Support NeoGAF

[JoeM86]

The Global Link has updated with an notice regarding the Pokémon Global Link. First, the Global Link will open up for a special X & Y version on October 12th 2013, after a 12 day long maintenance from the start of October.

However, from January 14th 2014, various Pokémon Black, White, Black 2 & White 2 features will go offline.
Game Sync will go offline on December 10th 2013.
The trial version of the Dream World will go offline on October 12th 2013, as will new user registration.
The GTS tracking for Gen V ends on January 14th 2014 and Rating Mode on Random Matchup goes offline on January 14th 2014.
The ability to do WiFi Memory Link in Black 2 & White 2 also goes offline on January 14th 2014.
C-Gear, Musical and Pokédex Skin changing deactivates on January 14th.
Waking up your Pokémon to get items and Pokémon also deactivates on January 14th. You will be able to wake your Pokémon up from the game side at any time, but the ability to do so from the Global Link deactivates on January 14th
However, using the GTS in the games, Free Rating in the Random Matchup and all the other in-game online features will continue

It's currently unclear what features the new Global Link will have

http://ja.pokemon-gl.com/about/e_notice/

 

[Pomegranate]

Has anyone even used that?

 

[Oni Link 666]

Has anyone even used that?

The Global Link is used for trading and battling. Millions use it. Maybe you're thinking of the Dream World? That thing does suck.

 

[JoeM86]

Has anyone even used that?

It is very, VERY, big and often used in the Pokémon fandom

 

[MarcoZombieCannon]

Well, I guess I'm not waiting to pick up Y!

 

[zroid]

Shit, this kinda stinks. I still haven't exhausted everything in B2 and PGL/ Dream World are kinda vital to get the most out of it. :\

I guess I should get busy...

 

[PK Gaming]

Yikes, that doesn't sound good for certain players. When did the Diamond, Pearl and Platinum GTS go down? (if ever?)

 

[Pomegranate]

Oh wait, I thought Global Link is what's on the bottom screen, which is C-Gear (is that one any useful?) I forgot Global Link is a different thing, with a website and other cool things.

 

[Busaiku]

I hope Dream World doesn't become a chore to slog through.

 

[PS_GUY]

I used to be obsessed with the Pokemon Dream World game and even managed to plant and harvest enough berries to save up for some pretty swanky houses. Too bad it got boring real fast.

I can't even remember the last time I've logged in. Probably months at least.

 

[Oni Link 666]

I hope they never do another Dream World thing again. I don't know why they thought having people play shitty flash games on a browser was a good idea. Make people want to play the game they bought!

 

[JoeM86]

Yikes, that doesn't sound good for certain players. When did the Diamond, Pearl and Platinum GTS go down? (if ever?)

The GTS will still be up, you just can't track it on the Global Link

 

[Monado Blade]

Understandable. Oh well, I hope the new Global Link has better minigames and actually lets us play for more than a measly hour each day.

 

[Femmeworth]

Jerk move. Are they so cheap that they can't keep the old services running?

 

[Boss Doggie]

Jerk move. Are they so cheap that they can't keep the old services running running?

Considering how this is just for tracking and dream world, it's really not that much of a problem. Also this isn't the first time (see: Gen IV -> V)

Hopefully it'd be like Gen III where the next system they establish would be future proof.

I hope they never do another Dream World thing again. I don't know why they thought having people play shitty flash games on a browser was a good idea. Make people want to play the game they bought!

Yeah, had to use a tool so that I wouldn't have to play through that again. Hopefully amie would be like that, or at least something in-game for getting DW abilities.

 

[Sandfox]

I've never used Global Link but i may try it out next gen.

Considering how this is just for tracking and dream world, it's really not that much of a problem. Also this isn't the first time (see: Gen IV -> V)

Hopefully it'd be like Gen III where the next system they establish would be future proof.

Its probably just the change of hardware from the DS to 3DS that's causing the big change so I doubt they're going to futureproof it.

 

[Boss Doggie]

Yeah it's probably the change of hardware.

Still, I hope they change getting DW stuff.

 

[ash_ag]

My post from the community thread:

Wow, this must suck for people who spent a lot of time playing on the Dream World. Couldn't they at least extend the date so that people can more safely document their DW stuff? I guess this also probably means the Dream World isn't returning for Gen VI. I can't say it was brilliantly implemented, but it was a good idea and IMO they could have done more with it.

The rest also end way earlier than they should. No Game Sync from December on? What do we do with all those wallpapers now? Rating Mode also had no reason to go. I skipped the Gen V competitive scene, but I imagine the metagame differs between Rated and Non-Rated battles.

I really hope Gen VI Global Link will have a more long-term vision. They are excused for Gen V, since this is their first time implementing the idea, but they should think more ahead now that they have this experience.

And this has nothing to do with hardware. The Global Link systems' backend technologies aren't related to DS or 3DS and could be worked for either. They probably just want to reorganize everything with an altered scope. I must agree that they should hopefully stabilize everything this time around though. Third time's the charm, don't they say?

 

[Labadal]

What does this mean for potential buyers of one of the new Pokemon games that don't own any other games in the series.

 

[Pikma]

:'(

 

[ash_ag]

What does this mean for potential buyers of one of the new Pokemon games that don't own any other games in the series.

Nothing. Perhaps just that they won't have a less rich Global Link account in comparison to older players, since stuff obtained in the Gen V GL won't be reusable.

 

[JoeM86]

What does this mean for potential buyers of one of the new Pokemon games that don't own any other games in the series.

Well the majority didn't use the global link. There are 15 million Black & White owners, and 8 million Black 2 & White 2 owners (expect a lot of overlap), but there are only 3.3m Global Link accounts

 

[Samurai_Heart]

Whoa missed this thread better bump it for peeps to see, sigh I need to finish White and get a start on White 2.

 

[-Horizon-]

I haven't even used these online services for whenever I played B/B2 (just didn't want to bother).
So I'm kind of neutral when I read this.

I will use whatever system they have in place for Pokemon X/Y though.

 

[Starwolf_UK]

I hope they never do another Dream World thing again. I don't know why they thought having people play shitty flash games on a browser was a good idea. Make people want to play the game they bought!

Maybe they were going after the Club Penguin or Moshi Monsters crowd as in "keep playing our games, its got browser flash game now".

 

[entremet]

Shit, this kinda stinks. I still haven't exhausted everything in B2 and PGL/ Dream World are kinda vital to get the most out of it. :\

I guess I should get busy...

Yeah, I never got enough points for the cool Dream World pokes--poliwag, dratini, vulpix.

 

[peanutbutterlatte]

But how will I swear and curse at insane morons requesting Level 9 and under Giratinas now?

 

[WrenchNinja]

Man, the global link stuff was super annoying to use. You needed two or three IDs for it. I forgot the username and email I used and didnt know how to recover it. Was like a MGS4 konami id clusterfuck.

Hopefully by the time XY come out, Nintendo will have Nintendo IDs ready to use for the 3DS.

 

[PotionBleue]

Is there a specific reason? Makes me scratch my head when, in comparison, Mario Kart DS (2005) / Animal Crossing DS online services are still up and running.

 

[PreyingShark]

Is there a specific reason? Makes me scratch my head when, in comparison, Mario Kart DS (2005) / Animal Crossing DS online services are still up and running.

They're keeping the services non-hardcore players use - the GTS and Random Free battles. Most of the people who still use the Global Link are the dedicated fans who will have X/Y by Jan 14th.

The Pokemon Global Link mainly consists of two things - lots and lots of stats-tracking and the Pokemon Dream World. The people using the stats-tracking (Rating, trades, Pokemon usage statistics, etc.) will mostly have moved on by the time 2013 ends, and most people still using DW likely love the series to death and will also have moved on to X/Y by that point.

Most people still on Gen V will only care about the GTS and random battles, and both of those features will still be up (along with battle videos and a few other things).

The Global Link probably costs a lot more $$ to maintain than their other services. So, they're planning to cut off the services that only 5 people will be using while maintaining the ones that will still see plenty of use. It makes good business sense, really.