Since 2018, the Community Day has been held monthly in Pokémon GO. MeinMMO editor Noah Struthoff likes the event, but believes that it has taken a turn for the worse in recent months.
This is my stance on the Community Day: Since January 2018, there has been a Community Day every month, except for March 2020, and I have been participating each time. The event was a real highlight for me for a long time, but over the past few months, my enthusiasm has waned.
There are several reasons for this, as the event has changed quite a bit. Therefore, I will list 3 things that the Community Day needs in order for it to turn positive for me again and for me to enjoy the event more.
I want to emphasize: The Community Day has never been a complete disaster for me. It is simply the development that has occurred over the past few months that makes the event seem a bit dull.
Often, I play a Community Day and ask myself, “Why do I actually need this Pokémon now?”. While I used to play for the full 3 hours, I’ve now only been playing 2 out of the 6 hours that I get excited about.
What could make the Community Day better
1. Fresh wind in Pokémon selection: First, we should take a look at the Pokémon from past Community Days:
- Machop
- Electabuzz
- Magmar
- Charmander
- Porygon
- Magikarp
- Haunter
- Weedle
- Samurott
These Community Days occurred between May 2020 and January 2021. I can categorize the list of Pokémon into two categories:
- Pokémon that were already in the game as Shiny
- Pokémon that bring a new Shiny form but are pretty useless
In recent months, there has been no real highlight for the Community Days. The Pokémon were either useless or I already caught them multiple times as Shiny.
Here I would like at least a surprise sometimes. The Community Days started in 2018 and 2019 with really good monsters. Dratini, Bagon, or Beldum were among the rarest Pokémon in the game back then, and suddenly they appeared everywhere for 3 hours – the hype was huge.
Now there is a Community Day with Weedle – a Pokémon that is already abundant without an event.
I understand that Niantic cannot throw out a real blockbuster every month, and I’m not expecting that. However, it would be nice if at least occasionally a rare and strong Pokémon would get a Community Day. There is still a lot of selection, like Sableye, Dratini, Shroomish, or Gligar. Those would be Community Days where I would prefer to play all day.
2. New bonuses on Community Day: Since 2018, there have been exactly 3 different bonuses to choose from for Community Day:
- Triple Stardust
- Triple XP
- Reduced hatch distance
The bonuses are nice, but they have become a bit stale. There are some opportunities to introduce a different bonus.
For all players above level 40, XL Candy is extremely important. A bonus that increases the chance for XL Candy would be very strong.
Otherwise, I would simply like something new here – maybe even a bonus that has never been there before. However, I haven’t been playing Community Day for a bonus for a while now.
3. Finally good moves again: The Community Day also brings an exclusive move that a Pokémon can only learn there. This has introduced several powerful moves into the game, such as:
- Tyranitar with Launch
- Venusaur or Torterra with Flora Statue
- Swampert with Hydro Cannon
- Metagross with Meteor Mash
The last highlight for me was the Rhyperior with Rock Wrecker. I leveled up several specimens and really benefited from it. However, the Community Day that introduced this move was already almost a year ago.
Since then, there have mainly been moves that are interesting for the PvP league but offer little advantages in raids. Recently it was Machamp with Counter. An attack that doesn’t enhance the Pokémon in raids at all. Why couldn’t Machamp learn a strong Fighting move too?
If the bonuses and the Pokémon themselves do not appeal to me, at least a strong move could provide the incentive to play a few rounds. However, this incentive has completely disappeared in recent months.
What do you think? Do you think the Community Day has developed positively or negatively in recent months? Let us know in the comments.
In February, there is also a Community Day coming up. You can find all events in this month here:
Pokémon GO: All events in February 2021 – Which ones are worth it?
