"Thoughts on Lotad Event"

#PokemonGO: So the Lotad event has finally ended for me and I wanted to talk about what I thought of this research event.​Time PeriodThe time period goes from 11am to 8pm. I would say this is a really good way to allow players to choose when to start and how long they play for. It's especially good for those who work in the afternoon since there is still time to complete some research. It also alleviates higher volume of players walking around the same area. I did 2 hours of grinding in the afternoon.​SpawnsThe spawns were overall good. There was enough weather boosted Pokemon to complete research and a ton of Castforms to shiny check. However, I got a bit mislead by the details of the event from the in game notice. I thought that all the weather specific Pokemon were going spawn at the same time ("Pokemon that appear due to weather conditions will appear more frequently"). I was lucky to have windy weather so I still got to catch some Drifloons.​Research TasksThey were similar to the Clamperl ones. They were great. The only issue is trying to complete the raid and battle gyms quest when there's limited gyms in the area and long waiting periods for raids to disappear.​Shiny OutcomesI ended my session with 3 shiny Lotads and 1 shiny Castform. Judging from other outcomes from other players, my Lotad numbers seems to be standard to 2 hours of research but my Castforms seems relatively lower (probably just bad luck). The Lotad rates felt similar to the Feebas shiny rates in Asian-Pacific area (1 in 20 with me getting 4 within 3 hours). I've seen some comments saying that the rates are not good but to be fair, the rate is appropriate for its 9 hours. I didn't expect the rates to be as insane as Clamperl Day (I got 11 shinies) and it was fine for Niantic to do so. However there were a few players that I've seen saying they didn't find a Lotad or had a really low number while playing for a few hours which is unfortunate. Having shiny Castform alongside the Lotads was really good because it meant that there was something extra to hunt while completing tasks and compensate for a lower rate on the featured Pokemon (albeit not as good of a Pokemon)​For Future Research EventsBased off the three research events, what Niantic should do for the next event is:Keep a wide time period for the eventKeep the tasks simpleSlightly bump the shiny rate up (maybe to 1 in 18)Always have side rewards (exclusive moves, shiny, triple dust/candy/exp etc)Shorten raid times but increase the frequency (to complete raid and battle gym quests easier)Listen to players' feedback (especially rural players) via /r/TheSilphRoad https://ift.tt/2uBIw2A