You actually using your Raid wins?

No.

They are earned. That is the standard of earning in the current game.

But I respect your personal goals. Play how you want.

I only do level 4 raids and I pinap them then transfer.

I already have at least 2 versions of all level 4 raid pokemon at 100% IV, all I need is candy.

With the bottleneck in stardust, it generally makes more sense to find a level 28-30 with good or great IVs in the wild. Powering up from level 20 at this point is a fool's game, unless it's something really rare that you can't find in the wild. Couple of days ago I caught a 13xx Rhyhorn, 75% IVs, and evolved him to get MS/SE. So I now have a level 29 Rhydon with solid CP and moves for an investment of 50 candy and zero stardust. Better to save the dust for things that have better legacy movesets or are legendary.

As was said, though, play your way if that's what you find fun. I've dumped a few Electabuzzes and Muks that I won from raids into gyms, they work fine there.

Lol, I have heard players call some mons as real and others fake! I however play with the rules set by the game and see no difference at all. The game is constantly evolving and I chose to evolve with it. Of course there is a degree of regret that I have worked towards goals that have now changed but that's life.
Hope you can still find enjoyment.

I only keep 90%+ no matter where it came from.

Some of the time I don't try that hard to catch the end guy, pinaps and straight balls (I cracked my phone's glass finishing a 10k egg): xp, rare candy, possible tms many times is just as useful as getting ALL of them b/c of a perfect berry and a perfect throw

If I got a good one I would but I transfered every one so far. Not one in the 90s. I don't even catch most of them because I throw the greedy pineapple. I have abcheatvsheet that tells you the 100% combat powers. If its within 20 or so I guess I would golden razz it.

LMAO! He throws those "cheats" away. I almost fell out of my chair. You made my day, thanks!

I honestly do think it's BS that people are getting all these Pokemon...with HIGH IV's. I don't think it's right. Especially the Tyranitar and Snorlax raids with +10 people! With that being said...

I got a 14/15/15 Vaporeon today from a SOLO raid. I beat it with 5 seconds left. I beat it on my own with the Pokemon that I have earned and powered up way before these raids started. I think I EARNED this Vaporeon. I'm definitely going to use it. Too bad it came with WG/WP. I'm going to have to use a charge TM at one point.

So noble! Wow! Great job!!!

I used to feel that way about buddy-walking to evolve a rare mon, but I've since softened my stance.

No, I consider caught raid bosses to be perfectly legitimate. The only one so far that has actually become a major force on my team is a 96% Machamp that originally had BP/DP. I TM'd it to C/DP, powered it up to level 31, and now it is one of my favorite and most useful mons.

Just curious, do your higher standards preclude you from using TM's? I was dead set against the introduction of TM's, until I evolved a 100% wild-caught Dratini into a SW/HB Dragonite (my second straight Dragonite evolution to get that moveset). Needless to say, I've softened my stance on TM's as well.

Not all the raid catches are actually decent mon. The odds are the same as hatching that you will get one worth keeping. The only one I have gotten from a raid worth keeping is a Magikarp (soon to be evolved). I don't feel guilty about keeping hatches, so I don't feel guilty about keeping raid catches, if they are worth keeping.

Yes & no. Now that stardust is more scarce than rain in the desert, it's not worth powering them up if you're level 30+. The only raid boss that I didn't have a superior version of was Machamp since Machop rarely spawn here; that's been the only raid boss I've powered up in order to use on my main "team". It could just be the salt of being level 37 and earning all those pokemon prior to the update, but I think it's bs that Niantic made it possible for everybody to obtain powerful/rare Pokemon so easily. Whether you walked 500km for your Tyranitar or caught one thanks to the help of 19 other people, the novelty of possessing these rare Pokemon wears off quickly when you realize everyone and their brother now has pages of Tyranitars/Muks/etc. Total cash grab by Niantic and one that can spiral out of control fast unless they get their act together and start worrying about the game's long term future.

Yeah they should have give the chance to catch a larvitar, machop or just a little more rewards instead of a pokemon.