"Open letter to Niantic: how the botched implementation of Mega Evolutions may lead Pokemon Go to a catastrophic path"

#PokemonGO: To Niantic and all the community,First of all, I’d like to preface this letter by saying that I usually dislike the strong negativity that frequently makes its way into this forums and into this game (at times with good reason, nevertheless), because I understand that it is a complex game and bugs are - sometimes - bound to happen.But now, Mega Evolutions. This is probably the most anticipated feature ever for MANY, many players, both veterans and casuals alike, an amazing transformation for you favorite Pokemon which takes them to the next power level while looking absolutely awesome at the same time. No one that I know in this earth dislikes Mega Evolutions, and as such, it is about the safest bet you can make in this game.I do wonder what went wrong in the meeting room and in the brainstorm sessions to end up which such a disgraceful and botched implementation of what was supposed to be the most awesome feature in the game. I cannot even begin to imagine.Look, Niantic is a business and it HAS to make money. That is perfectly normal. I also work corporate and, like it or not, money is the drive for everything we do. But the thing is: this model is the furthest from a moneymaking scheme than it could ever be. The person who came up with the idea, and the managers who approved it... I’m not sure what happened or what went through their heads.I am a whale. I want to give money to Niantic. Seriously. When I play Pokemon, I have zero problems or regrets spending money on coins, because when you get to your thirties (or before) you understand that it’s the same as giving money to a cinema or any other hobby. If it gives you joy, go for it. Pokemon Go gives me a lot of joy, and I LIKE to support it with purchases and dough. And many people on these forums do too, although it is perfectly fine to be F2P too, obviously.But the thing is: Mega Evolutions are the opposite of what makes me give Niantic money. And this is not a “statement” or “boicot” or anything, it’s just that, as a product, the current implementation of Megas is EXTREMELY unattractive for basically everybody.Why? Well, the main issue and the concept that is central to all this mess is just one:PERMANENCE.Yes, permanence. Permanence in the sense of achieving something after a great effort and knowing you finally have it, forever. Permanence is everything in Pokemon Go.Most of the people to gravitate into this game do it because of the awesome feeling of FINALLY getting something and knowing that all the effort was worth it. That 100% Dialga after 80 raids. That extremely elusive shiny after shiny checking for 2 weeks straight. When you get it, it’s such a rush of dopamine - but the best thing (and the thing that keeps us glued to this game) is that it is always there!I remember a few months ago when I lucky traded for a Dialga and it ended up as a 100%. I couldn’t believe it at the time, and the thing is, in the following days, I would wake up, open the app, couldn’t help but smile just a bit when looking at the Dialga. It was awesome. I’m sure that this has happened to some of you on some occasion.Megas go against all these principles because it violates the very foundation and core of what makes Pokemon Go great. Permanence.A small clarification: I’m NOT saying that Mega Evos should be permanent in the sense of a “permanent transformation”, that goes against the lore and is not the way to go gameplay-wise.The concept of permanence, in this case, is that you have the PERMANENT option to Mega Evolve for some hours (and some cooldown) with no additional cost.Otherwise, you finally get your Mega Evolution, you enjoy it for some time, and then it’s back to normal. All your efforts wasted. You cannot wake up in the morning, look at that Mega Charizard and smile, because that will be tainted by the “50 energy to Mega Evolve” button.With this in mind, I propose a few solutions, open to - obviously - discussion among the community:1. The initial cost to Mega Evolve it’s perfectly fine. I, along many raiders, are no stranger to hardcore grinding for the Pokemon we love the most. As a whale, I WOULD easily spend 10-15 raid passes to gather 500 energy if it meant that afterwards it could be activated at no cost. Those are a LOT of raid passes and money for Niantic, but it triggers the dopamine and addictiveness in us because we can see the carrot and the end of the stick. A lovely Mega Evolution to admire when we FINALLY unlock it. With that in mind, I would be OK with increasing the initial cost IF it meant that the other conditions are met. 2. Further costs should be removed. As said before, this violates the utmost principle of Pokemon Go - permanence - and it’s a HUGE turnoff for any whale or casual who would thing to spend on this - we will not do it because we cannot see the carrot at the end of the stick. If Niantic is adamant on keeping some kind of further cost, a middle-of-the-road solution would be that 3-heart buddies have an extremely reduced cost and 4-heart best buddies have no cost at all. This would still help Niantic indirectly monetize it by means of the Poffin for players impatient enough to wait the 30 days. A specific cooldown to only be able to do it once a day or similar adjustment would also be probably fine. 3. If the system is kept like this, GBL is down a catastrophic path. If the only way to compete in Masters (and in some occasions, other leagues) is to grind for (easily) several days, hoard the energy, reserve a few hours to battle on GBL and THEN Megaevolve, this is the beginning of the end. It will be no different than those predatory, extremely P2W games that you see some times on the App Store. Plus, imagine the consequences for people who had reserved the time to do the PVP battles and something unexpected happens (work, kids, whatever) and they cannot play in those 4 hours. All that effort - again - gone to waste. 4. Finally, the current system is unsustainable long term with specific mega energy and non-general energy. When Charizard (and the others) go away, what hill happen to their Mega Evos? We cannot evolve them until they come back? Only people who obsessively hoarded energy will be able to use them in PVP? There has to be some way to get “general energy” (such as rare candies) to be able to Mega Evolve. There are some other issues, but I think this are the most pressing ones. As a closing statement, I love the game, I WANT to love Mega Evolutions, everybody here wants to. But the current implementation is a broken, botched mess which will lead Pokemon Go down a catastrophic failure if it’s not promptly remedied.I hope this letter helps to redirect Mega Evolutions to the awesome path they are destined to and I am eager to further discuss other types of implementation for the Mega Evolutions and other issues that you may have encountered.Sincerely,-Danteh via /r/pokemongo https://ift.tt/32sTuIo