Pokémon GO has seen a number of changes centered around its popular raids over the past few months, much to the chagrin of rural trainers. Our MeinMMO author Franzi is also extremely annoyed by this and explains why.
What are the changes? After Pokémon GO introduced various bonuses during the corona pandemic that made playing from home easier, these have been systematically withdrawn in recent months.
In April, for example, the popular long-distance raid passes fell victim to the Niantic correction pen. With these special passes, Trainers have previously been able to participate in raids in other parts of the world by being invited.
Now the long-distance raids have been restricted and the associated passes have been made more expensive.
Instead, the developers are now more likely to rely on on-site raids, as with the current crypto raids with Mewtu. And this decision has negative consequences for many coaches, including me. I’ll explain here what they are and why the situation annoys me so much.
4 negative consequences of the raid changes that really annoy me
In the Pokémon GO community, the recent raid changes have caused a large wave of protests under the #HearUsNiantic. Trainers have signed the associated petition in rows 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.
But especially for trainers in rural areas, this results in a number of restrictions. I also live in a small town in the country. And while we can’t really complain about the sheer volume of PokéStops and Gyms here, the impact of the raid changes is already being felt in our area.
1. Lack of participation via long-distance raid
The fact that many players do not like the changes to long-distance raids is not only evident from the wave of protests on social networks. I already feel the first effects when completing raids. In recent years, a kind of global community has formed through long-distance raids.
So I’ve made connections with other Pokémon GO Trainers around the world that I’ve been on raids with. If I wanted to play a raid locally, then it was almost routine to invite these people. And I could be sure that some of them will be there.
Conversely, I have also received numerous invitations to raids abroad and have returned the favor accordingly.
Since the changes, however, there has been a noticeable decline here. While I still invite my trainer friends over, far fewer of them take part in the raids now. And I, too, have now taken a back seat to participating in long-distance raids – they are simply too expensive for me. And that’s particularly annoying when you really want a specific raid boss.
So while a year ago I occasionally took part in less interesting raids just to help another trainer finally get this monster shiny, I’m now very careful 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 problem of the lack of participation due to long-distance raids, there is also a lack of an active local community, especially here in rural areas. In particular, players who do not yet have such a high trainer level are often at a disadvantage in heavier raids. And I also have to notice again and again that there are just two or three of us on the majority of the raids on site.
Since my husband and I already have a higher trainer level and also have the appropriate monsters, this is a minor problem for us in most raids, because we usually manage the fights anyway, just a little slower.
For more difficult raids, however, we also lack local support, which sometimes means that you simply don’t do the raid or have to hope for help via long-distance raid. This is very annoying if you are aiming for a specific shiny, for example.
From my point of view, other trainers who are not yet that far in the level make themselves extremely dependent on the few local players in order to be able to secure certain raid bosses at all.
3. Trips to other cities
Since there are no longer enough active players in the local community who can support raids, many people only have to travel to other places. Especially with the top raids and the new crypto raids, there is hardly any other choice if you want to secure the monsters.
In order to bring the trainers together more locally, Niantic designed these raids in such a way that you can only participate on site. In addition, they are sometimes so difficult that you can’t necessarily complete them in a small group of 2 to 3 players.
As such, I’ll be making a special trip to other cities this weekend to get Crypto Mewtwo, hoping to snag a strong or shiny specimen. After all, Mewtwo is one of the best attackers in Pokémon GO.
But it’s only worth it if you can complete several such raids on site or at least combine the game with other tasks.
We show you other strong attackers in the following video:
Pokémon GO: The strongest attackers of all types in the video
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4. Arrangements on site
Another issue that I think Niantic has exacerbated with the raid changes is communication. Even though there is now a standalone app called Campfire that you can use to chat with other trainers or indicate that you want to do a specific raid, in my experience it is not used very well by the community.
However, this makes it particularly difficult for trainers who have to play in other cities at times due to the lack of a local community. You are often not particularly well networked with other trainers there, which is why, in my opinion, an appropriate interface is required here.
I find it particularly difficult to organize raids at short notice.
With the exception of the top raids, most other raids are announced at least 60 minutes in advance. Those who are not well networked, have a long journey or even have to use public transport may have problems with their time. Ultimately, this can mean that you can’t do the raid because you simply can’t do it in time organizationally, which can be very annoying.
more on the subject
Pokémon GO: This is how Campfire works, Niantic’s new app that lets you chat with other trainers
by Franzi Korittke
My conclusion on the raid changes
Do I still like to play? Yes, even if the raid changes have a significant impact on Pokémon GO from my point of view and have made it more difficult for trainers in rural areas to play, I am active every day. However, I play fewer raids overall now because I lack the local community and the long-distance raids are too expensive for me in comparison.
Better Incentives: I think it’s generally not a bad idea that Niantic tries to bring the local communities back together more closely. In particular, the introduction of new raid formats, such as the crypto raids, are a successful change and motivate to play.
However, I lack the right incentives to find more active players on site again. Rather than making long-distance raids worse, I would have preferred better rewards here for the trainers who go outside and play locally.
Even though playing together on site worked great before the pandemic, the community has changed in recent years. The long-distance raids have given us new opportunities that many players can no longer imagine life without.
These are still important, especially for trainers who do not have a local community or who are not so mobile for health reasons. In order not to exclude these players from the game, the long-distance raids should 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 only have a few active players on site? Do you go to other cities to secure strong raid bosses? Or can’t you complain about the lack of support? Let us know here on MeinMMO in the comments.
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