"Niantic's Missed Opportunity: The Case for Courting Rural and Solo Players"

#PokemonGO: PrefaceA non-insignificant portion of the player base fall into the category of either rural or solo players for one reason or another. Niantic’s recent behavior pattern displays a growing negligence of this portion of the base as we can see from the removal of Legendary Pokemon from research breakthrough to less obvious slights like moving a regular 2-star Lickitung raid to a 4-star and giving it access to bodyslam.Before the pitchforks are brought out and I get shouted down because PoGo is supposed to be a “Social Game” by nature, let me give you another phrase people who defend Niantic/Pokemon with, “THIS IS A BUSINESS NOT A CHARITY!!” With that in mind, we can begin discussing how neglecting the rural and solo players is a lost opportunity for Niantic to not only foster a healthy player base but also earn money.How can Niantic engage the portion of the base which are most likely least interested in spending on money on PoGo? Raiding, PVP, Quest/Research changes, Egg pool changesRaidingAs it stands, raiding is an afterthought to for most people who can only field a small group or are playing solo.Solution 1: Make lower level raids more frequent and desirableIn areas that never get groups of people doing 5-star raids, spamming them with these useless raids does nothing for Niantic or the players near these gyms.*Sidenote: The lobby needs to be overhauled so we can skip the countdownHaving more lower level raids (1-3*) in these spots makes a lot of sense. To attract trainers to spend their daily and reach for premium passes, relevant and desirable Pokemon need to be put in them more often. These should be rarer Pokemon, Pokemon with raid relevance, gym defense, special attacks, and of course PVP prowess. Good examples already are Machamp, Achu, Timburr, and others that make people want to get off their couch.Solution 2: Scalable 5-star raids via paid passPut your shiny Giratina away angry raiders and listen for a moment. This may be the most polarizing suggestion; however, having a special raid pass to scale a raid to a single person encounter is good for the players and good for business.Don’t get me wrong, I do not think this should turn Darkrai into a 2-star breeze. Having restrictions such as only level 38+ can purchase and making it difficult to the point of needing to have a team of near maxed out Mons to have a chance is a must. It should be more difficult than raiding in a group.This not only incentivizes these players to reach a higher level but also makes raiding lower level raids to get strong Pokemon to challenge the big boss 5 star feel desirable and becomes a satisfying progression. Additionally it encourages PVPers to raid because it allows them an opportunity to get some top meta picks.PVPFor me, PVP has totally brought my interest into the game as it is something I can do on my own and be successful. The Go League has been great but there are some changes to the reward system and acquiring PVP mons that could pull more into this fun aspect.*Sidenote: Fix all the lag and other battling issuesSolution 1: Make PVP rewards more desirableI love the reward structure so far, but some minor changes could make buying premium passes much more desirable.Removing the starters from the encounter pool is priority number 1. Grinding out wins or risking a premium pass only to get a Tepig feels awful. Instead add in a few more PVP relevant choices and possibly add a choice between 2 encountersAdding a mystery reward for 5 wins would also help. It could be a TM or an encounter with a stronger pool of PokemonSolution 2: Tournaments and End of Season RewardsThe Silph Cup tournaments are an amazing idea and Niantic should learn from this. It helps remove the monotony of the meta by banning Pokemon or adding stipulations. Using an entrance fee and having a range of prizes makes players want to spend/buy coins and reach for cool prizes.Each rank should have its own announced reward to motivate players to try harder and play more. It’s that simple.Egg Pool and Quest/Breakthrough ChangesAs of late, the egg pool events have been awful and a lot of the egg pool in general is filled with so much filler it’s incredibly discouraging to even try.I realize this is a general critique rather than one that would help a neglected player base, but the egg events need a complete rework. Having a Raiders week and a PVP week (NOT A WEEKEND) would be great. Hatching a Meditite instead of the Deino you were looking for feels much better than hatching Vulpix after walking 7km.Quest changes is another easy opportunity to give some love to raiders, pvpers, and collectors. Culling the plethora of garbage quests like “Win a Raid get some freakin nanners” and adding in more interesting rewards is a must. More creative quest rewards such as, “Defeat a Timburr raid and gain 10 Timburr candy” pushes the player toward raiding. Additionally, making PVP focused quests give PVP focused rewards or Mons is a easy fix.BREAKTHROUGHSTo the people who, “already have a million Kyogre and would rather have Ferroseed/Woobat” now is not your time to shine. Making Legendary Pokemon accessible is imperative to keep players interested who can’t raid or don’t want to. Please note that I am not saying they should be giving away Shiny Shadowball Mewtwo, those rewards should be kept to raiders. Having year old raid Legendaries available is a small ask that would mean the world to many players.ConclusionMy suggestions are not resource intensive or require much effort on Niantic’s side, yet could easily increase their revenue without impacting people already paying.Save the Rural and Solo Trainers. FOR THE MONEY! via /r/pokemongo https://ift.tt/388m0Qb