After their absence, the raid eggs are now back in Pokémon GO. However, not all trainers are satisfied. For many players, this is a step in the wrong direction.
With an update in Pokémon GO, the eggs and countdown timers for raid battles are back in the game. These eggs were first activated in the game last summer and indicated to trainers that a raid battle would take place soon. Which opponent was in the eggs cannot be recognized from the eggs.
This egg feature was later quietly removed. Now players saw directly which raid bosses were waiting for them in the arenas, without a countdown. For many trainers, this was an advantage that has now been removed.
Raid Eggs in Pokémon GO are back: What’s inside pink, yellow, and purple eggs?
Raid eggs with a countdown have now reappeared at various Pokémon GO arenas. Based on the color of the eggs, you can determine how difficult a raid is.
- Pink eggs can contain bosses of difficulty level 1 and 2.
- Yellow eggs spawn bosses of difficulty 3 or 4.
- In purple eggs legendary bosses are waiting.
The egg countdown currently starts at one hour (Niantic may adjust the times). After that, you have one hour for the raid battle. You will be informed via in-game message that a raid will soon take place in your vicinity. This is meant to give players enough time to get to a raid.
The fact that the eggs are back and that the avatars of the bosses replace them over the arenas has its pros and cons.
Advantages of the countdown eggs:
Many trainers organize themselves in WhatsApp, Facebook, or Discord groups with other trainers for raids. Now that the raids no longer start spontaneously, but have a countdown again, there is more time for trainer groups to prepare.
On Reddit, trainers report that they missed some raids because they always arrived too late. With this early notification, their chances of participating in the raid with other trainers increase. Which boss is waiting there is then a surprise.
Disadvantages of the raid eggs:
Some trainers are unimpressed by the countdown eggs. The biggest problem is that they can no longer immediately recognize which raid bosses are waiting for them – they want no surprises.
Trainers choose specific raids because they are looking for a specific raid boss Pokémon. Now chance has to decide whether the yellow egg contains the expected Tyranitar or Rhydon, or if only a Charizard appears.
Reddit user derecho09 adds, “If raids were rarer, there might be a need to prepare longer for an unknown boss. On the other hand, trainers select spots with many raids to decide against which boss they want to fight. For players in rural areas, the eggs might be helpful.”
Mixed feelings among trainers
Since the raids began at the end of June 2017, they have become a regular task for trainers. They are announced with eggs and a countdown timer. This feature suddenly disappeared after a few weeks, and the raid bosses were shown directly.
Without a countdown timer, the raid bosses were directly displayed over the arenas and could be fought for two hours. Now, the time window for battling the raid bosses is only one hour, and trainers must wait for the countdown on an uncertain boss to start the battle.
In the community on Reddit and Facebook, it is often read that the eggs are not a bad idea in themselves. Organizing raids is important in places with few trainers. However, if players could see what is in the eggs beforehand, that would be even better.
Coloring eggs – almost like Easter
Suggestions on how to make the eggs fit into the game “more meaningfully” are frequent. For example, user kaspergm suggests coloring the eggs in the color of the corresponding candies. This way, trainers would know during the countdown where a Tyranitar is waiting for them and still have time to organize.
Another solution would be to shorten the duration of the eggs. Currently, trainers have a one-hour countdown and then one hour to battle the hatched boss. If the duration of the eggs were shortened to half an hour and the battle time for the raid bosses increased back to two hours, Niantic could satisfy some trainers.
How would you improve Pokémon GO raids? What bothers you?
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