In Pokémon GO there have been some changes in the past few months as the developers want to send players outside more. Now trainers have a clear demand for this and want old features back. We from MeinMMO have looked at what it’s all about.
What changes has Pokémon GO experienced? The augmented reality game was released in 2016 with the focus that players should not just sit still in front of a screen and play, but should go outside.
This was meant to provide trainers with an incentive to leave their comfort zone, explore their surroundings, meet new players, and in the process, catch the little monsters together. However, with the outbreak of the Corona pandemic, Niantic was forced to move away from this original concept in 2020 and introduced certain Corona bonuses.
These allowed trainers to play from home without having to leave the house. However, Niantic has wanted to send players outside again more strongly for several months now and systematically removed the Corona bonuses.
This led to a lot of criticism in the community. Some trainers are now clearly demanding that playing should again be more interesting without Corona bonuses.
Niantic should bring back 3 popular features
That Niantic has removed or at least somewhat downgraded several Corona bonuses, such as the effective incense while stationary, has upset many trainers. After all, they had come to like these features during the last two pandemic years.
Now, for the trainers, especially in the Season of GO, it should go out more strongly again. Particularly, exploring the surroundings and playing together in local communities is repeatedly emphasized by Pokémon GO.
Now, Reddit user Parker4815 has given this some thought and addresses the developers in a Reddit post with a clear demand: “If Niantic wants to make the game like it was before the pandemic, they need to bring back the features they removed! He further explains which features he specifically means.
1. Legendary Pokémon in research breakthroughs
First and foremost, he wishes for the return of legendary Pokémon in research breakthroughs: “If you play the game for 7 days, you should receive something rare and exciting. Legendary research breakthroughs were great rewards.”
These special breakthroughs were a fixed part of the game until the end of 2019. This way trainers could obtain the popular and especially rare monsters not only in raids but also had the chance to get a strong specimen from the weekly reward through regular play.
In contrast, current breakthroughs are significantly less well received by trainers because often only weak or uninteresting Pokémon can be obtained, such as Alolan Grimer in the research breakthrough from May.
This is what the community says about it: The fact that Parker4815 touches a sore point with many trainers and that they share a similar opinion is evident in the comments under his post. But there are also concerns (via reddit.com):
- lewisisb: “I never really understood why Niantic removed the legendaries from weekly research rewards. Apart from being such a great reward, it’s a good way to get more legendaries when you have some in raids and some in research. You also need so many candies to level them up that I don’t believe it would have any effect on raids. Unfortunately, I don’t see Niantic changing this. They don’t seem to like reversing changes for the benefit of players.”
- Novrev: “Too many legendary encounters could ‘devalue’ the game.”
- turbobuddah: “There would be no need to buy raid passes.”
- House_Of_ell: “The other nice thing about having the legendaries in research is that you can then get them low enough for the Great League. Only those who have Cresselia for the Great League are the ones who got it when it was in the research breakthrough.”
2. Return of Ex-Raids
Another highlight that many players have been missing for several months are Ex-Raids. These were available until spring 2020 and were initially not offered due to the ongoing contact restrictions imposed because of the Corona pandemic.
Previously, they were accessible to selected players with a special invitation at designated Ex-Raid gyms. There, trainers could look forward to very special raid bosses like Mewtwo.
Since Pokémon GO now wants to send trainers outside more and also interact with other players, Parker4815 believes it is the optimal time to finally bring back Ex-Raids. And in this context, he has another improvement proposal.
He writes: “Reopen Ex-Raids. You can even set it up so that qualifying for an Ex-Raid is only possible on-site, but the raid itself can be done remotely. This way, I could explore another city and wouldn’t miss the raid a week later.”
Why could this suggestion make sense? The reason for this suggestion is the original approach of Ex-Raids. Trainers could not just participate in this form of raids, but had to be invited to do so. You received the invitation if you and many other trainers played at an Ex-Raid gym.
The Ex-Raid usually took place a few days later at this gym. This was particularly a problem for trainers who were only temporarily in a city and had qualified for such a special raid. They might not have been able to attend the raid.
3. More frequent encounters with Giovanni
And even the Team GO Rocket boss Giovanni can only occasionally be found in the game after a longer break. When the villain debuted in Pokémon GO in 2019, it was already clear that you would not have a daily encounter with him.
However, there should be monthly special research tasks through which you could secure the corresponding Super Rocket Radar that you need to locate Giovanni. While in the beginning you could at least encounter the big leader of Team GO Rocket monthly, encounters have since become much rarer.
In the last year, you only had about 5 encounters with the Rocket boss. Parker4815 also finds this far too few and writes: “Bring Giovanni back. Fighting and finding him was a good challenge. Now you only fight him when Niantic allows it.”
What do other trainers say about it? In the community, there is mainly criticism about the lack of transparency regarding when Giovanni will be available next. The slow progress of the “Ultra Hero” medal is also a sore point for some (via reddit.com):
- Upper_Pomegranate359: “I want Giovanni to be available more often. Trainers need to go out and track him down.”
- nanaki_: “And 0 consistency regarding when he will be available.”
- FearMeIAMLag1: “My Ultra Hero medal is currently at 15. I’m not sure if there was a ticketed event where I didn’t get him, but I believe I have as many as you can have. I believe he first appeared at GO Fest 2019, so about 3 years ago. If this continues, I will have to play the game for another 7 years just to get the platinum Ultra Hero medal…”
To get the Ultra Hero medal to platinum, you need to have defeated Giovanni at least 50 times. If the number of encounters remains this rare in the future, it could take a while.
More community suggestions
Besides Parker4815’s suggestions, other trainers also reminisce about the origins of Pokémon GO. Especially the tracking feature of Pokémon in the early days of the game was very popular among players, which is why they wish for its return.
For example, you could locate the corresponding monster with the help of footprints. However, this feature was removed from the game after just a few months, which made many trainers very sad. The following comments can be read (via reddit.com):
- Hobo-man: “Who remembers the original Pokémon tracker?”
- Laszlo: “That was so cool. I loved tracking a Pokémon based on the number of steps. It’s a shame they didn’t even try to reimplement it.”
- Elrathias: “Man, I ran around the city like a damn idiot with that map. God, the nostalgia hits hard.”
- point_of_you: “The original tracker was so much better than the current system.”
Whether Niantic will implement these features back into the game in the future remains to be seen. Should there be any new information regarding this, you will of course be informed by us on MeinMMO.
What do you think of the community’s suggestions to reintroduce old features? Which feature would you be most excited about? Or do you have any additional suggestions? Let us know in the comments here on MeinMMO.
On June 25, Pokémon GO will at least temporarily bring back one thing. You can do Level 4 raids during the Community Day with Gulpin. We will show you what you need to know about it.
