Global Trade Station Plus
| GTS Plus | |
|---|---|
 The Website Banner | |
| Language | English |
| Status | Active |
| Run | 2007 - Present |
| Date opened | June 11 2007 |
| Creator | Zerxer |
| Forum | GTS Plus forums |
| Mascot | Zergoose |
| Website | Main Page |
Global Trade Station Plus, commonly known as GTSPlus or simply GTS+, is an English Pokémon community. It is well known for its Trading Station, as well as its sister site, Global PokédeX Plus. The website was co-founded by three members of a Fire Emblem fan-site, created on June 11, 2007, and later opened to the public on July 1, 2007.
History
GTSPlus, along with its Trading Station, was first launched in July 2007. Despite offering a range of interactive features, activity stayed fairly low in its opening months. Throughout 2008, the site continued to develop more features, such as its Gallery and Pokédex. In 2008, the website was upgraded to its current design, and by the end of the year, the site had recorded over 300 trades.
It was not until 2009 that GTSPlus began to gain widespread popularity. This was, in large part, due to the launch of its sister site, Global Pokédex Plus, on February 14, 2009. More casually referred to as GPXPlus or GPX+, this sister site allowed users to adopt Pokémon Eggs to hatch and raise by interacting with other members' parties. This feature attracted many new members, and in just a few months, the website had gained thousands of active members. With GPXPlus's heavy traffic, it has become the primary object of the staff's attention, superseding its parent site, which has not been updated since April 2010.
Global PokédeX Plus
The gameplay mechanics are simple. Users hatch and raise Pokémon Eggs by interacting with other members' parties. Interactions are made by clicking a button to warm an Egg or feed a Berry to a Pokémon. When a Pokémon or Egg receives an interaction, it gains maturity, which allows Eggs to hatch and Pokémon to level up.
There are nine main sections of GPX+ linked at the top of the page.
- Lab - The Lab displays four to five Pokémon Eggs that may be claimed. The species of each Egg is not identified; instead, each egg has a unique description. Any Pokémon can appear naturally in the Lab, but Very Rare Pokémon have a very low chance of appearing. However, "summoning items" can summon certain Very Rare Pokémon Eggs to the Lab with 100% certainty.
- Shelter - The Shelter is divided into two sections: the Egg Shelter and the Safari Zone. The Egg shelter shows all Eggs bred or released by other users, and the Safari Zone shows all Pokémon released by other users.
- Pokétch - The Pokétch provides a variety of functions. The user's Party is the main focus of the page, and other functions appear in tabs below the Party. These functions include the user's Friend Recorder, Pal Pad, inventory, Journal, Daycare, PokéWalker, Underground, Vs. Seeker, Shine Recorder, Explorations, Achievements, Trinkets, user statistics, image codes for sharing the user's Pokémon, and lists of the user's released Pokémon and bred Pokémon. Some functions, such as the Vs. Seeker and the Shine Recorder, must be bought in the Shop before they can be used.
- Battles - The Battle Tower allows users to battle other users or NPCs in real time. It uses a simplified version of the main series games' battle system.
- Users - The Users page provides a list of users who meet certain criteria. Its main use is for interacting with other users' Parties.
- Dex - The Pokédex shows a list of all Pokémon the user has ever obtained. This includes Egg Data, which is obtained through hatching an Egg of a certain species, and Pokémon Data, which can be obtained through the same process, or by adopting a Pokémon from the Safari Zone. The Dex also lists Dex completion stats, evolution information, and features an in-depth sorting system.
- PC - Pokémon that aren't in a user's party are stored in the PC. The default PC has 25 boxes, with each box able to store up to 24 Pokémon. Up to 25 additional PC boxes may be bought in the Shop. Pokémon Eggs cannot be stored in the PC.
- Shop - The main section of the Shop allows users to buy evolution items, account upgrades, equipment for the Vs. Seeker, and other miscellaneous items. The Shop's stock changes every 12 hours at 6:00am and 6:00pm. The Shop also contains a section for Accessories, a Back Room, a section for Pass Powers, and a special Prize Shop. Accessories may be used to dress up Pokémon. The Back Room, which may be unlocked after obtaining a Secret Key, sells discounted items that have been sold back to the Shop by other members. Pass Powers have a variety of effects, such as increasing the chance that Pokémon will hatch holding items or with an alternate sprite. The Prize Shop features rare stock which can only be purchased with Prize Points, a special currency which is exclusive to events and the most expensive Vs. Seeker division.
- Stats - The Statistics page is a detailed list of statistics about activity on the site as a whole, daily activity, and various "top ten" lists. Many users compete to earn a spot on these lists.
- Help - The Help section gives information about the more confusing aspects of the site, but has not been updated since September 2010.
GPXPlus's currency is Points. These can be gathered by interacting with Pokémon and Eggs to give them maturity. They are also awarded for unlocking certain achievements, winning battles in the Battle Tower or Vs. Seeker, levelling up a Pokémon to level 100, adopting Eggs and Pokémon, and various other methods.
GPXPlus is notable for its Novelty Pokémon, which are special Pokémon exclusive to the site. Novelty Pokémon are often based on existing Pokémon. Special variations of normal Pokémon shown in official media such as Crystal Onix and Clone Charizard are included, along with MissingNo., customized Pokémon like Slime Slugma and Easter Buneary, and original designs such as Pokii and Dracowymsy.
In the early days of GPXPlus, special events were held monthly, in which otherwise unobtainable Very Rare and Novelty Pokémon would be randomly distributed to members. In 2010, the special events were replaced by Explorations. There are two types of Explorations: "Special Explorations" have a higher difficulty and are only available for a month at a time, while "Normal Explorations" are easier and are available permanently. Special Explorations usually give out Very Rare Pokémon, while Normal Explorations usually give out Novelty Pokémon, rare items, or other difficult-to-obtain prizes. Two to three Special Explorations are available each month. They are rotated out at the end of each month, but older Explorations can reappear in future months, so if a member is unable to complete an exploration within the month that it is available, they can try again in the future.
Staff
Administrators
- Big Bidoof - One of the coders for GPX+
- Commander Wymsy - Handles art and monthly events
- Zerxer - One of the coders for GPX+
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