Pokemon Go community begs Niantic to “let go of 2016” in order to improve Raids
Pokemon Go players have been left with a sour taste in their mouths following the debut of Elite Raids, and they are blaming the poor launch on Niantic being “stuck in the past”.
On October 15, Niantic launched Elite Raids in Pokemon Go. These brand-new Raids would appear in gyms as eggs with a 24-hour countdown. Once the eggs hatched, players would have 30 minutes to fight and capture Hoopa Unbound.
And while some players were successful in defeating Hoopa, not everyone was able to gather enough trainers to take this Mythical Pokemon on. To make matters more frustrating, Niantic made it so that Elite Raids can only be taken on in person.
But for some players – especially in rural areas – gathering a group of players large enough to take on any Raids is a challenge. This led to a number of players begging Niantic to let go of the past and embrace the utility of Remote Raid passes.
Niantic is stuck in 2016, and Pokemon Go suffers
While players do seem a bit divided by Niantic’s underutilization of Remote Raid passes, many players have voiced their disappointment in the lack of Remote Raid compatibility during the Elite Raid debut.
Some players believe that these complaints stem from laziness and that trainers played the game just fine for years without Remote Raid passes. However, others argue that times have changed, and Niantic’s way of approaching Raids needs to change as the developer seems stuck in Pokemon Go’s glory days.
“It’s not 2016 anymore,” Reddit user BapsMcGee wrote. “The primary tenants of Pokémon Go are community and exploration, but Niantic needs to go about these in a different way.”
They went on to claim that the Pokemon Go community is “too niche” compared to what it once was making it difficult (or impossible) to pull off meetups in smaller communities. “Not only is it a logistical nightmare for most players, it can result in unsafe and uncomfortable situations.”
And a dive into the comments shows a large number of players feel the same way. “Whenever I play the game I feel like I’m being punished,” one user added. Another stated, “It’s not the massive game that everyone and their mother is playing anymore.”
BapsMcGee offered a solution that many trainers have echoed for months. “Pokémon go should be encouraging global, remote interaction rather than clinging to the lost age of 2016.”