PokemonGo #14. Rhydon Time, Rhy-Rhy- Rhydon Time...

I haven't had any shinies at all. Not even a magikarp, although living away from water sources a magikarp is pretty exciting anyway. I've been peeved when they turned out to be Ditto before!

I've found raids quite erratic recently. It seems to be all or nothing. I know that a gym doesn't have any when the ex raid invitation is issued, but the others nearby seem quiet too.

KadabrasSpoon How often do you raid, though? Because until this round of passes, you had to raid at a (mystery) specific gym within a certain timeframe.

I’ve had three shiny magikarps and two shiny pikachu’s, as well as the shiny Zapdos (so if you have Zapdos, you have a shiny). I don’t mind waiting for the rest of the shinies because at least there’s a chance there.

I play every day and have never got an ex raid pass. Or a shiny anything. I find it hard to get annoyed about though although I do jokingly think that the game hates me sometimes.

It's like when you have a rare pokemon and then they do an event and give everyone one. Just one of those things.

I'm actually off to NZ so expect Relicanth to move to the UK temporarily or something like that

If they were trying to re-engage dormant accounts and get the casual players back out, it still doesn't make any sense to do it this way. Loads of very active players, me included, have a pass they can't use because it comes from a random place miles away or in a different country that they spun a disc on while visiting last summer. People are pretty much universally saying that they had no interaction with these gyms except for a disc spin.

So there's no reason to think that dormant or very casual players would be in a different situation. They will have passes for gyms they barely used. If they wanted to re-engage folk, they would have given passes for gyms people were interacting with the most frequently when they were playing, so that they would be likely to be able to attend the raid.

I'm still calling cock up.

Moving on, here is a list of the best attackers in the game for each type:

pokemongo.gamepress.gg/best-attackers-type

Maybe the trend is now on the way out?

It will be if they carry on with this behaviour.

I feel hacked off too - 2 local gyms have got Ex raids but I've got a pass for one 100 miles away that I've only swiped once. We had a really active PG group on Facebook and it's suddenly gone very quiet. Maybe the trend is now on the way out?

I usually raid every night and haven't this week, miss it really.

Someone on my local (London) whatsapp group got a pass, for a gym in Australia! A couple got passes for a gym in Berwick upon Tweed. There were other mad passes too, but those ones stuck in my mind! Nobody is going to them...

I didn't get a pass this time, but I already have a Mewtwo, and I've got a pass for a raid tomorrow night anyway.

PickAChew I dedicate the time by making the time fit into my schedule; so before and after work, during my lunch break, all day on my days off.

I could easily not dedicate such time but I do because I enjoy the game and want to, as Ash puts it, catch ‘em all. I can’t catch ‘em all if Niantic only puts certain Pokemon in raids with specific parameters (fine) and then arbitrarily decides to piss off their loyal and dedicated players by rewarding dormant and casual accounts with a chance at the most coveted Pokemon there is (not fine).

There’s no need to take my comments personally; I’m not having a go at you or diminishing the way you play. As you say, it’s just a game, we can all play however we want.

But it is a kick in the teeth to dedicated players. If you specifically spend a lot of time on a game and then get fucked over it’s only natural you’d be pissed off.

I've looked up the one I've got a pass for. I know the gym as it's at a playground near MiL's house, so it was within a 3 day window in early August. I haven't got a badge on it so I've not done much more than swish the stop or possibly put a mon in.

More 1 or 2 star raids would do more to encourage people as it wouldn't make them dependent on other players.

In other news, I've hatched a second Mareep of recent times, and failed to catch two Kyogres following raids. Rolls eyes.

Those white rings, though. We're clearing them up from the whole of northeast England, one by one 😇

We don't all have nothing more to do than dedicate such time, whattodo

I do enjoy playing Pokémon go as it's a pleasant diversion but was too busy to do any more than nip 2 doors down to spin the pokestop on the corner while I was waiting for ds2's taxi, this afternoon, so I could keep up my streak (a streak I never kept up when I lived a mile from my nearest pokestop). Most of my playing happens while either travelling or waiting and sometimes I can be out all day with ds1 and not even see a raid that we can do together.

I've been checking out the silph road and, to be honest, I find all the ranting and pouting about what is, after all, a game, faintly ridiculous, to be honest.

it's all about tempting back former players into the game.

But what they’re actually doing is alienating current and dedicated players who are going, at some point, to get fed up and jack it in.

Then they’ll lose their core base because they fucked it up themselves.

I can totally see why Niantic are giving out the freebies and special items to people who used to play, or play infrequently, it's all about tempting back former players into the game.

Doesn't really bother me tbh, I don't really do the raiding thing.

PickAChew They put in place a specific system with specific requirements to be able to get an ex-raid pass. If you don’t do raids or you don’t meet their requirements, you shouldn’t even have the chance of getting an ex-raid pass. That’s wholly unfair and an unacceptable way to treat people who do put in the time and effort to go to raids, particuarly every day.

I’m not having a go at you or those players who don’t make it to many or any raids, but it is a kick in the teeth to players that dedicate their time to understanding the system, targeting gyms and raiding several times a week and still get nothing.

Whattodo it may also have been intended to reward players like me who have played every day from the get go but don't make it to many raids, so have missed out, so far.

I didn't get an EX raid pass, anyhow.

Yes, I think it was intended to some extent, but not quite this! I'm intrigued to see if it all goes ahead or not

PikachuHeadgear Apologies; you’re right, it was.

I do believe it was intended in honour of Mewtwo’s Birthday in a bullshit attempt to bring back casual players and dormant accounts with the promise of a Mewtwo. We knew they were going to try and mark Mewtwo’s Birthday in some way.

Guess we’ll hear soon enough

That tweet is from Pokemon Go Hub, not Niantic? They are just reporting what they are seeing. If you go the original tweet and click on the link to the full article, they say that they are clueless to what is going on here

I can't believe this was intended. Loads of people here have invites to gyms they basically walked past in other countries while they were on holiday last summer.

I think it's more likely to be a mistake than intentional. Even something as simple as an "or" where there should have been an "and" in the algorithm.

PikachuHeadgear No, it’s not a mistake. It’s in honour of Mewtwo’s Birthday, which was yesterday, 6th February.

Niantic confirmed it was intentional via a tweet which I posted on the previous page.

I agree. Niantic are taking the piss. Somebody in our local group has a pass for a gym he only span the disc at.

That seems to be common. The one I've got is for a gym about 300 miles away that I only ever span a disc at around 6 months ago, and there are numerous similar stories around here.

I think it's more likely to be a mistake than intentional. Even something as simple as an "or" where there should have been an "and" in the algorithm. I've only heard this about 4th-hand but it seems like one gym per cell has an ex-raid, but way too many passes have gone out. This is a big problem in dense population places like Manhattan, huge number of passes for 2 gyms apparently. It's potentially a safety issue. I wonder if they might end up cancelling it.

Oh good - I'm not missing out then!

New Pokemon today and I have flu!!

Eggzandbacon What new Pokemon? I don’t think there are any?

If you’re talking about the news that flashed up after the latest update declaring new Pokemon, that’s two weeks old.