In Pokémon GO, changes regarding the popular raids have been made repeatedly over the past few months, much to the dismay of trainers in rural areas. Our MeinMMO author Franzi is also very annoyed by this and explains why.
What changes are we talking about? After Pokémon GO introduced various bonuses during the Corona pandemic that made playing from home easier, these have been systematically rolled back in recent months.
In April, the popular remote raid passes fell victim to Niantic’s correction pencil. With these special passes, trainers were previously able to participate in raids in other parts of the world by receiving invites.
Now, the remote raids have been restricted and the associated passes have become more expensive.
Instead, the developers are now focusing more on local raids, such as the current Crypto Raids with Mewtwo. And this decision has negative consequences for many trainers, including myself. I will explain what these are and why this situation annoys me here.
4 negative consequences of the raid changes that really annoy me
The recent raid changes have caused a large wave of protests under the #HearUsNiantic in the Pokémon GO community. Trainers have signed the related petition in droves and an open letter to the developers followed. Nevertheless, there was nothing to be done about the decision, and Niantic is now increasingly focusing on playing on site.
However, especially for trainers in rural areas, this has resulted in a number of restrictions. I also live in a small town in the countryside. And although we can’t really complain about the number of PokéStops and gyms here, the effects of the raid changes are now noticeable in our area.
1. Lack of participation via remote raids
That many players are unhappy with the changes to remote raids is evident not only from the wave of protests on social media. I am already feeling the first effects while completing raids. In recent years, a kind of global community has formed through remote raids.
I have made global contacts with other Pokémon GO trainers with whom I have participated in raids together. If I wanted to play a raid on site, it was almost routine to invite these people. And I could be sure that some of them would be there.
Conversely, I have also received numerous invitations to raids abroad and reciprocated accordingly.
Since the changes, however, there has been a noticeable decline in participation. Even though I still invite my trainer friends, significantly fewer of them participate in the raids now. And I am also pulling back on my participation in remote raids – they are just too expensive for me. And this is especially annoying when you really want a certain raid boss.
While I occasionally participated in less interesting raids last year just to help another trainer finally get this monster as a shiny, I now think very carefully about which raids I invest my passes in. And my friends feel the same way.
2. Lack of active local community
In addition to the issue with the lack of participation through remote raids, there is also a recurring lack of an active local community, especially here in the rural area. Thus, players who do not have such a high trainer level often miss out on harder raids. And I also have to repeatedly find that in a majority of raids on site, there are only two or three of us.
Since my husband and I already have a higher trainer level and also have the corresponding monsters, this is generally a minor problem for us in most raids because we usually manage the battles, just a bit slower.
However, in harder raids, we also lack support on site, which sometimes leads to the raid simply not happening or having to hope for help via remote raid. This is very annoying if, for example, you are aiming for a specific shiny.
Other trainers who are not as far along in level, in my view, thus become extremely dependent on the few local players in order to secure certain raid bosses.
3. Trips to other cities
Since there are no longer enough active players in the local community to support raids, many have no choice but to travel to other places. Especially for top raids and the new Crypto Raids, there is hardly any other choice if you want to secure the monsters.
To bring trainers back together locally, Niantic has designed these raids in such a way that one can only participate on site. Additionally, they are sometimes so hard that you cannot necessarily complete them in a small group of 2 to 3 players.
This weekend, I will also travel to other cities specifically to get Crypto Mewtwo, hoping to get a strong or shiny specimen. After all, Mewtwo is among the best attackers in Pokémon GO.
However, this is only worth it if you can complete several such raids on site or can at least combine the game with other errands.
We show you more strong attackers in the following video:
4. Local arrangements
Another problem that Niantic has intensified with the raid changes, in my opinion, is communication. Even if there is now a standalone app called Campfire through which you can chat with other trainers or indicate that you want to do a certain raid, it is still not used particularly well by the community, in my experience.
This makes it especially difficult for trainers who, due to a lack of a local community, sometimes have to play in other cities. Often, they are not well connected with other trainers there, which is why I believe there is a need for a corresponding interface.
Especially, I find the short-term organization of raids to be difficult.
With the exception of top raids, most other raids are announced at least 60 minutes in advance. Those who are not well connected, have a long travel distance, or even need to use public transport may encounter timing issues. Ultimately, this can lead to not being able to do the raid because it is simply not possible to organize it in time, which can be very frustrating.
My conclusion on the raid changes
Do I still enjoy playing? Yes, even though the raid changes have undoubtedly had significant impacts on Pokémon GO and have made playing especially difficult for trainers in rural areas, I remain active daily. However, I am now participating in fewer raids overall because I miss the local community and remote raids are too expensive for me in comparison.
Better incentives: I believe it is fundamentally a good idea for Niantic to try to bring local communities together more strongly again. In particular, the introduction of new raid formats, like the Crypto Raids, is a successful change and motivates players to play.
However, I am missing the right incentives to attract more active players locally again. Instead of worsening remote raids, I would have preferred better rewards for trainers who go outside and play on site.
Even though playing together on site worked great before the pandemic, the community has changed over the years. Remote raids have given us new opportunities that many players can no longer imagine being without.
Especially for trainers who do not have a local community or who are not mobile due to health reasons, these remain important. To ensure that these players are not excluded from the game, remote raids should continue to be an important part of Pokémon GO, as they have been in recent years.
What are your experiences with the raid changes? Do you also have only a few active players locally? Do you travel to other cities to secure strong raid bosses? Or can you not complain about a lack of support? Let us know here on MeinMMO in the comments.
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