a shiny and not recruiting it can be heart wrenching.” especially if they are rare. Which is also an issue, PMU doesn’t have a chaining method or “great equalizer” like the masauda method, causing some shinies to be oversaturated, and others to be undersaturated, more so than even the main series. This will also eliminate the long standing displeasure with finding pokemon that are completely unrecruitable, which although a bug, and one that I’d assume will always be an issue with new dungeons and so on, is incredibly heart breaking, especially for those who have had it happen repeatedly or haven’t found a shiny in awhile, once again I think that this would solve this issue. I also think this will solve the issue of people’s complaints about not being able to make pokemon of sentimental value for example starters, shiny, without making sparkle tokens common, or an event farm which previous distribution proved too grindy which lead to health and academic issues for some of the PMU player base, as this would be both a permanent inclusion of sparkle token, and be very very unreasonable to attempt to grind out, but rather slowly due to encounters, and would thusly make sparkle token let’s say hypothetically we make the ratio of sparkle point trading 10 for 1 sparkle token, it would mean every ten shiny encounters the player gets a choice shiny of a pokemon they already own, I think that’s reasonable? some players haven’t even found 10 shinies yet at all.

TL;DR version

  • Make shiny encounters drop sparkle points (place holder name, untradable item), or another type of pity system
  • Have sparkle points be traded for sparkle token at around 10 per token. (Place holder number)
  • Possibly have one drop for each person in the party? (only can be picked up by respective party member and untradeable) to eliminate conflict between members over shinies, or/and crying from party members accidentally killing shiny. (Probably a long shot coding wise, just a suggestion to a problem, nothing more)

This is actually pretty good, but you forgot what Deleca brokedown of why shiny pokemon disappears (and I tested it once and it happened…).

Deleca’s Theory: Why Shinies Disappear (Maybe)

This idea is amazing Demetrius! But shiny pokemon disappear for holding items needs to be fixed first to this be a great hit!

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my huge problem is that you can farm easy/common shinies and get a token to find something that would normally take like half a year (myself as experience ;l)

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Shinies that were common were nerfed, it’s not something you can still do easily, and if players do find a place that has higher shiny chances then this would be a great way to find odds that still need adjusting wouldn’t you say? The original idea for shinnies was for them to all pan out to the same rarity, if they aren’t then that’s another issue that needs to be addressed, right?

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Chrollo/Luci makes a valid statement. As much as I hate my RNG, I don’t think I would support this idea. People will find the easiest way to get a shiny and then get a sparkle token. Who knows, some mechanics might get abused here and there, and the economy could get damaged even further.

I think if we could get a few fixes on the things I mentioned in my thread, we should just be fine.

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Honestly I thought about this concept too a couple times. I think it’s definitely one to consider at some point, but the nuts and bolts would have to be thought through thoroughly. The pure RNG component is definitely a bit frustrating with shinies atm (imo at least).

My personal idea was dungeon specific. So failing shinies in a dungeon would give you a portion of a way toward claiming various shinies from that dungeon only, with rarer ones being much more expensive. That would fix the issue of abusing common shinies in say, pebble cave, to cash out on a rare shiny from another dungeon. The downside to such a system is you’ll now have to put a ton of work toward figuring out “balanced” rates for each dungeon and constantly have to track them to see what’s too little or too high - that’s a lot of work. Not to mention the fact that the game has over a hundred dungeons atm - which is a lot to be trying to figure out a dungeon specific system with lol.

Still, I think there’s a really cool core of an idea here.

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I definently agree with this also, certain rarities and situational shiny pokemon needs to have a lil more balance or adjustment. Is needed somehow, but there is a lot to unpack from this, because this isn’t the only topic related to shiny suggesting, it needs a lot of stuff to define and also means a lot to work on. Hope there is a fair balance to have a pretty more clear idea.

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That just begs more questions, we (the players) were told when sparkle tokens came out that all pokemon would have roughly the same shiny rarity with rarer pokemon being more common shiny, and common pokemon having less likely a chance in normal dungeons. We were told this before dungeon shiny pokemon were added and before sparkle tokens were discontinued, this led a lot of people to use sparkle tokens on “common” pokemon thinking they would be mush rarer down the line due to low chances unless something has seriously changed since the beginning of the year when rates were still being adjusted, mainly nerfed in common dungeons, that this balance is now no longer a priority it is something I was not aware of, in which case, I not only think that your suggestion of different mon dropping different amounts is a good one, but I think it is further motivation for this to be implemented, for people who happen to find 3 really rare shinies and fail to recruit all of them, which is an incredibly likely thing with some of the low recruitrate pokemon in this game like I said in the first post, I think the ultimate goal isn’t just an RNG loophole, but an equalizer and hunting method since players without the return of sparkle token could spend an entire year doing dungeons for a shiny they want and still not get it.

-TL;DR

  • I think that is a great idea Turtwig, and probably is more practical given current circumstances.
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I think that still is the plan, but in practice, implementing balanced rates is really tough. The way NPC probabilities are done is a bit complicated (involves weighted averages iirc?), and RNG is always incredibly variable. It’s true common shinies have been nerfed, but rarer ones have also been buffed (I know Pachirisu for one got a really hefty one, among others).

The exception to that rule is HCs - which we deliberately give boosted rates to. That was one of the concerns I had with granting a sparkle token specifically, as we wouldn’t want to apply the “pity points” from an HC to those of other dungeons as they would tip the scales. And HCs generally are less “balance-tested” than other dungeons due to their shorter timeframe, which can lead to large ranges of variability.

And I know the pain with using Sparkle Token on common Pokemon - I myself used the token on a Magikarp. It’s unfortunate for sure, but hopefully expectations are more clear going forward - this was an entirely new introduction to the game that drastically changed how PMU is played in many ways, so some hiccups were bound to happen.

With regards to the actual system I laid out in my previous reply, I didn’t necessarily mean different Pokemon would drop different amounts - although that is a good idea as well. I moreso just meant the “cost” of them would be higher, although it makes sense it goes both ways. That whole system was just a personal idea of mine tbh - I haven’t really fleshed it out enough.

Edit: Just clarifying that I only think that to be the case - I do not want to give any misconceptions by accident :(

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keep in mind im kinda biased because i think sparkle tokens were a HUGE mistake to PMU but ye xD

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Well thanks to your advice we kinda have a big fix, let’s say make the trade-in value like 20, and have HC mons drop 1, and normal mons drop 2? or something like that ya?

Sparkle tokens have many issues, many many issues, I think that the concept was a good idea, but the execution was poor, and I could write an essay on how flawed sparkle tokens distribution is in practice, but on the other hand, this was a new thing, there hasn’t been shiny pokemon in this version of PMU yet, so there is no blame for why it was a failure, and why there were issues, but there is definitely a reason for frustration in general, implying it’s not directed at a person. We can’t change it, what’s done is done, I think that there should always be a way for people to make sentimental pokemon of theirs shiny, however, I think that this shouldn’t be common enough to be an immediate grind, or common enough for players to ruin the shiny experience, it should be something players who spend time dungeoning should be able to do at least every year, and there can even be a cap for how many times it’s done a year to limit being abused, I think it’s absolutely something that can be implemented that benefits everyone.

Edit: I actually REALLY like that idea, why not make it limited to one perperson a year? Just have them exchanged for a key that can be used to enter a room that blocks reentry of the same player, similar to event distributions like the Shiny Eevee, ect, that way it won’t be abused, and no one is frantic grinding, just change the key and the entry blocker every year or something, maybe make this sparkle token untradeable? What do you think about that @Levy @Chrollo

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Its better then how it was done in the past but i hate token with a burning passion sadly nothing will change my mind xD (spent a whole year and didnt find a single rare shiny i was going for someone just using an item on a mon i spent a year of my life to find will never be fair in my eyes) :frowning:

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Darn, I was really hoping that and Turtwigs plan of having different rarity shinies would change your mind, you’re entitled to your own opinion, although I think it would ease your issue, and not make it worse, complaints like that are why I made this thread in the first place, I know a lot of people who spent this entire year hunting for something and not getting it, it’s one of the reasons why I think the current system is unfair in the first place.

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I have a huge question… Not only for you, FOR EVERYONE.
Why hang on sparkle token? is more than already nerfed!
I know everyone has their stories with them, but just live with it! you used on something you wanted or loved, ignoring is rare or not, I personally used on a favorite of mine, and I don’t regret, that type of choices are not for regret at all if you had it in your mind. it requires power of will to accept what you have done but that hate and this cheer words will make this unrelated and will not make any difference.

Being honest, THIS is going to be a nice way to implement Sparkle Token but fairly and right! Sparkle Token was a mistake, yes, somehow it was when it happened in HC, but not anymore. But those hate comments to that makes me think also: “Shinies where a mistake”.

Instead of focusing on grudges and “bad” experiences, let’s look the bright side and aim to make it right and balanced! that’s why we suggest stuff for PMU, To make things better and fair for everyone! I won’t be here if is not that way. We win some, we lose some. we need to get over the past if we want a future, that’s because now is a PRESENT.

And also I would like to add, I was in exams/classes/work when that Sparkle Token in HC happened, I’m a guy who keeps most of the stuff in private because is my stuff, but if you feel things are bad, trust me, it can get worst!

Where I’m going with this? this is my experience of how I got my Sparkle token:
I had checked and high limited time to play HC! (a Run Per Day) It was a nightmare for me to get it, to a point that I felt it was useless, but I gave my best, so I can openly say, if you were able to get at least 1 Sparkle token, feel blessed because I bet and know some people who were in the same situation or related or worst of mine and didn’t make it on those times, they still hurt about it or feel envy of others who had the chance to made it.

But I’m here! and I want the things be better and fair for everyone! I’m not complaining everywhere the mistakes or failures, otherwise, I’m suggesting and contribute to make this a better game! let’s focus on that! If I was able to move on, I know everyone else can, is not easy, but is something that has to be done one way or another.