Pokemon Go trainers vent frustrations over ‘friend stacking’ problem
NianticPokemon Go fans are venting their frustrations about one of the ways the community builds in-game XP: friend stacking.
Trainers who play Pokemon Go have plenty of different goals they strive towards, but one of the longest overall goals is reaching Level 50.
Level 50 is the level cap in Niantic’s monster-catching mobile game, meaning it’s the end goal for trainers who want to get the most out of their Pokemon and the game itself.
While there are lots of different ways to level up quickly in Pokemon Go, a lot of players lean towards a method dubbed ‘friend stacking’ by some in the community. However, this level up method hasn’t sat well with every player, and some are getting fed up.
Pokemon Go trainers fed up with ‘friend stackers’
A post on the Pokemon Go subreddit sparked a discussion among the community when one trainer made a thread titled, “Why do people consistently [open] and [send] gifts until you’re 1 day away from being BF, then stop? It’s been like this for 2 months…”
The OP attached a screenshot to their post, which showed a friend that was just one day away from being Best Friends with the trainer, only to stop altogether.
The player went on to explain that they had multiple in-game friends like this and were confused at the sudden disappearance.
Many community members immediately guessed that this was a result of friend stacking. “They stack multiple friends this way so when they pop their lucky egg. They can do multiple best friends at once.”
This allowed some fans to vent their frustrations with the XP gathering method. “This is exactly why [friend stacking] can be so frustrating, if anyone keeps me waiting for too long I just delete them lol now neither of us are getting anything,” said one trainer.
Some fans wished the app itself had some sort of built-in communication method for situations like this. While Niantic’s Campfire app exists, it’s not the preferred method for every fan.
For those who may not know, when two trainers become Best Friends in Pokemon Go they’re granted a handful of bonuses including a massive 100,000 XP reward. When combined with a Lucky Egg and multiple other Best Friend XP rewards, this is easily one of the best methods of leveling up.
Unfortunately for some, friend stacking likely isn’t going anywhere as a popular XP farming method. For players with Best Friends who’ve left them feeling burned, it may just be better to cut ties once and for all.