"How can Niantic maintain enthusiasm for raids now and into the future?"

#PokemonGO: With raids up and running for nearly two months now I’ve been reading the feedback from various players and asking people in person how they feel about raids. While it seems that most people are generally pleased with raids there has been some concern from other players, both rural and city based. These concerns have centered on fairness and interest.I wanted to talk about the upcoming generations and what this might mean for raids and players in general. How can Niantic maintain enthusiasm for legendary* Pokémon and raids while also not excluded rural players who often have gotten the short end of the stick?Just to give a bit of background information for those who are not completely familiar with the Pokémon franchise, generations 1 & 2 contain a relatively small amount of legendary Pokémon. Gen 1 has 5 and Gen 2 has 6. The number begins to increase over the course of the next few generations. Gen 3 will introduce 10 new legendary Pokémon, Generation 4 contains 14 legendary Pokémon, and Generation 5 will bring 13. As you can see the amount of legends quickly begins to add up.So, what’s the point of all this information? The current method of distributing legends does not seem sustainable in the long term, in terms of player enjoyment and fairness for all players. It’s not just the sheer amount of legends available either. Many players that I’ve asked about raids are feeling bored. The first week of a new legend is fun but then raiding becomes less about the legend and more about the XP and raid rewards. Why does this matter? City players who missed out on the first week or two of raiding are struggling to put groups together now. Rural players have struggled since the beginning. What else can be done?Daily Tasks: Daily tasks have been suggested for Pokémon Go for months now. Niantic should consider implementing these not only as way for rural trainers to have the opportunity to catch a legend but also to encourage players to get out and start walking again. As an example, players could be tasked with catching five Pokémon of a certain type every day. If they successfully keep this streak for a week, a legendary would spawn at their location. This gives rural players at most a few chances every month to catch a legend. Raids would still be the focus for city players and high spenders who want the most chances of catching a high IV Pokémon.Rare spawns: “Retired” legendary raid Pokémon can become rare spawns in the wild. This would give players who missed them the chance to catch them without waiting for it to come back into rotation. With so many legendary Pokémon on the horizon one could be waiting a long time just to fill that spot in their Pokedex. Wild spawns would appear without the traditional roll for high IV which would mean those looking for a high IV legend would need to focus on raids to get them.The danger in relying solely on raids for legendary Pokémon not only means continually alienating a portion of the userbase but even those who live in the ideal area for raids will suffer from “raid fatigue.” Legends should be used to encourage players to explore all facets if the game. Take down gyms, spin pokestops, catch Pokémon, walk, hatch eggs. A Pokémon like Phione ,which in the main games required you to breed a Manaphy with Ditto, could be placed in eggs rather than raids to get players walking and buying incubators again.Tldr: Raids can continue to be the main method to acquire legendary Pokémon as it makes financial sense but they should not be the only way to obtain them.*For the sake of simplicity and clarity. I’ve used the term ‘legendary’ to describe both legendary and mythical Pokémon. via /r/TheSilphRoad http://ift.tt/2wo9QVy